It’s the final week before WrestleMania! And despite everything, WWE has set up a match that we’re at least cautiously interested in. Without being able to use a live audience, they have leaned on in-ring and pre-taped promos to carry the weight of the build. How successful were they? We’ll discuss! Plus, we’ll still get into what AEW is up in the absence of their audience and a massive PPV to build to. That includes the great things like Brit Baker’s shoe… and the not so great things like antiquated squash matches. The Three Count Danielle put over Sasha Banks’ Bella cosplay. Lindsey put over Britt Baker’s Shoe. Hal put over The Ruthless Aggression series on WWE Network. Hosted by Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford and Lindsey Kelk. Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun. If you want to talk about more wrestling throughout the week be sure to join us on Facebook and @TightsFights on Twitter and Instagram. PLUS! Check out our brand new Tights and Fights Discord! If you liked the show, please share it with your friends and be sure to leave us a quick review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get podcasts. Plus our brand new T-Shirt is available now!

Tights and Fights

Ep. 189: One bang by land

Hal, Lindsey and Danielle are back together… remotely! But the hits just keep coming for WrestleMania. Roman Reigns has formally dropped out of his match against Goldberg for the Universal Title for the sake of his health. And he has reason to be concerned; a number of wrestlers have come down with symptoms, including the Miz. Despite, that it still seems like WrestleMania is going to happen in just over a week. We’ll discuss why that still seems like bad idea, plus all the other news from the week, including the cancelation of NXT TakeOver: Tampa and Matt Hardy’s offer to join the Innner Circle The Three Count Danielle put over Roman Reigns’ courage to not go on with his Mania match. Lindsey put over Candice Lerae’s recent interview. Hal put over Sami Zayn on commentary. Hosted by Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford and Lindsey Kelk. Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun. If you want to talk about more wrestling throughout the week be sure to join us on Facebook and @TightsFights on Twitter and Instagram. PLUS! Check out our brand new Tights and Fights Discord! If you liked the show, please share it with your friends and be sure to leave us a quick review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get podcasts. Plus our brand new T-Shirt is available now!

Ep. 188: Nation of Conversation in Isolation

Hal, Lindsey and Danielle are back together… in a manner of speaking. They’re hanging out remotely just like 90% of wrestlers in the world.  This week we finally got to see what WWE is going to do about WrestleMania in the wake of safety concerns with COVID-19. The show will take place the first weekend of April as scheduled, with some major differences; It will take place in an empty Performance Center over the course of two days.  While this is probably the best way to have a show on this scale in the midst of a pandemic, we’ll speculate as to how you have the biggest show of the year without any fans present. Plus, we’ll explain why AEW has already gotten the empty arena shows down a bit better than WWE so far… even if their other shortcomings are still present. Plus, the long awaited rebirth of Gronka-donka-doo! The Three Count Danielle and Lindsey put over Big E’s antics on Twitter. Hal put over MJF on AEW. Hosted by Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford and Lindsey Kelk. Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun. Hal has an upcoming show live streaming over the internet on Sunday March 22nd benefiting the New York and LA food bank. Tickets are sold here! If you want to talk about more wrestling throughout the week be sure to join us on Facebook and @TightsFights on Twitter and Instagram. PLUS! Check out our brand new Tights and Fights Discord! If you liked the show, please share it with your friends and be sure to leave us a quick review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get podcasts. Plus our brand new T-Shirt is available now!

Ep. 187: EmptyMania

Hal and Lindsey are joined by Dan Sinker from the "Says Who?" podcast to discuss one of those rare instances where the real world actually affected wrestling. COVID-19 has led to AEW and Smackdown scheduling empty arena live shows. And that’s gotta mean that WrestleMania is going to be postponed… right?  But in the meantime, let’s talk about what may end up being the last normal week of wrestling for God knows how long… A week that included the Elimination Chamber PPV, Drew McIntyre squashing a spider, Nick Jackson getting squashed by a garage door and the build to a number of shows that should probably be cancelled sooner rather than later.  The Three Count Dan put over the upcoming Battle of the Brands season 2. Lindsey put over The Broserweights flip the switch challenge and David Arquette’s recent interview. Hal put over Braun Strowman's PSA.. Hosted by Hal Lublin and Lindsey Kelk. Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun. If you want to talk about more wrestling throughout the week be sure to join us on Facebook and @TightsFights on Twitter and Instagram. PLUS! Check out our brand new Tights and Fights Discord! If you liked the show, please share it with your friends and be sure to leave us a quick review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get podcasts. Plus our brand new T-Shirt is available now!

Ep. 186: Wrestling From Home

Hal and Lindsey discuss AEW’s Revolution PPV. The match that undoubtedly stole the show was Kenny Omega and Hangman Adam Page defending the titles vs. The Young Bucks. It exemplified the strong story-telling that Kenny and his cohorts are capable of. We’ll discuss why we love the match so much and why we can’t wait for what’s next. Plus, we’ve got a new AEW World Champion! Jon Moxley has reached the mountain top after beating Chris Jericho. And while we’re excited about him as champion, we’ll also discuss why the match didn’t quite reach the heights set by the rest of the PPV. But all is not entirely great in the land of the elite. Lindsey will explain why she’s become disheartened by the AEW women’s division, especially compared to its Wednesday night counterpart on NXT. The Main Event He was a star for more than ten years. He understood heel psychology better than almost anyone of his time and eventually became one of the biggest stars of the WWE. Between tag teams, 5 second poses, championships, a live sex celebration (Yeah, that really happened) there’s never been a star like the Rated R Superstar, Edge. And now that he’s back, we’re going to discuss our favorite moments from his career. The Three Count Lindsey put over the upcoming Elizabeth Warren's dog Bailey.. Julian put over John Cena attacking Edge. Danielle put over Johnny Gargano's interview with Mauro. Hosted by Hal Lublin and Lindsey Kelk. Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun. If you want to talk about more wrestling throughout the week be sure to join us on Facebook and @TightsFights on Twitter and Instagram. PLUS! Check out our brand new Tights and Fights Discord! If you liked the show, please share it with your friends and be sure to leave us a quick review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get podcasts. Plus our brand new T-Shirt is available now!

Ep. 185: Rap slack and Edge’s career

Danielle’s once again in the throes of some real-deal TV work and hasn’t had much time to watch wrestling. But, luckily we’ve got a Lindsey Kelk here to chat things up. That includes NXT, which is shaping up its road to WrestleMania and TakeOver nicely. Bianca Belair lost to Charlotte Flair. With a number one contendership ladder match coming up at TakeOver, will that be Bianca’s next opportunity to shine? Or is she destined to regularly edge close to glory without going all the way? Plus, it looks like WALTER and Imperium want the Finn Balor rub (don’t we all though?). Vague shades of fascism aside, it should be incredible. We’ll discuss it in full. And AEW has their first PPV of 2020 coming up this month. Between the Bucks vs. Page & Omega and Nyla Rose vs. Kris Statlander, there’s a lot to get excited about. But Lindsey thinks that there are a number of things that need to be improved if we want to continue whole-heartedly embracing the land of the Elite. All of that… and yeah, we’ll talk a little bit about Goldberg being the new Universal Champion. The Main Event Just as we expected, Nikki and Brie Bella are the latest inductees to the WWE Hall of Fame. And just as we expected, a whole bunch of people are big mad about it. We’ll explain why the Bellas are such transcendent stars worthy of such an honor as we recap some of the biggest moments from their careers. The Three Count Lindsey put over the upcoming New Japan cup tournament. Julian put over Nyla Rose on Talk is Jericho. Danielle put over NXT’s Melanin Magic PPV. Hosted by Danielle Radford and Lindsey Kelk. Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun. If you want to talk about more wrestling throughout the week be sure to join us on Facebook and @TightsFights on Twitter and Instagram. PLUS! Check out our brand new Tights and Fights Discord! If you liked the show, please share it with your friends and be sure to leave us a quick review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get podcasts. Plus our brand new T-Shirt is available now!

Ep. 184: Thank your local Bella

Confession time: Danielle has had one helluva busy week with work beyond wrestling. But never fear, she still got to watch NXT TakeOver: Portland! Banger matches, character progression, story advancement… pretty standard fare for a TakeOver at this point, right? We’ll say where we see all of our favorites go from here as we prepare for the final stretch to WWE in Tampa. Unfortunately Danielle wasn’t able to see the rest of the wrestling from the week. Luckily Hal (and some interstitial comments to Julian) are going to help get her up to speed. We’ll get into everything from Cody’s bleeding habits, Nyla Rose’s underrated promo ability, the silliness of the Elimination Chamber and tons more. The Three Count Danielle put over Sasha Banks on "Mandalorian". Julian put over Monday Night RAW Hal put over the NXT commentary team and their work on NXT TakeOver: Portland Hosted by Hal Lublin and Danielle Radford. Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun. If you want to talk about more wrestling throughout the week be sure to join us on Facebook and @TightsFights on Twitter and Instagram. If you liked the show, please share it with your friends and be sure to leave us a quick review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get podcasts.

Ep. 183: Nat King Cole Bay-Bay

The full group of wrassle friends is reunited! Hal, Danielle and Lindsey have tons of good wrestling to discuss after so long apart. Including Shayna Baszler taking a big bite out of Becky Lynch, AEW’s battle of the One-eyed Willies and new AEW women’s champion, Nyla Rose. But all that aside... we’ve also got to talk about the XFL! Which is apparently… good now? And are we witnessing the finale of Matt Hardy’s WWE career? We’ll salute the formerly woken warrior and explain why him taking up for Edge is actually hilarious in the context of his career. All of that.. Plus we’ll explain why the Bellas are more than worthy of a Hall of Fame nomination, despite the worst corners of wrestling twitter’s opinions. The Three Count Daniell put over Faye Jackson’s grey sweatpants battle royal. Lindsey put over The Broserweights and Britt Baker. Hal put over the Brie Bella vs. Stephanie McMahon Hosted by Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford and Lindsey Kelk. Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun. If you want to talk about more wrestling throughout the week be sure to join us on Facebook and @TightsFights on Twitter and Instagram. If you liked the show, please share it with your friends and be sure to leave us a quick review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get podcasts.

Ep. 182: TakeOver: Pirates’ Booty.

Pod Dad Hal Lublin is finally back! And in the absence of Danielle and Lindsey, he’s hanging out with producer Julian Burrell to discuss his retrospective thoughts on all the wrestling he’s missed. That starts with the Royal Rumble and the two winners of the titular matches. Lindsey and Danielle really and enjoyed the Rumble, a sentiment Hal and Julian share… if a little less enthusiastically. But where they completely differ is their assessment of the men’s Rumble. They’ll explain why they thought the use of Brock Lesnar worked for them so well. Plus, Cody Rhodes delivered what Hal considered the most affecting wrestling moment Hal has ever seen on television. And Julian is excited to see the collision of the Queen, the NXT Champion and the EST of NXT. And we’re also proud to introduce you to the Wrestling Cinematic Universe and all of the possibilities that it holds for our heroes (hint: a lot of dentists). The Three Count Julian put over Frank Turner's wrestling fandom and Dr.Chris Raynor’s explanation of Edge’s surgery. Hal put over the Britt Baker's promo. Hosted by Hal Lublin and Julian Burrell Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun. If you want to talk about more wrestling throughout the week be sure to join us on Facebook and @TightsFights on Twitter and Instagram. If you liked the show, please share it with your friends and be sure to leave us a quick review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get podcasts.

Ep. 181: The Wrestling Cinematic Universe

It’s the first WWE Big 4 Weekend of the year! First Lindsey and Danielle break down NXT TakeOver: Worlds Collide. There were plenty of great matches, but the event did highlight a problem WWE has with the presentation of  foreign wrestlers. For instance: Do we really need the faux fascist imagery of Imperium to sell their dominance? Then it’s time for a deep dive into the Royal Rumble. For the third year, it was highlighted by a men’s and women’s iteration of the event, each won by Charlotte Flair and Drew McIntyre, respectively. What were some of the best moments? What did the team think about the direction of these two very different showcases? Plus, a look at the amazing and momentous returns from the show, who’s really improved on the mic on AEW and why Finn still showcases his finer points EVERY week on NXT The Three Count Lindsey put over Ref Aubrey's tweets about her mental health. Julian put over his favorite promo from Edge. Danielle put over the Nikki and Brie Bella's pregancy announcement. Hosted by Danielle Radford and Lindsey Kelk. Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun. If you want to talk about more wrestling throughout the week be sure to join us on Facebook and @TightsFights on Twitter and Instagram. If you liked the show, please share it with your friends and be sure to leave us a quick review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get podcasts.

Ep. 180: NXT TakeOver Worlds Collide & Royal Rumble

Danielle and Lindsey are ready to breakdown the final shows before WWE’s Royal Rumble show! No matter how we’re feeling about the current WWE product, the Rumble always seems to draw back the audience at large. Why? Because it’s the formal start of WrestleMania season and consequential stories in WWE! But there are also stories in AEW to take note of. But things seem to be going awry in the house that Tony Khan built, at least from the storytelling perspective. We’ll explain why we’re feeling unsure about Dynamite’s direction, while still voicing our optimism that their eventual move to two nights a week could be great for them. Finally, we’ll talk about NXT. It continues to be a great and successful show week in and week out. Between the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic and Keith Lee as the new North American Champion, there’s a lot to love. And that includes Finn Balor’s....appearance in his match this week. We’ll explain. The Three Count Lindsey put over Becky Lynch on WWE Backstage. Julian put over these pictures from Keith Lee across the years in WWE. Danielle put over the Big E's dream match from the Feel The Power podcast. Hosted by Danielle Radford and Lindsey Kelk. Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun. If you want to talk about more wrestling throughout the week be sure to join us on Facebook and @TightsFights on Twitter and Instagram. If you liked the show, please share it with your friends and be sure to leave us a quick review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get podcasts.

Tights and Fights Ep. 179: Hornin' it up

This week, Danielle and Lindsey are joined by Darnell Mitchell. He’s one of the heads behind the Brooklyn-based wrestling promotion Uncanny Attraction. Like any respectable wrestling organization, Uncanny Attraction will be in Tampa Bay on WrestleMania week (April 2nd at 11PM). He’s also ready to announce the show’s main event: Effy vs. AEW’s Sunny Kiss! Tickets are going to be available soon! Darnell will tell us all about what it was like to go from a fan to a professional in the industry, which independent wrestlers and promotions he’s most excited to see and why so many wrestlers need to step up their suit game. The Main Event Tessa Blanchard was known across the international wrestling scene as someone whose star was only going to burn brighter. She’s been a champion in multiple organizations, including the current World Champion of Impact. But in the midst of her greatest accomplishment, word has come out from multiple wrestlers that Tessa has a history of being a bully and a racist. It’s a lot to take in, but we share our reactions.  The Three Count Darnell put over artist Lauren Moran and the MV Young No Ring Death Match Extravaganza  Lindsey put over this week’s episode of NXT, especially the debut of Mercedes Martinez. Danielle put over the latest episode of Being the Elite with Kris Statlander and Orange Cassidy. Hosted by Danielle Radford, Lindsey Kelk and Darnell Mitchell. Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun. If you want to talk about more wrestling throughout the week be sure to join us on Facebook and @TightsFights on Twitter and Instagram. If you liked the show, please share it with your friends and be sure to leave us a quick review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get podcasts.

Ep. 178: Wrestling should be FUN w/ Darnell Mitchell

Buy the new Tights and Fights shirt at maxfunstore.com! This week, Hal and Lindsey are joined by James Durbin. He’s a known singer, actor and American Idol participant who’s also a HUGE wrestling fan. But a major blindspot in his fandom has been New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Wrestle Kingdom 14.  For the first time ever, this event was split into two days of extremely long cards. There thankfully was no noticeable drop in match quality across both shows, but it cannot be understated: This is a LOT of wrestling and watching it all will take at least a little bit of patience. In that spirit, we take a look at some of the major matches, including the champ-champ efforts of Tetsuya Naito, the heelish tactics of Jay White and KENTA and discuss whether or not Jon Moxley and Chris Jericho’s appearances mean we should expect more collaborations between NJPW and AEW. The Three Count James put over The New Day Podcast Feel the Power. Lindsey put over Jushin “Thunder” Liger’s retirement ceremony. Julian put over the press conference with Jushin and Tiger Mask. Hosted by Hal Lublin, Lindsey Kelk and James Durbin. Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun. If you want to talk about more wrestling throughout the week be sure to join us on Facebook and @TightsFights on Twitter and Instagram. If you liked the show, please share it with your friends and be sure to leave us a quick review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get podcasts.

Ep. 177: Wrestling Kingdom 14 w/ James Durbin

Don’t let that final segment on RAW fool you; there was actually a lot of really great wrestling to end 2019 and kick off 2020! Buddy Murphy and Aleister Black continue to impress in their second outing, Andrade and Zelina are back on track with the United States Championship in tow AND MJF cut another fantastic promo. But it’s not all good news: AEW’s production has continued to slip in the past few months. We’ll examine why the company’s picture-in-picture strategy isn’t working for us. Plus: after the women’s championship fatal fourway, one thing has become very clear: the company has ONE woman with a clearly defined character and it’s not the champion Riho.  All of this… plus we’ll somehow find a way to mix in conversations about Cats throughout the show. Misandry Corner The Bobby/Lana/Rusev story has been maligned by the audience for a while now. But this week it somehow took a turn for the worse with Liv Morgan getting involved as Lana’s former lover. How bad is this story for everyone involved? Is anything being salvaged? And most importantly: Who would play these roles if we recast them all as men? Hosted by Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford and Lindsey Kelk. Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun. If you want to talk about more wrestling throughout the week be sure to join us on Facebook and @TightsFights on Twitter and Instagram. If you liked the show, please share it with your friends and be sure to leave us a quick review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get podcasts.

Tights and Fights Ep. 176: Full Jellicle

Tights and Fights has a new shirt available at maxfunstore.com! Happy Holidays! And there’s no better way to celebrate this special time a year with the most important holiday that coincidentally shares a date with all other holidays: Rusev Day! Comedian and Writer Joey Clift joins us to talk about the careers of Lana and Rusev. We’ll take a deep dive into all of it, from their early days as the Ravishing Russian commanding the Bulgarian Brute to crush all the way to the present with the institution of Rusev Day and the most notorious couples story of modern wrestling. Plus, Joey tells us about the rest of his present favs like Orange Cassidy and the rest of the AEW cast and which wrestling segment made him want to call the police as a child. Hosted by Hal Lublin and Lindsey Kelk. Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun. If you want to talk about more wrestling throughout the week be sure to join us on Facebook and @TightsFights on Twitter and Instagram. If you liked the show, please share it with your friends and be sure to leave us a quick review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get podcasts.

Ep. 175: The Rusev Day Special

Tights and Fights is the podcast that covers pro-wrestling with the sincerity and hilarity that it deserves. Every week, hosts Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford and Mike Eagle make sense of the chaos that is the world of sports-entertainment. Whether it's the latest headlines, a cultural analysis of an old angle or a debate about which wrestler has the best merch, Tights and Fights will examine every corner of the squared-circle for your enjoyment.

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Tights and Fights

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