Claim OwnershipGrapple City Rewind
Subscribed: 0Played: 0
Subscribe
© 2026 Bradley Palermo & Aaron Fink
Description
Step into the time machine and rewind the glory (and the weirdness) of pro wrestling’s VHS era. Hosted by Bradley Palermo and Aaron Fink, Grapple City Rewind dives deep into classic pay-per-views from the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s—unpacking everything from five-star classics to glitter botches, fake Diesels, and forgotten squash matches.
Each episode blends play-by-play recaps, backstage trivia, and plenty of sarcastic banter. Sometimes it’s reverence, sometimes it’s ridicule, but it’s always passionate. Whether we’re debating star ratings, laughing at signs, or reliving Shawn Michaels vs. Mankind, we’re here to remind you why you fell in love with wrestling in the first place.
We kick off every show with a look at today’s wrestling headlines, then rewind to the pay-per-views that shaped us as fans. Think of it as a tape-trading party with your loudest friends, only with better audio.
Want to cut a promo on us? Call 626-657-SLAM and tell us what you loved, hated, or want us to cover next.
Grapple City Rewind – part history lesson, part comedy roast, all love for the squared circle.
40 Episodes
Reverse
Hulk Hogan. The Rock. Sixty-eight thousand screaming fans in Toronto. And somehow… a broomstick gets involved. This week on Grapple City Rewind, Bradley Palermo and Aaron Fink head back to WWF WrestleMania X8 (2002) — the strange transitional moment where the Attitude Era crashes head-first into nostalgia. The nWo has arrived, Limp Bizkit is blasting through the arena, and the WWF is suddenly leaning hard on legends again. But nothing on this show matters more than Icon vs Icon: Hollywood Hu...
Grapple City Rewind heads back to the gritty ECW Arena in February 1996 for CyberSlam 96, Bradley Palermo and Aaron Fink break down the chaotic compilation-style event featuring Taz squashes, a completely unhinged Brian Pillman segment, dancing babyface Bubba Ray Dudley, triple dog collar madness, and the only true wrestling clinic of the night Too Cold Scorpio vs Sabu, we debate whether ECW’s wild run-in heavy style still holds up, question Meltzer’s dud-heavy ratings, revisit Cactus Jack vs...
Grapple City Rewind heads to No Way Out 2000 as Bradley Palermo and Aaron Fink break down Kurt Angle vs Chris Jericho, Dudleys vs New Age Outlaws, the infamous Mae Young pregnancy storyline with Mark Henry, Kane vs X-Pac chaos, Too Cool vs The Radicalz, Big Show vs The Rock controversy, and the brutal Hell in a Cell main event between Triple H and Cactus Jack. Was this Attitude Era PPV a hidden gem or just main-event dependent? We give it our Fast Forward, Play, or Rewind rating and debate wh...
WWF No Way Out 2001 is where the Attitude Era officially flies off the rails. We’re talking shopping carts, stop signs, barbed wire, blood everywhere, and a level of sleaze and chaos that feels less like wrestling and more like a bad decision made at 3 a.m. This show exists in that weird space between WrestleMania hype and total creative insanity—and somehow manages to be both fascinating and exhausting. Brad and Aaron break down a night that includes: A hardcore match that immediately asks “...
We rewind to January 20, 2002 at Phillips Arena in Atlanta for Royal Rumble 2002, a stacked card sitting right on the edge of the Attitude Era and Ruthless Aggression. From WWF New York time-capsule chaos to Vince McMahon absolutely loving being evil, we break down every match, every Lawler quip that aged like milk, and every massive star moment. The Rumble itself is loaded with returns, all-time pops, and one Tough Enough contestant who chose death. Plus, we kick things off with predictions ...
This week on Grapple City Rewind, Bradley Palermo and Aaron Fink dive into WCW Souled Out 1998, an NWO-heavy pay-per-view packed with strong undercard wrestling, baffling booking decisions, and peak late-90s WCW chaos. From lucha libre madness and Jericho vs. Rey Mysterio, to Bret Hart’s WCW in-ring debut against Ric Flair, plus the infamous Dusty Rhodes heel turn, we break down what works, what absolutely doesn’t, and why WCW felt both stacked with talent and structurally broken at the same ...
The Attitude Era doesn’t explode overnight — it creaks, leaks, and occasionally catches fire. Royal Rumble 1998 is the moment where everything finally tilts forward. Before the Rumble even starts, Terry Funk and Mick Foley try to kill each other with chairs, chainsaws, and zero regard for OSHA. Stone Cold Steve Austin is a marked man, the NWA briefly wanders onto WWF television to tell everyone to stop having fun, and JR delivers some of the most unhinged one-liners of his career. We break d...
Season 2 kicks off with Grapple City Rewind diving headfirst into Royal Rumble 1991, a bizarre time capsule of early-90s WWF packed with war-era patriotism, Hulk Hogan propaganda, and some truly questionable booking. Bradley Palermo and Aaron Fink break down the entire card, from the Rockers’ polarizing opener to the shocking title change that sacrificed Ultimate Warrior, all the way through a Royal Rumble match where America apparently wins if Hogan wins. Along the way, they debate bear hugs...
In this special Grapple City Rewind Bonus Episode, Bradley Palermo and Aaron Fink head back to NXT TakeOver: London (2015) to revisit one of the defining matches of peak-era NXT: Demon Finn Bálor vs. Samoa Joe. This is a classic David vs. Goliath clash—cut-to-the-bone athleticism versus raw power and brutality. The hosts break down Bálor’s demon persona, the crowd-driven entrance that helped redefine modern wrestling presentation, and why this version of Finn feels so distant from his current...
In this Grapple City Rewind bonus episode, Bradley Palermo and Aaron Fink jump back to December 29, 1995, to break down one of the strangest matches in ECW history: Mick Foley (as Cactus Jack) vs. Sabu from ECW Holiday Hell. What begins as an absurd “Olympic Rules” challenge—complete with an NCAA referee and point deductions—quickly collapses into pure ECW chaos once 9-1-1 destroys the official and takes over. Recorded at the cramped, smoky Lost Battalion Hall in Queens, this match captures e...
In this special holiday bonus episode of Grapple City Rewind, Bradley and Aaron jump back to NXT TakeOver: London (2015) to revisit a standout match for the NXT Women’s Championship: Bayley vs. Nia Jax. With a red-hot UK crowd, peak black-and-gold NXT energy, and Bayley in full “hugger” babyface mode, this match captures a unique moment in modern wrestling history. Aaron breaks down why this bout stood out to him—its December timing, Bayley’s first encounter with the now-iconic “Hey Bayley” c...
Join Bradley Palermo and Aaron Fink for a festive dive into the hilarious and chaotic 2011 WWE "All-I-Want-for-Christmas" Battle Royale! In this special bonus episode of Grapple City Rewind, we break down this over-the-top match featuring Sheamus, Hornswoggle, and a wild mix of WWE stars. From the strange holiday vibes to the unforgettable moments with Mick Foley as Santa, we discuss everything that made this match a memorable and lighthearted WWE moment. Tune in for some laughs, nostalgia, a...
WCW spent eighteen months building to Sting vs. Hollywood Hogan… only to trip over their own feet at the finish line. In this episode of Grapple City Rewind, Brad and Aaron break down the spectacular chaos of WCW Starrcade 1997—from the overhyped “greatest night ever” promises to the infamous not-fast fast count that derailed the biggest payoff in company history. Brad also opens the show with a full recount of attending WWE Survivor Series 2025 live at Petco Park, describing the nightmare se...
Travel back to Thanksgiving night 1985 as Bradley and Aaron dive deep into Starrcade: The Gathering, a split-venue NWA mega-event overflowing with blood, Russians, rule-breaking, cage mayhem, and one unbelievably annoying drunk fan who somehow made it into the subtitles. This episode covers: Rock & Roll Express vs. Ivan & Nikita Koloff in a cage match that’s somehow no-DQ and still worked like a tag matchEndless blood, heel chaos, and wild Cold War heatRic Flair vs. Dusty Rhodes in a ...
Step inside the Ruthless Aggression era as Bradley Palermo and Aaron Fink break down WWE Survivor Series 2002, live from Madison Square Garden. This show has everything: broom-based hardcore weapons, the debut of the Elimination Chamber, Victoria beating Trish with a fire extinguisher, Matt Hardy’s “low-fat chocolate milk” Matt Facts, and way too much Saliva… the band, not the bodily fluid (though honestly, there’s both). Brad and Aaron compare the women’s wrestling landscape then vs. now, ta...
Neon lights. Cowboy hats. Clowns. Towels. Chuck Norris. This week, Brad and Aaron rewind to WWF Survivor Series 1994 — a pay-per-view so weird it makes Heroes of Wrestling look like Wrestle Kingdom. From Bret Hart’s 35-minute family therapy session with Bob Backlund to Jerry Lawler’s miniature monarchy of mayhem, it’s full-on professional wrestling weirdness from Vince McMahon’s Technicolor era. Add a casket match, an oversized Yokozuna, and a very confused Chuck Norris, and you’ve got one he...
Katie Vick. We’re sorry. We had to get to it at some point. This week, Brad and Aaron crack open WWE No Mercy 2002 — a violent, blood-splattered relic from the Ruthless Aggression era featuring the Hell in a Cell blood geyser of Brock Lesnar vs. The Undertaker, Ric Flair trying to survive peak RVD, and a Cruiserweight title match that ends in a forced make-out session because…that's where WWE was at the time. But the headlining monstrosity: Triple H accuses Kane of murder, and somehow that’s ...
This week on Grapple City Rewind, Bradley Palermo and Aaron Fink crack open a Slim Jim and dive deep into WCW Halloween Havoc 1997 — live from Las Vegas, baby. From Rey Mysterio and Eddie Guerrero’s all-time classic mask vs. title match to the absolute garbage that follows, this show has it all: Hogan vs. Piper inside the flimsiest cage ever built, Mongo’s missing Super Bowl ring, and the golden era of Dusty Rhodes one-liners. Plus, the guys talk TNA Bound for Glory, AEW WrestleDream, and why...
Brad and Aaron return to St. Louis for WWF No Mercy 2001, which took place live at Savvis Center—the same arena where Brad saw his very first wrestling show. The duo relive the Attitude Era’s turning point as WWF began its transformation into WWE, dissecting the struggle for power between Stone Cold Steve Austin, Kurt Angle, and Rob Van Dam. Along the way, they rewind through the entire card—Hardys vs. Hurricane, Edge vs. Christian, Kane vs. Test, and more—mixing in current product talk about...
Bradley Palermo and Aaron Fink plug into one of WCW’s wildest disasters — the 1991 Halloween Havoc: Chamber of Horrors. 2600 pounds of men, ghouls with gurneys, and an honest-to-God electric chair in the middle of the ring. Hear the boys relive Dusty Rhodes’ spooky fever dream and Abdullah the Butcher somehow surviving execution to keep fighting. Plus, Crown Jewel predictions, TNA crossover talk, and more wrestling weirdness from the golden age of gimmicks. This episode brought to you by Webe...
Comments
Download from Google Play
Download from App Store
United States