Talking Tourneys

"TALKING TOURNEYS is back.  We've heard your clamoring and the demands, so we're thrilled to announce that Talking Tourneys is back with a bang, and it's now a Dan Rice solo production!" That's what I said 16 months ago... Lets try it again! This episode I've got Violent People Radio's Pat on with me to discuss the tenth annual Nick Gage Invitational.

TALKING TOURNEYS is back.  We've heard your clamoring and the demands, so we're thrilled to announce that Talking Tourneys is back with a bang, and it's now a Dan Rice solo production!  In this exciting new chapter, of Talking Tourneys, each episode will feature Dan in conversation with a rotating lineup of amazing co-hosts. And to kick things off, we couldn't have asked for a better guest than th...

Dan & Sam are finally back after months away.  We heard what fans were saying, what they were begging for. They wanted to hear about Court Bauer's Major League Wrestling's Opera Cup. A tournament that according to Court Bauer (ETI - Extremely Trustworthy Individual), goes back decades. Nearly a hundred years quite frankly. Who were we, mere podcast hosts, to say to cover such a tournament? Sur...

Talking Tourneys is back to talk about one of the all-time tournaments. All the stars are here, Anthony Henry, Lio Rush, Jason Kincaid, Jordan Kage, etc.. A classic format of 6 first-round matches and a 6 person elimination final. We have a type as of late. We also talk about Sam's trip down to the territory briefly.

Tim is back as our first-time 2x guest to talk about the first Tetsujin tournament. During the course of the show we talk about what makes good tournament composition, Dan brings up some scathing tweets from the past, and if anything shoot style is good. LINKS! Q&T Are: twitter.com/QandTare BEAUTY IN COMBAT: youtu.be/wWu1jNofNUY?si=cRbzwT0Z6OaSkguO

As always planned, releasing wXw AMBITION 11 episode, 4 years to the day of it happening. Just great forethought all around. Sam and Dan, back at it again. Avoiding talking about too many problematic individuals. We have Thatcher and WALTER in pro wrestling matches so you know we are thriving to some degree.

Dan and Sam are back to talk about one of the staple tournaments of Ring of Honor, Survival of the Fittest. We get some background on why this tournament takes place and why it takes place where it does. As well as go into how Bryan Danielson is an all-time great (take any chance you can) and more. Tournament also fields all time greats like The Briscoes and Samoa Joe. Lot to chat through here and...

It is Scenic City Invitational Week so we are kicking things off with a look back at the very first iteration of the southern indie tentpole event. As always, Dan and Sam are here to break down the action. That is not all though, Scott Hensley, co-founder and promoter of the SCI is here to give us the 411 on how things came together, why it happened, and a little breakdown of the 2023 version of S...

Dan and I went down a journey with this tournament. Featuring legends like Sabu and Hip Hop Man, ALL THE STARS ARE HERE! We take a few detours to land this plane but that we do because Talking Tourneys must go on. First lucha tournament and we made some choices here.

Is Game Changer Wrestling back? Who is to say but Dan and Sam are here to chat about one of the team big GCW tournaments that happens every year. Always fun to do something a little more current. Wrestlers from Japan and Mexico come on in to square off for the all-mighty John Zandig Memorial Cup. Matt Tremont, Rina Yamashita, and Green Phantom, all the stars are here!

CZ F'n DUBBU BBY! Dan and Sam started with Tournament of Death 3 and now 17 episodes later, time to chat about Tournament of Death 4. Zandig brings all the deathmatch stars from the US to a backyard in Delaware for a heckuva time. Toby Klein, Necro Butcher, and Ian Rotten, what more can you want? It happens in 2005 so the height of everyone's power. The big man himself is in there. As always, Dan...

Back this week with a re-do of a previous episode that was lost to technical difficulties. On this episode of Talking Tourneys we chat about our favorite performances of the first 16 episodes of Talking Tourneys from Tournament of Death 3 to King of the Ring 1993 to RINGs. All in a day's work for Sam and Dan.

Man...wtf are we doing? Jeremy Borash we need to talk. What's going on? Were you okay? How's your life been since? I hope you are well. Dan and Sam dig into the historical tournament from WWA, their first PPV. One of the large promotions to come out of WCW's end. How to they capitilize on the gap in the market from over in Australia. When you have talent like Road Dog, Jeff Jarrett, and Jerry Lawl...

Dan and Sam are joined by none other than JR Goldberg to talk about a tournament that has been called the peak of Vince Russo booking. Including wrestlers like Stone Cold, The Rock, and Ken Shamrock, a star-studded lineup in the World Wrestling Federation. It is now a period of great in-ring reclaim for the promotion. Does the tournament buck the trend? Does it matter if not? Find out on this epis...

New Japan Pro Wrestling got to slap on the NWA World Heavyweight Championship to their big tournament. What could go wrong? They even got to bring in stars from WCW like Steve Austin, Arn Anderson, and Rick Rude. Let alone their own draws like Mutoh, Chono, and Hashimoto. This tournament has all-timers throughout! Come join Dan and Sam as they break down all the action from the 1992 G1.

We continue our journey through wrestling tournaments asking the age old question "What the hell WCW?"The matches are made up and the tournament doesn't matter. We go through the logistics of this whole thing. How much did Nintendo spend on this? How much did they overpay? Who is to say??? All the stars are here, Ricky Steamboat, Steve Austin, Ron Simmons, Dustin Rhodes and more. What could go wro...

We have the one and only Tim from Q&T Are (on this here podcast network). He was there live at Pro Wrestling Guerrilla's DDT 2015 so we discuss his memory of the event and how it felt going back. Dan also talks about how he is starting the Alex Reynolds fan club. Listen for all that and more!

Back at it talking Westside Xtreme Wrestling's 16 Carat Gold Tournament from 2011. An important tournament in Sam's fandom. Big names at the time like Davey Richards, Sami Callihan, and WALTER (Big Van Walter here bby). This is when you could have these all-star type tournaments taking place outside wrestlers' home bases, EVOLVE and ROH in this case. As always, leave a review on iTunes, RT the twe...

Life gets in the way sometimes so no WxW 16 Carat 2011 but with that Dan and Sam carve out some time to talk about the landscape of tournaments as they stand. Primarily on the US Indies but some level of international discussion as well.

When Sam chose this tournament he did internalize how bad he is at pronouncing names. Safe to say he remembered while discussing this tournament. Mega Battle 1994 is a complicated tournament. If the RINGS rules weren't enough, they threw the kitchen sink at you with all the byes. Plus there are 20 wrestlers in this shoot-style tournament. Lot to work through. Luckily Dan and Sam are here to break...

Not That NWA Title Tournament From 1994! Paul Heyman can kick rocks, Shane Douglas sucks shit, we only respect Tracy Smothers in this (podcast) house. We talk a little bit about how this tournament comes to be but mostly focus on the hot action that takes place in New Jersey with a whole slew of Smoky Mountain Wrestling talent making their way to participate in a tournament for an organization the...

MAW RETURNS TO TALKING TOURNEYS! This was meant to be a short little bonus episode. Something nice and slight to keep things moving. It is only 4 matches and heck it features a rematch from the last tournament we reviewed, Ian Rotten versus CM Punk. We also technically get Colt Cabana, then some Mean Mitch Page and Corp Robinson to round us out. Let me tell you though, this tournament is built dif...

Everyone is talking about "The Hustler" Carmine DeSpirito. Some are calling him a genius. Some are calling him one of the great talkers of his generation. In a tournament with names like "The All Elite Evil" CM Punk, Ian "Don't Blame Me" Rotten, and Colt Cabana, it is DeSpirito who everyone will be talking about. Dan and Sam are back at it to discuss the iconic Mid American Wrestling Heavyweight C...

In the middle of May 2011, New Japan Pro Wrestling decided to take their first tour of the United States of America. On this tour they debuted the Intercontinental title. You know, a title that at times was at times on par with the IWGP Heavyweight title. Obviously that belt had not-so-humble beginnings. Surely the tournament to crown the inaugural championship of the title that would become unifi...

This episode's tournament is a mouthful! For Talking Tourneys Halloween episode we turned to something a little more up-to-date, a little bloody, and where masks are the name of the game. A Dan pick this week as Sam hasn't watched any modern lucha because he is an absolute scumbag. A tournament with old men, older rivalries, and more overly produced wooden boards than you can shake a stick at. AAA...