FINALLY, after weeks (months?), RAW puts out a decent episode as we head into this weekend’s SummerSlam. Multiple surprises, a fresh voice on commentary (Renee deserves a ‘please come back’ chant), and plenty of filler that didn’t come across as a labor to get through. Dig it.

SmackDown, meanwhile, sort of treaded water, but it was fun enough.

This weekend is jam packed with big time matches, from NXT to the main card. We got together again with our pals from Mat Mania Podcast to break it all down…

Featuring: ‘Super Jew’ Jared (@SuperJew75), ‘The Mayor of Reseda’ Derek (@cap_kaveman), and Joshua Schlag (@thesteelcage / @schlizzag).

…and the Mat Mania Podcast (@MatManiaPodcast) Crew: Teek Hall (@Teek_Hall), Roknowledge (@Roknowledge), and NeoEcks (@theneoecks)!

Music by The Black Furies, courtesy of Music Alley.

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Joshua Schlag

For most of the last 30+ years of my life, I've been watching WWE. As a kid, Monday Night Raw hooked me from the start. From Bret Hart and Razor Ramon, to Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock, to CM Punk and Daniel Bryan.. I've witnessed the ups and downs and I'm proud to have enjoyed pro wrestling through the years.

Though I now watch in a much different fashion than I did when I was a kid (finding out Vince McMahon was the owner and Jack Tunney no more than a figurehead was like finding out Santa Claus did not exist), I feel like I have a much greater appreciation for the hard work pro wrestlers do and the things they sacrifice to entertain us.

It's still real to me, dammit!