Rooster and the Rookie

BREAKING DOWN SUMMERSLAM 2025! IS WRESTLING TO PREDICTABLE? MOTW DJ WOODSON / EP. 21

Welcome to another (slightly delayed) episode of ROOSTER AND THE ROOKIE with your hosts Chris Russell and Matt Essig. Don't forget to follow us on our show Twitter page: @roostandrook
 
Ringside Roundup:Chris and Matt break down the big news between ESPN and WWE to move all PLEs to their platform. The guys then take an extended look at SummerSlam 2025, breaking down all the matches
 
Mark of the Week: 
Long-time fan of Wrestling, DJ Woodson joins the show. DJ breaks down how he’s been a wrestling mark since he was 2 years old. He also says SummerSlam was one of the best shows and that it blew Wrestlemania out of the water.
 
Main Event:
Has wrestling become too predictable? Matthew says that he was a little upset that we were able to predict the show, and while there were some big moments, the storylines were all too predictable. Chris says that’s part of the joy of being a wrestling fan. 

SummerSlam 2025 PREVIEW! WAS IT WISE TO MAKE SUMMER SLAM 2 NIGHTS? EP.20

Welcome to OUR 20TH episode of ROOSTER AND THE ROOKIE with your hosts Chris Russell and Matt Essig. Don't forget to follow us on our show Twitter page: @roostandrook
 
Ringside Roundup:
Chris and Matt break down all of the recent tributes to the late Terry Bollea (Hulk Hogan) and run back Monday Night Raw. The guys also quickly talk about the now-out WWE: Unreal. 
 
Main Event:
The guys break down the whole lineup for Summer Slam 2025 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey! Chris and Matt give you their opinions on every match, who they think will come out on top, and what some of the storylines coming out of Summer Slam could be. They also ask the hard question: Is a two-night Summer Slam too much? It seems like both the Rooster and the Rookie are on the same page. 
 
All this and more on this Summer Slam 2025 preview episode of Rooster and the Rookie

DOES THE LOCATION MATTER FOR TELEVISED SHOWS? REMEMBERING HULK HOGAN/ EP. 19

Welcome to another episode of ROOSTER AND THE ROOKIE with your hosts Chris Russell and Matt Essig. Don't forget to follow us on our show Twitter page: @roostandrook
 
Ringside Roundup:Chris and Matt honor the life and career of the late WWE and wrestling Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan. The guys break down what he meant to the industry and to fans of both wrestling and pop culture. The roost and rook also break down all the previous PLE’s from the last couple of weeks and some of the biggest recent matches.
 
Main Event:
Does location matter for televised matches? Chris realized that wrestling has taken to doing “city takeovers” where a promotion will stay in town for a couple of weeks, hosting multiple events. Chris says that he likes the fact that they spend more time in locations, which keeps the show interesting. The rook says that it doesn’t matter to anyone but super fans, and it might even hurt the promotion
 
Mark(s) of the week:
Chris’ long-time friends Birdman and Fred join the show to discuss their memories of Hulk Hogan, what he meant to the industry, and share a few laughs at each other's expense.

SHOULD TONY KHAN BE NERVOUS FOR COMPETITION THIS WEEKEND? MOTW BERNIE IN ROCKVILE / EP. 18

Welcome to another episode of ROOSTER AND THE ROOKIE with your hosts Chris Russell and Matt Essig. Don't forget to follow us on our show Twitter page: @roostandrook
 
Ringside Roundup: The guys break down the Seth Rollins crew and their beatdown on Raw before looking ahead at All In, Saturday Night's Main Event, and Evolution all this weekend. 
 
Main Event: Tony Khan said that he wasn't nervous about the competition this weekend and Chris says he should be! Matt says if he's not then he should be angry becasue putting 3 PLE's around your competitions biggest night is a jerk move
 
Mark of the Week: Wrestling PHD Bernie in Rockville finally graces the show to talk about his experiences working on some of the local promotions and what he's looking forward to this weekend
 
All this and more on this episode of Rooster and the Rookie

WWE HAS SHORTENED THEIR WEEKLY SHOWS + N.O.C. RECAP/ EP. 17

Welcome to another episode of ROOSTER AND THE ROOKIE with your hosts Chris Russell and Matt Essig. Don't forget to follow us on our show Twitter page: @roostandrook
 
Ringside Roundup: The guys break down Night of Champions out in Riyadh Saudi Arabia. With Cody Rhodes and Jade Cargill winning king and queen of the ring, what storylines should we expect leading into summerslam?
 
Main Event: The WWE has stated that they are bringing Friday Night Smackdown to two hours. Chris and Matt talk about how that might affect the stories and what they will end up cutting from the broadcasts
 
Mark of the Week: Ryan Clary of 106.7 fame was SUPPOSED to join us, but after hearing we were going to tease him about a Fourth of July take he hung up on us in the preinterview. So we flame Clary!
 
All this and more on this episode of Rooster and the Rookie

WHAT MAKES A BAD SHOW? PREVIEWING NIGHT OF CHAMPIONS + JT THE VIC AS MOTW/ EP. 16

Welcome to another episode of ROOSTER AND THE ROOKIE with your hosts Chris Russell and Matt Essig. Don't forget to follow us on our show Twitter page: @roostandrook
 
Ringside Roundup: The Matchups for Night of Champions have been set! Chris and Matt go through the matches and give their thoughts on who will win each match + some tomfoolery from Monday's (6/23) Raw
 
Main Event: The Rookie claims that Monday's Raw was the worst episode of wrestling he's ever seen and asks Chris: What makes a bad show? The guys talk about the grueling work schedule and how, because they are athletes who get injured, it's impossible to maintain 100% perfection all the time, it just usually only is one match a show. 
 
Mark of the Week: Executive Producer for the Nationals Radio Broadcast and huge wrestling fan JT the Vic joins the show. Vic gives his thoughts on the upcoming matches and what can make a match bad. 
 
All this and more on this episode of Rooster and the Rookie

WELCOME TO PART 2 OF THE 2025 WWE SEASON! ROAD TO SUMMERSLAM/ EP. 15

Welcome to another episode of ROOSTER AND THE ROOKIE with your hosts Chris Russell and Matt Essig. Don't forget to follow us on our show Twitter page: @roostandrook
 
Ringside Roundup: Gunther has de-throned Jey Uso as the world heavyweight champion! Is the rivalry between the two dead? Plus, Goldberg is back to challenge the new World Heavyweight Champion! Chris and Matt also cover Liv Morgan's injury, Mariah May's debut on NXT, Wrestlemania coming back to Vegas, and more! The guys are also joined by a quick stop from the Mark of The Week: Tyler Russo
 
Main Event: The second half of the 2025 WWE season, the road to Summerslam. Over the last couple of weeks, there have been eight fatal four-ways to decide who will be crowned the King and Queen of the ring and go for a title at Summerslam. The rookie didn't realize how big a deal Summerslam is Chris talks a little about what to expect going into Summerslam 
 
All that and so much more in this episode of ROOSTER AND THE ROOKIE

HOW DO YOU GET BACK INTO WRESTLING AFTER A BREAK? LEAD UP TO MONEY IN THE BANK + MATT PAPIERNO AS MARK OF THE WEEK / EP. 14

Welcome to another episode of ROOSTER AND THE ROOKIE with your hosts Chris Russell and Matt Essig. Don't forget to follow us on our show Twitter page: @roostandrook
 
Ringside Roundup: Chris and Matt break down all the upcoming matches in this weekend's Money In The Bank. A former AEW Superstar is making her way to NXT. AJ Francis helped Trick Williams retain his championship, and the WWE has let go of even more talent!
 
Main Event: After a never-ending move, Matthew is finally in a place to record episodes, but he's missed a lot of wrestling. The Rookie looks for the Rooster's sage advice on how to "catch up" on the storylines after missing a couple of weeks.
 
Mark of the Week: We have wrestling superfan Matt Papierno join the show to talk about a really cool experience he had with MJF, as well as shares his thoughts on Money in the Bank and who he thinks El Grande Americano is under the mask. 
 
All that and so much more in this episode of ROOSTER AND THE ROOKIE

IS STREAMING HELPING OR HURTING WRESTLING? BREAKING DOWN BACKLASH + MARK OF THE WEEK: LENNY THE LEGEND / EP. 13

Welcome to another episode of ROOSTER AND THE ROOKIE with your hosts Chris Russell and Matt Essig. Don't forget to follow us on our show twitter page: @roostandrook
 
Ringside Roundup: WWE had ANOTHER PLE! Chris and Matt break down Saturday's Backlash, going over all the results as they ask the question, was this PLE too close to Wrestlemania? The guys also give a shoutout to the late ECW and WWE legend Sabu. 
 
Main Event: Does online streaming help or hurt wrestling? Matthew says that there are issues with the streaming model but Chris brings up the convenience of the platforms. 
 
Mark of the Week: Long-time fan and friend of the show, as well as many WWE superstars, Lenny the Legend joins the show to give some of his legendary stories, and his take on wrestling on Netflix.
 
All that and so much more in this episode of ROOSTER AND THE ROOKIE

WRESTLEMANIA 41 RECAP! WAS IT A CARD TO REMEMBER? + MARK OF THE WEEK: DON SUAVE / EP. 12

Welcome to another episode of ROOSTER AND THE ROOKIE with your hosts Chris Russell and Matt Essig. Don't forget to follow us on our show Twitter page: @roostandrook
 
It's a long episode, but Chris and Matt cover ALL of the WrestleMania 41 card! The guys break down the highs and lows and attempt to answer, "Will this be a WrestleMania to remember"? 
 
Mark of the Week: Don Suave of Fox Sports 1310 AM joins the show to give his thoughts on the program, as well as giving us one match that he'd swap. 
 
All that and so much more in this WrestleMania preview episode of ROOSTER AND THE ROOKIE