Awesome Truth: A Wrestling Book Club Steve Cimino and Walt Schwenk

April is usually the quietest month on the wrestling calendar, but not on Awesome Truth! Instead of digging through the archives to find the 'best' ho-hum Backlash match, we're watching a legendary showdown from Extreme Rules 2012: John Cena versus the returning Brock Lesnar. It's the rare semi-recent Lesnar match that doesn't feel like one of his fast-paced MMA-style bouts; instead, these two beefy boys beat the heck out of each other for nearly 18 minutes. Join us as we revisit a classic.

Awesome Truth's Road to WrestleMania finally stops here; we're departing from our usual format to recap the 2-night spectacular, especially the showdown between Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes. Did it live it up to the hype? Was it too much Rock or (surprisingly) too little? And what's next for Triple H and WWE now that the Bloodline story is at least on pause? Join us as we discuss WrestleMania 40 in detail.

The last stop on Awesome Truth's Road to WrestleMania is all about the Tribal Chief himself, Roman Reigns. His episode of WWE Evil examines the life of the real Joe Anoa'i, including the recent bout with leukemia that led to time away from wrestling and his eventual return as sports entertainment's biggest heel. But is this half-kayfabe, half-reality docuseries the best way to tell Roman's story? And is WrestleMania 40 going to be the apex of Roman's career and ultimately the end of his incredible run on top? Join us as we discuss The Big Dog.

Our next stop on the road to WrestleMania 40 is yet another look at the rise of Cody Rhodes, namely his showdown with Seth Rollins at Hell in a Cell 2022. You may know this as "the one with Cody's fully torn pectoral muscle," but it's also a match that Walt and Steve have never seen. Does it live up to the 5-star hype? Is it an integral part of Cody's still-forming WWE legacy? Join us and find out.

Cody Rhodes is about to main event two WrestleManias in a row, and his return to WWE from AEW has been about the biggest success story one could imagine. So it's no surprise that, in summer 2023, they released a documentary about his life in and around pro wrestling. But how does that doc hold up in the midst of this build to a Roman Reigns rematch and the likely involvement of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson? Join us as we dissect American Nightmare: Becoming Cody Rhodes as we continue down the road to WrestleMania 40.

As Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson threatens a return to the ring and a leap into the WrestleMania main event picture, we felt we owed it to our fans to revisit the last time he had a true wrestling match. That's right, we're watching along with John Cena versus The Rock at WrestleMania 29, a show we actually attended in person. How did Rock look in the squared circle 11 years ago? And what do we think he'll look like now, at age 51? Join us as we talk over this finisher-heavy Mania showdown.