Wrestling Mayhem Show 1018: All In to Heatwave

Sorgstock has arrived, and that means Wrestling Mayhem Show 1018 is operating with just a little more chaos than usual.

Sorg is joined by TruePrinceofPro (T-Pop!) and Rizz for one final preview of the Wrestling Mayhem Show Presents event. What began as another wrestling show has developed into a mixture of professional wrestling, live music, art and whatever bizarre rules the wrestlers manage to introduce before bell time.

The Runway and Wild Wild South will open the event competing for the Pit Fight Tag Team Championship. Sammy Suntheimer has the unenviable assignment of facing Billy the Alien. Gory’s RWA No Limits Championship will be defended through a “Bite-Off,” where bites effectively replace traditional falls. Mikey Montgomery faces the returning Just An Idol in something called a Video Game Match, while the Department of Jocks are involved in a Back to School Match that even Rizz doesn't fully understand.

Brianna Bands and Reese Hayes will also meet one-on-one after catching Sorg’s attention during a previous multi-person match.

The event expands beyond wrestling. Facade will create live graffiti art, DJ Sikes will provide music and Gary the Dragon is scheduled to make an appearance.

T-Pop Takes Us to AAA

With T-Pop on the show, AAA gets considerably more attention than the average wrestling podcast is probably prepared to handle.

Omos caused havoc, Rey Mysterio continues juggling his authority responsibilities and the Latin American Championship picture changed again. Penta defeated Bronco Nima, leading Los Perros del Mal to remove Bronco from the group before immediately trying to recruit Penta. When Penta refused, Rey Fenix and Dragon Lee eventually became involved.

That pushes things toward Ola de Calor, part of a packed Sunday featuring both AAA and NXT programming.

The sheer amount of wrestling available leads to an interesting observation: wrestling does not really have a traditional Monday Night War anymore. Instead, promotions are fighting for attention across entire weekends — but streaming means fans can ultimately watch almost everything.

Death Before Dishonor Delivers

ROH Death Before Dishonor provided several of the crew’s favorite matches of the week.

Lio Rush and Action Andretti’s Fight Without Honor embraced the history of the ECW Arena, including Rush paying tribute to Sabu. One thrown chair somehow became stuck perfectly in the ropes, turning an attempted violent spot into one of the night’s funniest moments before the match continued getting increasingly dangerous.

Bandido and Nick Wayne also impressed, with T-Pop arguing that Wayne’s performance demonstrated why he could eventually become the youngest ROH World Champion.

Lee Moriarty faced Katsuyori Shibata after Nigel McGuinness was unable to compete. Shibata forced Moriarty into a rare position where the Pure Champion looked genuinely vulnerable and nearly ran out of every escape available to him.

And Athena remains the giant question hanging over Ring of Honor: after such a dominant championship run, who can possibly be the person to finally defeat her?

Lockdown Gets Wild

TNA Lockdown also produced one of the most replayed moments of the weekend.

Jason Hotch and Mustafa Ali went all-in on their cage match, with Hotch launching himself from the cage through a table on the floor. T-Pop admits to tracking down seemingly every available fan angle of the dive.

Elsewhere, Joe Alonzo earned a contract opportunity, Avery Styles was discussed as another new signing and Kiera Hogan returned.

Wembley Is Waiting

The episode closes with a look toward AEW All In.

Kenny Omega versus Will Ospreay already feels big enough without much explanation, although their latest interactions have made the rivalry increasingly personal.

Willow Nightingale and Mercedes Moné bring years of history to their championship confrontation, while Cage & Cope versus The Young Bucks offers another major attraction.

And if anyone is looking for a potential show-stealer, Kyle Fletcher, Kazuchika Okada and Konosuke Takeshita sharing the same match seems like a good place to start.

What We Learned

T-Pop learned that Místico, Atlantis Jr. and Soberano Jr. will represent lucha libre on Netflix’s Physical 100: Mexico.

Rizz learned that actually helping assemble professional wrestling shows is far more stressful than fantasy booking them.

And Sorg learned — or perhaps was reminded — how rewarding it can be to watch wrestlers from the Pittsburgh scene spread their wings. Whether it’s members of the Department of Jocks appearing in the Renegade Rumble, Some Guy Named John delivering a record-setting performance or Gianni winning the Rumble, seeing familiar talent succeed elsewhere provides a different kind of payoff.

Sometimes the best part of producing wrestling isn't what happens on your own show. It’s getting to watch what the people you’ve worked with do next.