1998 was a big year in wrestling. Among the major events of that year was the emergence of Chris Jericho. After turning heel in January, this match saw the end of the story of 'The Man of 1,004 Holds' against the cruiserweight division. Does it hold up? What of the Jericho we know now was already there, and what was yet to come? Lorcan (@lorcanmullan) and Simon (@simoncross3) are here to find out. https://twitter.com/lmtyspod https://facebook.com/lmtyspod https://patreon.com/lmtyspod lmtyspod@gmail.com

Let Me Tell You Something!

LMTYS Match of the Week #020 - Chris Jericho vs. Juventud Guerrera (WCW, 08-08-1998)

Whilst a promotion having their title defended in a different promotion is quite the in thing in 2021, the WWF has rarely been one to loan their gold belts out to other promotions. This week, the LMTYS boys Lorcan (@lorcanmullan) and Simon (@simoncross3) look at one of these rare instances where the recently face-turned Shawn Michaels defends his Intercontinental championship in the Tennessee territory of Smokey Mountain Wrestling, as the promotion's owner and top heel manager Jim Cornette leads his top singles star 'Nature Boy' Buddy Landel in as the challenger. An unusual twist took place in the build-up to this match, as reality became a factor in the match, Landel's personal struggles becoming public knowledge and this match being fought with Landel vowing to not have any heel shenanigans on his part. This episode does a deeper dive on a man Dave Meltzer himself described in his 2015 obituary as "one of the great 'What if's' of professional wrestling

LMTYS Match of the Week #019 - Shawn Michaels vs. Buddy Landel (SMW, 04-08-1995)

The hardcore wrestling movement came into being by taking inspiration from numerous sources, but when considering the true hub of activity, like New York was with the punk movement, Seattle was with grunge, Coventry was with British ska, etc., Philadelphia is probably seen as the most important location for its birth and growth thanks to its association with ECW. But a couple of years before there was ECW, there was the TWA, which hosted a series of bloody brawls between Cactus Jack and Eddie Gilbert that become the talk of the tape trading and newsletter world. Lorcan (@lorcanmullan) and Simon (@simoncross3) are at ground zero (almost literally with the single hardcam shot footage) to see what aged well, what didn't, and what led both to and from this event.

LMTYS Match of the Week #018 - Cactus Jack vs. Eddie Gilbert (TWA, 03-08-1991)

The only member of New Japan's legendary Three Musketeers that Lorcan (@lorcanmullan) and Simon (@simoncross3) had yet to watch in action for this podcast is the defending champion in this one. On the opposite corner to him is the soon-to-be politician Hiroshi Hase. Around this time NJPW's rival promotion All Japan were having matches rated five stars by Meltzer on a regular basis. New Japan could merely achieve 4+ stars. Lorcan and Simon refrained from gouging their eyes out before watching this one. Will that be their biggest mistake? https://patreon.com/lmtyspod lmtyspod@gmail.com

LMTYS Match of the Week #017 - Shinya Hashimoto vs. Hiroshi Hase (NJPW, 13-12-1994)

It's been so long since Dave Meltzer rated a women's wrestling match five stars (or higher) that the defending champion in this match wasn't even born when the last one was wrestled. Utami Hayashishita has had a remarkable ascent to the top of the biggest women's wrestling promotion in Japan, but she's facing the stiff kicks of Syuri in this latest title defence. It's a battle of survival, and Lorcan (@lorcanmullan) and Simon (@simoncross3) are here to work it all out for you.

The Meltzer 5-Star Project: #165 - Utami Hayashishita vs. Syuri (ST★RDOM, 12-06-2021)

TAKE THIS example of interesting discourse centred around a particular aspect of many pro wrestling matches.

LMTYS #39 - Strike Exchanges

The era of wrestling where being obnoxiously certain of the superiority of your opinion could actually make you an OK living is where we're returning to this time. Yet again, Simon (@simoncross3) has picked an event that he attended live, but this time Lorcan (@lorcanmullan) doesn't have as many kind words to say about the promotion that it is, as opposed to 2016 NXT. What he does have many words for, though, are both WhatCulture and the fanbase that it cultivated. The match itself sees the once and future John Morrison face a young upstart who now is plying his trade in the New Japan's Young Lions division. And Simon knew him back when he was a member of Lads Vegas! https://patreon.com/lmtyspod https://facebook.com/lmtyspod https://twitter.com/lmtyspod lmtyspod@gmail.com

LMTYS Match of the Week #016 - Johnny Mundo vs. Gabriel Kidd (WCPW, 30-11-2016)

With a mixture of trepidation and a very obnoxious sighing, Simon (@simoncross3) has to take another chance on watching the shoot-style pro wrestling of the late 80s and early 90s that was a prototypical presentation of what would eventually become mixed martial arts. This time it's Akira Maeda's debut RINGS show. The fall of the Iron Curtain saw an influx of Russian wrestlers, many of them trained in the sambo style that eventually would bring Khabib Nurmagamedov to the UFC. Volk Han, also of Dagestan, literally wrestled his first match and within the year was one of the most popular foreign workers in Japan. Let's see if the LMTYS boys are also as taken on first look. https://patreon.com/lmtyspod https://twitter.com/lmtyspod https://facebook.com/lmtyspod lmtyspod@gmail.com

LMTYS Match of the Week #015 - Akira Maeda vs. Volk Han (RINGS, 07-12-2021)

After the previous Match of the Week saw Lorcan (@lorcanmullan) recount his adventures around attending an ROH event, Simon (@simoncross3) takes his turn to recount his favourite live match wrestling experience. No disrespect to a theatre in the outskirts of Liverpool, but Simon's trip to Dallas for WrestleMania 32, including this NXT Takeover event, is a bit of a one-up. It's a debut and a farewell, as Shinsuke Nakamura wrestles his first match as a WWE employee against the departing-for-Raw Sami Zayn. NXT was as hot as a U.S. wrestling promotion had felt in many years, and the BOWOB lads are here to remind you why and see if the excitement was earned in hindsight. https://patreon.com/lmtyspod https://twitter.com/lmtyspod https://facebook.com/lmtyspod lmtyspod@gmail.com

LMTYS Match of the Week #014 - Sami Zayn vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (WWE, 01-04-2016)

A pairing of episodes this time from LMTYS lads, as they take it in turns to discuss the favourite match they both saw live. It's Lorcan's turn (@lorcanmullan) this week, as we travel back to 2007, where a young Lorcan on a whim took a journey to Liverpool in order to see his favourite promotion live and a title match between the Delaware siblings Jay and Mark Briscoe, and the Dragon Gate duo of SHINGO (soon to regain his surname of Takagi) and Naruki Doi. It's non-stop moves and Lorcan lapped it up at the time. Will it be the same experience for him with fourteen years of hindsight? What will Simon (@simoncross3) feel about the match without having the live experience to affect his opinion. https://patreon.com/lmtyspod https://twitter.com/lmtyspod https://facebook.com/lmtyspod lmtyspod@gmail.com

LMTYS Match of the Week #013 - The Briscoe Brothers vs. SHINGO & Naruki Doi (ROH, 03-03-2007)

For the fourth time, Will Ospreay and Shingo Takagi have fought each other in a singles match. For the fourth time, it has achieved or surpasssed the five-star score for Dave Meltzer. This match, the first for a championship in the form of Ospreay's IWGP World Heavyweight title, is the top rated of all four, and sees Meltzer hand out the rare (but nowhere near as rare as it used to be) sixth full star. Lorcan (@lorcanmullan) and Simon (@simoncross3) are here yet again to see what made this one some much more specialier than it already is. Wait a minute... specialier is not even a word. And six out of five isn't a rating! NONE OF THIS MAKES SENSE ANYMORE!!!! https://patreon.com/lmtyspod https://twitter.com/lmtyspod https://facebook.com/lmtyspod lmtyspod@gmail.com

The Meltzer 5-Star Project: #164 - Will Ospreay vs. Shingo Takagi (NJPW, 04-05-2021)

Has there been a single wrestling fan who hasn't dreamt of wrapping the same championship belt around their waist, or draped over their shoulder, that was held by their favourite wrestler? If they do exist, they're not the sort of people Lorcan (@lorcanmullan) and Simon (@simoncross3) want to associate themselves with during this conversation. https://patreon.com/lmtyspod https://twitter.com/lmtyspod https://facebook.com/lmtyspod lmtyspod@gmail.com

LMTYS #38 - Championship Belts

It's the most recent MOTW by a long distance this week, as Lorcan (@lorcanmullan) and Simon (@simoncross3) travel back in time to March 2021. At first it appeared it might have been one for the Meltzer Five-Star Project, but after Big Dave gave it a paltry 4.75* rating, the LMTYS boys themselves decided there was enough within the match, and the entire build-up, reaction, and surrounding wrestling culture that it represented, to be worthy of discussion. Is it worthy for your ears? Listen to find out! https://patreon.com/lmtyspod https://facebook.com/lmtyspod https://twitter.com/lmtyspd lmtyspod@gmail.com

LMTYS Match of the Week #012 - Thunder Rosa vs. Britt Baker (AEW, 11-03-2021)

The Young Bucks defend their AEW tag titles for the first time since making their attitude adjustment. Will the return of the heel Bucks mean a continuation of fantastic tag team matches? If they want to pick a team opposite them to have an action-packed bout, it would be two-thirds of the Death Triangle team, as PAC makes his five-star debut and in teaming with frequent perfect score achiever Rey Fenix. Lorcan (@lorcanmullan) and Simon (@simoncross3) are here to give verbal criticisms every bit as intricate as the high flying moves and strikes sequences you will witness in this match. Outro music: Leah Andreone - Starstruck Bastard https://patreon.com/lmtyspod https://facebook.com/lmtyspod https://twitter.com/lmtyspod lmtyspod@gmail.com

The Meltzer 5-Star Project: #163 - The Young Bucks vs. PAC & Rey Fenix (AEW, 08-04-2021)

Before there was Progress, RevPro, Will Ospreay, Zack Sabre Jr, and all the other big names and promotions of the UK scene, there was Jody Fleisch and Jonny Storm. Out of the doldrums of the post-World of Sport world, their fast-paced, intricate, jaw-dropping matches were the first ones that started to put British wrestling back on the worldwide map, and they took those talents to a cold CZW crowd and ended it with the match that would be voted the promotion's best for that year. Does it hold up? Just how should Fleisch and Storm be placed in the context of modern wrestling? Lorcan (@lorcanmullan) and Simon (@simoncross3) are here to offer their opinions on such pressing matters. https://patreon.com/lmtyspod https://twitter.com/lmtyspod https://facebook.com/lmtyspod lmtyspod@gmail.com