Straight Shooters

Recorded 1/9/2020. Vaughn Johnson (@VaughnMJohnson) and Nick Piccone (@nickpiccone) discuss their favorite moments and memories of 30+ years of the Royal Rumble. You can subscribe to The Straight Shooters on the following platforms: [Apple Podcasts], [Stitcher], [Google Play], [Spreaker], [Spotify], [iHeartRadio], [TuneIn Radio], [SoundCloud], [Player FM] and wherever else you get your podcasts! E...

Vaughn Johnson (@VaughnMJohnson) and Nick Piccone (@nickpiccone) give their predictions of what they think will happen in the world of wrestling in 2020. They also discuss how overrated surprises are in the Royal Rumble now, when WrestleMania might come to Philly and more.  You can subscribe to The Straight Shooters on the following platforms: [Apple Podcasts], [Stitcher], [Google Play], [Spreaker...

Vaughn Johnson (@VaughnMJohnson) and Nick Piccone (@nickpiccone) discuss the latest in the ongoing ratings battle between NXT and AEW, and this week, NXT runs a clean sweep of AEW. What does this mean for AEW? Who's got the momentum heading into 2020? And what does AEW need to do differently to feel actually different from WWE? The guys then run down the best moments of the 2010s, with the help fr...

Vaughn Johnson (@VaughnMJohnson) and Nick Piccone (@nickpiccone) are back! After a few weeks off, the guys return and discuss some of the biggest wrestling stories of the year, inside and outside of the ring. AEW's debut, NXT going head-to-head with Dynamite, ROH's decline, WrestleMania, and much more is discussed on this episode. You can subscribe to The Straight Shooters on the following platfor...

Vaughn Johnson (@VaughnMJohnson) and Nick Piccone (@nickpiccone) discuss CM Punk's return to WWE programming as a surprise at the very end of this week's edition of WWE Backstage on FS1. It's another edition of the Wednesday Night War between AEW and NXT. Who won this round? We also talk about ACH quitting WWE on a Periscope video. You can subscribe to The Straight Shooters on the following platfo...

Vaughn Johnson (@VaughnMJohnson) and Nick Piccone (@nickpiccone) preview AEW's Full Gear pay-per-view, chat about the historical significance of Cody's promo from Dynamite, discuss some of their favorite promos of all-time, dissect the Wednesday Night War ratings battle this week and more. You can subscribe to The Straight Shooters on the following platforms: [Apple Podcasts], [Stitcher], [Google...

Vaughn Johnson (@VaughnMJohnson) and Nick Piccone (@nickpiccone) discuss Jordan Myles' Twitter tirade railing against a terrible-looking and racist T-shirt that caused a ripple effect throughout the wrestling community. The guys discuss Myles' possible motives, and also discuss a major issue when it comes to not only WWE booking, but pro wrestling as a whole - why is pushing African-Americans at t...

Vaughn Johnson (@VaughnMJohnson) and Nick Piccone (@nickpiccone) discuss a dip in the Wednesday Night War ratings once again, but this time, there's good reason as both shows were up against stiff competition. Despite neither show hitting the 1.0 million mark, it may very well have been the best set of shows thus far for AEW and NXT respectively. The guys discuss a little about the ratings and why...

Vaughn Johnson (@VaughnMJohnson) and Nick Piccone (@nickpiccone) return to discuss a VERY BUSY TWO WEEKS in professional wrestling. Eric Bischoff is OUT as Executive Director of SmackDown, and done with WWE. He is being replaced by Bruce Prichard. How did that happen? Why did that happen?  How did RAW and SmackDown fare in the WWE Draft? Both AEW and NXT ratings were down in Week 2 of the Wednesda...

Vaughn Johnson (@VaughnMJohnson) and Nick Piccone (@nickpiccone) review the first-ever head-to-head Wednesday Night War between AEW's Dynamite on TNT and NXT on the USA Network. Which show was better? What were the ratings? The segment-by-segment deep dive into what was going up against what on each show and plenty more this week! You can subscribe to The Straight Shooters on the following platfor...

Vaughn Johnson (@VaughnMJohnson) and Nick Piccone (@nickpiccone) watch NXT on the USA Network live as they discuss Bray Wyatt's Fiend character and if it's really groundbreaking. Why is it so popular right now? Are we overhyping its popularity? The discussion then moves to whether or not we are on the precipice of another boom period in wrestling. Is this the same type of boom period we saw in 199...

Vaughn Johnson (@VaughnMJohnson) and Nick Piccone (@nickpiccone) discuss NXT's debut on the USA Network and its rating. Was it good or bad? What will AEW's debut on TNT look like in terms of ratings? The guys also discuss Brock Lesnar vs. Kofi Kingston for the WWE Championship being official for the first SmackDown on FOX. Will Brock win? What can WWE do that's newsworthy enough and not give Brock...

Vaughn Johnson (@VaughnMJohnson) and Nick Piccone (@nickpiccone) discuss AEW's All Out pay-per-view, make predictions, and end the show discussing how they view AEW as a wrestling company right now. You can subscribe to The Straight Shooters on the following platforms: Apple Podcasts (please rate and review us!), Stitcher, Google Play, Spreaker, Spotify, iHeartRadio, TuneIn Radio, SoundCloud, Play...

Vaughn Johnson (@VaughnMJohnson) and Nick Piccone (@nickpiccone) discuss the move of NXT to the USA Network beginning September 18 and becoming a live television program to go head-to-head with AEW weekly. For the fans who wanted a wrestling war, they got it. And, there's a lot of them. Of course, when someone gets what they want, sometimes they second-guess exactly what they wanted and begin to r...

Vaughn Johnson (@VaughnMJohnson) and Nick Piccone (@nickpiccone) discuss how the crowd in Toronto reacted to Kofi Kingston and Randy Orton this past Sunday at SummerSlam, which was parroted by some people who said Kofi Kingston's reign has been boring and it's time for a new champion. The guys discuss Kofi's reign and why it's not boring, and also why it's one of the best title reigns in recent WW...

Vaughn Johnson (@VaughnMJohnson) and Nick Piccone (@nickpiccone) discuss the legendary career of Harley Race, who passed away last week. What moments and memories stood out to you? The guys then discuss AEW coming to Philly on October 16 for a TV taping. But they're not heading to the Wells Fargo Center, they're heading to the site of TNA's 2011 Bound For Glory pay-per-view spectacular... the Liac...

Vaughn Johnson (@VaughnMJohnson) and Nick Piccone (@nickpiccone) live commentate one of the best wrestling matches in SummerSlam history as Bret "The Hitman" Hart defends the WWF Championship against his brother, Owen Hart, in a Steel Cage Match at SummerSlam 1994 in Chicago. Earlier in the year at WrestleMania X, Owen pinned Bret in the middle of the ring, so this was Owen's second chance to not...

Vaughn Johnson (@VaughnMJohnson) and Nick Piccone (@nickpiccone) discuss the bubble that hardcore wrestling fans often find themselves in. After RAW Reunion, is it possible that reaching to the casual audience is actually more important than reaching to the hardcore base? Has the hardcore base already turned on WWE completely? We talk about a phenomenon known as "The Wrestling Bubble" and whether...

Vaughn Johnson (@VaughnMJohnson) and Nick Piccone (@nickpiccone) discuss the things both SmackDown Executive Director Eric Bischoff and RAW Executive Director Paul Heyman can do to make their brands better. What can they do to stand out? The guys discuss in detail SmackDown's move to FOX especially, and what Bischoff can do with his program, given the freedom [hopefully], to make it what FOX visua...

Vaughn Johnson (@VaughnMJohnson) and Nick Piccone (@nickpiccone) discuss the weird confrontation at a Blink 182 concert between Enzo Amore and Joey Janela. The video doesn't show much, but it was the talk of Wrestling Twitter this week. That got Vaughn and Nick thinking... who would you take in a real fight? The guys list their favorites of the current crop in pro wrestling as to who would win a r...

Vaughn Johnson (@VaughnMJohnson) and Nick Piccone (@nickpiccone) discuss the Braun Strowman/Bobby Lashley angle from RAW, the Kofi Kingston/Samoa Joe promo from SmackDown and a few more tidbits about this week's WWE programming providing a tonal shift than we've seen in, well, years. The guys also discuss whether or not WWE can continue with adult-oriented themes in 2019, even if they don't go as...

Tweet Vaughn Johnson (@VaughnMJohnson) and Nick Piccone (@nickpiccone) take on a myriad of topics this week, the biggest being the bombshell announced by WWE on Thursday morning. Eric Bischoff and Paul Heyman are back working for Vince McMahon, and each of them will be controlling one of WWE's television shows. Bischoff will run SmackDown as its Executive Director, and Heyman will be running RAW w...

Tweet Vaughn Johnson (@VaughnMJohnson) and Nick Piccone (@nickpiccone) celebrate the 200th episode of The Straight Shooters! The guys discuss how the podcast got started, some of the best moments of the show, shout outs to all of our guests over the years, and more on this milestone episode!   You can also subscribe to The Straight Shooters on the following platforms: Apple Podcasts (please rate a...

Tweet This week, Vaughn Johnson (@VaughnMJohnson) and Nick Piccone (@nickpiccone) discuss WWE's reliance too much on aging superstars for some of their biggest shows. Goldberg vs. Undertaker? Match didn't turn out too well. What can WWE do to change its philosophical agenda and avoid using aging veterans that don't belong in a ring anymore?   You can also subscribe to The Straight Shooters on the...

Tweet This week, Vaughn Johnson (@VaughnMJohnson) and Nick Piccone (@nickpiccone) react to AEW's DOUBLE OR NOTHING pay-per-view. What was good? What was great? Was there anything bad? The ring ropes and turnbuckles were great! The guys discuss their thoughts on the show and what to look forward to come the summer.   Then, the guys dive deep into Jon Moxley's appearance on Talk Is Jericho [you can...