"What was wrestling thinking? "- Paul Scrivens
Ever wonder how it was that the WWE went from the days of Hulk Hogan ripping his shirt and Macho Man Randy Savage dropping elbows to Steve Austin asking for you to give him a "Hell Yeah!" before chugging beer and Dwayne Johnson under a more electrifying name entertaining his millions AND MILLIONS of fans with amazing promos and arguably the goofiest, yet most entertaining elbow in professional wrestling?
Why, the answer is quite simple: The New Generation.
This podcast was started in 2013 by three friends from England: Stewart Brooks, Adam Wieks, and Paul Scrivens and covers what is considered the "dark age" of the WWF due to how the modern WWE makes very few mentions of it in the official timeline. When you hear the hosts discuss some of the dire, dire moments that occurred in this time period- fake Undertaker, Diesel's championship reign, KING MABEL- you can understand why it is that this period generally gets glossed over and forgotten.
However, there are quite a few amazing moments in this era: the first-ever Ladder Match in the then-WWF between Shawn Michaels and Scott Hall; the amazing feud between Bret Hart and Owen Hart; the Iron Man match between Hart and Michaels - and Brooks, Wieks and Scrivens cover the good, the bad, Lex Luger's constant trouser adjusting, and everything in between.
The show opens with a brief chat amongst the hosts regarding current wrestling events which can often lead to discussions on cricket, Association Football, whether Adam is hungover, Alan Partridge, and usually is bookended with an entertaining, though sometimes odd, story from the life of Scrivens, with his wife and young son frequently involved in the stories, or as they're referred to on the podcast: "Mrs. Scrivens" and "Baby Scrivens." This is followed by a reading of listener responses to various questions tied in to the theme of that episode, although there have been a few esoteric questions, most recently having listeners pitch ideas for Paul's second child. All of the questions and answers are Played for Laughs.
After the "Listener Suggestions," Stewart gives a brief overview of the Pay-per-view or show the trio will be reviewing, including attendance, buy rates, and the state of affairs in the WWF at that moment. Stewart, Adam, and Paul will then go through and discuss all the action presented, be it matches, backstage segments, interviews, or bizarre sponsor tie-ins. Stewart provides the main narration while Adam and Paul offer their thoughts. The episodes end with all three giving their choices for "Match of the Night" and "MVP," with Adam awarding an additional honor to the "Mullet of the Night."
Episodes can be downloaded from iTunes
,Stitcher, and Soundcloud. The show can also be found at Botchamania.
The New Generation Project Podcast contains examples of:
- 80's Hair: Mullets. While all the hosts are fond of that particular hairdo, it is Adam who's noted as being the biggest fan, often taking a moment to point out whether a wrestler or on-air personality has a nice mullet, which is always a positive in his books. He even runs a Twitter which features, among other things mullet-related, trading cards Adam makes for his winners of the Mullet of the Night award from episodes of the podcast.
- Accentuate the Negative: Averted; bucking the trend of many internet critiques of both wrestling and media in general, the hosts go out their way to point out the positives of even the worst segments of the shows they review.
- Added Alliterative Appeal: A fantastic one coming from Stewart on the Starrcade 1996 episode:"Piper peppers punches, perfectly pasting Hogan.
- Admiring the Abomination: All the hosts have a genuine love for some of the most bizarre, unsightly, or downright awful gimmicks to have made their way to the squared circle, chief among them being MANTAUR
- And That's Terrible: Subverted on the shows covered, played straight on the podcast. The WWF, pushing Michaels as their "leader of the New Generation, " go out their way to paint him as a heroic champion among champions, even when backstage behavior makes him unbearable to all but his friends in the back, The Kliq, and out of the ring events affect the in ring product (look up "Shawn Michaels Syracuse.") Now, does knowledge the behavior of Shawn Michaels circa mid-90's spoil his in-ring work, or does the amazing feats he's capable of outweigh the out of ring behavior? This issue is frequently discussed on the show.
- Atrocious Alias: Brutus. Beefcake. A constant source of jokes on the podcast is the seemingly constant repackaging of Beefcake. Among the new names covered on the show: Dizzy Hogan, The Butcher, The Man With No Name, The Zodiac, Brute Force, Brother Bruti, and the particularly loathsome Booty Man.
- Brain Bleach: When occasional references are made to the notorious King of the Ring '95 or Uncensored '96, the hosts will claim to have willingly erased these shows from their memories.
- Broken Record: Vince McMahon and his propensity on commentary to describe any and all actions performed in the ring with the term "Maneuver." There's usually an adjective in front of it- powerful maneuver, explosive maneuver, and the ever popular 'WHATAMANUVER!!!- and it's frequency, particularly on the King of the Ring 1995 episode, was a topic of derision.
- Deadpan Snarker: All of the hosts make constant sarcastic jabs at the events they're discussing, though it's easy to understand when you listen to them discuss the trash heaps that are more often than not put in front of them.
- Disco Dan: During the one off episodes on [1],the hosts have all admitted to enjoying the gimmick Disco Inferno, who is the wrestling version of this trope come to life.
- Face–Heel Turn: Discussed, both the turns the wrestlers commit, as well as a joking discussion as to who amongst the hosts would turn on the others first. It was quickly decided, by self admission, that it would be Paul, citing it would just take a big briefcase of Hairbo and he'd take out Stewart and Adam.
- Freudian Trio: Regarding the hosts, though it's more Played for Laughs than being serious roles they all take on.
- Id: Adam, with frequent mentions towards drunk behavior, with a few episodes beginning with the other hosts or Adam himself making note of the fact he is hung over. Also, he is usually the quickest to comment on a woman appearing on the pay per view in a low cut outfit.
- Superego: Paul, who is usually the first to comment on the unsavory, unwholesome aspects of something on one of the pay per views (see the top of the page quote.) He's also more likely to be shocked at a lewd joke than from Adam or Stuart than laugh, saying "You can't say that!" Not to say he doesn't also laugh at the references, and isn't capable of off color remarks, he just usually tries to be the conscience of the podcast. A joke one time of Paul being the worst phone sex operator ever.
- "I won't talk about that. I won't talk about that.
- Ego: Stewart, who usually aims to be the one to keep things on track regarding the discussion of the matches, though isn't shy about making jokes or remarks that have Adam laughing and Paul jokingly saying that "that bit needs to be cut out." Serving as the more or less narrator of the show, he keeps things in his commentaries usually balanced between thorough, clinical play by play descriptions of the action, as well as frequent asides and humorous references to break up sometimes monotonous action the show is covering
- Kitsch Collection: Occasional joking references are made to Stewart's massive collection of wrestling-related merchandise and films. When a mention is made in one episode to Stewart reading a list of all the wrestling DVD's he owns, Stewart dismisses this with "We don't have that much time."
- Lemony Narrator: Stewart's notes are the most detailed and thorough of the hosts, as they serve as the main overview of the shows. These notes are written in a straightforward, reporting style, though not without a heavy dose of sarcasm and snark, with several references to running gags on the podcast, popular films and TV shows, and plenty of Alan Partridge jokes.
- Mad Mathematician: somewhat subverted. By no means "mad," Paul serves as the resident mathematician for the podcast, with correcting the claims of commentary teams that a wrestler has been turned 360 degrees on a move (usually 270), breaking down the physics by top rope attacks, and the esoteric math equation based on a series of numbers that have been featured on a pay per view or show.
- Oh, Crap!!: Subverted. After his debut, Stewart announces every Vader appearance in the ring, in a flat tone, "Oh shit, it's Vader Time."
- Significant Wardrobe Shift: When Razor Ramon moves towards wearing trunks that feature a dark background color with golden razor blades on it, this is lauded by the hosts as a good choice, with a running segment for the remainder of Ramon's appearances involving Adam discussing Razor's pants. The trio also react to when a wrestler begins to resemble how they're more famously known or remembered- the journey of Steve Austin to green trunks wearing Ring Master to black trunks, thick goatee, black vest of Stone Cold is frequently noted on. There has also been many a discussion on "Main Event Pants," i.e. "Does the wardrobe of the wrestler look like something you'd see someone seriously competing for the world title wearing?"
- Stock "Yuck!": Many jokes and imitations are made of Vince McMahon and his hokey, forced laugh that he often used during his baby face commentator run. Understandably, it is not enjoyed by any of the hosts.
- The Ace: In the time covered on the podcast, as the hosts give copious evidence to backup: Bret Hart, full stop.
- The Movie Buff: Played straight with Stewart and Adam, as discussions on matches can frequently divert into discussions on films. They also apply this knowledge to their critiques, making frequent notes on the quality of cinematography in pay per views, as well as the editing and production values of promo packages, comparing it to certain films. Subverted with Paul, who freely admits he isn't the studious film buff compared to Stewart and Adam, but contends that this allows him freedom to suspend his disbelief much easier and not get distracted by production details the same way as Stuart and Adam might.
