7 Most Insane Things Happening In Wrestling Right Now (July 28)

4. Smacking Talk

Kenny Omega Toru Yano II
WWE.com

While the fact that it was pre-approved ruins it somewhat, Daniel Bryan and Renee Young's pirate version of the sadly-cancelled Talking Smack - Smacking Talk - was still a brilliant (and fairly dark) parody of all things WWE.

It's actually astonishing just how deeply they cut into the company. The (deserved) reputation is that WWE is out of touch with the wider world, something almost satirically confirmed when, in 2012, WWE partnered up with Tout to expand its social media reach - without realising the platform had the reach of a T-Rex. Fittingly prehistoric thinking from a company with a cultural frame of reference informed by the 1940s and 1950s.

Bryan and Young ripped into that by "broadcasting" Smacking Talk from Tout - while also ripping apart WWE's major summer angle by revealing that an impossibly virile 5 year old Bryan sired Chad Gable. This news was delivered with a paternity test, the results of which stated "I AM YOUR FATHER hooray," hilariously making no pretence whatsoever that he wrote it, savaging the blatant bullsh*t that was the Jason Jordan-as-Kurt Angle's-son reveal.

"Smacking Talk's got a long way to go," Gable moaned on his way out. That's not strictly true - on the basis of a certain 205 Live segment, this total lark of a segment was miles funnier and warmer than anything the paid writers can muster...

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!