Tights And Fights

It seems like everyone’s got opinions on Sunday’s WWE show Backlash. Audiences in attendance walked out on the main event of Samoa Joe vs. Roman Reigns. But was the match really all that bad? Or has WWE just put Roman in such a poor position after WrestleMania that this level of disconnect between the product and the fans is understandable? Contributing to the disappointment in the show was that the WWE championship match between Shinsuke Nakamura and AJ Styles did not close out the evening. Is this feud still working after two matches ending in non-finishes? And who should come away with the WWE title at this point? Plus, we look at the upcoming fourth installment in the much-loved Kenny Omega and Kazuchika Okada series. After a respective record 1-1-1, is it time for Kenny to finally get that IWGP title? And with Chris Jericho officially setting his sights on New Japan’s Intercontinental Title, there’s a lot to keep an eye on in the land of the rising sun. All of this and a look at the latest in NXT, 205 Li

As always Hal, Danielle and Lindsey breakdown the latest in the world of wrestling. And this week that includes Greatest Royal Rumble live from Saudi Arabia.  Everyone on the panel has seen at least a little of the event, but was the show and the payday worth preventing the entire women’s roster from performing at the show? Greatest Royal Rumble was also the precursor to this Sunday’s BackLash event. With Roman Reigns losing once again, how much have they damaged his presentation and the perception of the Universal Title? And with Shinsuke Nakamura set for what could be his final match for the WWE title against AJ Styles, does he need to win that strap to cement his positioning as the top heel on Smackdown? All this plus a look at which feuds could go on forever, why WWE needs women’s tag team titles and who the uncrowned king of 205 Live is. Three Count Danielle put over Mauro Renallo's upcoming documentary "Bipolar Rock N' Roller". Lindsey put over Shinsuke Nakamura's WWE documentary. Hal put over Corey Gra

With Daryl Takahashi looking on with love, Danielle and Lindsey take control of the show! The two will break down the problems that have arisen with the Greatest Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia; it’s WWE’s second major live event to air this month on the Network… but it will not feature a single women’s match. How much is that undercutting WWE’s supposed “women’s evolution?” And is the company doing everything they could be to make sure women are being properly used on their programming to make up for this absence? The Saudi Arabian show will be host to other matches, including Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship. But what is it about this match that’s not clicking, compared to the build for their WrestleMania match?  Plus, why Shinsuke Nakamura’s new music is so amazing, who we wish was getting a shot at the Cruiserweight Championship and why it may be time to give Impact Wrestling another shot after so long. The Three Count Lindsey put over Candice LeRae and Zelina Vega's match on NXT.

Mike and Lindsey have survived their trip to New Orleans and WrestleMania and are here to regale Danielle Radford with stories of Ice Cream Christmas! They’ll talk all about why they learned about the wonderful parts of wrestling… And some of the worst parts of the fandom. But we can’t dwell on the past for too long, because there’s a ton of new things to deal with as well, especially the Superstar shake-up! RAW and Smackdown are both full of new stars. But which are set up for success and which are we most concerned about? All of that plus, a requiem for the relationship between John Cena and Nikki Bella, the life and career of Burno Sammartino and a look at what WWE programming is like a mini-ice cream Christmas every week. Hosted by Danielle Radford, Mike Eagle and Lindsey Kelk Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun. If you wanna talk about more wrestling throughout the week be sure to join us on Facebook or @TightsFights on Twitter. If you liked the show, please share it with your friends and be sure

Welcome to our big finale of the Max Fun Drive!  In that spirit, here’s producer Julian Burrell interviewing two people from the world of wrestling. First, in honor of the HBO’s "Andre the Giant" documentary, comic writer and artist Box Brown joins the show to discuss his time writing his own biography of the 8th Wonder of the World entitled Andre the Giant: Life and Legend. Brown discusses what made Andre so special and why it was important to show Andre in the book with all of his flaws intact. Next, Chris Bournea joins the program to discuss his new film “Lady Wrestler: The Amazing, Untold Story of African-American Women in the Ring.” In it, he covers the lesser discussed black women of the 50’s and 60’s. He’ll talk about some of the biggest women wrestlers of this time and how he sought them out to uncover one of wrestling’s best-kept secrets. Hosted and produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun. If you wanna talk about more wrestling throughout the week be sure to join us on Facebook or @TightsFights o

We’ve survived the biggest weekend of wrestling of the year! Hal and Danielle are joined by Producer Julian Burrell to break down the biggest Ice Cream Christmas of all time.  The team will have a deep dive into a few of the biggest events from Lucha vs. Impact and Supercard of Honor in addition to what they consider the show of the weekend NXT TakeOver: New Orleans. Saturday’s NXT event featured amazing matches from beginning to end, including what may go down to be one of the greatest wrestling matches in WWE history. We’ll try not to get too excited. And the biggest show of the weekend was none other than WrestleMania. And while the team agrees that it was on the positive side of shows, there are a few issues that they had with it. That includes that the wrong match closed out the show and why Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar did nothing for either competitor or the live audience. Plus, a look at the stars who got called up from NXT to the main roster, where NXT could be heading in the future and where this M

Welcome to our special EXTRA episode as part of the Max Fun Drive! Hal, Danielle and Mike are joined by Kia Stevens. Stevens has wrestled around the world as Awesome Kong and Amazing Kong. She also wrestled for WWE under the name Karma where she was one of three women who entered the original Royal Rumble. Between all of the promotions she’s appeared at, she’s won a total of 13 championships. But these days, she might be more well known for playing Tamme’ “The Welfare Queen” Dawson for the Netflix series “GLOW” She tells the team all about the highlights of her career, what it’s like to teach a group of actors how to wrestle, and why her career in acting all got started when she was passed over for the lead role a grade-school play. This show is made possible by the members of Max Fun who have decided to contribute to Tights and Fights. If you'd like to join them, go to Maximumfun.org/donate and sign up for as little as $5 a month to earn all sorts of great gifts. Hosted by Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford and Mi

Happy Max Fun Drive!  We’re on the cusp of WrestleMania/ Ice Cream Christmas and boy is it ever an amazing time to be a wrestling fan! This weekend will be a cornucopia of events in New Orleans. Whether you’re invested in Supercard of Honor and the culmination of Kenny Omega vs. Cody Rhodes for the soul of Bullet Club, Impact Wrestling vs. Lucha Underground’s crossover show, or NXT TakeOver: New Orleans which will feature Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa’s grudge match, it’s safe to say there’s something for everyone. But of course, the biggest event of the weekend will be WrestleMania 34. Over six hours of wrestling LIVE in the Super Dome! Between Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar, AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura and more, the team is HYPED. But there are still some concerns: Why is the Cruiserweight Title Match on the pre-show when it has the potential to be one of the best matches of Mania? Could WWE use Carmella’s money in the bank cash-in to disrupt Asuka vs. Charlotte Flair? And how will anyone survive a w

FINALLY… Mike Eagle as come BACK to Tights and Fights! Hal Lublin and Danielle Radford will catch up Mike up with everything he hasn’t gotten to express an opinion on from the two months he’s been gone, in addition to what’s happened this week. That includes Daniel Bryan’s return to wrestling, Asuka moving to Smackdown to face Charlotte for the women’s title, Bayley and Sasha Banks’s rivalry reaching a fever pitch, The Ultimate Deletion, John Cena challenging the Undertaker and much more. Plus, how we’re hoping WWE handles Shinsuke Nakamura vs. AJ Styles, the minor problem with Brock Lesnar constantly beating up Roman Reigns and what special holiday we learned WrestleMania falls on (besides Rusev Day). Hosted by Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford and Mike Eagle.  Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun. If you wanna talk about more wrestling throughout the week be sure to join us on Facebook or @TightsFights on Twitter. If you liked the show, please share it with your friends and be sure to leave us a quick revi

The leader of the “Yes Movement” is back! Daniel Bryan became one of the most beloved stars of WWE throughout 2013 on the road to WrestleMania XXX. But, two years ago Daniel Bryan was forced to retire at the peak of his career and ability.  Now’s he’s officially been cleared to compete by a number of neurologists. And as exciting as it is to see him back doing what he does best… it’s understandable to be nervous. The Nation of Conversation breaks down how they’re feeling now that Daniel is officially back and how WWE can balance showing off one of their best wrestlers with keeping him safe. And the Nation is heavily divided on the Ultimate Deletion between Woken Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt. Was it the pinnacle of the Hardy Compound series, a fun lark that didn’t live up to its predecessors or a terrible use of the final segment of RAW? Plus, Brock Lesnar finally showed up to confront and beatdown Roman Reigns before their Universal Title match at WrestleMania. The team is unanimously onboard with the match… but

Katie Willert is the newest member of the nation of conversation! She joins Hal Lublin and Danielle Radford to discuss the latest on the road to Wrestlemania. Everything from John Cena challenging the Undertaker, Roman Reigns being “temporarily suspended” and Asuka calling out Charlotte Flair for a match for the women’s title. Plus, why does Danielle take MAJOR issue with the storyline between Alexa Bliss and Nia Jax? And who do we think Sami and Kevin should face in their feud with Shane?  Main Event: NOTE: THIS WAS RECORDED BEFORE WWE DECIDED TO RENAME THE FABULOUS MOOLAH MEMORIAL BATTLE ROYAL. WWE decided to have a catch-all women’s rumble at WrestleMania. It sounds like it could be fun, but they also decided to have The Fabulous Moolah as the namesake for the event. We’ll fill you in on why Moolah is such an awful figure from wrestling’s past who’s not worth immortalizing. Hosted by Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford and Katie Willert  Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun. If you wanna talk about more wre

Jay Washington is officially back in the Nation of Conversation! RAW has us asking all sorts of questions including who’s going to face women’s champion Alexa Bliss at WrestleMania. At first glance, it looks like Asuka. But Jay thinks the seeds are being planted for the Empress of Tomorrow to face Charlotte, leaving Nia Jax to take on Alexa. And after Roman Reigns fired the first salvo in against Universal Champion Brock Lesnar, Paul Heyman was quick to shoot back… but is this feud clicking on all levels like it should be? And if we do, in fact get Shinsuke Nakamura vs. AJ Styles, which of those matches closes out Mania? Plus, what we think of John Cena being involved in the Fast Lane main event, why the Mixed Match Challenge is still so much fun, and why Hal may finally be close to giving up on Smackdown. Ring Tones: He’s been Xtreme, he’s been V.1, he’s been broken and awoken… We’re taking a special musical journey through the career of Matt Hardy. Is his music getting us in the right mood for the latest ph

When the chips are down, Tights and Fights has decided to tag in producer Julian Burrell to fill in the host seat! He sits with Hal Lublin and the returning Des Delgadillo to discuss Elimination Chamber and the solidifying card for WrestleMania. We now know that Roman Reigns will face Brock Lesnar for the Universal Title and the Alexa Bliss will be the women’s champion going into the biggest WWE show of the year. But how excited are we for these match-ups? And what will RAW look like once they’ve played out in April? Plus, Des was actually at Smackdown in the Staples Center this past Tuesday. Even though Smackdown has been an inferior product overall than RAW this year, was it any better live?  But, of course, we all know that one of WWE’s best products these is none other than 205 Live. Des and Julian will discuss what’s made the show so much fun to watch after it was reinvigorated last month. Main Event Commentary is one of the most important elements to a televised wrestling show; The wrestlers provide the

Woooooo! We're back! And just in time for Elimination Chamber and one of the best RAW's this year! Seth Rollins put on an absolute CLINIC on Monday night. Even though he came up short in the match, he still endeared himself to the audience. But how confident are we that WWE is going to properly follow up on this? And with Dolph Ziggler and Baron Corbin in the mix for Smackdown's WWE Title, are we at all enthused... or does this just fill like padding until we get to the proper matches at Wrestlemania? Plus, we'll talk about Buddy Murphy's debut on 205 Live, how much fun the Mixed Match Challenge is, and why we're still waiting to get excited for Sasha Banks vs. Bayley. Main Event: With Ronda Rousey set to sign her WWE contract this Sunday, how much are we expecting from her? Should she be used in a similar way to how other UFC fighters have been showcased in WWE? And could her success mean more success for the rest of the women's division? Hosted by Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford and Lindsey Kelk.  Produced by

Welcome to the very first greatest hits collection of Tights and Fights!  Producer Julian Burrell has collected three of the best segments from the show’s archives for your enjoyment. Misandry Corner Danielle Radford leads the team to discuss some of the sexist history of wrestling’s past. In this inaugural edition of the segment, the spotlight is on WWE’s most sordid Diva’s moments: a water balloon wet T-Shirt contest. How terrible was this? And which men would we like to see recast in it? My Special Wrestler Comic creator Box Brown joins the program to discuss one of the greatest heels of all time: Ravishing Rick Rude.  Ring Tones Comedian Hannibal Buress joins the program to discuss the music of Triple H. This will include every phase of his career from his time as Hunter Hearst Helmsley to his joining DX to becoming the cerebral assassin to his modern-day role as the WWE’s chief executive of talent relations. Hosted by Julian Burrell, Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford and Mike Eagle.  Produced by Julian Burrel

Welcome everyone to our official post-Royal Rumble decompression. Most of WWE is in a bit of a holding pattern as the final WrestleMania picture takes shape.  But there are still tons of things happening throughout both shows. Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens are seemingly headed for a break-up which we are very much NOT in favor. We’ll explain how we’d like to see their partnership developed alongside the WWE Title scene with AJ Styles. Plus, Jason Jordan is dealing with a neck injury that’s going to have him out of the ring for a number of months. But where does this leave his character and Seth Rollins before he’s able to head back to the ring? And we’ll take a closer look at where everyone else is heading into the final weeks before the biggest show in wrestling, including Asuka, Nia Jax and everyone on the Smackdown Top 10 (Whatever that ends up being like!). Gimmick Corner For the past 15 years or so, WWE television has had one man at the forefront: John Cena. He’s been the franchise player for WWE up until a

NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia NXT’s hot streak of quality events continues!  Champion Andrade “Cien” Almas and Johnny Gargano tore the house down in the NXT Title match. They both seem destined for big stories in the coming months before the next TakeOver but, for now, we can just bask in the afterglow of how special this match was.  Plus Ember Moon retained her woman’s title against Shayna Baszler in a hard-hitting match. But will Moon lose that title to Baszler in the coming months to head to the main roster or should she stick around NXT a bit longer? Not to be outdone, Undisputed Era’s Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly retained their tag titles over The Authors of Pain while their leader Adam Cole came up short against Aleister Black. Where does this trio go next to keep their footing in NXT? All that… and we’ll even discuss the return of the XFL, the latest rifts in Bullet Club and why Kenny Omega’s reunion with Kota Ibushi brought tears to our eyes. Royal Rumble Oh, what a Royal Rumble it was!  It’s great to fi

It was an incredibly eventful week for WWE, but not entirely for the reasons that the company wanted it to be. Enzo Amore has been fired following the revelations that he has been accused and is under investigation for rape and kept the situation from his employers. In this era of #MeToo, this sort of thing can’t stand in wrestling. But how scared are we that this could be just the start of WWE stars, past and present, being called out for similar heinous actions?  And in much lighter news, WWE celebrated the 25th anniversary of RAW! Unfortunately, people watching it from the Manhattan Center, it wasn’t nearly as entertaining. But between all of the legends and Miz winning back the Intercontinental Title, which of the hosts had fun, and who hated it? Plus, Sami Zayn picked up a major win against AJ Styles in the main event of Smackdown. Is this the signature win he needed as a heel or is this undone by taking a big loss on Sunday? All that, and we continue to be excited about the Royal Rumble and feel like th

Noted wrestling fan, video-game aficionado and rapper Mega Ran officially joins the Nation of Conversation. And we’re going to continue to talk all about his experience with Wrestle Kingdom 12 since he saw it LIVE in the Tokyo Dome! Plus, we’ll take a look at how much fun it was to see Braun Strowman tear up the ($12 million) production trucks, why AJ Styles is delivering some of the worst promos of his career and why the Revival is set to take a hit from every single legend next week on RAW. And we’ll keep looking ahead to the Royal Rumble, including who would be a great winner for the first ever Woman’s edition of the event. Main Event Seth Rollins’s signature finishing move has at last returned! After a brief stint with the Pedigree and (ugh) King’s Landing, the Curb Stomp is back with a vengeance. What makes it such an effective finisher? And who could stand to get a new finisher in the next few weeks? The Three Count Mike put over Bruce Prichard's stories on the latest episode The Masked Man podcast. Me

We’ve already got a ton of things to deal with that have overturned what we expected from the Road to Wrestlemania! Balor Club is officially a thing and is beginning to get going as force on RAW. As they beat up Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and Jason Jordan, and throw up the too sweets, Finn and company look like they’re having tons of fun again. Plus, Jason finally gets to develop more as a character as Seth and Roman try to teach him how to be at the cool kids table. Could we finally be at a point where WWE remembers how to get multiple stories going at one time on RAW?  And Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens look excited for their chance to be co-WWE Champions! While we all love AJ Styles, wouldn’t it be great to see the pair of friends get this just to see how much fun they would have together? All this and a look at Samoa Joe’s injury, the current state of the Riott Squad and Absolution and whether Titus Brand is actually set to get some wins in the next few weeks. Main Event It’s New Japan’s annual equivalent to W