The Lapsed Fan

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The Lapsed Fan co-chairmen bring a unique chemistry and perspective to discussion of the pro wrestling of lore, reviewing archived pay-per-views with a fresh set of eyes, and identifying just what it was that made wrestling better – or, often, worse – in years past. Consider it the definitive audio guide to the archived shows in your WWE Network. Or don't, but be sure to listen for the spills and thrills.
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Episodes

Published 2025-12-04

Ep. 434: The Complete Hulk Hogan I Alabama & Andre

151 min Transcript
Open
This episode of The Lapsed Fan is brought to you by LIVIT. It’s a complete, clean system designed by doctors and former wrestlers who wanted formulas based on real evidence, not trends. If you’re looking for performance, recovery, and value in one place, LIVIT gives you all of it in one system. 


Visit LIVITNation.com and use code LAPSED for 5% off your order.
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Published 2025-11-27

Ep. 433: The Complete Hulk Hogan | Alabama (Part 1)

204 min Transcript
Open
This episode of The Lapsed Fan is brought to you by LIVIT. It’s a complete, clean system designed by doctors and former wrestlers who wanted formulas based on real evidence, not trends. If you’re looking for performance, recovery, and value in one place, LIVIT gives you all of it in one system. 


Visit LIVITNation.com and use code LAPSED for 5% off your order.
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Published 2025-09-02

TLF Special Interview: Ronda Rousey

58 min Transcript
Open
Amazon Pre-Sale Link to Purchase Ronda's graphic novel, "EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED":




https://www.amazon.com/Expecting-Unexpected-Ronda-Rousey/dp/1733499393/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2WEQXEFUAACNI&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9._rhh5Z4F9jOxb6IH0-LEiaz2vvx1oTtbUVrvqDV_SEHxBP0BRdESc_WK-oM1PcCsIy3oVe5fK3iamk4AkzjivwhcLKsZCbhY2K_TVC7OHC2YxcpR5y7sDjaUV0u0RtJ31ylDt1EsnvSlvQqRYQnchIpDYTVJPja5Hg1yhQT_bXCLsjy3bxfBGaWSFmZkCsS9RHUntroVZiUdBvXCOQYlm28F4Fvo5Oinmg1_M0grOP8.dY8wKMq00_QDiYNSgBR4Da5rIuEAgAadfsEIsBQMh90&dib_tag=se&keywords=expecting+the+unexpected&qid=1756412943&sprefix=expecting+the+%2Caps%2C99&sr=8-1
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Published 2025-01-10

Ep. 409: 'The Coliseum Collection' - Villains of the Squared Circle (Part 2)

172 min Transcript
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Attention TLF Solar System:

"The Lapsed Fan" is nominated for "Best Wrestling Podcast" in the Sports Podcast Awards! That means it's time for you to do the right thing and vote. It's also time for you to get your friends and family (even the ones you don't like to talk to) to do the right thing, too. 

Vote here: https://www.sportspodcastgroup.com/sports_category/best-wrestling-podcast/#
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Published 2025-01-09

Ep. 409: 'The Coliseum Collection' - Villains of the Squared Circle (Part 1)

166 min Transcript
Open
Attention TLF Solar System:

"The Lapsed Fan" is nominated for "Best Wrestling Podcast" in the Sports Podcast Awards! That means it's time for you to do the right thing and vote. It's also time for you to get your friends and family (even the ones you don't like to talk to) to do the right thing, too. 

Vote here: https://www.sportspodcastgroup.com/sports_category/best-wrestling-podcast/#
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Published 2025-01-02

Ep. 408 Winter Mailbag (Part 2)

182 min Transcript
Open
Attention TLF Solar System:

"The Lapsed Fan" is nominated for "Best Wrestling Podcast" in the Sports Podcast Awards! That means it's time for you to do the right thing and vote. It's also time for you to get your friends and family (even the ones you don't like to talk to) to do the right thing, too. 

Vote here: https://www.sportspodcastgroup.com/sports_category/best-wrestling-podcast/#
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Published 2025-01-02

Ep. 408: Winter Mailbag (Part 1)

233 min Transcript
Open
Attention TLF Solar System:

"The Lapsed Fan" is nominated for "Best Wrestling Podcast" in the Sports Podcast Awards! That means it's time for you to do the right thing and vote. It's also time for you to get your friends and family (even the ones you don't like to talk to) to do the right thing, too. 

Vote here: https://www.sportspodcastgroup.com/sports_category/best-wrestling-podcast/#
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Published 2024-12-31

TLFX Testimonial: Dickie

16 min Transcript
Open
There are moments in life where we're called upon to stand up and be counted. Moments where the silent but virtuous must shout. TLF is up for Best Wrestling Podcast in the Sports Podcast Awards. Voting opens today. It's #TLFX. We deserve it. So, cast your votes, and get everyone you know to vote as well. After 10 years, this still isn't a fucking game. Let's show em that craft, ingenuity, and #shelflife still matter.

Vote here: https://www.sportspodcastgroup.com/sports_category/best-wrestling-podcast/
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Published 2024-12-26

A Lapsed Holiday Drive Home

10 min Transcript
Open
There are moments in life where we're called upon to stand up and be counted. Moments where the silent but virtuous must shout. TLF is up for Best Wrestling Podcast in the Sports Podcast Awards. Voting opens today. It's #TLFX. We deserve it. So, cast your votes, and get everyone you know to vote as well. After 10 years, this still isn't a fucking game. Let's show em that craft, ingenuity, and #shelflife still matter.

Vote here: https://www.sportspodcastgroup.com/sports_category/best-wrestling-podcast/
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Published 2024-12-11

Ep. 407: Sid Tribute (Part 10, Finale)

206 min Transcript
Open
Attention TLF Solar System:

"The Lapsed Fan" is nominated for "Best Wrestling Podcast" in the Sports Podcast Awards!That means it's time for you to do the right thing and vote. It's also time for you to get your friends and family (even the ones you don't like to talk to) to do the right thing, too. 

Vote here: https://www.sportspodcastgroup.com/sports_category/best-wrestling-podcast/#
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Published 2021-05-15

Bonus: Jack Interviews Rick Bassman on WWE's Interest to Purchase PRIDE FC, Eric Bischoff on Pro Wrestling & MMA Business Similarities

153 min
Open
In 2013 Jack Encarnacao discussed WWE's interest to purchase MMA organization PRIDE FC with Rick Bassman. Bassman was an advisor brought in to WWE to navigate the logistics of such a move. Plus, Jack speaks with Eric Bischoff, who at the time was the executive producer of TNA Impact, about the similarities in pro wrestling and mixed martial arts from a business standpoint.

"The Rewind" originally aired on Sherdog.com March 29th, 2013.
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Published 2021-02-12

Relapsed: 'The Lapsed Fan Live'

67 min
Open
This week on "Relapsed" producer TJ De Santis brings a theme to the table. The theme for this week was moments the co-chairs were live. On this installment of "Relapsed" De Santis brings the solar system back to the first time that Jack, JP, and a panel of lapsed personalities took questions live on the air.
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Published 2020-04-03

Listener Call-In Tiers Announced For Wrestlemania 36 Pre-Shows

10 min
Open
The TLF co-chairs give you the information you need to ensure your spot on the Wrestlemania pre-shows this weekend. While anyone pledging to "The Lapsed Fan" on Patreon can request a call from the co-chairmen. Only twenty members of the solar system will be able to guarantee their spot in that ass. Tonight at 12 am ET/9 pm PT two special tiers on Patreon will appear. Listen as Jack and JP are joined by Lapsed Dusty and Lapsed "Shagger" Lee to explain more
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Published 2015-08-18

Ep. 52: 1997 WCW Fall Brawl

248 min
Open
The Lapsed Fan air drops into the throes of nWo ubiquity by deep diving the 1997 WCW Fall Brawl.

Join in as your TLF co-chairmen muse on the mockery of Arn Anderson’s retirement, vintage Kevin Nash duplicity, and Ric Flair taking the fall in War Games.

The show covers:

- Crickets for a Curt Hennig heel turn

- The story behind the horrific photo of Flair with his head split open from the cage door

- Eddie Guerrero and Chris Jericho show out for work rate

- Wcwwrestling.com

- The moment when Larry Zybysko was the most over babyface in WCW

- Malenko’s Mario Bros 3 music

- Schiavone’s realization that no one is really stepping up to oppose the nWo

- The glaring absence of Sting at a time he was what fans most wanted to see

- Buff Bagwell grates on the nerves

That and so much more on that latest Lapsed Fan!
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Published 2015-08-17

Ep. 51: 1998 WWE Survivor Series

232 min
Open
The Lapsed Fan wrestling podcast delves into the heart of the Attitude Era this week, and the game your co-chairmen play is most certainly deadly.

Your deep dive into the 1998 WWF Survivor Series “Deadly Game” scrutinizes all angles of the WWF title tournament that sharply turned The Rock heel just as he was beginning to catch babyface fire, and the lessons that can be applied to a certain Roman Reigns.

Immerse yourself in attitudinal booking with a study on the elements that helped the WWF, by this point in 1998, decisively pull ahead in the Monday night ratings wars, and never look back.

The show includes:

- SO MANY signs in the crowd. Just a sea of neon cardboard.

- The Rock breaks through a bonafide top guy

- Vince makes each and every bout of manipulation sing from his wheelchair in a vintage performance

- The confounding first WWF run of William Regal as the “Real Man’s Man”

- The Big Bossman invades every nook and cranny of the show, except the run-in he was supposed to do in Austin v. Mankind, killing the match’s heat

- The name of the football squad Duane Gill coached to glory

- JR on X-Pac’s “suddenness”

- Ken Shamrock huracanranas

- The crowd is asked to react to an Undertaker who just admitted he set the fire that destroyed his family and was blamed on Kane

- JR actually says this: “Mankind has opened up offensively now after realizing that the tube sock was around the mannequin head.” #AttitudeEra

All that and so much more, as TLF dissects the qualities that make the 1998 Survivor Series a true harbinger for a WWF product re-imagining that sent the company to new heights (and occasionally new lows).
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Published 2015-08-17

Ep 50: WWE In Your House 4

225 min
Open
The Lapsed Fan journeys to the Great White North for our latest edition, as a struggling WWF presented a Diesel v. British Bulldog “In Your House” main event in Oct. 1995 that infamously prompted Vince McMahon to slam down his headset and shout “Horrible!” after the show went off the air.

Journey with TLF to the breaking point in the Diesel experiment, and the interesting milieu around the WWF product at the time, including:

- The debut of “the androgynous” Goldust

- The story behind Shawn Michaels getting jumped in Syracuse – forcing him to forfeit the IC title on this show – and how the story is remembered differently

- Attempts to discern what the idea was behind Fatu’s befuddling “Make a Difference” gimmick

- Dok Hendrix tries to sell a Bret Hart cardboard cutout to kids by promising them Bret will watch over them while they sleep

- Razor radiates “nonplussed” as 123 Kid costs him the tag titles and then wins the IC title from Dean Douglas

- How the Kliq felt about “The Franchise”

- The WWF goes to Winnipeg, flies out Bret and Owen Hart, and then doesn’t book them to wrestle on the PPV

- Details on the Bret/Jerry Lawler dark match after the show

- Yokozuna versus Mabel

- Bill Watts bolts

That and so much more. So venture North with that TLF deep dive, available for download here.
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Published 2015-08-17

Ep. 49: 1985 Starrcade

257 min
Open
In tribute to the “American Dream” Dusty Rhodes, The Lapsed Fan wrestling podcast gives the deep-dive treatment to an event that spoke in so many ways to Rhodes’ treasured and complicated legacy – Starrcade 1985.

“The Gathering” saw fans fill arenas in both Greensboro, N.C. and Atlanta to witness Rhodes challenge Ric Flair for the NWA world title after a disputed finish in 1984, following the beatdown angle that led to the formation of the Four Horsemen and Rhodes’ most famous “Hard Times” promo.

Join hosts Jack Encarnacao and JP Sarro as they take an accounting of Rhodes’ impact on the industry as seen through this dual-venue event, and riff on how it speaks to the wrestling culture of the time.

The show includes:

- Starrcade or Scarrcade? Why is everyone bleeding? Like, every wrestler, every manager, everybody.

- The Dusty Finish

- 1985’s “Black Saturday” saga and how the 85 Starrcade was returned fire from Jim Crockett Promotions to Vince McMahon’s national expansion and the success of the first WrestleMania

- The surprising promise of “Nature Boy” Buddy Landel

- Why Dusty’s promos worked so well

- The blood-curdling screams of the unforgettable “I Quit” match between Magnum T.A. and Tully Blanchard, and the tragedy of Magnum’s potential

- Bob Caudle’s befuddling penchant for prolonged silence

- The referee dressed up like a French’s mustard bottle

That and so much more as TLF tips an ostentatious cap to the American Dream. Download it here.
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Published 2015-08-17

Ep. 48: 1997 Canadian Stampede

245 min
Open
The Lapsed Fan returns with a deep dive into one of the true sleeper hits in WWF history – the 1997 Canadian Stampede: In Your House.

Join your co-chairman as they journey to the Calgary Stampede as the famed Hart Family take their greatest stand, as the Hart Foundation squad of Bret, Owen, Anvil, Bulldog and Pillman face ragtag group of Americans captained by the surging Stone Cold Steve Austin.

TLF assess it all, including:

- The surprising note on sadness that sets in today watching the show’s closing scene, starring so many staples of the business we’ve lost

- The WWF light heavyweight experiment – why it paled in comparison to WCW’s cruiser weights and what it should have been

- The quantities that makes Stone Cold who he is come into stark relief in the way the main event is worked and booked.

- Bruce Hart almost ruins things (Bret agrees)

- Why there need to be more four-match pay-per-views

- Are Mankind and Triple H still brawling as we speak?

- The Harts are welcomed with massive autograph lines to the Stampede

– The hottest Bret Hart has ever been as a character in wrestling, as an uber baby in Canada and an uber heel in America

- The seeds are planted for the Undertaker/Kane/dead parents storyline, as Paul Bearer leads Vader in to challenge The Undertaker

- The last “In Your House” style PPV before WWF switched to a three-hour, $30 monthly model that took off despite the steeper price

- WWF telegraphs where the product is headed by invoking “shades of gray”

All that and so much more as TLF delves into one of the most storied and unique nights in WWF history. Download here.
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Published 2015-08-17

Ep. 47: 1992 WWF Royal Rumble

259 min
Open
With a tear in their eye, your Lapsed Fan co-chairmen go deep this week on one of the most memorable events in WWF history – the 1992 Royal Rumble, the night Titan Sports was truly “fair to Flair.”

Hosts Jack Encarnacao and JP Sarro recap the brilliance of Ric Flair’s first WWF title win in the greatest Rumble ever, where the match stakes were higher than they’ve ever been, and the worm begins to turn ever so slightly on Hulkamania.

Witness:

- As entrant No. 3, Flair comes face-to-face with an eclectic range of foes from his territorial past in electric confrontations, and mixes it up with the emerging new guard as well

- Flair’s unforgettable victory promo

- High-level analysis of WWF President Jack Tunney’s decision to put the WWF title on the line in the Rumble match. Was he justified? Was he duplicitous? Was he on the take?

- All the old Rumble production elements that need to come back as soon as possible, including the yearbook-style parade of head shots at the top of the broadcast introduced by the gravely tones of Vince McMahon

- In the performance of a lifetime in the broadcast booth, Bobby Heenan sets the standard on how to enhance a match by being blatantly biased in favor of a competitor, and panicking at the very thought he might lose

- So why exactly was Hogan booed on this night?

- The pants, and offense, of the New Foundation

- Piper wins his first WWF title, and the strange backstage happenings said to have led to Bret Hart losing it suddenly

- Jamison

That and so much more as TLF digs into one of the great PPV events in WWF history. Download the show now!
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Published 2015-08-17

Ep. 46: 1995 Great American Bash

203 min
Open
The latest Lapsed Fan delves into a moment just before the launch of the game-changing Monday Nitro, as World Championship Wrestling staged the 1995 Great American Bash with Ric Flair and Randy Savage taking center stage and Hulk Hogan’s shadow looming large.

Hosts Jack Encarnacao and JP Sarro dive deep on this Turner offering, and drink up the atmosphere of a show that took place just days after news broke that WCW was going to make a run at Vince McMahon’s Monday night real estate.

The show includes:

- The Tragedy of The Renegade

- Lanky Alex Wright takes to the sky against Brian Pillman in a barn burner

- The WCW look-a-like sweepstakes

- The U.S. title tournament – which included Flair v. Wright and Savage v. Austin – concludes with Sting versus Meng and his martial arts expertise

- Commish Nick Bockwinkel forgets the name of Bash at the Beach in an all-time fail

- Sgt. Craig Pittman throws himself out of the ring and lands on his feet, then bumps. Then goes the Power Plant to train other wrestlers

- The mystery behind Marcus Alexander Bagwell’s absence REVEALED

- The reason Hogan tussles with Vader on the pre-show only to make no appearance whatsoever on the pay-per-view REVEALED

- Flair uses Angelo Poffo as a human shield to clip Savage’s knee, and other assorted Flair vintage

That and so much more, included the original working title of Monday Nitro. The latest Lapsed Fan is what you need, download it now!
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Published 2015-08-17

Ep. 45: 1993 Survivor Series

237 min
Open
The Lapsed Fan podcast is back with yet another deep dive, this time on the 1993 WWF Survivor Series – the night of multiple Doinks, multiple twists and turns, and multiple fails.

Join co-chairmen Jack Encarnacao and JP Sarro as they dissect a zany but interesting pay-per-view event that came in the throes of the World Wrestling Federation feeling the heat of a steroid distribution indictment and other industry turmoil.

The show touches on, among many, many other things:

- Lex Luger, in a classic Americana sweater, and family wish you a Happy Thanksgiving by a warm fire

- A true tour de force of quips and jokes from Bobby Heenan, in his last great stand as a WWF color commentator

- Heenan calls Ludvig Borga “The Wrestler of the 90s,” but that wasn’t intended as comedy

- Memories of Undertaker revealing the American flag colors in the lining of his trench coat as he joins the All Americans, and unanswered questions about what exactly happened to Tatanka

- Yokozuna on Conan O’Brien

- The seed is planted for Owen turning on Bret, and sadness over the fact that modern WWE performers so rarely get so much out of doing so little. A eulogy for subtlety in wrestling.

- The pain of four Doinks

- The Smoky Mountain tag titles are on the line in a high-stakes battle

Join as TLF gives that trademark treatment to yet another WWE Network archive gem, the 1993 Survivor Series. Download the show now!
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Published 2015-08-17

Ep 44: 1990 NWA's Capital Combat

216 min
Open
Coming off a 30-week WrestleMania bender, The Lapsed Fan gets back to the business of deep diving an eclectic array of wrestling pay-per-views from the past. This week, it’s the night Robocop saved Sting. Or, as Jim Cornette once called it, “one of the biggest abortions in the in the history of wrestling.”

NWA Capital Combat 1990 will forever live in infamy, and TLF hosts Jack Encarnacao and JP Sarro stand ready to lampoon and assess it appropriately.

Witness:

- The story behind the forced Robocop angle, and how the gimmicked cage Robocop bent with his hands actually managed to dilute other parts of the show

- The legacy of movie Robocop, and how casting him as a traditional, save-the-day superhero completely misses the point and genius of the film

- Reflections on Norman the Lunatic

- Big Johnny versus Big Evil, as Mark Calaway makes a rare WCW PPV appearance and flashes several glimpses of his trademark Undertaker move set against Johnny Ace

- Sid stands around – stone faced and in a tuxedo for no reason – while his 4 Horsemen counterparts lambaste Sting

- Why Bobby Eaton is under appreciated

- Junkyard Dog tells Jim Cornette he’s been sleeping with his mother
- One of the best Frankensteiners Scott ever hit

- The Corporal Punishment match between the Freebirds and the Rock N’ Roll Express, where whipping a man’s hide is legal, but entering the ring without a proper tag is not

- Captain Mike Rotunda

All that and so much more, as The Lapsed Fan journeys back to a true pro wrestling curiosity, and gives that trademark TLF treatment to Capital Combat 90.

Download the show now!
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Published 2015-08-14

30 Week Journey: Wrestlemania XXX (2014)- Part Two

257 min
Open
The Lapsed Fan’s 30-week journey through each and every WrestleMania reaches the end of the road this week, as your co-chairmen take that one-of-a-kind deep dive into WrestleMania 30 from the New Orleans Superdome.

Join hosts Jack Encarnacao and JP Sarro for one last toast to “the Manes,” as they dissect the dynamics at play in Daniel Bryan’s unlikely rise and precipitous fall, the end of the Undertaker’s vaunted winning streak, and the dawning of a new “Network Era” for WWE’s grandest spectacle.

Discussion points include:

- The historical currents running beneath the Hogan/Austin/Rock face off at the top of the show

- The realization that John Cena has likely had his last WrestleMania moment hoisting the championship high, and other items that make you feel old

- Triple H proves just how good he can be in a classic to set up Bryan for the big win

- More kvetching over HHH’s ornate entrances

- So, was the streak ending the right call? Things that are clearer in retrospect, and why the finish of Taker’s match with Bray Wyatt this year partly informs the answer

- Jake Roberts electrifies with a cutting Hall of Fame speech

- Cesaro’s aborted push, and what a damn shame it is watching back the inaugural Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal

- The last word on what happened to Daniel Bryan

Plus audio recollections on the event and the impact of the streak ending from the TLF Solar System, as well as one final contribution from guru Dave Meltzer on the WWE Network and other elements that make this one of the most noteworthy WrestleManias of all time.

From 1985 to 2015 – from Hogan to Savage to Warrior to Hart to HBK to Austin to Rock to HHH to Cena to Bryan – TLF has Lapsed you across the face with the damnedest WM audio reviews you’ve ever heard. Journey to grand stage with us one last time and complete your WM31 prep by downloading the show here.
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Published 2015-08-14

30 Week Journey: Wrestlemania XXX(2014)- Part One

187 min
Open
The Lapsed Fan’s 30-week journey through each and every WrestleMania reaches the end of the road this week, as your co-chairmen take that one-of-a-kind deep dive into WrestleMania 30 from the New Orleans Superdome.

Join hosts Jack Encarnacao and JP Sarro for one last toast to “the Manes,” as they dissect the dynamics at play in Daniel Bryan’s unlikely rise and precipitous fall, the end of the Undertaker’s vaunted winning streak, and the dawning of a new “Network Era” for WWE’s grandest spectacle.

Discussion points include:

- The historical currents running beneath the Hogan/Austin/Rock face off at the top of the show

- The realization that John Cena has likely had his last WrestleMania moment hoisting the championship high, and other items that make you feel old

- Triple H proves just how good he can be in a classic to set up Bryan for the big win

- More kvetching over HHH’s ornate entrances

- So, was the streak ending the right call? Things that are clearer in retrospect, and why the finish of Taker’s match with Bray Wyatt this year partly informs the answer

- Jake Roberts electrifies with a cutting Hall of Fame speech

- Cesaro’s aborted push, and what a damn shame it is watching back the inaugural Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal

- The last word on what happened to Daniel Bryan

Plus audio recollections on the event and the impact of the streak ending from the TLF Solar System, as well as one final contribution from guru Dave Meltzer on the WWE Network and other elements that make this one of the most noteworthy WrestleManias of all time.

From 1985 to 2015 – from Hogan to Savage to Warrior to Hart to HBK to Austin to Rock to HHH to Cena to Bryan – TLF has Lapsed you across the face with the damnedest WM audio reviews you’ve ever heard. Journey to grand stage with us one last time and complete your WM31 prep by downloading the show here.
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Published 2015-08-12

30 Week Journey: Wrestlemania XXIX (2013)

315 min
Open
It was twice in a lifetime when John Cena and The Rock tussled at WrestleMania 29, the penultimate stop on The Lapsed Fan’s 30-week Mania voyage.

Hosts Jack Encarnacao and JP Sarro dive into Metlife Stadium to examine the top revenue-producing event in WWE history, with recollections of taking the show in live in East Rutherford, the brilliance of CM Punk, the atmospherics of the Undertaker’s last Streak victory, Brock Lesnar’s hulking visage, and the finisher jukebox that was Rock/Cena II, which turned out to be likely Cena’s last moment in the brightest Mania spotlight

Your co-chairmen cover:

- In his last Mania appearance, how CM Punk managed a classic without copious weapons shots and No DQ stips

- CM Punk’s finest moment? Discuss.

- The confused psychology of Rock embracing Cena after their uber-lucrative feud comes to an end

- Ryback is fed less

- Big E and Fandango make their in-ring debuts on the grand stage, and other pushes that went nowhere

- The Shield debuts at Mania – was Roman’s upside apparent even then, when no one popped particularly loud for the superman punch?

- At the Hall of Fame, Bob Backlund screams that he works out harder than anybody in here

- Triple H locks on a kimura, and the Universe face palms

- WWE calls all-in on the immigration issue in one last attempt to get Alberto Del Rio over the top. Featuring Zeb Coulter’s WrestleMania moment.

All that and and so much more, including Dave Meltzer on the dynamic of Cena/Rock II, the finish of HHH/Lesnar, and why CM Punk ultimately looked back on this night with discontent.

One. More. Stop. Left. It’s the Lapsed Fan’s 30-week sojourn through WrestleMania history, and stop No. 29 is yours for download now!
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Published 2015-08-12

30 Week Journey: Wrestlemania XXVIII (2012)

297 min
Open
The Rock improbably stepped back into the ring at WrestleMania 28, and The Lapsed Fan is right there with him as the show reaches the final leg of its 30-week journey through the grand spectacle.

It was “Once in a Lifetime” (until next year) as Rock stepped back on to the grand stage to tussle with John Cena in 2012. TLF co-chairs Jack Encarnacao and JP Sarro give you that one-of-a-kind vantage on why the match was momentous.

Your hosts also touch on, among other things:

- Why Sheamus’ 18-second dispatching of Daniel Bryan backfired, and how sad it is that no one at WWE saw it coming

- Undertaker v. HHH – Was the WM28 match better than the WM27 match? A debate. Also, the end of what “Era,” exactly?

- Maria Menounos stains her pants on a Diva’s face

- Big Johnny in a Col. Sanders suit

- The CM Punk pipe bomb promo, and the messy, frustrating road from there to his babyface title defense against Chris Jericho on this night

- The unsettling spectacle of Brodus Clay’s “mom”

- Flo Rida booked strong

- How Rock v. Cena will be remembered; is it in the pantheon of Hogan/Andre, Bret/HBK, and Rock/Austin?

All that and so much more, including exclusive insight from Dave Meltzer on what brought Rock back to the fray, and the upshot of the Hell in a Cell match.

Two weeks left. Get to work. It’s the latest stop in the Lapsed Fan’s 30-week WrestleMania sojourn, available for download now!
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Published 2015-08-11

30 Week Journey: Wrestlemania XXVII (2011)

251 min
Open
Finally The Rock returns to WrestleMania, and The Lapsed Fan hits stop 27 on its 30-week odyssey.

Journey with TLF co-chairs Jack Encarnacao and JP Sarro to the Georgia Dome as the most electrifying man in sports and entertainment and sports entertainment and pop culture presides over the 2011 Manes and the curious Cena v. Miz main event.

Your hosts cover:

- Heel Michael Cole: the good, the bad, and the worse

- The phoney-baloney indoor entertainment event record the show sets

- The hits and critical misses of the Miz super push

- The last match of Edge, with exclusive audio of the Rated R Superstar explaining the injury that felled him

- The Royal Rumble winner jobs in the Mania opener, as the Rumble’s significance continues to be destroyed

- The Corre

- Undertaker and HHH bash each other with weapons, bust tables, and hit finishers in a polarizing battle

Plus Dave Meltzer with unique recollections on why Rock came back, and how this show will be remembered.

We’re closing in rapidly on week 30 of this remarkable journey, so don’t lame out, download now!
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Published 2015-08-11

30 Week Journey: Wrestlemania XXVI (2010)

290 min
Open
The Lapsed Fan’s 30-week WrestleMania journey has come to the farewell moment for Mr. WrestleMania himself, as Shawn Michaels dances one last time on the grand stage against perhaps his best career foil, The Undertaker, at WrestleMania 26.

Hosts Jack Encarnacao and JP Sarro dive into the rectangular opening atop University of Phoenix Stadium for a full accounting of 2010’s Mania, and chronicle the fading away of a cast of Mania mainstays symbolized by the main event.

This deep dive includes:

- What the hell went wrong with the seemingly can’t-miss Bret Hart/Vince McMahon angle, and some simple tweaks that would have made all the difference. Related: Bret’s sartorial challenges.

- The implosion of Legacy. Too soon?

- The intrusive commentary and sloganeering of Matt Striker, making his one-and-done appearance in the Mania booth

- Edge wins the Rumble only to job at Mania, continuing the gradual, frustrating eroding of the Rumble’s significance in the late 2000s

- Snap Into a Slim James

- The last Money in the Bank match at Mania, and how the gimmick was beginning to lose steam

- Triple H calls himself “the guy that everybody wants to step into the ring with at WrestleMania to make a name for themselves” … and then pins Sheamus clean in the middle

- CM Punk’s brilliance begins to emerge

- A Cena title win the crowd does not crap on, and flashes of brilliance from Batista in the tail end of his signature run

- The Undertaker’s first LEAPING tombstone

All that and so much more, plus Dave Meltzer to detail the story behind Bret Hart’s decision to return to the WWE storyline fold 13 years after Montreal.

With only four WrestleManias to go in The Lapsed Fan’s journey, it’s imperative you get on board for WrestleMania 26!
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Published 2015-08-11

30 Week Journey: Wrestlemania XXV (2009)

246 min
Open
WrestleMania 25 marked the silver anniversary of sports entertainment’s grandest spectacle, and more importantly it marks stop 25 on The Lapsed Fan’s 30-week WrestleMania podcast journey.

Hosts Jack Encarnacao and JP Sarro delve into Reliant Stadium in Houston and the epic confrontation between The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels. Why was it so great? Greatest match in Mania history? Second greatest? this classic is dissected once and for all by your co-chairmen.

Plus:

- The hits and misses of the HHH v. Orton main event, why Orton should have come in champion, and why the match layout only served to hurt matters

- Jeff Hardy v. Matt Hardy, the match no one asked for with risks no one wanted to see taken (though a Twist of Fate on a guy with a chair necklace in undeniably cool)

- Kofi Kingston uses a busted “Money in the Bank” ladder as stilts, and Shelton Benjamin jumps from the highest perch he can find

- Why Deuce’s botched catch of Undertaker’s soaring plancha ultimately helped, not hurt, the HBK match

- Kid Rock tests our collective patience

- A Diva Battle Royal, and Sunny is in there somewhere

- The full story behind Mickey Rourke’s paranoia over Jericho shooting on him, and how the hell MMA great Frank Shamrock ended up in the front row.

All that and so much more as the Mains toasted to 25 years in 2010. Listen as guru Dave Meltzer lays out the full greatness of the Mickey Rourke saga and the brillian of HBK/Taker.

Only five Manias to go on The Lapsed Fan’s 30-week voyage!
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Published 2015-08-10

30 Week Journey: Wrestlemania XXIV (2008)

299 min
Open
The Lapsed Fan catches some rays under the Florida sun this week, as TLF’s 30-week WrestleMania journey arrives at WrestleMania 24 in 2008 in Orlando. It’s the final bow in a WWE ring of Ric Flair, and we’re having a hard time keeping these gators down.

Hosts Jack Encarnacao and JP Sarro go deep on a notable and quirk Mania, from Floyd Mayweather taking a sidewalk slam and then knocking out Big Show, to Kim Kardashian as guest host, to a heel going over in the WWE championship match, even trumping the Royal Rumble winner.

The hosts chop up:

- The range of emotions felt through the Ric Flair retirement weekend, from frustration with a botched run-up to the heartbreaking visuals looking back of Flair’s late, youngest son cheering his dad on

- Flair opens his Hall of Fame speech with an unforgettable line

- How the Era of Orton could have been something, and was squandered

- All told, how did Floyd Mayweather do?

- The most impressive WrestleMania production set to date, taking ugly stacks of tired, brown concrete and bringing it to life

- The downside of the massive production, as fans are burned with pyro

- WWE is actually ahead of the curve in giving CM Punk the Money in the Bank win

- The first HD Mania!

- The Battle for Brand Supremacy

Plus Dave Meltzer details the behind-the-scenes happenings that led up to the show, from the origin of the Ric Flair retirement idea to the many manifestations of Floyd Mayweather’s planned role in the show.

All that and so much more, as The Lapsed Fan braves some rough environs to get to the Citrus Bowl in Orlando for the 24th installment of a one-of-a-kind odyssey.

Get Lapsed across the face by downloading the latest Lapsed Fan podcast here.
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Published 2015-08-10

30 Week Journey: Wrestlemania XXIII (2007) - Part Two

137 min
Open
As The Lapsed Fan’s 30-week WrestleMania journey unfolds, your hosts have come to the point in WWE history where the curious rise of John Cena began to provoked unique fan responses. Crowds in major markets across the country began to vociferously rejected Cena, all while his merchandise sales and other metrics signaled he was by far the man for the franchise position and the star of the moment.

As TLF reached WrestleManias 22 and 23 – both headlined by Cena, where he turns away challenges by Triple H and Shawn Michaels – hosts Jack Encarnacao and JP Sarro felt it appropriate to pause and focus on why it was (and is) that Cena is rejected by a such sizable portion of the audience, and how it connects to WWE’s contemporary struggles to elevate Roman Reigns.

The Lapsed Fan Solar System weighed in with their thoughts and “Top 3 Reasons Why” lists, and your hosts chop up that feedback in a quest to identify just what it was, and continues to be, that rubs so many people the wrong way about the WWE’s franchise player through the late 2000s.

Enjoy this special supplemental look at John Cena and the milieu of 2006/2007 WWE, as The Lapsed Fan’s week-by-week trudge to WrestleMania 31 continues!
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Published 2015-08-10

30 Week Journey: Wrestlemania XXIII (2007)- Part One

278 min
Open
With 23 weeks in the books in its 30-week WrestleMania journey, you could say The Lapsed Fan is all grown up. As was the WWE, apparently, on the dawning of Wrestlemania 23, which hit the massive Ford Field in Detroit with an eclectic array of matches, storylines, and moments both famous and infamous.

Join hosts Jack Encarnacao and JP Sarro as they chronicle the most bought pay-per-view event in WWE history, and recap of what it was like attending all of the weekend festivities live and what does and doesn’t resonate eight years later.

The co-chairmen cover:

- Fan Axxess, and the surprisingly hollow feeling one gets after a turn in the “Call Your Own Match” booth (complete with audio of Jack and JP’s 2007 call of a Shane Helms v. Matt Hardy match)

- “The Condemned” premiere, and what it’s like when a theater full of moviegoers react to an action film on the screen like it’s a live wrestling match

- The Mania spots where they dress kids up like WWE stars, including a prepubescent Steve Austin chugging milk instead of beer

- Jeff Hardy risks it all one last time on the grand stage by breaking a ladder, and Edge, in half

- Flashes of brilliance and promise from Mr. Kennedy

- Khali channels Andre, and calls for Kane to slam him on the fly (not really)

- The final WrestleMania appearance of Chris Benoit

- “Mr. Fuji will investigate”

- Why Batista v. Taker deserves praise

- Sandman somehow ends up working WrestleMania

- How Bobby Lashley was undercut at every turn in the booking of Trump v. Vince

- Trump so botches a Stunner sell job that the cameras must completely cut away

- HBK v. Cena, better or worse than you remember?

- Cena takes a moment to soak it all in after tapping HBK with the best-looking STF he’s ever done

That and a full rundown of why WrestleMania 23 was so successful, and how the landmark night will be remembered, from guru Dave Meltzer.

It’s all part of the freight train that is TLF’s 30-week WrestleMania journey, so jump on boardat stop No. 23 by downloading the show now!
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Published 2015-08-10

30 Week Journey: Wrestlemania XXII (2006)

293 min
Open
It’s time for The Lapsed Fan to go “Big Time” on its 30-week WrestleMania journey, as your co-chairmen take the deep dive into Chicago’s AllState Arena for WrestleMania 22 in 2006.

Join hosts Jack Encarnacao and JP Sarro as they dissect the night the WWE definitely said John Cena is our man, whether you like it or not, as he taps Triple H in what was, at the time, a shocking outcome. Plus, contrasts with the half-hearted crowning for Rey Mysterio as World Heavyweight Champion in a finish done for the moment but not the long-term.

Also jump in to:

- The look on Vince McMahon’s face as his son’s face is shoved in his bare ass

- The hardest chair shot in WrestleMania history

- Ric Flair takes a superplex off a ladder in 2006. Because, you know, he has to prove himself. Refs do the “X” sign and pretend he’s dead

- Kurt Angle’s final Mania appearance, the story of his departure, and why he’s one of the greatest performance in Mania history

- Benoit falls to defending the U.S. title on the show two years after taking center stage

- The most horrifying moment of Mick Foley’s bump through a flaming table off an Edge spear

- Trish v. Mickie in the greatest Diva feud of all time

- Jim Ross says: “He is one sick, perverse son of a bitch, he is genuinely evil, he is headed to hell is Vince McMahon.”

- CM Punk’s debut Mania appearance, in Easter Egg form

All that plus Dave Meltzer’s reflection on the beginnings of the crowd turning on Cena, the full story behind making the call to put th ebelt on Mysterio, and so much more.

So get Lapsed across the face with TLF’s 22nd installment of a one-of-a-kind sojourn by downloading here.
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Published 2015-08-10

30 Week Journey: Wrestlemania XXI (2005)

314 min
Open
This week The Lapsed Fan goes Hollywood as WWE brings a pivotal event to Staples Center that launched the runs of two future superstars.

TLF enters the final third of its 30-week WrestleMania journey by sizing up the World Title wins of John Cena and Batista at WrestleMania 21.

Hosts Jack Encarnacao and JP Sarro dive deep into a turning-point evening, including:

- Which Hollywood-esque trailers for the show hit and which ones missed.

- The final Mania match of Eddie Guerrero’s life in an underappreciated battle with longtime friend Rey Mysterio.

- HHH tells WWE Champion JBL to “keep telling yourself you’re good and I’m sure after a while somebody will believe you.”

- The very first Money in the Bank launches Edge’s headline run. Plus, what ever became of Shelton Benjamin’s potential?

- Hogan returns to dispatch Muhammad Hassan.

- Taker versus Orton in the last WM match it felt like Taker could actually lose.

- Angle v. Michaels

- Why Cena pulled ahead of Batista

That and so much more, including Dave Meltzer on what this successful 2005 show represents.

Head down the home stretch with TLF’s WrestleMania 21 review, available for download now!
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Published 2015-08-10

30 Week Journey: Wrestlemania XX (2004)

338 min
Open
It’s 20 weeks in, and we have reached the point in The Lapsed Fan’s 30-week WrestleMania journey where it all begins, again. And while it felt like WrestleMania 20 symbolized change, it turned out not to be the change we thought that March 2004 night in Madison Square Garden.

Hosts Jack Encarnacao and JP Sarro take the latest deep dive into the longest Mains ever, recounting what it was like to sit in the MSG balcony that historic night and drinking in the show-closing scene of Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero, and what it’s like look to back on it after their deaths.

It’s a rather heavy installment of the Lapsed Fan, though levity certainly abounds. The hosts tackle:

- Vince puts his baby granddaughter on TV

- How John Cena was wholeheartedly embraced in 2004 by the tough New York City crowd, and how that all reversed in just a year

- “CLB”

- Ric Flair – back when he was muzzled and not allowed to talk for reasons unclear – still manages to captivate in his first in-ring interactions with The Rock

- Jesse Ventura, clad in black from head to toe, has a question for MSG. But do they have the answer he wants to hear?

- The Playboy Evening Gown match, and other front runners for worst match in history

- Processing as best one can the untimely demises of Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero

- The blame Lesnar and Goldberg shoulder for the full-throated rejection of their awkward match on their way out the door

- He is Gold. And he is Berg.

- Taker’s return to the Dead Man, among the biggest pops ever

- The screaming that went on as Benoit torqued the crossface on the white-booted Triple H

That and so much more, including probing insight from Dave Meltzer on what it was like to cover the tremendous highs and tragic lows of Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero. It’s where it all began, and for some all ended.
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Published 2015-08-10

30 Week Journey: Wrestlemania XIX (2003)

350 min
Open
The Lapsed Fan’s 30-week WrestleMania journey reaches stop No. 19 this week, as the WWE invades Safeco Field in Seattle for a show full of forks in the road for a host of key performers, including Steve Austin, Kurt Angle, and Brock Lesnar.

Hosts Jack Encarnacao and JP Sarro go deep on a show remembered for its behind-the-scenes drama as much as its in-ring drama, which was considerable. Get Lapsed on the following:

- The worm turns on Triple H, as he builds up Booker T as a proud challenger who must stand up for himself in the face of implied racism … and then pins him clean, and hard

- Lesnar’s ill-fated leap, and why he just had to hit the F5 afterwards

- Austin’s final match, and why his paranoia, pain, and panic nearly kept him from getting into the ring

- Limp Bizkit, and the moment Fred Durst has to ask the crowd, “Are you awake yet?”

- The first “dual-brand” Wrestlemania, and other distinctions without a difference

- Mysterio’s WM debut

- Shawn Michaels’ WM return

- The best version of Rock’s entrance theme

- Hogan v. Vince, a storyline that evoked Vince’s steroid trial, how it miscast Hogan’s actual testimony

- Vince peeks over the apron

All that and so much more, including excerpts from a recent chat with Jim Ross about being side-by-side with Austin during his meltdown and Dave Meltzer on what lingers from this show. The 30-week freight train keeps on rolling!
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Published 2015-08-10

30 Week Journey: Wrestlemania XVIII (2002)

299 min
Open
After nine years, Hulk Hogan returned to the Wrestlemania stage at the 18th installment in 2002, and lapsed fans around the world rejoiced. Thus, it is only appropriate that The Lapsed Fan podcast go deep on that historic night in Toronto.

In the 18th stop of TLF’s 30-week Wrestlemania journey, hosts Jack Encarnacao and JP Sarro revisit Skydome in Toronto for a Mania stacked with figures from a cross-current of different eras – from Hogan to Rock to Austin to Hall to HHH to Jericho to Flair to Undertaker to Mr. Perfect to RVD to DDP.

Get Lapsed on one of the most eclectic Mains ever, running on the fumes of the WWF’s Attitude boom and a rush of star power freed up year out from the folding of WCW.

Your co-chairmen discuss:

- WWF’s “Forceable Entry,” and other politically correct slogans
- Why the fans were so ready to embrace the old Hogan histrionics again, even if they didn’t know it as they filed into Skydome before the show
- Maven
- Stern disagreement on the merits of the Undertaker v. Ric Flair match, the first to get across the Streak as a big deal and key storyline point
- Vince McMahon injects the WWF with a lethal dose of poison. His greatest promo ever?
- Did dropping the “F” from WWF have anything to do with the exodus of fans from the product?
- How the squandered WCW invasion angle could have been salvaged by the nWo

All that and another sterling contribution from guru Dave Meltzer make this another can’t miss deep dive into the Mains. It’s become what you need, so scratch that itch by downloading the latest Lapsed Fan!
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Published 2015-08-10

30 Week Journey: Wrestlemania XVII (2001) - Part Two

229 min
Open
The Lapsed Fan’s 30-week one-of-a-kind WrestleMania journey arrives this week at the greatest Mania of them all, X-Seven, a true demarcation line for legions who stopped following pro wrestling after the WWF’s Attitude Era.

Hosts Jack Encarnacao and JP Sarro go especially deep this week, as your co-chairmen prove more than up to the task of tackling a show wrought with such tremendous historical significance, taking place as it did weeks after the WWF purchased WCW and changed wrestling forever.

The podcast includes:

- Wide-ranging discussion of the disastrous Steve Austin heel turn, and what minor tweaks could have given a shot at success

- The squandered potential of the WCW invasion, and why the top WCW names like Flair, Goldberg, Nash, Hall, and Hogan weren’t brought in right away but all eventually were

- Why Shane McMahon’s coast-to-coast dropkick into a trash can resting on his father’s face is the perfect finish to a pro wrestling grudge match

- Some 18 months into his WWF run, Kurt Angle dazzles by more than holding his own in a technical masterpiece with Chris Benoit

- The lessons of TLC II

- HHH v. Ray Lewis? HHH v. Mike Tyson?

- Analysis of the most underrated commentary duo in WWF history – JR and Paul Heyman

- Why this show was the swansong for so many die hard wrestling fans

Plus exclusive audio clips from interviews with Steve Austin on eclipsing Hogan, Eric Bischoff on how the AOL/Time Warner merger spelled WCW’s demise, and Jeff Hardy on why his Mania risks were worth taking. And Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer returns to explain why this show was the greatest in WWF history and the not-so-positive changes it set in motion.

Merry Christmas from The Lapsed Fan. Presenting WrestleMania X-Seven, available for download now!
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Published 2015-08-10

30 Week Journey: Wrestlemania XVII (2001) - Part One

210 min
Open
The Lapsed Fan’s 30-week one-of-a-kind WrestleMania journey arrives this week at the greatest Mania of them all, X-Seven, a true demarcation line for legions who stopped following pro wrestling after the WWF’s Attitude Era.

Hosts Jack Encarnacao and JP Sarro go especially deep this week, as your co-chairmen prove more than up to the task of tackling a show wrought with such tremendous historical significance, taking place as it did weeks after the WWF purchased WCW and changed wrestling forever.

The podcast includes:

- Wide-ranging discussion of the disastrous Steve Austin heel turn, and what minor tweaks could have given a shot at success

- The squandered potential of the WCW invasion, and why the top WCW names like Flair, Goldberg, Nash, Hall, and Hogan weren’t brought in right away but all eventually were

- Why Shane McMahon’s coast-to-coast dropkick into a trash can resting on his father’s face is the perfect finish to a pro wrestling grudge match

- Some 18 months into his WWF run, Kurt Angle dazzles by more than holding his own in a technical masterpiece with Chris Benoit

- The lessons of TLC II

- HHH v. Ray Lewis? HHH v. Mike Tyson?

- Analysis of the most underrated commentary duo in WWF history – JR and Paul Heyman

- Why this show was the swansong for so many die hard wrestling fans

Plus exclusive audio clips from interviews with Steve Austin on eclipsing Hogan, Eric Bischoff on how the AOL/Time Warner merger spelled WCW’s demise, and Jeff Hardy on why his Mania risks were worth taking. And Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer returns to explain why this show was the greatest in WWF history and the not-so-positive changes it set in motion.

Merry Christmas from The Lapsed Fan. Presenting WrestleMania X-Seven, available for download now!
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Published 2015-08-04

30 Week Journey: Wrestlemania XVI (2000)

267 min
Open
Reenter the new millennium with The Lapsed Fan’s deep dive into WrestleMania 2000, as the TLF 30-week, 30-WrestleMania journey rumbles along.

Hosts Jack Encarnacao and JP Sarro discuss the first – and hopefully last – Fatal Four Way main event in Mania history, as Triple H announces in no uncertain terms he’ll be the top guy in the organization when he becomes the first heel to go over in a Mania show-closing match.

Get on board as the co-chairmen dissect:

- Ice T keeping it real by telling the crowd to “grab” their “bitches” (pre Law & Order)
- The post-Russo overcompensating by the creative team to keep a risqué flavor about the product
- Undertaker becomes a chatty, mortal biker overnight
- Did the Rock miss his chance at a WrestleMania moment here?
- First Mania as a public company for the WWE
- Pete Gas gets color
- Head Cheese
- Welcome to WrestleMania Chris Jericho, Kurt Angle, Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, Dudleys, Hardys, and other assorted key players.

Plus another sterling installment from Dave Meltzer on the state of the industry in 2000 – WWE’s most lucrative year – as the wheels begin to fall off at WCW.

Get Lapsed across the face as a one-of-a-kind accounting of WrestleMania and the WWE continues with installment 16 of the TLF journey, available now for download!
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Published 2015-08-04

30 Week Journey: Wrestlemania XV (1999)

338 min
Open
The WWF was firmly ensconced in the “Attitude Era” as WrestleMania XV dawned in 1999, and the event from Philadelphia in so many ways illustrates the promotional philosophy that catapulted the company into record profits. You know what that means – it’s Lapsed Fan Deep Dive time.

Join hosts Jack Encarnacao and JP Sarro as TLF reaches the precise midpoint of its 30-week WrestleMania podcast journey. This week, it’s a look at all the guts and brains behind the WWF at this point in time, with Stone Cold Steve Austin overcoming increasingly absurd odds to trump Vince McMahon, the Corporation, and chief career foil The Rock to finally get his hands back on the WWF title, a prize a vengeful McMahon was bent on keeping away from him.

This deep dive includes:

- The Big Bossman is lynched from the Hell in a Cell ceiling, and the clumsy “IS IT SYMBOLIC?” cry from announcers to head off any outrage the company was at the time used to – enjoyed? – dealing with
- The Hardcore Title, and why
- The first, only, and last shoot match in WrestleMania history as Butterbean dominates Bart Gunn as if he were a plate of warm biscuits
- Welcome to the WWF, Paul “The Big Show” Wight, and why he never reached the heights foretold
- The first signs the rocket was going to be strapped to the back of one-day company boss Triple H
- “Are you boys ready for the Grind?” and other awkwardness
- The first of a series of storied collisions between The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin, two once-in-a-lifetime stars who happened to blossom at the exact same time

That and another indelible contributions from Dave Meltzer, charting the most explosive period of growth in WWF history, including through-the-roof quarter-hour Raw ratings, as the foundation of WCW begins to crumble.

All that and so much more, as The Lapsed Fan continues its one-of-a-kind journey through the history of the WrestleMania. Get on board, before it’s too late.
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Published 2015-08-04

30 Week Journey: Wrestlemania XIV (1998)

254 min
Open
It can be said that not since Hulk Hogan and Mr. T linked up at the first Wrestlemania did the WWF’s grand stage see a more gaming-changing celebrity presence than Mike Tyson, who in the run-up to Wrestlemania 14 set the atmosphere in which Stone Cole Steve Austin could blossom into the biggest money generator the industry had seen.

This week on The Lapsed Fan podcast’s 14th installment of a 30-week Wrestlemania journey, your co-chairmen chart the flash points and culmination of the arrival of Austin as the face of the WWF at Wrestlemania 14 and the lucrative changes it sent in motion. It’s the night the WWF finally got over losing Hulk Hogan.

Join hosts Jack Encarnacao and JP Sarro as they go deep on:

- What it was like to take in the seminal event in person as teenagers
- How much Tyson got
- The noticeable push-and-pull between tradition and the WWF’s edgy new direction, as the “New Generation” logo and the scratch “Attitude” logo co-exist for the last time on a Mania broadcast
- Flashes of brilliance as “The Rock” Rocyk Maivia gets comfortable in his own skin and talks dirty to Gennifer Flowers
- The lone Mania appearance of the Rock n’ Roll Express
- Paul Bearer calls Undertaker a “god damned murderer” several times, and the match that resulted
- The night Sable became the most over diva in WWF history
- Why LOD 2000 went nowhere

Plus another sterling contribution from Wrestling Observer guru Dave Meltzer on the negotiations and machinations behind securing Tyson, if HBK balked at doing the job to Stone Cold, and if it was obvious that night that Austin would be the man for a long time to come.

Assess this crucial flash point in WWF history as only the Lapsed Fan can by downloading TLF’s WM14 deep dive, right here.
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Published 2015-08-03

30 Week Journey: Wrestlemania XIII (1997)

293 min
Open
The Lapsed Fan 30-week Wrestlemania journey heats up this week as your co-chairmen go deep on the greatest match in Mania history, Bret Hart v. Steve Austin at Wrestlemania 13.

Hosts Jack Encarnacao and JP Sarro dissect what makes the match the best, the precise moments where Austin turns the corner into a beyond-the-pale babyface primed to revolutionize the business, and the rich back story to how Hart crafted the match and a heel turn that was arguably the Hitman’s finest career work.

This week’s TLF installment also includes:

- The dark overtones of the show and its messaging, hints of the Attitude that was on the horizon
- Why this was merely the sixth most-bought wrestling PPV of 1997
- How the legendary blade job in Austin/Hart went down, and why Vince McMahon apologized for it
- JR exclaims about sausages and BLTs as the Godwins go to work in the opener
- The Wrestlemania debut of The Rock, and why it was less than pretty
- Fears for Marlena’s health after Chyna grabs hold
- The entrance to end all Mania entrances: the glass shatters
- The greatest chair shot in WWF history?
- The underrated Nation of Domination entrance theme
- Spirited debate on whether HBK on commentary added or detracted from the head-scratching Undertaker v. Sid main event.

Plus, Wrestling Observer boss Dave Meltzer returns to detail how the magic of Austin and Hart was the results of a series of happy accidents, and detailed thoughts on the Montreal screw job that capped a trying 1997 for the WWF. It’s a can’t miss discussion on a can’t miss Mania as The Lapsed Fan continues to soldier through 30 years. Download now.
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Published 2015-08-03

30 Week Journey: Wrestlemania XII (1996)

289 min
Open
Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart may have went Broadway at WrestleMania 12 in 1996, but the Lapsed Fan has been doing that since WrestleMania 1, and ain’t nothing changed for the 12th installment of our 30-week, 30-WrestleMania journey.

Hosts Jack Encarnacao and JP Sarro journey to the Anaheim Pond this week to dissect the memorable Iron Man Match in ludicrous detail, and render judgment on whether the match is appropriately remembered.

The show also tackles:

- The WrestleMania debuts of Stone Cold Steve Austin, Sable, and Triple H, and how the debuts didn’t at all portend what was to come

- Why Warrior had to be “kept strong” (a dramatization)

- What difference it would have made if there were multiple falls in the main event

- The stiffness and other commendable aspects of the Hollywood Backlot Brawl

- The sense of unpredictability in the air a month after Kevin Nash and Scott Hall gave notice they were leaving for WCW

- Billionaire Ted, and the pysche of Vince McMahon

Plus the latest (and far-reaching) installment of the Lapsed Fan conversations with Dave Meltzer, assessing the profound change in the industry that was to come after WrestleMania 12.

Take that deep dive as The Lapsed Fan digs into the second decade of WrestleMania by downloading today’s show!
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Published 2015-08-03

30 Week Journey: Wrestlemania XI (1995)

264 min
Open
The Lapsed Fan enters the second decade of its 30-week, 30-Wrestlemania review this week with a trademark deep dive into Wrestlemania 11, an inauspicious installment that asked the WWF fan to accept Diesel and Lawrence Taylor as the new Hogan/Mr. T combination.

Hosts Jack Encarnacao and JP Sarro cover all bases on the 1995 Mains, which took place at a time of particular strain on the WWF’s balance sheets and on the precipice of great change in the industry with the jumps of Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage to WCW and the impending debut of Nitro. Is this the worst WrestleMania? The co-chairman perform autopsy to find out.

Topics broached include:

- Salt n Peppa’s shadow presence in the WWE Network version of the show, save for a handsy scene with a shirtless Bret Hart
- The Stridex blimp
- Undertaker goes 4-0 over Bundy
- Backlund and Jonathan Taylor Thomas play chess as a launching point for a Backlund treatise on what’s wrong with the youth of America
- The false promise of Bam Bam Bigelow’s agreeing to do the honors to L.T. in the main event
- The Diesel as WWF champion experiment, complete with attempting to Hulk Up as Shawn Michaels bumped all over Hartford and thoroughly out-shined him
- Why the Bret v. Backlund I Quit match ended up as pure comedy, and Roddy Piper’s culpability in it all
- Pam Anderson and Jenny McCarthy break kayfabe over allegiances in the Diesel v. HBK match, if such a thing was even explained to them at all before they took center stage in one of the show’s key contests
- The worst Jacknife
- L.T. hits Bam Bam with forearm after forearm after forearm after forearm after forearm

That and another probing chat with Wrestling Observer editor Dave Meltzer on the behind-the-scenes dynamics at the play on the show, in the WWF, and in the wrestling industry writ large at the time.

Stay Lapsed, and leap into the second decades of WrestleManias by downloading the latest TLF!
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Published 2015-08-03

30 Week Journey: Wrestlemania X (1994)

285 min
Open
It was 10 years in the making when the WWF staged WrestleMania X at Madison Square Garden in 1994, and it’s been 10 weeks in the making on The Lapsed Fan podcast’s 30-week WrestleMania sojourn.

This week hosts Jack Encarnacao and JP Sarro blast off into the next decade of the WWF’s evolution, as Titan presents its first Hogan-less Mania and definitively turns the limelight over to go-getters like Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Scott Hall, and Owen Hart.

Get Lapsed across the face with the deepest dive you’ll find on the X, including:

– The winding road to Bret Hart’s crowning – yet, in ways, bittersweet – achievement, as he’s hoisted up on the shoulders of his contemporaries as champion, Vince McMahon beaming below as all is seemingly forgotten

– Little Richard makes surprising noises during “America the Beautiful”

– The Hair Club for Men guy gets a face full of Doink water

– A Zapruder-film-esque breakdown of HBK v. Razor in the ladder match that changed the industry and moved the art form three or four paces forward

– Owen’s phlegm, and how it symbolized the perfectly-honed Bret v. Owen brother v. brother story line

– Bill Dunn gives Fink a run for his money (not really)

– The Lex Express finally runs out of steam

– The curious, seamless assimilation of Burt Reynolds into the carny wrestling world

– Vince meets with Ray Apollo about the future of Doink (Dramatization)

That and so much more, including guru Dave Meltzer recapping what it was like to live through and cover a dramatic transition period for the WWF. You want it. You need it. We’ve got it.
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Published 2015-08-03

30 Week Journey: Wrestlemania IX (1993)

269 min
Open
The world’s biggest toga party was hardly the world’s biggest success for the WWF, but WrestleMania IX in 1993 did bring with it twists and turns that will echo in the annals.

The Lapsed Fan wrestling podcast donned their sandals and grabbed their goblets for a deep dive into a parking lot next to Caesars in Las Vegas for the latest landing on this jet flight known as 30 weeks, 30 WrestleManias.

Hosts Jack Encarnacao and JP Sarro assess:

- Vince lays out for Bret Hart what Hogan would like to see happen in the main event (Dramatization)

- The unique, fleeting combination of Jim Ross and Bobby Heenan, a flow that is frequently hijacked by the non sequiturs of Randy Savage, including: What if Sherri were to beat Shawn Micahels for the Intercontinental title one day?

- The debut of Luna, rocking a haircut that was repulsive in 1993 but today can be on girls in nightclubs all over America

- The story behind Hogan’s black eye, and how his surprise title win was received then and is received now.

- Undertaker goes 3-0, in a Chloroform-induced stupor

- A creative imagining of Vince pitching Doink to Matt Osborne, and how Osborne proceeded to make lemonade

- Backlund v. Ramon, the weirdest match in WrestleMania history

- A detailed accounting of the steroid trial that had Vince paranoid the walls were listening, and how that anxiety permeated throughout 1993

Plus guru Dave Meltzer weighs in on all the backstage goings-on as the Hulkster resumes the throne in the august Roman environs. It’s a podcast befitting Caesar, the TLF take on the ninth Mania, the last gasp of an era (call it a “lapsed gasp.”).
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Published 2015-07-28

30 Week Journey: Wrestlemania VIII (1992)

264 min
Open
It’s the approach of the Hulkster’s swan song, and the end of the golden period for true Lapsed Fans. WrestleMania 8 is next on TLF’s 30-week, 30-WrestleMania journey, and for your hosts, Hogan’s bout with Sid Justice signals the close of a cast of characters that defined the first WrestleMania era.

Jack Encarnacao and JP Sarro go deep into the Hoosier Dome for a breakdown of this 1992 extravaganza, which also featured a brilliant tilt between Randy Savage and Ric Flair for the WWF Championship as part of a double main event.

Get Lapsed on:

- The last word on why Flair and Hogan didn’t face each other on the card, including a first-hand account of guru Dave Meltzer’s conversations with Flair at the time
- Undertaker goes 2-0 as a heel Jake Roberts is planted on the floor, after the dreaded DDT fails to get the job done
- Jubilation over Bret Hart’s innovative kick-off sleeper hold counter, and why Hart v. Piper shows us again that baby face versus baby face can and should be done
- Lex Luger snaps his fingers and milk is delivered to him
- Ray Combs hits one out of the park, and his tragic demise
- Why Flair’s WWF theme is superior to the “2001” version
- The return of the girl who was crying when Savage was defeated in the WM7 retirementmatch
- The emotions – phony or real? – of the Vince McMahon/Hulk Hogan heart-to-heart retirement tease in the run up to the event, and the behind-the-scenes, steroid-related dramas that informed it
- One last vintage, electrifying Ultimate Warrior entrance

That and so much more, as The Lapsed Fan continues to give you what you need on an epic 30-week, locomotive-esque journey. All aboard!
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Published 2015-07-25

30 Week Journey: Wrestlemania VII (1991)

283 min
Open
The Lapsed Fan 30-week train stops this week at Wrestlemania VII, and a Hulk Hogan v. Sgt. Slaughter main event that took place against the backdrop of international and internal turmoil, as Sarge dons the bullet proof vest in his quest to vanquish an American icon in tribute to Saddam Hussein.

Hosts Jack Encarnacao and JP Sarro bring you yet another deep dive, and lapse you across the face with moments like:

- The Wrestlemania debut of the Gorilla/Heenan commentary duo
- Undertaker goes 1-0
- Warlord again fails to lock the fingers in the full nelson
- Anvil takes the metaphor of “cracking the foundation” to absurd, bellowing heights
- Why the Jake Roberts/Rick Martel blindfold match is underrated, and in a way brilliant
- Randy Savage creates ever-lasting memories in his epic retirement tussle with Warrior, split from Sherri, and embrace of Elizabeth
- Hogan tries to work Arsenio as part of a particularly rough 1991 for him
- The Koji Kitao story, and why he’ll never forget the name “John Tenta.”
- “Oh say can you see, by the dawn’s early light, Sgt. Slaughter…,” Hulk Hogan

Plus a fascinating glimpse into the politics and media storm over the Slaughter/Iraqi sympathizer angle with guru Dave Meltzer. It’s all here, so get Lapsed for Wrestlemania VII!
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Published 2015-07-25

30 Week Journey: Wrestlemania VI (1990)

272 min
Open
This week on The Lapsed Fan, your co-chairmen accept the Ultimate Challenge by tackling Wrestlemania VI from Toronto’s Sky Dome, the historic night that Ultimate Warrior didn’t so much assume the throne as mortgage it from Hulk Hogan, heretofore our Wrestlemania hero.

It’s the latest installment of TLF’s 30-week Wrestlemania journey, and it’s as intergalactic as the promos that preceded the main event event. Hosts Jack Encarnacao and JP Sarro take an accounting of, among other things:

- Why Hogan v. Warrior proves that all it takes is a little effort and attention to detail to present a babyface v. babyface headliner without diluting either principal
- Steve Allen cracks wise, and makes fun of pro wrestling in a way that is somehow not off-putting
- The unique ring wizadry and unintelligible exclamations of Sweet Sapphire
- Jesse Ventura’s last Wrestlemania stand in the commentary booth, and his masterful burns of the hot-dog-eating Monsoon
- A creative imagining of the meeting in which Vince McMahon assigns Lanny Poffo the Genius gimmick
- Roddy Piper in half black face, and the pop artist whose song inspired it
- The eerie parallels between Hogan’s final promo on Warrior and what turned out to be Warrior’s farewell speech the night before he died
- What Longfellow couldn’t have said better, according to Mean Gene

Plus more tremendous guest insight from Dave Meltzer, Lapsed recollections galore, and TLF’s unique brand of excruciating review. Take the challenge, download stop No. 6 in our Wrestlemania journey.
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Published 2015-07-25

30 Week Journey: Wrestlemana V (1989)

293 min
Open
The Lapsed Fan has reached week five of its 30-week Wrestlemania trek, and thus your hosts come to the conclusion of one the most perfectly-told stories in WWF history, as Hulk Hogan and Macho Man Randy Savage collided – nay, exploded – after an unforgettable, drawn-out tension.

Jack Encarnacao and JP Sarro take a deep – too deep? – dive into the gritty environs of Atlantic City for the second consecutive year, assessing what made Hogan v. Savage the apex of pro wrestling storytelling, and why the feud was so powerful it would engulf both legends’ careers forever.

Revisit the 1989 extravaganza from all angles, including:

- “Jealous eyes”
- Randy Savage’s obsession with Hulk gets so bad he actually puts out a diss track
- The extra dimension the feud gave to the, up to that point, flat Hogan hero character
- Rockin Robin doesn’t quite rock it
- Rick Rude takes Ultimate Warrior to the next level
- The Wrestlemania debut of Mr. Wrestlemania; let the missile dropkicks commence
- The best clothesline in Wrestlemania history
- Bushwackers chow down, lick the nervous sweat off Sean Mooney’s head
- Curt Hennig v. Owen Hart
- Why the Run DMC and Morton Downey Jr. appearances didn’t work
- The relative merits of No Holds Barred
- Just why Donald Trump saw fit to bring in a team of seismologists for this night

That and so, so, so, so, so, so much more, including reflections from wrestling guru Dave Meltzer, on the fifth installment of The Lapsed Fan’s Wrestelmania journey. Do you dare download?
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Published 2015-07-25

30 Week Journey: Wrestlemania IV (1988)

292 min
Open
From Bigger, Badder, and Bette – to just plain Longer.

The Lapsed Fan wrestling podcast continues its 30-week, 30-Wrestlemania journey this week with a deep dive into Wrestlemania IV, night of the inaugural WWF championship tournament culminating in the breakthrough of Macho Man Randy Savage as a touchstone name in the WWF annals.

Hosts Jack Encarnacao and JP Sarro hunker down and cover it all as the WWF rolled the dice in conjunction with Donald Trump in Atlantic City, including:

- Robin Leach’s wonderfully overwrought tournament proclamation, in its entirety
- More DQ finishes than there should ever be at a Mania
- Brutus scalps tickets, not his opponent; also, rhymes “Done” with “Champion”
- Dibiase bumps like he’s in it to win it, which he at one point was scheduled to
- The WM debut of Demolition, and why their beat down of Strike Force was just what the bored Atlantic City crowd needed
- Steamboat’s inauspicious WWF farewell, complete with Gorilla Monsoon reading his newborn son’s mind
- The Hulk Hogan promo that literally includes the line, “Thank God Donald Trump’s a Hulkamaniac.”
- What it’s like when Hogan does his posing routine but didn’t win his match

This plus a series of great audio contributions, including reflections on WM4 and the war with Jim Crockett Promotions and the first Clash of the Champions with grappling guru Dave Meltzer.

It may be your Lapsed chance. Get on board with the historic 30-week Wrestlemania journey with Wrestlemania IV!
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Published 2015-07-22

30 Week Journey: Wrestlemania III (1987)

284 min
Open
The latest Lapsed Fan is bigger, it’s badder, and it’s better. Anything less would be inappropriate.

Hosts Jack Encarnacao and JP Sarro dive into the cavernous environs of the once-mighty Pontiac Silverdome for a wall-to-wall breakdown of Wrestlemania III, a banner night for professional wrestling and a true milestone on the Lapsed Fan’s 30-week, 30-Wrestlemania journey.

We cover all bases, from Aretha Franklin to Hulk Hogan slamming Andre the Giant, with a tremendous assist from wrestling guru Dave Meltzer. The show covers:

- The real 78,000 attendance figure for show, and how we can be sure

- A sentimental sojourn to the Silverdome’s parking lot in 2007

- What there is to learn about a perfect wrestling payoff from Piper v. Adonis

- Steamboat v. Savage, and why it’s annoying to pretend it wasn’t an all-time classic

- Recollections of whether or not Andre got the 3 on Hogan’s first botched slam attempt

- Bundy squashes a midget (commentators’ term, not ours)

- Alice Cooper’s strange combination of apprehension and stubbornness while wielding Jake’s snake

- Your hosts take tremendous artistic liberties envisioning the conversation between Vince McMahon and Andre on the set of “The Princess Bride,” trying to sell the big man on working the big show

- And laughing. So much laughing you’ll tell yourself you’re going to stop listening (but you won’t)

Get on board that Lapsed Fan locomotive, as we make our third stop in Pontiac, 1987, the big one, Wrestlemania III.
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Published 2015-07-22

30 Week Journey: Wrestlemania II (1986)

284 min
Open
The Lapsed Fan continues its 30-week, 30 Wrestlemania journey with what the world had come to in 1986, Wrestlemania 2.

It’s the deuce, in perhaps more ways than one, as the WWF aims too high in trying to push the same buttons that made the first Wrestlemania such a success – a litany of celebrities and Mr. T mixing it up – while trying to basically have three Wrestlemanias at once. One city wasn’t enough – this had to play out in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles.

Hosts Jack Encarnacao and JP Sarro – with another enlightening contribution from the guru Dave Meltzer – journey and lampoon their way through the second Grand Daddy of them All, including:

- The New York Athletic Commission’s insistence that they regulate Mr. T versus Roddy Piper in a worked boxing match, only to stand idly by as Piper threw a stool at T in between rounds and committed a litany of other heinous breaches without consequence
- Fans are left asking “where’s the beef?” when a mic fails
- The Wrestlemania debuts of event icons Jake Roberts and Randy Savage
- Susan St. James brings her … perspective to the color commentary chair
- Dynamite Kid and Terry Funk’s one real chance to strut their stuff on the WWF’s grand stage
- The NFLer who had heat with Andre leading into the Battle Royal
- Big John Studd no-sells Bill Fralic
- The debut of the blue cage
- Hogan slams Bundy and victimizes Heenan
- Check your drawers, it’s G. Gordon Liddy

Jump on this speeding locomotive that is The Lapsed Fan’s 30-week Wrestlemania mission!
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Published 2015-07-22

30 Week Journey: Wrestlemania (1985)

254 min
Open
Let us at The Lapsed Fan wrestling podcast be the first to say … The Road to Wrestlemania 31 starts now!

That’s right. The first week of September.

That’s because for the next – count em – 30 weeks, Lapsed Fan hosts Jack Encarnacao and JP Sarro will embark on a quixotic journey through each and every Wrestlemania, in order, in their signature fashion. They begin, of course, with the Wrestlemania 1, March 31, 1985, in Madison Square Garden, a momentous night to say the least.

And the table is expertly set by the expert himself, as Wrestling Observer newsletter editor Dave Meltzer chimes in to talk about living through Wrestlemania 1 and, over the next several months, reporting on wrestling as each Wrestlemania dawned, including never-before-told stories.

Journey this week with Jack and JP through the short-lived, but incredibly successful, Rock n Wrestling connection, including:

- Which superstar Gene Okerlund – with a straight face – said on MTV weeks before the show “combines compassion, brute strength, intuition, and the latest in wrestling science.”

- The story behind the very first WM match, The Executioner v. Tito Santana

- Who the real main attraction was in the building that night, and how it foreshadowed a blueprint Vince McMahon would use over the years to spark interest in his product

- The true MVP of this show. Hint: Roddy Piper.

- The Gorilla Monsoon “It’s a happening!” Wrestlemania 1 drinking game

- Richard Belszer desperately tries to convey the Hulk Hogan choke-out incident wasn’t a work

- Andy Warhol desperately tries to convey that wrestling is a work, ironically of course

- Andre the Giant’s leg kicking game

- An incredibly nervous Al Hayes

- The historical curiosity that is Wendi Richter

All that, and so … much … more. Get Lapsed across the face with the damnedest Wrestlemania 1 review you’ve ever heard, with 29 more coming your way. It’s exhaustive. It’s exhausting. It’s worth it.
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Published 2015-07-22

Ep 12.: 1993 WWF Summerslam

232 min
Open
With the latest WWE Summerslam installment upon us, The Lapsed Fan looks back at one of the most stacked, yet confounding summer spectaculars in history. The 1993 Summerslam featured the culmination of the skyrocket push of Lex Luger as an All-American crusader looking to take the belt off Yokozuna, who had just sent Hulk Hogan packing from the WWF.

The Lapsed Fan co-chairmen Jack Encarnacao and JP Sarro chop it all up in a sizzling Slam review, including:

- Why Shawn Michaels v. Mr. Perfect is one of the most underwhelming WWF PPV matches ever

- A strained attempt at making sense of Lex Luger winning via count out instead of winning the strap and then celebrating like he struck gold

- Owen Hart’s befuddling wardrobe, including a necktie and leather pants

- The debut of Joe Fowler as an announcer fresh off Mean Gene’s departure, and the immediate regret of all involved

- One of the most ingenious gags Bobby Heenan has ever pulled off in commentary, as he whips out the Brain Scan on a replay of IRS’ victory over the 123 Kid.

- Who would you rather watch: Giant Gonzalez or Great Khali?

- Ludvig Borga’s PPV debut, and his punch-heavy offense

- Jimmy Del Ray’s incongruous flying ability

That and so much more. Get Lapsed for a Summerslam that had more riding on it than few ever, by downloading the latest edition here.
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Published 2015-07-22

Ep. 11: 1996 WCW Great American Bash

247 min
Open
An invasion was upon WCW at the 1996 Great American Bash, and The Lapsed Fan podcast is recalling what it was like just before the levees breached and one of the great angles in wrestling history – the nWo – flooded WCW and changed the wrestling business.

Your co-chairmen Jack Encarnacao and JP Sarro take a look at the 96 Bash in the latest episode, recalling and analyzing:

- Just how WCW was able to create the mood that just two guys in street clothes could put an entire company under siege

- The role Tony Schiavone played in getting the nWo concept over

- The WCW debut of Rey Mysterio, and one of the great instances of rising to the occasion in major league wrestling against Dean Malenko

- The merits and demerits of The Giant

- Chris Benoit and Kevin Sullivan take it to the bathroom, a crazy scene made even crazier by choice words from Dusty Rhodes on commentary

- Sting’s odd insistence that Steven Regal might be gay

- Bobby Heenan in the managerial role one last time, leading Flair and Arn against those “pigskin buffoons” Mongo and Greene

Revisit a moment that changed the business and matches that left a lasting impression with The Lapsed Fan’s review of the 1996 WCW Great American Bash, available for download here
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Published 2015-07-22

Ep. 10: 1991 WWF Royal Rumble

249 min
Open
For the first time, The Lapsed Fan rumbles. This week it’s the 1991 WWF Royal Rumble, a show with sentimental and historic value for your co-chairmen.

The extravaganza from Miami set the controversial table for the Hulk Hogan v. Sgt. Slaughter showdown amid Dessert Storm hostilities, as Slaughter ends the Ultimate Warrior’s title reign in a shocker and Hogan survives 29 other superstars to wave Old Glory.

Join hosts Jack Encarnacao and JP Sarro as they muse on:

- The referee who refused to allow Rick Martel to use the “but I went under the top rope” loophole, actually threatening a 10-count during the Rumble match

- The subtlety of the WWF’s leveraging of the Persian Gulf conflict for heat, including having Warrior tear the Iraqi flag to shreds and attempt to eat it

- Sherri comes on to Warrior as he radiates discomfort

- One of the best PPV openers in WWF history, including a spot involving a karate belt that should be celebrated for generations

- Mr. Fuji is compared to the Michelangelo, the painter

- Those fantastic cartoon posters for Rumble 91, 92, and 01, with all participants portrayed as a marauding street gang

- The Mountie’s passive aggression and apprehension training

And so much more. Get Lapsed across the face, 91 Rumble style, by downloading the latest Lapsed Fan wrestling podcast here.
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Published 2015-07-22

Ep. 9 1997 ECW Barely Legal

262 min
Open
The Lapsed Fan goes extreme for the first time this week, as the co-chairmen of TLF go hard on the very first ECW pay-per-view, 1997’s Barely Legal.

Hosts Jack Encarnacao and JP Sarro assess all that was ECW, including exclusive insight from a 2010 interview Jack conducted with Paul Heyman discussing the state of the pay-per-view industry at the time ECW was looking to break in, and the absurd lengths the promotion had to go to to convince the PPV industry they weren’t “real”or somehow akin to UFC.

It’s a table-busting look at a revolutionary night, including:

- Sabu’s penchant for setting up high spots without immobilizing his opponent first

- Joey Styles’ blend of technical analysis, histrionics, and jabs at WWF and WCW

- Heyman’s booking methods, including more than one twist at the end of virtually every major match

- Why the Taz character worked

- Why ECW struggled

- A look at Rob Van Dam at the point just before anyone cared much about him

- Terry Funk’s self-destructive peccadilloes and inspiring performance

- Blue. World. Order.

All that and so much more, as The Lapsed F’N Fan walks up to the line of legality with a one-of-a-kind take on ECW Barely Legal.
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Published 2015-07-22

Ep. 8 1992 WCW Halloween Havoc

227 min
Open
The Lapsed Fan dares again this week to dive into early 90s WCW, as the co-chairmen assess the thrills, spills, and chills of the 1992 WCW Halloween Havoc.

Jack Encarnacao and JP Sarro journey into a Bill Watts time machine in an all-points review of one of the more taxing PPV events in WCW history.

The panel touches on:

- How Jesse Ventura made it his business as a WCW commentator to tongue-tie Jim Ross and essentially troll the whole time

- The merits of removing the mats from the floors, exposing that grimey Philadelphia concrete

- Was the Spin the Wheel apparatus gimmicked? The answer is as clear as the booking philosophy behind it

- Jake Roberts in WCW, and if his snake turning on him actually tied up the legendary Savage WWF fued

- Stunning Steve Austin’s many reincarnations

- The Coal Miner’s glove

- Paul E. calls Madusa a hooker
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Published 2015-07-22

Ep. 7 WWF This Tuesday In Texas

171 min
Open
The Lapsed Fan goes extreme for the first time this week, as the co-chairmen of TLF go hard on the very first ECW pay-per-view, 1997’s Barely Legal.

Hosts Jack Encarnacao and JP Sarro assess all that was ECW, including exclusive insight from a 2010 interview Jack conducted with Paul Heyman discussing the state of the pay-per-view industry at the time ECW was looking to break in, and the absurd lengths the promotion had to go to to convince the PPV industry they weren’t “real”or somehow akin to UFC.

It’s a table-busting look at a revolutionary night, including:

- Sabu’s penchant for setting up high spots without immobilizing his opponent first

- Joey Styles’ blend of technical analysis, histrionics, and jabs at WWF and WCW

- Heyman’s booking methods, including more than one twist at the end of virtually every major match

- Why the Taz character worked

- Why ECW struggled

- A look at Rob Van Dam at the point just before anyone cared much about him

- Terry Funk’s self-destructive peccadilloes and inspiring performance

- Blue. World. Order.

All that and so much more, as The Lapsed F’N Fan walks up to the line of legality with a one-of-a-kind take on ECW Barely Legal.
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Published 2015-07-21

Ep. 6: 1991 WCW Halloween Havoc

228 min
Open
Another week elapsed, another Lapsed Fan here at WZ, and this time it's Jack and JP's first look at a WCW pay-per-view. The co-chairmen break down the 1991 Halloween Havoc, and the unforgettable, for better or worse (who are we kidding? Worse) "Chamber of Horrors" match.

The panel dissect the show as only they can, pointing out and meditating on a number of fascinating tidbits, including:

- The original move pegged the "Attitude Adjustment"
- The story behind Paul E.'s sudden exodus from WCW and dramatic return on this show to form "The Dangerous Alliance."
- Which of the show's competitors JP had Galoob figures of
- Prescient insight into Alexandra York's laptop and presumptions on how it led her charges, including "The Computerized Man of the 90s," Terrence Taylor, to, well, losses
- The match where, to win, you had to put your opponent in an electric chair and flip the lethal switch, subjecting the audience to a live death that the announcers somehow covered with a detached nonchalance. Unlike anything you've ever seen, thank God.

All that and so, so much more on the latest Lasped Fan, exclusively at WrestleZone. Check it out here.
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Published 2015-07-21

Ep. 5: WWF In Your House 9: International Incident (1996)

200 min
Open
The Lapsed Fan jumps back into past with a look at the WWF In Your House: International Incident pay-per-view from July 1996, an event with hints of the dawning Stone Cold era and a chaotic last-minute main event change that saw Jim Cornette offer refunds to PPV customers if his team lost.

Hosts/co-chairmen Jack Encarnacao and JP Sarro take a deep dive into the goings on in WWF at the time of the event, fresh off the heels of The Ultimate Warrior's sudden and final departure from the company, the return of Sycho Sid, and the Shawn Michaels/Vader program catching steam.

Among a million other things, Jack and JP touch on:

- Why exactly was this an "International Incident?" It's not like Vancouver is in Kuwait or something

- Vince McMahon's apparent obsession with saying the Godwins were a "quick" tag team

- Mankind goes splat on the concrete

- Jerry Lawler mocks a curiously-absent Jake Roberts' alcoholism

- The guttural noises and incredibly dangerous German suplexes of of Ahmed Johnson

- What made Sunny great

- To what degree were fans accepting of HBK as champion?
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Published 2015-07-21

Ep.4: 1994 WWF King of the Ring

222 min
Open
This week on the Lapsed Fan, the “Co-Chairmen” return to the pomp and circumstance of the King of the Ring… But this time 1994’s entry. Amidst the Vince McMahon steroid trials and Hulk Hogan signing with WCW, the WWE was struggling to find its new identity and a "new generation" of superstars. Headlined by “Rowdy” Roddy Piper versus Jerry “The King” Lawler, this event seemed more like a step backward than a step forward.

Jack Encarnacao and JP Sarro bring their brand of humor and nostalgia to the 1994 King of the Ring, discussing among other things:

– Arguably the worst pin in the history of the sport of kings

– How hard it was to find this particular show in video stores

– Roddy Piper’s prejudice against people without a neck

– Who Bret Hart claimed was the WWE’s most “stunning figure” at the time

– Two words…Art Donovan

That and so much more on the Lapsed Fan review of the 1994 King of the Ring, only at WrestleZone.com. Brace yourself… We’re about to get medieval.
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Published 2015-07-21

Ep 3: 1992 WWF Survivor Series

161 min
Open
​This week on the Lapsed Fan, the crew delves into a show at a crucial transition point for the WWF, the 1992 Survivor Series. The event was headlined by the first televised meeting between Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels for the WWF championship, a bout that signaled a sharp departure for the overly-muscled bodies that had populated the top of WWF cards for years.

Hosts Jack Encarnacao and JP Sarro assess the '92 edition of the Thanksgiving Eve tradition as only they can, discussing among other things:

- The obsessive allusions to turkey, cranberry sauce, and other fall harvest trappings
- The brilliance of Mr. Perfect's baby face turn after Bobby Heenan slaps him in a classic angle, and the heated tag team match that resulted with Randy Savage, Razor Ramon, and Ric Flair
- What WWF tag team Heenan wouldn't hesitate to invite to Thanksgiving dinner
- The Coffin Match that preceded the Undertaker's signature Casket Match
- Nailz, a befuddling criminal back story, and the failings of Jack Tunney

That and so much more on the Lapsed Fan review of the 1992 Survivor Series, only st WrestleZone.com. Will you survive?
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Published 2015-07-21

Ep, 2: 1995 WWF King of the Ring

182 min
Open
The Lapsed Fan is back to chop up your WWE Network archives, and this week it's a deep dive into one of the worst pay-per-views in WWF history – the 1995 King of the Ring.

Hosts Jack Encarnacao and JP Sarro explore just what made this show such a difficult slog, and highlight many fun aspects that time has forgotten, such as:

- Bill Murray's odd video induction speech on the back of an elephant for George "The Animal" Steele into the WWF Hall of Fame
- The Stridex blimp
- The most forced Rocky Balboa tie-ins you've ever heard, as "Caribbean Legend" Savio Vega goes for tournament glory in Philadelphia
- The first "ECW" chants to make it on to a WWF broadcast, and Vince McMahon's flustered response
- Who thought it was a good idea to end a PPV main event with a standing elbow drop?
- What ingredient Bob Backlund thinks made cheese steak healthier.

Monarchy reigns! Catch The Lapsed Fan review of the 1995 King of the Ring, if you dare.
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Published 2015-07-21

Ep 1: 1991 WWF Summerslam

173 min
Open
Today, the debut episode of "The Lapsed Fan" wrestling podcast officially launches on WrestleZone.com, and the show will air every week on Wednesday's!

With the launch of the WWE Network, The Lapsed Fan podcast will specifically talk late 80's and early 90's pro wrestling, and episode #1, which you can listen to below, will talk SummerSlam 1991!

Let us know what you think of the new podcast in the comment section below, and be sure to following the podcast on Twitter @TheLapsedFan.
Play Episode Page Extract Knowledge