The Powerbombcast Episode 5: Animal Kingdom

Haven't watched any wrestling in years, and this is still some of my favourite content on the site.

And yay! Jared's back!

Love this feature!

The day has come, brother.

SNES Royal Rumble intro song!

As someone who just watched a NJPW PPV for the first time recently, this gonna be good!

NEW JAPAN PRO TIME

I will say that I haven't watched a wrestling PPV, but there is a crazy curiosity to try the Royal Rumble. It was the combo of listing to these and there being NOTHING on TV one night over Christmas break and I catch Universal HD's 5-hour replay of that week's WWE shows that got me re-started on watching wrestling (last time was during the height of WCW just as the NWO stuff was starting in the late 90's).

is that Danny Brown in the thumbnail

This podcast is the reason why I am going to see a live Raw in my area even though I haven't watch wrestling since the NWO/Attitude Era.

Its gunna be stupid fun!!

I can't tell you how happy I am to see Shinsuke Nakamura on the front page of Giant Bomb dot com.

Re Subbed for this glad I had 12 dollars in my account :D

I love the Powerbombcast.

WE PURO NOW

Last time I turned on wrestling, there was a guy grinning because a giant snake was on his face. So they're doing something... interesting, I suppose?

DDP Yoga!

More time needs to be spent burying Jeff Jarrett!

I would watch a WWE network show where they just brought people on to bury Jeff Jarrett.

The cream of the crop has arrived.

I would pay more money to get a weekly wrasslin podcast.

Wrestle Kingdom was dope.

Also, I agree with Jeff. I want to be able to sit down and just watch Nitro. It's a bummer that the WWE Network isn't going to do that.

Here, enjoy this picture of Regal

Same here! I haven't liked wrestling since the late 80s early 90s but I love hearing these guys chatter about it.

I'm glad someone else finally said they think Sheamus is coming back at the Rumble. I hope it's true, too. I just hope and hope they don't make his character an awful mess again.

oooo, been looking forward to this. *contented sigh*

I think I need to go watch some more New Japan Wrestling.

Yes! Bless Batista's skinny jeans.It's a new Powerbombcast!

you talk shit on the Young Bucks then we have a problem.

"Kofi Kingston is the complete package" - said no one ever.

Being athletic does not equal being good at wrestling. John Morrison was the same thing. Just because someone can do flips and shit does not mean they are a good wrestler. Also, he is terrible at speaking into a microphone.

And Dan is SO RIGHT about Brock. You other people are fools. FOOLS! Brock being a bad talker is EXACTLY the point. He's a giant, dumb bully. Of course, he can't speak! He's a fucking animal. Animals can't speak! He just destroys people. It's amazing.

Brandon Stroud said it best:

"Long story short, if a guy comes up to me and says WHAT IN THE BLUE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING, I’M GONNA TURN THIS SUMBITCH SIDEWAYS, SHINE IT UP REAL NICE AND STICK IT STRAIGHT UP, YOUR CANDY ASS I’m going to make a dismissive wanking motion at him with every part of my body. If he shows up and seems confused but hates me and his face is all red and he’s ALIEN YELLING I’m going to piss my pants and bolt."

In one week Giant Bomb has put pictures of Bleach and Shinsuke Nakamura as podcast header images and those are both things that I like but never possibly imagined would have crossover potential here.

Ibushi, Nakamura, Okada and Devitt could all be big stars in the Anglosphere. Right?

I never thought that I'd see Shinsuke Nakamura and Giant Bomb crossover but today is a glorious day.

I'm surprised they didn't wait until after Wrestlemania.

You mean the Rumble?

NJPW Fun Facts:

-Last year the NJPW PPVs almost always started with a junior tag match, and while in WWE "two teams always face off" is a recipe for disaster, Forever Hooligans and TIME SPLITTERS was ALWAYS money. It's always a fun spot-fest.

-Shelton X Benjamin - it's X and the X is for "Mr. X", or TBD, and he came in and was a challenge for Nakamura's IC belt last year. He's a member of Suzuki-Gun (pronounced "goon") which means Suzuki Army. Also, the Suzuki-Yano Toru rivalry is basically Wile E Coyote vs. Smug Asshole Road Runner, except this time it also involved the corpse of The Great Muta. Toru Yano has been promoting his DVD (which features him and other bad guys Jado and Gedo going to an amusement park and also drinking).

-"The Gracies didn't understand wrestling" is the storyline they're going with, sadly enough.

-Bullet Club's whole point is "foreigners gone heel," and things like WWE/WCW style run-ins make Japanese smark fans' heads EXPLODE. Except in this case their fearless leader, Prince Devitt, also wound up body painted like a Titan from Japanese manga/anime Attack on Titan. Because Japan doesn't understand swear words, some of their backstage/after show promos get REAL blue. Anderson also refers to guys like Scott Hall and Kevin Steen as "Brother Razor" and "Brother Steen" on Twitter. It's goofy heel fun.

-NWA's owner, Bruce Tharpe, is the biggest heat magnet.

-Goto and Shibata have been KILLING each other this last year. I was lucky enough to go to a PPV in person, and Goto vs Shibata at that show wound up being a double KO. THEY KNOCKED EACH OTHER OUT.

-Apparently Naito was HUGE and over as hell in 2011 and early 2012...until he blew out his knee. They've tried to rocket him back up to that point by winning the annual G1 Climax tournament, buuuuuuuuuut versus Okada he's had no chance to gain any traction.

-Okada is also 26 years old. He's the future.

-Shinsuke Nakamura is nicknamed "Swagsuke" on the wrestling Internet for very obvious and good reasons.

@mattclassic said:

Here, enjoy this picture of Regal

I did, thank you.

It's funny, because the things Jeff is saying about what he wants in WWE Network and ditching cable TV completely is basically the attitude I've taken with ditching cable TV, but just replacing it with Giant Bomb content. Giant Bomb site content IS my TV content. Weird.

So, why does everyone hate Batista? He seems just as talented as most of the other people they push...

Also, wtf was that super loud thumping that would periodically happen. Several times I thought someone was knocking on my wall it was so loud and clear, lol.

From the wiki he was apparently kind of a dick. There was a story where he was in the locker room talking about how big he was and how all the wrestlers (they were in there with him) were scrubs; Booker T stood up to him for the other guys and they fought. After the fight was over all the wrestlers were happy with Booker T.

@sammo21: I really just heard that one time, when I think Jared was talking?

This show is at the core of why I love this site. VPN + WWE network bills are your fault, you monsters.

Oh man I've been waiting on this. You fuckers got me back into watching wrestling so now I need that regular PBCast fix. ;) Great stuff as ever!

EDIT: William Regal is absolutely my favourite wrestling commentator right now. I don't think he'd ever fit on the main show, he's way too British and his style just wouldn't fit that pacing, but he's fantastic on NXT. And I will hear no wrong about Renee Young, that lady is gorgeous and adorable and well-spoken and aaaahhh!

And I noticed that a month or two back the WWE official YouTube channel put up that video of Batista turning on HHH during the post-Rumble contract signing, and pretty much all the top-rated comments were "they need to bring this guy back", so he's obviously pretty popular. I think he's fine, not a great talker but I used to enjoy his style.

If Marty Friedman is a thing that happens in Japanese wrestling, count me in. Literally the best thing he's done in years.

So glad I'm not alone on this.

As far as the WWE Network thing goes, Over the Edge '99 won't be there according to them. The only one apparently.

Dan's Cena story at 30 minutes changed my whole perspective on that dude.

God Damn I have to watch this!!!

New Japan is really keeping the shitty haircut dream alive.

I liked this episode but man I think Dan is INSANE in his Brock Lesnar love.

Man, Shinsuke Nakamura got fuckin' CRAZY since the last time I watched New Japan. (Like years ago when I was in college ...)

@the_reflection: They are the best thing in wrestling.

I love these and would vote for a video version of the chat because there's nothing greater than seeing dudes in their 30s talk about wrasslin.

Brian Christopher...oh Brian Christopher. Such a creepy human being. Has has father's creepy cackling laugh, and was part of one of the worst gimmicks ever. "Too Much" was really weird, although i enjoyed "Too Cool" but i was a kid, and the dancing stuff really got me. He also released a few very very terrible songs "Jabroni" and "Puppies(Feat. Jerry Lawler)" if i could find videos of them on youtube i would post them here, but they are very bad. I think they might be on spotify if you are THAT curious....

Re: how long it takes for old wrestling to become embarrassing, there is a fine line. Lots of the Attitude era is downright cringeworthy. But i still think the whole Austin/Mcmahon feud is one of the greatest angles in wrestling history. A lot of the stuff surrounding it was very embarrassing though. the crowd, the treatment of women, Jerry Lawler, although a great commentator said some downright creepy/terrible things to push buttons. A lot of it is goofy fun though, especially once you get into the era of Undertaker's Ministry and the Corporate Ministry. But mostly the treatment of women and the frat boy mentality that is extremely embarassing.

I think all 3 members of the Shield are totally capable of going solo. Especially Seth Rollins who I keep saying good things about, that match he had on a few months ago on RAW with Daniel Bryan was amazing.

Thanks Alex for mentioning Joey Styles, my favourite announcer. I also really like Mike Tenay, another guy who actually cares about what the moves are that are being done in the ring and the wrestler's backrounds. How did the WWE have Jim Ross and Joey Styles on their payroll at the same time and not use either of them? Mindblowing.

Oh wow when Jeff mentioned how he liked CM Punk doing commentary! He used to do colour commentary on a regular basis in ROH and IWA-MS and was amazing at it, he could totally do that after he retires and should probably be at that table more now.

Oh God, watching the Royal Rumble was so incredibly painful. I loved watching how every fan in that stadium started losing hope and any ounce of caring once entrant #20 came in. By the time #25 hit, they were all gone. WWE is so incredibly predictable + they didn't even bother to pretend like they cared when they didn't even include Bryan in the Royal Rumble match. Some friends and I talked back and forth about why this actually happened and by the end of the discussion we realized none of the interesting and cool things discussed or brought up would ever happen. Anyone who didn't admit that Batista wouldn't be in the Royal Rumble for the title was fooling themselves, sadly.

I sure am glad I did not pay money for that ppv as it was pitiful. The best match was before the show even started with the Road Dogg and Billy Gunn winning the titles for the first time in 14 years. Now the best person on the mic in the company has a title...even though we know the NA Outlaws are only around to promote the WWE Network. Also, WWE doesn't really care for the tag team titles which is apparent by the fact the match wasn't even technically part of the PPV.