Top Rope Nation - WWE & AEW Podcast

Seth Rollins made some headlines this week when he said that his "Eye for An Eye Match" with Rey Mysterio wouldn't have been scrutinized during the Attitude Era. We thought this would be a great opportunity to discuss: how does the modern WWE compare to the Attitude Era, and is Seth Rollins correct? We also look at longterm storytelling with today's wrestling audience. Do modern cr...

With the 15 year anniversary of this famous match approaching, today we're looking back at Hulk Hogan vs. Shawn Michaels from WWE SummerSlam 2005 in Washington, D.C. This match was the only time that Michaels and Hogan faced off in a singles match in their respective careers. The bout is filled with controversy, both behind the scenes and in front of the television cameras. We dive into it all...

Kyle is back and he and Ryan catch you up on this week in wrestling. WWE Raw Underground, WWE's new "Retribution" stable, and Marty Jannetty confesses to a murder?! Plus, an interesting talk about WWE's SummerSlam 1992 and how it changed the way the business draws to this very day.  We close things out with a couple of thought provoking mailbag questions. One asks about bias when i...

We've got another collabo-pod for you this week as Ryan joins Garrett Gonzales of The Fight Game Podcast.  Ryan and Garrett discuss AEW's successes (and misses) when it comes to using former WWE stars as part of their company. What has made a good crossover, and who should have AEW maybe looked the other way on? We also talk about Cody Rhodes bringing in independent stars for his TNT Champ...

We've got a collabo-pod for you this week as we united with BJ Cruz and Jeremy Los from the Two Jabronis With A Wrestling Podcast show to talk this week's Wednesday Night Wars! We break down AEW Dynamite and NXT, including Matt Cardona's big AEW debut, why this show didn't deliver as we were expecting, a surprising result on NXT, and more. Plus, we talk Adam Cole's storyline wi...

Last week's WWE Extreme Rules PPV show got us thinking - what are the worst WWE PPV events in history? So decided to hit record and talk about it.  Then, we talk about the return of live wrestling crowds in North America (whenever that may be). Will that helps the current downward trajectory of WWE's product? We have a lively discussion on this as well.  Have a question for the show? The m...

AEW Dynamite this week was one of the very best in the history of the promotion. We discuss the show and contract that with what we saw from WWE at Extreme Rules this past Sunday. Plus, a little talk about Impact Wrestling's Slammiversary PPV event.  Plus, we've got a thought provoking mailbag question on our biggest wrestling regrets. Have a question for the show? Send it in to TopRopeNat...

Today's show is completely directed by you, the listener! We dip into the mailbag and answer your questions on a wide range of topics. They include: championship belts, the show's history, New Japan Pro Wrestling, Bruce Prichard, best wrestlers never to be world champion, and the best hardcore/extreme matches in WWE history.  Have a question for the show? Send it in to TopRopeNation@gmail....

AEW presented another PPV style edition of Dynamite this week with Fight For The Fallen. Ryan, Kyle, and Justin check-in with their full review of the show. Plus, we're talking WWE Extreme Rules and making our picks for this Sunday's PPV show. Finally, we've got a couple mailbag questions. Have a question for the show? Send it in to TopRopeNation@gmail.com and if we read it on the air,...

We're dipping into the Top Rope Nation archives for our Monday show this week. With so many new listeners over the last year, there's a lot of content we have put out in the four year history of the podcast that many of you have never heard.  Presented here is a debate we had way back on Episode 88 (March 14, 2019) where Ryan, Kyle, and Justin debate the top ten pro wrestling factions/stab...

Night two of AEW Fyter Fest and NXT Great American Bash is in the books! Ryan, Justin, and Kyle check-in to review another exciting Wednesday night of pro wrestling. Who won the night? What was the match of the night? We break it all down for you. We had an eight-man tag that is already the talk of the wrestling world, Keith Lee now possessing both of NXT's top men's singles championships,...

On this week's special edition of 'Top Rope Nation Classics,' we go back in time and look at WWE King of the Ring 1993. We examine the full show (aka The Bret Hart Show), and also talk a lot about the context of the event itself and all of the backstage drama that was going on as it relates to the WWE Championship between Hulk Hogan, Bret Hart, Vince McMahon, and Yokozuna. 'Top Rop...

Night one of AEW Fyter Fest and NXT Great American Bash is in the books! Ryan and Kyle check-in to review an exciting Wednesday night of pro wrestling. Who won the night? What was the match of the night? We break it all down for you. We're talking Sasha Banks vs. Io Shirai, Cody Rhodes' t-shirt that took a shot at WWE, Penelope Ford's coming out party, Taz's excellent promo, two ho...

The Undertaker has retired from WWE (for now), as revealed on the final episode of The Last Ride. We thought this would be as good of a time as any to look back at The Undertaker's  career and rank his greatest matches.  We go through four rounds, fantasy sports style, and draft the best matches in the career of the "Dead Man," with some commentary along the way. A really fun show look...

Wednesday brought news that the COVID-19 pandemic has hit WWE hard, with multiple talents now testing positive (including Renee Young). How will their own cases, Florida's dire situation, and new laws in the northeast affect WWE (and AEW) moving forward? We discuss. Plus, we have some thoughts on the #SpeakingOut movement that has rocked the wrestling world over the last week, as well as our t...

As WWE pushes on throughout 2020, one of the commonalities we are seeing is the age of their top tier talent: they're relying heavily lately on stars of yesteryear. Last week's Raw in particular was headlined by Randy Orton, Christian, and Ric Flair. We discuss what this says about the promotion and compare it to WCW.  Plus, we have even more information on Paul Heyman and his backstage de...

WWE Raw drew their best rating since the post-WrestleMania show back in April this week, and that comes on the heels of Paul Heyman's exit from the Raw creative team. We have some exclusive news on Heyman's exit from that department, as well as why his firing from creative was seen internally as something that had to happen.  Plus, we talk about WWE's bad news on Tuesday that a develop...

WWE Backlash 2020 is in the book and we are here with our full review of the show. Did Edge vs. Randy Orton live up to the hype as the greatest wrestling match of all time?  Plus, we talk the rest of Backlash as well and discuss what worked and what didn't work on the show.  We close with a possible exclusive news tidbit on tomorrow night's WWE Raw show.  A huge thank you to our sponsor Be...

A new edition of WWE 24 was released this week focusing on Ric Flair, so we figured it'd be a good time to talk about the career of THE MAN. We're doing it in a way we've never done before on the show - we are having a draft! We go through five rounds, fantasy sports style, and draft the best matches in the career of the "Nature Boy" Ric Flair, with some commentary along the wa...

We're back with our NXT TakeOver In Your House review and results show! WWE brought back an iconic event from the 1990s and in some cases went to great lengths to recreate the feel of the 90s. Was that a good thing or a bad thing? Did the matches live up to the hype? We're here to break down all of the NXT TakeOver In Your House results, including Io Shirai's big moment, Adam Cole and...

While the United States and the world is in the midst of crisis, Top Rope Nation is back to hopefully put a smile on your face for an hour this week. However, we can't begin our show without addressing the bigger problems we are facing in the world today. Then, we discuss the new "Sting: The Lost Tape" documentary that debuted on the WWE Network this week - lost footage from 1995 that...

With WWE NXT set to revive the In Your House event this Saturday night at TakeOver, we thought this would be a good chance to go back and look at the previous editions of In Your House that were produced from 1995-1999. In doing so, each of us list our top ten favorite matches in the history of the event.  While there's a good amount of overlap, there's also a few differences in our lists...

As WWE NXT gets ready for NXT TakeOver In Your House, there's a glaring issue with 2020's NXT television product. We're here to examine exactly what that is, as well as why the rest of the year will be interesting for the brand. Plus, AEW Dynamite featured the debut of FTR, formerly WWE's The Revival. We talk about our first impressions of how AEW used the former tag team champions...

AEW Double Or Nothing 2020 is in the books and we are here to talk about it. Join us for our full AEW Double Or Nothing review! We're talking all of the highlights from the show (Stadium Stampede, anyone/), as well as any possible negatives (there weren't many!). Plus, a little debate on how AEW and WWE have compared over the last couple of months in these empty arena settings and why AEW...

We are coming up on the 21 year anniversary of the tragic death of Owen Hart, and this week's Dark Side of the Ring season finale looked at Hart's death in Kansas City on May 23rd, 1999. We're reviewing that Dark Side of the Ring documentary, as well as talking  about the life and legacy of Owen. A great show looking back at some of The Rocket's greatest moments.  Ben Cruz of the T...