Grit & Glitter

Harley and Em are joined by returning guests Moni Garcia and Zach Funk for the AEW draft! 6 years of elite women are up for grabs as they take turns drafting wrestlers in categories like Gold Standard, Dynamic Duos, and Women Of Honor.  Who were the #1 draft picks?  Whose roster is the strongest?  And which show are you watching?

On September 5, 2025, beloved Oakland promotion Hoodslam disappeared from the face of the Earth.  The few who lived to walk away that night are reticent to talk about what happened.  But Harley managed to find one survivor to speak on the record. Over its 15-year history, the ragtag crew of Hoodslammers were preyed on by countless outside forces from aliens and transdimensional demons to evil doppelgangers and fallen angels.  How do they all connect?  What does it all mean? Whatever happened to Hoodslam?

In the second installment of our new "Glitterati primers" series, Em chooses four matches to get to know her and makes Harley, Lindsay, and long-lost guest Bridget Clark watch them.   Her watch list for this episode: The Fabulous Moolah, Velvet McIntyre, Rockin’ Robin, & The Jumping Bomb Angels vs. Sensational Sherri, Donna Christanello, Dawn Marie, & The Glamour Girls in a Survivor Series match WWF Survivor Series (11/26/87)   Kana vs. Meiko Satomura Kana Pro Mania (2/25/14)   Trish Adora vs. Lee Moriarty for the Pan-Afrikan World Diaspora Wrestling Championship BCP May The Franchise Reign (5/29/21)   Alex Windsor vs. Charlie Morgan in a loser leaves Eve fight to the finish match Eve Wrestle (Wo)mania (4/5/24)

Em, Don, & Val Pancakes chat with Pro Wrestling Illustrated editor Kevin McElvaney about all the women who ranked on the 2025 installment of the PWI 500! Plus: speculation on who could be the first duo to hold the new AEW women's tag team championship.

Harley was live at AEW All Out in Toronto and Meg was watching at home! They discuss merch opportunities, not knowing how they're supposed to feel about Kris Statlander, who could possibly end Mercedes Moné's title run, and whether Beth Phoenix is here to stay.  Plus: Harley explains what tailgating is to our Welsh correspondent.

It's the return of 20 Questions as Harley chats with comedian, actress, and wrestling ring announcer Melanie Dahling! She discusses becoming a wrestling fan as an adult, her love of Jody Threat, Can't Hardly Wait, career highlights, and working with the Toronto Wrestling Club.

Harley is joined by Meg and her partner Jim to discuss AEW Forbidden Door 2025! Meg & Jim talk being live in attendance in the O2 Arena in London, Toni Storm vs. Athena, the TBS Championship four-way, whether Athena will disappear back to ROH now, and early indicators that the first women's Blood & Guts match may be coming.

Em and Harley welcome back Kate Meizner, singer and principal songwriter of Brooklyn power pop band Jobber, ahead of the release of their debut album To The Stars! They discuss wrestling as a metaphor for slave-wage capitalism, wrestling music videos, wrestling as catharsis, and manifest a collab with B3CCA.

Originally conducted August 17, 2021 for the website Bell To Belles.  Never before heard.  Harley spoke with British wrestler Chakara on the theme of "momentum."   "What does a goddess do on her time off?  21-year-old Chakara was taking England by storm in the tail end of 2019 after two standout matches against Big Swole for Riptide Wrestling.  Then a pandemic hit.  For 16 months she was forced to sit on the sidelines and watch the world pass her by.  All the momentum gone, through no fault of her own.  How do you recover?  How do you return into the thick of it?  How does the Golden Goddess find her way back on the track to gold?"

On the season 15 premiere, Em throws a summer picnic with Laz and Don joining her to dig into a potluck of summer wrasslin' matches! They discuss a graduation (of sorts), a trip to the beach, and, of course, when Ants invade the picnic.  Plus: Is borscht an appropriate beach treat?  What food would you bring to a summer wrestling show?  And the enduring impact of Sara Del Rey.   This episode is dedicated to the memory of long-time G&G listener Andy Stowell.  Thank you for the years of support, Andy. 

Em and Harley are joined by forever Glitterati member Val Quartz and first-time guest Moni Garcia to debate a hot button topic of our era: AEW wrestlers as Chappell Roan songs. They go through the entire Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess album track by track to discuss who's a femininomenom, who's been naked in Manhattan, whose kink is watching you ruin your life, and which men are probably guilty of wearing fugly jeans.

It's the sixth anniversary of G&G and the debut of a new segment we're calling "Glitterati primers"!  On this edition, Harley chooses four matches to get to know him and makes Em, Lindsay, and returning guest Brie Montoya watch them.   His watch list for this episode: Marlena vs. Sunny in an arm-wrestling match WWF Monday Night Raw (2/24/97)   Momo Watanabe vs. Jungle Kyona for the Wonder Of Stardom Championship Stardom Stardom World In Nagoya (3/3/19)   LuFisto vs. Allysin Kay vs. Priscilla Kelly vs. Cheerleader Melissa Shimmer/Rise/Smash/Femmes Fatales The Summit (8/10/19)   Masha Slamovich vs. Edith Surreal in an unsanctioned Soviet deathmatch Camp Leapfrog Matt Makowski’s Frogsport (4/25/21)

On the season 14 finale, it's the return of G&G Film Club!  Em and Lindsay are joined by debut guest Peaches to discuss the 2017 film Signature Move. "Zaynab, a thirty-something Pakistani, Muslim, and lesbian woman living in Chicago, takes care of her TV-obsessed mother Parveen.  As Zaynab falls for Alma, a bold and very bright Mexican woman, she searches for her identity in life, love, and wrestling."

Harley, Em, Mayydayy, and Laz discuss the women of NXT Slammi--  sorry, TNA Slammiversary. It was the 23rd anniversary of TNA and every match save one featured former or current NXT superstars.  Jacy Jayne beat Masha Slamovich clean to capture the Knockouts Championship.  The tag titles were relegated to the pre-show.  And Indi Hartwell picked up a win over someone the crowd loudly believed to be racist.  What does all it mean?  We've got six letters for ya - lol TNA.

Harley and Meg talk the women's action from All In: Texas including a match of the year candidate from Toni Storm and Mercedes Moné, Athena winning the casino gauntlet, the debut of Syuri, the returns of Harley Cameron and Alex Windsor, and where we go from here. Up next: Forbidden Door in August in London with Meg in the building, then All Out in September in Toronto with Harley in the building.

As we cross the halfway point for 2025, Em, Lindsay, Laz, and Don tap into their inner clairvoyants to make a series of predictions as to what the state of women's wrestling could look like over the next six months.

On the 300th episode of Grit & Glitter, it's Glitterati origin stories. Harley, Em, Mayydayy, Val Pancakes, Don, Lindsay, Meg, and Laz share how they became wrestling fans, how they got into making podcasts and zines and art and wrestling championships, early favorites, current faves, and what being a part of this team has meant to them. Plus: the premiere of the top secret new Grit & Glitter theme song!!

After three long years, it's the return of The Newly-Tagged Game, our game show where tag teams compete to see which duo knows each other the best! Harley & Em host as Rosie Fingers & Jess Reina Casablanca take on the Stoner Brothers.  They're quizzed on food gimmicks, entrance music, road trips, cartoons, and more.  Rosie & Jess think they'll get 7.  Twins Rick Scott & Scott Rick think they're going to get every single question correct.  But that can't possibly happen.  Can it...?

Em, Val Pancakes, and Mayydayy are joined by special guest Toddy Tondera to book the BIGGEST GAYEST WRESTLING SHOW EVER! They each take turns booking a dream match, a "wildcard" segment, and three wrestlers for the Big Gay Rumble (or "Grumble").  With money no object and time and space no concern, find out which LGBTQIA+ icons were enlisted. Then, share some of your own ideas by finding Grit & Glitter on Instagram, BlueSky or dropping us an email to gritglitterpodcast@gmail.com

Pride 2025 continues as Don welcomes Full Queer Tag Team Champions C.R.E.E.P.S. - Irving West & Andey Ripley! They talk how their team came to be, starting out in Georgia, and some of the people that have helped them along the way, as well as their move to Pittsburgh, all the great queer tag teams in the area, and constantly learning and trying to be the best tag team they can be.