Episode 144: Don't Bring Your F-ing Kids

Mike is joined on the podcast this week by Doc Atrocity, Scorpion (yes, THAT Scorpion) and Broseph Joe Brody from Oakland's own Hoodslam for a discussion about professional wrestling on a weekend that is entirely coincidental and has no big wrestling events on it at all. They'll discuss how a group of wrestlers goofing around with each other turned into one of the biggest drawing shows, with 1000+ packed into Oakland's Metro Opera House every month. We'll also break down wrestling's macho culture in the wake of the latest training scandal, whether the internet's passionate wrestling community is helpful or harmful to running a live show, and how interactivity and truly connecting with the fans is the future of wrestling.

Episode 144!

Why #CancelWWENetwork Was the Number One Trend Worldwide

The 2015 Royal Rumble is over. The WWE, the biggest name in what they call "Sports Entertainment" and the rest of the world calls Professional Wrestling has stock that is selling for less than the cost of a hamburger. Their new initiative, the WWE Network, an online service that provides their pay per views for free along with original content, had it's cancellation page crash under the weight of fleeing users. #CancelWWENetwork was the #1 trending hastag worldwide last night. And anyone watching their shows recently would think the audience was on the verge of a near riot. What happened?

The simple answer is this: Daniel Bryan happened.

Why the Future of Professional Wrestling is the Death of Kayfabe

It's a Friday night in Oakland, California. The Metro Operahouse is packed to the brim with over eight hundred people, all shoving their way towards the stage. A metal band screams and wails on guitars. And in the center of all of this madness, underneath a cloud of smoke of indeterminate substance, sits a beat up ring. Inside that ring, Scorpion from Mortal Kombat lifts up a woman in a Ms. Marvel costume and slams her to the mat. The crowd starts chanting, "This is real!"

The company is known as Hoodslam, and they're the fastest growing and most consistently popular independent wrestling company in Northern California. They like to brag that they've brought more fans to their shows than the number two televised wrestling company in the nation. And they've done it by accepting one simple fact: Kayfabe is dead.