Firstly, I want to apologize for the audio quality on this episode. The studio we use to record all of our shows had an update that changed something and it caused a popping sound to occur whenever Gary or Paul speak. I, (Sean) sound clear the whole show.
You can still hear what they say, but it does make it annoying to listen to. Unfortunately this wasn’t something I could hear during the live recording, it wasn’t audible until the final product was created. I can’t really do anything about it either, other than just scrapping the episode and we re-record it, which unfortunately we can’t do.
This is not indicative of us and I want to say I’m sorry because we had a great episode this week and stupid audio problems kinda ruined it. If you want to listen to the show anyway, the description and time stamps are below.
This week on W2M, we discuss Shinsuke Nakamura finishing up with New Japan Pro Wrestling and heading to the WWE Performance Center. He’s apparently signed a three year deal, but will he stay with WWE? Or does he go back to NJPW when he’s done? Could they change his name? We discuss this and more.
We also talk about all the stuff going on with Lucha Underground from the company announcing a Season 3 to Jim Cornette’s rant and the ever growing discussion on inter-gender matches. Can this really appeal to a mass audience? Could this stunt the growth of LU? And what do we think of inter-gender wrestling in general.
Sadly, we also have to talk about the sad news of Bret Hart having Prostate Cancer and the passing of Axl Rotten as well.
Of course, we start things by discussing the wrestling news in “Quick Hits,” we discuss Awesome Kong being sent home from the TNA UK Tour, WWE possibly doing a Cruiserweight Network show, Cryme Tyme wanting to return to WWE, Davey Richards and Tye Dillinger injured, and more.
We move on to answer our questions about WWE RAW and then move onto this week’s NXT.
After that, we talk a little bit about the 1/30 NJPW Road-To show and how New Japan did the send-off for Shinsuke Nakamura. Then we also do a NJPW New Beginning 2/11 Osaka Preview.
Next we review this week’s Lucha Underground and then get into the inter-gender match conversation here too.
Then we finish out with a look at this week’s ROH TV, we discuss Impact on POP TV, and our W2M Power Rankings (yes, we are actually ranking them this year.)
———-Time Stamps——–
(8:20-43:45) Wrestling News, Bret Hart, Axl Rotten, Nakamura’s contract
(43:45-1:32:20) WWE RAW Discussion
(1:32:20-1:46:09) WWE NXT Review
(1:46:09-2:14:50) Nakamura Farewell & NJPW New Beginning 2/11 Osaka Preview
(2:14:50-2:24:25) Lucha Underground Review
(2:24:25-2:42:50) Intergender Wrestling Discussion
(2:42:50-2:50:25) ROH Review
(2:50:25-3:03:40) TNA Impact Review
(3:03:40-End) Superstar of the Week, Superstar of the Month for January and Match of the Month for January
Wrestling 2 the MAX: Intergender Wrestling, Bret Hart Cancer, NJPW New Beginning 2/11 Osaka Preview & More
Wrestling 2 the MAX is the “Every Wrestling Fan” Pro-Wrestling podcast because it covers everything from WWE, NXT, TNA Impact, and ROH to other global entities like Lucha Underground and New Japan Pro Wrestling. This show is informative, fun, and meant for every kind of pro-wrestling fan out there. Wrestling 2 the MAX airs live on early Friday mornings at 1AM EST (on Spreaker.com) and then is available immediately after airing on-demand via I-Tunes, Stitcher, LAST WORD RADIO on I-Tunes and Stitcher, Tune-In Radio, Youtube (Via W2M Network) the PodBean App, The Spreaker App, Player FM, VOC Nation Radio Network, Bluburry, Downcast, and other podcast hosting locations. W2M also has a Facebook group you can join and listeners can follow them on twitter @wrestling2max
Sean Garmer: studied Journalism at the University of North Texas. Sean loves pro-wrestling so much that he even trained to be a wrestler at the age of 17. Though he eventually had to quit wrestling to go to college, he still returned to do play-by-play commentary, help write storylines, and most of all, to watch matches. Sean started his love of pro-wrestling at the age of five after watching a Hulk Hogan match. Due to his family hating sports-entertainment, there were many years he missed. However, he returned full-time to being a fan in the late 1990’s. Since then, Sean has gone on to write for various wrestling websites in a number of capacities, but he discovered his true passion, Podcasting, two years ago when he and Gary started the Wrestling 2 the MAX Podcast.
Gary Vaughan: is a native North Texan with a Bachelor’s degree from the University of North Texas. His time in college actually rekindled his love of pro wrestling he had lost somewhere along the way. Gary’s enjoyment of the sport began around 1996. As a fan, he has become a student of the wrestling business and gains knowledge through many platforms. WCW is dear to his heart because of it being his introduction to the scene. Now, Gary is a proud podcast host, as well as a writer for wrestling columns.
Paul Leazar: is a recent college graduate from the University of North Texas who has a History degree, but works at a Comic Book store. He was born an’ raised in the great state of Texas, and began his love affair with pro wrestling at the tender age of five after watching WWF’s Summerslam 1993 pay-per-view. The relationship turned serious with the growth of independent wrestling and the internet in the early 2000’s, which has seen the love affair turn into a full blown addiction that led him to write about it sporadically for various websites, and co-host the Wrestling 2 The Max podcast.
