The v2Wrestling podcast 4th June

The v2 Wrestling Podcast 4th June 2013: Time travel, Slammiversary, the return of the McMahon family and the alternative TNA Hall of Fame

Welcome to another edition of the v2 wrestling podcast. This week, our usual presenter Chris 'Pretty Boy' Wilkerson is on his taxpayer-funded holidays, leaving Gavin 'The Brain' Duenas to stand in as host.

Joining Gavin are Richard 'Hero' Hudson, Paul 'Enforcer' Hinton and Adam 'TNA til I die' Davey to discuss TNA's second biggest pay-per-view of the year, Hulk Hogan's potty mouth, TNA's signing of Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson, the future of Daniel Bryan and Curtis Axel, and the return of the McMahons to WWE television.

Last but not least, things get heated in our world famous discussion section, as the merits of potential TNA Hall of Fame candidates are discussed and debated.

The TNA section starts at the 5 minute mark, WWE kicks in at the 30 minute mark and the "world famous discussion" at the 55 minute mark.

Don't forget, next week should be a cracker, with The Blossom Twins scheduled to make their return to the show, and British sensation Lionheart should be joining us too! And please send in those Ask The Tart questions for Gavin. You can do so by emailing wrestling@v2journal.com

You can download the podcast from iTunes here (click)

And if you enjoy it, please spread the word about our show, and follow us on:
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Listen to the 4th June podcast here (click) http://v2journal.com/17/post/2013/06/the-v2-wrestling-podcast.html

Other Articles of interest:
Interview with Bully Ray
Last week's podcast
Interview with Tara


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Haven't listened yet but before I do I will say that Slammiversary was possibly the best TNA PPV I've seen, until the last two matches. Apart from a single minute burst I thought Angle/AJ was very boring, whilst the whole main event stunk. Just stunk.

Spoiler:

Good show guys, disappointed I didn't get the heros holla :-( damn kids lol

Good show again guys,

I listened to it in bits earlier so I've forgotten a lot of what was discussed (don't worry long day in the library later to listen again)

But with regards to the Bryan/Punk/Aries debate, on my dream roster (don't pretend you don't have one) at this moment I have Bryan and Punk as the top respective faces and heels, with Aries as the top Junior Heavyweight heel, so if someone had to miss out I'd say it was probably him.

I would have to agree, at the moment I would go punk Bryan. But if you asked me a year ago I would have gone Aries punk.
Its a shame Aries has dropped down to mid card and isn't getting as much tv time. Maybe he needs to teabag Dixie lol

Its funny - I only threw in that question because Gav (the host) had dropped out of the call at that point and was trying to buy time!

I had completely forgotten that I had asked it!

I think that Bryan would be top on current form with Punk at the bottom (as he isnt about).

If they were all at the top of the card doing their best work, I would have Punk/ Aries at 1/2 but not sure which way around - Punk will always get more top votes as he is in the biggest promotion.

I'd have Eddie Kingston backfisting all three of them back to 1885!

Where do you discuss the Chikara/Time Travel on the podcast?

Admittedly, I've never listened before but if there was more focus on the indy side of things, I'd probably tune in more on a regular basis

It's near the start, it's the only Hero's Headline of the week so we could give Chikara a little more focus than we normally would with the news. There is usually a little bit of indy discussion as Rich often mentions people who are likely, or he thinks should, break into WWE or TNA.

I think Aries has completely dropped off of the radar in terms of best in the world, he was pushed far too quickly when he was the flavour of the month and ironically the push to the main event made him weaker.

Punk and Bryan for me are streaks ahead of all the competition, Aries flopped when he hit the main event, where as Bryan and Punk have thrived in an environment where they haven't always had the best booking. Bryan in particular was booked very poorly from a few months before his Money in the Bank win through to losing the world title, and yet he managed to get hugely over in that time.

The_Enigma wrote:Where do you discuss the Chikara/Time Travel on the podcast?

Admittedly, I've never listened before but if there was more focus on the indy side of things, I'd probably tune in more on a regular basis

Bloody hipsters

Adam D wrote:Its funny - I only threw in that question because Gav (the host) had dropped out of the call at that point and was trying to buy time!

I had completely forgotten that I had asked it!

I think that Bryan would be top on current form with Punk at the bottom (as he isnt about).

If they were all at the top of the card doing their best work, I would have Punk/ Aries at 1/2 but not sure which way around - Punk will always get more top votes as he is in the biggest promotion.

Obviously this is a matter of opinions, especially when judging at the very highest level, but I don't think Punk only gets put above Aries becuase he's in WWE, for me Punk is the superior man, the only time the two were about comparable was about this time last year when Punk was flagging in WWE and Aries was white hot in TNA. Since then Punk's really kicked on and is the most complete man in US wrestling. A genuine ATG in waiting IMO. The only area in which I think Aries out does Punk is moveset as he's slighlty more versitile and Punk's choice of finishing moves suck for various reasons.

Aries vs Bryan is a much closer contest, one thing I'd say about Bryan as while he's probably not as talented a talker as Aries, he has gotten super over as a face with every section of the audience at the top level, that's a massive acheivement, I genuinly can't think of the last guy to do that Eddy Guerro perhaps, also I'd say Bryan was the better wrestler, but I have Bryan as my No2 in ring guy in the world at this moment so while Aries is behind he's still right up there.

We are comparing 3 guys at the very top here though, so while I'd probaly have Aries 3rd of the 3, I'm not calling him a bad wrestler, there's no shame in being behind genuine greatness in Punk and about comparable with Bryan who's on fire at the moment, makes you wonder what Aries could accomplish if TNA got behind him half as strongly as they do with Sting.

It is hard to judge Aries and Bryan at the moment due to the difference in the way they are being booked. If you go on current performances/position then Bryan is well ahead, however when Adam asked the question it was with regards to taking them to a new fed.

Starting both from scratch the gap is so close that it almost becomes impossible to call imo. Aries has a much better look in terms of physique and the way he carries himself, he also has the edge in terms of mic work. I prefer Bryan's in ring work as he seems to put on a higher percentage of matches that I really enjoy than Aries (note the really, neither put on a poor match very often if at all).

I agree with House though in that Aries should be near the top of the TNA card. The early push hurt him, but if TNA gave him something to get his teeth into I'm sure he would work his way up in no time.

I will say it again about Bryan, he has become super over with nearly every section of the crowd, The IWC obviously love him, casual adults love him, kids love there beardy goatface, regardless of what sort of push he's got that is an immense achievement, especially in pst-kayfabe days and leads me to the belief that his charisma is vey underrated even if he isn't verbally amazing.

Can anyone name me the last face to unite 100% of the audience, I'm thinking Guerrero but I could be wrong?

Jeff Hardy for that run at the top before he left WWE seemed to have the whole crowd behind him?

I was just thinking Jeff too.

Enforcer wrote:Jeff Hardy for that run at the top before he left WWE seemed to have the whole crowd behind him?

Good call on Hardy, I do remember he had a couple of detractors calling him a spot-monkey and a meth head, but obviously when I say 100% I mean in vast generelisations.

I probably concede on that one.

Dr Gregory House MD wrote:

Enforcer wrote:Jeff Hardy for that run at the top before he left WWE seemed to have the whole crowd behind him?

Good call on Hardy, I do remember he had a couple of detractors calling him a spot-monkey and a meth head, but obviously when I say 100% I mean in vast generelisations.

I probably concede on that one.

wasnt that CM Punk?

Adam D wrote:

Dr Gregory House MD wrote:

Enforcer wrote:Jeff Hardy for that run at the top before he left WWE seemed to have the whole crowd behind him?

Good call on Hardy, I do remember he had a couple of detractors calling him a spot-monkey and a meth head, but obviously when I say 100% I mean in vast generelisations.

I probably concede on that one.

wasnt that CM Punk?

It was the Miz.

It's always the Miz.

Dr Gregory House MD wrote:

Enforcer wrote:Jeff Hardy for that run at the top before he left WWE seemed to have the whole crowd behind him?

Good call on Hardy, I do remember he had a couple of detractors calling him a spot-monkey and a meth head, but obviously when I say 100% I mean in vast generelisations.

I probably concede on that one.

It still shows how rare it is for someone to get that over, in the last ten years between us we've come up with 2 people! One of which was only in the position a matter of months before leaving.

I'd say Hardy had a lot of critics as well, I wouldn't say he has the universal support that Bryan does or Guerrero did.

CM Punk in the summer of 2011 had the whole crowd behind him for a few months, he was easily the most over guy in wrestling and he was loved by the kids and the IWC.

Shawn Michaels from about 2008 to 2010 also had the universal support I'd have thought, despite the fact that he was coming to the end of his career he was the most talented guy on the roster and everybody loved him.

Crimey wrote:I'd say Hardy had a lot of critics as well, I wouldn't say he has the universal support that Bryan does or Guerrero did.

CM Punk in the summer of 2011 had the whole crowd behind him for a few months, he was easily the most over guy in wrestling and he was loved by the kids and the IWC.

Shawn Michaels from about 2008 to 2010 also had the universal support I'd have thought, despite the fact that he was coming to the end of his career he was the most talented guy on the roster and everybody loved him.

I wouldn't be so sure about the Punk thing, I recall the the normally unwarvering support of the IWC really starting to slip for him, mostly unjustified IMO but it was there, the IWC is usually the hardest gap to bridge for faces, I also didn't think Punk was particuarly over with kids, they liked him because he was a face but I generally think he went over there head a bit, obviously I neither have children or am a child (though my girlfriend might disagree on that one) so I can't say for certain, but Bryan definatly has the ability to connect with kids while remaining entertaining to adults.

Good shout on HBK though, I think universal facedom does come a bit easier when you achive living legend status though, harder for guys working there way up. Couple that with how talented HBK was then I think only the most ardent Bret Hart fans could dislike him, I would say though, that a lot of people used to long for an HBK heel turn as he was percived to have that extra gear as a heel, the opposite almost seems to be true of Bryan, people want him to stay face in-spote of WWE's current story for him that looks to end in a heel turn.

I don't think Aries is anywhere near the level of the other two, in all the areas that matter. I don't think it's because he's in TNA either. I don't even think he's the best performer in TNA.

Punk and Bryan are way out in front of anyone else in wrestling. Based on pure all-round ability, I don't think it's too much of an exaggeration to say they are up there with the greats.

Aries is very good, but he'd barely scrape into my top ten picks if I was putting together a new promotion from scratch. I'm not basing that on the way he's been booked, or his moveset, but on how valuable I think he could be to a wrestling company, all things being equal. I think that, as good as he is, he lacks that special something that demands an audience's attention. Like I said, he's very talented, but I don't think he's a main event level wrestling star. He doesn't carry himself with the gravitas that true main eventers do.

crippledtart wrote:I don't think Aries is anywhere near the level of the other two, in all the areas that matter. I don't think it's because he's in TNA either. I don't even think he's the best performer in TNA.

Punk and Bryan are way out in front of anyone else in wrestling. Based on pure all-round ability, I don't think it's too much of an exaggeration to say they are up there with the greats.

Aries is very good, but he'd barely scrape into my top ten picks if I was putting together a new promotion from scratch. I'm not basing that on the way he's been booked, or his moveset, but on how valuable I think he could be to a wrestling company, all things being equal. I think that, as good as he is, he lacks that special something that demands an audience's attention. Like I said, he's very talented, but I don't think he's a main event level wrestling star. He doesn't carry himself with the gravitas that true main eventers do.

I am so glad that Gavin had fallen away from the call at this point!

crippledtart wrote:I don't think Aries is anywhere near the level of the other two, in all the areas that matter. I don't think it's because he's in TNA either. I don't even think he's the best performer in TNA.

Punk and Bryan are way out in front of anyone else in wrestling. Based on pure all-round ability, I don't think it's too much of an exaggeration to say they are up there with the greats.

Aries is very good, but he'd barely scrape into my top ten picks if I was putting together a new promotion from scratch. I'm not basing that on the way he's been booked, or his moveset, but on how valuable I think he could be to a wrestling company, all things being equal. I think that, as good as he is, he lacks that special something that demands an audience's attention. Like I said, he's very talented, but I don't think he's a main event level wrestling star. He doesn't carry himself with the gravitas that true main eventers do.

You, WWE fanboy, you

Can he backfist to the future?

crippledtart wrote:I don't think Aries is anywhere near the level of the other two, in all the areas that matter. I don't think it's because he's in TNA either. I don't even think he's the best performer in TNA.

Punk and Bryan are way out in front of anyone else in wrestling. Based on pure all-round ability, I don't think it's too much of an exaggeration to say they are up there with the greats.

Aries is very good, but he'd barely scrape into my top ten picks if I was putting together a new promotion from scratch. I'm not basing that on the way he's been booked, or his moveset, but on how valuable I think he could be to a wrestling company, all things being equal. I think that, as good as he is, he lacks that special something that demands an audience's attention. Like I said, he's very talented, but I don't think he's a main event level wrestling star. He doesn't carry himself with the gravitas that true main eventers do.

I don't agree with that. When Aries was the X-Division champ and heel he was the best thing in the company. He was fully invested in a character that he had developed from his debut in TNA and it seemed natural. He wasn't in the main event but at that time he looked more main event than anyone else on the roster - and I include Bobby Roode in that who was fantastic at the time and I really rate.

Can I just say guys, I think a discussion of the top faces, how loved and how sucessful they were, particuarly in the past 10 years or so since Austin and Rock left, would be a good topic for discussion on the podcast.

If you don't think you'll have enough time next week, I'll gladly keep the Blossoms entertained while you do it.

Moving the conversation in a slightly different tangent; the discussion regarding the TNA HOF, who does everyone think should be the 1st five inductees?

I think it shows the ridiculousness of TNA having a Hall of Fame.

I think it probably should be:

Sting, Jeff Jarrett, Kurt Angle, AJ Styles, Bully Ray, Samoa Joe.

I hated Shawn Michaels. I don't know why people liked him. All that silly dancing, his awful facial expressions and bad humour. Amazing wrestler but a proper tool.

Bryan reminds me a lot of Eddie. WWE didn't tap into Eddie's popularity until it was far too late, and even then it was because they didn't have any other options. For a company that claims to give the fans what they want, WWE steadfastly refused to put the promotional machine behind Eddie when he was white hot in 2003. I fear Bryan's fate may be similar; they'll push him, but it may be in an apologetic way.

Having spent more time thinking about it, the more I've got on board with the Angle induction.

Also I'd never really thought about Kim but that was a fantastic shout by Adam.

In a similar vein, Ken Shamrock, despite never having achieved much in TNA, he was their first ever World champion under the TNA banner.

It's hard to look past Jarret obviously and reasons for him not being inducted yet have to be more political than anything else.

My first 5 would have been

1) Jarrett
2) Angle
3) Kim
4) Sting
5) Shamrock

By this point I assume the likes of Styles, Daniels, Joe and Storm would be nearing the end of their careers and they would slowly be inducted as the TNA origionals, AJ first I would say as he has Kayfabe achived the most.

I have to agree with the other 3 sorry Hero, I really like Daniels but I don't see him as anywhere near a first ballot inductee.

Well you're wrong as well then!

I see Bryan as closer to Kurt Angle than Guerrero in terms of style, he can make a very good face, a very good heel, he can do serious, he can do comedy, I'm sure he could pull off most things. He's excellent in the ring and has a lot of fan support whether face or heel.

Hero wrote:Well you're wrong as well then!

Fine last time I help you

Crimey, do you think it's ridiculous because 10 years is not long enough to warrant a HoF?

I think the first 5 should be Angle, Jarrett, Sting, Styles and Joe. I was tempted to swap the last two for Kim and LAX just to annoy Hero.

As I said on the podcast, I think they will induct Hogan within the next 2/3 years - something I massively disagree with.

10 years isn't a bad time to start, they've made a smart move doing 1 per year anything else would be overkill.

WWE was around for 41 years before they started theirs, they also had an 8 year break between '96 and 2004.

Ten years is not long enough at all for a Hall of Fame to be set up, it's ridiculous that it does exist. There isn't even anybody who has retired while with TNA before. They also don't have the backlog of other companies that WWE has to induct people, because they can induct people from WCW, from ECW from all the other smaller companies that they have swallowed as well as their own wrestlers.

When people criticise WWE's Hall of Fame for being too diluted, TNA's will be far worse. Sting and Kurt Angle are still main event wrestlers for their company. The only full time wrestler WWE has ever inducted has been Ric Flair, and that's only when he was planning to retire.

Hero wrote:Moving the conversation in a slightly different tangent; the discussion regarding the TNA HOF, who does everyone think should be the 1st five inductees?

Sting
Jarrett
AJ
Daniels
Joe

ncfc_Tooze wrote:

Hero wrote:Moving the conversation in a slightly different tangent; the discussion regarding the TNA HOF, who does everyone think should be the 1st five inductees?

Sting
Jarrett
AJ
Daniels
Joe

Why Sting tooze if you don't mind me asking?
Not a bad choice but I wouldn't have him as a definative first pick over Jarrett and Angles

TBH house I think its due to his past history and him seemingly being more and more unlikely to go into WWE's, due to him reportdly turning down a legends contract close to each years wrestlemania, theres always a chance however small that Angle will go in to WWE's at somepoint, you also have to remember that he was a part of TNA from the second year onwards so has been there for the majority of the time.

TNA are fine having a hof, but not a yearly one. Every two, three even five years do it, but at this rate I can't see many people worthy of the spot in the not too distant future. Of those who haven't done something 'legendary' (a loose term used in TNA context) you could probably have Kim, Tenay, Bully and Roode in with a shout in a few years. But the latter have to do something beyond the current run and to add to the work from before in respective cases. Will either of their title runs prove to have done noticeable business for TNA?

Aries doesn't touch on Bryan or Punk. That's not an insult, they are just special talents. Aries died on his Harris a bit when he got the top spot so has to prove it was unfortunate and not a taint on his own skills. All of a sudden in the tag match at slammiversary he had a period where he was on fire, not been enough of that for a few months.