Grapple City Rewind

For our final summer bonus episode, Grapple City Rewind heads to NXT TakeOver: Toronto (2016) for one of the most celebrated tag team matches in WWE history: DIY vs. The Revival in a two-out-of-three-falls match for the NXT Tag Team Championship. Bradley and Aaron break down the chemistry, the heel brilliance of The Revival, the rise of Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa, and why this match still h...

This week on Grapple City Rewind , Bradley and Aaron head back to Money in the Bank 2011 for one of the most electric WWE matches of the modern era: CM Punk vs. John Cena for the WWE Championship . With Punk’s contract set to expire at midnight, Chicago fully behind him, and Vince McMahon desperate to stop him from leaving with the title, this match becomes more than just Cena vs. Punk — it become...

Bayley finally gets her moment. In this bonus episode of Grapple City Rewind , Bradley and Aaron revisit one of the most important women's matches in wrestling history: Bayley vs. Sasha Banks for the NXT Women's Championship from NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn (August 22, 2015) . The guys break down the story of Bayley, the last of the Four Horsewomen to reach the top of NXT, fighting to prove s...

For our first June bonus episode, we're revisiting one of the wildest WWE main events of the modern era: Roman Reigns vs Brock Lesnar in a Last Man Standing Match from SummerSlam 2022 in Nashville, Tennessee. This was billed as the final chapter in the legendary Brock vs Roman rivalry, and WWE pulled out all the stops. Brock arrives in a tractor wearing a cowboy hat, Roman enters with the ful...

Bradley and Aaron rewind to WrestleMania 1 (1985) —the show that launched a billion-dollar empire—and break down all the chaos: nine matches, celebrity overload, bear hugs for days, and barely any actual wrestling. From Liberace and Muhammad Ali to King Kong Bundy’s 9-second squash, this is less a wrestling show and more a bizarre cultural time capsule. Plus, we kick things off with thoughts on th...

This week on Grapple City Rewind , we head to Nashville for one of the strangest and most ambitious events in wrestling history: Starrcade 1995: World Cup of Wrestling . WCW and New Japan Pro Wrestling collide in a seven-match international tournament to determine which country reigns supreme. There's just one problem: nobody seems entirely sure how the tournament works. Along the way we get...

On the very first edition of In Your House, the WWF promised fans one thing above all else: somebody was going to WIN A FREE HOUSE IN FLORIDA. This week on Grapple City Rewind, Bradley and Aaron head back to May 1995 for a bizarre slice of New Generation-era WWF featuring Bret Hart vs. Hakushi, Diesel vs. Psycho Sid, Jerry Lawler’s fake mom, Todd Pettengale’s unholy mullet, screaming fans losing t...

We just got back from WrestleMania in Vegas… and now we’re rewinding to one of the strangest, most uneven WrestleManias of all time. This week on Grapple City Rewind , we dig into WWF WrestleMania X (1994) — a show that somehow opens with an all-time classic… and then spends the rest of the night trying to live up to it. Two Bret Hart matches in one night because one beating isn’t enough. Two Yoko...

WrestleMania season rolls on in Grapple City Rewind, and this week Bradley Palermo and Aaron Fink dive headfirst into WrestleMania XII —a show defined by contrasts, chaos, and one of the most famous main events in wrestling history. From the jump, it’s clear this isn’t your typical Mania: we’ve got a bizarre mix of New Generation weirdness, Attitude Era seeds being planted, and a main event that d...

Collision in Korea 1995 is one of the strangest events in wrestling history. WCW and New Japan brought a massive show to North Korea, drawing over 300,000 people… but something felt completely off. The crowd barely reacted, the atmosphere was eerie, and even solid matches felt lifeless. We break down the weird vibe, standout moments like Flair vs Inoki, and why this is a “watch it so you don’t hav...

Hulk Hogan. The Rock. Sixty-eight thousand screaming fans in Toronto. And somehow… a broomstick gets involved. This week on Grapple City Rewind , Bradley Palermo and Aaron Fink head back to WWF WrestleMania X8 (2002) — the strange transitional moment where the Attitude Era crashes head-first into nostalgia. The nWo has arrived, Limp Bizkit is blasting through the arena, and the WWF is suddenly lea...

Grapple City Rewind heads back to the gritty ECW Arena in February 1996 for CyberSlam 96, Bradley Palermo and Aaron Fink break down the chaotic compilation-style event featuring Taz squashes, a completely unhinged Brian Pillman segment, dancing babyface Bubba Ray Dudley, triple dog collar madness, and the only true wrestling clinic of the night Too Cold Scorpio vs Sabu, we debate whether ECW’s wil...

Grapple City Rewind heads to No Way Out 2000 as Bradley Palermo and Aaron Fink break down Kurt Angle vs Chris Jericho, Dudleys vs New Age Outlaws, the infamous Mae Young pregnancy storyline with Mark Henry, Kane vs X-Pac chaos, Too Cool vs The Radicalz, Big Show vs The Rock controversy, and the brutal Hell in a Cell main event between Triple H and Cactus Jack. Was this Attitude Era PPV a hidden ge...

WWF No Way Out 2001 is where the Attitude Era officially flies off the rails. We’re talking shopping carts, stop signs, barbed wire, blood everywhere, and a level of sleaze and chaos that feels less like wrestling and more like a bad decision made at 3 a.m. This show exists in that weird space between WrestleMania hype and total creative insanity —and somehow manages to be both fascinating and exh...

We rewind to January 20, 2002 at Phillips Arena in Atlanta for Royal Rumble 2002, a stacked card sitting right on the edge of the Attitude Era and Ruthless Aggression. From WWF New York time-capsule chaos to Vince McMahon absolutely loving being evil, we break down every match, every Lawler quip that aged like milk, and every massive star moment. The Rumble itself is loaded with returns, all-time...

This week on Grapple City Rewind, Bradley Palermo and Aaron Fink dive into WCW Souled Out 1998, an NWO-heavy pay-per-view packed with strong undercard wrestling, baffling booking decisions, and peak late-90s WCW chaos. From lucha libre madness and Jericho vs. Rey Mysterio, to Bret Hart’s WCW in-ring debut against Ric Flair, plus the infamous Dusty Rhodes heel turn, we break down what works, what a...

The Attitude Era doesn’t explode overnight — it creaks , leaks , and occasionally catches fire. Royal Rumble 1998 is the moment where everything finally tilts forward. Before the Rumble even starts, Terry Funk and Mick Foley try to kill each other with chairs, chainsaws, and zero regard for OSHA. Stone Cold Steve Austin is a marked man , the NWA briefly wanders onto WWF television to tell everyone...

Season 2 kicks off with Grapple City Rewind diving headfirst into Royal Rumble 1991, a bizarre time capsule of early-90s WWF packed with war-era patriotism, Hulk Hogan propaganda, and some truly questionable booking. Bradley Palermo and Aaron Fink break down the entire card, from the Rockers’ polarizing opener to the shocking title change that sacrificed Ultimate Warrior, all the way through a Roy...

In this special Grapple City Rewind Bonus Episode , Bradley Palermo and Aaron Fink head back to NXT TakeOver: London (2015) to revisit one of the defining matches of peak-era NXT: Demon Finn Bálor vs. Samoa Joe . This is a classic David vs. Goliath clash—cut-to-the-bone athleticism versus raw power and brutality. The hosts break down Bálor’s demon persona, the crowd-driven entrance that helped red...

In this Grapple City Rewind bonus episode, Bradley Palermo and Aaron Fink jump back to December 29, 1995, to break down one of the strangest matches in ECW history: Mick Foley (as Cactus Jack) vs. Sabu from ECW Holiday Hell . What begins as an absurd “Olympic Rules” challenge—complete with an NCAA referee and point deductions—quickly collapses into pure ECW chaos once 9-1-1 destroys the official a...

In this special holiday bonus episode of Grapple City Rewind , Bradley and Aaron jump back to NXT TakeOver: London (2015) to revisit a standout match for the NXT Women’s Championship: Bayley vs. Nia Jax . With a red-hot UK crowd, peak black-and-gold NXT energy, and Bayley in full “hugger” babyface mode, this match captures a unique moment in modern wrestling history. Aaron breaks down why this bou...

Join Bradley Palermo and Aaron Fink for a festive dive into the hilarious and chaotic 2011 WWE "All-I-Want-for-Christmas" Battle Royale! In this special bonus episode of Grapple City Rewind , we break down this over-the-top match featuring Sheamus, Hornswoggle, and a wild mix of WWE stars. From the strange holiday vibes to the unforgettable moments with Mick Foley as Santa, we discuss ev...

WCW spent eighteen months building to Sting vs. Hollywood Hogan… only to trip over their own feet at the finish line. In this episode of Grapple City Rewind , Brad and Aaron break down the spectacular chaos of WCW Starrcade 1997 —from the overhyped “greatest night ever” promises to the infamous not-fast fast count that derailed the biggest payoff in company history. Brad also opens the show with a...

Travel back to Thanksgiving night 1985 as Bradley and Aaron dive deep into Starrcade: The Gathering , a split-venue NWA mega-event overflowing with blood, Russians, rule-breaking, cage mayhem, and one unbelievably annoying drunk fan who somehow made it into the subtitles . This episode covers: Rock & Roll Express vs. Ivan & Nikita Koloff in a cage match that’s somehow no-DQ and still worke...

Step inside the Ruthless Aggression era as Bradley Palermo and Aaron Fink break down WWE Survivor Series 2002 , live from Madison Square Garden. This show has everything: broom-based hardcore weapons, the debut of the Elimination Chamber, Victoria beating Trish with a fire extinguisher, Matt Hardy’s “low-fat chocolate milk” Matt Facts, and way too much Saliva… the band, not the bodily fluid (thoug...