Thumbtacks & Screwjobs
Hosts: Richard Whittaker and Eugene Selassie
Welcome to Thumbtacks & Screwjobs, OneOfUs.net’s wrestling podcast hosted by Richard Whittaker and Eugene Selassie! Here you can listen to our two hosts and special guests discuss events, storylines, and everything else happening in the world of pro-wrestling.
Episode 20
Gene and Richard go full on Jim-Cornette-thinking-about-Russo this time with Extreme Rules, when the greatest roster in recent WWE history puts on the worst PPV imaginable, and dream matches are frittered away. Seriously, will it ever be Rusev Day?
Episode 19
How do Gene and Richard manage to sound some calm and collected? Oh, right, because they’ve watched some wrestling other than WWE this week. Our resident grapple fans question whether WWE really has two belts, the Fox deal, and terrible, terrible booking, but then make their day better by discussing New Japan Pro Wrestling, Ring of Honor, Pro Wrestling NOAH, Stardom, and why Odeo Tai could be the next Bullet Club. You heard it here first!
Episode 18
Gene and Richard survive 17,682 hours of Wrestlemania, and look back over the biggest, longest weekend on the wrestling calendar. With the dust settling over NoLa, the T and S crew question whether WWE will ever celebrate Rusev Day, what the hell the booking team was thinking, who the weekend’s biggest winner was (hint: it wasn’t anyone on the WWE roster), and whether Ring of Honor needs a roster boost. Plus the big question: was Sami Callahan right?
Episode 17
Wrasslin’ returns! Richard and Gene explore the greatest mystery of all – a Royal Rumble that doesn’t suck. In fact, a Royal Rumble that was so good that they almost forgot about Wrestle Kingdom for five minutes. Plus, Gene cuts the promo to end all promos on Raw 25. Earmuffs, children, earmuffs!
Episode 16
Hush, hush, whisper your age, Shane McMahon is too old for this cage. Gene and Richard survive another two WWE PPVs, and then wonder exactly why they do this to themselves when so many wrestlers are avoiding the company like the plague. Plus, why the WWE is so scared of the Elite, the Instagram heard around the world, why Wrestle Kingdom is a bigger deal right now than Wrestlemania, Bork Lazer’s purple face, the excellence of Alexa Bliss, and Cesaro being the scariest mofo in wrestling right now. Plus, we name a better annoying heel then Enzo. Who is it? The answer may surprise you. Or not. But it’s a good answer.
Episode 15
It’s a triple threat Thumbtacks and Screwjobs, as Gene and Richard tag in young lion Dave for a review of the second most important WWE PPV, and explain why it’s not that important any more. Plus we take on Lucha Underground’s Cueto Cup, dismantle the PWI 500 list, and are there too many tournaments, or are promotions just not doing enough with them? Plus, Gene gets to say “I told you so” in the wake of the Sexy Star/Rosemary debacle.
Episode 14
War is hell … and so was Battleground. Gene and Richard pick their jaws off the floor for one of the worst WWE PPVs of all time, and ask the big questions. Why did the finishes depend on wrestlers being complete numbskulls? Why were the big two matches obstacle courses? Is the booking team actually trying to kill Smackdown before Summerslam? Plus, the excellence of the New Japan G1 tournament, the glory that is Smacktalk, Lucha Underground being good (again, for now), the chances of a Bullet Club/The Elite feud, and we finally find out: who is the Mexican Roman Reigns?
Episode 13
Just when you thought the WWE was going to slow up on PPVs, here comes the back-to-back-to-back fiasco of Money in the Bank, Great Balls of Fire (really, Vince? Really?) and the upcoming mess that will be Battleground. Join Gene and Richard as the wonder why they torture themselves with the network, celebrate the raw genius of the New Japan G1 Special in USA, and finally discuss the questionable future of TNA … er GFW. Plus, Kenny Omega. Because Kenny Omegas is just the best. Did we say Kenny Omega is the best? Because he is.
Episode 12
Didn’t the WWE promise fewer PPVs in 2017? What did Gene and Richard think of year’s Extreme Rules? Is there any way to save Bayley from the writers’ room death spiral? Is Dean Ambrose about to become the smack talker we need? And do we even need to talk about the Drifter? Plus question time, and the latest update on Lucha Underground (spoiler: it’s pretty good again).”
Episode 11
Can we just have one weekend in which an NXT Takeover doesn’t completely blow the main WWE PPV out of the water? Gene and Richard relish how good modern booking is on the supposed WWE C-show, and how DIY broke their hearts in Chicago, before getting downright mean about the terrible Backr… uh Backlash 2017. Fans of Randy Orton, cover your ears. Plus, the first ever Thumbtacks & Screwjobs mail box! Listen as your hosts tag team the listeners, forget Jushin Thunder Liger’s name (seriously, guys?), and name their future main eventers.
Episode 10
Post-Wrestlemania blues abound as Gene and Richard feel shortchanged by WWE’s Payback PPV, panic about Backlash, get excited for New Japan versus ROH, and feel a little smug about being on the Keith Lee train early. Plus Shibata, Honma, hating the Hangman’s DDT, forecasting the future of the Bullet Club, and the question on everyone’s lips: why Jinder?
Episode 9
Somehow Gene and Richard survived Wrestlemania weekend, and they try to answer the immortal question about the showplace of the immortals: why was it so much better if you don’t watch WWE? Plus the rundown on the Hall of Fame, why Jim Cornette is a god on the mic, how Becky Lynch can save Raw, why Seth Rollins risks becoming the new HHH, and the ever-lasting saga of how they’re screwing up the tag divisions. Plus, why the OVW era needs to end, why the NXT tag match wasn’t match of the year, and saying goodbye to the Undertaker. Buckle up for the only show from the weekend that lasted less than eight hours – it just feels like it.
Episode 8
Royal Rumble! Wrestlekingdom! Ring of Honor! Wrestlekingdom! World of Sport! Wrestlekingdom! WWE’s UK championship! And did we mention Wrestlekingdom? Richard and Gene survive the busiest wrestling January in memory, only to complain about three hour Raws, wonder when the Roman Reigns experiment will end, and to bask in the wonder of the greatest match ever!
Episode 7
Thumbtacks and Screwjobs get a little serious when Richard sits down with Sarah Coulter, co-writer of the upcoming Chris Benoit biopic Crossface. Get you first word on what could be the most controversial wrestling movie ever made.
Episode 6: Best/Worst of 2016
2016 has been bowling shoe ugly … wait, make that Braun Strowman forward choke-slam ugly. That’s why Gene and Richard are here with the worst and best of pro-wrestling in 2016. Did the whole year just Shockmaster its way out of our hearts, or are did it manage a surprise face turn? Who were they favorite tag teams, and how did they end up on opposite sides of the same great feud? Plus, how could we talk about 2016 without talking about … DELETE DELETE DELETE!”
Episode 5
So Backlash has lashed back, and the greatest living wrestler (sorry, Roman Reigns) is now WWE champ. It’s no holds barred and no rest-holds as Gene and Richard discuss what’s wrong and right in the Owens/Styles era, the joy of the cruiserweight classic, what might have been with Will Ospreay, why Women of Honor is so long overdue, and why Delete or Decay could be the future of wrestling.
Episode 4
Summerslam’s done, NXT Takeover Brooklyn II is in the rear view mirror, and here come Richard and Eugene to ponder, like everyone, what the hell the WWE booking team was thinking. They lay some hard elbows into the low points of the second biggest PPV of the year, and find everything that is glorious (hint: their names are Nakamura and Joe) about the weekend.
Episode 3
Goodbye Heel Heat, hello Thumbtacks and Screwjobs! Don’t worry, it’s still the same hour of wrestling talk with Gene and Richard, as they ponder the new-found freedom and free agent status of Cody Rhodes, examine the mystery push of Dan Brooke, and wonder who taught The Revival to cut such perfect promos for their gimmicks. Plus they look back on Extreme Rules, forward to NXT: The End, weigh the pros and cons of the brand split, and continue to be blown away by the long, slow decline into madness that is … TNA on Pop!
Episode 2
Did WWE Payback leave you feeling short changed? Richard and Eugene pull apart the pieces of the post-Wrestlemania hangover show, and celebrate that the best parts of NXT are now making Raw look so, so much better. Richard gets excited that Kevin Owens is being more Owens-y than ever, and defends the Hype Bros! Eugene drops the elbow on 50-50 booking! They both swing chairs at the meaninglessness of the titles! Plus the long, slow death of TNA, getting excited over the Not-Bullet Club and crying in their Wrestlemania XXVII commemorative cups about the stupid, stupid decision to get rid of Damien Sandow.
