This week, Smackdown clocked its lowest ratings ever because of the US Presidential Elections. What did the podcasts have to think about this, and America’s new president? Who were the special guests on these entertaining shows who regaled us with their stories? Read on to find out more!
WRESTLING OBSERVER RADIO
In the beginning of the episode, Alvarez joked about how Meltzer’s childhood dream of writing about politics from the age of 8 has come true, with a WWE Hall of Famer as the President of the United States. Meltzer said he was more interested in the stock market at the age of 8, but kept saying how weird it was that Trump is the new President of the United States.
He went on to say that Trump winning made for entertaining television but the climax was ‘depressing as hell’. It was embarrassing how USA was portrayed on the world stage. Meltzer was critical of the mudslinging that happened and the pot-shots at the minority groups.
He went on to say that we saw all the worst aspects of an election this year, and he’s never experienced anything more damaging to the country than this year’s election. While both candidates were bad choices, Trump won because Hillary felt desperate towards the end. Meltzer said it’s all about timing.
In fact, 3 weeks removed, the outcome would have been different. Right now, he feels for a lot of people in the country, because the country slapped these people in the face.
Alvarez segued from the ‘slap’ comment to Rhyno getting slapped down in his election to be Michigan’s state representative. Meltzer commented on how there was a fake story about how Rhyno had won.
Alvarez said he read the article Meltzer sent him about Rhyno losing, and after searching on Google, found the fake article first! But Rhyno lost terribly, winning just 30% of the votes. According to Meltzer, Republicans did not stand a chance in Rhyno’s district.
The two of them spoke about how Dwayne Johnson wants to be President of the United States. Meltzer added how he’s been toying with the idea for a really long time. Who knows what the case is. He’s a great speaker and a charming guy!
He really hopes that whatever happens, happens for the best though. Because the 60s were bad! So bad that blacks wouldn’t be served in restaurants at times.
Alvarez feels that Daniel Bryan looked stupid on Smackdown, by picking Shane McMahon over a whole list of stars. He could have picked Cena! Meltzer disagreed and said that the pop would have been smaller for Cena. Alvarez argued about why Kane was part of the 6-man tag, and not this lineup.
He asked why the Undertaker wasn’t picked. Meltzer feels that The Undertaker is just a special attraction these days. Alvarez also wondered why Kalisto was now facing Kendrick, because that would make the whole Rich Swann program worthless.
Meltzer added how having the IC and US title on the same brand made absolutely no sense. And he was equally shocked with 4 announcers, especially when Tom Phillips and Mauro Ranallo were doing the same job.
When Nikki Bella and AJ Styles joined the booth, there were five announcers at one time. He said most announcers agree that 2 is the magic number.
Both podcasters had interesting observations about Smackdown. Meltzer felt that nobody believes Orton is a heel, and neither did he like the Becky-Alexa match. It was okay but dragged. He enjoyed the fashion police gimmick, but felt that the Baron Corbin injury wasn’t believable.
Both were shocked at the high Smackdown numbers on the day of the elections and feel that next week, the numbers will pick up again for both brands.
TALK IS JERICHO
This week, Chris Jericho spoke to the living legend Jim the Anvil Neidhart with his son-in-law, Tyson Kidd, in attendance. They began by discussing how Jim wasn’t a Canadian, but because he married a Canadian, he is considered to be one.
They discussed his breakneck schedule from back in the days of the Hart Foundation, where they got 1 day off in 2-3 weeks, at best. They discussed how he got into professional wrestling, after being released by the Oakland Raiders.
Neidhart had watched wrestling and did not like it. He moved to Calgary to pursue it, nevertheless, because the money was good. Kidd added how Neidhart received hands-on training from Stu, because he was a big guy…the kind that Stu liked.
They went on to speak about the legendary Hart Dungeon, the revered place, which was actually a smelly and dingy room. Jim went on to say that back then, every bum lived in Stu’s house but he lived in the servant’s quarters.
Stu’s wife- Helen Hart chose the name ‘Anvil’ for Jim, because he holds the world record for throwing a 100 pound anvil the furthest...something he did after failing to qualify for ‘shot-put’ in the Olympics, whereas football and hockey players failed.
She even named ‘Gorgeous George’. At the time, they wanted to call him Jim ‘The Animal’ Neidhart. Jim went on to speak about his early matches, and how Dynamite Kid was the one everyone wanted to emulate. Because he’d do all the work, wrestling him was like a night off.
Jericho mentioned his look, and how Neidhart was the only guy with a beard from that time. They also spoke about picking ‘pink as their colour, because nobody else was doing it back then. Vince was a ‘colours’ guy himself and loved the idea. Tyson added how Bret and Jim were the only team in which both members looked different from one another.
Neidhart went on to mention Andre The Giant, who he felt was a great person, but drank a lot! It was half a gallon of alcohol every night. Andre would drink from the time he woke up, to the time he went to sleep.
The Wrestlemania 2 battle royal was discussed, in which Neidhart was one of the three last contestants, as well as how The Hart Foundation won the tag team titles in a match...in which the ropes came off.
At the end of the interview, Neidhart mentioned how much he loved WCW in which he got paid a lot for doing nothing at all. Jericho recalled how, back then, Neidhart and other veterans would tell Chris how the place was in trouble, and everyone needed to move to WWE.
At the moment, Jim ‘The Anvil’ Neidhart loves being on Total Divas. And they love him too. Overall, a very fun interview indeed.
SAM ROBERTS PODCAST
Sam Roberts introduced Sasha Banks, whom he called his favourite wrestler and recalled an old interview, where she’d spoken about doing a Frog Splash to pay tribute to her hero Eddie Guerrero at Wrestlemania. And she actually did it at this year's Wrestlemania.
Sasha was overwhelmed by all the good things she’s had happen to he, and doesn’t get time to reflect on anything, because when she does, she cries. Sam said there hasn’t been a match as good as Sasha vs Bayley at Brooklyn last year, since then.
Sasha’s ultimate goal is to main event a Wrestlemania. At 24, she’s done a lot. Sam asks what happens when Sasha has accomplished everything by 30, considering she will probably main event a Mania in 3 years.
Sasha would like to be on a beach, watching wrestling. But she has other little goals, like to be General Manager of Raw, in a tag team with Bayley, be part of a Money in the Bank match and maybe wrestle in Japan.
She would also like to bring Trish and Lita out of retirement for one match.
Triple H is Sasha’s go-to-guy when she has problems and has also done a lot for women’s wrestling, she admits. As has Mick Foley.
She goes on to say that Charlotte is competitive in terms of showing off her trophies etc., Sasha just wants to be the greatest women’s wrestler of all time. She says Charlotte had it easy, because of her last name (unlike Sasha who even hid her Snoop Dogg connection).
She gets giddy when Stone Cold Steve Austin is around, whom she considers the coolest man in the world. Sasha gets Twitter messages from Stone Cold, but says he can definitely ask for her number.
She was also thrilled when Shawn Michaels called her his favourite wrestler. Sasha is also amused by the ‘No Chin Guy’ on Smackdown. While not a fan of Goldberg’s, she was impressed by how humble he was and how he headbangs the door to get himself ready for a match.
Banks’ mom was against Sasha getting into WWE, but now buys all her stuff, despite protestations from Sasha that she can source all the merchandise. She ends by saying that wrestling with weaves is the hardest part of the job. And also responded to UFC fighter Cat Zingano by telling her to get the right training before challenging her.
