Hard Times Podcast
53 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 4 years ago - ★★★★★ - 20 ratingsA somewhat irregular discussion of professional wrestling, hosted by Elle Collins and Megan Nielsen
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Episodes
SummerSlam, All Out, 2 NXTs, and Sasha's Wig Reveal
September 14, 2019 05:00 - 1 hour - 157 MBMegan and Elle catch up with the end of the Summer, featuring Candice LeRae vs Io Shirai at NXT TakeOver Toronto, SummerSlam, Tyler Bate vs Walter at NXT UK TakeOver Cardiff, All Out, Longhorn Steakhouse, Sasha and Bayley’s heel turn, and more!
All Elite Wrestling, Listener Questions, and More!
August 17, 2019 19:12 - 2 hours - 124 MBThis episode was recorded a while ago, so we don’t cover SummerSlam, but we’ve got plenty to say about AEW’s last two shows, plus we answer a bunch of listener questions!
AEW Double Or Nothing (and a little bit of Money in the Bank 2019)
May 31, 2019 06:18 - 123 MBHard Times has been resurrected by the power of All Elite Wrestling’s Double Or Nothing PPV! But before diving headfirst into that, Elle and Megan spend a few minutes talking about the women’s events at Money in the Bank.
Elimination Chamber 2019, featuring Lauren Moran
February 24, 2019 00:54 - 1 hour - 152 MBWe’re welcoming back our friend Lauren Moran, the artist behind the famously bloody “The Man” T-shirt, to talk about Elimination Chamber, and everything else that’s been going on lately.
NXT TakeOver Phoenix and the 2019 Royal Rumble
February 07, 2019 03:38 - 2 hours - 117 MBWe’re back with our first long meaty regular episode in a long time! TakeOver Phoenix, the Royal Rumble, a woman in the men's rumble, the Man in the women's rumble, the problem with men in general, Women of Wrestling, and more!
Impact Homecoming, featuring Stella Cheeks and Erin Cline from Not Your Demographic
January 08, 2019 00:49 - 58 minutes - 79.8 MBLive to tape from inside a car in the parking lot of The Impact Asylum in Nashville Tennessee, Elle and Megan are joined by Stella Cheeks and Erin Cline, co-hosts of our sister podcast Not Your Demographic. Anything we lack in sound quality (we really did record in a car), we make up for in enthusiasm (we really had just watched the show live).
A Little TLC From The Road
January 04, 2019 04:13 - 49 minutes - 68.6 MBLet’s have a quick discussion about WWE TLC on our way to see Impact Homecoming!
Survivor Series 2018 and TakeOver WarGames
December 06, 2018 05:22 - 1 hour - 124 MBIn which we discuss Survivor Series, WarGames, Total Divas, our exciting January plans, and of course, The Man. Plus Elle’s controversial picks for the hottest wrestlers of the ‘80s.
Evolution and Everything After
November 10, 2018 17:07 - 1 hour - 79.6 MBLet’s talk about WWE Evolution, and some of the other weird stuff that’s going on in wrestling lately.
Fantasy Booking Special (Plus Total Divas!)
October 19, 2018 20:07 - 1 hour - 91 MBAfter months of various troubles, we’re back with our long-promised fantasy booking based on the draft we did back in July! Plus, we talk about Total Divas!
Extreme Rules 2018 and Slammiversary XVI
July 28, 2018 00:14 - 1 hour - 100 MBIt's time to talk about Extreme Rules, an oddly paced show with some weird finishes, and Slammiversary XVI, a show that was just about perfect. Along the way we also talk about Miz and Mrs, WWE Evolution, and more.
The Hard Times Fantasy Draft, plus GLOW
July 14, 2018 06:11 - 1 hour - 57.7 MBIn addition to talking about RAW, SmackDown, GLOW, and the Mae Young Classic, we draft our own WWE rosters, just for fun. Next time, we'll book them! If you listen, it all makes sense (probably).
NXT Chicago II and Money in the Bank 2018
June 30, 2018 04:52 - 2 hours - 115 MBChicago street fights, ladders and briefcases, the two gayest matches of the year, undead bridesmaids, murder in the woods, and of course Sasha and Bayley.
Backlash 2018 and an Intro to Impact Wrestling with Stella Cheeks
May 12, 2018 13:22 - 2 hours - 80.8 MBA double episode, which means twice as much Hard Times as usual! Elle and Megan talk about the series of poor decisions that was Backlash, plus Elle and Stella Cheeks of Not Your Demographic talk about Impact Wrestling, which Elle just started watching and Stella's been watching for years. Also wrestling crushes, a new opening theme, and more! Support the show on Patreon! Follow Megan, Elle, and the show on Twitter. Listen on iTunes.
NXT TakeOver New Orleans and WrestleMania 34
April 13, 2018 23:28 - 2 hours - 112 MBIt's WrestleMania! And also TakeOver! Two hours of Elle and Megan's thoughts and feelings about ten hours of wrestling! Plus some thoughts about Raw, but SmackDown hadn't happened yet when we recorded!
Elimination Chamber and Fastlane 2018
March 22, 2018 06:10 - 2 hours - 114 MBElimination Chamber! Fastlane! The last two split-roster PPVs (at least for a while)! Also, Kimbler Lee! Ultimate Deletion! Mixed Match Challenge! Elle's birthday! (nothing about Daniel Bryan, because the news literally broke five minutes after we finished recording)
Takeover Philadelphia and Royal Rumble 2018
February 02, 2018 05:14 - 2 hours - 111 MBWe have plenty to say about Takeover Philly and the Royal Rumble. Promising up-and-comers, returning legends, and invading MMA fighters.
Hard Times Together
January 19, 2018 04:31 - 2 hours - 113 MBWe've returned for 2018! WarGames, Survivor Series, Clash of Champions, Wrestle Kingdom, and Total Divas! Promises we'll hopefully keep! Paige and Absolution and Riott Squad and more!
TLC etc
October 28, 2017 11:50 - 1 hour - 90.8 MBWe're back! We talk about TLC at length, plus stuff we missed during our hiatus: Hell in a Cell, Sami's heel turn, the return of the Shield, why Elle stopped watching Total Bellas, and more!
The Mae Young Classic
September 15, 2017 22:54 - 1 hour - 78 MBThe Mae Young Classic has come and gone, and you know we're never going to run out of things to say about women's wrestling! All our favorite matches, the wrestlers who won us over (plus the ones we already loved), a complete discussion of the last three rounds, plus the usual "but is WWE bad actually?" segment. And then Total Bellas!
Takeover Brooklyn III and Summerslam 2017
August 31, 2017 21:53 - 1 hour - 83.1 MBWe finally found the time to talk about Summerslam and the show that always surpasses it, NXT Brooklyn! Great tag team matches! Excellent women's matches with questionable booking! Men's title matches of varying quality! Large men with beards!
Wrestling is Happiness
August 09, 2017 22:28 - 1 hour - 77.9 MBRather than talk about Battleground, we decided to put together a list of wrestling and wrestling-related videos that make us happy when we're feeling blue, and share that happiness with you the listeners. Check the website for the complete list and links to stuff you can watch online.
Balls
July 20, 2017 18:27 - 1 hour - 65.2 MBIt's time to talk about the PPV with the most ridiculous name, in which Dean Ambrose fights the Miz for the 400th time, Roman does his best to murder Braun, and Brock falls in love with Samoa Joe. We also talk about the Mae Young Classic, but this was recorded last week so we didn't know anything yet, including how to pronounce Princesa Sugehit.
Money in the Bank 2017, its aftermath, and GLOW
June 29, 2017 22:36 - 1 hour - 70.5 MBElle and Megan talk about Money in the Bank, the whole big mess that grew out of Money in the Bank, and why it's time for Ellsworth to leave. After that, we talk about GLOW on Netflix and how much we love it and everyone involved with it.
Extreme Rules 2017
June 10, 2017 06:33 - 1 hour - 74.3 MBExtreme Rules isn't very extreme, which leaves us some time to speculate about Money in the Bank. And of course we have some thoughts about the recent Bayley discourse.
Takeover Chicago and Backlash 2017
May 26, 2017 05:54 - 2 hours - 111 MBNXT Takeover Chicago (it was amazing!), Backlash (it had its moments!), the season finale of Total Divas (it had Mr. Belding!), plus the long-awaited return of Wrestle Crush of the Month.
Payback 2017
May 18, 2017 05:35 - 1 hour - 80.1 MBWe recorded this two weeks ago, so it's a little dated now (the Total Divas season hadn't ended and Birdie Bella Bryan had yet to enter the world), but better late than never, right? Anyway, we both liked Payback a lot.
Chikara: The Renaissance Dawns and Total Divas
April 28, 2017 23:37 - 1 hour - 87 MBContinuing our glacially-paced series of bonus episodes, we're discussing the very first Chikara show, The Renaissance Dawns. In which everyone is so young that Ultramantis is wearing red and Colt Cabana isn't even funny. Then we spend almost as long talking about recent episodes of Total Divas, because how could we not? The Chikara discussion is hopefully interesting even if you haven't seen the show, but if you want to skip ahead, the Total Divas convo begins at 01:02:50.
NXT Takeover Orlando with Stella Cheeks and Erin Cline
April 06, 2017 21:06 - 1 hour - 73.8 MBStella Cheeks and Erin Cline from Not Your Demographic team up with Elle and Megan to cover the year's biggest weekend of wrestling! You can hear us talk about the Hall of Fame ceremony and NXT Takeover Orlando on this show, and then we're moving over to Not Your Demo to discuss WrestleMania itself. If you're not already a subscriber to their show, now's a great time.
Fully Loaded 2000
March 17, 2017 05:45 - 1 hour - 102 MBFor another donor-requested bonus episode, we're going back for the first time to the Attitude Era to talk about Fully Loaded 2000! Lita's style, Edge's face, Undertaker's motorcycle, and a complete lack of discernible babyfaces!
Fastlane and Trying to Get the Taste of Fastlane Out of Our Mouths
March 10, 2017 05:28 - 1 hour - 94.9 MBShocking revelations about why there was no Elimination Chamber episode, Fastlane just about makes us give up on positivity, Megan went to a Chikara show, and more!
NXT Takeover San Antonio and Royal Rumble 2017
February 04, 2017 03:20 - 1 hour - 76.4 MBWe run through the cards of Takeover and the Royal Rumble, and discuss Peyton and Billie's relationship, Seth Rollins' injury, why the Rumble needs surprised, and more.
WWE UK Tournament/Chikara Season Finale
January 26, 2017 07:07 - 2 hours - 112 MBMegan and Elle spend a little time talking about the WWE UK Tournament from a couple weeks back, and a lot of time talking about the Chikara Finale from December. Plus a long digression about intergender wrestling, and plenty of other stuff along the way.
The Best (or at least Our Favorites) of 2016
January 14, 2017 23:35 - 1 hour - 95.3 MBIt's a new year, and Hard Times is a year old! So we figured it makes sense to talk about our favorite people and events from the year in wrestling that just ended. Plus some discussion about indie stars arriving in WWE, the resurgence of relationship angles, and more.
Starrcade 1985: The Gathering
December 17, 2016 03:35 - 1 hour - 81 MBIn the first full length bonus episode requested in our King of Trios fundraiser, we discuss the show that followed the promo that gave our podcast its title. Dusty Rhodes shows Ric Flair what hard times really are, Magnum T.A. and Tully Blanchard are hardcore as hell, and the Atlanta Street Fight is bananas. CONTENT WARNING: Wrestling was an even nastier business in 1985 than it is today. Consequently this podcast contains (mostly brief) discussions of bloody violence, racism, domestic abu...
Tables, Ladders, and Chairs 2016
December 13, 2016 06:16 - 1 hour - 79.9 MBIt's time to talk about TLC, the show where most of the matches are between people who've fought several times before, but this time they fall off of stuff and hit each other with things. All this and Total Divas too.
Takeover Toronto and Survivor Series with Steve Orlando
December 04, 2016 23:33 - 3 hours - 91.6 MBIt took us a while to get an episode together about the Thanksgiving week shows, but we've made up for it with a double-length episode featuring special guest Steve Orlando. Over the course of just over three hours, we talk about NXT Takeover Toronto, Survivor Series, and a million other things, most of which are wrestling-related.
Thanksgiving Week Mini-Episode
November 22, 2016 04:54 - 1 hour - 65.2 MBWe're not covering Survivor Series and Takeover until next week, so this week we're answering some questions from GoFundMe supporters and talking about Total Divas. Also there's holiday travel going on so things are a little askew and Elle is juggling more pets than usual.
Hell in a Cell 2016
November 03, 2016 03:36 - 1 hour - 88.7 MBMegan and Elle are back to talk at length about Hell in a Cell, the RAW women's division, Chikara and more.
Clash of Champions & No Mercy
October 14, 2016 01:48 - 1 hour - 106 MBIt's been a while! So we talk about Clash of Champions, No Mercy, a Chikara show Megan went to, what's going on with Paige, and more.
Backlash 2016
September 15, 2016 03:51 - 1 hour - 83.7 MBPlenty to say about Backlash, and a bunch of other things too: The prestige of the Intercontinental Championship, indie wrestling feelings, queer people (and homophobes) in the WWE, and a quick primer on Appalachian geography.
Live from King of Trios 2016!
September 04, 2016 15:41 - 2 hours - 130 MBLive to tape from a hotel room in Bethlehem PA! It's our King of Trios special! Featuring guests Kieran Shiach, Helena Hart, Aidan Sullivan, and Chris Sims. We recorded on night two, so that's as far as our spoilers go. But we have a lot to say about Sendai Girls, Team Original Divas Revolution, Mustache Mountain, Missile Assault Man, Vlad Radinoff, Jigsaw, and lots more. Thoughts on our favorite matches and at least one that didn't work for us.
Summerslam 2016 and NXT Takeover Brooklyn with Ashly (aka NewAgeAmazon)
August 27, 2016 16:45 - 2 hours - 130 MBAshly (you may know her better as @NewAgeAmazon) is our special guest as we discuss Summerslam, Takeover Brooklyn II, Talking Smack, Holy Foley, Ashly's extremely brief in-ring career, and a bunch of other stuff. And then at the very end we discover how impossible it is to remember the name "Backlash."
Bonus: A King of Trios Pitch, plus the Cruiserweight Classic and the New Era
August 08, 2016 01:20 - 50 minutes - 45.9 MBSurprise! It's a bonus episode, in which we talk about Sasha becoming Champion, everything else going on with the brand split, the whole first round of the Cruiserweight classic, and in which we announce our first ever fundraiser!
Battleground 2016
July 26, 2016 19:30 - 1 hour - 97.9 MBWe both enjoyed Battleground, but that doesn't mean there aren't some things to pick apart along the way. Plus the brand split, Cruiserweight Classic, gas masks, indie wrestling, the return of Daniel Bryan, and why John Cena identifies with Enzo Amore.
Money in the Bank 2016 and More (with Lauren Moran)
June 28, 2016 04:12 - 1 hour - 108 MBIn which we have our first ever guest, the delightful Lauren Moran. The three of us discuss NXT Takeover: The End, Money in the Bank, Adorable Trash Possum World Heavyweight Champions, the upcoming Brand Split, Elle's movie pitch, Joshi werewolves and more. There's some audio issues toward the end, unfortunately. Just when we were starting to work them out, we had to jump into recording three people in three corners of the continent.
Extreme Rules 2016
May 26, 2016 07:40 - 1 hour - 64.6 MBExtreme Rules! No DQs! Asylum Match! Submission Match! Best Fatal Fourway Ever! The Nature Girl Dana Brook! The Architect Returns! Also Elle reads a book, and we're both totally wrong about what's going on with Apollo and Jericho on RAW. Oh well! Follow Megan, Elle, and the show on Twitter. Listen on iTunes.
Payback 2016
May 05, 2016 00:16 - 1 hour - 55.7 MBPayback has come and gone. Megan and Elle worried a lot about Enzo, enjoyed the hell out of the mid-card matches, and got pretty frustrated with how far the women's division has fallen since Mania. Plus an indie match that's all about candy.
Wrestlemania 32 and NXT Takeover Dallas
April 06, 2016 04:08 - 1 hour - 95 MBWrestlemania weekend has come and gone, and Elle and Megan are left with feelings. Feelings about the Women's Championship belt, feelings about Shinsuke Nakamura, feelings about Dean Ambrose and Bayley and Charlotte and Sasha and oh man, the feelings about Stephanie McMahon. Not many feelings about the Hell in a Cell match or the main event, though. Weird.
Pre-Mania Indie Wrestling Bonus Episode
March 26, 2016 00:51 - 43 minutes - 39.9 MBElle went to three live indie shows in two days! Elle talks a lot about Chikara and Queens of Combat, Megan talks a bit about indie wrestling in Alaska, and we both talk about where else you can hear us on this exciting road to Wrestlemania.