I Like Wrestling

It was a big week for wrestling, from Fastlane to a star-studded episode of NXT, and your trusty ILW team is here to talk about it with you. The surprising new Universal Tag Team Champs Cody Rhodes and Jey Uso prove their buddy-cop status with hilarious chemistry during a yeet-filled press conference, especially in contrast to the stilted awkwardness of John Cena and LA Knight together. NXT’s star...

Dust off your tombstones, unlock the mausoleum, and get ready to watch along in real time with Rachel and Audio Ben as they revisit WCW’s iconic 1997 Halloween Havoc match between Rey Mysterio and Eddie Guerrero. The iconic props and backgrounds immediately captivate us, and the high-flying acrobatics and electric chemistry between two legends proves why this is such a legendary match. After watch...

What do Kofi Kingston, Damian Sandow, and Tommaso Ciampa have in common? They were all trained by legendary coach Mike Hollow, who joins the ILW Team today to talk about his coaching career, the independent wrestling scene and how it has and hasn’t evolved throughout the years, and what gets him to tune in on a weekly basis. He weighs in on the divisive Roman Reigns vs. Rock debate and the effects...

Grow out your beards, lather yourself in grease, and get ready to watch along in real time with the ILW trio as they revisit The Shield vs. The Wyatt Family. Audio Ben keeps us on track with the proper times, while Matt is derailed by ads and Rachel overzealously fast forwards a couple of minutes ahead. We talk about the trajectories and tragic endings of the iconic trio's careers and The Shi...

Nothing brings people together like wrestling and thanks to a friend of a friend (hi, Addy!), sports reporter and broadcaster Pierre Noujaim joins the ILW team for a discussion full of surprises and hot takes. He takes us through experiencing The Attitude Era as a teenager, seeing the iconic Kurt Angle Milk Truck incident live, and shocks us with his favorite interview experience. Pierre thinks ab...

Lower the steel cage chamber and get ready for a new episode of ILW reacting, recapping, and proselytizing about last weekend’s Payback PPV. Rachel and Audio Ben are your tag team representatives this week and they rave about Becky vs. Trish, celebrate the new Undisputed Tag Team Champions, and try not to get too excited when discussing Rhea vs. Raquel. Amidst a discussion about mid-2000s action f...

Stone Cold vs. McMahon. Shawn Michaels vs. Bret Hart. MVP vs. Matt Hardy. Feuds between superstars is an ancient tenent of professional wrestling, a storyline as old as time, and we’re here to revisit an underrated, nuanced feud between Montell Vontavius Porter and Matt Hardy. The wacky antics of this odd couple gave us iconic moments like a boxing match with Evander Holyfield, beer drinking conte...

The professional wrestling community lost two legends this week and we pivot our Main Event to honor their impact and legacies. Producer Jason joins Rachel and Ben to recount the many stages of Terry Funk’s career and his parallels with iconic figures like Jake the Snake. We discuss the importance of Bray Wyatt’s promo skills and creativity and look back on what was far too short a run. Millennial...

Rev up your engines and get ready to race down the 405 as we travel from the backlot of Universal to the stage of Wrestlemania 12 in an epic, multi-part brawl between “Rowdy” Roddy Piper and Goldust. The ILW Trio discuss why this match still holds up almost 20 years later, the importance of Goldust’s character, and how OJ Simpson might have played an even bigger role in Wrestlemania. It doesn’t ma...

Rachel is joined by Chad Kultgen, renowned Bachelor expert and co-host of Dudesy , to discuss the parallels between reality TV and wrestling, why he’s able to go all in for The Bachelor community but not for WWE, and how both universes are really all about the game and how you play it.  FOLLOW US ON SOCIALS: TWITTER @ilwpod RACHEL’S TWITTER @rpolansky77  BEN’S TWITTER @grumphandleslam  MATT’S TWIT...

Fresh off their live in-studio episode with THE Brian Campbell, the ILW Team and guest co-host/face of the pod ImBoredBrother are here to bring you their highs, lows, and woahs of Summer Slam 2023. They celebrate LA Knight’s Slim Jim Battle Royale win and subsequent promo with The Miz, reveal some fun facts about Cody Rhodes that may or may not be true, and Iyo Sky’s MITB Cash-In literally brings...

It’s Episode 50!!! And what better way to celebrate than by opening the new I Like Wrestling studio headquarters with an exclusive interview featuring THE Brian Campbell! Audio Ben and Producer Jason join us on the mics for a hot fire discussion about professional wrestling, combat sports, why stupidity and levity are just as important as violence, and what it might take to get Brian to relapse ba...

Rachel is Lost in LA with her family so the FIBs (Matt, Ben, and Ron) linked up to discuss The Bloodline, New Japan, and more. Ron drops a surprising take that makes a ton of sense and we book the Elders as Jey gears up to take on our Tribal Chief at SummerSlam. Ben steers us through the past, present, and future in our Evolution segment and Matt stays back on his BS as usual. The boys finish off...

The first official I Like Wrestling x I Like to Read collab is here as journalist Bobby Matthews joins Rachel to discuss his book “Living the Gimmick”. Bobby shares tales from the territories he’s watched and worked in, thoughts on Cody Rhodes, and what it means to fully live the gimmick.  BOBBY’S TWITTER: https://twitter.com/bamawriter?lang=en BUY “LIVING THE GIMMICK”: https://www.amazon.com/Livi...

Bang your cymbals, play your trombones, it’s time for The New Day vs. The Usos in the electric opening match from 2017’s Hell in a Cell. The first and only tag team match in a cell is deservingly iconic of its many dramatic spots, fluid choreography, and electric tension between two of the most important tag teams in history.  Evolution takes us back to the dark side of Adrian Adonis’s past throug...

Foley Week continues on ILW as our Main Event centers on the man, the myth, the legend - Mick Foley! From Cactus Jack to Mankind to Dude Love and back again, we revisit iconic matches like Cactus Jack vs. Sting at Beach Bash, Cactus Jack vs. Triple H, and the revolutionary Mankind/JR Interview. We may disagree if he’s a heel or a face but either way, we’re having a nice day. Rachel revists a roman...

Watch along live for Rachel's first reactions and Matt/Audio Ben's reliving of Mick Foley vs. Edge at Wrestlemania 22 (2006). Queue it up on Peacock at 1:02:18 and let the hardcore madness begin! 

Ronda Rousey may not give a damn about her reputation but all eyes were on her during Wrestlemania for her mixed tag-team match with Kurt Angle against Triple H and Stephanie McMahon. Does the ILW Team buy her face? Rachel watches the full match for the first time after seeing teasers on Total Divas and the ILW Team recalls their experiences watching live and the reverberations of Ronda’s career....

Matt takes a hot minute for a hot take about what Ronda Rousey and Shayna Bayszler’s feud could mean for the future of combat sports. He projects the upcoming Endeavor era and makes a strong case for why it will be better than anyone thinks. FOLLOW US ON SOCIALS: TWITTER @ilwpod RACHEL’S TWITTER @rpolansky77  INSTAGRAM @ilwpod TIKTOK @mattvogel5 and @ilwpod #ilikewrestlingpod #ilwpod

The following episode is scheduled for one-fall, brought to you by KFC and Cricket Wireless. Natty’s claws are out and ready to pounce onto Naomi’s Smackdown Women’s Championship during arguably one of the best matches on the card of a rough SummerSlam 2017. Rachel brings her Total Divas context and insight into the history of their feud and whether or not there was real animosity in that slap. Ma...

Wipe off your shoes before you step into the ring, because Matt’s here to tell us all about his official in-ring professional wrestling debut last weekend at Vermont Pro Wrestling Entertainment. From an eye-opening interaction with Punk (no, not that one) to an impromptu catering business, we’ve got a maple-soaked behind-the-scenes peek into the wood and steel of the indie wrestling scene. Rachel...

It’s Matt’s week to choose our match from the past and we were forced to suffer through the atrocity that is the Midcard Maharaja vs. The Not-Yet-Tribal Chief. It may not be the worst thing ever but it’s certainly not good and we talk through why, along with the absurdity of the rest of the four hours and counting that is Money in the Bank 2018. At least we had Alexa Bliss. Audio Ben considers Tri...

1-2-3 Kid, Shawn Waltman, X-Pac, Syxx… it doesn’t matter what your name is when you face the best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will be, Bret Hart. This week’s match from the past is brought to you courtesy of Audio Ben and Rachel took approximately one note on the actual moves, though there’s still plenty of discussion to be had surrounding this 1994 diamond in the rough....

Catch Matt LIVE for his in-ring announcer debut at World of Hurt Wrestling presented by Vermont Entertainment Wrestling on Saturday, June 17 in Burlington, VT! Buy tickets at: https://sevendaystickets.com/events/vermont-pro-wrestling-entertainment-presents-world-of-hurt-wrestling-6-17-2023/tickets 

From Night of Champions to NXT Battleground, last weekend was filled with premium live wrestling, and the ILW Team is here to recap, review, and share their hot takes. Matt takes us for a spin on commentary for a live watch-along of Rhea Ripley vs. Natalya’s match. Evolution is as strong a segment as ever, with another heated discussion on the merits of 2007 Smackdown to the futures of Mustafa Ali...