The Summerslam card is filling up fast! By beating John Cena, Shinsuke Nakamura, secured a date with Jinder Mahal for the WWE Title! And in, the most dad match of the Summer, AJ Styles will defend his US Title against Kevin Owens with Shane McMahon as the guest ref! But has WWE managed to maximize the draw power of its stars or is there more it could be doing to get its wrestlers over? Plus: would Brock Lesnar really leave if he loses the Universal Title? And why did so many people change their entrance music this week? Fashion Corner From the luscious, the thinning, to the bald… hair is an important part of a pro wrestler. We’ll take a deep dive on the hair of superstars throughout the ages.   Hosted by Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford and Mike Eagle.    Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun. If you wanna talk about more wrestling throughout the week be sure to join us on Facebook or @TightsFights on Twitter. If you liked the show, please share it with your friends and be sure to leave us a quick review on iTunes or wherever you get podcasts.

We did it. We survived the Punjabi Prison to hopefully not see it again for at least another ten years.  While that match and most of Battleground were pretty average, this was a pretty great week for RAW and Smackdown. Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar vs. Braun Strowman vs. Samoa Joe is officially on for Summerslam! And Chris Jericho made his big return to the blue brand! Plus, next week Shinsuke Nakamura and John Cena on deck for next week. We’ll talk about that and what’s good headed to the biggest party of the Summer.  Main Event We’re just about a year into the modern version of the WWE Brand split. At first, Smackdown seemed to have the most momentum between the two shows for one important reason: under-used stars were getting the spotlight.  But now RAW has actually succeeded in building a really great roster of main event talent and storylines while also keeping a lot of its mid card extremely over. We’ll discuss the biggest strengths and weaknesses of both shows. Hosted by Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford and Mike Eagle.  Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun. If you wanna talk about more wrestling throughout the week be sure to join us on Facebook or @TightsFights on Twitter. If you liked the show, please share it with your friends and be sure to leave us a quick review on iTunes or wherever you get podcasts.

Intensity! Integrity! Intelligence! Interracial love! Kurt Angle has been dominating the headlines for one reason: he’s Jason Jordan’s fake white dad. And that… is really weird. But we’ll talk about why it could be a great chance for Jason Jordan to get some star power. Plus, RAW has actually had some really compelling stuff lately, especially in their Universal Title scene which features Roman Reigns, Samoa Joe, Brock Lesnar and Braun Strowman.  But Smackdown? Between the Punjabi Prison match and canceling Talking Smack, we’ll talk about why the Blue Brand has seen better days. Gimmick Corner In his early main-roster WWE career, Neville was a high-flier with a generic good guy attitude and a cape. But he’s since joined 205 Live with one of the best role-changes in recent memory. We’ll talk all about why the King of the Cruiserweights is so great. Hosted by Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford and Mike Eagle. Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun. If you wanna talk about more wrestling throughout the week be sure to join us on Facebook or @TightsFights on Twitter. If you liked the show, please share it with your friends and be sure to leave us a quick review on iTunes or wherever you get podcasts.

It’s a shame that Great Balls of Fire was actually a really fun show because that means it’ll be back next year. Samoa Joe came incredibly close to beating Brock Lesnar and winning the Universal Title… but he still lost. Now him and Roman Reigns are jockeying for the next shot at Lesnar for Summerslam. What’s the best path going forward? We’ll discuss! And why did AJ Styles win the US Title from Kevin Owens off TV at Madison Square Garden? Why is Dixie Carter suddenly appearing on WWE-sponsored content? What the hell is on Kurt Angle’s phone? All this and so much more on this week’s jam-packed episode! My Special Wrestler Emma Phipps is a comedian and writer for Reductress. She’s a relative newcomer to the world of wrestling, but one independent performer helped her learn that wrestling is for everyone: Zack Sabre Jr. Hosted by Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford and Lindsey Kelk Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun. If you wanna talk about more wrestling throughout the week be sure to join us on Facebook or @TightsFights on Twitter. If you liked the show, please share it with your friends and be sure to leave us a quick review on iTunes or wherever you get podcasts.

Goodness gracious, we’re really only a few days away from Great Balls of Fire! And we’ve really solid feuds to look forward to ahead of the damnedest named PPV of the year: Braun Strowman vs. Roman Reigns, Brock Lesnar vs. Samoa Joe, Enzo vs. Big Cass.  What are our hopes? We can’t wait for you to find out! Plus: New Japan Pro Wrestling held it’s first-ever show in the United States. Chances are it will never be able to truly challenge the WWE, but what do we want from the world’s second biggest wrestling company as they expand stateside? Main Event: Is WWE going too far with its latest treatment of things like race and nationalism? Sure, the “evil foreigner” is a wrestling staple and Jinder Mahal and Rusev might not have seen the level of success they’ve currently attained without it. But sure it’s time to evolve it in some way shape or form, right?   Hosted by Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford and Mike Eagle.  Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun. If you wanna talk about more wrestling throughout the week be sure to join us on Facebook or @TightsFights on Twitter. If you liked the show, please share it with your friends and be sure to leave us a quick review on iTunes or wherever you get podcasts.

So after a really rotten week of WWE’s portrayal of women’s wrestling, we were due for a really GOOD week! The RAW women main-evented the show, with Nia Jax looking great AND Sasha Banks winning the right to challenge Alexa Bliss for the Women’s Title. On Smackdown, Carmella won the official redo of the Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match! But was this an outcome that was worth all that other nonsense that we had to deal with last week? We’ll take a look. Misandry Corner It feels like we needed this right? This week we’re spotlighting the clip that lose Linda McMahon her chance at a U.S. Senate seat: Vince McMahon making Trish Stratus strip and bark like a dog. And to wash that taste out of our mouth, we’ll recast that sexist segment with men!  Hosted by Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford and Mike Eagle.  Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun. If you wanna talk about more wrestling throughout the week be sure to join us on Facebook or @TightsFights on Twitter. If you liked the show, please share it with your friends and be sure to leave us a quick review on iTunes or wherever you get podcasts.

Wow, what a week it’s been. The WWE decided that the first ever Women’s Money in the Bank match should be won by James Ellsworth. Well, not really, he won it on behalf of Carmella. But was having Ellsworth climb the ladder, retrieve that briefcase and taking the spotlight from the women good heel heat or a bridge too far? We’ll talk about it. Plus, there were a ton of other things that happened: The men’s Money in the Bank match! Cass turning on Enzo! Baron Corbin’s tummy! So let’s dive right in. Hosted by Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford and Mike Eagle.  Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun. If you wanna talk about more wrestling throughout the week be sure to join us on Facebook or @TightsFights on Twitter. If you liked the show, please share it with your friends and be sure to leave us a quick review on iTunes or wherever you get podcasts.

Rebekka Johnson and Kimmy Gatewood star as "Stacey" and "Dawn" in the upcoming Netflix series "GLOW." The show is all about the 80's LA-based wrestling promotion Gorgeous Ladies Of Wrestling. It tells the story of a group of women who were cast to learn how to wrestle and appeal to a demographic that the mainstream WWF had often ignored. They tell Mike, Hal and Danielle what it was like to take their first bump, if they feel like they could work a legitimate match and whether they plan to continue wrestling in the future. GLOW begins streaming on Netflix on June 23rd.

WWE has got us incredibly excited for Samoa Joe vs. Brock Lesnar! Paul Heyman has done his job to sell the match as the dream encounter that it is and we can’t wait to go along for the ride. Plus, Smackdown’s tag and women’s divisions are both so much fun right now. Hopefully that rubs off on RAW soon? And Danielle finally gets to talk about Lucha Underground once again (and Hal gets to try and figure out what she’s explaining) Main Event:  Money! Money, money, monaaaaaaay! Money in the Bank is this Sunday! We’ll talk about our favorite winners of the big event, the best cash-ins and what we think about it being a brand exclusive pay per view for the first time ever. Hosted by Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford and Lindsey Kelk. Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun. If you wanna talk about more wrestling throughout the week be sure to join us on Facebook or @TightsFights on Twitter. If you liked the show, please share it with your friends and be sure to leave us a quick review on iTunes or wherever you get podcasts.

Joe’s gonna kill you! It took a little while, but Samoa Joe is officially in the main event spotlight, where he deserves to be! He’ll face Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship… and probably lose, but for right now, this is AWESOME! Plus, what ever happened with Bayley? How did the RAW women’s division get to be such a rudderless ship?  On the flip side, we think Smackdown’s women’s division is looking great! They’ve got a shiny new Money in the Bank briefcase to fight over AND they’ve just debuted Lana as a title contender. We’ll explain why we’re on board. Main Event:  Out of WWE’s 13 titles across all of its respective brands, only one of them is portrayed as a hero or babyface. Does the WWE have a problem with creating compelling good guys? And just what makes for an effective crowd-favorite these days? Hosted by Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford and Mike Eagle.  Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun. If you wanna talk about more wrestling throughout the week be sure to join us on Facebook or @TightsFights on Twitter. If you liked the show, please share it with your friends and be sure to leave us a quick review on iTunes or wherever you get podcasts.

Because you demanded it: Here's a Tights and Fights special devoted entirely to Total Divas! We're breaking down Season 2: Episode 2 of one of the most popular shows on the E! Network. We'll discuss things like Daniel Bryan's bus, Nikki Bella and John Cena's sexual habits and why Cameron is such a snake. Hosted by Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford and Mike Eagle. Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun.

Since this week’s storyline developments from WWE were lacking, at least there were some pretty solid matches. Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins had a great RAW main-event match; Finn Balor and Samoa Joe are looking great going into Extreme Rules; Bray Wyatt… is at least doing stuff. Plus: The New Day returned and set their sights on the Usos! Alexa Bliss was forced to try to make a bad segment work! The first ever Women’s Money in the Bank ladder match is coming! And we’ll even talk a little bit about New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Battle of Super Juniors tournament (fair warning: we haven’t seen much of it). Hosted by Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford and Mike Eagle. Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun. If you wanna talk about more wrestling throughout the week be sure to join us on Facebook or @TightsFights on Twitter.

All hail the Maharaja! Jinder Mahal is officially the WWE champion! His big win the biggest shocker from BackLash on Sunday, and it seems like fans are divided on whether it’s a good thing. We’ll explain why we’re firmly on board to enjoy this ride as long as it lasts. But there were also some great pure wrestling matches from WWE this week. AJ Styles vs. Kevin Owens may have been the best match on Sunday, but Pete Dunn vs. Tyler Bate may have been the best match of the weekend. Plus, we’ll talk about the possibility of Finn Balor vs. Brock Lesnar, the upcoming Money in the Bank PPV and Mike’s plan to make Goldust vs. R-Truth interesting. Hosted by Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford and Mike Eagle. Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun.  

We’re tagging in Lindsey Kelk to talk with us about the last show before WWE’s big PPV weekend! And while Smackdown didn’t have that much happening, how can you not love the Usos and Breezango constantly putting together brilliant promos? But we’ll explain why that’s good… and a potential problem for the tag team scene. And Braun Strowman is officially out of wrestling until he gets his elbow fixed. How big of a bummer is this? A pretty big one, but we’ll all get to be sad together. Plus: Adam Cole has had his final match in Ring of Honor! And he’s been fired from Bullet Club! Now that Marty Scurll is his replacement, we’ll explain what makes him Scurll so compelling and why we’re looking forward to seeing Cole in NXT soon. Hosted by Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford and Lindsey Kelk

This week, the team is joined by comedian and podcaster, Hannibal Buress to take a special look at the music of Triple H! From his early WWF days as Hunter Hearst Helmsley to the modern King of Kings, we promise you’ll never hear his music the same way again. Plus, Nation of Conversation will still break down all the news of the week. That includes whether WWE is using Samoa Joe the right way, what we think about Sheamus and Cesaro as the No. 1 contenders for the tag-team championships and why the Fashion Files continue to be the greatest thing in wrestling today. Hosted by Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford and Mike Eagle. Lindsey Kelk Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun.  

Payback was on its way to being a really solid show! There were plenty of smartly told stories in the ring, great moments throughout… and then the House of Horrors match happened. Then the quality went as backward as Bray Wyatt’s tractor. We’ll tell you exactly how we felt in this week’s main event. And Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman had an amazing main event to the show! But what’s keeping Mike from fully embracing him as a performer? And why is everyone going after the Secondary titles on RAW and Smackdown instead of the world titles? There’s a lot to get to, the Nation can’t wait to go through it all with you! Hosted by Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford and Mike Eagle.  Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun.  

It’s a tale of two WWE shows… You’ve got Smackdown which has set up a lot of stars, including Jinder Mahal, The Singh Brothers and Breezango, for the spotlight that’s eluded them in their careers. But is that push coming too fast and too soon? We’ll take a look. On the other hand, you’ve got RAW, which is treading water going into the first post-Wrestlemania Pay Per View “Payback.” But there were still a few things worth noting this week, including the much-hyped Dumpster Match between Kalisto and Braun Strowman. My Special Wrestler Chris Cubas is a stand-up comedian who had previously lapsed as a wrestling fan for a number of years. But who finally brought back the excitement for him? None other than the hardcore legend, Mick Foley. Visit Chris online to find out about all of his ongoing projects. Hosted by Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford and Mike Eagle. Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun.  

The Superstar shake-up has led to some new developments that we all expected and ones that we absolutely couldn’t have seen coming. Jinder Mahal has officially become the Number 1 contender for the WWE Title! He’s got the Bollywood Boyz as his new heaters and it looks like him and his veins are set for the big time. We’ll tell you how we feel about his major push. Plus, Alexa Bliss and Charlotte have set their sights on their respective brand's major titles. Is it the right move to get them in the spotlight so soon? Probably! We’ll explain.  Plus, more geeking out about Braun Strowman, a look at the U.S. Title competition and a lot more. Fashion Corner As WWE has tried to move away from the standard objectification of its female athletes, the fashion of the women has changed. But that doesn’t mean that the sexiness factor has been completely eliminated. Does WWE need to completely eliminate that if they want things to be on a truly equal level? We’ll take a look. Hosted by Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford and Mike Eagle. Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun.

HOW SHOOK ARE YOU?! Thanks to the Superstar Shake-up, let’s say very!  So many wrestlers have switched shows, including guys who elevated themselves in the last year like The Miz, Kevin Owens, Alexa Bliss, Charlotte and more. But was this the best thing to do, especially when the brand split is less than a year old? We’ll take a look. Plus, Braun Strowman flipped over a freakin’ ambulance! With Roman Reigns (supposedly) inside! We’ll talk about that and explain why we’re going to miss Mauro Renallo so much on Smackdown. Hosted by Danielle Radford, Mike Eagle and Lindsey Kelk. Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun.

As a thank you for making our first Max Fun Drive such a great success, we're happy to provide you with this special BONUS episode of Tights and Fights. Julian Burrell, producer of the show, chats with Charlotte Wilder. She recently wrote an article for SB Nation detailing her experience of watching Wrestlemania as a complete wrestling outsider. She tells Julian all about which matches caught her eye, whether she'll keep watching wrestling... and how she feels about Roman Reigns. Next, author Lindsey Kelk was at Wrestlemania in Orlando! Before the show got started, she spoke with some wrestlers from WWE's current roster and asked them some of YOUR Facebook questions! Those interviewed include Seth Rollins, Alex Bliss, Cesaro, Shaemus and more. Hosted by Hal Lublin, Julian Burrell and Lindsey Kelk Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun.

Wrestlemania is the longest, most exciting and most exhausting WWE event every single year. The 33rd edition of the show was no different. In fact, between Mania, the Hall of Fame, RAW, Smackdown, TakeOver: Orlando and the pre and post-shows for those events, there were over 24 hours (!!!!!) of WWE content on TV in the past seven days. New champions were crowned, new stars debuted, old stars retired, and a lot more. It’s can all be overwhelming, but luckily the Nation of Conversation is here to break down all of the things that happened… or at least the stuff that we cared about. Hosted by Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford and Mike Eagle. Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun.

Happy Max Fun Drive finale week! And HAPPY WRESTLEMANIA! This week our show is dedicated to the show of shows. Wrestlemania 33 starts this Sunday for a 57-hour wrestling extravaganza! We’re gonna take a look at some of the biggest matches on the card. We’ve got the RAW Women’s match between Sasha Banks, Charlotte Flair, Bayley and Nia Jax which is now an elimination match! The RAW Tag Title match which is now ladder match! The Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal… which is also happening! Main Event: As the WWE loves to remind us, Wrestlemania is made up of moments. What are our favorite ones? And does framing EVERYTHING as a Wrestlemania moment become a little forced after a while? To become a donor of the show, just head to MaximumFun.org/donate! Doing so helps us unlock all sorts of great Tights and Fights stretch goals, including the chance to win a ticket to a future PWG show! Listen to find out how! Hosted by Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford and Lindsey Kelk Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun.

Happy Max Fun Drive! be sure to donate to show us how important Tights and Fights is to you at maximumfun.org/donate. It’s not paranoia! It’s the USOS!  Now that they’ve become three-time tag team champions after defeating American Alpha, what’s next for the Usos? Can they rebuild the Smackdown tag team division? Plus: what needs to happen between Roman Reigns and the Undertaker to get us invested in their big match? Why are the Miz and Maryse making their match against John Cena and Nikki Bella so compelling?  How great is South Paw Regional wrestling?! Seriously! Misandry Corner: An examination and recasting of one of the most famous GIFs in wrestling: Stacy Keibler's audition as Vince McMahon's secretary. Hosted by Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford and Lindsey Kelk Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun.  

Hal Lublin’s returned from his great boat adventure as we inch closer and closer to Wrestlemania! We’ve gotten more matches confirmed for the show of shows! Seth Rollins vs. Triple H looks like it will happen; AJ Styles put Shane McMahon’s head through a car window (a fact that WWE replays wouldn’t let us forget); and both RAW and Smackdown Tag Team Champions got the chance to perform!  We’ll break all that down and so much more. Main Event The rise of the smart mark has changed the business of pro wrestling, for better and for worse. How can WWE better address the storylines that fans want to see? How can fans temper the expectations so that they enjoy wrestling more? The Nation of Conversation will explore both options. Hosted by Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford and Mike Eagle. Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun.  

So… Fast Lane. It wasn’t the best-received show in recent memory, but it did give us plenty to discuss as we head into the last few weeks before Wrestlemania. Goldberg is now the WWE Universal Champion. But what does this mean for Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho? Does this take the wind out of their scheduled match, even if it is for the U.S. Title? Plus, now we know what’s scheduled for the RAW and Smackdown women’s division. We’ll break down the positives and the negatives of the what’s on the docket. And with Wrestlemania just under a month away, there’s sure to be plenty of great memories… and some bitter disappointments. We’ll break down the latter in this week’s main event. Hosted by Danielle Radford and Mike Eagle. Lindsey Kelk Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun.  

This week Smackdown and RAW both took turns on the road to Wrestlemania… And the Nation of Conversation was not in favor of all of them. The team explains their frustrations with Seth Rollins and Randy Orton and how they're divided on how much they’re looking forward to John Cena & Nikki Bella versus The Miz and Maryse. Plus, a celebration Ring of Honor's 15th anniversary and a look at what the latest departures from Impact Wrestling could mean for the show as it continues to fight for an identity. Hosted by Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford and Mike Eagle. Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun.  

The road to Wrestlemania is far from set! Will Bray Wyatt’s opponent for the WWE Title be Luke Harper and AJ Styles? Who will hold the Universal Title after Kevin Owens and Goldberg face each other? Is Naomi out of Wrestlemania completely? Hal and Danielle are going to break down some of the biggest points of contention as we move towards the WWE’s biggest event of the year. Then, Mike Eagle joins the show to discuss one of the under discussed points of professional wrestling: The fashion. Hosted by Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford and Mike Eagle. Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun.  

Wow, a bunch of things happened on WWE TV this week! There have been THREE Champions crowned since Sunday: Bray Wyatt finally captured the WWE Championship at Elimination Chamber; Naomi beat Alexa Bliss for the Smackdown Women’s Championship, and Bayley defeated Charlotte for the RAW Women’s Championship. Which one are we most excited for? We’ll explain. And was Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens’ Festival of Friendship the best RAW segment ever? Right now it’s kind of hard to think otherwise. We’ll gush about it and speculate about what could come next. Plus, in a new segment, Danielle breaks down the past and present of misogyny and misandry in wrestling.  Hosted by Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford and Mike Eagle. Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun.

Even in a quiet week of wrestling, the WWE machine keeps on moving. Samoa Joe made his big debut against a Samoan Joe (who you may know better as Roman Reigns). We’ll talk about what we thought of Joe’s first RAW main event. Plus, Smackdown’s got a Pay Per View this Sunday: Elimination Chamber. This year’s participants are AJ Styles, The Miz, John Cena, Bray Wyatt and Baron Corbin and Dean Ambrose. Who’s looking strong? And who should win the WWE Title to take on Randy Orton at Wrestlemania? My Special Wrestler: Jarrett Williams is the comics artist behind the Super Pro KO series. He’s here to tell you about one of the most loved… and hated superstars in WWE history: Triple H. Williams just released the third installment in the Super Pro KO series. It’s entitled Gold for Glory. Hosted by Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford and Mike Eagle. Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun.    

For the last two years, the Royal Rumble has been a controversial affair. The previous winners have led to many accusations that the WWE doesn’t understand its audience anymore. Was this year any different? Well… kinda. We’re breaking down everything we cared about from the Rumble… including what was probably the biggest troll job the company has ever done: Roman Reigns at Number 30. Plus, a Big Four Pay Per View on Sunday means that we also get a new NXT TakeOver on Saturday. And while there was noticeably less stay power on this week’s show than usual, most people on the card raised their stock on the developmental brand. We’ll break down all the biggest happenings from both shows, including the debut of Samoa Joe… and the injury of Seth Rollins. Hosted by Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford and Mike Eagle. Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun.  

The Royal Rumble is when the road to Wrestlemania really starts to heat up.  And it also happens to be Hal’s favorite pay per view. The Nation of Conversation will reminisce about some of their favorite Rumble winners and moments throughout the years. And they’ll decide if the fact that so few of them have had success at Wrestlemania is hurting the idea of the show. Plus, from the AJ Styles and John Cena for the World title to Kevin Owens vs. Roman Reigns for the Universal title, we explain which feuds are on the right track for this weekend. And why was there only 1 women’s match on WWE TV this week? All this and a lot more on this week’s show. Hosted by Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford and Mike Eagle. Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun.

Greetings grapple fans! WWE has crowned its inaugural United Kingdom Champion: Tyler Bate. The Nation of Conversation will discuss what they thought of the tournament and whether or not they’re on board for the eventual UK-centric WWE Network show that’s set to launch this year. Plus the crowd at the UK tournament was as lively as any in recent memory. But that energy doesn’t always translate well with some people watching the action in the US. When does a crowd reaction get in the way of us enjoying the product as a viewer? We’ll discuss. Plus, why we’re so excited for Kurt Angle to return, why this year’s Royal Rumble could be one of the best in recent memory and so much more. Hosted by Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford and Mike Eagle. Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun.  

Mike Eagle is out for the week, but we’ve got another Chicagoan stepping in in his stead: Mira Waters from the website Fight Booth. The team discusses Wrestle Kingdom 11 and why it hopefully set the tone for a great year of wrestling. And yes, they’ll talk about that great main event for the IWGP Championship. Plus, while Smackdown’s women’s title picture is heating up, The Nation of Conversation has MAJOR beef with how a certain announcer has been treating the overall division. Also on the docket: Chris Jericho’s big title win on RAW, The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels returning to TV, how WWE can best use American Alpha in the future and much more. My Special Wrestler: Lindsey Kelk is an accomplished author, but she’s also quite the wrestling fan. She’s covered Wrestlemania for Cosmopolitan and interviewed plenty of popular wrestlers in the WWE and beyond. But there’s one superstar who’s always had her attention since she was a kid: Bret “The Hitman” Hart. She’ll explain why. Lindsey Kelk’s newest book is entitled We Were on a Break. Hosted by Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford and Mira Waters. Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun.

It’s the first the first episode of Tights and Fights in 2017! To celebrate, we’re looking back on some of the most significant events that defined 2016. That includes happenings like the reintroduction of the Women’s Title, AJ Styles’s coming out party and more. Plus, God help us, the WWE has ANOTHER new show that debuted this week on the WWE Network. Bring it to the Table is, apparently, WWE’s way of addressing and bashing the opinions of fans. We’ll explain why that may not be the best idea going forward. And of course, we’ll break down the first 2017 episodes of RAW and Smackdown*. *Authors note: Next we’ll be talking Wrestle Kingdom XI next week, promise! Hosted by Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford and Mike Eagle. Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun.  

Before Tights and Fights properly launched, the Nation of Conversation recorded several pilot episodes to help work out the format of the show. This week, with the show on holiday hiatus, we’re sharing a sampling of some of our favorite moments from those pilot sessions. You’ll hear about the team’s favorite merchandise, what they thought about the very first Final Deletion, why Goldberg is such a rude podcast guest and much much more. Hosted by Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford and Mike Eagle. Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun.  

*This week’s episode was recorded on Monday evening, which means this week’s RAW and Smackdown had not occurred yet for us to discuss them. Roadblock: End of the Line wasn’t the best show, both from a wrestling and a naming perspective. But between the multiple title changes and the interesting story-telling decisions, there are plenty of things for the Nation of Conversation to talk about. Plus: WWE is instituting the first ever United Kingdom Championship. How do they make it work? Naturally, we’ve got the answers. And whatever Total Nonstop Deletion is, one thing is certain: It made Hal’s head hurt. Hosted by Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford and Mike Eagle. Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun.  

In a move that’s been over a year in the making, The New Day has official become the longest reigning WWE World Tag Team Champions in history.  There’s been ups and downs throughout their tenure, but the Nation will explain why their record breaking night on Monday restored a lot of their love for the RAW’s flagship team… and who they hope eventually beats them. And wrestling intersects with the real world more than almost any form of entertainment. But is there a that needs to exist between drawing inspiration for a storyline and exploiting real-world events? Plus, a look at all the matches that are coming up at the RAW-exclusive December PPV Roadblock: End of The Line: Redemption: Age of Extinction: The Force Awakens. Hosted by Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford and Mike Eagle. Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun.  

This past Sunday was TLC (Tables, Ladders and Chairs), December’s Smackdown exclusive PPV. And between a table match, a ladder match, a chairs match AND and tables, ladders and chairs match, it all got to be a little exhausting. But The Nation of Conversation breaks down the results and explains why they’re on board for the big moment in the show’s main event between Dean Ambrose and AJ Styles. Plus: Comic creator Box Brown joins us for the latest installment of our series “My Special Wrestler.” His comic biography “Andre the Giant: Life and Legend” has earned him praise from comic and wrestling fans alike.  He’ll tell you all about why Ravishing Rick Rude, one of the most sleazy characters ever to grace the wrestling ring, is actually very under-appreciated. Brown’s newest comic is entitled Tetris: The Games People Play. Hosted by Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford and Mike Eagle. Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun.

In an effort to prove the investment into the Cruiserweight division was worthwhile, WWE finally gave the performers in the division their own show: 205 Live! And while it’s a step up from what we had before, there’s still room to improve. And some major performers on RAW seem to be changing up pushing characters in more interesting directions. How encouraging is this? We’ll try to figure that out. Plus: Not every championship reign is created equal. To explain why, the Nation of Conversation breaks down some recent examples including Sasha, Sexy Star, The New Day and Charlotte. Hosted by Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford and Mike Eagle. Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun.

This year the WWE has really been pushing the boundaries of how much wrestling they can squeeze into a single week. NXT TakeOver Toronto aired on Saturday featuring a ton of great matches, including what Hal thinks may have been the match of the year. NXT is clearly in a reloading stage right now, but the team explains why they’re still on board for the brand. Plus: Survivor Series, the forgotten WWE big four pay-per-view, happened on Sunday. And everyone, including the Nation of Conversation, has something to say about the finish to Brock Lesnar vs. Goldberg match. And with the show featuring three tradition Survivor Series elimination matches, has the concept been revitalized or run into the ground? But before all of that, we just had to talk about Lucha Underground’s Aztec Warfare 3. Sexy Star became the first women to ever hold the Lucha Underground Championship and Danielle was live in the temple to see it happen.  Hosted by Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford and Mike Eagle. Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun.

This week the Nation of Conversation is joined by Independent Wrestler and host of the Art of Wrestling podcast, Colt Cabana. He’s got a brand new documentary out called Wrestling Road Diaries 3 . In it he’s joined by fellow wrestlers Grado from Scotland and Kikutaro from Japan. The three of them travel around the country spreading the joy that is comedic wrestling. Cabana’s gonna tell us all about what comedy adds to wrestling, how to have the best interactions with him as a fan and why he has more fun wrestling in front of smaller crowds as opposed to arena crowds. Hosted by Hal Lublin,

As the world turns, we may as well keep enjoying wrestling. This week, the team discusses live-audiences “hijacking” WWE TV. When is it acceptable? And when does it just get in the way of how good the product can be? Plus: Tons of stories are being built towards Survivor Series. We’ll take a look at Sami Zayn, Dolph Ziggler, the cruiserweight division and anyone else who will be involved in WWE’s only Sunday show in November. And comedian and newly minted author Asterios Kokkinos joins the show to tell us about his special wrestler: Daniel Bryan. Hosted by Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford and Mike Eagle. Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun.

We’ve gone to Hell (in a cell) and back again and the Nation of Conversation is ready to explain how… adequate the show was. And there’s plenty of other news to tackle like Dolph Ziggler’s Intercontinental open challenge, the brand new Cruiserweight show 205 live and why Mike thinks Talking Smack is even better than Smackdown. Plus, Hal and Danielle break down Sasha and Charlotte’s Women’s Title match that main evented the Hell in a Cell Pay Per View. Why did some folks online say that match didn’t live up to expectations? What does it mean for the future of WWE’s Women’s division?  For some help answering those questions, they’re joined by Mira Waters from Fight Booth. She recently wrote an article entitled ‘Sexism in WWE is Over, What a Relief, about the match and the internet’s skewed reaction to it. Hosted by Hal Lublin,Danielle Radford and Mike Eagle. Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun.    

So much of Monday Night RAW has revolved around the upcoming Hell in a Cell Pay-per-view which will feature three (!!!!) iterations of the titular match. Sure those matches could be good… but the Nation of Conversation has some concerns. But one thing they haven’t been concerned about is Talking Smack, the best show WWE produces. But does that mean there should be ANOTHER version of that show, but for RAW? Don’t worry, we’ll decide. Plus: A look at Total Bellas; a show that Danielle is a total fan of; what Mike thinks is fundamentally wrong with WWE’s flagship show; the return of Hal Gets Woke; and a lot more. Hosted by Hal Lublin,Danielle Radford and Mike Eagle. Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun.  

Rachel Sam Evans joins the crew once again to discuss the man they call Bill Goldberg. And Hal opens the show telling the story about the time that Goldberg did him a major favor for his job… by putting him in a fireman’s carry. And Goldberg’s appearance has a lot of fans split. But the Nation of Conversation will explain why his upcoming match with Brock Lesnar could be a lot of fun… as long as the competitors don’t fall into the same traps that plagued the LAST time they wrestled. Plus, the man with no chin got himself a big win; The team discusses why James Ellsworth continues to be one of the most compelling characters on WWE television. All that, including a look at the various tournaments of WWE, why Mike is incredibly disappointed with the Cruiserweight division, why Survivor Series is the only Big-4 Pay-per-view that’s seriously lacking an identity. Hosted by Hal Lublin, Rachel Sam Evans and Mike Eagle. Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun.  

The Nation of Conversation has a TON of wrestling news to cover and memories to enjoy. First: Why did chinless-hero James Ellsworth get a huge win over WWE Champion AJ Styles? And why is everyone on the team totally on board for it? What’s the best wrestling video game of all time? Is WWE overusing the Hell in a Cell match concept? What did the group think of, ‘No Mercy,’ the second Smackdown-exclusive Pay-per-view of the modern era? Plus: There’s all sorts of rumors that the WWE Network may introduce a brand new tiered-pricing model. We’ll break down what each level could include and whether or not we think it’s best for business. Hosted by Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford and Mike Eagle. Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun.

With Mike Eagle out for the week, that means Rachel Sam Evans is in! And that also means a greater amount of Lucha Underground and indie wrestling chatter than Hal can handle. The team also takes a look at this past Monday Night RAW, aka the first RAW that was headlined by a women’s title match in over a decade. Plus: Smackdown’s special Dolph-umentary, the latest on WWE buying up TNA’s video library, Goldberg’s potential return to the WWE and a lot more. Hosted by Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford and Rachel Sam Evans. Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun.  

The first ever RAW Pay Per View “Clash of Champions” has come and gone… so why do Mike, Hal and Danielle feel unfulfilled? They’ll explain. Plus, is it time for the suicide dive to be banned from WWE the same way that Pile-driver has been? A certain spiked-swiss Superman may think so after what happened this weekend. And there are plenty of rumors about a sale of TNA on the horizon. One of the potential buyers is none other than Vince McMahon and WWE. We'll discuss what WWE has to gain but purchasing the brand. All that, including why Hal is so taken with Ziggler’s tears from Smackdown, why Danielle might have found another wrestler to love almost as much as Sasha Banks, why Mike is struggling to continue to watch RAW... And we'll finally talk about Lucha Underground for a little bit. Hosted by Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford and Mike Eagle. Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun.

This week on Tights and Fights: The Cruiserweight have arrived on the main roster! The leaders of the Nation of Conversation explain their biggest takeaways from the ten week-long Cruiserweight Classic tournament and where they hope the division goes from here. Plus, Mike still doesn’t care for how Dean Ambrose is being presented, what it would mean for John Cena to become a 16 time champion, what Hal thinks RAW’s women’s division could learn from its Smackdown counterpart and why Danielle found a weapons of mass destruction so much fun. Hosted by Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford and Mike Eagle. Produced by Julian Burrell for Maximum Fun.