{"id":196203,"date":"2025-04-16T22:00:54","date_gmt":"2025-04-17T03:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=196203"},"modified":"2025-04-16T21:32:40","modified_gmt":"2025-04-17T02:32:40","slug":"free-podcast-4-16-wkpwp-flagship-from-5-yrs-ago-keller-martin-talk-mcmahon-choosing-cena-over-batista-remembering-howard-finkle-wwe-roster-cuts-during-pandemic-most-surprising-wm-main","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2025\/04\/16\/free-podcast-4-16-wkpwp-flagship-from-5-yrs-ago-keller-martin-talk-mcmahon-choosing-cena-over-batista-remembering-howard-finkle-wwe-roster-cuts-during-pandemic-most-surprising-wm-main\/","title":{"rendered":"FREE PODCAST 4\/16 \u2013 WKPWP Flagship from 5 Yrs Ago: Keller &#038; Martin talk McMahon choosing Cena over Batista, remembering Howard Finkle, WWE roster cuts during pandemic, most surprising WM main eventer (123 min.)"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-2108443248\" class=\"pwtor-before-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><hr \/><b>SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)... <\/b>\r\n\r\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?show_id=3076978&theme=light&playlist=false&playlist-continuous=false&autoplay=false&live-autoplay=false&chapters-image=true&episode_image_position=right&hide-logo=false&hide-likes=false&hide-comments=false&hide-sharing=false&hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"140px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\r\n<hr \/><\/div><p><strong>SHOW SUMMARY:\u00a0<\/strong>In this week\u2019s Flagship Flashback episode of the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Podcast from five years ago (4-16-2020), PWTorch editor Wade Keller was joined by PWTorch&#8217;s Todd Martin. They discussed these topics:<\/p>\n<p>NEWS ANALYSIS:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Howard Finkel and what he represented as a great ring announcer but also how Vince McMahon treated him and what that says about McMahon.<\/li>\n<li>Todd&#8217;s strong view on WWE\u2019s decision to release so many wrestlers yesterday during a pandemic just days before the next investor\u2019s conference call.<\/li>\n<li>A review of that week&#8217;s AEW Dynamite (including the Jon Moxley vs. Jake Hager main event)<\/li>\n<li>A review of NXT on USA<\/li>\n<li>Thoughts on WWE Smackdown (including Braun Strowman vs. Shinsuke Nakamura)<\/li>\n<li>Analysis of WWE Raw (including Drew McIntyre\u2019s promo, Drew vs. Andrade, and Nia Jax squashing Kairi Sane).<\/li>\n<li>The latest on UFC<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>MAILBAG TOPICS:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>What was the reason Vince McMahon backed Chris Benoit enough to give him the title win at WrestleMania 20, and is he the most surprising WrestleMania main eventer ever?<\/li>\n<li>Why did Vince McMahon ultimately choose John Cena over Batista?<\/li>\n<li>Why does WWE have such unbalanced power over their independent contractors compared to how things work in Europe?<\/li>\n<li>Is A.J. Styles a former WrestleMania headliners now that he closed out the first night of WrestleMania 36, or does that not count?<\/li>\n<li>What is a list of Bret Hart\u2019s best matches in WCW?<\/li>\n<li>What was the deal with Hunter Hearst Helmsley and \u201cMr. Perfect\u201d Curt Hennig in the fall of 1996?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>KEY LINKS&#8230;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>PWTorch VIP membership&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/govip\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/govip&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1686624379236000&amp;usg=AOvVaw26fGrI_THjG3e49SeEjsvM\">https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/govip<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Or support us on Patreon&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/pwtorchvip\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/pwtorchvip&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1686624379236000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3HgakJdOKpCZlPjLE9MBPE\">https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/<wbr \/>pwtorchvip<\/a><\/p><div id=\"pwtor-1541414573\" class=\"pwtor-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>Subscribe to our YouTube Channel with new daily content&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/pwtorch\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/pwtorch&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1686624379236000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0kjwigphLiEpKWBQJ0uhZ6\">https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/<wbr \/>pwtorch<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>FREE VERSION: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.spreaker.com\/episode\/5-yrs-ago-flagship-keller-martin-mcmahon-choosing-cena-over-batista-remembering-howard-finkle-wwe-roster-cuts-during-pandemic-more--65601313\">AUDIO LINK<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>AD-FREE VIP VERSION:\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/android\/legacyuploads\/wp-media\/2025\/04\/20250416WKPWP-5YrsAgo-FS-VIP.mp3\">VIP AUDIO LINK<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>NOT VIP? NO PROBLEM\u2026<\/strong>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorchvipinfo.com\">CLICK HERE FOR VIP SIGN UP INFO<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-220470476\"><div id=\"pwtor-618785160\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\nTHANK YOU FOR VISITING<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>SHOW SUMMARY:\u00a0In this week\u2019s Flagship Flashback episode of the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Podcast from five years ago (4-16-2020), PWTorch editor Wade Keller was joined by PWTorch&#8217;s Todd Martin. They discussed these topics: NEWS ANALYSIS: <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2025\/04\/16\/free-podcast-4-16-wkpwp-flagship-from-5-yrs-ago-keller-martin-talk-mcmahon-choosing-cena-over-batista-remembering-howard-finkle-wwe-roster-cuts-during-pandemic-most-surprising-wm-main\/\" title=\"FREE PODCAST 4\/16 \u2013 WKPWP Flagship from 5 Yrs Ago: Keller &#038; Martin talk McMahon choosing Cena over Batista, remembering Howard Finkle, WWE roster cuts during pandemic, most surprising WM main eventer (123 min.)\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":135831,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[40,5655],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-196203","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-podcasts","category-wade-keller-pro-wrestling-podcast"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2022\/03\/WKPWPPodcast2022_FREE.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196203","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=196203"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196203\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":196223,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196203\/revisions\/196223"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/135831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=196203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=196203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=196203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}