WEBVTT

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It's the lapsed fan wrestling podcast with
Jack and crn SEO and JP Sorrows the

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lapsed fans get all my years rustling, I never seen anything like it,

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and it's the laps fan name by
the one in the ring to get about

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the slatter with the real King of
swing. When the bell goes in,

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then kick like me throne in the
corner of a splash like stay even Jerry

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King can take off the clown nodding
his head like hiss d low brown which

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you get low down, go even
high up, flip you on your head.

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But you know, coul Driver,
you speaking more knowledge and dragon spits

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fire keep you more shocked than my
head. Tree tires drop a more truth

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than the cond of sniper less you
with a coconut, Roddy Piper checking jpe

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be like j y D drop the
cupcakes and golden the brain, by means

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the best podcast fun start to close. Rind if y'all a pose spent a

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lot of time Boss in twenty twenty
three talking about origin stories. Didn't we

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yes we did not the origins of
Hulk Hogan, but the you know the

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oranges pardon the pun oranges on the
fur Freudland slip. Yeah, but the

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origins of the modern Hulk Hogan that
only tier Ah you can trisually give us

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a window into and continues to um. The fumes continue to pollute the air,

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and I think it's time. I
think it's time. As we enter

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the summer here, we're smacked out
in the middle of the summer. As

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a matter of fact, by the
time we got to it. It's time

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to look at a new origin story. It's time to move past the journey.

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It's time to start to explore how
other things that define our wrestling fanhood

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came to be. It's time,
yes, to look at the very first

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Royal Rumble thoughts. Uh okay,
I got a lot of thoughts. I

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got a lot of thoughts. And
of course by the very first, we

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mean the first televised one. Yes, because this is the thirty at the

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anniversary. Let's not forget that this
is the thirty fifth anniversary, and we

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probably would have done in January had
it not been for teenage. So um,

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okay, number one, hold on, I'm gonna have this ready.

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Number one. When did you first
know about this Royal Rumble? That is

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a great question. Um, late
nineties I knew in nineteen ninety two,

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that's correct. And why did you
know in nineteen ninety two, even though

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because of WWE Wrestling the official book, motherfucker, So no other place,

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no other place at that time.
I mean, you got to think about

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this, Okay, nobody ever mentioned
the nineteen eighty eight Royal Rumble. I

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don't know why they didn't, but
they never did until until the nineties,

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right when they started talking about it
being you know, blah blah. But

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in ww Wrestling the book it says
this, and I remember, I'm I'm

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like a twelve, eleven, twelve
year old kid, Okay, eleven year

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old kid reading this all right,
and I'm reading this cover to cover eleven

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twelve year old kid, You're already
a massive fan of the Rumble. Yeah,

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yoh, hugh, Yes, yes, yes, I'd only known about

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it since December of ninety one,
but I had already watched all of them

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by this point, easily again my
favorite pay per view. So I go,

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I flipped through the pages and I'm
reading all of them. They have

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a whole section on the first seven
WrestleManias and then it says then it comes

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to a section called get to Grips
with the WWE, and it's basically covering

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the other shows that they do during
during the year. The Big Four first

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one, it's a Royal Rumble and
says this right at the beginning, starting

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in January nineteen eighty eight, I
was like, what what are you talking?

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One eighty eight? It makes no
sense. I thought it was a

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typo. It continues. The WWE's
Royal Rumble is a unique event in wrestling.

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It's highlight is a thirty man Battle
Royal. Wrestlers are eliminated by being

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ousted from the ring over the top
rope. The last man in the ring

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is the winner. Given that it
is every man for himself, there are

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no friends or allies in the Royal
Rumbles. Battle Royal, even tag team

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partners have gone on one another.
What makes this Battle Royal different, however,

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is that wrestlers enter the ring by
the luck of the draw. They

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draw numbers by chams. Numbers one
and two enter the ring first. Every

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two minutes after that, another wrestler
enters until the man who drew number thirty

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is the last man to join the
fray. This means that wrestlers who draw

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high numbers will be fresher than those
who entered earlier. And that's its first

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paragraph. And I'm like, okay, so obviously it wasn't TYPEO what they

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meant to say. It was January
nineteen eighty nine. I get it,

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no problem. Well, how did
you form your reception that nine was the

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first rumble because that's the only that's
the last video cassette. Then every went

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further further in time, so you
could find eighty nine Rumble at your local

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videos store. Oh yeah, I
couldn't want to find the eighty nine rumble,

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one of them. I could find. I found it in one place.

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So to me, the ninety rumble
was the first one in my head.

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How holy shit? Hold on though, this is where this is where

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I my mind was blown. The
winner of the first Royal Rumble Battle Royal

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on cable television but not yet on
pay per view, was Hack saw Jim

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doing. I went through twenty third. By the way, they're only twenty

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fucking people in that role the first
rumble, So that's a big, big

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mess. But I'm like, I
saw that and all of a sudden my

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mind was blown. There is a
missing Royal Rumble. Oh my god,

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there is a missing rumble, and
so it took me. M h,

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hold on, are you there something
weird just happened? Okay, something weird

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to hear that. I don't know
what the brother, brother, what the

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brother? I guess it isn't over, um, I guess not. It

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took until you and I were in
college, and I got that when I

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were in college and I got that
that video off eBay, that video you

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and I watched, Remember that you
and I watched? Remember that sort of

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yeah, okay, it was a
home video. Someone taped it off TV

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and taped it off and you and
I watched it up in uh up in

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seabrook up in seok Wow, wow, wow. Summer we watched them that

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summer. Well, we also watched
the Real Sports with Roddy Piper thing.

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It's remember And what was mind blowing
to us? What was about the video

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tape that we were watching? The
video tape that was that it was was

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that the commercials were all in New
England commercials. The commercials were so someone

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commercials from New England and taped this
show and happened and I bought this tape

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from that ridiculous and I bought this
tape. Do you still have the vhs

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I do. I was. I
was tempted to use it as my source

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to get them, but it's the
quality so bad. But I keep it

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as a mentality of sorts that I
keep it at the memento. Yeah.

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Yeah, so that's yeah, that's
number one when I think of that.

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Number two when I think of is
the worst match on this show is better

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than anything we've been watching in tenah
been watching like I just was, I

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get warm and fuzzies watching the fucking
Islanders versus Jim Powers and and Paul Roma

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for Foxers and and Paul Roma for
fox sake. Yeah, that's saying something

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I did not. I was just
I was just like feeling it, just

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like this is it. This is
the good stuff. It was like,

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this is it? This is the
good stuff. Yeah, it's detail totally.

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I mean, it's wrestling when people
showed up hoping their favorites one and

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their at least favorites lost, and
that was the beginning and the end of

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it. And it's not, you
know, a hugely well regarded show historically,

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because the fact of the matter is, WWF had no big plans for

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this event, no conception that this
would be an annual spectacular. Certainly no

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conception that this would be number two
on the pay per view calendar after WrestleMania.

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This show was put together because they
wanted to fuck with Crockett and the

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bunk House Stampede, and because USA
after the Slammy's, had an appetite for

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more live style specials that weren't just
you know, pre taped primetime wrestling and

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so cy and they got the Rumble, and it was already a date booked

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for Hamilton, Ontario on the calendar
for a standard era house show. It

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wasn't something that they set up.
Has come out and see this brand new

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concept, the Royal Rumble. As
far as I can tell, most of

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the early tickets of BOO for this
thing where people that didn't necessarily know about

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the Royal Rumble or expected just that
WWS is coming through time that they were

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red hot coming off WrestleMania three,
of course, especially of course around Toronto,

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which is a market adjacent to Detroit, where WrestleMania took place and where

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Summer Slam is going to sell out
Ford Field again for twenty twenty three,

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all these years later. But the
rumble was, yeah, I mean,

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you're gonna talk about it. I
know you are, But it wasn't.

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Wasn't the rumble the rumble idea?
I mean it was. I mean,

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you know it's Pat Patterson's correct,
But but wasn't didn't they do a test

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or something that just totally bombed?
Yes, it failed to inspire. Let's

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put it that way. Ye.
The very first Royal Rumble was actually October

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fourth, nineteen eighty seven, at
the Keel Auditorium in Saint Louis. It's

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a house show. It was a
twelve man rumble and the One Man Gang

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won the match after eliminating j y
D. Is there a tape of that?

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No, I defy it, putting
the solar system to find it.

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I mean, I mean not.
I mean, is it one of those

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that's in the vault and we can
I don't know. Inasmuch as they ran

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tape for all their house shows back
then. You gotta remember this is the

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ABC towns. These are the days, the whole cog and Salad days where

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you ran three, sometimes four cities
on the same night. You split your

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crew up all different ways. In
fact, a lot of the key play

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years like Randy Savage, Demolition and
others aren't even in Hamilton's for this,

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because, like I said, this
was just part of the Canadian loop that

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they had already had on the schedule, with no plans for one of these

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to be a live television special or
anything like that. So the wrestlers they

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had available, of the wrestlers they
had available, a lot of key players

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aren't even in the Rumble. Think
about wee Randy Savage is about to go

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at WrestleMania four in nineteen eighty eight, and he's nowhere to be found on

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the Rumble broadcast. I think if
they had a little more you know,

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leeway, a little more round foresight
on what was going to happen, that

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would have been taken care of.
So my point is if they did begin

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to make it a habit to run, you know, handheld cameras or whatever

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the case might be for all their
house shows going forward, I don't think

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it would have started as early as
nineteen eighty eight because that's a whole lot

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of tape, that's a whole lot
of shows, and they weren't really of

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the television mindset yet. Of course, when it came time to produce a

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Saturday night's main event under the watchful
Eye of Dick Ebersol, which as we

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know started at nineteen eighty five.
Yeah, their game got up, but

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that was sort of like you know, third parties, Dick Ebersolt, NBC

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other people helping them really dress something
up for a television spectacular or Other than

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that, they were still pretty much, you know, a big marathon five

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hour television taping promotion. Still based
mainly around house shows, still based mainly

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around garden shows, Philly Spectrum shows, Boston garden shows of course, Maddison

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Square, Maple Leaf Gardens, and
all the other major arenas that they had

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managed to penetrate, and many of
them challenged Jim Crockett and run Bill Watts

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out of business in, run Fritz
bon Eric out of business in, run

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vern Ganya out of business in.
But they're still a live arena business first

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and foremost. That's what they show
up to do. And it's interesting here

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Bruce Pritchard on his podcast talk about
the conception for this show because he had

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come in in eighty seven and was
a key part of putting this together.

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And you know, the original card
was just a house showcard. It was

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just going to be put on television
because USA network had needs, and they

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saw a opportunity to once again crowd
out Jim Crockett on a pay per view

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effort, the bunk House Stampede at
the Nassau Coliseum in Long Island. Of

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course, a little too close to
roll WWFHQ to not be fucked with,

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thank you very much. But this
is that time period where Crockett and Dusty

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thought out, you know, we're
still they still had their gander up,

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They still thought they could fight,
They still thought they had a chance.

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They still thought there was any other
way it could end besides Vince pissing in

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their face and making them work for
him. Of course, that they were

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starting to push into you know,
WWF stronghold cities and start to try to

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do big two doos. They had
their first pay per view, of course,

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Starcade eighty seven. But as we've
chronicled on the Memorial Tour and other

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forums, I was not only countered
by the Survivor Series Thanksgiving, but it

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was also basically crowded out of almost
every major market in the country by Vince

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McMahon, who, coming off WrestleMania
three, had an ultimatum for folks.

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He said, you know what if
you carry Starcade nineteen eighty seven, you're

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not gonna get WrestleMania four. And
that's after tasting that sweet nectar of WrestleMania

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three. That's a problem with that. I don't, that's just that's just

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a good business practice. I practice
good business. So it was, you

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know, not a match that didn't
It was a match that did not evoke

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a strong enough response when it was
tried in Saint Louis that Vince mc dan

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had confidence that they should do it
again, or that they should do anything

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further with it. Of course,
the Battle Royal is in the annual tradition

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in just about every you know,
pre WWF national expansion territory. There was

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in particular in San Francisco, which
of course is where Pat Patterson truly cut

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his teeth working under roy Shire in
San Francisco, and the Battle Royal in

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January he was one of the big
annual attractions for you know, a big

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purse. It was like everyone puts
money in and the winner wins all the

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money. And usually they were like
twenty men rumbles Battle Royals, I should

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say. They used to do some
in Houston, Paul Bosh, where Bruce

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Pritchard cut his teeth. They used
to do twenty two man to ring twenty

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two thousand dollars ones. So you
had the Battle Royal that actually won that

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kind of money. Right now,
it was all work, right, total

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capeabe. Whereas you know, unlike
w Yeah, if the original rumbles,

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you pretty much just won for the
bragging rights of having said you won.

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The match. Wasn't really until ninety
three, right or ninety two was for

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the title, but at the first
time it was you know, the winner,

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the winner gets the title shot,
right, And now it doesn't even

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matter. That doesn't matter, right, I mean, you know, I

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kind of I kind of can't believe
we're there where it's like, you know,

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it's a big deal, but they
so rarely consummate right the you know

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what I mean, in the in
the way that you've been trained to think.

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The Royal Rumble is supposed to signal
a moment, and after a while,

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if you stopped giving it to people, they're kind of not going to

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take the rumble as seriously. They'll
sell the place out and they'll love the

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match and the unpredictability of it and
the creativity of it. But you're you're

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you're sacrificing something big. If nine
times out of ten the Rumble winner doesn't

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win the title at WrestleMania, hart
stop. I mean, let's look at

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this here. Okay, Cody didn't
win, Brock Brock didn't win, right

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Edge didn't win. What's the problem? What do you? I guess drew

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one? Uh, Seth well,
I didn't even know Seth Rollins won one?

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Did Seth Rowlands women? No?
Well, I guess no, he

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did that. I guess he did
in the opening match. But that doesn't

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even count in my opinion. Am
I lost because you can't if you're supposed

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to main event WrestleMania. Yep.
Knakama lost and by the way lost main

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event the main belt right, the
brand extension and the split, the draft

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split. It ruined a number on
the rumble. It did a number on

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the rumble, and it took years
to recover where it was like, all

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right, well, you know I
want you seriously, I'm gonna keep on

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going because little police, you'll be
my guest. Triple H lost, but

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he also won the title that night, but he still lost. WrestleMania,

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Roman Reigns lost, Batista lost,
John Cena one, and shamoosed one so

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like, dating back to twenty thirteen, ten years, Drew McIntyre is the

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only person to win the main event
of WrestleMania. Yes, Seth Rollins won

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his championship match the opening of WrestleMania
thirty five, But that's what I mean.

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That doesn't count Drew McIntyre in the
last ten years. In the last

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ten years, the Royal Rumbo winner
hasn't won the fucking match. And let's

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be honest, if it wasn't the
COVID WrestleMania, they'd have shown up to

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that Mania that year and tuck themselves
into Brock beating McIntyre. Of course,

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that's your fucking ass. Of course
that's disgraceful. I mean, it's just

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it's such a it's such an unnecessary
watering down of the match. Yea,

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in most years, you know,
Romans going through a rain now where yeah,

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I understand, let's you know,
you don't want to cut it short

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just because you want to protect the
significance of the rumbled match. But I

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don't know, for the past decade
plus, I feel like it's been twenty

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years since I've I feel like,
not since Ben waugh One or Batista one

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have I watched the Rumble and said, all right, that guy's going to

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be closing the show at Mania and
I can look forward to that. Yeah,

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Ray Masteria Ray didn't close the show
after the year after Batista. I

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don't think it didn't close the show. The Rumble is not a tool to

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get a lower card match boosted out
man. Sorry, John Cena didn't close

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the show. Randy Yorton did close
the show. Yep, but this is

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also John Cena. Also, let's
not forget in two thousand and eight he

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didn't actually go to WrestleMania with his
title shot. He decided to cash in

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it. No way out. Oh, for God's sae. Remember that?

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Remember when Alberto did he win or
did he want to win that? He

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he won the forty man and then
he won the forty man match of WrestleMania,

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just lost and he lost. I
mean, what the fuck? Guys?

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Shamus the next year, same thing
that he was. He won the

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Rumble in twenty twelve and then opened
and just destroyed h Daniel Bryan in two

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minutes two seconds rather two seconds.
So thirty five years later, they still

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haven't perfected it, that's for sure. Well, no, no, no,

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they had perfected it, they just
ruined it. Yeah, yeah,

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they had us. You know,
they had a very very predictable pattern where

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if they really wanted to make somebody, they could do it. And now

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they get cute every single time and
harm the rumble yep, um, especially

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when it's somebody like if you're gonna
put somebody over in the rumble who's had

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the belt before, it's less of
a big deal if they don't succeed at

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wrestling, right, But what if
somebody's card of like this is like the

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thing they've got to get. You
invested in somebody as a top guy and

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they don't consummate. It's like,
what did you waste that equity for?

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You know, I mean you look
at two thousand and one, But from

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from two thousand on here Rock one, Stone Cold one, Triple H one,

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brock Lesner one, Chris ben Wah
one, Batista one, and then

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Ray Mysterio started this fucking down,
right, that's right, then we go

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off the edge, yep, yep. Batista is the last one to really

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go up. I don't think any
of these other ones. Yeah, and

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that's just say we're not pining for
the nineties here, we're pining for like

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just way after the era. You
think we're nostalgia, we're pining. We're

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pining for the Rumble winner to actually
main event WrestleMania, right like they're supposed

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to anyway, even if it is, I'll tell you what, even if

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they are, if you decide you
are using the Rumble too to to to

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elevate a lower card match, you
fucking better put that in the main event.

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Absolutely, all right, that's just
the way it's got to be.

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Have some balls, exactly. But
I think you know, when we look

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back to nineteen eighty seven, it's
it's important to remind ourselves that this is

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not a creation that Vince mcmah as
ever lay claim to, as successful as

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00:20:02.559 --> 00:20:04.039
it's been, as much of a
lynch pin as it's been. This is

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something that you know, and we'll
hear from Pat Patterson in terms of the

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things he said and wrote about the
creation of the match, and he was

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still left wanting for the Rumble to
be a little more prestigious than Vin's ever

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00:20:15.839 --> 00:20:18.200
wanted it to be. Like we
said, the early Rumbles were just,

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you know, you won for the
honor of winning, with no particular stakes.

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The champion and Hogan winning, it's
like it doesn't go anywhere. It's

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just it's over that night, It's
over. They did use it, you

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00:20:26.160 --> 00:20:30.160
know, to build a Hogan Warrior
in nineteen ninety in terms of the mid

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00:20:30.200 --> 00:20:33.640
match face off. Sure, and
that's always been a wonderful part of the

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00:20:33.720 --> 00:20:37.079
Rumble as building storylines within the match
itself. But you know, ninety two

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00:20:37.119 --> 00:20:41.079
was epic, but they were sort
of forced into that position. They found

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themselves in a place where they didn't
quite know who to put the strap on.

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And the Rumble presented a solution to
the problem, just like the Rumble

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00:20:48.640 --> 00:20:52.279
nineteen eighty eight presented a solution to
a problem. And that we've got this

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00:20:52.039 --> 00:20:56.240
live television special time that USA Network
wants us to fail, and we don't

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00:20:56.240 --> 00:20:59.960
really have an idea with any oomph
that as we'll talk about Dick eber Saw

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00:21:00.119 --> 00:21:06.319
saw any excitement in particular excitement in
and so you know, Vince has never

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00:21:06.440 --> 00:21:11.400
really been It doesn't seem like as
gung ho as others have been about making

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00:21:11.440 --> 00:21:15.039
the Rumble mean more than just about
anything WW does every year. Right,

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00:21:15.799 --> 00:21:19.039
and the problem with the nineteen eighty
seven match, according to you know,

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00:21:19.079 --> 00:21:22.279
the lore of it and we'll get
a bit into what you know has been

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00:21:22.279 --> 00:21:26.880
said by participants and Patterson about this
rumble is that it was sort of like

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00:21:29.200 --> 00:21:33.839
communicated the idea of the match through
intermediaries. Pat Patterson wasn't at the Keel

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00:21:33.839 --> 00:21:37.680
Auditorium to direct the thing. Which
is a very important part of the rumble

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00:21:37.759 --> 00:21:41.160
is that someone shows up with the
full plan and vision. Who comes in,

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00:21:41.359 --> 00:21:44.640
when, who goes out, when, who interacts when? How the

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00:21:44.640 --> 00:21:48.839
actual mechanics work of who throws who
out? The nineteen eighty seven Rumble,

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00:21:48.359 --> 00:21:52.240
according to all accounts, had no
sort of countdown between entrance, which is

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00:21:52.640 --> 00:21:57.039
right the magic of the match,
Yeah, exactly. That innovation has been

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00:21:57.079 --> 00:22:00.680
credited to Dick Ebersol, who,
when hearing of the concept of the rumble,

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00:22:00.720 --> 00:22:04.920
thought it was perfect with television,
and in particular because he suggested adding

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00:22:04.920 --> 00:22:08.680
the countdown clock to the screen.
Wow, and not only that, adding

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00:22:08.680 --> 00:22:12.119
the countdown clock in the arena itself
so you can get the crowd as well

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00:22:12.319 --> 00:22:15.880
counting down. Think of the rumble
without that, Think of the rumble where

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00:22:15.880 --> 00:22:19.720
suddenly someone just runs out next right, And you've never seen it, You've

322
00:22:19.720 --> 00:22:22.720
never been excited by it before.
You didn't grow up in the Golden Age,

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00:22:22.759 --> 00:22:26.880
like we did. We're renting the
stuff on VHS was magic in terms

324
00:22:26.920 --> 00:22:32.000
of being your orientation to the Rumble
match and all the wrestlers that had introduced

325
00:22:32.000 --> 00:22:36.000
you. To think about if you've
never even heard of the Royal Rumble and

326
00:22:36.000 --> 00:22:37.839
you're sitting there in October fourth,
nineteen eighty seven in Saint Louis and like,

327
00:22:37.920 --> 00:22:41.519
these guys just keep running in the
ring. It just doesn't work.

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00:22:41.279 --> 00:22:45.559
There isn't the big long Howard Finkel
introduction and reading of the rules. All

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00:22:45.599 --> 00:22:49.359
those things happened because they found themselves
in need of an idea. And Vince

330
00:22:49.400 --> 00:22:55.079
turns to Patterson and says, picture
Rumble thing, because you know, obviously

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00:22:55.079 --> 00:22:59.519
we don't. We don't have enough
Jews to satisfy the TV experts that were

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00:22:59.519 --> 00:23:03.519
partnering with here to put this live
special on. But yeah, I mean,

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00:23:03.559 --> 00:23:10.480
if it exists on tape somewhere and
it hasn't been released, I mean

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00:23:10.519 --> 00:23:14.400
that to me, that's a first
degree felony. Someone needs to go to

335
00:23:14.480 --> 00:23:17.599
jail if this match exists on tape. And how I agree? I mean,

336
00:23:17.720 --> 00:23:26.119
Jesus, I'll talk about the ultimate
hidden gem honestly, So I invite

337
00:23:26.119 --> 00:23:30.279
you to take a look at this
boss. Okay, this is a print

338
00:23:30.319 --> 00:23:34.440
ad building that first twelve man Royal
Rumble in the newspaper at Keel. Look

339
00:23:34.440 --> 00:23:40.400
at it except except the time and
place it puts you in and read it

340
00:23:40.440 --> 00:23:47.160
for the people. We're rousting Entertainment
This Sunday, October fourth, thirty pm,

341
00:23:47.240 --> 00:23:52.039
Keel Auditorium. For the first time
in wrestling history, a twelve man

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00:23:52.119 --> 00:23:56.440
Royal Rumble Rumble starts with two men
in the ring. One is added every

343
00:23:56.440 --> 00:24:00.720
two minutes. Entrance are eliminated by
being thrown over the top rope. The

344
00:24:00.799 --> 00:24:06.279
lone survivor left in the ring is
the winner. Mister Wonderful Paul Orndorff versus

345
00:24:06.400 --> 00:24:11.359
Rick Rude plus a pose down decided
by the fans before the battle. Ricky

346
00:24:11.359 --> 00:24:15.559
Steamboat versus King Kong, Bundy One
Man Gang versus Junkyard Dog, Morocco versus

347
00:24:15.599 --> 00:24:23.160
Horton Hillbilly versus Volkoff, British Bulldogs
versus Demolition plus a Girl's World title match.

348
00:24:25.279 --> 00:24:30.960
Get tickets at Keel and all ticket
Now outlets, including Famous Bar Programs.

349
00:24:30.960 --> 00:24:34.039
Something to Change, Regis trademarket Titan
Sports Incorporated. Headshots there of Paul

350
00:24:34.160 --> 00:24:37.319
Orndorf, King Kong, Bundy and
Junkyard Dog. Imagine going to this show

351
00:24:38.480 --> 00:24:41.039
having no idea. I'll tell you
you know, if I saw that,

352
00:24:41.200 --> 00:24:45.079
I'd be like, I gotta go, I gotta go. I need to

353
00:24:45.119 --> 00:24:49.680
know what this is. And I
said that it was eventually promoted as the

354
00:24:49.759 --> 00:24:52.440
winner. I don't know if it's
promoted or just announced on the night.

355
00:24:52.440 --> 00:24:56.839
The winner of this Royal Rumble will
get a world title shot the next time

356
00:24:56.119 --> 00:25:00.240
WWF comes to the Keel Auditorium.
Wow. So the notion of the winner

357
00:25:00.279 --> 00:25:03.720
of the Rumble getting a title shot
dates all the way back to the very

358
00:25:03.759 --> 00:25:07.200
first one. But again just to
how show attraction or as I know,

359
00:25:07.319 --> 00:25:11.279
Narya Peep said on any WWF television
show about this, even in the syndicated

360
00:25:11.279 --> 00:25:15.359
shows in Saint Louis, I've never
heard of like, you know, a

361
00:25:15.400 --> 00:25:18.680
bumper or something where people are cutting
promos about this upcoming Royal Rumble thing.

362
00:25:18.680 --> 00:25:21.799
And you can tell by the way
they promote the nineteen eighty eight one and

363
00:25:21.839 --> 00:25:23.680
how they start shooting promos for it
that it's all kind of being cobbled together

364
00:25:25.119 --> 00:25:27.559
from this kind of loosely formed idea
that a few of the wrestlers and participants

365
00:25:27.559 --> 00:25:30.559
being asked to cut promos about it
have a firm grasp on. Yet it

366
00:25:30.599 --> 00:25:34.359
doesn't even seem like until people got
to the Cops Coliseum in Hamilton for this

367
00:25:34.519 --> 00:25:37.039
January twenty four, nineteen eighty eight
event, that they really even knew how

368
00:25:37.039 --> 00:25:41.920
the Royal Rumble worked. And there
was actually something approaching panic backstage among the

369
00:25:41.920 --> 00:25:45.240
wrestlers who aren't just able to go
out there and do their routine. There's

370
00:25:45.279 --> 00:25:47.720
a lot to suddenly think about to
get the Rumble right, and you're on

371
00:25:47.759 --> 00:25:52.079
live television, no less. So
it was quite a quite a deal.

372
00:25:52.880 --> 00:25:59.119
So go ahead, I said,
I'll say it is quite a deal.

373
00:26:00.160 --> 00:26:03.519
The full results, according to the
papers, um was hill Billy Jim over

374
00:26:03.640 --> 00:26:08.880
Nikolai Morocco over. Oh my god, I don't know what newspaper this is

375
00:26:08.920 --> 00:26:12.799
from. It says hill Billy Jim
over Nikolai Bolcoff with the b Yes,

376
00:26:12.839 --> 00:26:19.480
what's wrong on that? It says
Manif Morocco defeating cowboy Bob Gordon. Okay,

377
00:26:21.000 --> 00:26:22.599
again, I don't see the problem. The gang beats some dogs,

378
00:26:22.599 --> 00:26:26.079
so the game wins the Rumble and
he's wrestling a singles match. Earlier in

379
00:26:26.119 --> 00:26:29.240
the night. It's not like all
I would bet that all the guys who

380
00:26:29.319 --> 00:26:32.240
wrestled single matches were in the were
in the Rumble. Yeah, there's seven

381
00:26:32.359 --> 00:26:34.559
matches, so yeah, but the
seventh was a woman's match, so you

382
00:26:34.640 --> 00:26:38.359
got it. Brother all came back. Worndorff beat Rude Haynes who just come

383
00:26:38.400 --> 00:26:42.279
into the company. Haynes beat Davey
Boy, pardon me Haynes, and Davey

384
00:26:42.279 --> 00:26:48.480
Boy beat the demolition. It says
demolitions plural. Of course dynamite was unavailable.

385
00:26:48.559 --> 00:26:56.440
Are you for demolitions? And the
uh yeah, just these are you

386
00:26:56.440 --> 00:27:02.680
know, the wrestling types exactly.
Billy Haynes doing a double duty comes back

387
00:27:02.680 --> 00:27:06.240
to beat King Kong Bundy, and
then Sherry beats Velvet McIntyre before the Rumble

388
00:27:06.279 --> 00:27:08.759
match is won by Gang. Sound
have been a Hogan show? You know.

389
00:27:08.799 --> 00:27:12.279
It's there's like Sandwich isn't on this
It's like there's nothing here. Nah,

390
00:27:12.319 --> 00:27:15.079
it's just like, let's spice up
this house show. You know,

391
00:27:15.079 --> 00:27:18.200
in a major city and a major
arena for professional wrestling for sure. I

392
00:27:18.200 --> 00:27:22.920
mean we've the Colisseum Collection and another
venue is talked about how hard and a

393
00:27:22.960 --> 00:27:29.359
sort of concentrated Vinceus Push wasn't a
Saint Louis as this a venerable wrestling city

394
00:27:29.400 --> 00:27:32.160
with its you know, pretty much
the richest tradition of any city in the

395
00:27:32.160 --> 00:27:36.640
country due to being the you don't
you're talking about tradition. See you say

396
00:27:36.720 --> 00:27:41.920
tradition, and I see an appetizer
that's correct, and I'm gonna eat it.

397
00:27:41.880 --> 00:27:48.160
I'm gonna eat I'm gonna tell you
this, all right, comes when

398
00:27:48.200 --> 00:27:52.480
it comes to Keel Auditorium, I'm
gonna have a nice plate of Keel parmesan,

399
00:27:55.880 --> 00:28:02.960
a Keel lime pie or a Kiel
lime pie. All right, that's

400
00:28:02.960 --> 00:28:07.839
the way it's going to be,
and I'm According to Bruce Pritchard on his

401
00:28:07.920 --> 00:28:11.440
podcast, he said that a Chief
Jay Strongbow was the agent for this house

402
00:28:11.440 --> 00:28:15.079
show, this Royal Rumble in nineteen
eighty seven and just didn't get it and

403
00:28:15.119 --> 00:28:18.759
had trouble sort of communicating the vision
to the wrestlers and no clocker buzzer guys

404
00:28:18.839 --> 00:28:22.359
running in every so often. Crowd
didn't grasp what that was all about,

405
00:28:22.359 --> 00:28:23.680
what it was supposed to mean.
It didn't have a presentation to it,

406
00:28:25.480 --> 00:28:27.119
whereas on television, you know,
you can talk about who's coming up next,

407
00:28:27.160 --> 00:28:30.119
and the announcers can build the anticipation, they can sort of point you

408
00:28:30.200 --> 00:28:33.079
to what you're supposed to be looking
forward to. But if you're sitting there

409
00:28:33.079 --> 00:28:36.720
in the arena and you've never seen
it presented on television, it is very

410
00:28:36.720 --> 00:28:41.079
hard to understand what a royal rob
course. I mean again, if especially

411
00:28:41.119 --> 00:28:44.400
don'trom a countdown and yeah, we
talk a lot about this one, and

412
00:28:44.519 --> 00:28:45.319
like, you know, you said
it right off the top, people have

413
00:28:45.400 --> 00:28:49.640
this sort of vague notion that there
was a Royal Rumble before the nineteen eighty

414
00:28:49.680 --> 00:28:55.400
eight one and that it wasn't,
you know, terribly successful. I don't

415
00:28:55.400 --> 00:28:59.400
know though, if people know about
all of the other Royal rumbles that happened

416
00:28:59.559 --> 00:29:06.119
after, are you fucking kidding me? They essentially took the Rumble on the

417
00:29:06.200 --> 00:29:10.200
road after this USA Network special and
did it in cities all over the country.

418
00:29:10.599 --> 00:29:15.400
The fuck. So it's kind of
specious when we talk about all the

419
00:29:15.480 --> 00:29:18.680
Royal Rumble winners in history. It's
almost like art of war games. Most

420
00:29:18.720 --> 00:29:22.519
like we shit, no one talks
about the nineteen ninety one war games that

421
00:29:22.519 --> 00:29:26.799
happened all over the country with Elga
Hunte. Did you know this before I

422
00:29:26.839 --> 00:29:30.519
did? Not know that there were
this many house show rumbles after the first

423
00:29:30.519 --> 00:29:34.160
one on television. No I knew
there was at least one, But there

424
00:29:34.160 --> 00:29:37.559
were ones in New York, there
were ones at the Cow Palace. There

425
00:29:37.559 --> 00:29:41.119
were ones all over the place.
Essentially the way Bruce Pritchard described it as

426
00:29:41.160 --> 00:29:45.279
it was almost a way to give
guys a chance to rest and take it

427
00:29:45.319 --> 00:29:48.599
really easy in the months leading up
to the big show WrestleMania, but still

428
00:29:48.599 --> 00:29:52.319
make the towns and work matches because
of course, you know, a royal

429
00:29:52.359 --> 00:29:56.079
rumble doesn't require a lot of exertion
or big bump taking right right, So

430
00:29:56.119 --> 00:29:59.640
look at this one. This is
an article about Jake Roberts winning a Oh

431
00:29:59.720 --> 00:30:03.119
My Gone, a Royal Rumble at
the Meadowlands that no one even knows about

432
00:30:03.119 --> 00:30:07.240
from ADI eight. Why don't you
hit people with this piece? Roberts rocks

433
00:30:07.279 --> 00:30:10.759
in Royal Rumble? Got that right, Jake the Snake. Robberts was the

434
00:30:10.799 --> 00:30:14.920
shining light of last night's doubleheader World
Rusling Entertainment card in the Meadowlands Arena.

435
00:30:15.200 --> 00:30:18.880
The two hundred and forty eight pounder
from Stone Mountain, Georgia was the only

436
00:30:18.920 --> 00:30:22.519
grappler to emerge unbeaten on the long
card. Jake won the twenty one man

437
00:30:22.680 --> 00:30:27.519
twenty one man twenty one man Royal
Rumblin came back to earn a draw in

438
00:30:27.559 --> 00:30:33.079
a man to man match with Hercules
her Nandez. I invite you to consider

439
00:30:33.200 --> 00:30:37.799
that Jake the Snake Roberts has won
a Royal Rumble. I am all about

440
00:30:37.839 --> 00:30:41.279
it because I had, I had. Jake won a number of Royal Rumbles

441
00:30:41.279 --> 00:30:45.920
in march Y bro Universe. His
brilliance last night established Roberts is one of

442
00:30:45.960 --> 00:30:49.880
the contenders for the vacant WWE title, which will be decided during WrestleMania four

443
00:30:51.400 --> 00:30:57.799
during Rustlemania four card at Atlantic City's
Convention Hall March twenty seventh. Rules for

444
00:30:57.839 --> 00:31:00.480
the Royal Rumble, which was being
held in a New Jersey ring for the

445
00:31:00.519 --> 00:31:04.039
first time, call for each wrestler
to draw a number. Numbers one and

446
00:31:04.039 --> 00:31:08.279
two start the battle, and the
others in number rotation joined the skirmish at

447
00:31:08.440 --> 00:31:15.920
an a minute and a half intervals. Don Morocco and Hernandez began the began

448
00:31:17.000 --> 00:31:19.839
the action. There were eight wrestlers
in action before Brian Blair was the first

449
00:31:19.880 --> 00:31:23.319
to be eliminated. The action was
wild and it became its wildest when it

450
00:31:23.359 --> 00:31:27.400
got down to the final four Honky
Donk Man, Ricky Steamboat, Rick Rude,

451
00:31:27.400 --> 00:31:32.240
and Roberts. Steamboat was the first
of the four finalists to be tossed

452
00:31:32.279 --> 00:31:36.400
over the rope. Rude followed.
Roberts then made a clever maneuver, grabbing

453
00:31:36.400 --> 00:31:38.839
the legs of Honky Tonk and tossing
him over the rope for the victory.

454
00:31:40.200 --> 00:31:45.480
The match consumed forty minutes and thirty
eight seconds of your time. Let's to

455
00:31:45.559 --> 00:31:48.759
say nothing of what one Man Gag
consumed. On the next right, exactly

456
00:31:48.160 --> 00:31:52.519
what the thing is. The match
may have consumed forty minutes and thirty eight

457
00:31:52.559 --> 00:31:56.359
seconds, but how much food did
the One Man Gang consume in forty minutes

458
00:31:56.400 --> 00:32:00.640
and thirty eight One Man Gang consumed
four forty minutes and thirty eight seconds.

459
00:32:00.759 --> 00:32:07.240
You damn right. Hockey talk Man
gained some consolation when he defeated Steamboat.

460
00:32:07.279 --> 00:32:10.359
In their singles bout, Randy Savage
bested One Man Gang, and Don Morocco

461
00:32:10.440 --> 00:32:15.759
outlasted Rude. In other singles bouts, the Young Stallions defeated the Conquistadors,

462
00:32:15.799 --> 00:32:21.039
The Heart Foundation conquered the Killer Bees, and the Champion Strike Force team of

463
00:32:21.079 --> 00:32:27.640
Tito Santana and Rick Martell vanquished Nikolai
Volkoff and Borzookoff in tag team bouts that

464
00:32:27.759 --> 00:32:30.160
from The Jersey Journal March fifteenth,
nineteen eighty eight. If you're trying to

465
00:32:30.160 --> 00:32:34.079
place exactly when this rumble would have
been, so, I guess March fourteenth,

466
00:32:34.160 --> 00:32:38.200
nineteen eighty eight. This is fucking
consider that reality, big time,

467
00:32:38.279 --> 00:32:43.759
big whole ship going ahead. Everyone
knows about the eighty seven test run.

468
00:32:44.599 --> 00:32:46.960
Very few realize that they just went
all around the horn with the rumble.

469
00:32:47.000 --> 00:32:51.519
Match is just like a How Show
attraction. So we've got to expand by

470
00:32:51.640 --> 00:32:55.200
like thirty because Didaci won one of
the cow Palace whoa, We got to

471
00:32:55.240 --> 00:33:00.720
expand by several the amount of quote
unquote rumble winners we recorded in the history

472
00:33:00.720 --> 00:33:06.759
books. It's funny because the only
one that I actually know of outside of

473
00:33:07.200 --> 00:33:14.000
of like the One Man Gang winning
Matt one is um is the own Heart

474
00:33:14.039 --> 00:33:19.119
one in Madison Square Garden in like
ninety four or something. Oh yeah,

475
00:33:19.160 --> 00:33:23.480
the heel Owen Heart. Yeah yeah. I didn't had no idea, amazing,

476
00:33:23.519 --> 00:33:27.039
no idea they had more. So, man, if that doesn't wet

477
00:33:27.079 --> 00:33:30.240
the appetite, I don't know what
does for our coverage of the very first

478
00:33:30.319 --> 00:33:31.200
royal rumble, or at least,
as we are to think of it,

479
00:33:31.480 --> 00:33:36.079
the first rumble. WWF choose to
acknowledge at least first Royal rumble that was

480
00:33:36.119 --> 00:33:39.160
on television the twenty four nineteen eighty
eight Cops callisse M Hamilton, Ontario,

481
00:33:39.200 --> 00:33:44.599
Canada on the USA network is TLF
gets back in the driver's seat and begins

482
00:33:44.599 --> 00:33:47.799
a campaign of full penetration for the
year twenty twenty three. Of course,

483
00:33:47.839 --> 00:33:51.519
if we're going to wet the appetite, we need to wet our beaks as

484
00:33:51.519 --> 00:33:55.079
well. We need to wet those
lips. We need to boss, I

485
00:33:55.079 --> 00:34:00.599
don't know, get get appropriately sudds
for the summer. The only one way

486
00:34:00.640 --> 00:34:04.359
to do that in a TLF approved
fashion, and that's with our friends over

487
00:34:04.400 --> 00:34:07.920
at Papsed. It's that iron clad
alliance between a cold can have Papst and

488
00:34:07.960 --> 00:34:12.679
a long hard edition on the Lapsed
fan continues well into twenties from three.

489
00:34:12.719 --> 00:34:15.360
You want to invite all you to
support Papst and enjoy the full range of

490
00:34:15.400 --> 00:34:20.840
their beverages, the beer that doesn't
allow you to take your tell yourself too

491
00:34:20.880 --> 00:34:24.280
seriously, even if you'd like to
sort of lex TLF does each in every

492
00:34:24.280 --> 00:34:28.599
week, and so we want to
thank and salute and crack a can and

493
00:34:28.639 --> 00:34:31.000
tip a glass to our friends at
Papsed here as we embark on a post

494
00:34:31.079 --> 00:34:36.719
TNH reality here at the Lapsed Fan
and I always appreciate PAPS support and doing

495
00:34:36.760 --> 00:34:38.039
that, and we appreciate your support
for them as well as we hit a

496
00:34:38.039 --> 00:34:43.239
hot papst Summer that PAPS Fan t
shirt again at Pro Wrestling teas boss a

497
00:34:43.920 --> 00:34:49.760
game again and Summer Slam's coming up
the hottest party of the summer yep,

498
00:34:50.000 --> 00:34:55.239
yep, oh yeah, oh yeah. And I understand a contingent of TLF

499
00:34:55.320 --> 00:34:59.480
fans are on the ground in Detroit. Folks on the discord on Patreon.

500
00:34:59.519 --> 00:35:05.320
I put together other a wonderful kind
of like full Detroit wrestling experience, and

501
00:35:05.559 --> 00:35:08.679
we look forward to checking in with
them as well as a survivor Syritt pardon

502
00:35:08.719 --> 00:35:14.079
me as SummerSlam of course hits Detroit
and it hits your Patreon. Those subscribe

503
00:35:14.079 --> 00:35:16.480
to us on Patreon, Patreon dot
com. Slashed the Lapse Fan of course

504
00:35:16.480 --> 00:35:21.280
get our live calls of ww Premium
live events as we watch Modern WWW so

505
00:35:21.320 --> 00:35:24.239
you don't have to the commentary that
gives words to the thoughts you have in

506
00:35:24.239 --> 00:35:28.280
your mind when you watch wrestling today
but just can't quite express clearly. We're

507
00:35:28.280 --> 00:35:31.199
here for you on that, so
join up. The VIP tier gets the

508
00:35:31.239 --> 00:35:34.719
call as it happens fresh out of
the oven on pay per view night.

509
00:35:34.760 --> 00:35:37.639
The three sixteen tier gets it on
a three day delay, and of course

510
00:35:37.679 --> 00:35:40.239
our high level big dick tiers like
the twenty and fifty dollars tiers get it

511
00:35:40.280 --> 00:35:44.960
immediately as well. Yes, so
we've we've done a lot of feedback shows

512
00:35:45.039 --> 00:35:47.519
lately in mailbag shows. You know
the value proposition by now you've heard that

513
00:35:47.960 --> 00:35:52.239
the auto Rojo read down. You
know that the list is long enough that

514
00:35:52.320 --> 00:35:57.639
you can sort of swallow your pride
and nobody will notice slip in falling at

515
00:35:57.679 --> 00:36:01.760
the pay for that cast worthy of
our efforts, and you know, be

516
00:36:01.800 --> 00:36:05.159
a citizen that can look himself in
the mirror, someone who pays for what

517
00:36:05.760 --> 00:36:09.480
instead tries to find a ways to
sneak it for free. Absolutely, that's

518
00:36:09.519 --> 00:36:13.320
the only way you can do it, all right, you know because again,

519
00:36:13.360 --> 00:36:15.400
and you know we've said this,
We've been saying this for now,

520
00:36:15.519 --> 00:36:19.280
for for years. Okay, we've
been saying it for years and I'm just

521
00:36:19.320 --> 00:36:23.840
gonna say it one more time.
Do it because it makes you feel good

522
00:36:24.159 --> 00:36:28.840
exactly, all right, Get a
rush, you get a dopamine rush.

523
00:36:28.920 --> 00:36:35.119
Do it because deep down you know
that that is the only thing that can

524
00:36:35.320 --> 00:36:44.280
heal wounds, your personal DNS,
your personal truth trouble. It's all right

525
00:36:44.280 --> 00:36:46.079
there. Do you want to get
better or not? If the answer was

526
00:36:46.199 --> 00:36:51.960
yes, Patreon dot com slash the
lapsed fan add free versions of the show

527
00:36:52.440 --> 00:36:55.679
Deep dives a day before everybody else, the higher up you go under the

528
00:36:55.719 --> 00:37:00.599
cinemat, the eptor and above just
crap, can what's next under the cinemat

529
00:37:00.599 --> 00:37:05.440
for these motherfuckers? I can't tell
you. I'm killing the summer. The

530
00:37:05.440 --> 00:37:08.559
summers, say the summer, the
summer, this summer. As we are,

531
00:37:08.639 --> 00:37:15.920
as we are heading towards the one
hundredth episode, is is um is

532
00:37:15.920 --> 00:37:20.440
going to be all secret? That's
for sure, because it's just it's it's

533
00:37:20.559 --> 00:37:22.360
it's gonna be It's gonna be a
lot of fun. And actually what I'm

534
00:37:22.400 --> 00:37:27.719
I'm very excited because I didn't even
know the depth as to what the upcoming

535
00:37:27.960 --> 00:37:30.760
movie like, just the craziness around
it. I had no idea. I

536
00:37:30.760 --> 00:37:32.639
thought it was a part of this
ride with us, you know, the

537
00:37:32.679 --> 00:37:36.679
formula on the wrestling side, on
the main TLFT podcast that you're listening to

538
00:37:36.800 --> 00:37:38.840
right now. We just had a
little moment of discovery there with rumbles that

539
00:37:38.880 --> 00:37:43.559
had nothing to do with right,
Seriously, I mean, and those come

540
00:37:43.760 --> 00:37:46.119
so hard and so fast under the
cinemat because no one spends more time than

541
00:37:46.159 --> 00:37:50.760
the boss does examining the wrestlers and
the movies. I want to tell you

542
00:37:50.800 --> 00:37:52.639
something to a funny story that has
to do with cinemat. So we we've

543
00:37:52.679 --> 00:37:58.400
we've had some guests over, some
friends traveling in from Texas over the last

544
00:37:58.519 --> 00:38:01.559
um week, and so I was
telling them, you know, they asked

545
00:38:01.559 --> 00:38:05.000
about the podcast. You know,
they'd like to hear stories, and so

546
00:38:05.079 --> 00:38:06.440
I said, oh, you know, I said to myself, you know

547
00:38:06.440 --> 00:38:07.159
what, Oh, this would be
funny. They they'll get a kick out

548
00:38:07.159 --> 00:38:13.159
of this. And I told them, and only those you know who can

549
00:38:13.199 --> 00:38:16.039
who listened under the cinemat. No
this when we did the Punisher episode,

550
00:38:16.039 --> 00:38:20.920
we talked, we did this whole
thing out of this this random me randomly

551
00:38:20.960 --> 00:38:25.800
saying Carlyle and we're in reference to
Carlyle Massachusetts and so I told them that.

552
00:38:25.960 --> 00:38:29.960
I told him the whole story about
that, right, thinking they'll find

553
00:38:30.119 --> 00:38:31.400
this funny that you know, da
da, And they just looked at me

554
00:38:31.440 --> 00:38:35.039
like I was a fucking moron,
like this kind of looked at me like,

555
00:38:35.159 --> 00:38:37.159
okay, what's so funny about that? And so and so I said

556
00:38:37.159 --> 00:38:39.079
to myself, I said, okay, you know what, try to like,

557
00:38:39.159 --> 00:38:42.079
let's reverse it. Let's say you
know, and it'd be so fun

558
00:38:42.199 --> 00:38:45.480
Imagine too, if if there was
a Massachusetts, like a random patch of

559
00:38:45.559 --> 00:38:51.119
Massachusetts talking of of Texas that just
happened to have, you know, this

560
00:38:51.599 --> 00:38:55.519
random group of people from Massachusetts who
just talked with Massachusetts accents. I mean,

561
00:38:55.599 --> 00:39:04.159
that's crazy, right, same expression. Yes, complete dud. It's

562
00:39:04.199 --> 00:39:08.119
so amazing. That is as lapsed
as it gets. It's a part of

563
00:39:08.119 --> 00:39:13.159
the reason, you know, the
cast has so much vibrancy because finally people

564
00:39:13.280 --> 00:39:15.159
like that have found each other.
Yes, yes, and don't have to

565
00:39:15.199 --> 00:39:19.800
worry about you know, landing like
a fart in church in the real world

566
00:39:19.800 --> 00:39:24.320
and respectable company. Absolutely amazing.
So it was so crazy crazy. Of

567
00:39:24.320 --> 00:39:29.280
course, the Moat tier the strongest
podcast supporters of any podcast on the planet.

568
00:39:29.719 --> 00:39:31.800
That's our tip top tier where you
get the Russell Mommia features this boss

569
00:39:31.800 --> 00:39:36.199
sits down with Mama sorrow and watches
racing in a way that in a one

570
00:39:36.239 --> 00:39:37.840
of a kind way that elicits how
it used to feel sitting on the living

571
00:39:37.880 --> 00:39:43.880
room carpet and um watching just an
assortment, a monthly crew, a grab

572
00:39:43.920 --> 00:39:46.840
bag of matches. But by the
time this drops, they will have seen

573
00:39:49.800 --> 00:39:53.559
motors, will have had access to
listen to my mom and myself watch Bret

574
00:39:53.559 --> 00:39:59.440
Hart versus Skinner from Tuesday in Texas. It's that kind of shit. It's

575
00:39:59.480 --> 00:40:01.880
either that or it's fucking Hogan vers
Andre or undertake a verse by kind helen

576
00:40:01.920 --> 00:40:08.880
a self, or it's uh John
versus Bobby Lashley. I mean, it's

577
00:40:08.920 --> 00:40:13.000
fucking wild, folks. I mean, you owe it to yourself. No

578
00:40:13.000 --> 00:40:15.760
one that that takes the plunge regrets
it. And of course if we have

579
00:40:15.800 --> 00:40:17.559
a little moment of inspiration between ourselves
and we're like, you know, we

580
00:40:17.599 --> 00:40:20.960
got to share this with the solar
system, the moteteers who we keep in

581
00:40:20.960 --> 00:40:23.800
mind firstactly look no further than us
continuing the art of war games by attending

582
00:40:23.800 --> 00:40:28.159
the recent aw Blood and Gut show
in Boston. Yeah, and providing our

583
00:40:28.239 --> 00:40:31.079
live thoughts play by play for MOTE
Tier members only. Much more of that

584
00:40:31.159 --> 00:40:36.159
to come, including the call when
we hear about a wrestler passing inside to

585
00:40:36.159 --> 00:40:38.280
communicate with each other. We're going
to do our damn just to UM record

586
00:40:38.320 --> 00:40:42.079
that and make it available to Mote
Tier members only. It's all rocking and

587
00:40:42.159 --> 00:40:45.519
rolling. We mentioned UM Pro Wrestling
teas Uh. Ton of stuff going on

588
00:40:45.559 --> 00:40:49.880
over there, yes, UM no
harm in bringing folks up to date,

589
00:40:49.920 --> 00:40:52.840
Boss Pro Wrestling Tease dot Com,
the Laps fans dot com, Slash the

590
00:40:52.880 --> 00:40:58.280
Lapse Fan hopefully by you. You
know, I found a glitch in one

591
00:40:58.320 --> 00:41:00.800
of my designs and so I went
back to fix it. So, but

592
00:41:00.920 --> 00:41:07.840
what should be up this week?
The new TLF Rustle Pania shirt. UM,

593
00:41:07.880 --> 00:41:12.119
that'll help tell people the origin.
I mean, the Russell Pania really

594
00:41:12.159 --> 00:41:16.280
comes from WrestleMania this past year,
you know, all the shit that we

595
00:41:16.360 --> 00:41:20.800
suffered through its correct? You know? I think I forget I think that

596
00:41:20.920 --> 00:41:23.960
it Did it start with UM with
with Shane or was it Cody that started

597
00:41:24.000 --> 00:41:28.800
that all Russell Pania? I don't
know. That's a good question. I

598
00:41:29.039 --> 00:41:31.480
don't remember. I don't remember where
it all began. But yeah, nonetheless,

599
00:41:32.840 --> 00:41:37.000
Uh, that's there We've got.
Of course, Taz's Red Hook Diner

600
00:41:37.760 --> 00:41:45.639
is available, the tal the new
TLF generation shirt, one Sting Moon,

601
00:41:47.599 --> 00:41:54.119
a ton of I mean just a
fucking ton of of TNH references. Um.

602
00:41:54.360 --> 00:42:00.280
Uh, those who on the mot
tier listen Russell Mammia, the the

603
00:42:00.599 --> 00:42:05.599
Dan Cook t shirt based off of
Mankind. Um. If you're wondering what

604
00:42:05.880 --> 00:42:09.159
the fuck that's about motors, all
we can say motor up Chief Brunch,

605
00:42:09.719 --> 00:42:13.320
Perfect Snakes, that's one was one
of my absolute favorites. I might have

606
00:42:13.320 --> 00:42:15.880
to get that. That's some some
some point, giving the Perfect Snakes shirt

607
00:42:15.880 --> 00:42:22.280
one of my own Hasbro Universe tag
teams and so so many I mean literally

608
00:42:22.400 --> 00:42:27.239
hundreds of shirts, hundreds of shirts
available, So it's all there. It's

609
00:42:27.280 --> 00:42:30.920
all flier colors. Next time you're
an event, nothing tickles us more than

610
00:42:30.960 --> 00:42:36.920
to get two pictures the TLF steak
Zone. Yeah, of course, so

611
00:42:37.000 --> 00:42:43.880
inclined this Barbecue Seasons LOPS Fan contactless
combat shirt. Let's say that again.

612
00:42:45.559 --> 00:42:47.480
That's one. That's one thing that
they held on to after the pandemic.

613
00:42:47.559 --> 00:42:52.480
Oh for sure. Of course,
Burger in the Room shirt, that's another

614
00:42:52.519 --> 00:42:55.000
one. Yeah, we make these
utterance as we say these things, you

615
00:42:55.039 --> 00:42:59.079
know, ten years before the podcast
exists. Now it's it's a shirt that

616
00:42:59.079 --> 00:43:04.119
people buy and where in cities,
well we've never been to people will never

617
00:43:04.159 --> 00:43:08.679
meet from that ass the like in
the in the style of the in your

618
00:43:08.719 --> 00:43:13.719
House logo. Oh that's yep,
that's a winnervorites. I love that one.

619
00:43:14.360 --> 00:43:15.880
So yeah, it's a check us
out. And we're reving up the

620
00:43:15.880 --> 00:43:19.559
engines again now that we're out of
the muck and the myer of TNH on

621
00:43:19.639 --> 00:43:22.320
cameo. Um, yes, we
know a lot of people have been missing

622
00:43:22.360 --> 00:43:25.760
our availability on cameo and the boss
is really stepping up once again. Boss

623
00:43:25.800 --> 00:43:30.800
let him know. Okay, there
was one so cameo dot com slash the

624
00:43:30.840 --> 00:43:35.119
Lapse fan, there was one just
like, I mean, listen, I

625
00:43:35.159 --> 00:43:37.400
appreciate it and I and I tried
to go in as hard as I possibly

626
00:43:37.440 --> 00:43:45.039
could with it. All Right,
So there was one, um a request

627
00:43:45.199 --> 00:43:50.159
about somebody celebrating twenty years of sobriety. Sure, and this was from a

628
00:43:50.280 --> 00:43:53.639
wife to their to their husband,
and she was like, she loves you

629
00:43:53.679 --> 00:43:59.599
guys. She just she said he
want just have Vince going on him nothing's

630
00:43:59.599 --> 00:44:01.519
off the table. Yes, And
I'm just like, you know, I

631
00:44:02.119 --> 00:44:07.880
really respect people who who who who
are sober. I really do. I

632
00:44:07.920 --> 00:44:12.159
admire them and the commitment to that. So it's part of me's like,

633
00:44:12.199 --> 00:44:15.599
oh my god, like I I
want to fulfill this guy's wishes, but

634
00:44:15.639 --> 00:44:19.119
I also feel like absolute shit.
Well, I also know that lapsed Vince's

635
00:44:19.199 --> 00:44:22.159
nature is trying to knock him right
off the back, right exactly, and

636
00:44:22.199 --> 00:44:24.199
so and so I I you know, I did go into him. I

637
00:44:24.280 --> 00:44:28.800
you know, I you know laps. You know what. I guess you're

638
00:44:29.519 --> 00:44:30.400
you know, if you need if
you if you need to be sober,

639
00:44:30.440 --> 00:44:34.320
I guess you're a lesser man than
I am. Ah, that's a nice

640
00:44:34.320 --> 00:44:37.199
way to play it. So the
whole thing, and you know, and

641
00:44:37.360 --> 00:44:38.920
Vince wanted to fuck his wife and
stuff like that. So you know,

642
00:44:39.880 --> 00:44:43.519
it's been some weird one usual stuff. They're are totally weird ones. So

643
00:44:43.639 --> 00:44:45.320
so it up say that one's weird, but it reminds me of the week.

644
00:44:45.400 --> 00:44:47.360
Yes, yeah, they're there are
weird ones. I mean, let's

645
00:44:47.360 --> 00:44:52.760
not forget that that in cameos,
Randy Savage has been shot and murdered.

646
00:44:52.480 --> 00:45:00.280
Um in cameos uh, we've had
for some reason. I remember one with

647
00:45:00.360 --> 00:45:09.840
Brian Pillman and uh Johnny Ace running
in the rain for some reason, or

648
00:45:09.960 --> 00:45:15.320
the discovery that Bob Backland's sister married
the last editor. Yes, yep,

649
00:45:15.599 --> 00:45:20.000
yep, yep, we turned it
over to you folks. Yeah, a

650
00:45:20.039 --> 00:45:25.440
lot of a lot of lapsed character
cannon has been has been written in the

651
00:45:25.519 --> 00:45:30.199
cameos, So great again for a
quick shout out of friendly message, a

652
00:45:30.280 --> 00:45:35.079
birthday present, whatever the case might
be. Put the lapsed fucking Murderers row

653
00:45:35.360 --> 00:45:38.719
of characters to work at cameo dot
com slash the Lapsed fam We look forward

654
00:45:38.719 --> 00:45:43.719
to servicing you in that way as
well. And if you need inspiration,

655
00:45:43.800 --> 00:45:46.599
if you need things to key off
of, and as we approach Lapsed X

656
00:45:46.679 --> 00:45:52.039
ten years of TLF next year,
no better time to turn your attention to

657
00:45:52.400 --> 00:45:57.679
LATS. LATS the Lapsed Archive Transcription
service run by our friend haste x Calhoun.

658
00:45:58.119 --> 00:46:01.760
You can email Lapsed Scribes at gmail
dot com if you'd like to help

659
00:46:01.840 --> 00:46:07.159
and to gain access what this is. It's basically a full digest of transcripts

660
00:46:07.159 --> 00:46:09.320
of Lapsed fan episodes where you can
go in and locate, you know,

661
00:46:09.480 --> 00:46:13.480
precise time codes, for moments that
have meant so much to you, And

662
00:46:13.559 --> 00:46:15.239
we've put the call out for members
of the Solar System to help, you

663
00:46:15.280 --> 00:46:20.960
know, create kind of a corpus
of great moments that we can play around

664
00:46:21.039 --> 00:46:23.719
with to celebrate ten years of Rocket
and rolland here at TLF next year and

665
00:46:24.000 --> 00:46:28.840
so many folks emailing us at the
Lapsed fan at gmail dot com with rock

666
00:46:28.960 --> 00:46:32.239
solid contributions so far. Again,
just looking for voice memos about moments and

667
00:46:32.280 --> 00:46:37.800
the history of the show that coincided
with something meaningful perhaps in your life or

668
00:46:37.840 --> 00:46:40.920
just something that had you laughing out
loud and traffic the personal moments, the

669
00:46:40.960 --> 00:46:45.239
moments that keep you coming back.
You know, we want, we want

670
00:46:45.239 --> 00:46:49.800
moments that meant something to you individually, that are unique to you that not

671
00:46:49.920 --> 00:46:52.920
everybody in the Solar System might you
know, equally praise and celebrate and appreciate.

672
00:46:53.400 --> 00:46:59.280
And the LATS Transcription Service is a
great way to hone in on that

673
00:46:59.320 --> 00:47:02.679
and be part of you know,
kind of just it's important work, but

674
00:47:02.760 --> 00:47:07.280
it's it's sort of a labor of
love style work. It's sort of like,

675
00:47:07.320 --> 00:47:09.079
you know, it's like we all
agree that would be great if such

676
00:47:09.079 --> 00:47:14.320
a thing exists. Let's bring it
into existence to that that's the way to

677
00:47:14.320 --> 00:47:16.679
get started there. And as we
push forward here into our Rumble eighty eight

678
00:47:16.679 --> 00:47:20.559
coverage and talk about the formation of
the Rumble, we are proud and a

679
00:47:20.679 --> 00:47:23.360
post TNH world to also continue to
extend our hand out to our friends at

680
00:47:23.360 --> 00:47:29.760
tight Nutrition continue supporting the show.
Excited of course with this partnership. Of

681
00:47:29.760 --> 00:47:31.519
course, Titan is one of the
most trusted and respected supplement brands in the

682
00:47:31.519 --> 00:47:35.400
industry and you can find their products
and supplement stores across the country. They

683
00:47:35.440 --> 00:47:38.119
got a wide range of products from
amazing proteins and vitamins to pre workouts and

684
00:47:38.119 --> 00:47:42.280
superfoods, and all their products are
backed by the cGMP, which means for

685
00:47:42.360 --> 00:47:46.039
greater manufacturing practices using FDA monitored facilities
and third party testing. You heard that

686
00:47:46.119 --> 00:47:52.599
right, I take several of their
products and super excited to be partnering with

687
00:47:52.719 --> 00:47:55.280
these great folks. So go to
the site tight nutrition dot net to check

688
00:47:55.320 --> 00:48:00.039
out some of their amazing protein flavors
like cinnamon Roll, cherry Bomb, Strawberry,

689
00:48:00.039 --> 00:48:05.760
shore Bat, jumping Bomb, Angels. It's all there and here's the

690
00:48:05.800 --> 00:48:08.760
key. Use the discount code lapsed
lapsed at checkout to get ten percent off

691
00:48:08.800 --> 00:48:13.079
your order and free shipping. And
that also lets us know, and let's

692
00:48:13.320 --> 00:48:15.880
lets them know, of course,
that we sent you, which is the

693
00:48:15.880 --> 00:48:17.800
whole fucking point. Yes, let
them know that. Because they support the

694
00:48:17.800 --> 00:48:22.079
cast, we support them. And
when it comes to reaching for a protein,

695
00:48:22.119 --> 00:48:24.320
which of course is such a vital
part of the workout and health routine

696
00:48:24.320 --> 00:48:27.840
of so many folks out there,
including in our listenership, you might as

697
00:48:27.840 --> 00:48:30.639
well do it in a way that's
TLF approved. You might as well do

698
00:48:30.679 --> 00:48:34.159
it in a way that that that
that creates the shine on the thing that

699
00:48:34.239 --> 00:48:37.000
gives you the will to live in
the first place. The lapsed fan Wrestling

700
00:48:37.039 --> 00:48:39.519
push. Sure, it's tight Nutrition
dot net, but the discount code lapsed.

701
00:48:39.599 --> 00:48:45.000
You will not be disappointed. And
we think Titan very much for their

702
00:48:45.000 --> 00:48:49.679
continued support. It's just it's just
too poetic for a supplement brand named Titan

703
00:48:49.760 --> 00:48:55.440
to fall into our laps. And
it's here the announcement the return of the

704
00:48:55.480 --> 00:49:01.239
Hopper. Folks have wanted this so
badly, they have salivated at the opportunity.

705
00:49:01.239 --> 00:49:05.800
They needed, they needed, they
needed. Okay, fine, we

706
00:49:05.840 --> 00:49:08.400
will respond. It's been a sacrifice. Okay, seven and a half months

707
00:49:08.440 --> 00:49:13.440
of TNH. Essentially if you include
all the feedback shows and that Lost Brook

708
00:49:13.480 --> 00:49:16.960
Knows Best episode that we tacked onto
the end there, and that's a lot

709
00:49:17.039 --> 00:49:22.800
of months that folks were trigger happy, you know, flush wallets. They

710
00:49:22.840 --> 00:49:27.559
wanted a chance to come on the
show, to sit with your coach chairman,

711
00:49:27.599 --> 00:49:29.960
as we have in the past for
Hopper shows, to do an interview

712
00:49:30.440 --> 00:49:32.239
about why a particular show means something
to them, and then have your coach

713
00:49:32.320 --> 00:49:37.159
chairs do what they do right,
just yes, drop Krau and serve as

714
00:49:37.199 --> 00:49:42.960
the account. Yes. And the
opportunity to do that at Long Last is

715
00:49:43.000 --> 00:49:47.320
back. There is pent up demand, there is a need for release,

716
00:49:47.840 --> 00:49:52.159
and let the release begin. What
you need to do is follow us on

717
00:49:52.199 --> 00:49:58.719
Twitter or x whatever it is at
the lapsed fan follow us on d X

718
00:49:58.920 --> 00:50:10.159
tw brother, what slim jims are
you? I didn't. We didn't either,

719
00:50:10.199 --> 00:50:15.119
and that's the good news. Monday
August seventh, I repeat Monday August

720
00:50:15.360 --> 00:50:22.800
seventh, Dial it in on Twitter
seven am start time on the East Coast

721
00:50:23.400 --> 00:50:28.519
and through the course of the afternoon
right up until three pm Eastern we'll be

722
00:50:28.559 --> 00:50:32.960
taking your submissions in your bids to
be the next Hopper winner. And while

723
00:50:34.000 --> 00:50:37.320
we do plan on, you know, keeping it pretty loosing open for the

724
00:50:37.320 --> 00:50:39.119
rest of the year. I can't
say you're going to get another crack for

725
00:50:39.159 --> 00:50:44.760
the next several weeks. So don't
um, don't sit back waiting for the

726
00:50:44.760 --> 00:50:46.840
next shot on goal here. This
is really the one for the summer here.

727
00:50:46.880 --> 00:50:51.280
You want to take advantage of this
opportunity. And for those unfamiliar,

728
00:50:51.360 --> 00:50:54.440
what we do is we open it
up and our Twitter continuously updates what the

729
00:50:54.519 --> 00:50:58.679
high bid is. The high bid
is submitted by emailing us at the lapsed

730
00:50:58.719 --> 00:51:01.920
fan at gmail dot com and please
put in the subject line hopper bid and

731
00:51:02.119 --> 00:51:05.599
the dollar amount, so it's easy
enough for us to keep track of.

732
00:51:06.360 --> 00:51:09.360
And every time somebody ups the next
high we tweet it. Sometime upset again,

733
00:51:09.400 --> 00:51:13.960
we tweet it, and others,
you know, watch it and pretend

734
00:51:14.039 --> 00:51:19.760
they don't notice the innovation going on
if they're not participating of course on Twitter.

735
00:51:20.119 --> 00:51:22.440
And we go and we go and
we go until we hit the deadline,

736
00:51:22.719 --> 00:51:25.239
and whoever comes in highest at that
moment gets the opportunity to pick which

737
00:51:25.280 --> 00:51:28.760
show we deep dive next, and
to come on the show with the coach

738
00:51:28.760 --> 00:51:31.639
heirs for a long and involved discussion
as to why you pick that show.

739
00:51:31.639 --> 00:51:36.760
It can be any reason under the
sky, and we've gotten some wonderful reasons

740
00:51:36.800 --> 00:51:39.360
for shows over the years, and
it's put us on some amazing paths that

741
00:51:39.480 --> 00:51:43.920
we wouldn't have pushed ourselves into.
That's one of my favorite things. It

742
00:51:43.920 --> 00:51:45.760
pushes us not only out of the
comfort zone, but it has the two

743
00:51:45.760 --> 00:51:49.559
things we wouldn't do, Like the
Pro Wrestling Exposed special. We'd never would

744
00:51:49.559 --> 00:51:54.960
have done AWA Wrestling for a cure. Shit, we did Black Saturday because

745
00:51:55.000 --> 00:52:00.079
of the Hopper. You would think
that that's totally a TLFS wheelhouse. Um,

746
00:52:00.119 --> 00:52:02.559
you know, with all the court
documents and all the deep research involved

747
00:52:02.599 --> 00:52:06.440
there and all the uncovering that went
on, that's because of you know,

748
00:52:06.559 --> 00:52:08.079
Christian Hollister said, you know what, here's here's the cash. This is

749
00:52:08.119 --> 00:52:13.119
this is what it means to me
for the coach heirs to put this one

750
00:52:13.119 --> 00:52:17.519
on the shelf for future generations.
Wow. And who knows what what mission

751
00:52:17.519 --> 00:52:20.800
they might embark us on next.
And if it's a big enough mission,

752
00:52:20.840 --> 00:52:23.079
then ship you know, that might
mean the Hoppers closed for that much longer.

753
00:52:23.079 --> 00:52:25.360
Because the last thing we want is
a big backlog, right yep?

754
00:52:25.840 --> 00:52:30.159
That's happened that ain't happening again.
We first did this concept years and years

755
00:52:30.199 --> 00:52:32.800
ago. It was a Patreon thing, and god damn it took us like

756
00:52:32.840 --> 00:52:37.639
a year and a half until we
had given everybody we had promised to show

757
00:52:37.639 --> 00:52:39.920
a show it was And that's how
we knew this is like something that needs

758
00:52:39.920 --> 00:52:45.199
to be carefully controlled. Yeah,
you need, I mean build way up

759
00:52:45.239 --> 00:52:47.519
past. And I'll be the first
one who admit it was me who was

760
00:52:47.599 --> 00:52:53.519
really the like I needed to be
shown a method that was going because I

761
00:52:53.559 --> 00:52:58.880
was like, I cannot and will
not go through that again. Yes,

762
00:52:58.960 --> 00:53:00.920
that's right, you were, you
were I gutive on it, that's right.

763
00:53:00.199 --> 00:53:02.639
Ye. Well, it's so important
to us to have you know,

764
00:53:04.119 --> 00:53:07.400
some degree of control over what you
like. It's great coming off a journey

765
00:53:07.400 --> 00:53:09.079
to know that we can we can
call the next shot. We can go

766
00:53:09.119 --> 00:53:13.599
for a big one like the first
rumble on television. Yea. And so

767
00:53:13.639 --> 00:53:15.920
that's what we're doing again for you
here, um and then as we'll talk

768
00:53:15.960 --> 00:53:19.880
about, that'll extend even further into
the next episode as well. We like

769
00:53:19.960 --> 00:53:23.480
to have that optionality. But August
seventh, consider it pretty much the only

770
00:53:23.519 --> 00:53:25.960
chance at the Hopper this summer.
I think I can safely say that we

771
00:53:25.960 --> 00:53:30.719
always reserve the right to change our
minds. But get your wallet's ready,

772
00:53:30.719 --> 00:53:34.679
to get your bids ready, have
your coffee, and join us on Twitter

773
00:53:34.719 --> 00:53:37.400
at the lapsed fan on x at
the Lapsed Fan. I've got to say

774
00:53:37.400 --> 00:53:39.239
both. I mean, can't believe
it. People are they're changing the logo,

775
00:53:39.360 --> 00:53:42.960
like on screen, like WWE.
You watch a broadcast, aw,

776
00:53:42.960 --> 00:53:45.639
it's sys X now instead of Twitter. It's right wow. Oh yeah yeah.

777
00:53:45.639 --> 00:53:50.440
People are totally allowing this to be
a thing. So it's wrong with

778
00:53:50.519 --> 00:53:53.519
them. Here we are. Um. Yeah. It's like I remember when

779
00:53:53.559 --> 00:53:57.000
when Facebook we named met I was
like, good luck, everyone's gonna call

780
00:53:57.000 --> 00:53:59.559
it Facebook forever. Yeah, thanks, About eight months and people change it.

781
00:53:59.719 --> 00:54:02.639
Same thing with w WE. You
know when you started us, you

782
00:54:02.679 --> 00:54:06.480
just got to start putting shit in
people's brains. You know, it takes.

783
00:54:06.719 --> 00:54:07.760
Yeah, you just need the right
people to say we're over again.

784
00:54:07.960 --> 00:54:10.679
Yea, the new name, and
pretty soon people forget the old name.

785
00:54:10.840 --> 00:54:15.119
It's pretty remarkable how that happens.
There's there's something, there's a truth there

786
00:54:15.119 --> 00:54:16.719
about human psychology. You haven't put
my finger on, but there's something.

787
00:54:16.760 --> 00:54:22.280
And how easy it is to rename
something that yep is instructive, I think.

788
00:54:22.400 --> 00:54:24.719
But yeah, So that's all.
That's all the news and notes we've

789
00:54:24.760 --> 00:54:29.119
got for you this go around,
because there's a lot to chew on here.

790
00:54:29.400 --> 00:54:30.400
I mean, I don't know,
can you deal with a March nineteen

791
00:54:30.400 --> 00:54:36.039
eighty eight Royal Rumble in Hartford,
Connecticut? No? I mean, let's

792
00:54:36.039 --> 00:54:38.239
just look at how busy they were
around in January twenty fourth, nineteen eighty

793
00:54:38.280 --> 00:54:42.079
eight, the date of this Royal
Rumble. Oh my god. They're in

794
00:54:42.159 --> 00:54:46.000
Landover, Maryland on the twenty third, and they have a thirty man bunk

795
00:54:46.039 --> 00:54:52.400
house Battle Royal on that event that
Don Morocco won. Okay, we'll talk

796
00:54:52.400 --> 00:54:57.519
about the difference. But if ever
anyone were to deny at the Royal Rumble

797
00:54:58.199 --> 00:55:01.519
was a direct hit on Dusty Rhodes
is bunk house stampede concept that had been

798
00:55:01.559 --> 00:55:06.559
going since nineteen eighty five over at
Crockett. The fact that they fucking named

799
00:55:06.639 --> 00:55:10.639
the Battle Royals that came before the
Royal Rumble concept bunk house battles. Wow,

800
00:55:10.800 --> 00:55:15.679
should tell. So that's January twenty
third in land Over, Maryland at

801
00:55:15.719 --> 00:55:21.039
the Capitol Center. That same night
they're at the Harrah Arena in Dayton.

802
00:55:22.880 --> 00:55:27.000
That same night. They're also in
Lexington, Kentucky at the Rupper Arena with

803
00:55:27.039 --> 00:55:30.440
Hogan and Bigelow over Andrea and Dbasi, And then they're in London and no

804
00:55:31.000 --> 00:55:34.960
that they actually canceled a couple of
dates, which is interesting when you look

805
00:55:34.960 --> 00:55:38.000
at um history of WWF, which
is, you know, the best archive

806
00:55:38.079 --> 00:55:43.519
I think of chronological WBF results as
far as you can think of. Uh,

807
00:55:43.679 --> 00:55:46.239
there there were dates in London,
Ontario and Cornwall, Ontario that are

808
00:55:46.239 --> 00:55:52.079
canceled or rescheduled around this time.
One has to think because they realized we

809
00:55:52.199 --> 00:55:55.039
got to recalibrate here for this royal
rumbel idea which again fell out of the

810
00:55:55.039 --> 00:55:59.199
sky after they already had these dates
penciled in. So they're starting to move

811
00:55:59.199 --> 00:56:02.440
things around here think is a fair
read of the situation. They were in

812
00:56:02.480 --> 00:56:07.920
Halifax on the same night as the
Rumble in Nova Scotia with Honky Tonk and

813
00:56:07.960 --> 00:56:14.079
Savage in the main event and Beefcake
and Valentine underneath and Demolition working singles matches.

814
00:56:14.119 --> 00:56:17.320
This the same night as the Rumble. They're in Halifax, the Rumble

815
00:56:17.360 --> 00:56:22.800
in Ontario and Hamilton did sixteen thousand, two hundred paid for an announced twenty

816
00:56:22.800 --> 00:56:27.599
thousand sellout. They are just totally
on fire. I mean, that's why

817
00:56:27.599 --> 00:56:30.679
they're doing three major cities on the
same night, because they can draw and

818
00:56:30.719 --> 00:56:35.159
they can sell it totally absurd.
It is unbelievable. I mean, eighty

819
00:56:35.159 --> 00:56:37.599
eight was it was a huge year
for them. I remember when we did

820
00:56:37.599 --> 00:56:43.519
the Trial of his Life and they
had the former CFO of the WWF MO

821
00:56:43.639 --> 00:56:47.440
was it, Doug Doug Sages was
this, Yeah, And they were getting

822
00:56:47.480 --> 00:56:52.360
into all this stuff as far as
what the most profitable year ever was because

823
00:56:52.360 --> 00:56:58.079
it was obviously deemed relevant for um
the trial, and they were talking about

824
00:56:58.079 --> 00:57:00.840
eighty eight as like the year eighty
as well. But you know, WrestleMania

825
00:57:00.840 --> 00:57:02.800
doing a huge buyer, right.
You would think, because you know,

826
00:57:04.159 --> 00:57:07.239
WrestleMania three was this record shattering attendance, that that must be the year.

827
00:57:07.280 --> 00:57:09.920
But no, eighty eight is when
really everything was following. It kind of

828
00:57:09.920 --> 00:57:14.199
makes sense, you know, because
because when you when you think about it,

829
00:57:14.280 --> 00:57:17.400
like eighty seven is gonna draw people
in, you know, it's it's

830
00:57:17.440 --> 00:57:22.800
kind of like it's kind of like
when they talk about how two thousand was

831
00:57:22.840 --> 00:57:25.800
such a big profitable year. Yeah, when you'd think it'd be ninety eight

832
00:57:25.880 --> 00:57:30.960
or ninety nine, right, But
that's like bringing them in and then kind

833
00:57:30.960 --> 00:57:34.119
of in a weird way, the
next year is going to be the most

834
00:57:34.159 --> 00:57:37.039
profitable, even though you get more
attention in the previous year, Right,

835
00:57:37.039 --> 00:57:38.960
the next year is kind of a
lot of Citi's first chances to buy tickets

836
00:57:39.000 --> 00:57:44.280
to see this exactly. And you
know, in a lot of ways,

837
00:57:44.280 --> 00:57:47.360
it was eighty four with with Hogan
and then um MTV UM and that had

838
00:57:47.480 --> 00:57:52.719
that bleeded over in eighty five,
but there was a whole other level reached

839
00:57:52.760 --> 00:57:54.480
in eighty seven. Because now you're
two years in a Saturday Nights made event.

840
00:57:54.480 --> 00:58:00.199
They've done these huge rating shows on
NBC four times a year, and

841
00:58:00.239 --> 00:58:02.000
that you know again four times a
year. That's it, folks. There's

842
00:58:02.039 --> 00:58:06.320
like eight of these by the time
we hit a you know, nineteen eighty

843
00:58:06.320 --> 00:58:08.880
seven, mid eighty seven, so
it's you know, the LJN's are profligate.

844
00:58:08.960 --> 00:58:13.639
Now the Rock and Wrestling cartoon is
out and it's been distributed, is

845
00:58:13.679 --> 00:58:15.679
in people's minds. There's just so
many seeds that have been planted by this

846
00:58:15.760 --> 00:58:20.280
point that they just they can print
money, they can set up a fucking

847
00:58:20.360 --> 00:58:23.400
ring somewhere and people will come the
next night. This is why this show

848
00:58:23.440 --> 00:58:25.760
is such an afterthought in some ways. The next night they were in the

849
00:58:25.760 --> 00:58:30.400
Garden in New York City. Oh
my god, sell out nineteen thousand and

850
00:58:30.400 --> 00:58:34.519
seventy. Wow. You imagine going
from this Royal Rumble the next night you're

851
00:58:34.519 --> 00:58:37.039
in the garden. Of course,
you're not going to think of the Rumble

852
00:58:37.039 --> 00:58:38.639
is some special night in your in
your life or your career, especially when

853
00:58:38.639 --> 00:58:42.320
they've done something they already done,
one that you kind of vaguely heard about.

854
00:58:42.320 --> 00:58:44.880
In Saint Louis. There've been a
ton of Battle Royals. Sometimes you

855
00:58:44.920 --> 00:58:47.400
call them bunk house battles. There
there's always Battle Royals on house shows.

856
00:58:47.559 --> 00:58:51.519
You know what the difference does it
make if you call it a Royal Rumble

857
00:58:51.639 --> 00:58:53.559
or not, Because when you go
back and you you know, listen interviews

858
00:58:53.559 --> 00:58:57.920
with wrestlers who are participating in this
first Rumble in eighty eight, this first

859
00:58:57.920 --> 00:59:01.800
televised Rumble, they don't really remember
the match at all. It's almost like

860
00:59:02.360 --> 00:59:07.400
they've you know, they've been forced
to remember that night because it's taken on

861
00:59:07.440 --> 00:59:13.440
a lore. But at the time
the next night you were in the world's

862
00:59:13.440 --> 00:59:15.800
most famous arena, sold out house. That's what you're going to remember.

863
00:59:15.840 --> 00:59:17.960
That's the big payoff. Don't care
about this one, no, No,

864
00:59:19.039 --> 00:59:21.679
it's just it was a house show
in Hamilton that happened to be on USA.

865
00:59:21.920 --> 00:59:23.000
So there was a bit more you
know, logistics to worry about in

866
00:59:23.079 --> 00:59:28.000
terms of a live television hitting time
cues and stuff and some angles. But

867
00:59:28.039 --> 00:59:30.840
you don't remember this any differently.
It wasn't a big payoff. It's just

868
00:59:30.960 --> 00:59:35.960
it's it's amazing to think about how
differently the wrestler's mentality worked back then,

869
00:59:36.079 --> 00:59:38.280
because, like I said, it
was still like ninety percent of live arena

870
00:59:38.320 --> 00:59:43.400
how show business. It was still
about doing stuff that could sell out arenas

871
00:59:43.400 --> 00:59:45.960
as opposed to draw huge television ratings
and then draw huge rights fees from the

872
00:59:45.960 --> 00:59:50.559
television networks. They were getting paid, I'm sure some nominal amount from a

873
00:59:50.639 --> 00:59:52.159
USA network. They were still some
of the highest rated stuff on all of

874
00:59:52.199 --> 00:59:57.159
cable at the time, but that
never really translated to dollars and cents in

875
00:59:57.199 --> 01:00:00.480
the eighties. You know, it
wasn't really something that you could draw a

876
01:00:00.519 --> 01:00:01.719
direct line to. Okay, because
we do these huge ratings, they pay

877
01:00:01.760 --> 01:00:05.320
US hundreds of millions of dollars a
year just to be able to broadcast our

878
01:00:05.320 --> 01:00:07.320
shows. No, sir, it
was still very much. We got to

879
01:00:07.440 --> 01:00:10.360
use that exposure to sell tickets here
and sell tickets there. It's all about

880
01:00:10.400 --> 01:00:15.239
the syndication. It was all about
taping shows and shooting local interviews that would

881
01:00:15.239 --> 01:00:17.280
sell out arenas. And when that's
the mentality of the wrestlers, they are

882
01:00:17.280 --> 01:00:21.480
not going to remember, you know, one show in the middle of a

883
01:00:21.519 --> 01:00:25.400
six city, six day run as
well as you would think when history reflects

884
01:00:25.440 --> 01:00:29.679
on you know, the history of
the Royal Rumble. And then they were

885
01:00:29.679 --> 01:00:31.400
in Toledo also in the twenty fifth
the next day, so they're in the

886
01:00:31.440 --> 01:00:37.039
garden and Toledo, Ohio. That's
with a hard foundation on top jeeze.

887
01:00:37.599 --> 01:00:40.000
And they were in Potsdown, Pennsylvania
at a high school with hercules and cocoa

888
01:00:40.000 --> 01:00:44.239
ware. And then the next day
they're at Hershief for a taping of Marathon

889
01:00:44.280 --> 01:00:46.719
taping of Superstars and Challenge in primetime. So, I mean, two days

890
01:00:46.760 --> 01:00:51.079
after the Rumble, these guys are
taping you know, a month of television.

891
01:00:51.920 --> 01:00:55.519
I kind of remember this stuff.
That's unbelievable. Yeah, yeah,

892
01:00:55.760 --> 01:00:59.840
it's a totally different business now in
that way, because you just don't have

893
01:01:00.760 --> 01:01:05.679
that kind of just like total onslaught
of stuff. And you got to remember

894
01:01:05.719 --> 01:01:07.119
that it's not just that these shows
are back to back, they're far away

895
01:01:07.159 --> 01:01:10.400
geographically. Now, they booked the
show as much more, you know,

896
01:01:10.480 --> 01:01:14.320
on a loop, right, it's
a lot more logistically sensible, right,

897
01:01:14.719 --> 01:01:19.679
you're you're a general region. But
back then they were just like grabbing anything

898
01:01:19.719 --> 01:01:22.639
they could on any arena in any
major city they could, because they were

899
01:01:22.679 --> 01:01:25.480
just sort of still creating the idea
of what it was to be a national

900
01:01:25.519 --> 01:01:30.360
wrestling company from a logistics and travel
standpoint, and there wasn't a whole lot

901
01:01:30.400 --> 01:01:37.639
of appreciation for the you know,
potential economic benefits of keeping everything in a

902
01:01:37.679 --> 01:01:40.480
tight geographical region. You just booked, You just booked buildings as you could,

903
01:01:40.960 --> 01:01:44.119
and you sent the talent there.
You got them there one way or

904
01:01:44.159 --> 01:01:47.599
the other. So these guys are
also flying an incredible amount between these shots

905
01:01:47.679 --> 01:01:51.000
day after day after day. They
don't remember any of it by the time

906
01:01:51.000 --> 01:01:53.920
they're done, and they're probably all
i mean, all the drugs they did

907
01:01:53.920 --> 01:01:57.840
to get through it. Listen,
this is no different than any other job.

908
01:01:58.480 --> 01:02:00.679
Yeah, okay, events, what
people can commute on a day to

909
01:02:00.760 --> 01:02:06.719
day basis to commute, people fly
for their for their work. You know,

910
01:02:06.800 --> 01:02:09.119
I don't understand, you know,
if I believe that it is the

911
01:02:09.239 --> 01:02:14.960
responsibility of the talent and of the
of the of the private contractors that we

912
01:02:15.079 --> 01:02:17.239
hire. You know, they sign
up for this. They need to know

913
01:02:17.280 --> 01:02:22.800
that this is the job and they're
doing the job. Are they ever?

914
01:02:24.599 --> 01:02:30.840
And again I don't, you know, there is there there's there's no law

915
01:02:30.920 --> 01:02:34.760
that says I can't make these guys
travel as much as I want to.

916
01:02:37.079 --> 01:02:39.840
I mean, they want to get
still when Vince's in his fantasy world where

917
01:02:39.880 --> 01:02:43.760
that he can work, run the
guys this hard and they're not going to

918
01:02:43.840 --> 01:02:46.119
get injured at an increasingly fast clip
and fun. They didn't. They didn't.

919
01:02:46.119 --> 01:02:50.440
They didn't get injured, blow up
all of his plans in regular time.

920
01:02:50.599 --> 01:02:52.719
They didn't get injured. So I
don't. Again, I don't see

921
01:02:52.760 --> 01:02:55.599
what the problem is exactly. An
eighty five Crockett comes up with the bunk

922
01:02:55.639 --> 01:03:00.159
house standard. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, pal. And

923
01:03:00.199 --> 01:03:05.599
if it is broke, I ain't
broke. Yeah, And if it is

924
01:03:05.639 --> 01:03:07.800
broke, it ain't broke. That's
right, pretty simple. I'll decide if

925
01:03:07.800 --> 01:03:12.760
it's broke, make the town.
I don't want to hear about your torn

926
01:03:12.760 --> 01:03:16.440
acl make the town. Wording bitch, find ways to make the town,

927
01:03:17.559 --> 01:03:22.199
or don't get paid and go home. And I have no problem. If

928
01:03:22.199 --> 01:03:27.079
you can't make the town, I'll
find somebody else who's already at That's exactly

929
01:03:27.119 --> 01:03:30.559
correct, and I'll give them your
money and more. It's the opportunity of

930
01:03:30.559 --> 01:03:32.199
a lifetime pal. We've never been
so busy, there's never been so much

931
01:03:32.239 --> 01:03:37.559
demand for our product in your home. We are. We are stub Toe,

932
01:03:37.679 --> 01:03:45.599
we are creating entertainment. We are
You are the wwee's super entertainers.

933
01:03:46.079 --> 01:03:55.199
That's what you do. You entertain
superbly, right, Okay, I couldn't

934
01:03:55.239 --> 01:04:00.920
put it better myself. So you
act. Stampe created by Dusty working for

935
01:04:01.000 --> 01:04:04.880
Croc at eighty five. It's a
Battle Royal where wrestlers dress up like cowboys

936
01:04:04.880 --> 01:04:09.000
and jeans and they bring weapons.
It's basically like lethal lockdown. When he

937
01:04:09.039 --> 01:04:14.320
got the Book of ta years later, sucks. I know, why are

938
01:04:14.320 --> 01:04:15.760
the dressing cowboys? What's what's the
deal with that? It's just, you

939
01:04:15.760 --> 01:04:20.960
know, Dusty, he just he
thinks people care about like country western boor.

940
01:04:23.239 --> 01:04:27.480
He thinks it means he thinks people
associate something with a bunk house,

941
01:04:27.519 --> 01:04:30.280
as opposed to say, what the
fuck is a bunkhouse? You don't even

942
01:04:30.280 --> 01:04:33.639
know what a bunk house is?
I mean you remember that commercial? Um,

943
01:04:34.000 --> 01:04:38.239
what was it? New York City? Oh? Yeah, what was

944
01:04:38.280 --> 01:04:41.840
that for? What that was for? U? Some kind of salsa?

945
01:04:42.400 --> 01:04:45.519
God? I can't believe I forgot
about this already. Then I'll tell you

946
01:04:45.599 --> 01:04:53.880
just how impactful it was New York
Pace? Is it? I forget what

947
01:04:54.000 --> 01:04:57.800
it? Um? Pace Pacante?
Oh? I didn't know it was Pace

948
01:04:57.840 --> 01:05:01.000
Pacante. I thought it was another
brand anyway. The idea like those guys

949
01:05:01.039 --> 01:05:05.360
that say New York City, that's
who Dusty thinks, we like, we

950
01:05:05.519 --> 01:05:09.280
care about that mythology, and we
don't. We don't care about it.

951
01:05:09.320 --> 01:05:15.000
But that's that's his thing. And
and so you know, if we're going

952
01:05:15.039 --> 01:05:18.559
to go right for the juggular of
Jim Crockett Promotions as the last company with

953
01:05:18.599 --> 01:05:24.760
the gaul to pretend that they can
offer competition to the World Wrestling Federation and

954
01:05:24.800 --> 01:05:28.239
it's increasing hegemony as they continue to
get their pick of the letter of all

955
01:05:28.280 --> 01:05:31.679
the top stars of every territory across
the country. Um, then they're going

956
01:05:31.719 --> 01:05:35.719
to have to pay, and they're
going to have to you know, basically

957
01:05:35.719 --> 01:05:39.800
be matched. It's no different than
them hiring away, Cody wrote to Hurt

958
01:05:39.840 --> 01:05:44.920
a w or hiring away aj and
Shinsky Nakamura to hurt New Japan. What

959
01:05:45.039 --> 01:05:48.559
truly animates Vince is grabbing talent that
not only gives him talent, it also

960
01:05:48.639 --> 01:05:54.360
hurts the other guy. You know, and I have no issue. I

961
01:05:54.440 --> 01:05:59.280
think I'd be that very clear when
it comes to breaking promises. I don't

962
01:05:59.280 --> 01:06:01.480
believe in promise. That's right.
I believe in the promises you make to

963
01:06:01.519 --> 01:06:06.000
me. I but listen, I
believe the only promises that I believe in

964
01:06:06.559 --> 01:06:12.000
are the ones that I choose to
believe in. Its correct, any promise

965
01:06:12.000 --> 01:06:15.360
that comes out of my mouth,
it's not a promise, right. In

966
01:06:15.400 --> 01:06:20.360
fact, you're better off thinking the
opposite. It ceases to be a promise

967
01:06:20.440 --> 01:06:24.320
the moment it escapes my lips.
Is a matter of fact, it ceases

968
01:06:24.360 --> 01:06:30.280
being a promise the moment you sign
your name on the dotted line. Then

969
01:06:30.320 --> 01:06:36.800
all of a sudden, it's fair
game for me to take my pants down

970
01:06:38.599 --> 01:06:46.239
yep, and to drop a deuce
on your face? Do you realize I

971
01:06:46.239 --> 01:06:50.800
could do that to everyone who works
for me and they wouldn't do a single

972
01:06:50.840 --> 01:06:54.239
thing about it. You know,
you could. You can talk about any

973
01:06:54.360 --> 01:06:58.239
kind of corporate abuse or any kind
of office abuse. Sure, but you

974
01:06:58.280 --> 01:07:01.119
know what, no one's going to
do that. No one's going to do

975
01:07:01.199 --> 01:07:05.400
that because some tried, some tried
to step to the man a couple last

976
01:07:05.440 --> 01:07:12.039
year, exactly what tried, and
you know what happened? Nothing, No,

977
01:07:12.119 --> 01:07:15.079
what happened. He put more money
in his pocket, billions and billions

978
01:07:15.079 --> 01:07:17.800
of dollars selling the company than you
ever could have imagined. And he did

979
01:07:17.840 --> 01:07:21.719
it all while saying, so what, So what? You know there's fourteen

980
01:07:21.760 --> 01:07:25.400
million paid and hush money? So
what? And there are all these incredible

981
01:07:25.440 --> 01:07:28.559
accusations. Let me say this,
there's only that much paid and hush money

982
01:07:28.599 --> 01:07:30.880
that you know about. Yeah,
so what about? Now? What are

983
01:07:30.920 --> 01:07:33.320
you gonna do? No one says
shit about it. I mean, you

984
01:07:33.360 --> 01:07:36.679
cannot remove me from my from my
job posts, exactly correct. You can't

985
01:07:36.679 --> 01:07:42.800
take my company away from me,
you stupid bitch. Right. I will

986
01:07:42.840 --> 01:07:45.519
do what I want, that's exactly
correct, to whom I want to do

987
01:07:45.679 --> 01:07:53.320
that's even more correct, and you
will not only do nothing about it,

988
01:07:54.039 --> 01:08:00.880
you will enjoy it. One of
my shit drops unto your face. You

989
01:08:00.960 --> 01:08:04.519
will say, thank you, mister
McMahon. Can I have another? That's

990
01:08:04.559 --> 01:08:10.519
exactly Can we have another bunk house
battle? Royal? Yes, they say,

991
01:08:12.199 --> 01:08:14.159
how did it look? How did
it feel? Well? You know,

992
01:08:14.280 --> 01:08:16.800
cheez. Even less is known about
these bunk house brawls that they would

993
01:08:16.840 --> 01:08:20.000
do around the loop to sort of
you know, as far as I can

994
01:08:20.000 --> 01:08:23.840
tell, it's like the first draft
of let's make fun of Dusty by bringing

995
01:08:23.880 --> 01:08:28.680
him in polka dots. Let's just
make fun of his concepts before the first

996
01:08:28.760 --> 01:08:34.520
Royal rumble, right, yes?
And after and after yes, sometimes it

997
01:08:34.560 --> 01:08:38.000
would be, you know, after
this one, sometimes be a royal rumble.

998
01:08:38.039 --> 01:08:41.920
Sometimes it would be a bunk house
brawl. And the best I think

999
01:08:41.960 --> 01:08:45.439
we're going to be able to do
in getting a window into what WWF's version

1000
01:08:45.479 --> 01:08:48.319
of the bunkhouse Stampede looked like the
bunk house Brawl is in the pages of

1001
01:08:48.399 --> 01:08:53.800
WWF magazine. This is from Ugal
nineteen eighty eight, that month's Battle of

1002
01:08:53.800 --> 01:08:57.520
the Titans. Boss as I've just
sent to you, and I would appreciate

1003
01:08:57.560 --> 01:09:02.199
you conveying along with the solar systems. Here's Keith Elliott Greenberg's coverage Bam Bam

1004
01:09:02.199 --> 01:09:09.079
wins bunk house Brawl. What the
fuck doesn't come in yet? Deal with

1005
01:09:09.199 --> 01:09:14.600
the fact that this exists, and
we'll get it. We'll get it over

1006
01:09:14.600 --> 01:09:18.439
to you that you should have it
Battle of the Titans, and yes,

1007
01:09:18.520 --> 01:09:23.000
Battle of Titans is crucial. Why
don't I have it yet? Um?

1008
01:09:23.039 --> 01:09:26.520
What? What? What I have
in your email? Oh? In my

1009
01:09:26.560 --> 01:09:29.720
email? Pardon me? Yeah,
right, I was looking in the chat

1010
01:09:29.760 --> 01:09:32.840
there here. It's just looked out
first, you know, before you leave

1011
01:09:32.840 --> 01:09:35.159
the words, tell us what you
see, because there's photographs of this thing.

1012
01:09:35.359 --> 01:09:38.920
I see number one, I see
Battle of the Titans, and that

1013
01:09:39.000 --> 01:09:46.279
just makes me happy. Holy shit, holy shit, you get I guess

1014
01:09:46.359 --> 01:09:53.319
there are there are members of the
New York Rangers. I guess they're in

1015
01:09:53.319 --> 01:09:56.880
the Battle Royal New York Islanders,
New York Islanders. Sorry, yeah,

1016
01:09:56.960 --> 01:09:59.560
yeah, So they're just in there
with hockey helmets on, and then someone's

1017
01:09:59.560 --> 01:10:01.680
got a fish net. They're clearly
to me, a player from the Jets

1018
01:10:02.039 --> 01:10:05.479
is in there making fun of the
idea that you know, a bunk house

1019
01:10:05.520 --> 01:10:11.720
brawl is bring any weapons bring any
gear? Is that Lammy Poffo? Well

1020
01:10:11.960 --> 01:10:15.800
where next? Right in front of
Jyd there, I believe it is.

1021
01:10:15.960 --> 01:10:18.800
I don't know what he's wearing,
though he appears to be wearing a super

1022
01:10:18.800 --> 01:10:23.000
Shredder costume. Well that I think
he's wearing armor. I think he's wearing

1023
01:10:23.039 --> 01:10:26.560
a night and I think he's a
Knight in shining armor. You know,

1024
01:10:26.880 --> 01:10:30.680
they're just having a fucking great time
with this idea of like come ready for

1025
01:10:30.760 --> 01:10:35.000
battle in the bunk House Bam Bam
wins bunk House Brawl. Bigelow battles his

1026
01:10:35.079 --> 01:10:41.560
way to victory by Keith Elliott Greenberg. Bam Bam. Bigelow arched his eyebrows,

1027
01:10:41.560 --> 01:10:44.800
stared down to the ground, clenched
his fists, and hopped from foot

1028
01:10:44.840 --> 01:10:50.319
to foot. They pound human fireball
grimmaceda waiting for the waiting for the world

1029
01:10:50.359 --> 01:10:57.159
Losing Entertainments. Second Annual bunk House
Brawl to begin, second annual an annual?

1030
01:10:57.399 --> 01:11:00.359
So this is eighty seven it started? Huh wow? I wonder if

1031
01:11:01.039 --> 01:11:06.680
Greenberg is conflating it with the rumble
from eighty seven, But would it be

1032
01:11:06.720 --> 01:11:10.520
annual? I mean this happened when
did this happen? In eighty eight.

1033
01:11:11.000 --> 01:11:13.680
Well, this is in the April
eighty eighth edition, but I'm not sure

1034
01:11:13.800 --> 01:11:15.720
you never know it. This could
have happened in eighty seven, you know,

1035
01:11:15.800 --> 01:11:19.439
like there was a battle one of
my in the March. In the

1036
01:11:19.479 --> 01:11:24.399
March nineteen ninety two W magazine,
they the Battle of the Titans was from

1037
01:11:24.720 --> 01:11:30.039
Tuesday in Texas, three months prior
acazing, no clue. Let's not forget.

1038
01:11:30.039 --> 01:11:32.520
This is when they brought Bigelow in
with big plans in eighty seven.

1039
01:11:32.520 --> 01:11:35.199
Remember him and Survivor series that year. Yeah, he was the last man

1040
01:11:35.239 --> 01:11:40.960
before andre Andre killed him. And
it's timely because Dark Side of the Ring

1041
01:11:41.000 --> 01:11:43.600
just came out with their Bam Bam
episode, so we've got the full you

1042
01:11:43.640 --> 01:11:46.640
know, tragedy of his story.
All right. I remember I remember that

1043
01:11:46.680 --> 01:11:48.800
call. That was a two thousand
and seven one, right, wasn't that

1044
01:11:49.520 --> 01:11:54.760
when he passed? Yeah? Sounds
about right. I feel like I remember

1045
01:11:54.840 --> 01:11:57.560
him being part of that. It
was like every week you were calling me

1046
01:11:57.600 --> 01:12:00.960
with somebody. Every week I was
getting the call at that was intense there

1047
01:12:00.000 --> 01:12:02.560
for a while. That was a
rough year. Um. So Bam Bam

1048
01:12:02.600 --> 01:12:05.920
came in in eighty seven. He
had you know, been a sensation in

1049
01:12:05.960 --> 01:12:10.439
the wrestling magazines. He had his
first match at Studio fifty four with Paul

1050
01:12:10.520 --> 01:12:13.920
Hayman promoting it in New York City
after training at the Monster Factory with Larry

1051
01:12:14.000 --> 01:12:16.319
Sharp out of New Jersey and just
being able to do just the videotapes of

1052
01:12:16.399 --> 01:12:19.760
him the things he could do for
his size from an acrobatic standpoint, which

1053
01:12:19.760 --> 01:12:24.199
were just out of this world.
Oh yeah, ton of buzz about the

1054
01:12:24.239 --> 01:12:27.119
guy. They brought him in after
just a couple of matches to WWF and

1055
01:12:27.199 --> 01:12:29.800
had big plans. He was,
you know, rubbing shoulders with Hulk Cokean.

1056
01:12:29.840 --> 01:12:32.079
He was always very complimentary of Hulk
and didn't really felt like Hulk was

1057
01:12:32.079 --> 01:12:34.880
ever trying to you know, undercut
him. But he ran and Andre the

1058
01:12:34.960 --> 01:12:40.239
giant who you know, is a
bitch when it comes to other people being

1059
01:12:40.239 --> 01:12:43.439
presented as the next big guy in
WWF, and he's going to find a

1060
01:12:43.479 --> 01:12:45.199
reason to hate them. He's going
to find a reason to say that they're

1061
01:12:45.279 --> 01:12:54.520
not grateful for the opportunity exactly.
B If Andre hated if Andre loved you,

1062
01:12:54.560 --> 01:12:57.039
he was the best. Andre hated. Andrea only hated you if you

1063
01:12:57.079 --> 01:12:59.640
felt like you were going to get
paid to be the big guy in roster

1064
01:12:59.680 --> 01:13:01.119
instead of him? And what what
is it? What is it? Bell

1065
01:13:01.880 --> 01:13:10.399
about it? Very please? Ansk
questions? And I've got I've got things

1066
01:13:10.399 --> 01:13:13.920
to do, all right, I'm
very busy. I've got I've got you

1067
01:13:13.960 --> 01:13:16.840
know, I've got lots of can't
you see paperwork? There's there's papers and

1068
01:13:17.399 --> 01:13:20.640
in front of me in my hands, I've got my glasses down at the

1069
01:13:20.680 --> 01:13:26.640
end of my nose. You know
very well that I'm very busy. Apologize

1070
01:13:26.720 --> 01:13:35.319
mis bar however, or won't the
tolo something? You're both bigger? Which

1071
01:13:35.319 --> 01:13:45.960
one is that? Who? Patterson? Who's bam bam bigel he's got the

1072
01:13:46.319 --> 01:13:51.039
got the fire on his head?
What who? Who? What? Got

1073
01:13:51.039 --> 01:13:54.640
a touchdows on the side and give
it the ball the bad guy from Jersey

1074
01:13:54.640 --> 01:14:01.640
to get the bald guy Bundy,
you know to bam bam. Not Terry

1075
01:14:01.680 --> 01:14:09.079
Gordy. I didn't even know what
that is. What's a Terry Gordy dude?

1076
01:14:09.119 --> 01:14:12.359
I'm right here, brother, what
I'm here? Terry Terry Terry No

1077
01:14:12.520 --> 01:14:17.479
not you damn it. Get back
in the closet please, what Terry Gordy?

1078
01:14:17.680 --> 01:14:23.439
Brother? I don't do nobody's taking
Terry brother I'm whole COVID. Terry,

1079
01:14:23.520 --> 01:14:26.439
dude, Terry, please just get
them, get out, get out.

1080
01:14:26.560 --> 01:14:33.079
I'd rather take Terry Garvin at this
point. Seriously, Jesus Christ Patterson,

1081
01:14:33.119 --> 01:14:35.399
you're gonna teach me how to speak
with an echo? You do it

1082
01:14:35.520 --> 01:14:40.119
very well? Now, Um?
All right, So there's a bolt?

1083
01:14:40.680 --> 01:14:44.039
Are you talking about some andre?
Are you talking about some bald man that

1084
01:14:44.119 --> 01:14:46.039
has things drawn his skull? Is
that? What is that? I guess

1085
01:14:46.039 --> 01:14:51.319
that's who Bam Bam Bigelow is?
Yes? Are you what? What do

1086
01:14:51.359 --> 01:14:55.760
you want to do about? What
is it about Bam bam that that has

1087
01:14:55.800 --> 01:15:05.119
you? So whatever? Mister he
does me an oil chuck and he did

1088
01:15:05.119 --> 01:15:15.960
it? You know what? Now
he divis? Oh? But then I

1089
01:15:15.520 --> 01:15:19.000
first of all, and the fact
that you just oil check to yourself is

1090
01:15:19.159 --> 01:15:26.039
very very very disturbing to me.
Uh. Second of all, Uh,

1091
01:15:26.399 --> 01:15:30.079
why patter Patterson? What what does
you know? Is there any reason why

1092
01:15:30.079 --> 01:15:32.760
we should keep man Bam Bigelow?
Does he do anything interesting? Does cart

1093
01:15:32.760 --> 01:15:35.479
wheels? Does cart wheels? Does
he jump off the top rope at all?

1094
01:15:35.640 --> 01:15:40.079
Yes? He does? What does
he do? A headbut a Headbut

1095
01:15:41.000 --> 01:15:43.479
can you do a head but off
the top rope. Andre, No,

1096
01:15:43.600 --> 01:15:48.319
I come, mister macmahn. Maybe
you didn't hear me correctly. Can you

1097
01:15:48.359 --> 01:15:54.840
do a headbut off the top rope? No, mis come and climb.

1098
01:15:55.359 --> 01:16:01.800
I come over, climb top rope
Andre. If you if I'm to you

1099
01:16:01.840 --> 01:16:08.039
know, acknowledge and to fulfill your
request, you are going to need to

1100
01:16:08.079 --> 01:16:16.880
add multiple top rope flying maneuvers to
your repertoire. And I want to him

1101
01:16:16.920 --> 01:16:20.119
and I'm going to have to approve
all of them. I wonder he hated

1102
01:16:20.119 --> 01:16:28.000
Bam bam. So get going,
Bell, start training, talk to Coco,

1103
01:16:28.560 --> 01:16:31.119
talk to anybody who gets on the
top rope, all right, and

1104
01:16:31.239 --> 01:16:35.760
I'll take care of that fucking idiot
from New Jersey. I hate New Jersey.

1105
01:16:38.000 --> 01:16:42.800
I hate people from New Jersey.
Yes, I'm gonna kill him.

1106
01:16:42.840 --> 01:16:46.079
And right Bam Bam comes in.
He's doing all of these high impact dives

1107
01:16:46.079 --> 01:16:53.119
at his size, and come early
eighty eight, he's got two bad knees

1108
01:16:53.159 --> 01:16:57.680
already and he needs surgery. Wow. So they had big plans for him.

1109
01:16:57.720 --> 01:16:59.920
I mean, he was going to
probably be like one b under home

1110
01:17:00.880 --> 01:17:02.319
it we'll talk about it. It
was kind of like the spot they originally

1111
01:17:02.319 --> 01:17:04.960
had in mind for Jim Duggan after
they signed him away from Mid South,

1112
01:17:05.359 --> 01:17:08.880
but then he had the problem with
Iron Cheek and the arrest which you will

1113
01:17:08.880 --> 01:17:12.880
also talk about. This comes before
Douggan has chosen to win the first Royal

1114
01:17:12.960 --> 01:17:15.119
Rumble. But Duggan was sort of
like going to be you know, the

1115
01:17:15.119 --> 01:17:18.560
baby face that headlines the show's Hogan
couldn't but it's kind of like associated with

1116
01:17:18.600 --> 01:17:21.439
Hogan. And then of course clearly
right you watch the Driver series, you

1117
01:17:21.439 --> 01:17:24.800
can tell that's exactly what they want
for Bam Bam. He puts his arm

1118
01:17:24.840 --> 01:17:29.279
around Hogan like a roquette and does
a double big boot boss for Gotsy Patterson.

1119
01:17:29.520 --> 01:17:32.000
Can we who can we? Who
can we use to take out Bam

1120
01:17:32.039 --> 01:17:40.520
BAM's knees? There's only one and
it's Andre and it pisses Vince off.

1121
01:17:40.520 --> 01:17:44.279
According to the Dark Side documentary and
other things, Bam Bam said in interviews

1122
01:17:44.319 --> 01:17:46.119
that Bigelow needs time off to rest
his knees, that he can't just keep

1123
01:17:46.159 --> 01:17:50.439
grinding through these injuries and find a
way to work around him, despite you

1124
01:17:50.479 --> 01:17:55.600
know, Vince's enthusiasm for pushing Big
a little fast and hearts. Wow,

1125
01:17:56.000 --> 01:17:59.359
what are the first examples of Vince
you know, just souring on something that

1126
01:17:59.399 --> 01:18:03.119
he gets so excited about because it
doesn't play out to his liking immediately from

1127
01:18:03.119 --> 01:18:05.319
the from from the jump. What
do you mean you can't? What do

1128
01:18:05.359 --> 01:18:10.039
you mean hurt your knees? What
did you do? Huh? I don't

1129
01:18:10.079 --> 01:18:12.399
know, Vince. I was kind
of just being a three hundred and seventy

1130
01:18:12.439 --> 01:18:14.840
five pound guy that's jumping off the
top rope. It's gonna happen. It's

1131
01:18:14.840 --> 01:18:16.720
inevitable, you know the style.
No no, no, no, no

1132
01:18:16.600 --> 01:18:19.720
no. I can't work all these
towns and be bam bam bigelow every night.

1133
01:18:19.720 --> 01:18:21.279
We'll tell you what. I'll tell
you what, Pal, You're not

1134
01:18:21.319 --> 01:18:25.680
going to work these towns. Yeah, exactly, all right, You're fucking

1135
01:18:25.760 --> 01:18:30.159
done, all right, because you
know what, I can't have fat asses

1136
01:18:30.199 --> 01:18:34.640
like you who jump off the fucking
top rope and can't handle it. Right,

1137
01:18:34.760 --> 01:18:39.079
You get on my radar because you
can do things big men supposedly never

1138
01:18:39.119 --> 01:18:42.479
could do, and within a year
you're damaged. Goods to me, within

1139
01:18:42.520 --> 01:18:45.239
a year, you can't do the
only thing I ever even heard of you

1140
01:18:45.319 --> 01:18:49.279
for you're doing shit that no other
fat bitch is ever done. I think

1141
01:18:51.039 --> 01:18:56.359
him here, I'm I have a
sold a guy that could do shit that

1142
01:18:56.479 --> 01:19:00.680
no other fat fuck could do.
And you know what, now you tell

1143
01:19:00.720 --> 01:19:05.760
me you can't do it. So
who who's been screwedy? Are you fucking

1144
01:19:05.800 --> 01:19:11.600
bitch? By June he's getting pinned
cleaned by Andre in the garden. By

1145
01:19:11.680 --> 01:19:16.319
December, what's he doing? He's
a Starcade. He wrestling Berry Windham at

1146
01:19:16.319 --> 01:19:24.000
Starcade. Yeah, but here this
U bunk House Brawl. This is before

1147
01:19:24.800 --> 01:19:28.000
things had soured on the first run
of the Bammers in the e. Please

1148
01:19:28.000 --> 01:19:32.600
continue from magazines. Everyone just better
stay out of my way, he warned.

1149
01:19:32.640 --> 01:19:36.880
Bigelow's weapons this night would be his
bulk, his surprising speed, and

1150
01:19:36.960 --> 01:19:41.960
his might. Others who are in
themselves with only their natural skills and physiques.

1151
01:19:42.000 --> 01:19:45.680
Where the mountainous one man gang and
young, sleek footed Sam Houston.

1152
01:19:46.159 --> 01:19:49.960
What made the arsenals of these men
curious is the character of the Bunkhouse Brawl,

1153
01:19:50.359 --> 01:19:54.760
the only w t B match where
the use of foreign objects is not

1154
01:19:54.880 --> 01:19:59.760
only condoned but encouraged. No way, this isn't a knock on Dusties contin

1155
01:20:00.119 --> 01:20:04.560
totally. The thirty odd wrestlers who
competed in this helter skelter variation of a

1156
01:20:04.600 --> 01:20:09.920
battle Royal were allowed to wear anything
and bring whatever they wanted into the ring.

1157
01:20:10.399 --> 01:20:15.119
The get ups were frighteningly creative.
Wrestling Wrestling great Ernie bigcat Lad who

1158
01:20:15.119 --> 01:20:19.119
played football with the San Diego Chargers, Houston Oilers and Kansas City Chiefs,

1159
01:20:19.479 --> 01:20:24.880
or a complete football uniform into combat, as did the Rock Don Morocco,

1160
01:20:25.359 --> 01:20:32.319
Canadian Dino Bravo and Jacques and Raymond
Rougeau sported hockey gear including sticks hercules,

1161
01:20:32.319 --> 01:20:36.399
and the Junkyard Dog brought chains I
didn't think he was in the company at

1162
01:20:36.399 --> 01:20:43.520
this time. The British Bulldogs took
in a long handed dog catcher's net,

1163
01:20:43.920 --> 01:20:48.880
Australian outback jack, a boomerang ska, a bone outlaw ron bass, a

1164
01:20:49.000 --> 01:20:55.560
whip, and the Natural butcherad a
weightlifters belt. Demolition came in leather and

1165
01:20:55.640 --> 01:21:02.319
spikes and leaping Lanny Poffo a suit
of armor. Oregonians Ken Petera and Billy

1166
01:21:02.439 --> 01:21:08.680
Jack Hayes terrified grapplers and fans alike
when they entered the ring wielding timber slicing

1167
01:21:08.840 --> 01:21:13.800
chainsaws. Fortunately for the other Titans, the duo placed the cutters on the

1168
01:21:13.840 --> 01:21:18.239
timekeeper's table before the opening bell sounded, A disoriented George the animal Steel wandered

1169
01:21:18.239 --> 01:21:23.960
the arena floor while those in the
ring clustered together, throwing punches, kicks,

1170
01:21:24.079 --> 01:21:28.079
and each other. Popo took off
the armored helmet to bash one man

1171
01:21:28.119 --> 01:21:31.439
Gang, but the four hundred and
fifty pound monster from the backstreets of Chicago

1172
01:21:31.840 --> 01:21:35.640
did not feel the thing. He
all but ignored leapin Lanny and formed a

1173
01:21:35.720 --> 01:21:41.880
quick partnership with Bass to hammer on
Bigelow. Bigelow fought gamely back against his

1174
01:21:41.960 --> 01:21:45.279
two opponents. As Popo searched for
someone else to clauber, he settled for

1175
01:21:45.319 --> 01:21:50.520
out back Jack, who countered with
a boomerang blow. You imagine this in

1176
01:21:50.640 --> 01:21:56.880
nineteen eighty seven in WWF. This
kind of fucking hijinks so bizarre, it's

1177
01:21:56.920 --> 01:22:00.159
like the hardcore division before. Right
on the opposite side of the ring,

1178
01:22:00.239 --> 01:22:08.800
Hercules and Bolshevik Boris Zukov forged a
hasty alliance. They first wrestled the British

1179
01:22:08.840 --> 01:22:14.359
Bulldogs net away and used the handle
to choke Hanes against the ropes. Morocco

1180
01:22:14.479 --> 01:22:18.319
made the save, charging to the
trouble spot and breaking up the mugging by

1181
01:22:18.399 --> 01:22:24.840
smacking the assailants with hercules chain.
Somehow the chain was transferred to the Ultimate

1182
01:22:24.840 --> 01:22:29.359
Warrior, who wasted no time in
swinging it against the sharp studs worn by

1183
01:22:29.399 --> 01:22:34.039
acts of demolition. Ultimate Warrior then
took a swipe at Lad, protected by

1184
01:22:34.119 --> 01:22:38.840
his football equipment. It is not
certain if the big cat even knew that

1185
01:22:38.920 --> 01:22:43.000
he was hit. Lad rambled across
the ring and shoulder blocked one man.

1186
01:22:43.000 --> 01:22:48.960
Gang Gang reached nonchalantly pushing Lad away
and moving on to flail others. George's

1187
01:22:48.960 --> 01:22:53.279
animal. Steele was still confused on
the arena floor. Seeing the men in

1188
01:22:53.279 --> 01:22:58.119
the ring bashing their neighbors, Steele
decided to go after the individual closest to

1189
01:22:58.239 --> 01:23:02.239
him. Slick back, hunched and
arms flapping steel chase the doctor of style

1190
01:23:02.520 --> 01:23:08.920
who show who shoved a side ring
a ringside referees, judges and photographers to

1191
01:23:09.119 --> 01:23:12.199
escape the wild man. The word
in The Observer at the time was that

1192
01:23:12.239 --> 01:23:15.600
George Steele wasn't about to take that
over the top rope to the floor bump

1193
01:23:15.720 --> 01:23:19.840
necessitated by the Battle Royals, so
he'd come out and just hang around ringside

1194
01:23:19.840 --> 01:23:25.000
and do whatever. How would you
get eliminated? How do you get eliminated?

1195
01:23:25.039 --> 01:23:27.840
Then it was almost like he was
never in the match. He would

1196
01:23:27.840 --> 01:23:30.279
just come down in the middle of
these matches. I guess these things at

1197
01:23:30.319 --> 01:23:35.199
ringside now never renowned for a long
attention span, Steel tired of the capt'

1198
01:23:35.199 --> 01:23:40.399
and mouse contest and looked for another
diversion. A table struck his interest.

1199
01:23:40.680 --> 01:23:44.720
The animal grabbed it and used it
is inhuman strength to hoist it over the

1200
01:23:44.800 --> 01:23:48.239
ropes. Hercules was the first to
be victimized by the new weapon dynamite.

1201
01:23:48.279 --> 01:23:53.800
Kid turned the table up on the
mat, and the Ultimate Warrior ran Herk's

1202
01:23:53.840 --> 01:23:59.560
head into the top. Hercules,
no strangers to chains, chairs and other

1203
01:23:59.760 --> 01:24:09.000
injurious injurious objects, held his aching
skull and reeled, but continued fighting.

1204
01:24:09.600 --> 01:24:13.600
In a move reminiscent of the story
of David and Goliath, two hundred and

1205
01:24:13.640 --> 01:24:17.720
twenty seven pound Sam Houston attempted to
square off against one man Gang. Houston's

1206
01:24:17.760 --> 01:24:25.720
method was innovative. He snuck up
on Gang from behind Clauton brother, climbed

1207
01:24:25.720 --> 01:24:28.560
the big man's back, sat on
his shoulders, and punched down on the

1208
01:24:28.560 --> 01:24:32.560
gargantuan's tattooed head. Gang lumbered to
the ropes, lifted Houston by the thighs

1209
01:24:32.600 --> 01:24:38.159
and hurled him onto the arena floor, where Popo and Outback Jack had recently

1210
01:24:38.199 --> 01:24:42.319
been deposited at Morocco and the New
York kids. What a goofball? What

1211
01:24:42.399 --> 01:24:45.560
the fuck is going on? I
don't even know what a fucking moron?

1212
01:24:45.760 --> 01:24:51.600
What are the screaming Norman smiling there? That's it. The fit the picture

1213
01:24:51.600 --> 01:24:55.920
of the magazine. He looks like
everybody's doing a Dubie stub hardcore man right

1214
01:24:56.000 --> 01:25:00.279
exactly. The eliminations continued in rapid
succession. Steele finally entered the ring,

1215
01:25:00.319 --> 01:25:04.159
only to be thrown out by Read. The Animal compensated for his loss by

1216
01:25:04.479 --> 01:25:11.319
again attacking Natural's manager Slick before returning
to the dressing room. The Bolsheviks ritted

1217
01:25:11.319 --> 01:25:15.760
the bout of Jacques Rougeou and Ken
PETERA. Ultimate Warrior broke up the Soviet

1218
01:25:15.800 --> 01:25:19.319
force by discarding Nikolai Volkoff Taxa.
Jim Duggan managed to pick up one man

1219
01:25:19.359 --> 01:25:27.000
Gang and cast him toward the first
row. Okay Reid crept behind Duggan and

1220
01:25:27.439 --> 01:25:31.920
disposed of him. Lad rushed pushed
out Read, Junkyard Dog pushed out Lad.

1221
01:25:32.119 --> 01:25:36.119
Ultimate Warrior and Hercules were removed and
continued their slug fest at ringside.

1222
01:25:36.479 --> 01:25:42.399
The Bunkhouse Brawl finally evaporated to four
survivors, Bam Bam, Bigelow, the

1223
01:25:42.520 --> 01:25:47.000
Rock, Don Morocco. If you
smell what Don Morocco was cooking wrestlers to

1224
01:25:47.079 --> 01:25:53.800
be Ax and Smash of Demolition.
Morocco and Bigelow realized they were in against

1225
01:25:53.840 --> 01:25:58.800
an established combo adept at brutal teamwork. The only way to beat Ax and

1226
01:25:58.800 --> 01:26:04.479
Smash, their foes quickly concluded was
by using divide and conquer tactics. Rock

1227
01:26:05.199 --> 01:26:11.600
removed his football helmet and wrapped Smash
with it repeatedly. Bam Bam floored and

1228
01:26:11.680 --> 01:26:15.079
choked Axe in another part of the
ring, placing his helmet back on his

1229
01:26:15.119 --> 01:26:19.960
head. Morocco tried a flying tackle
pretty enough to gain him an NFL roster

1230
01:26:20.119 --> 01:26:26.800
spot. Okay, cool, There
was also there was only one problem.

1231
01:26:26.920 --> 01:26:31.079
It's fake. Wrestling is fake,
and we'll be ahead of that in the

1232
01:26:31.239 --> 01:26:35.239
end. Thank you for reading Smash
sidestep the maneuver, and with the help

1233
01:26:35.279 --> 01:26:39.880
of Sicca, who pulled down the
top rope from outside the ring, Morocco

1234
01:26:40.159 --> 01:26:45.000
was done for Demolition then concentrated their
attack on one large target. Bigelow,

1235
01:26:45.319 --> 01:26:49.680
Axe and Smash pummeled Bigelow and whipped
him into the ropes. Bigelow went over,

1236
01:26:49.840 --> 01:26:56.680
but held onto the top strand,
and exhibiting astounding agility, boosted himself

1237
01:26:56.720 --> 01:27:00.800
back into the ring. That went
to work. A bewildered Smash was punched

1238
01:27:00.800 --> 01:27:03.119
to the arena floor. In a
moment later, Axe was ejected by an

1239
01:27:03.119 --> 01:27:09.960
authoritative dropkick from behind. Man Bigelow
had cautioned the other wrestlers to keep out

1240
01:27:09.960 --> 01:27:13.520
of his path. When the Bunkhouse
Brawl ended, there was no one left

1241
01:27:13.560 --> 01:27:18.920
in it. Bigelow had plowed his
way to a decisive and unforgettable victory.

1242
01:27:19.199 --> 01:27:26.239
Truly amazing, truly amazing. That's
wild. So you know, if you

1243
01:27:26.239 --> 01:27:28.560
see it this way, you almost
start to see. Of course, Vince

1244
01:27:28.560 --> 01:27:31.159
didn't take the Royal Rumble concept seriously. He was in the mode of mocking

1245
01:27:32.000 --> 01:27:35.520
the very idea of a specialty battle
royal because that's a dusty thing and a

1246
01:27:35.560 --> 01:27:39.640
Crockett thing, and we must make
fun of them, we must mock.

1247
01:27:40.760 --> 01:27:46.039
Truly wild. So the Bunkhouse Brawl
in many ways preceded the Royal Rumble and

1248
01:27:46.159 --> 01:27:49.880
the WWF. And that's kind of
what it look and felt like. Come

1249
01:27:49.920 --> 01:27:55.880
one, Come all dressed in as
much goofy clothing as you possibly could imagine

1250
01:27:55.960 --> 01:27:58.880
man to be a fly on the
wall for those I know got to be

1251
01:27:58.880 --> 01:28:03.520
one of those on tables have Morocco
dress like a fucking idiot. Right.

1252
01:28:05.119 --> 01:28:11.680
So the Bunkhouse stampede again as we
as we touched on already was you could

1253
01:28:11.720 --> 01:28:14.159
say this second but in a lot
of ways, the first attempt by Jim

1254
01:28:14.159 --> 01:28:16.560
Crockett Promotions to do pay per view
as we know it, not closed circuit

1255
01:28:16.840 --> 01:28:20.279
starcade around the country and arenas on
big movie screens. We're talking about pay

1256
01:28:20.319 --> 01:28:26.359
per view as WWF had had known
yet and perfected it. And they tried

1257
01:28:26.359 --> 01:28:30.560
to do it at Starcade eighty seven, and they you know, had clearance

1258
01:28:30.560 --> 01:28:32.800
in several major cities across the country, but not nearly as many as they

1259
01:28:32.800 --> 01:28:36.239
would have liked when Vince pulled the
powerplay, of course, So this January

1260
01:28:36.279 --> 01:28:41.560
twenty four, eighty eight is really, you know, Crockett's attempt without thinking

1261
01:28:41.720 --> 01:28:44.800
there was a chance that WWF would
counter them on pay per view and force

1262
01:28:44.880 --> 01:28:48.920
cable companies to pick and choose here
and uh sure, well we won't do

1263
01:28:48.960 --> 01:28:51.600
that, but we'll go up live
for a free special. And you better

1264
01:28:51.640 --> 01:28:58.399
believe, just as prominent in the
hype for this show on WWF Television before

1265
01:28:58.439 --> 01:29:00.439
it took place, it is not
the idea, serilely that there's going to

1266
01:29:00.479 --> 01:29:04.039
be this unique novel battle royal concept
on the show, but that it's free.

1267
01:29:04.439 --> 01:29:06.520
They hit free, and they hit
free. And why do they hit

1268
01:29:06.520 --> 01:29:10.520
free because they know on that same
night the other guys are asking you to

1269
01:29:10.520 --> 01:29:13.880
pay pay, pay, pay,
pay free, free free. It was

1270
01:29:13.920 --> 01:29:16.319
so cutthroat, man, it was
so much worse than it is today.

1271
01:29:16.720 --> 01:29:21.279
I mean, they went right for
your date and they just tried to,

1272
01:29:23.600 --> 01:29:26.479
you know, wave as many objects
over here as they possibly could to get

1273
01:29:26.520 --> 01:29:29.159
you to not look at the other
guys, even though they had they were

1274
01:29:29.319 --> 01:29:33.079
dying. I would love to to
kind of have witnessed some of this,

1275
01:29:33.640 --> 01:29:36.319
Oh to live through right, to
have been a fan, I'm mature fan.

1276
01:29:36.399 --> 01:29:40.760
In the eighties, what a ride
like if you live down in Atlanta

1277
01:29:40.760 --> 01:29:44.159
and you got like every they had, like the Joe Petticino Hour where they

1278
01:29:44.199 --> 01:29:49.119
showed like highlights from all over the
country and just basically every single promotion going

1279
01:29:49.159 --> 01:29:53.920
on territorially had some way in if
you had you know, the full cable

1280
01:29:53.920 --> 01:29:56.960
package and everything. You could watch
it all forget about it, man,

1281
01:29:57.319 --> 01:30:00.119
so exciting because you had Vince Plucky
is pick of the litter. That's the

1282
01:30:00.159 --> 01:30:04.279
thing. It's so different today,
is right. These guys aren't, with

1283
01:30:04.680 --> 01:30:10.279
few exceptions, anywhere near the level
of stars when WWF comes knocking now as

1284
01:30:10.279 --> 01:30:14.800
they were back then, and it's
like every single top guy in the in

1285
01:30:14.840 --> 01:30:18.800
the territory you grew up watching is
now in the WWF, and it's just

1286
01:30:18.800 --> 01:30:23.319
it's just wonder it's wonderfully fascinating to
watch play out. Not great for everybody

1287
01:30:23.319 --> 01:30:26.239
in the business, but just of
course what a time to be alive.

1288
01:30:27.760 --> 01:30:30.479
Now, what's the rumble about this
eighty eight rumble? It's really about the

1289
01:30:30.520 --> 01:30:39.199
February fifth main event NBC special,
isn't It's about the whole cocon under the

1290
01:30:39.239 --> 01:30:43.720
giant contract signing for that big show, which is of course, in a

1291
01:30:43.760 --> 01:30:46.520
lot of ways, you could say
it's the first primetime network special that wrestling

1292
01:30:46.520 --> 01:30:50.760
did since the fifties, because the
Saturday eight made events were of course at

1293
01:30:50.760 --> 01:30:55.880
eleven thirty at night on these coasts
and replacing Saturday Night Live. This was

1294
01:30:56.199 --> 01:30:59.039
you know this, It took me
forever to kind of figure this out because

1295
01:30:59.039 --> 01:31:04.279
I had no idea, Like,
you know, I didn't really realize that

1296
01:31:04.279 --> 01:31:09.199
that Saturday Night's main event. We're
all taped, and I remember kind of

1297
01:31:09.199 --> 01:31:11.680
figuring out, like, no,
the main event is a different thing.

1298
01:31:11.960 --> 01:31:16.479
It's like, yes, like w
puts it underneath the Saturdaynight main event banner

1299
01:31:16.840 --> 01:31:20.199
and it has a similar type of
graphics, right, it like it's kind

1300
01:31:20.239 --> 01:31:25.840
of a spinoff of it. But
no, it's prime time. It's network

1301
01:31:25.880 --> 01:31:31.640
television. It's on not on Saturday. Yeah, it's crazy, it's huge,

1302
01:31:31.640 --> 01:31:36.800
it's um it's really another one of
those examples of the hotness of WrestleMania

1303
01:31:36.880 --> 01:31:42.000
three paying off like a full year
later, and that NBCY was compelled to

1304
01:31:42.039 --> 01:31:45.199
put this on live in prime time
like this, and with that kind of

1305
01:31:47.239 --> 01:31:50.720
a huge opportunity in front of them, you can start to see you again,

1306
01:31:50.760 --> 01:31:55.680
a whole other reason why the very
first televised Royal Rebel didn't seem like

1307
01:31:55.720 --> 01:31:59.399
a big deal. They're a week
away from the real deal, the real

1308
01:31:59.439 --> 01:32:02.359
opportunity, and we've done this main
event in the archives. Oh yeah,

1309
01:32:02.560 --> 01:32:06.560
we've talked about the rating that show
did. It'll never ever get to that

1310
01:32:06.600 --> 01:32:12.560
point again unless they somehow put a
huge WrestleMania on network television for free in

1311
01:32:12.640 --> 01:32:15.760
some year in the future. I
don't think it still will never be that

1312
01:32:15.920 --> 01:32:18.319
number. Yeah, that percentage of
the people who were watching television to be

1313
01:32:18.359 --> 01:32:24.399
tuned into a WWF show. It's
just it's just possible, wasn't It wasn't

1314
01:32:24.439 --> 01:32:27.760
like thirty three million people or something
somewhere around there. Yeah, I get

1315
01:32:27.760 --> 01:32:31.039
the exact number, but you'll send
the archives that I'll never I mean,

1316
01:32:31.079 --> 01:32:35.079
you can't get people to watch that
except for like the Super Bowl, right,

1317
01:32:36.560 --> 01:32:39.119
And that's a time, you know, when there were just so many

1318
01:32:39.119 --> 01:32:44.279
more households with televisions, but you
had Andre and Hogan wrestling each other on

1319
01:32:44.319 --> 01:32:48.039
free network primetime television. And that's
whether of course they did the twin Hebner

1320
01:32:48.079 --> 01:32:55.239
angle, that brilliant angle, and
it was just and that incredible shot of

1321
01:32:55.359 --> 01:33:00.680
Teddy Bias with the championship belt.
Oh, so many people care, like

1322
01:33:01.000 --> 01:33:04.000
people in your life, normal people, people to the grocery store. They

1323
01:33:04.039 --> 01:33:12.520
cared enough to watch this from from
how Hogan you watch that? This This

1324
01:33:12.600 --> 01:33:15.920
is perfect into this episode because you
got to hear it just like you're saying,

1325
01:33:15.920 --> 01:33:19.399
we rest all kinds of news people
watching this for the first did you

1326
01:33:19.399 --> 01:33:24.359
see that the referee he get that
plastic surgery done? That's correct, you

1327
01:33:24.399 --> 01:33:28.119
see that unbelievable Hogan said was plastic
surgery? What do people don't you know

1328
01:33:28.439 --> 01:33:32.199
what people will do these days alone
and everything. But that's that's too far,

1329
01:33:32.399 --> 01:33:34.479
you know. You know, look, I get it, I get

1330
01:33:34.520 --> 01:33:39.119
it. I get the idea that
that that, But come on, you're

1331
01:33:39.159 --> 01:33:43.560
telling me that that that that the
guy went so far as as as as

1332
01:33:43.600 --> 01:33:46.520
to just completely you know, we
do his face with plastic surgery. I

1333
01:33:46.520 --> 01:33:49.760
mean, what what's going on here? What's next? Me? What?

1334
01:33:49.840 --> 01:33:55.720
What? What's next? You?
You know, parking tickets for the Easter

1335
01:33:55.760 --> 01:33:59.720
Bunny? You know, what are
you talking about? And one of the

1336
01:33:59.760 --> 01:34:01.960
things Bruce Pritchard makes very clear and
talking about the show is the Ilvingvins cared

1337
01:34:01.960 --> 01:34:05.720
about with the Hogan Andre angle.
Of course, in fact, the first

1338
01:34:06.159 --> 01:34:10.279
draft of this Live USA special,
before they put the Rumble on, there

1339
01:34:10.399 --> 01:34:14.199
was just matches and the Hogan Andre
contract signing, you know. And the

1340
01:34:14.199 --> 01:34:18.479
thing is, I just don't understand. If there's one thing you know that

1341
01:34:18.640 --> 01:34:24.399
I really have an issue with on
this show is the formatting of it.

1342
01:34:24.880 --> 01:34:30.640
Yeah, I just don't understand.
Now, I understand, I do remember

1343
01:34:30.760 --> 01:34:33.199
that this is the day, this
is the time period of you put on

1344
01:34:33.279 --> 01:34:36.760
your your biggest thing close to the
beginning, but they didn't even do that

1345
01:34:36.800 --> 01:34:44.079
with the Hogan Andre thing. And
it's like, I just I just don't

1346
01:34:44.159 --> 01:34:51.119
understand why why either Hogan Andre or
the Royal Rumble didn't close the show well,

1347
01:34:51.159 --> 01:34:55.279
and why we have ever Saw loved
the Rumble and wanted that to be

1348
01:34:55.359 --> 01:34:58.399
first. That's his version of Saturday
Night Live has its best sketch at the

1349
01:34:58.399 --> 01:35:00.800
beginning, or you know, Jay
Leno has his best guest on first,

1350
01:35:01.600 --> 01:35:05.119
because ever Saw loved the Rumble concept
more than he loved the contract signing angle

1351
01:35:05.199 --> 01:35:09.640
that was vix. So yeah,
that's what you have here. That's why

1352
01:35:09.640 --> 01:35:14.920
the Rumble comes on so early.
He's just like, yeah, okay,

1353
01:35:15.119 --> 01:35:16.800
all right, And you wonder why
Ebersol and it's kind of weird. I'm

1354
01:35:16.840 --> 01:35:19.640
so glad that that Conrad did an
episode about this show with Bruce Pritchard,

1355
01:35:19.640 --> 01:35:23.600
because it never made sense to me. I mean, Dick Ebersol had no

1356
01:35:23.880 --> 01:35:26.520
he did not work at USA network. NBC had nothing to do with the

1357
01:35:26.600 --> 01:35:29.880
USA Network at the time. It
was just a Stanley cable station. But

1358
01:35:29.960 --> 01:35:32.800
apparently there was like this sort of
like loose alliance between Vince and Dick Ebersol,

1359
01:35:32.840 --> 01:35:36.600
who had a third party production company
that he ran in addition to working

1360
01:35:36.600 --> 01:35:40.439
for NBC in a production capacity and
being just you know, a total legend

1361
01:35:40.479 --> 01:35:45.600
in terms of sports television programming and
production over there, where he basically you

1362
01:35:45.640 --> 01:35:49.000
know, hung out with Vince and
wanted to be involved and putting WWF shows

1363
01:35:49.000 --> 01:35:51.439
together at this point in time,
even if they weren't on a network that

1364
01:35:51.479 --> 01:35:58.159
he was contracted to or working for. Dick, I just want to run

1365
01:35:58.199 --> 01:36:03.720
something by you. Yeah, what
what's um? What's going on? I

1366
01:36:04.079 --> 01:36:11.439
just well, you know, I
I admire you. You're you're a very

1367
01:36:11.800 --> 01:36:16.960
you know you you understand they entered
him business what I'm going for? Yeah?

1368
01:36:17.039 --> 01:36:20.239
Yeah, yeah, of course,
of course, of course, yeah,

1369
01:36:20.760 --> 01:36:26.600
I get it. I totally get
it. And so what I what

1370
01:36:26.640 --> 01:36:33.199
I want to do is is I
just I know that I am it would

1371
01:36:33.439 --> 01:36:39.439
it would I would be greatly appreciative
if there was any way that that we

1372
01:36:39.520 --> 01:36:45.399
could we could do business. Just
I would love to have your your your

1373
01:36:45.439 --> 01:36:50.439
ideas outside of just the NBC shows. Is this is this something that you

1374
01:36:50.439 --> 01:36:59.760
you'd be you'd be interested in.
Well, yeah, you know, I

1375
01:37:00.000 --> 01:37:02.119
always happy to help a friend.
I just want to tell you, I'm

1376
01:37:02.119 --> 01:37:04.239
always happy to help a friend,
and I consider you to be a friend.

1377
01:37:04.279 --> 01:37:06.600
Oh my god, that's so great, Thank you so much. But

1378
01:37:06.680 --> 01:37:11.439
listen, listen. I'm under contract
with NBC. You know, I've got

1379
01:37:11.439 --> 01:37:15.960
to deal with them, and uh, it's not necessarily you know, iron

1380
01:37:16.079 --> 01:37:21.279
clad per se. But you know
I don't I don't necessarily want to go

1381
01:37:21.359 --> 01:37:26.640
behind their backs and do something like
this. I just you know, what

1382
01:37:26.720 --> 01:37:29.680
if I got an idea. I
got an idea. All right, I'm

1383
01:37:29.720 --> 01:37:33.359
listening. What if I what if
I opened a company for you? What

1384
01:37:33.439 --> 01:37:38.479
if I set up and I paid
for a production company just made it for

1385
01:37:38.520 --> 01:37:41.960
you and you could produce it from
there. We Hey, you know that's

1386
01:37:42.000 --> 01:37:45.119
not that's something interesting. I will
say. There's definitely an interesting proposition,

1387
01:37:46.359 --> 01:37:50.680
you know. I I don't you
know, but just having a business isn't

1388
01:37:50.800 --> 01:37:54.279
enough, you know. I mean, you gotta have you gotta have an

1389
01:37:54.319 --> 01:37:56.800
office, You're gotta have people who
work. I'll pay for it all.

1390
01:37:57.359 --> 01:38:00.479
I'll pay all their salaries. So
just I will be you're your financier.

1391
01:38:01.159 --> 01:38:03.680
But please, I just I just
need you to dick to do this.

1392
01:38:03.760 --> 01:38:06.880
Please make it seem like I know
how to please live television. Make it

1393
01:38:06.920 --> 01:38:14.239
seem like I understand live television.
Well you know, Vince, like I

1394
01:38:14.279 --> 01:38:16.159
love you like a brother. Ah, I do. I love you.

1395
01:38:16.199 --> 01:38:20.520
I love you despite the noises you
make sometimes. I mean, you do

1396
01:38:20.640 --> 01:38:28.319
make some some awkward noises. But
but but it's just this I understand.

1397
01:38:28.439 --> 01:38:31.319
Listen, I don't want to dick
your can you your your cozy Connecticut suburban

1398
01:38:31.359 --> 01:38:35.199
home is everything I ever hoped for. I want Connecticut. I want your

1399
01:38:35.319 --> 01:38:43.079
fucking ranch of state bullshit like house. I want. I want your life.

1400
01:38:43.880 --> 01:38:47.239
Well, uh, excuse me.
I want. I want my grass

1401
01:38:47.279 --> 01:38:50.760
to be green. I want one
hundred degrees out ten fifteen days in a

1402
01:38:50.840 --> 01:38:54.960
row. I want my grass to
be green. I want to be but

1403
01:38:55.039 --> 01:38:59.359
I also want to get your grass
that's greener. I want all the grass.

1404
01:38:59.600 --> 01:39:03.920
I want my daughters to ride horses. I want I want my I

1405
01:39:03.960 --> 01:39:08.920
want my Yes, I want horses
to be to be ridden in my in

1406
01:39:09.000 --> 01:39:17.680
my yard. Are we still talking
about a production company? M Well,

1407
01:39:17.840 --> 01:39:23.560
maybe what do we What do you
think we're talking about? Well, listen,

1408
01:39:24.039 --> 01:39:27.680
I'll tell you what. All right, if you're willing to listen,

1409
01:39:27.880 --> 01:39:29.720
I'm grateful. I again, I
don't want to. I don't want to

1410
01:39:29.720 --> 01:39:33.359
push you out, all right,
But if you're willing to to um you

1411
01:39:33.399 --> 01:39:36.359
know, to to set up the
company, to pay for the employees and

1412
01:39:36.399 --> 01:39:44.199
the company. Uh. Look,
I can help you out with a two

1413
01:39:44.199 --> 01:39:51.319
million dollar bonus. Okay, okay, I'll I'll write you a personal check

1414
01:39:53.520 --> 01:39:59.920
two million dollars to Dick eversaw here. Take about tell you tell you sick

1415
01:40:00.000 --> 01:40:06.079
seven degrees see you Tuesday, and
so you get it. Listen the temperature

1416
01:40:06.079 --> 01:40:09.199
in the room, all right,
the on the office, it's going to

1417
01:40:09.319 --> 01:40:14.640
be the same day in, day
out. Doesn't go up, doesn't go

1418
01:40:14.680 --> 01:40:18.560
down. I look, I'm Dick
Ebersol. I need to wear a sweater

1419
01:40:18.600 --> 01:40:21.680
with a collar underneath, no matter
what the season. Look. I want

1420
01:40:21.760 --> 01:40:27.039
exact exactly. I want to be
able to be comfortable enough. I don't

1421
01:40:27.079 --> 01:40:30.560
have to wear a jacket, but
I want it to be cold enough where

1422
01:40:30.600 --> 01:40:36.119
I'm not sweating if I'm wearing a
sweater in my cashmere, in my cashmere,

1423
01:40:36.279 --> 01:40:40.920
all right. I want my hair
to be exactly the way that it

1424
01:40:41.000 --> 01:40:45.199
is when I came into the office
as I leave the office. Well,

1425
01:40:45.239 --> 01:40:47.960
you know, the man knows what
he wants in exchange for service, that's

1426
01:40:47.960 --> 01:40:51.680
for sure. So yeah, the
first reports in the Observer about this upcoming

1427
01:40:51.680 --> 01:40:55.840
live special does not mention a thirty
man rumbla, just mentions the Hogan Andre

1428
01:40:56.359 --> 01:40:59.760
angle and a bench press that they're
gonna do with the No Bravo. Now

1429
01:40:59.840 --> 01:41:02.439
here's another shot at Crockett, because
guess what they had in the pipeline.

1430
01:41:02.640 --> 01:41:08.560
What the Road Warriors doing a bench
press challenging Wow, It's played out in

1431
01:41:08.600 --> 01:41:12.199
the days following the Bunkhouse Stampede pay
per view, where um, I think

1432
01:41:12.239 --> 01:41:14.800
it was the Russians like disrupted it. We've talked about this before and like

1433
01:41:14.800 --> 01:41:17.279
the thing falls on Hawk's neck and
yeah, oh Jesus so a total So

1434
01:41:17.439 --> 01:41:19.159
right, so they say, oh, all right, well, guess what

1435
01:41:19.159 --> 01:41:21.439
else we can do to fun with
them, not only our version of the

1436
01:41:21.479 --> 01:41:25.880
Bunkhouse Stampede, but we can also
but the strongest guy in the company,

1437
01:41:25.920 --> 01:41:29.039
Dino Bravo, who can legit bench
press you know, more weight than anybody

1438
01:41:29.079 --> 01:41:31.800
on Crockett's roster, and make sure
that he sets a record that will make

1439
01:41:31.800 --> 01:41:35.319
them look ridiculous for trying to break
as well. I mean, that's that's

1440
01:41:35.319 --> 01:41:39.880
how they work. That's the mentality
back then. Let's fun with them at

1441
01:41:39.920 --> 01:41:46.119
any possible opportunity. And so that's
the way it played out. Now we

1442
01:41:46.159 --> 01:41:49.119
need to acquaint ourselves. This is
the lapsed fan. We can't forget this.

1443
01:41:49.199 --> 01:41:51.840
We need to quaint ourselves with the
look and feel of the time,

1444
01:41:51.880 --> 01:41:58.319
do we not? Of course,
isn't it about remembering the texture of what

1445
01:41:58.359 --> 01:42:00.520
it was like to watch television at
a time time when yes, you know,

1446
01:42:00.640 --> 01:42:04.680
all television asked of you was appointment
viewing, attention and a good snat.

1447
01:42:06.399 --> 01:42:12.880
What was USA Network like in nineteen
eighty eight? What did it taste

1448
01:42:12.880 --> 01:42:19.239
like? How did it make you
feel? You tell me, I wasn't

1449
01:42:19.279 --> 01:42:30.239
watching at the time. In a
minute, what's the most embarrassing thing that's

1450
01:42:30.239 --> 01:42:38.840
ever happened to you? This USA
Network program is viewed by the wonderful world

1451
01:42:38.880 --> 01:42:45.880
of Kenner Oh, robo Cop,
part man, part robot, all cop,

1452
01:42:46.239 --> 01:42:50.399
the ultimate in law enforcement RoboCop,
and the Ultra Police. The only

1453
01:42:50.439 --> 01:42:56.680
cop with rabid repeat cap firing.
He's unstoppable, battling the worst criminals,

1454
01:42:56.840 --> 01:43:02.840
head Hunter and Nitrobe. The Ultra
Police protected by robo Armor bring RoboCop even

1455
01:43:02.880 --> 01:43:10.039
more firepower in the fight for justice. Nothing can stop RoboCop. RoboCop and

1456
01:43:10.079 --> 01:43:19.399
the Oprah Police Eat sold separately with
Robocaps. You are watching USA Kable's Entertainment

1457
01:43:19.520 --> 01:43:30.439
Network. Well they have that writing. Yeah, I can't Cable's Entertainment Network.

1458
01:43:30.920 --> 01:43:33.840
I want to feel those feelings so
badly, but then I can't go

1459
01:43:33.880 --> 01:43:39.159
on after I feel them, I
know, because it's just they're so much

1460
01:43:39.239 --> 01:43:44.600
less warmth in entertainment. Now there's
nobody trying to like, come on in,

1461
01:43:44.760 --> 01:43:45.279
you know what I mean. No, yeah, no, no,

1462
01:43:45.159 --> 01:43:47.399
no, no, they don't want
you to know. They don't want you

1463
01:43:47.439 --> 01:43:49.760
to come in like they want you
to. They want you to watch your

1464
01:43:49.760 --> 01:43:55.800
phone while you're commuting on the subway. Fucking hell, you know it's all

1465
01:43:55.840 --> 01:43:59.079
over. They don't want you.
They don't need you to because that's the

1466
01:43:59.119 --> 01:44:01.840
thing. They don't need you to
come home to watch. I could feel

1467
01:44:01.880 --> 01:44:05.399
my eyes getting heavy to stay up
for prime Time. I meant that USA

1468
01:44:05.479 --> 01:44:11.279
Network voice. I mean, it's
there. I reach for it. I

1469
01:44:11.399 --> 01:44:15.439
reach for it, but it's it's
thirty miles further away than I think.

1470
01:44:15.560 --> 01:44:18.880
Then the eye then it appears to
the naked eye that. How about how

1471
01:44:18.880 --> 01:44:26.680
about those rup toys one one?
Remember the smell of the whatever the Salver

1472
01:44:26.840 --> 01:44:34.640
capital Yeah, yeah, when you
do fucking heavenly. And of course the

1473
01:44:34.760 --> 01:44:41.439
sort of ragtag nature of putting this
event together meant that, you know,

1474
01:44:41.520 --> 01:44:45.640
the USA Network certainly didn't have a
long lead time to plan on this live

1475
01:44:45.800 --> 01:44:48.640
television special and accounting for the time
slot, so they had to do some

1476
01:44:48.680 --> 01:44:53.680
preemptions. And if you were watching
USA Network is just a you know,

1477
01:44:53.760 --> 01:44:56.520
Joe six pack in nineteen eighty eight
and the Rumble was coming up, this

1478
01:44:56.560 --> 01:45:00.119
may have been part of the campaign
USA put together that you would have heard

1479
01:45:00.159 --> 01:45:05.560
to make sure that you knew that
on this particular Sunday evening, um,

1480
01:45:05.600 --> 01:45:11.239
you're normally scheduled USA programming might not
be available. Dude, who are special

1481
01:45:11.279 --> 01:45:16.479
coverage have royal Rumble? Our program
schedule has been changed. Please check your

1482
01:45:16.479 --> 01:45:21.479
local listings for details. So harmless, I'll be glad to due to our

1483
01:45:21.600 --> 01:45:27.720
coverage give it to me coverage.
The coverage that soundly the guy who did

1484
01:45:27.760 --> 01:45:32.960
all the all the voice over work
and the mid mid slate nineties. Yeah,

1485
01:45:33.039 --> 01:45:36.319
yeah, recap videos and stuff that
sounds like the guy who does if

1486
01:45:36.359 --> 01:45:42.119
life were fair, Oh my god, my mom would go to the bathroom

1487
01:45:42.119 --> 01:45:47.399
on a regular basis, but she
doesn't, and so the surgery is scheduled

1488
01:45:47.439 --> 01:45:56.199
for frere um. Now. I
don't know exactly when it was decided that

1489
01:45:56.239 --> 01:45:59.840
the Royal Rumble was going to happen
on USA Network, but the closest hint

1490
01:45:59.880 --> 01:46:02.920
I think we can get is when
they started mentioning it on the weekly Primetime

1491
01:46:02.960 --> 01:46:08.079
wrestling show, which of course was
hosted in studio by Guerrilla Monsoon and Bobby

1492
01:46:08.119 --> 01:46:12.760
Heenan as they perfected their legendary stick
together just doing you know, pitches to

1493
01:46:12.840 --> 01:46:15.319
matches from you know, pre tape
matches from around the country. That was

1494
01:46:15.319 --> 01:46:20.560
the format, and they started talking
about the Royal Rumble. I believe it

1495
01:46:20.600 --> 01:46:26.319
was December fourteenth or whatever. The
second week of December was wow, nineteen

1496
01:46:26.359 --> 01:46:29.479
eighty seven, so there's like less
than a month to get ready for this.

1497
01:46:29.880 --> 01:46:34.279
Pritchard remembers tickets only being on sale
for about a month beforehand for you

1498
01:46:34.319 --> 01:46:40.399
know, something that was being promoted
as the Royal Rumble and so let's let's

1499
01:46:40.399 --> 01:46:45.159
acquaint ourselves. I was fascinated to
hear them describe, yes, the Royal

1500
01:46:45.199 --> 01:46:47.960
Rumble to the USA Network viewer.
Before they had any idea really what it

1501
01:46:48.000 --> 01:46:49.640
was going to be and what it
was going to look like, they were

1502
01:46:49.680 --> 01:46:55.520
just dealing with, you know,
text descriptions of the match and explanations of

1503
01:46:55.560 --> 01:46:59.079
what the match might be like.
I love text and it evolves quite a

1504
01:46:59.079 --> 01:47:02.439
bit over the Hull Day season of
nineteen eighty seven into the Rumble in January

1505
01:47:02.479 --> 01:47:04.720
twenty fourth of eighty eight, describing
what this match is going to be.

1506
01:47:04.800 --> 01:47:11.199
Let let's hear from a grill and
Bobby here. They am not coming up

1507
01:47:11.319 --> 01:47:13.079
right here in, folks. In
just a moment, We're going to be

1508
01:47:13.079 --> 01:47:16.520
giving you some interesting news on something
that's happening right here on the USA Network

1509
01:47:16.600 --> 01:47:19.800
in a very near future. A
free attraction for you, folks. That's

1510
01:47:19.880 --> 01:47:24.720
right free. Am I involved?
Aren't you involved in everything that's free?

1511
01:47:24.920 --> 01:47:28.720
No? Never for anything in your
life. We'll be back told me something

1512
01:47:28.920 --> 01:47:32.199
not to do anything free ever.
Well, folks, as we promise you

1513
01:47:32.319 --> 01:47:36.520
earlier on a special event coming up
right here on the USA Network, The

1514
01:47:36.640 --> 01:47:42.560
Royal Rumball Sunday, January twenty four, featuring the King. No it's not

1515
01:47:42.640 --> 01:47:45.039
featuring the King, well, it's
the Royal rum well, that's just a

1516
01:47:45.159 --> 01:47:50.560
name they gave to This event has
nothing to do with the King should It's

1517
01:47:50.600 --> 01:47:54.960
a special tribute to the fans in
the World Wrestling Federation, and you folks

1518
01:47:55.039 --> 01:47:57.520
right here on the USA Network are
going to get to see it in the

1519
01:47:57.600 --> 01:48:01.680
privacy of your own living rooms for
apps lutely nothing. It's got free attraction

1520
01:48:01.840 --> 01:48:06.439
put on by the World Wrestling Federation
featuring all the stars of the Royal Wrestling

1521
01:48:06.479 --> 01:48:11.640
Federation. It's all coming your way
Sunday, January twenty fourth, The Royal

1522
01:48:11.720 --> 01:48:15.960
Rumble. You won't want to miss
it. Talking about interesting things coming up

1523
01:48:15.960 --> 01:48:20.279
here on the USA Network in nineteen
eighty eight, A big special January twenty

1524
01:48:20.279 --> 01:48:25.840
fourth, a Sunday night live right
into your living rooms. The Royal Rumble.

1525
01:48:26.239 --> 01:48:28.640
What do you know about the Royal
Rumble. It's kind of like a

1526
01:48:28.680 --> 01:48:32.079
reverse Battle Royal, A reverse Battle
Royal. Yeah, let's say there's two

1527
01:48:32.079 --> 01:48:36.880
guys in the ring. Every couple
of minutes another guy comes down. Eventually

1528
01:48:36.880 --> 01:48:41.960
the ring can be full of twenty
thirty people. Has this been explained to

1529
01:48:42.000 --> 01:48:44.800
you? Do you know exactly what
you're talking to? You don't? Okay,

1530
01:48:44.840 --> 01:48:47.920
here's what's happening folks. There are
twenty men involved in this Royal Rumble.

1531
01:48:48.079 --> 01:48:53.279
They each have a number. Nobody
knows who's got number what. We

1532
01:48:53.399 --> 01:48:57.119
start out with number one and two
inside the ring. After two minutes of

1533
01:48:57.159 --> 01:49:00.800
wrestling has gone on, number three
will enter the ring, and so the

1534
01:49:00.800 --> 01:49:04.840
procedure continues until all twenty men have
been called to the ring at what At

1535
01:49:04.880 --> 01:49:12.439
one point there could be eight against
number seven coming in. Fifteen men left

1536
01:49:12.439 --> 01:49:15.039
at the end, but the ultimate
winner will be the man who remains the

1537
01:49:15.119 --> 01:49:17.920
last man to be thrown over the
top rope and down to the floor of

1538
01:49:17.920 --> 01:49:23.680
the arena. Other interesting matches also
involved here in the Royal Rumble. Ladies

1539
01:49:23.720 --> 01:49:28.479
Tag Team Championship on the line,
Clamor Girls against the Jumping Bomb Angels,

1540
01:49:28.479 --> 01:49:31.319
who I think brain are going to
be the next Ladies Champions of the World.

1541
01:49:31.439 --> 01:49:33.960
No way, no way, it
can't be done. Jimmy Hiris got

1542
01:49:34.000 --> 01:49:39.279
him keen tuned and they're ready.
Another interesting tag team matchup, the Killer

1543
01:49:39.279 --> 01:49:44.159
Bees against Demolition. I go Demolition, You go with why because of mister

1544
01:49:44.239 --> 01:49:48.319
Fuji. He's a very strong factor. But the Demolition they're ready. Talking

1545
01:49:48.359 --> 01:49:54.119
about strong factors, Let's talk about
Dino Bravo, former Canadian heavyweight champion.

1546
01:49:54.239 --> 01:49:59.319
He's going to attempt to break the
world's bench press record of over seven hundred

1547
01:49:59.319 --> 01:50:00.399
pounds. Where you think he's capable
of doing, Yes, I do,

1548
01:50:00.560 --> 01:50:04.199
you do, very strong upper body
and he's a terment man, very too

1549
01:50:04.239 --> 01:50:09.880
much upstairs though a Frenchie Martin as
his manager. Well you consider that a

1550
01:50:09.920 --> 01:50:15.279
plus. I do do. It's
coming your way Sunday night, January twenty

1551
01:50:15.279 --> 01:50:18.479
fourth, right here on the USA
Network, a free attraction, sort of

1552
01:50:18.520 --> 01:50:24.720
a tribute to the World Wrestling Federation
and a fan appreciation night, so fan

1553
01:50:24.800 --> 01:50:30.000
appreciation humanoid night, the Bullwhip.
Let's go to the interview, all right,

1554
01:50:30.039 --> 01:50:32.760
gimble him on soon, Bobby the
Week, Bobby the brain Head,

1555
01:50:32.760 --> 01:50:38.640
and you know, of course you're
talking about it about the big Rumble Royal,

1556
01:50:38.720 --> 01:50:45.600
that guy taking place USA Network from
the Cops Coliseum in Hamilton, Ontario,

1557
01:50:45.680 --> 01:50:50.199
Canada, at seven pm Eastern Time
on Sunday night, January the twenty

1558
01:50:50.199 --> 01:50:54.520
fourth. What an extravaganza this is
going to be. And it happens all

1559
01:50:54.560 --> 01:50:58.359
free right here on the USA Network. By the way, In addition to

1560
01:50:58.359 --> 01:51:01.600
the Rumble Royal, Rickey Steamboat to
go against Ravishing Rick Rude Young Stallions to

1561
01:51:01.640 --> 01:51:05.479
meet the isitors in two out of
three falls. Also a title defense for

1562
01:51:05.640 --> 01:51:11.279
Jimmy Hart's Glamour Girls two out of
three falls against the Jumping Palm Angels.

1563
01:51:11.600 --> 01:51:16.000
Now onto the Rumbo Royal on the
twenty from Hamilton here on the USA Cable

1564
01:51:16.039 --> 01:51:20.760
Network. Outlaw, Rod Bass,
you are gonna be one of a number

1565
01:51:20.760 --> 01:51:26.079
of men that's gonna be involved in
this extravaganza actually before the event takes place.

1566
01:51:26.520 --> 01:51:29.079
Not gonna ready, He's welcome,
hot or ladies welcome. No,

1567
01:51:29.159 --> 01:51:31.199
they're not fucking Betsyna be there.
You better believe it. Side. Let

1568
01:51:31.239 --> 01:51:33.680
me tell you for sure. All
right, the numbers are gonna be put

1569
01:51:33.720 --> 01:51:36.000
in a hat. You're gonna draw
him out just prior to the matter.

1570
01:51:36.119 --> 01:51:41.359
Back in the locker room. Then
two men starting every two minutes thereafter one

1571
01:51:41.399 --> 01:51:43.920
man is at it. What's gonna
happen now? I mean, Gene,

1572
01:51:43.920 --> 01:51:45.640
if you happen to be number one, or if you happen to be number

1573
01:51:45.640 --> 01:51:48.560
two, is you're gonna be in
that ring for a long long time.

1574
01:51:48.800 --> 01:51:51.920
In other words, you're gonna have
to reach way down that bag of tricks,

1575
01:51:53.039 --> 01:51:55.960
and you're gonna have to be really
resourtful or you're gonna have to be

1576
01:51:56.039 --> 01:51:59.319
just playing bad. And then in
a case the big old outlaw, he's

1577
01:51:59.359 --> 01:52:01.439
neither one. You look m down
that land brother, like t be no

1578
01:52:01.600 --> 01:52:04.800
tag teams in here. That's ever
man for himself. It's called a royal

1579
01:52:04.920 --> 01:52:10.199
rumble. And what happens number one? If I'm number one, I got

1580
01:52:10.239 --> 01:52:13.720
big party people, and you para
believe you're looking at the mannequin does so

1581
01:52:13.880 --> 01:52:16.359
right here on the USA people,
you might have been believing that's a big

1582
01:52:16.359 --> 01:52:20.600
outlaws. We're gonna be in there. If we're one, we'll take them

1583
01:52:20.600 --> 01:52:26.159
all. If it's a rumba Royal. On January twenty fourth, at seven

1584
01:52:26.239 --> 01:52:32.279
pm here on the USA Network,
The Rumbell Royal, Yeah, obviously,

1585
01:52:32.960 --> 01:52:35.279
can you believe it? That's what
it should be. It should have been

1586
01:52:35.359 --> 01:52:40.079
called the Rumble Royal presenting there as
far as I know, the very first

1587
01:52:40.119 --> 01:52:44.680
description of the Royal Rumbell on ww
television, that's wild to hear them,

1588
01:52:44.720 --> 01:52:49.319
like navigate it like it's some concept
from a far away land. To hear

1589
01:52:49.479 --> 01:52:54.800
heenan just stumble over how many guys
is involved, and it's just tremendous just

1590
01:52:54.840 --> 01:52:58.000
to hear them it's so funny play
around at the clay. That is the

1591
01:52:58.039 --> 01:53:01.079
idea of the match. Again,
the emphasis on free fan appreciation night,

1592
01:53:01.159 --> 01:53:04.039
as in, if we were to
charge you on this night, we hardly

1593
01:53:04.720 --> 01:53:10.880
appreciate our fans exactly. Why would
we charge you for main event pay per

1594
01:53:10.960 --> 01:53:15.960
views to quality wrestling. So for
whatever taping it was where Gene Okerland got

1595
01:53:15.960 --> 01:53:18.159
the word that we need you to
do some interviews for this USA Network special

1596
01:53:18.199 --> 01:53:24.279
we just put together. There's there's
there's one where he was told it was

1597
01:53:24.319 --> 01:53:27.680
the Rumble Royal. Clearly, Yeah, you think about the idea of Battle

1598
01:53:27.800 --> 01:53:30.079
Royal, right, you want to
keep royal at the end. I can

1599
01:53:30.159 --> 01:53:33.600
kind of understand that. Um,
but yeah, Rumbo Royal, Yes,

1600
01:53:33.960 --> 01:53:39.520
coming sooner. USA Network Television.
Yeah. Ron Bass gets it right and

1601
01:53:39.600 --> 01:53:43.600
Grilla mont soon gets it right.
And here is the follow up a week

1602
01:53:43.680 --> 01:53:46.119
later where Okay, kind of make
fun of a Gene I think for getting

1603
01:53:46.119 --> 01:53:51.720
it wrong. Good Sunday, January
twenty fourth, the night of the big

1604
01:53:51.760 --> 01:53:57.600
happening the Royal Rumbo from Hamilton,
Ontario, Canada. Cops calls Sam,

1605
01:53:57.960 --> 01:54:01.159
I'm going to be there doing the
commentary. You think hosting just like your

1606
01:54:01.159 --> 01:54:04.079
host here on this program exactly you
and me. It's going to be an

1607
01:54:04.079 --> 01:54:09.479
outstanding night, a most unique night, a match one of a kind,

1608
01:54:09.640 --> 01:54:13.199
so to speak. Royal rumble.
I don't understand the royal rumble. You

1609
01:54:13.239 --> 01:54:15.920
don't. Nobody's made it clear to
me, yet you do it. Let

1610
01:54:15.920 --> 01:54:19.000
me try to explain it to your
brain. You start out with twenty of

1611
01:54:19.039 --> 01:54:23.319
the top wrestlers here in a world
wrestling federation, each of which picks a

1612
01:54:23.439 --> 01:54:26.960
number from one to twenty out of
a hat, so to speak. No

1613
01:54:27.000 --> 01:54:30.520
one knows who has what numbers.
Number one and two start the match off

1614
01:54:30.520 --> 01:54:34.319
by entering the ring at the same
time. And the match begins. A

1615
01:54:34.319 --> 01:54:40.319
timekeeper is on hand, and every
two minutes the next number has to go

1616
01:54:40.359 --> 01:54:43.600
in. Number three will go in. After two minutes has expired, and

1617
01:54:43.680 --> 01:54:46.079
after four minutes has expired, number
four we'll go in at the same time.

1618
01:54:46.119 --> 01:54:49.680
The action is going on in the
ring. Guys may be eliminated at

1619
01:54:49.720 --> 01:54:54.159
any point in time by being thrown
over the top and onto the concrete floor.

1620
01:54:54.319 --> 01:54:57.319
So like Jake Jake, the Saint
Roberts could be number one one main

1621
01:54:57.359 --> 01:55:00.560
game could be number two. They
start to may start then the could be

1622
01:55:00.600 --> 01:55:03.239
three, possibly yes, Okay,
then m Danny Davis could be four,

1623
01:55:03.560 --> 01:55:08.199
right, so that could be like
three against one on Jake the Snake.

1624
01:55:08.680 --> 01:55:11.039
What do you mean three against one? Well, they could try to eliminate

1625
01:55:11.159 --> 01:55:13.159
him, but then you got another
guy coming in two minutes. Right,

1626
01:55:13.159 --> 01:55:16.520
absolutely, Yeah, you're right.
It's a very unique type match and very

1627
01:55:16.600 --> 01:55:26.159
different and very interesting and dangerous to
say the least. Wow, just they

1628
01:55:26.319 --> 01:55:29.159
don't know what to make of it. They keep explaining it over and over

1629
01:55:29.199 --> 01:55:32.079
again, and that's wild. It's
wild to hear because it's just it's it's

1630
01:55:32.079 --> 01:55:35.640
so taken for granted that it's always
been dyed in the wall, but it

1631
01:55:35.720 --> 01:55:41.239
was on television then navigating what it
meant. Hannah, let's concern ourselves with

1632
01:55:41.359 --> 01:55:46.239
the Royal Rumble right now, this
most unusual type match where twenty men involved

1633
01:55:46.279 --> 01:55:49.960
in this what seems to be a
battle royal, but a little different participation

1634
01:55:50.039 --> 01:55:54.880
as far as how the combatants entered
the ring. Well, that little fur

1635
01:55:54.920 --> 01:55:58.039
fade ball headed midget gene Orca,
and he was calling at the rumble Royal

1636
01:55:58.079 --> 01:56:00.560
with the Royal Rumble. And the
reason they call it the Royal Rumble is

1637
01:56:00.600 --> 01:56:03.600
because the King Harley. No,
that is not the reason at all.

1638
01:56:03.760 --> 01:56:06.399
That is not the reason. Are
you sure? No, Yeah, I'm

1639
01:56:06.399 --> 01:56:10.479
positive I don't think so. Well, let's look at some of the contestants

1640
01:56:10.479 --> 01:56:13.279
involved in that brain You've got some
guys in there. You've got You've got

1641
01:56:13.640 --> 01:56:16.600
the King of course, another friend
of yours, One Man Gang, Dino

1642
01:56:16.680 --> 01:56:20.880
Bravo, the Natural Butcher Reid.
You look at you, the Hearts,

1643
01:56:21.279 --> 01:56:25.760
the bees. Your talking about three
tag teams, Dangerous Danny Davis, Ron

1644
01:56:25.880 --> 01:56:30.119
Bass, Jake the Snake, Roberts, the Ultimate Warrior, the Rock,

1645
01:56:30.880 --> 01:56:33.880
the Magnificent One, j Y d
the dumb Yard DAWs. Let's not forget

1646
01:56:33.920 --> 01:56:39.840
the Hillbilly, Jim Badman, Bigelow. It's a dangerous type man. It's

1647
01:56:39.880 --> 01:56:42.359
over the top rope to the floor, right. But the important thing is

1648
01:56:42.399 --> 01:56:45.520
that once the first two guys are
in there and the matches started, two

1649
01:56:45.520 --> 01:56:49.840
minutes will elapse between the next individual
coming in. That's what makes it interesting

1650
01:56:49.880 --> 01:56:54.199
and exciting, right, It's still
elimination in the same manner. Over the

1651
01:56:54.239 --> 01:56:56.800
top rope, out of the arena
floor. All right. I want to

1652
01:56:56.800 --> 01:57:00.920
expostulate just momentarily on the virtues of
this, but I a the shootnique event

1653
01:57:00.960 --> 01:57:04.640
that's gonna be taking place next Sunday
night, January the twenty fourth, originally

1654
01:57:04.680 --> 01:57:09.840
from Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Royal Rumble twenty men at all involved in

1655
01:57:09.880 --> 01:57:14.199
this this very exciting and unique event
for the first time ever, a Royal

1656
01:57:14.279 --> 01:57:17.079
Rumble, Rumble, Royal something they
call it whatever. Are gonna be going

1657
01:57:17.119 --> 01:57:21.039
for a lot of and a lot
of well, I imagine notoriety for the

1658
01:57:21.039 --> 01:57:27.720
man who wins this one. Oh
my god, what a fucking He just

1659
01:57:27.760 --> 01:57:36.079
wants to expostulate momentarily. Yeah,
I can expostulate momentarily. Use that in

1660
01:57:36.159 --> 01:57:41.039
any kind of meeting, like next
meeting, Just just do that. SE's

1661
01:57:41.199 --> 01:57:45.239
just going to expostulate momentarily. If
I could get the funk out of here,

1662
01:57:45.319 --> 01:57:46.840
you're fired. Do you need to
go to the bathroom? Yeah?

1663
01:57:47.159 --> 01:57:51.159
Is that some kind of like x
slax thing or what? So? The

1664
01:57:51.239 --> 01:57:55.840
top of things notable in there one
Demolition verse Killer Bees. They mentioned that

1665
01:57:55.880 --> 01:57:59.119
match. Yeah, it doesn't happen. Demolition aren't even in the city.

1666
01:57:59.159 --> 01:58:00.800
They're in a different city. Yea, the Bees are in the rumble.

1667
01:58:01.199 --> 01:58:03.600
They also mentioned that Grill and Bobby
are going to be on the call.

1668
01:58:04.279 --> 01:58:06.760
That's not what happens. It's Vincent
Jesse on the call. Isn't it yes?

1669
01:58:08.039 --> 01:58:12.760
Right? It is totally vincent Jesse. Eventually something happens where Heenan realizes

1670
01:58:12.760 --> 01:58:15.720
he can't make the shot, so
he starts making excuses on Primetime about how

1671
01:58:15.760 --> 01:58:19.279
he's going to be in Barbados on
like Gorilla starts a thing about well,

1672
01:58:19.319 --> 01:58:21.439
I need a co host for a
couple of weeks. He's doing that whole

1673
01:58:21.439 --> 01:58:27.880
thing on Primetime and then he suffers
a heart attack for legit yes wow,

1674
01:58:28.199 --> 01:58:30.600
and ends up not being able to
make the Royal Rumble himself. So that's

1675
01:58:30.640 --> 01:58:32.640
how we end up with the fateful
pairing of Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura.

1676
01:58:32.720 --> 01:58:35.640
One might think, you know,
it's Ventura Saturday Night's main event. I

1677
01:58:35.680 --> 01:58:40.520
g Ebersaul's involved that. No,
it was a last minute scramble and they

1678
01:58:40.560 --> 01:58:43.319
found Jesse, who was right.
We've talked about this under the cinemat.

1679
01:58:43.359 --> 01:58:45.399
He is well on his way in
Hollywood at this point. I I you

1680
01:58:45.439 --> 01:58:51.119
know, I've I've already had my
second movie released, The Running Man with

1681
01:58:51.359 --> 01:59:00.920
Arnold Schwarzenegger and uh, you know, with a Professor to Tanaka. I

1682
01:59:00.920 --> 01:59:04.119
already have my sag card. I've
already got my got my union. I've

1683
01:59:04.199 --> 01:59:08.439
got I've got my union, and
I don't know, boss, if you

1684
01:59:08.479 --> 01:59:12.439
agree he's getting a little testy with
the boss on the air. Oh god,

1685
01:59:12.479 --> 01:59:17.079
almighty, the whole fucking like talking
about the lawyers and and and Barry

1686
01:59:17.159 --> 01:59:21.800
Bloom and he mentions Berry Bloom and
rumble, don't make me talk to Barry

1687
01:59:21.840 --> 01:59:28.920
Bloom is here the rumble? I
don't know yet. You know, you

1688
01:59:29.079 --> 01:59:34.359
know what I'm talking about, Vince
McMahon. You know I've got hey,

1689
01:59:34.439 --> 01:59:41.000
you know what, I've got my
union, I've got representation. You're not

1690
01:59:41.039 --> 01:59:45.359
going to push me around anymore.
Oh my god. And you can hear

1691
01:59:45.399 --> 01:59:49.199
I swear that they've already had a
little bit friction between him. Yeah,

1692
01:59:49.199 --> 01:59:54.840
because that Vince has got to state
cape Fabe is the string announcer, so

1693
01:59:54.920 --> 01:59:58.359
we can just needle him right on
all this stuff that actually is pissing him

1694
01:59:58.359 --> 02:00:00.319
off, that's going on in real
life. They're gonna have to pay me

1695
02:00:00.479 --> 02:00:05.800
more money, right, How does
that make you feel? McMahon, Um,

1696
02:00:06.680 --> 02:00:10.960
Uh, well, you know these
are uh, you know, nothing's

1697
02:00:11.000 --> 02:00:16.960
for certain. We'll say that when
it comes to uh financial contributions to the

1698
02:00:17.159 --> 02:00:24.840
talent in the WWE, we have
certain uh you know, um regulations and

1699
02:00:25.199 --> 02:00:31.439
certain procedures in order to uh to
provide our talent with the appropriate you know,

1700
02:00:31.600 --> 02:00:41.319
the the the the appropriate uh financial
uh compensation right and level of representation

1701
02:00:41.399 --> 02:00:44.800
for that's right and and love you
know, we we appreciate the fact that

1702
02:00:45.000 --> 02:00:49.880
that that a man of such esteemed
talent as as a Jesse, the body

1703
02:00:49.880 --> 02:00:57.159
of ventura is um you know,
he is seeking other opportunities and uh and

1704
02:00:57.399 --> 02:01:04.479
and also in that respect needs to
desires really the the the companionship on a

1705
02:01:04.560 --> 02:01:12.239
professional level of a man such as
Barry Bloom Right. I don't know after

1706
02:01:12.319 --> 02:01:19.640
having watched just say, huh think
you can't picture what I talked over?

1707
02:01:19.720 --> 02:01:25.119
You say it again, Oh I
showed What the hell did you just say?

1708
02:01:25.600 --> 02:01:30.760
Okay, I'll repeat myself, Jazz
that having watched this in eighty eight,

1709
02:01:30.920 --> 02:01:33.079
yes, I mean as it took
place, I can't imagine this being

1710
02:01:33.159 --> 02:01:41.640
called by Gorilla and heenan. Yeah, yeah, I agree, it's it

1711
02:01:41.720 --> 02:01:45.920
doesn't it wouldn't feel it actually wouldn't
feel right because one of the things I

1712
02:01:45.960 --> 02:01:49.800
think it's great about this and Jesse
was so awesome at this because he felt

1713
02:01:50.359 --> 02:01:55.000
licensed to say whatever he wanted.
Yea, even if you know he would

1714
02:01:55.000 --> 02:01:58.680
defend the heels, he'd point out
contradictions, even if it put the baby

1715
02:01:58.720 --> 02:02:02.239
face announcer in a possible position to
explain why it's okay when a good guy

1716
02:02:02.319 --> 02:02:04.640
does this and not okay but a
bad guy does the exact same thing.

1717
02:02:05.439 --> 02:02:09.039
All the things he would do just
to point out contradictions, that's his nature.

1718
02:02:09.079 --> 02:02:12.439
He's a contrarian, right, He's
well, that's not consistent. I'm

1719
02:02:12.479 --> 02:02:15.680
a third list. I'm a third
party, right right. I look at

1720
02:02:15.680 --> 02:02:18.960
it, a look at all the
different things. I see how you know,

1721
02:02:19.159 --> 02:02:23.840
you get one side doing one thing, get the other side doing the

1722
02:02:23.920 --> 02:02:30.800
same thing, yet yet they're being
criticized for it exactly the other side's not

1723
02:02:30.880 --> 02:02:33.960
getting criticized for it. Why do
we criticize these guys? That was his

1724
02:02:34.119 --> 02:02:42.520
thing and it means that much more. Then when he just starts rejoicing at

1725
02:02:42.560 --> 02:02:45.479
the concept of the rumble match as
it's unfolding. Yep, how many times

1726
02:02:45.560 --> 02:02:49.319
does he say something like this is
really interesting, yes, yes, and

1727
02:02:49.439 --> 02:02:54.520
he starts realizing how fun it is
to think about the idea of strategy and

1728
02:02:54.640 --> 02:02:58.239
how how you have to play it
different If you draw an early number versus

1729
02:02:58.279 --> 02:03:01.840
a late number. He gives us
the blueprint for how to put over somebody

1730
02:03:01.880 --> 02:03:06.279
who lasts a long time and heart
yep, yep, yeah, he puts

1731
02:03:06.520 --> 02:03:11.640
over Britain Hart over Huge who draws
number two in this rumble. And he's

1732
02:03:12.000 --> 02:03:15.600
starting to identify those key beats that
one. I think it was him and

1733
02:03:15.640 --> 02:03:17.319
Tito, I don't know, Yeah, it was he one. I think

1734
02:03:17.359 --> 02:03:23.119
he's won. Yeah, um,
But he starts to identify the key beats

1735
02:03:23.159 --> 02:03:26.640
of calling a rumble, the key
beats of like the stories of rumble can

1736
02:03:26.720 --> 02:03:30.600
tell and he's yes, And it's
not like he's referring to production notes to

1737
02:03:30.680 --> 02:03:32.399
do it. He's realizing it as
the match plays out before his eyes that

1738
02:03:32.479 --> 02:03:36.239
this is actually really TV friendly and
there's a hell of a lot of things

1739
02:03:36.319 --> 02:03:41.239
you can say, yeah about a
Royal Rumble match that that you can't say

1740
02:03:41.239 --> 02:03:43.960
about a traditional match. And I
just think it's it's it's really cool,

1741
02:03:44.000 --> 02:03:46.600
and I think it would have been
a big loss actually to the concept if

1742
02:03:46.640 --> 02:03:50.680
it was Gorilla and Bobby doing stick
back and forth instead of you know,

1743
02:03:50.840 --> 02:03:57.279
Jesse's proclivities to like really focus on
the merits of the match. I totally

1744
02:03:57.319 --> 02:04:00.760
agree I think he really gets over, like how hard of a task this

1745
02:04:00.960 --> 02:04:04.600
is for these guys, and and
it's it's kind of a happy accident.

1746
02:04:04.600 --> 02:04:08.760
And that's that's WWF for you.
All the great things they do. You

1747
02:04:08.920 --> 02:04:13.279
go back in history and it just
was a fucking a lark. It was

1748
02:04:13.359 --> 02:04:15.880
just due to some chance that last
minute changed that it worked out the way

1749
02:04:15.920 --> 02:04:20.039
it did and stuck the way it
did. From Steve Auston versus Bret Hard

1750
02:04:20.119 --> 02:04:25.279
all the way on down. Yep, let's hear a little more. This

1751
02:04:25.439 --> 02:04:30.239
is them discussing the realization on primetime
that Bobby's not going to be able to

1752
02:04:30.279 --> 02:04:32.800
be in the chair for Rumble and
the gorilla is going to need some backup.

1753
02:04:35.039 --> 02:04:42.159
Mister Marston. Yes, yes there
one eight? Oh great, Hello

1754
02:04:42.319 --> 02:04:46.199
Bob, Yes, yeah, I
know, I know, Yes, I

1755
02:04:46.319 --> 02:04:49.720
know you're busy making movies. I
understand that. Yeah, this one's about

1756
02:04:49.720 --> 02:04:53.560
a prison. Just a moment,
please, yeah. Question, are you

1757
02:04:53.640 --> 02:04:58.720
tied up this weekend? You're shooting
Friday? And how about Sunday? You're

1758
02:04:58.800 --> 02:05:01.279
you're available? Great? I'd like
you to co host this Royal Rumble with

1759
02:05:01.399 --> 02:05:05.000
me, because this piece of garbage
sitting next to me just informed me today

1760
02:05:05.239 --> 02:05:10.039
that he's bailing out going to Barbados
or something, but you can't make it.

1761
02:05:10.520 --> 02:05:13.800
Oh great, Yeah, go direct
to the coliseum and I'll meet you.

1762
02:05:13.880 --> 02:05:15.079
There are cops, right, yeah, try to get to earth.

1763
02:05:15.279 --> 02:05:17.479
What is it to talk to him
when you're done? Wait, wait a

1764
02:05:17.560 --> 02:05:23.720
second, hey, Jess, good
walk in the movie. Hey, be

1765
02:05:23.760 --> 02:05:27.800
interesting going on to Barbados when you
stop, he's not going to I'll see

1766
02:05:27.840 --> 02:05:30.279
me Sunday. Yeah, trying to
be a nice scoli seum. Right,

1767
02:05:31.199 --> 02:05:33.600
it doesn't matter what you wear.
Where that snake thing? I gotta know

1768
02:05:33.720 --> 02:05:38.279
what I gotta wear. Okay,
I'll see that. Great, it is

1769
02:05:38.359 --> 02:05:42.760
confirmed, folks, Jesse the Body
Ventura will infect co host the Royal Rumble

1770
02:05:42.840 --> 02:05:46.640
with me this coming Sunday. How
do you like those apples? I could

1771
02:05:46.680 --> 02:05:51.000
maybe a convinced Jesse to just come
in and occupy this chair. True my

1772
02:05:51.159 --> 02:05:58.279
chair? Well that we'll be back
with our feature. And just wait a

1773
02:05:58.359 --> 02:06:04.039
minute, monshoon, you're talking cops. Coloseum bod are calling back? Yeah,

1774
02:06:04.079 --> 02:06:10.560
I just want to confirm some things
here. Number one, what Colosseum

1775
02:06:10.600 --> 02:06:16.359
are we talking about? Cops?
Cops? What? What? Where's that?

1776
02:06:17.239 --> 02:06:21.399
Hamilton, Ontario? Jess, Well, I've never been to Ontario.

1777
02:06:24.079 --> 02:06:35.680
Of course you have or met may
Belief Gardens a hundred times. I think

1778
02:06:35.720 --> 02:06:54.840
he's offered I well, I well, Gino, you know, you kind

1779
02:06:54.880 --> 02:07:00.039
of thrown me for a little bit. Jess must be talking again, and

1780
02:07:00.319 --> 02:07:03.359
he must be high as a kite. He's paranoid about accepting the royal rumble

1781
02:07:03.439 --> 02:07:09.520
gig what it could be? Just
what I you know, I just don't

1782
02:07:09.600 --> 02:07:15.159
know if it's the best move for
me to go to to go to on

1783
02:07:15.479 --> 02:07:20.000
Terry. Sounds like you got warrants. Okay, see what else we could

1784
02:07:20.039 --> 02:07:24.119
do? Yes, I'd love to
know what if he didn't actually wasn't a

1785
02:07:24.159 --> 02:07:25.960
vacation, Like what's the deal?
Like, how does he know he's not

1786
02:07:26.079 --> 02:07:31.359
probable to make it right? Fascinating? Um? Yeah, And you know,

1787
02:07:31.479 --> 02:07:33.640
Vince at the time was just the
voice of Superstars. He was just

1788
02:07:33.760 --> 02:07:39.560
one of many announcers on roster.
He wasn't really like it's got a step

1789
02:07:39.600 --> 02:07:42.880
down to him in there, but
he did. But he did do the

1790
02:07:42.920 --> 02:07:44.920
Satura Nis main event, didn't he
He did? Yeah, he did with

1791
02:07:45.199 --> 02:07:47.399
Jesse, So I mean it's not
like complete step down. And he was

1792
02:07:47.439 --> 02:07:51.479
hosting Tuesday Night Titans too. He
did such a miserable job filling in for

1793
02:07:51.560 --> 02:07:57.479
Gorilla on primetime. Wow, really
like a two week period there where Gorilla

1794
02:07:57.520 --> 02:08:00.560
was recuperating from it what was,
you know, obviously a mile heart attack.

1795
02:08:00.600 --> 02:08:03.439
He was back quite soon, but
oh he tries to sit in there

1796
02:08:03.479 --> 02:08:05.119
and the Gorilla chair and try to
do stick with Bobby and it is so

1797
02:08:05.319 --> 02:08:07.640
bad. And in fact, Keenan
at one point goes, can we find

1798
02:08:07.680 --> 02:08:11.640
somebody else? He looks off camera, is there anybody else we can send

1799
02:08:11.680 --> 02:08:20.479
down here? Not notwithstanding Fince was
hardly the ultra polished television performer we would

1800
02:08:20.520 --> 02:08:22.760
know from the Attitude era at this
particular point in time, but I think

1801
02:08:22.760 --> 02:08:26.760
he does a pretty good job of
the Rumble eighty eight proadcast. Sure,

1802
02:08:26.920 --> 02:08:31.520
yeah, agree. So that's how
we get to the announcing composition that we

1803
02:08:31.640 --> 02:08:35.439
have on this show. And for
Bruce Pitcher whould come in in eighty seven,

1804
02:08:35.560 --> 02:08:39.640
this was the first live TV show
he had been asked to put together.

1805
02:08:39.920 --> 02:08:41.760
In a lot of ways, if
you don't count pay per view,

1806
02:08:41.119 --> 02:08:46.319
which doesn't have advertising breaks, it's
the first time Wwffitt had to do a

1807
02:08:46.439 --> 02:08:50.199
live television show with ad breaks where
they were really responsible for timing out the

1808
02:08:50.239 --> 02:08:54.920
segments to make sure it didn't go
long, timing it out to make sure

1809
02:08:54.960 --> 02:08:58.079
they had the ad breaks where they
needed them, and just a whole lot

1810
02:08:58.119 --> 02:09:01.479
of considerations that you really don't need
to do a you know, live to

1811
02:09:01.560 --> 02:09:03.319
tape show, even Saturday Night's main
events, we're live to tape at the

1812
02:09:03.399 --> 02:09:09.039
time you had pay per views,
but again less considerations around timing with ads

1813
02:09:09.039 --> 02:09:13.119
and stuff, and the MTV shows
were MTV pretty much doing all that.

1814
02:09:13.600 --> 02:09:16.640
They were just producing a Madison Square
Garden television show like they always did,

1815
02:09:18.159 --> 02:09:22.199
right, you know, the monthly
MSG shows on the MSG network or like

1816
02:09:22.279 --> 02:09:28.039
Prison in Philadelphia. So it was
kind of a new series of demands being

1817
02:09:28.079 --> 02:09:31.039
put on a WWF that, you
know, it's kind of a bare bones

1818
02:09:31.079 --> 02:09:33.600
thing. They put the show in
Hamilton, according to Pritchard, because it

1819
02:09:33.720 --> 02:09:37.560
was proximate enough to Toronto and all
the dates they had in Canada around this

1820
02:09:37.680 --> 02:09:39.880
January twenty fourth, this was the
one that was closest to where they knew

1821
02:09:39.880 --> 02:09:43.520
they could reliably get cameras and the
kind of equipment that you need to do

1822
02:09:43.560 --> 02:09:48.079
a live shoot. Because they had
some experience, I guess doing live shows

1823
02:09:48.159 --> 02:09:52.399
from Maple Leaf Gardens on a Canadian
television back then, So they picked Hamilton

1824
02:09:52.479 --> 02:09:56.239
for that reason, and they didn't
even go to Hamilton until the morning of.

1825
02:09:56.399 --> 02:10:01.079
He said. They chartered the jet
from Stamford to Hamilton and got to

1826
02:10:01.159 --> 02:10:03.560
the town at one o'clock in the
afternoon the day of the Rumble, like

1827
02:10:03.640 --> 02:10:07.479
Vince and everybody, and they had
a production meeting and put everything together.

1828
02:10:07.880 --> 02:10:11.840
Pritchard was involved a bit in formatting
Survivors series eighty seven for television. The

1829
02:10:11.920 --> 02:10:13.760
job is pretty much like, you
know, Vince and Pat figure out who's

1830
02:10:13.800 --> 02:10:16.359
wrestling, who, who's going over, what the card looks like, and

1831
02:10:16.439 --> 02:10:20.079
then Pritchard has to like, you
know, interpret it in a way that

1832
02:10:20.319 --> 02:10:24.399
helps the directors and stuff actually make
it a television show. So he's in

1833
02:10:24.439 --> 02:10:28.560
the position of really sweating how long
everybody's taking at the Rumble eighty eight and

1834
02:10:28.640 --> 02:10:33.800
how the show's progressing and pacing,
and it was a daunting a task for

1835
02:10:33.960 --> 02:10:39.680
him, and it's kind of programming. He doesn't hesitate to admit that Pritchard

1836
02:10:39.720 --> 02:10:43.520
on a show because sometimes he gets
cute about that, you know, acting

1837
02:10:43.560 --> 02:10:46.119
like it was just a coincidence that
it hurt Crockett or hurt WCW that they

1838
02:10:46.159 --> 02:10:50.600
did something. Yeah, yeah,
this one you cannot deny, said absolutely.

1839
02:10:50.680 --> 02:10:54.039
This was Crocket's first attempt to pay
per view, and Vince did not

1840
02:10:54.279 --> 02:10:58.319
want them to have success on pay
per view. That's so amazing. That

1841
02:10:58.439 --> 02:11:00.560
really was the thing. It wasn't
just a fuck with. It was to

1842
02:11:01.399 --> 02:11:05.039
not present in the pay per view
provider's mind that there is a viable alternative

1843
02:11:05.439 --> 02:11:11.680
if we don't adhere to Olivins's demands, that there's nothing else that can do

1844
02:11:11.479 --> 02:11:18.680
any kind of anywhere near the atmosphere
of numbers that WWF can not at all.

1845
02:11:18.079 --> 02:11:24.520
No, we are the numbers.
We are the only entertainment that people

1846
02:11:24.359 --> 02:11:28.680
out there in the world will want
to watch. And this would hardly be

1847
02:11:28.800 --> 02:11:31.439
the end of this volley back and
forth, even though there was kind of

1848
02:11:31.479 --> 02:11:37.279
a truce called after the eighty seven
Thanksgiving situation where the cable companies would like,

1849
02:11:37.359 --> 02:11:39.319
look, guys, you can't force
us to choose between the two again.

1850
02:11:39.359 --> 02:11:43.199
We can all make money here.
But come WrestleMania four. What's on

1851
02:11:43.279 --> 02:11:46.359
opposite that on TBS? Do you
remember, boss? I do remember?

1852
02:11:46.560 --> 02:11:52.039
It would be the first ever clash
of the champions Sting versus Flare and the

1853
02:11:52.079 --> 02:11:56.920
performances, right, sting, So
Crockett's firing back. Fast forward to WrestleMania

1854
02:11:56.960 --> 02:12:01.880
five and what's on TBS clashed the
Champions. It's um, it's the second

1855
02:12:03.039 --> 02:12:05.319
of the Flare and Steamboat matches,
right, tremendous. It's the two out

1856
02:12:05.319 --> 02:12:09.960
of three falls match. Yeah,
so um, pretty wild that we're in

1857
02:12:11.199 --> 02:12:15.560
the throes of that return is the
first one. That's the middle one,

1858
02:12:15.680 --> 02:12:18.720
right, are you talking about between
Flare and Steamboat? Yeah? Yeah,

1859
02:12:18.760 --> 02:12:22.720
it is because they did um,
Shytown Rumble. I believe it's March.

1860
02:12:22.119 --> 02:12:26.800
They did this one and they did
Russell Warre in May, Okay of eighty

1861
02:12:26.920 --> 02:12:31.840
nine. Yes, I believe Shytown
Rumble. Maybe it was February. Actually

1862
02:12:31.880 --> 02:12:37.520
February of nineteen eighty nine. So
we turned to a seminal text in the

1863
02:12:37.640 --> 02:12:41.079
history of the show, Shauna Sail
and Mike Munaham's Sex, Lies and Headlocks,

1864
02:12:41.840 --> 02:12:45.119
for a quick sketch about what that
competitive tension was like At the time

1865
02:12:45.119 --> 02:12:50.239
of the nineteen eighty eight Royal Rumble
between Crockett and Vince Sale writes, it

1866
02:12:50.319 --> 02:12:52.479
was a blood bath. Only five
cable companies out of the original two hundred

1867
02:12:52.520 --> 02:12:56.079
stayed loyal to the Crocketts, and
Starcade wound up being bought by just fifteen

1868
02:12:56.159 --> 02:13:01.800
thousand homes, the leading the company, taking just eighty grand after expenses.

1869
02:13:01.880 --> 02:13:05.039
Oh, Crockett made weathered it if
he had a strong base, But as

1870
02:13:05.039 --> 02:13:07.960
he looked around, he realized that
the two in revenue streams he'd hoped would

1871
02:13:07.960 --> 02:13:11.119
carry him to the top pay per
view income in national advertising sales were bone

1872
02:13:11.159 --> 02:13:13.960
dry. Remember he has those balloon
contracts. Were like, He's signing these

1873
02:13:15.000 --> 02:13:18.600
guys to big promises down the line, thinking I'm gonna get going on pay

1874
02:13:18.600 --> 02:13:20.520
per view like Vince's and I'll be
able to afford these contracts. Call seven

1875
02:13:20.640 --> 02:13:24.359
eighty eight. Nope, nope,
and it is not going to let you

1876
02:13:24.399 --> 02:13:26.680
succeed. There the in hell,
pal, that's when people start leaving in

1877
02:13:26.760 --> 02:13:30.640
droves in eighty eight. Right.
What he needed was a salesforce akin to

1878
02:13:30.680 --> 02:13:31.840
the one Vince had built. Instead, all he had was a few fast

1879
02:13:31.880 --> 02:13:35.520
talking consultants in New York and a
bunch of grateful wrestlers driving Mercedes in Dallas.

1880
02:13:35.880 --> 02:13:39.359
As he turned to his bankers to
make up for cash flow problems,

1881
02:13:39.439 --> 02:13:41.359
resentments in the family begin to flare. David, who had grown up,

1882
02:13:41.399 --> 02:13:45.560
sharing the same room with his brother
David Crockett that is had to choke back,

1883
02:13:45.560 --> 02:13:48.479
discussed every time he flew to Dallas
and saw the suite of marble FLOORID

1884
02:13:48.520 --> 02:13:50.920
offices bearing his father's name. Big
Jim always told them never to flunt their

1885
02:13:50.960 --> 02:13:54.359
money before the public, which is
why he ran things out of his house

1886
02:13:54.640 --> 02:13:56.359
until his wife got a new white
carpet. Only then did he move his

1887
02:13:56.479 --> 02:14:01.560
office to a boarded up convenience store
marble floor. David was sure their father

1888
02:14:01.760 --> 02:14:03.920
was turning in his grave like many
of the wrestlers. David also believed that

1889
02:14:05.000 --> 02:14:07.760
Rhodes was running on fumes. For
one thing, he'd all but given up

1890
02:14:07.800 --> 02:14:09.880
on writing. The days of his
half hour classic matches were gone, replaced

1891
02:14:09.920 --> 02:14:13.039
by Bland, Blink and You Miss
A playlets. Rhodes argued that he didn't

1892
02:14:13.039 --> 02:14:16.359
want to give away the best material
free on television because he needed to save

1893
02:14:16.399 --> 02:14:20.520
it for pay per view. Either
way, the Saturday night show on TBS

1894
02:14:20.560 --> 02:14:24.000
that McMahon had left with a five
point three rating I'm talking about Black Saturday,

1895
02:14:24.359 --> 02:14:28.079
was doing at two point nine in
October nineteen eighty seven, five point

1896
02:14:28.119 --> 02:14:31.119
three to two point nine on We
Extended down to the arena shows, where

1897
02:14:31.159 --> 02:14:35.640
Roads insisted on penciling himself in his
Flaire's challenger long after the fans stopped caring.

1898
02:14:37.039 --> 02:14:39.880
Worse he'd fallen in love with the
transparent trek ending dust. He would

1899
02:14:39.880 --> 02:14:41.800
win their matches, only to have
the referee to qualify him on a technicality

1900
02:14:41.840 --> 02:14:45.960
after the belt told. The scheme
allowed Flaire to retain then wa belt,

1901
02:14:46.000 --> 02:14:48.439
but at a cost his title was
diminished, while Rhodes, whose weight problem

1902
02:14:48.520 --> 02:14:52.199
was becoming embarrassing, clung to the
limelight. At Christmas of nineteen eighty seven,

1903
02:14:52.279 --> 02:14:56.319
Roads launched a last gasp series of
bunk House Stampede events, and which

1904
02:14:56.399 --> 02:15:00.720
two dozen wrestlers started in a ring
and got eliminated as each was thrown over

1905
02:15:00.760 --> 02:15:03.279
the ropes until one was finally left
standing. Not only are they flung out

1906
02:15:03.319 --> 02:15:07.159
of the ring, Boss, So
I forget Bunkhouse Stampede eighty eight. You

1907
02:15:07.239 --> 02:15:09.720
got thrown over the top of a
steel cage wall. Are you serious?

1908
02:15:09.920 --> 02:15:13.319
I have no idea, I've never
seen it. Can you imagine a battle

1909
02:15:13.439 --> 02:15:16.439
row? You have to pull a
guy up a cage and throw them over?

1910
02:15:16.520 --> 02:15:20.199
How convoluted that looks? I would
imagine that it just makes total sense.

1911
02:15:20.920 --> 02:15:22.880
You know what. I'll even submit
to you that maybe we'll find out

1912
02:15:22.920 --> 02:15:28.520
for ourselves next time when TLF covers
Bunk House Stampede eighty eight. That's the

1913
02:15:28.600 --> 02:15:31.319
game plan, folks, So lock
yourselves in on that, because by the

1914
02:15:31.359 --> 02:15:33.000
time we're done with Rumble eighty eight, it just begs to be done.

1915
02:15:33.199 --> 02:15:37.399
And it's not a show that's really
going to beg to be done any other

1916
02:15:37.479 --> 02:15:39.920
time as far as I can tell, I mean, no one else is

1917
02:15:39.920 --> 02:15:43.159
begging to haven't done. It's correct. Rhodes had wrestlers flinging garbage cans and

1918
02:15:43.239 --> 02:15:46.840
tire irons, well dressed in stetsons
and spurs, and after eight successful shows,

1919
02:15:48.319 --> 02:15:50.760
he decided to turn the whole thing
into a pay per view. That's

1920
02:15:50.800 --> 02:15:52.359
not forget. The bunk House Stampede
was like a house show attraction, much

1921
02:15:52.399 --> 02:15:56.760
like War Games under Dusty. The
main event was to be a cage match,

1922
02:15:56.920 --> 02:16:00.199
literally a match held inside a locked
wire cage placed over the ring the

1923
02:16:00.279 --> 02:16:03.039
prior eight Bunk House winners. Once
again, he penciled himself in to win

1924
02:16:03.119 --> 02:16:07.800
the main event. The January twenty
fourth, nineteen eighty eight show might have

1925
02:16:07.840 --> 02:16:11.479
done business in Atlanta or Dallas yet
Crockett inexplicably decided to stage it at Long

1926
02:16:11.520 --> 02:16:15.640
Island's Nassau Cool sum. That's what
they went wrong, and they thought they

1927
02:16:15.640 --> 02:16:22.199
could punch back instead of doubling down
right on their strengths to Chicago, because

1928
02:16:22.239 --> 02:16:24.840
the biggest problem right exactly like that
was the biggest problem to begin with,

1929
02:16:26.039 --> 02:16:31.720
Like you would have made more money
if you'd stayed, if you'd stayed at

1930
02:16:31.760 --> 02:16:35.559
home and done it on pay per
view from home, right Vince's game of

1931
02:16:35.639 --> 02:16:39.600
moving in other other areas. You're
going to strike at the right moment,

1932
02:16:39.639 --> 02:16:43.200
and it's not the right moment.
Power. It's so sad during this period

1933
02:16:43.239 --> 02:16:46.760
to hear Dusty and Flair come out
and like talk about Baltimore and New York

1934
02:16:46.879 --> 02:16:50.959
and Boston in LA and try to
like sell the people on the idea that

1935
02:16:50.040 --> 02:16:54.200
they were draws and all the same
cities WWF was And it's like you're just

1936
02:16:54.319 --> 02:16:56.000
not You're running these towns and you're
not making any money. It's pointless.

1937
02:16:56.799 --> 02:17:01.799
You're only doing it because you want
to all yourself that you can beat Vince

1938
02:17:01.840 --> 02:17:05.159
at that game. Instead of doubling
down, circling the wagons. You know,

1939
02:17:07.559 --> 02:17:09.799
a place that owed more to Billy
Joel Shawn of Sale writes than Billy

1940
02:17:09.920 --> 02:17:15.879
Jack making matters worse. McMahon once
again counterprogrammed another show aimed to hobble Crockett.

1941
02:17:15.920 --> 02:17:18.399
This time he decided to attack via
cable, creating a Battle Royal of

1942
02:17:18.479 --> 02:17:22.399
his own and airing it free on
USA. Now, the framing might quibble

1943
02:17:22.440 --> 02:17:24.280
with a bit, because it always
seems to me and I could be wrong

1944
02:17:24.319 --> 02:17:28.200
about this and naive about this.
Clearly the idea was to go after Crockett

1945
02:17:28.239 --> 02:17:33.559
on Crockett's Night. But I think
it's USA that wanted alive special and perhaps

1946
02:17:33.600 --> 02:17:37.440
it was Vince who suggested this particular
night to do it on m I see,

1947
02:17:37.879 --> 02:17:39.520
but the Slammings had gone on in
late nineteen eighty seven and that was

1948
02:17:39.559 --> 02:17:43.680
a big hit for USA two,
So they really liked the idea of not

1949
02:17:43.840 --> 02:17:46.879
just you know, the weekly television, but one off specials. Sure,

1950
02:17:46.959 --> 02:17:52.120
of course, and this is the
latest in that regard. Okay, more

1951
02:17:52.159 --> 02:17:56.280
than three million homes tuned in to
see his show, called The Royal rum

1952
02:17:56.360 --> 02:17:58.159
Bowl, a record up to that
time for the network and the most homes

1953
02:17:58.200 --> 02:18:03.280
ever tuned to a wrestling show.
Jim Cornette remember sitting in the Colisseum's locker

1954
02:18:03.360 --> 02:18:05.120
room for the Crockett show, and
looking around at the long faces. We

1955
02:18:05.280 --> 02:18:07.760
wanted to be there, like we
wanted to have our mothers hooked up to

1956
02:18:07.799 --> 02:18:11.520
a machine. The crowd was dead. They hated everything because they'd never see

1957
02:18:11.719 --> 02:18:16.600
a machine like I don't know,
like a oxygen. Machines only indicates the

1958
02:18:16.760 --> 02:18:22.040
entire health. No one wants to
see their mother in the hospital hooked up

1959
02:18:22.040 --> 02:18:24.840
to a machine. I think that
that's what he's trying to say, but

1960
02:18:24.280 --> 02:18:28.120
he needs to say that little bit
better. After it was over, several

1961
02:18:28.120 --> 02:18:31.639
wrestlers climbed into a limousine to head
to the Helmsley Palace hotel in Manhattan.

1962
02:18:31.719 --> 02:18:33.840
Tutlly Blanchard, who was in a
foul mood, was one of them.

1963
02:18:35.159 --> 02:18:37.719
Dusty just booked himself against Dusty,
he muttered. At the hotel bar.

1964
02:18:37.840 --> 02:18:41.079
Blanchard's mood got worse with every new
drink that got poured. Finally, he

1965
02:18:41.200 --> 02:18:45.920
and Crockett exchanged words. Dusty's a
genius, Crockett insisted and walked away.

1966
02:18:46.360 --> 02:18:48.200
This thing is going to hell and
he can't see it. Blanchard said to

1967
02:18:48.360 --> 02:18:52.280
no one in particular, Dusty told
me he was a genius. Oh my

1968
02:18:52.479 --> 02:18:58.440
god, Jim, he's a genius. Jim, what it's not working,

1969
02:18:58.520 --> 02:19:03.440
Jim, You're not. I can
It's exactly right. I know it's sacrilegious

1970
02:19:03.440 --> 02:19:07.879
to remember. This was Dusty's reputation
in the business before Cody came along.

1971
02:19:09.239 --> 02:19:16.319
Let's not forget all this. Okay, dust is doing fine, his shit

1972
02:19:16.520 --> 02:19:22.120
is great, and you know,
we're just gonna keep on moving forward because

1973
02:19:22.239 --> 02:19:28.280
that's that's what Dusty tells me.
Sounds like a plan. And I am.

1974
02:19:28.239 --> 02:19:31.520
I'm you know what, I'm I'm
the new vinstrict Man. That's correct,

1975
02:19:33.079 --> 02:19:35.079
and there's nothing you can do about
that. Jim Crocket's face when I'm

1976
02:19:35.120 --> 02:19:39.079
saying that, I'm the new Vince
McMahon with no curism at all, and

1977
02:19:39.239 --> 02:19:41.840
there's nothing you can do about that. Tolly, I am the new Vince

1978
02:19:41.920 --> 02:19:46.959
mrict Man. And I and I'm
I and I'm gonna keep on making money.

1979
02:19:46.719 --> 02:19:50.479
And let's not forget A big reason
that Tully skips down is, uh,

1980
02:19:52.040 --> 02:19:54.360
you know, during the transition,
when Turner starts kicking the tires on

1981
02:19:54.479 --> 02:20:00.719
buying Jim Crockett promotions, there's all
these like back back channel me with different

1982
02:20:00.760 --> 02:20:03.120
talent about you know, how they
feel about the state of affairs and the

1983
02:20:03.159 --> 02:20:07.520
business and feeling them out and being
part of this new what would become WCW

1984
02:20:07.719 --> 02:20:13.399
and Blanchard complains loudly, I guess
you could say, or at least vociferously

1985
02:20:13.440 --> 02:20:18.440
about Dusty and his booking. They
were at odds, clearly, and the

1986
02:20:18.600 --> 02:20:20.840
idea was everything said in these sessions
as confidential, just some due diligence,

1987
02:20:20.879 --> 02:20:24.440
and then of course instantly Dusty finds
out about it, and pretty soon Tully

1988
02:20:24.639 --> 02:20:31.559
is confronted with working conditions he can't
tolerate and leaves with arn Anderson to WWF,

1989
02:20:31.879 --> 02:20:35.920
that's right. So this bunkhouse stampede
and the rumble kicking its ass and

1990
02:20:35.079 --> 02:20:39.760
fucking it all up leads to,
apparently, according to Shawn a sales book,

1991
02:20:39.760 --> 02:20:43.879
a Manhattan hotel blow up from Tully
Blanchard that would be very much the

1992
02:20:43.959 --> 02:20:48.879
canary in the coal mine for what
would be a disastrous nineteen eighty eight for

1993
02:20:48.959 --> 02:20:52.760
Jim Crockett Promotions. Also around this
time, the WF had just signed Big

1994
02:20:52.799 --> 02:20:56.360
Bubba Rogers, one of Dusty Rhodes's
big investment projects, in Crockett to become

1995
02:20:56.399 --> 02:21:00.159
the Big boss Man, and he
was pissed off about his payoff for the

1996
02:21:00.159 --> 02:21:05.239
scaffold match. It's at a starcade. So these kinds of problems starting to

1997
02:21:05.319 --> 02:21:11.520
really red in terms of defections.
But I didn't but I paid you,

1998
02:21:13.959 --> 02:21:16.079
didn't I I saw something in you. I gave you. I in a

1999
02:21:16.200 --> 02:21:20.879
sense, I gave I gave you
my my, my innocence. And how

2000
02:21:20.879 --> 02:21:24.040
did you pay me back? And
what did you turned your back on me?

2001
02:21:24.120 --> 02:21:28.600
You paid me back in scorn?
You pick me, You're you're a

2002
02:21:28.760 --> 02:21:37.000
scornful fat bit. Should have at
least paid me back in corn something with

2003
02:21:37.079 --> 02:21:39.600
that. You know, you could
at least pay me back in porn.

2004
02:21:41.920 --> 02:21:46.760
That's good. So he's fine that
season, full control. It's not like

2005
02:21:46.879 --> 02:21:50.879
he's going on TBS and basically having
a hissy fit about being punked by Vince.

2006
02:21:52.719 --> 02:21:56.280
Thank you, thank you very much, Billie. You know all my

2007
02:21:56.440 --> 02:22:05.280
years have to fall a long time, and bill at does for wrestling.

2008
02:22:05.920 --> 02:22:09.200
What the major magazines look magazines,
time, magazines, books illustrated to for

2009
02:22:09.239 --> 02:22:13.760
the rest of the world, the
finest gentleman, the finest publication pro wresting

2010
02:22:13.799 --> 02:22:18.159
illustrated of any magazine in the world. And proof of that it's right here

2011
02:22:18.200 --> 02:22:22.239
I want to take the minute fast
throughout this country that love Dust the Rods

2012
02:22:22.280 --> 02:22:26.159
and voted Dust the rosbook Popular Wrestler. But most of all, what tells

2013
02:22:26.319 --> 02:22:31.719
what Jim Crockett promotions are all about
and what the wrestling world it's all about.

2014
02:22:33.079 --> 02:22:37.239
What's the scene right here? Magi
ta and the key to cull off.

2015
02:22:37.719 --> 02:22:41.360
That's what it's all about. It
ain't no comedy, it ain't no

2016
02:22:41.520 --> 02:22:46.879
cartoon, it ain't no comedy cat
television and talk about something that you create,

2017
02:22:48.239 --> 02:22:52.479
create what it is. It's Jim
Crockett promotion, the real, the

2018
02:22:52.760 --> 02:22:58.319
real wrestling. Take your villas,
Okay, Dust, Wow, how you

2019
02:22:58.440 --> 02:23:00.799
doing Dust? You're gonna be all
right? Hey man, that's what I'm

2020
02:23:00.840 --> 02:23:03.399
talking about, Daddy. We're talking
about the day I've been to pick a

2021
02:23:03.479 --> 02:23:09.600
CuPy cat motherfucking be for ship,
Daddy eating the ferial. Baby. When

2022
02:23:09.639 --> 02:23:11.799
I'm talking about it, I gotta
go home, Daddy. I gotta take

2023
02:23:11.840 --> 02:23:18.000
the things and I gotta say fuck
it, fuck you. Hold on,

2024
02:23:18.079 --> 02:23:20.239
man, I gotta take the things
and I gotta say, fuck it.

2025
02:23:20.399 --> 02:23:24.239
What things would those be? Does
I matter? The things are, baby,

2026
02:23:24.280 --> 02:23:28.120
to the things that I need,
the thing that you need, the

2027
02:23:28.239 --> 02:23:31.200
thing that the wall name daddy and
make Donna say fuck it because all they

2028
02:23:31.280 --> 02:23:35.559
do they're steal the things that I
have, the things that I am,

2029
02:23:35.879 --> 02:23:39.639
baby, and they do it the
bad way. Thank you, Thank you

2030
02:23:39.719 --> 02:23:45.520
very much, Billy. You know
all my years refling. I've known Bill

2031
02:23:45.559 --> 02:23:50.600
out there for a long time.
And Bill out done, don for reffling.

2032
02:23:52.159 --> 02:23:54.600
What the major magazines look, magazines, time, magazines, books don't

2033
02:23:54.600 --> 02:23:58.920
spread it do for the rest of
the world. The finest walking I'm on

2034
02:23:58.000 --> 02:24:03.159
the finest public and illustrated a Bay
magazine in the world. And proof of

2035
02:24:03.280 --> 02:24:07.319
that it's right here. I want
to take the mini fast throughout this country.

2036
02:24:07.600 --> 02:24:09.280
That love Dust, the Rosan voted
Dust, the robot popular wrestler.

2037
02:24:09.559 --> 02:24:16.319
But most of all, what what
tells what Jim Crocket Promotions are all about?

2038
02:24:16.120 --> 02:24:20.799
The restling world. It's all about
what's the scene right here? Magnum

2039
02:24:20.879 --> 02:24:26.799
ta and the key to call off. That's what it's all about. Baty.

2040
02:24:26.120 --> 02:24:31.040
It ain't no cartoon, it ain't
no company, cat glor television and

2041
02:24:31.239 --> 02:24:37.360
talk about something that you grace create
what it is. It's Jim Crocket's emotion,

2042
02:24:37.639 --> 02:24:43.000
the real, the real wrestling.
Take your daddy, Daddy is no

2043
02:24:43.200 --> 02:24:46.399
cartoon. Baby, we're not torting
the heath stiff, Daddy. We're not

2044
02:24:46.520 --> 02:24:50.799
talking about about our pound puppets of
my pet moms and Daddy. We're talking

2045
02:24:50.799 --> 02:24:54.719
about people. We're talking about emotions, Daddy. We're talking about what is

2046
02:24:54.840 --> 02:25:00.280
real, what is fake? And
what is mine? Baby? What is

2047
02:25:00.360 --> 02:25:05.040
real? What is fake? What
is mine? An unauthorized biography of the

2048
02:25:05.079 --> 02:25:11.479
American Dream Dusty Rhodes. I mean, you talk about a guy losing grip.

2049
02:25:13.680 --> 02:25:16.920
You talk about a guy who's like
everything he tells himself is starting to

2050
02:25:16.959 --> 02:25:20.840
go up and smoke about who he
is and what he is. Yes,

2051
02:25:20.239 --> 02:25:26.280
tremendous and uh copycat, that's what
this is. The rumble is I mean,

2052
02:25:26.319 --> 02:25:28.879
they were already calling it bunkhouse brawls, as we've documented. Let's just

2053
02:25:28.959 --> 02:25:31.639
fucking put it in the ring.
Let's do a royal rumble on the same

2054
02:25:31.760 --> 02:25:37.879
night they're got a royal rumble,
and there's no competition. Pale at the

2055
02:25:37.920 --> 02:25:41.399
best man. When we're talking,
we're talking competition. We know this is

2056
02:25:41.479 --> 02:25:45.000
the best way to compete. Let's
see what the fans want. Let's see

2057
02:25:45.200 --> 02:25:50.440
you know what's more desirable the bunkhouse
dot Pete Sampede or the royal rumble.

2058
02:25:50.200 --> 02:25:56.000
I'm not copying anything. I'm creating
my own creationally. Remember what are you

2059
02:25:56.120 --> 02:25:58.959
talking about, daddy? You're taking
my idea of men in the ring bade

2060
02:26:00.280 --> 02:26:05.799
a number of men double digits in
the ring doing things, baby, throwing

2061
02:26:05.920 --> 02:26:09.280
hands. Fairness, you hardly have
a copyright on the idea and men in

2062
02:26:09.319 --> 02:26:13.000
the ring. I mean, Dusty, I don't mean to be to be,

2063
02:26:13.440 --> 02:26:16.159
you know, offensive in anyway,
but you I mean, last time

2064
02:26:16.200 --> 02:26:20.600
I checked that there are a number
of other organizations that do have men in

2065
02:26:20.799 --> 02:26:28.559
rings. I don't know if that
is illegal. Um, you know,

2066
02:26:28.120 --> 02:26:33.000
do you did you license the idea
to other people? The baby? I

2067
02:26:33.040 --> 02:26:35.879
don't need a license nothing, daddy. All I know is you feel my

2068
02:26:37.040 --> 02:26:41.479
ideas. Baby, You steal,
you stole from your making dream dating roads.

2069
02:26:41.760 --> 02:26:46.239
You do the things out there that
I do over here, baby,

2070
02:26:46.440 --> 02:26:50.479
and you're gonna fuck yourself for doing
the things that you do over there with

2071
02:26:50.600 --> 02:26:52.760
the thing that I do over here. And I'm gonna dance around the circles

2072
02:26:52.920 --> 02:26:58.879
until you understand. Are you gonna
keep talking around in circles? How do

2073
02:26:58.920 --> 02:27:01.479
you're gonna dance? You're gonna dance
in servile right now? Can I see

2074
02:27:01.719 --> 02:27:07.319
can I see that? What?
What do you dusk? Can you?

2075
02:27:07.200 --> 02:27:11.639
Can you listen? We'll get back
to the conversation about about about how I

2076
02:27:11.760 --> 02:27:15.360
stole things from you, But first
I would like to see you dance in

2077
02:27:15.440 --> 02:27:22.520
the circle. You know? Okay? Good, good Patterson? Patterson,

2078
02:27:22.159 --> 02:27:28.120
Imagine this in polka dots. Imagine
him doing this. Keep going, Dusty,

2079
02:27:28.200 --> 02:27:31.040
don't don't pay any ntion to Patterson. Look at him. Look at

2080
02:27:31.079 --> 02:27:35.280
him. He's like because his hands
going around and like a little flaming little

2081
02:27:35.399 --> 02:27:39.200
whatever polka dots. We put him
in polka dots. Sounds good, Vince,

2082
02:27:39.920 --> 02:27:45.239
I loved I love the idea.
Yeah, Dusty, when when you're

2083
02:27:45.440 --> 02:27:48.280
tell you what, give me a
call? All right, we'll we'll we'll

2084
02:27:48.600 --> 02:27:58.719
talk baby while you're going UNTI fuck, fuck, it's going well. Newsday

2085
02:27:58.760 --> 02:28:01.479
in New York, which is,
of course the paper that covers Long Island,

2086
02:28:01.920 --> 02:28:07.200
the geography where the Bunkhouse Stampede will
be taking place in nineteen eighty eight.

2087
02:28:07.280 --> 02:28:09.120
There on top of it, this
is a couple of days before the

2088
02:28:09.159 --> 02:28:13.959
show, when the Friday City edition
they print the following, Grappling gladiators vie

2089
02:28:15.120 --> 02:28:18.719
for viewers. Okay, I'm sold
Royal Wrestling Federation, which Boshulk Coogan and

2090
02:28:18.760 --> 02:28:22.479
Andre the Giant on its roster of
grappling gladiators, once again seems bent on

2091
02:28:22.680 --> 02:28:26.040
thwarting the pay per view TV efforts
of its rival, the National Wrestling Alliance,

2092
02:28:26.239 --> 02:28:31.239
represented by chokehold artists like Dusty Rhodes
and Rick Flair, although it's calling

2093
02:28:31.280 --> 02:28:35.840
the timing coincidental, the Connecticut based
WWF is airing a power packed card free

2094
02:28:35.840 --> 02:28:37.879
to cable viewers on the USA Network
on Sunday. The very same night,

2095
02:28:39.159 --> 02:28:43.000
the North Carolina based NWA has a
special pay per view card scheduled for cable.

2096
02:28:43.200 --> 02:28:46.399
Insiders say that when the NWA announced
its Bunkhouse Stampede featuring twenty monument on

2097
02:28:46.479 --> 02:28:50.639
that win and a no holds barred
Rumble with the winner being the last left

2098
02:28:50.680 --> 02:28:54.520
standing in the ring, the WWF
quickly put together the Royal Rumble with surprise

2099
02:28:54.639 --> 02:28:58.319
twenty wrestlers. The rules are similar. A WWF spokesman said, the Royal

2100
02:28:58.399 --> 02:29:01.600
Rumbo has been in the planning,
stay just for some time. Come on,

2101
02:29:03.559 --> 02:29:07.319
let's get Mike Webber on this.
That's been in the plant. Come

2102
02:29:07.440 --> 02:29:11.799
on, you know, I mean, we're aware that they're out there,

2103
02:29:11.959 --> 02:29:15.159
but I'm sorry, Are we supposed
to put every idea that we've ever had

2104
02:29:15.280 --> 02:29:18.879
out there? And what? What? What? Just in case someone one

2105
02:29:18.920 --> 02:29:22.360
day accuses us of you know,
copycat and come listen, listen the royal

2106
02:29:22.479 --> 02:29:26.520
Rumble idea. We we we first
came up with this in nineteen eighty six,

2107
02:29:26.799 --> 02:29:33.040
guys, years come please listen.
You're hometown paper. Guys, do

2108
02:29:33.120 --> 02:29:37.120
you understand do you understand how long
it takes to to to take an idea?

2109
02:29:39.000 --> 02:29:41.360
All right? Someone has an idea, then to develop it, all

2110
02:29:41.399 --> 02:29:43.280
right? Then we have to kind
of Then we have to develop it.

2111
02:29:43.399 --> 02:29:46.879
We have to throw things at it
and see what happens. Then we have

2112
02:29:48.000 --> 02:29:50.120
to keep it moving, to stretch
it out. We have to play with

2113
02:29:50.239 --> 02:29:54.280
it. And you're here suggesting that
we hear about what they're doing and we

2114
02:29:54.520 --> 02:29:58.680
can just spring an action. You're
giving them way too much credit, and

2115
02:29:58.760 --> 02:30:01.360
you can even that's not nearly enough. Do you know? I don't even

2116
02:30:01.440 --> 02:30:05.319
I don't even know what they're doing
over they don't watch their style. What

2117
02:30:05.440 --> 02:30:07.799
is it a bunk house? What
is it that? Anyway? What is

2118
02:30:07.799 --> 02:30:11.639
a bunk house? What is it
a bunk bed? Do they have a

2119
02:30:11.760 --> 02:30:16.319
match on a bunk is that what
it is? This guy's looking over his

2120
02:30:16.559 --> 02:30:18.799
glasses at Vince, who's across the
room, pantomiving everything. They should say,

2121
02:30:18.920 --> 02:30:24.520
you get twenty you got to get
twenty three guys in a bunk bed

2122
02:30:24.600 --> 02:30:26.600
and they got to throw each other
out. Is that how it works?

2123
02:30:26.600 --> 02:30:31.399
It's a bunk bed stampede you're talking. I mean, it's just it's it's

2124
02:30:31.600 --> 02:30:37.600
it's this is ludicrous. It's ludicrous
to suggestionwhere near the same concept, Jerry,

2125
02:30:37.280 --> 02:30:41.680
Jerry, Look, I respect you
guys, you guys, I know

2126
02:30:41.760 --> 02:30:43.120
your editor well, I've known him
for years. I just gotta say,

2127
02:30:43.159 --> 02:30:46.399
I think you're off on this one. I think this is this is a

2128
02:30:46.440 --> 02:30:48.559
little the way you're framing this thing
is a little unfair. Okay, we

2129
02:30:48.639 --> 02:30:52.879
would listen, if we make a
mistake, we're going to admit to it

2130
02:30:52.000 --> 02:30:56.040
exactly, and if we don't need
to. We're not paying to copy good

2131
02:30:56.120 --> 02:31:00.000
ideas. We're not above acknowledging.
But that's not what's happening here, Jerry.

2132
02:31:00.280 --> 02:31:01.920
You know, Yeah, if we
were coppying, if we if we

2133
02:31:03.040 --> 02:31:05.600
said, if anything, Dusty's coppying
our ideastly, if you want to go

2134
02:31:05.719 --> 02:31:09.280
there, we can. Ah.
I mean, it's off the record.

2135
02:31:09.319 --> 02:31:13.079
But you gotta you gotta understand this. I mean you listen, You're we're

2136
02:31:13.159 --> 02:31:16.799
letting you in. We're letting you
see more than we really should, you

2137
02:31:16.920 --> 02:31:20.239
know, and we trust you in
that way as long as it's off the

2138
02:31:20.280 --> 02:31:26.639
record. And of course the thing
is said. You know what you're you're

2139
02:31:26.680 --> 02:31:31.920
writing a non story. That's one
of my favorite. It's nothing, Burger,

2140
02:31:31.239 --> 02:31:35.120
Jerry, Jerry, you got nothing
here. There's nothing. We're running

2141
02:31:35.120 --> 02:31:37.920
a show. That's what we do. We've been with USA since nineteen eighty

2142
02:31:37.959 --> 02:31:41.799
three. This is not just because
the other guys have a show on the

2143
02:31:41.879 --> 02:31:43.760
same night. I don't you know
what I mean. Listen, you know

2144
02:31:43.879 --> 02:31:48.959
we don't. We don't select the
dates. USA says we want to show,

2145
02:31:48.959 --> 02:31:54.799
all right, we gotta do come. We used to say no because

2146
02:31:54.000 --> 02:31:56.440
the other guys have a pay per
view that night. We gotta say,

2147
02:31:56.479 --> 02:31:58.600
oh, you know what, sorry, guys, it's not we don't.

2148
02:31:58.719 --> 02:32:01.559
We don't want to business works.
We don't want to help you guys out,

2149
02:32:01.559 --> 02:32:05.319
the guys who were under contract.
We've been in the business a long

2150
02:32:05.440 --> 02:32:09.760
time, all right. Yeah,
we don't have that kind of power.

2151
02:32:09.239 --> 02:32:13.120
Jerry, you're gonna print what you're
gonna print. Okay, just just just

2152
02:32:13.280 --> 02:32:16.840
realize he's telling you you're making a
mistake exactly, You're making a mistake.

2153
02:32:16.920 --> 02:32:20.360
This is your career, not mine. And you hang right and call his

2154
02:32:20.520 --> 02:32:22.399
editor and try to get him to
stop the story. You act like to

2155
02:32:22.520 --> 02:32:26.559
Jerry that that's the last word on
it, and then you play other games

2156
02:32:26.600 --> 02:32:28.760
to try to go over his head. Bill. Bill, Yeah, I'm

2157
02:32:28.840 --> 02:32:33.280
over here at Titan You got you
got a guy out there writing a story

2158
02:32:33.680 --> 02:32:37.479
and Andy, Andy, and he
can't listen. It's all bullshit. It's's

2159
02:32:37.559 --> 02:32:41.079
there's no fact behind it. He's
got no he's got no sources. What

2160
02:32:41.440 --> 02:32:46.239
do you mean, right, the
guy listen, he's talking about us stealing

2161
02:32:46.280 --> 02:32:52.280
an idea from from from from Jim
Crockett Promotions down to me, it's it's

2162
02:32:52.360 --> 02:32:54.280
but it's the same as their show, right or something. No, No,

2163
02:32:54.559 --> 02:32:58.319
but yeah, but again, we
don't do that's not our call.

2164
02:32:58.159 --> 02:33:01.760
That's not our call. Oh is
this is a non story all right?

2165
02:33:01.799 --> 02:33:07.000
You guys are It's it's just it's
gonna get lost in the clouds because there's

2166
02:33:07.040 --> 02:33:09.040
nothing to back it up. There's
no there's no repeating of this. It's

2167
02:33:09.040 --> 02:33:13.719
just it's just a thing that happened. What's his name again? What's this

2168
02:33:13.879 --> 02:33:18.600
editor's name? Joe Bill Bell Bell. Look, you know, you know

2169
02:33:18.639 --> 02:33:20.000
I grew up in the Tri State
area. I have a lot of respect

2170
02:33:20.040 --> 02:33:24.239
for you guys, and I'd hate
to see your credibility take a hit just

2171
02:33:24.399 --> 02:33:28.280
because one of your one of your
reporters has this this you know theory that's

2172
02:33:28.319 --> 02:33:30.799
that this conspiracy theory has come up
with. Honestly, I mean, there's

2173
02:33:31.239 --> 02:33:35.360
it's it's not going to reflect well
on Newsday to go out there and frame

2174
02:33:35.399 --> 02:33:37.520
it the way this guy sounds like
he's gonna frame it. I just I

2175
02:33:37.559 --> 02:33:39.559
thought I had to call you and
let you know that that's I just think.

2176
02:33:39.680 --> 02:33:43.319
I just think you're making a big
error. All right, you look,

2177
02:33:46.600 --> 02:33:50.360
try State native. I lived with
you know, my my parents moved

2178
02:33:50.399 --> 02:33:54.280
this to to to to eighty six
straight, all right, I've been there.

2179
02:33:54.639 --> 02:33:56.680
Well you know they still live there. They still live there, all

2180
02:33:56.719 --> 02:34:00.799
right, And listen, my blood
is in this city. My blood is

2181
02:34:00.879 --> 02:34:05.000
in this city. I mean,
I basically have Newsday newsprint in my in

2182
02:34:05.600 --> 02:34:09.399
my skin. I have read I
have read Newsday, I have read the

2183
02:34:09.479 --> 02:34:13.399
New York Times, and I have
read the Wall Street Journal. And be

2184
02:34:13.399 --> 02:34:16.079
a laughing stock. It's all I'm
saying, and it's you're never going to

2185
02:34:16.159 --> 02:34:20.479
recover because we didn't steal anything.
We have the idea back in nineteen eighty

2186
02:34:20.559 --> 02:34:24.799
six, all right, we it
just takes time. It takes time to

2187
02:34:24.959 --> 02:34:28.680
develop, and we can't just have
an idea and put it on TV.

2188
02:34:28.040 --> 02:34:31.280
And look, I guess it was
to assume that your report would understand that.

2189
02:34:31.440 --> 02:34:35.600
But you know, I listen,
listen, I just you know you

2190
02:34:35.680 --> 02:34:37.840
and I go way back, and
I'm doing you this favor, all right.

2191
02:34:37.879 --> 02:34:45.840
I'm trying to help you before before
it gets out of hand, and

2192
02:34:46.040 --> 02:34:50.040
I think you know what's going to
happen if it does, all right,

2193
02:34:50.200 --> 02:34:54.879
and I did what I you know
I'm doing. I'm doing what I can

2194
02:34:54.959 --> 02:34:56.600
to help you. We have options
here, some of them are nuclear,

2195
02:34:56.719 --> 02:35:00.399
and I'm just letting you know that
I can. I can. I can

2196
02:35:00.479 --> 02:35:05.879
tell you right now that if something
happens here, I cannot be held responsible

2197
02:35:05.920 --> 02:35:09.319
for what mister mcman chooses to do. If this story is framed the way

2198
02:35:09.360 --> 02:35:13.760
it sounds like your reporter wants to
frame it, there's going to be I'll

2199
02:35:13.799 --> 02:35:16.600
tell you what consequences. I mean, tell you there should be consequences.

2200
02:35:16.639 --> 02:35:20.239
And we don't hold a lot of
cards, but there are some we do

2201
02:35:20.399 --> 02:35:24.479
hold with some very powerful people that
you need to stay in the good graces.

2202
02:35:24.520 --> 02:35:26.959
Off Bill, I just want to
say, you know, if you

2203
02:35:26.120 --> 02:35:33.520
if you play this card the wrong
way, Bevin's Nick Mann is going to

2204
02:35:33.600 --> 02:35:39.120
own Newsday. All right, I'll
talk to you later, Mike Bill.

2205
02:35:39.360 --> 02:35:46.559
Yeah. Donald Trump on line one, a WWF spokesman said the Royal Rumble

2206
02:35:46.559 --> 02:35:48.719
has been in the planning stages for
some time and was not prompted by the

2207
02:35:48.840 --> 02:35:54.079
nWay event, but our sources say
it will greatly diminish the nway's pay per

2208
02:35:54.159 --> 02:35:56.399
view base. At WWF live card
featuring Hogan, to be held at Madison

2209
02:35:56.399 --> 02:36:00.760
Square Garden on Monday, is also
expected to hurt Punk House tendance at the

2210
02:36:00.840 --> 02:36:03.840
Nasau Coliseum on Sunday. That's right. Think about that. They're running Nasau

2211
02:36:03.879 --> 02:36:09.159
Coliseum on Sunday night and the next
night Hogans at Madison Square Garden. You

2212
02:36:09.200 --> 02:36:11.440
want to get both tickets. I'd
want to get both tickets. Oh,

2213
02:36:11.479 --> 02:36:13.799
I would totally do that. You
kidding me. The n w WA's last

2214
02:36:13.799 --> 02:36:16.719
pay per view card, held on
Thanksgiving, also faced WWF competition in the

2215
02:36:16.799 --> 02:36:24.479
form of a rival pay per view
event, and it went swimmingly electronic media.

2216
02:36:24.559 --> 02:36:28.440
February first, nineteen eighty eight,
World Wrestling Federation Royal Rumble earned the

2217
02:36:28.559 --> 02:36:37.639
highest ratings ever for USA Network ever
the twenty men wrestling match in January twenty

2218
02:36:37.680 --> 02:36:46.879
fourth through and eight point two eight
point two cable rating eight point two eight

2219
02:36:46.040 --> 02:36:52.920
point two eight point two. I
mean, these days we talk about a

2220
02:36:52.959 --> 02:36:56.920
demographic rating like zero point six's cause
for celebration, we didn't even do the

2221
02:36:58.000 --> 02:37:01.559
ratings anymore. We just do the
cumulative audio number. Right, they're like

2222
02:37:01.719 --> 02:37:07.760
down around like twos. Now,
if that it's amazing, um that that

2223
02:37:09.000 --> 02:37:13.360
kind of resonance. Um. But
as Pritchard says, you know, back

2224
02:37:13.360 --> 02:37:16.000
then to Vince, ratings weren't a
big deal, and USA Network and Dick

2225
02:37:16.040 --> 02:37:20.479
Ebersol were probably happier than they were
a titan about a television rating. It

2226
02:37:20.600 --> 02:37:24.879
was cable TV. It was like, okay, great, they'll keep us

2227
02:37:24.959 --> 02:37:28.719
on when it comes time to renegotiate. But all of our stuff um on

2228
02:37:28.920 --> 02:37:33.120
USA was the highest stuff on that
network. And that's like, that's that's

2229
02:37:33.159 --> 02:37:37.239
the secret man, Like all these
years from k Coplevitz to Bonnie Hammer too.

2230
02:37:37.399 --> 02:37:43.760
Yeah, the other guy that ran
the network. Um, oh my

2231
02:37:43.840 --> 02:37:46.280
god, I say the other guy
just because I'm I know he's a big

2232
02:37:46.360 --> 02:37:50.920
deal. Reaching for his name,
the guy who was running Barry Diller USA.

2233
02:37:54.159 --> 02:37:56.360
They all pretend that they have a
network without w WF, and of

2234
02:37:56.440 --> 02:38:01.000
course they don't. And now it's
like to point where literally, if ww

2235
02:38:01.239 --> 02:38:05.079
did not does not re up with
USA network, the channel, as far

2236
02:38:05.079 --> 02:38:09.319
as I can tell, will mostly
cease to exist. So that's that,

2237
02:38:11.079 --> 02:38:13.760
and it was the case in eighty
eight, it was the case before that,

2238
02:38:13.879 --> 02:38:18.360
and it's the case after that.
Here's an article that kind of orients

2239
02:38:18.440 --> 02:38:22.479
us to the tone around the wrestling
business in the months following Royal Rumble and

2240
02:38:22.600 --> 02:38:26.040
really capturing the time period the Rumble
takes place in. It was published on

2241
02:38:26.200 --> 02:38:31.360
May twenty third, nineteen eighty eight, and electronic media headline riding high with

2242
02:38:31.440 --> 02:38:35.879
wrestling sizzling sport is hot television property
too. So this is um, I

2243
02:38:35.959 --> 02:38:41.639
believe, sort of helpful context as
we think about what rating like this for

2244
02:38:41.760 --> 02:38:46.200
the very first televised Royal Rumble meant
to the you know, television business.

2245
02:38:46.239 --> 02:38:56.639
Writ large boss, if you could
please absolutely there may have been a time

2246
02:38:56.680 --> 02:39:01.079
when wrestling was a pseudo sport to
be snickered at, but no more.

2247
02:39:01.639 --> 02:39:05.200
Wrestling is hot and glittery these days, both as a live event and as

2248
02:39:05.239 --> 02:39:09.280
a television programming. Television and wrestling
in fact, have become an extensively compatible

2249
02:39:09.360 --> 02:39:15.079
couple. Wrestling provides strong ratings to
the television industry, the TV exposure promotes

2250
02:39:15.120 --> 02:39:20.920
wrestlings, merchandising and ticket sales.
Perhaps nowhere is the marriage of convenience stronger

2251
02:39:20.079 --> 02:39:26.840
than at the World Wrestling Entertainment.
The WWE stages three weeknight wrestling events and

2252
02:39:26.079 --> 02:39:31.000
six more on weekends, and uses
them to feed three weekly, hour long

2253
02:39:31.120 --> 02:39:35.479
syndicated TV shows. These shows,
produced by Titan Sports, are carried by

2254
02:39:35.600 --> 02:39:41.479
nearly three hundred stations, about half
of which our network affiliates. One hundred

2255
02:39:41.520 --> 02:39:45.520
of the stations have been added in
the last year alone, and TV revenue

2256
02:39:45.520 --> 02:39:50.680
including home video is hovering, and
the fifty million a year range live gates

2257
02:39:50.719 --> 02:39:54.520
and merchandising, both of which benefit
immensely from the TV exposure, bring in

2258
02:39:54.600 --> 02:40:01.200
another three hundred million. The WWE's
Wrestling network penetrates nine brother What Network,

2259
02:40:01.479 --> 02:40:07.120
What Dude Network? Brother The w's
Wrestling Network penetrates ninety six percent of the

2260
02:40:07.200 --> 02:40:11.639
country, A respectable part of the
country is tuning in. Recent syndication figures

2261
02:40:11.680 --> 02:40:20.680
from as from ac Nielsen company gave
WWE programming a one hundred nine point nine

2262
02:40:20.239 --> 02:40:26.879
national rating. Yes, what how
do they get that number? You just

2263
02:40:28.120 --> 02:40:33.239
you accumulate every single station in the
country that's airing the syndicated show. You

2264
02:40:33.319 --> 02:40:37.120
put them all together. You assume
there's no duplicate eyeballs, So you do

2265
02:40:37.319 --> 02:40:41.159
like a what a eight point two
in New York and a four point two

2266
02:40:41.280 --> 02:40:46.000
and Sheboygan. You just keep atting. Wow Jesus. As for network numbers,

2267
02:40:46.040 --> 02:40:50.079
the WWE's last primetime main event special, which NBC aired in February,

2268
02:40:50.479 --> 02:40:54.280
got a fifteen point two rating and
a twenty five share percentage of sets and

2269
02:40:54.440 --> 02:41:01.079
use. Those figures represent a record
TV wrestling audience of thirty three million viewers.

2270
02:41:01.600 --> 02:41:03.760
On the cable side of the TV
industry, at USA network, telecast

2271
02:41:03.879 --> 02:41:09.040
of WWE Royal Rumble in January chucked
up an eight point two rating, a

2272
02:41:09.159 --> 02:41:15.000
record for any special carried by that
basic cable network. Finally, the recent

2273
02:41:15.000 --> 02:41:18.920
WrestleMania four gross and estimated forty million
from closed circuit home video and pay per

2274
02:41:20.040 --> 02:41:24.399
view, where it drew average buy
rates of about nine percent. Perhaps not

2275
02:41:24.479 --> 02:41:28.239
surprisingly, WWE has built a state
of the art TV production center near at

2276
02:41:28.280 --> 02:41:31.920
Stamford, Connecticut headquarters. The center
is equipped with broadcast studios for live,

2277
02:41:33.159 --> 02:41:37.399
remote, or taped feeds. It
also will make customized copies of WWE tapes

2278
02:41:37.719 --> 02:41:43.440
twenty four hours a day for local
syndication markets. WWE is not the only

2279
02:41:43.520 --> 02:41:48.760
major player in the wrestling business.
In addition to a few regional wrestling organizations,

2280
02:41:48.840 --> 02:41:54.120
the field includes the Wrestling Network,
which carries the National Wrestling Alliance on

2281
02:41:54.319 --> 02:42:01.239
nearly two hundred TV stations, up
from seventy stations a year ago. We're

2282
02:42:01.319 --> 02:42:05.000
both going to stay in business for
a long long time, and we're both

2283
02:42:05.280 --> 02:42:07.920
going to make good money. He
was heaping out of business within six months

2284
02:42:07.959 --> 02:42:11.159
of saying this, says Jim crocket
who' Jim Crockett Promotions in Charlotte, North

2285
02:42:11.200 --> 02:42:18.959
Carolina, produces the Wrestling Networks matches. While the casual observer might not detect

2286
02:42:18.319 --> 02:42:24.079
much difference between either company's productions aside
from the more lurid, bloodier style of

2287
02:42:24.239 --> 02:42:30.479
NWA matches, mister Crockett insists a
distinction exists, we present it more as

2288
02:42:30.520 --> 02:42:35.000
an athletic event, where the WWE
presents it more in a show business style.

2289
02:42:35.639 --> 02:42:39.399
They use dogs, birds, snakes, and we have more athletes in

2290
02:42:39.520 --> 02:42:43.360
the ring. The next new wrestling
wrinkle US TV viewers we'll see as a

2291
02:42:43.399 --> 02:42:50.479
syndicated pro wrestling sitcom, Learning the
Ropes, featuring Lyle Alzado along with NWA

2292
02:42:50.680 --> 02:42:56.120
performers. Meanwhile, WWE is upgrading
its syndication presentation, using its new production

2293
02:42:56.200 --> 02:43:01.719
facility to present a studio based host
announcer in Oakerland. The idea is to

2294
02:43:01.760 --> 02:43:05.360
make WW shows look more like network
sports programs. But even the giants of

2295
02:43:05.440 --> 02:43:11.879
wrestling are not betting their entire future
on weird men in Tight trunks. Mister

2296
02:43:11.959 --> 02:43:18.120
Crockett is planning some non wrestling and
action adventure films. Okay, WW is

2297
02:43:18.159 --> 02:43:22.440
contemplating other wrestling program including a revival
of a talk show like the TNT program

2298
02:43:22.600 --> 02:43:28.760
that formerly ran on USA Network.
You know, we're very conscious of the

2299
02:43:28.879 --> 02:43:33.600
fact that there can only be so
much similar product on television, says Basil

2300
02:43:33.639 --> 02:43:37.639
de Vito, w's senior vice president
of Marketing and Promotion. Still, for

2301
02:43:37.719 --> 02:43:41.399
the foreseeable future, at least,
the focus remains on wrestling, which has,

2302
02:43:41.559 --> 02:43:45.879
as they say, come a long
way since being launched as part of

2303
02:43:45.959 --> 02:43:50.559
P. T. Barnum's sideshow attractions. Wrestling eventually found its way to television,

2304
02:43:50.639 --> 02:43:56.000
but as an essentially local attraction with
more beef than pizzaz. Its rebirth

2305
02:43:56.079 --> 02:44:01.159
as a national sport probably began with
Gorgeous George, a popular wrestler who blaze

2306
02:44:01.200 --> 02:44:05.120
a trail on small TV screens in
the nineteen fifties. Hulk Hogan and other

2307
02:44:05.239 --> 02:44:09.559
heirs to George Wagner's legacy have become
celebrities in their own right. While the

2308
02:44:09.680 --> 02:44:13.559
money has changed, the top deputy
performers currently pulled down up to ten million

2309
02:44:13.639 --> 02:44:20.600
dollars annually, the entertainment remains essentially
unchanged. As for why wrestling, with

2310
02:44:20.680 --> 02:44:24.959
its emphasis on good guys versus villains, has become such a happening, the

2311
02:44:24.360 --> 02:44:30.360
explanations vary. Well, you know, people want to be entertained, you

2312
02:44:30.440 --> 02:44:33.959
know, they want to be grabbed, They want to have that two or

2313
02:44:33.040 --> 02:44:39.559
three hours that is real high energy, says Basil DeVito, the w executive.

2314
02:44:39.000 --> 02:44:43.399
I think that's what we provide,
and I think that's the kind of

2315
02:44:43.600 --> 02:44:48.639
entertainment for the eighties says Tom Shells, the Washington Post Pulitzer Prize winning TV

2316
02:44:48.760 --> 02:44:54.959
critic. It's like Morton Downey,
only actions and awards. Now. TV

2317
02:44:56.200 --> 02:45:01.120
is a medium that seems to thrive
on simplistics. You know. That's probably

2318
02:45:01.159 --> 02:45:05.120
why Ronald Reagan was elected president,
you know, and many be why wrestling

2319
02:45:05.200 --> 02:45:09.920
has become so popular at the same
time when even the academic community is wrestling

2320
02:45:11.040 --> 02:45:16.719
with the wrestling question. Well,
and wrestling presents the confort of good and

2321
02:45:16.799 --> 02:45:24.799
evil and extremely simplistic stereotype terms,
says Gerald Morton, English professor at Auburn

2322
02:45:24.959 --> 02:45:30.879
University who has written extensively about pro
wrestling. The good guy you recognize immediately,

2323
02:45:31.120 --> 02:45:41.040
or if you see an Arab you
know he's a bad guy. In

2324
02:45:41.120 --> 02:45:45.559
a country that would buy Ronald Reagan
and his simplistic view of international and national

2325
02:45:45.600 --> 02:45:52.840
affairs, that country is going to
buy and enjoy wrestling. Searing societal commentary

2326
02:45:52.879 --> 02:45:56.760
there in this article. Maybe I
need to find the works of Gerald Morton.

2327
02:45:56.920 --> 02:46:01.040
I think that's exactly correct. I
wonder if he's around, we'll have

2328
02:46:01.159 --> 02:46:05.159
him on the show. The wrestling
question, by the way, is how

2329
02:46:05.239 --> 02:46:09.360
can all these people watch this one? It's fake, that's exactly right,

2330
02:46:09.680 --> 02:46:18.200
very simple. Why are all these
people being hoodwinked? Absolutely this piece in

2331
02:46:18.399 --> 02:46:22.479
CBN, this piece and electronic media. It's about the CBN cable network,

2332
02:46:22.559 --> 02:46:26.600
Christian Broadcasting Network losing ground in the
cable ratings from May eighty eight does get

2333
02:46:26.639 --> 02:46:31.639
a lot more into what's happening elsewhere
in the industry, and this gives us

2334
02:46:31.120 --> 02:46:37.040
also helpful orientation around the positioning of
TBS and Crockett's platform, of course,

2335
02:46:37.120 --> 02:46:41.639
and WWF and USA Superstation. TBS
REMA regained rather it's traditional first place status

2336
02:46:41.639 --> 02:46:45.639
in primetime. So let's not forget
superstation is doing well enough at this time.

2337
02:46:45.680 --> 02:46:52.559
It's not just it's not like croct's
declining fortunes are harming TBS's position to

2338
02:46:52.600 --> 02:47:00.399
the cable marketplace. Excuse me for
one second. Wrestling to rassling ain't sport

2339
02:47:00.479 --> 02:47:05.479
to American Spectrumle fucking hell is that? Gerald Morton. It's a book.

2340
02:47:05.559 --> 02:47:15.360
It's a book. It's a book, and the tradition continues today where it's

2341
02:47:15.360 --> 02:47:18.120
like I'm gonna write a book,
but I'm gonna I'm gonna mention the president

2342
02:47:18.239 --> 02:47:22.559
too. So it's about American I
want I want to talk about kind of

2343
02:47:22.639 --> 02:47:31.239
the capitalism, you know, that's
the thing about it. And wrestling is

2344
02:47:31.079 --> 02:47:37.639
a sport that that transcends really the
the the the and in many ways it

2345
02:47:37.799 --> 02:47:43.079
reflects the rise of Americas, the
current world power that it is. And

2346
02:47:43.200 --> 02:47:46.760
I believe that say something about late
stage capitalism too, I believe, you

2347
02:47:46.840 --> 02:47:52.360
know, I mean, and it
exemplifies late stage capitalism in a way that

2348
02:47:52.479 --> 02:48:00.680
I think very few other other other
un businesses and industries do. And I

2349
02:48:01.079 --> 02:48:03.719
see, no, you don't have
my respect because you haven't named an academic

2350
02:48:03.760 --> 02:48:07.879
that's written on wrestling before quite yet. Well you don't need to, because

2351
02:48:07.920 --> 02:48:13.200
I'm Gerald Morton unwrestling before you that
made cultural commentary. Well, I mean,

2352
02:48:13.319 --> 02:48:16.360
let's be honest. I mean,
if we're going to if you want

2353
02:48:16.399 --> 02:48:22.520
to talk about other intellectuals, we
can go as far back as Bath I

2354
02:48:22.600 --> 02:48:28.319
mean, and you know, I
mean it was examples of postmodernity for that

2355
02:48:28.479 --> 02:48:35.079
matter. And you know, and
Bath was was a colleague of such other

2356
02:48:35.360 --> 02:48:43.319
do you know, post Medonists and
in the early Ageans Bracton, you know,

2357
02:48:43.639 --> 02:48:48.520
so many others. And really what
pro wrestling is is a reflection of

2358
02:48:48.760 --> 02:48:56.840
society, yep, of sociological examination. You know, it's just there's a

2359
02:48:56.360 --> 02:49:00.639
Republican in the White House. It's
because of pro wrestling. I got it.

2360
02:49:00.719 --> 02:49:05.280
Okay, that's right. I mean, that's the This is not say

2361
02:49:05.399 --> 02:49:09.799
yet. Yeah, it's it's.
It's it's it's it's it's what we are.

2362
02:49:11.440 --> 02:49:16.280
It's what we are and who we
are and where we are and how

2363
02:49:16.440 --> 02:49:24.159
we are. Thank you, professor. We moving on now. Superstation TBS

2364
02:49:24.600 --> 02:49:28.000
regained its traditional first place status in
primetime after being temporarily unseated in the fourth

2365
02:49:28.040 --> 02:49:31.440
quarter of nineteen eighty seven, of
course, by ESPN and it's skyrocketing National

2366
02:49:31.479 --> 02:49:35.040
Football League telecast results at both the
twenty four hour. In primetime periods,

2367
02:49:35.079 --> 02:49:39.680
TBS gained point four points over the
first quarter of ninety eighty seven. Primetime

2368
02:49:39.719 --> 02:49:43.120
viewing stood at three point one,
while total day registered a two. The

2369
02:49:43.159 --> 02:49:46.959
superstation also gained two hundred thousand households
in both periods, with a total of

2370
02:49:46.079 --> 02:49:50.360
one point four million in primetime at
eight hundred and sixty four thousand for total

2371
02:49:50.440 --> 02:49:54.559
day. Those ratings increases were larger
than any commercial cablecaster experienced in the quarter,

2372
02:49:54.639 --> 02:49:58.920
and they resulted in TBS's highest ever
audience count. That's particularly good new

2373
02:50:00.159 --> 02:50:03.840
for the channel. Which got Spody
results in nineteen eighty seven. USA Network

2374
02:50:03.120 --> 02:50:07.079
moved from fourth to second place in
total day results compared with the same period

2375
02:50:07.200 --> 02:50:11.879
last year, increasing it's twenty four
hour ratings by zero point one point to

2376
02:50:13.120 --> 02:50:16.040
a one and it's households by more
than seventy thousand to a total of four

2377
02:50:16.159 --> 02:50:20.680
hundred and nine thousand. USA moved
to third place from fourth in primetime with

2378
02:50:20.840 --> 02:50:24.559
a point three point gain to a
one point six and almost a two hundred

2379
02:50:24.559 --> 02:50:28.479
thousand household increase to six hundred and
ninety four thousand. So that's on the

2380
02:50:28.520 --> 02:50:31.799
increase. Of course, it's so
much on the down slide. It's ridiculous.

2381
02:50:31.799 --> 02:50:37.520
So many people are dropping cable.
But no, that's important. Hey,

2382
02:50:37.600 --> 02:50:41.200
you know what you know listen,
I'm just I'm gonna cut the cord,

2383
02:50:41.520 --> 02:50:43.000
cool man. So how much you
can pay by the time you pay

2384
02:50:43.040 --> 02:50:48.600
for internet without discounted bund cable,
you don't even need you listen. I

2385
02:50:48.639 --> 02:50:54.280
don't need cable, Okay, I
don't need to have YouTube TV three hundred

2386
02:50:54.280 --> 02:50:58.319
dollars a year. Listen. All
I gotta do is listen. All If

2387
02:50:58.440 --> 02:51:05.040
all I pay for is YouTube TV
and Roku TV and Hulu, you know,

2388
02:51:05.040 --> 02:51:09.079
if I get all the packages on
Hulu and I get a Disney Plus,

2389
02:51:09.159 --> 02:51:13.079
like at Paramount Plus, I get
Peacock, I get um, you

2390
02:51:13.200 --> 02:51:16.799
know, a Netflix, Amazon Prime, seventy dollars a year, I got,

2391
02:51:16.920 --> 02:51:20.920
you know, all these things.
I'm saving money. I'm only spending

2392
02:51:22.000 --> 02:51:28.559
five million dollars a year. About
when the ESPN goes Oh how about your

2393
02:51:28.600 --> 02:51:31.680
local sports? Are you a Boston
fan? Do you got to pay thirty

2394
02:51:31.760 --> 02:51:35.319
dollars a month to watch all the
Red Sox games without a cable subscription we're

2395
02:51:35.399 --> 02:51:39.200
getting Actually, it might be more
expensive than cable. I think it is.

2396
02:51:39.280 --> 02:51:41.360
Honestly, when it comes, when
push comes to shove, I believe

2397
02:51:41.440 --> 02:51:46.559
that. I believe that because like, what is the the Hulu package alone?

2398
02:51:46.959 --> 02:51:50.959
Yeah, I don't even the highest
Hulu package where you get everything including

2399
02:51:50.040 --> 02:51:54.120
live TV, is like eighty dollars
a month. Yeah, get Sunday ticket

2400
02:51:54.200 --> 02:51:56.120
for you. But as it goes
to YouTube, good luck but you,

2401
02:51:56.360 --> 02:51:58.680
but you also don't get right,
you don't get anything that doesn't include Netflix,

2402
02:52:00.159 --> 02:52:05.239
that doesn't include uh, Peacock,
it doesn't include all those other things.

2403
02:52:05.280 --> 02:52:07.760
And that's only the Disney stuff.
It's almost like they're gonna get their

2404
02:52:07.799 --> 02:52:11.879
money either way. It's almost like
you've been hoodwinked. Yes, yes,

2405
02:52:13.239 --> 02:52:18.840
but but cable campy is good because
it's not an app. But I don't

2406
02:52:18.840 --> 02:52:26.319
know. But I cut the cord. Are called horn the cord. Don't

2407
02:52:26.360 --> 02:52:30.319
forget even though you cut the cord, when the baby comes out, that's

2408
02:52:30.360 --> 02:52:33.399
still your mom for the rest of
your life. Okay, I make the

2409
02:52:33.520 --> 02:52:41.239
cord. I am the cord.
I am Rick McCord aka Austin Idol.

2410
02:52:45.879 --> 02:52:48.159
So let's not forget. You know
what we're talking about Crocket for stef.

2411
02:52:48.239 --> 02:52:58.120
We're also talking about a battle between
these plumber excuse me, James McCord.

2412
02:52:58.159 --> 02:53:01.239
White House Plumber has Plumer. It's
important for audience members to know. I

2413
02:53:01.399 --> 02:53:05.559
think sometimes that the way that the
signal comes across, like when one of

2414
02:53:05.639 --> 02:53:11.280
us is talking, the other one
can't always tell the others talking. So

2415
02:53:11.360 --> 02:53:15.360
I'm like talking about TBS verus USA, and then I hear White House Plumber

2416
02:53:16.440 --> 02:53:20.399
old context whatsoever. So we deal
with it and you will have to deal

2417
02:53:20.479 --> 02:53:24.479
with it as well. That's right. So yeah, it's not just Crockett

2418
02:53:24.520 --> 02:53:28.159
vers WWF. It's USA versus TBS, and this is a big stage model

2419
02:53:28.479 --> 02:53:33.680
and they both need wrestling so badly
to compete so bad, either loses wrestling

2420
02:53:33.879 --> 02:53:37.879
the other one runs away with the
fucking day. And that's always been the

2421
02:53:37.920 --> 02:53:41.680
case on cable as long as cable
has existed, from MTV using wrestling in

2422
02:53:41.760 --> 02:53:46.760
eighty four to TBS starting and you
know with Turner and seventy two, all

2423
02:53:46.799 --> 02:53:50.520
the way through to it becoming superstationed
with Georgia Championship Wrestling, Vince being with

2424
02:53:50.639 --> 02:53:54.559
USA back when it was the MSG
network on through to All American Wrestling in

2425
02:53:54.639 --> 02:53:58.920
eighty three. Give me a fucking
break, folks, Fucking Southwest Championship US

2426
02:54:00.399 --> 02:54:07.040
on USA. Very simple. Pro
wrestling is cable exactly Cable link shit without

2427
02:54:07.079 --> 02:54:13.120
pro wrestling never has been a definitely
isn't today. January was a particularly good

2428
02:54:13.159 --> 02:54:16.159
month for USA, according to Ray
Jacobelle, the network's senior search channelist.

2429
02:54:16.200 --> 02:54:18.959
Most significant, he said, it's
the eight point two rating garnered by the

2430
02:54:20.159 --> 02:54:24.799
WWF Royal Rumble Wrestling special on January
twenty fourth. So here's an industry piece

2431
02:54:24.879 --> 02:54:28.159
that's just about the battle between the
two major basic cable stations in the country,

2432
02:54:28.399 --> 02:54:33.760
and they have to mention that it's
pretty much wrestling that explains these returns.

2433
02:54:35.120 --> 02:54:37.239
USA also benefited from the strong debut
of The Tales of the Gold Monkey,

2434
02:54:37.399 --> 02:54:41.239
Never Heard Of It, which shared
on ABCTV in eighty two and eighty

2435
02:54:41.280 --> 02:54:43.680
three. The programming was USA's third
highest rated series, with an average two

2436
02:54:43.680 --> 02:54:48.079
point six rating or one point one
million households in the six pm Eastern time

2437
02:54:48.120 --> 02:54:50.239
slot. Nothing much was new at
CNN and CNN Headline News, Etc.

2438
02:54:50.639 --> 02:54:58.159
Primetime news stations, ESPN Primetime Okay, Nashville Networks who were going to Lifetime,

2439
02:54:58.200 --> 02:55:01.000
and Nick at Knight in Discovery Channel
A and E. These were all

2440
02:55:01.040 --> 02:55:07.799
in play back then, but suffice
to say the Royal Rumble earning a mention

2441
02:55:07.079 --> 02:55:11.840
and Superstation TBS doing pretty strongly as
well. But again the Rumble is just

2442
02:55:13.559 --> 02:55:18.200
so, what's the word I'm looking
for? Conspicuous In the top cable rankings

2443
02:55:18.239 --> 02:55:22.799
for the week and the month,
and the quarter and the year for USA,

2444
02:55:22.760 --> 02:55:28.000
that's it's definitely worth talking about when
covering this show in and of itself.

2445
02:55:28.559 --> 02:55:31.239
This is a list that eventually comes
out in the press top fifty basic

2446
02:55:31.319 --> 02:55:35.760
cable programs for the first quarter of
nineteen eighty eight. Number two on all

2447
02:55:35.840 --> 02:55:39.760
of cable is The Royal Rumble.
Wow ol, second only to the Pro

2448
02:55:39.879 --> 02:55:43.479
Bowl from the NFL in February,
which did inn eight point five. I'm

2449
02:55:43.520 --> 02:55:48.239
here to tell you that the Royal
Rumble in nineteen eighty eight did a significantly

2450
02:55:48.360 --> 02:55:54.840
higher cable rating than the NBA All
Star Game Clash of the Champions on TBS,

2451
02:55:54.200 --> 02:55:58.079
which again went head to head with
the Rumble. Pardon Me, Wrestle

2452
02:55:58.159 --> 02:56:01.959
ninety four was number five. Number
four was the Sackets playing on TBS.

2453
02:56:03.040 --> 02:56:09.319
A movie Operation Petticoat on TBS was
sixth, and um, March Madness Basketball

2454
02:56:09.399 --> 02:56:13.760
underneath that, so higher than March
Madness Basketball, higher than the NBA All

2455
02:56:13.840 --> 02:56:18.840
Star Game, The Rumble, That's
insane. Even a repeat of the Rumble,

2456
02:56:18.239 --> 02:56:22.440
which aired on Monday Night from eight
to eleven PM, was the thirteenth

2457
02:56:22.520 --> 02:56:28.120
highest ranked show of the quarter on
cable. Um Man, look at these

2458
02:56:28.239 --> 02:56:31.520
look at these movies? Sons of
Katie elder Man who loved cat dancing,

2459
02:56:31.639 --> 02:56:35.040
Paint your Wagon, No time for
Sergeant's Big Jake? Did these ring a

2460
02:56:35.079 --> 02:56:39.159
bell for you at all? Um? Yeah? I know some of them.

2461
02:56:39.200 --> 02:56:41.719
A little bit death wish too.
Once upon a Time in the West,

2462
02:56:41.120 --> 02:56:45.799
Lash of the Titans. That's all. The Top twenty is like Once

2463
02:56:45.840 --> 02:56:50.280
upon the West the cinema serious is
a wrestler, Yes, yes there is.

2464
02:56:50.440 --> 02:56:54.000
Oh fucking hell, our good,
good power Woody Strode. That's awesome.

2465
02:56:54.680 --> 02:56:58.159
I get down to seventeen, we
get you know, Saturday six oh

2466
02:56:58.239 --> 02:57:01.440
five WCW on TBS at a four
point seven. Wow. Andy Griffith on

2467
02:57:01.559 --> 02:57:11.280
TBS. Flintstones on TBS. TBS
was so dominant Man Logan's run movie Flinstones

2468
02:57:11.319 --> 02:57:16.120
were big hits for them in the
morning on Sunday shirts. Absolutely. Did

2469
02:57:16.159 --> 02:57:18.040
you remember watching Flintstones on Sunday mornings? I don't remember that being um,

2470
02:57:18.559 --> 02:57:22.799
yeah I did. I think I
did four point three ratings from nine oh

2471
02:57:22.920 --> 02:57:26.799
five to nine thirty five AM.
Wow. Primetime Wrestling all the way down

2472
02:57:26.840 --> 02:57:30.719
at number thirty three on USA Network
at a four point three, but again

2473
02:57:30.799 --> 02:57:33.719
beating NBA games Boston, Chicago no
less on TBS. And this is a

2474
02:57:33.799 --> 02:57:39.959
time when, unless I'm mistaken,
um, live sports from the big leagues

2475
02:57:41.040 --> 02:57:43.479
on cable we're much more rare.
Yeah, so you know, if you're

2476
02:57:43.520 --> 02:57:48.040
not telling they're not beating the game
of the week on fucking you know NBC

2477
02:57:48.200 --> 02:57:52.040
or ABC by any stretch. But
they're doing better than the major sports on

2478
02:57:52.200 --> 02:57:56.879
cable, and that's that is remarkable. So this, this Royal Rumble is

2479
02:57:56.159 --> 02:58:01.040
very significant in the TV business.
It's just not so significant WWF's business,

2480
02:58:01.520 --> 02:58:07.239
right, that'sn't that weird? It
really? First thing to consider how much

2481
02:58:07.399 --> 02:58:11.879
this all became a ratings game later
Yep, yep. Here nobody really cares.

2482
02:58:11.959 --> 02:58:18.000
But for USA, rushing ads like
this onto the air for this Royal

2483
02:58:18.120 --> 02:58:33.799
Rumble was obviously worth it. Style. Let me take the match designed exactly

2484
02:58:33.239 --> 02:58:39.760
to me join us later tonight right
here on the USA network. That's the

2485
02:58:41.120 --> 02:58:43.399
best they could come up with.
That's so crazy a short turn around time.

2486
02:58:43.399 --> 02:58:48.079
Bam BAM's not in it. I
was looking like hell for any hint

2487
02:58:48.000 --> 02:58:50.319
that they were going to make Bam
Bam win the Rumble because when I saw

2488
02:58:50.360 --> 02:58:54.000
that article about the bunk house battle, and I was thinking about where Bam

2489
02:58:54.040 --> 02:58:56.399
Bam was positioned. But I think
by now they'd already gotten word that he

2490
02:58:56.559 --> 02:59:01.200
was going to just pict you for
a while with the knee injuries. Yeah,

2491
02:59:01.520 --> 02:59:05.319
but I think if he you know, if the eighty seven Survivor series

2492
02:59:05.399 --> 02:59:07.200
is any indication, if he didn't
come up with bad knees, he probably

2493
02:59:07.239 --> 02:59:11.959
would have won this first Rumble because
they weren't you know, they weren't all

2494
02:59:11.959 --> 02:59:18.079
about Duggin yet. They just kind
of hesitatingly, as we'll talk about later,

2495
02:59:18.159 --> 02:59:20.639
welcomed him back into the fold after
firing him over the Irishik arrest in

2496
02:59:20.719 --> 02:59:24.360
New Jersey, when, according to
Duggan, at least, he starts making

2497
02:59:24.520 --> 02:59:26.879
entreaties to Dusty and Crockett to make
the jump and they're like, well,

2498
02:59:26.920 --> 02:59:31.319
well, well hope you know,
never doesn't mean never, Jim, I

2499
02:59:31.399 --> 02:59:33.440
mean, come on, right,
but what is it people turning out?

2500
02:59:33.479 --> 02:59:37.360
Why are these people watching on television? Why do these kids love wrestling?

2501
02:59:37.399 --> 02:59:41.040
And why do these kids love Jim
Duggan boss? That's really the question that

2502
02:59:41.520 --> 02:59:45.399
in so many ways, the nineteen
eighty eight Royal Rumble presents us with,

2503
02:59:45.840 --> 02:59:48.079
and we're headed up to Ontario.
You think the Toronto Star might have any

2504
02:59:48.079 --> 02:59:50.879
answers for us? I would imagine
that they do. Turn to the March

2505
02:59:52.000 --> 02:59:56.719
twenty seventh edition of nineteen eighty eight
headline why do kids love wrestling? Ho

2506
02:59:58.120 --> 03:00:03.600
ho, quickly becoming the famous battle
cry in the circles of professional wrestling.

2507
03:00:03.159 --> 03:00:07.719
He saw Jim Duggan, who carries
a plank of two by four Wood when

2508
03:00:07.799 --> 03:00:13.239
he wrestles, has made the saying
famous. What's the big attraction for kids

2509
03:00:13.280 --> 03:00:16.840
and why do they love wrestlers like
ha Saw Duggan. After starting his professional

2510
03:00:16.920 --> 03:00:20.239
career eleven years ago as a bad
guy, the thirty four year old Duggan

2511
03:00:20.280 --> 03:00:24.040
said he has pleased the way his
life as a good guy is going.

2512
03:00:24.799 --> 03:00:30.879
Besides being known for carrying his piece
of lumber, Duggan has hoed his way

2513
03:00:31.120 --> 03:00:35.840
to start him except that that is
a universal Douggan says, a lot of

2514
03:00:35.959 --> 03:00:41.280
kids like me because all they have
to do to show support for me is

2515
03:00:41.360 --> 03:00:46.600
yll Garry Sue Ay, a twelve
year old student at Saint Thomas Aquinas,

2516
03:00:46.639 --> 03:00:52.120
agrees, I like the way he
goes home. It's easy to do.

2517
03:00:52.920 --> 03:00:56.239
He's my favorite wrestler. We introduce
you to a guy named Santa. You

2518
03:00:56.360 --> 03:01:03.200
love him really and I think he
should be the next world champion. Yes,

2519
03:01:03.600 --> 03:01:11.079
I watch him on TV all the
time, adds nine year old Tanya

2520
03:01:11.200 --> 03:01:15.479
weather All, the student at Blake
Street Public School. He doesn't back down

2521
03:01:15.639 --> 03:01:22.879
for anybody. He deserves the people's
help. I think he's funny. I'm

2522
03:01:22.879 --> 03:01:28.440
a great guy, says John Moses, eight, a student at Rodan Public

2523
03:01:28.520 --> 03:01:35.559
school, other children like the bearded
You know this could be said too,

2524
03:01:37.120 --> 03:01:41.040
like other children like like the bearded
Duggan. Other children like the bearded Duggan

2525
03:01:41.399 --> 03:01:46.040
because of his looks. Veronica Brooks
of Earl Gray Public School thinks Duggan is

2526
03:01:46.120 --> 03:01:50.520
quote cute, he's a hillbilly and
I don't really like him. He's got

2527
03:01:50.559 --> 03:01:54.879
a lot of moves and the other
guys are scared of him. Imagine they

2528
03:01:54.959 --> 03:01:56.719
take a guy from Glen's Falls,
New York and make people think he's a

2529
03:01:56.799 --> 03:02:01.239
hillbilly. Right, but let's not
forget like Vince like told him to cross

2530
03:02:01.319 --> 03:02:05.360
his eyes and act like Eugene in
the beginning. You got you gotta act

2531
03:02:05.399 --> 03:02:07.000
like a like a fucking idiot after
coming out of Mid South. It's like

2532
03:02:07.040 --> 03:02:11.760
the baddest ass, fucking former pro
football brawler of the business. And I

2533
03:02:11.840 --> 03:02:16.399
want I want you to be a
goofball one thing we're missing chromosome here right

2534
03:02:16.760 --> 03:02:18.879
all right? I want you to
act like you don't have it all in

2535
03:02:18.959 --> 03:02:22.479
your head. And hey, Veronica, you go to Earl Gray Public High

2536
03:02:22.479 --> 03:02:24.600
School. That's a public school.
Funny, I went to English Breakfast public

2537
03:02:24.680 --> 03:02:31.520
school. You know. I went
to Lodge Regular Public school all right,

2538
03:02:33.040 --> 03:02:37.000
But Garth Waterson fourteen thinks Duggan's popular
because, you know, because he doesn't

2539
03:02:37.040 --> 03:02:41.520
really have a gammac. The Earl
Gray Public School student thinks Doug into the

2540
03:02:41.559 --> 03:02:50.879
fan in favor because he's different from
others. He's not like most most men.

2541
03:02:50.200 --> 03:02:54.719
Yeah, it's like most girls.
Yeah, some wrestlers props are less

2542
03:02:54.799 --> 03:02:58.680
desirable. Jake the Snake Roberts brings
a live boa constructed into the ring,

2543
03:03:00.040 --> 03:03:03.600
while the Honky talk Man carries a
guitar. Duggan's fame has grown since breaking

2544
03:03:03.639 --> 03:03:07.879
into the world lessing entertainment last year. Today, he will be one of

2545
03:03:07.920 --> 03:03:13.680
the fourteen wrestlers trying to become the
World Heavyweight Champion at the w WWE at

2546
03:03:13.760 --> 03:03:18.079
WrestleMania four in Atlantic City. Duggan
said, there's a good reason why kids

2547
03:03:18.200 --> 03:03:20.280
love him. A lot of kids
wire a late Martin me, and they

2548
03:03:20.360 --> 03:03:26.040
do some of the other wrestlers because
they see me that's more of a role

2549
03:03:26.159 --> 03:03:30.440
model. I'm just like one of
them, and I'm eye for an eye

2550
03:03:30.559 --> 03:03:33.200
kind of guy. I can't believe
they got the story published with Neria mention

2551
03:03:33.280 --> 03:03:39.200
of his marijuana arrest, like national
news. Yeah. After playing college ball

2552
03:03:39.239 --> 03:03:43.280
at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.
He had a brief tryout as an offensive

2553
03:03:43.319 --> 03:03:50.760
guard with the Toronto Argonauts, and
Duggan likes kids. He has worked with

2554
03:03:50.280 --> 03:03:56.319
handicapped children and the Special Olympics.
There's one thing for certain, kids of

2555
03:03:56.399 --> 03:04:05.559
all ages are hoping Duggan continues to
win his matches. Truly amazing. So

2556
03:04:05.879 --> 03:04:09.760
there's an article there in Toronto's Star, not far from the locus of nineteen

2557
03:04:09.760 --> 03:04:13.799
eighty eight Royal Rumble there in Hamilton, Ontario, climenting on the cultural resonance,

2558
03:04:13.840 --> 03:04:18.120
if you will, of Hacksaw Jim
Duggan at the time here of winning

2559
03:04:18.360 --> 03:04:24.280
an eighty eight Pretchard said that Morocco
and Jake Roberts were also considered as potential

2560
03:04:24.360 --> 03:04:28.799
winners of the nineteen eighty eight Royal
Rumble. Really yep, But Duggan they

2561
03:04:28.840 --> 03:04:31.959
felt like was the biggest star that
needed a boost and this was the opportunity

2562
03:04:33.280 --> 03:04:39.120
to do that. I guess I
always thought of See, you know,

2563
03:04:39.280 --> 03:04:46.239
I understand what you're saying about how
Duggan was a certain type of character in

2564
03:04:46.639 --> 03:04:50.680
mid South, but it's it's really
hard to think of him as anything less

2565
03:04:50.079 --> 03:04:54.760
or anything more than what he was
in nineteen ninety two, right, And

2566
03:04:56.040 --> 03:05:05.479
I can't get I just can never
picture him being anything remotely money. He's

2567
03:05:05.520 --> 03:05:07.879
just a dufus. Yeah, well
that's exactly how Vince cast him. And

2568
03:05:07.920 --> 03:05:11.760
that's kind of part of the frustration
that Dusty was screaming about in that clip

2569
03:05:11.799 --> 03:05:16.639
we played twice before. It's like, you take these guys that meant something

2570
03:05:16.719 --> 03:05:18.920
in a bit in a presentation that
takes it very seriously, You're turning it

2571
03:05:18.920 --> 03:05:22.600
in a cartoon. You know,
You're you're sort of putting your creation on

2572
03:05:22.719 --> 03:05:26.520
top of a guy that actually meant
something to wrestling fans. You think of

2573
03:05:26.120 --> 03:05:30.000
you know, big boss Man is
gonna be Big bubb is gonna come boss

2574
03:05:30.040 --> 03:05:33.600
Man, Tibiasse became an eight dollar
man, etc. Well, uh,

2575
03:05:35.159 --> 03:05:39.959
where what are you paying them?
Exactly? I think it's pretty damn cool,

2576
03:05:39.000 --> 03:05:41.440
pal, that I can that I
have so much money that I can

2577
03:05:41.520 --> 03:05:46.159
make them dress up however I want, across their eyes, however I want

2578
03:05:46.200 --> 03:05:50.200
them to cross their eyes. I'll
tell you what, Pal, I'm gonna

2579
03:05:50.239 --> 03:05:52.920
pay people so much money they're gonna
kiss my ass. Let me ask you

2580
03:05:52.959 --> 03:05:56.440
a question, Dusty, do you
think you're above this? Do you think

2581
03:05:56.479 --> 03:06:01.639
you're above doing what I tell you
to do in response to my check book,

2582
03:06:03.000 --> 03:06:05.280
Dusty above wearing what I tell you
to wear. Dusty, do you

2583
03:06:05.399 --> 03:06:13.120
think you're immune to cleaning my toilets
and wiping the ship from my ass?

2584
03:06:15.079 --> 03:06:20.239
I can tell you you're not immune. Yeah, nobody is immune. And

2585
03:06:20.520 --> 03:06:30.200
you w the dig inside my anus
for every last piece of the ship that

2586
03:06:30.399 --> 03:06:33.200
comes out of it. Let me
ask you, bosses Axe Jim Dugan remember

2587
03:06:33.440 --> 03:06:37.520
winning the first televised royal rumble is
a big I'm sure no, no,

2588
03:06:37.639 --> 03:06:39.959
I'm sure he doesn't remember his big
deal. I'm sure doesn't remember it at

2589
03:06:39.959 --> 03:06:43.799
all. He is to Hannibal.
Yeah, thing about the whole arrested with

2590
03:06:43.879 --> 03:06:46.559
me in the Iron Cheek is a
false think he and the sheet, Yeah,

2591
03:06:46.559 --> 03:06:50.760
I should have made clear they start
with the nineteen eighty seven arrest of

2592
03:06:50.040 --> 03:06:54.719
Yes Duggan in the Iron Sheet.
This is um a pretty famous case.

2593
03:06:54.000 --> 03:06:56.000
We'll get into it in a bit
more. I think they were in the

2594
03:06:56.079 --> 03:07:01.120
Jersey Turnpike to get pulled over.
Dug in U has marijuana on his person.

2595
03:07:01.280 --> 03:07:05.559
He confesses that to the cop.
She has cocaine. Of course,

2596
03:07:05.600 --> 03:07:09.360
the bigger story here is that on
television these two our enemies, right.

2597
03:07:09.479 --> 03:07:15.319
Oh yeah, fuck the drugs they're
breaking cafe brother. Yeah. The worst

2598
03:07:15.360 --> 03:07:18.959
thing about that who arrest with me
and the iron Chekas That folks think he

2599
03:07:18.120 --> 03:07:22.600
and the chiker friends and we're not
friends. I gave the guy a ride

2600
03:07:22.639 --> 03:07:26.319
one day, you know, and
a long story short, guy head said

2601
03:07:26.399 --> 03:07:31.360
marijuana and my seat and we were
drinking beers and the drooper pulled us over.

2602
03:07:31.520 --> 03:07:33.600
And it was in the eighties,
you know. I wasn't drunk.

2603
03:07:33.639 --> 03:07:35.399
I was just sipping on a beer. So I was surprised I got pulled

2604
03:07:35.440 --> 03:07:39.239
over. He's like, he can't
do that. I'm like in New Jersey.

2605
03:07:39.280 --> 03:07:41.200
I'm like, I loved in Louisiana. I'm sorry, So I gotta

2606
03:07:41.200 --> 03:07:43.879
give me a ticket for that.
And he said, well, he spelled

2607
03:07:43.879 --> 03:07:46.159
the marijuana. He said, you
got any marijuana? He said, you

2608
03:07:46.200 --> 03:07:48.799
got anything else you want to tell
me about. I figured out I was

2609
03:07:48.840 --> 03:07:50.600
going to search the car anyway.
I said, yes, sir, I

2610
03:07:50.680 --> 03:07:54.799
got a small amount of marijuana under
my seat, you know. And of

2611
03:07:54.920 --> 03:07:58.120
course boom Me hooked me right up
and locked me up and put the cuffs

2612
03:07:58.159 --> 03:08:00.639
on me, and then he pulled
the she go out of the car.

2613
03:08:00.799 --> 03:08:05.000
And she got three grams of cocaine. So it was a huge arrest,

2614
03:08:05.920 --> 03:08:09.120
you know, she got to go
in front of a judge and everything.

2615
03:08:09.680 --> 03:08:13.120
But we still made the show that
night. And after the show we went

2616
03:08:13.200 --> 03:08:16.840
home and I called my wife.
I said, you know, to the

2617
03:08:16.920 --> 03:08:18.760
hotel. I said, we got
arrested. But I don't think anybody knows.

2618
03:08:20.600 --> 03:08:24.639
She calls to me the next day
she goes, everybody knows. So

2619
03:08:24.879 --> 03:08:28.639
my first call to was my dad, God bless him, and he chewed

2620
03:08:28.680 --> 03:08:31.399
me out a little bit, but
my family really rallied behind me. And

2621
03:08:31.680 --> 03:08:35.680
my second call was the Vince McMahon. And never before have I got so

2622
03:08:35.959 --> 03:08:39.719
through so quickly with Vince. And
uh, you know, Vince, I

2623
03:08:39.879 --> 03:08:43.760
remember verbatim. He goes, Jim, what have you done to us?

2624
03:08:43.959 --> 03:08:48.159
And I said, Vincent Barrison and
shame and whatever you do, I understand.

2625
03:08:48.719 --> 03:08:52.319
He says, we'll turn in your
tickets and go home because us to

2626
03:08:52.360 --> 03:08:56.559
have a big stack of airplane tickets. And he can me and it looked

2627
03:08:56.600 --> 03:09:01.239
like it was the end of my
career at w w F or E at

2628
03:09:01.319 --> 03:09:05.360
that time, and my buddy Jake
the Snake trying to smooth it over,

2629
03:09:05.440 --> 03:09:09.680
but he called me said you're screwed, and so I was like, well,

2630
03:09:09.440 --> 03:09:13.840
that's what I called Dusty down to
WCW. I said a meeting up

2631
03:09:13.879 --> 03:09:18.479
to go down and see Dusty.
And before I got there, WWE called

2632
03:09:18.520 --> 03:09:20.040
me back up and said just lay
low, we're going to bring it home,

2633
03:09:20.639 --> 03:09:26.000
bring it back. But I never
regained the big push I was getting.

2634
03:09:26.280 --> 03:09:28.479
You know, they always kept me
kind of strong, but they never

2635
03:09:28.600 --> 03:09:31.479
put the heavy gas on me.
So it was really hamstring my career.

2636
03:09:31.879 --> 03:09:37.120
Do you think you may have had
like an ultimate ware style push if that

2637
03:09:37.239 --> 03:09:41.040
incident hadn't occurred. Well, I
don't know about ultimate water style push,

2638
03:09:41.120 --> 03:09:43.479
but I think they were kind of
grooming me for a championship for a while.

2639
03:09:43.680 --> 03:09:46.760
You know, who knows which one, especially in the beginning when I

2640
03:09:46.840 --> 03:09:50.840
first came up that people were with
me, you know, WrestleMania three.

2641
03:09:50.879 --> 03:09:54.440
I had a big party. I
mean I actually went from the penthouse to

2642
03:09:54.520 --> 03:09:58.520
the ship house and one deal and
I was lucky to survive that arrest.

2643
03:09:58.600 --> 03:10:03.559
I think I would have killed a
lot of guy's careers. Ended up winning

2644
03:10:03.680 --> 03:10:07.159
the very first Royal Rumbell. So
I had that come about in our youth

2645
03:10:07.399 --> 03:10:11.040
shot that the Royal Rumble has gone
on to become one of the WWE market

2646
03:10:11.200 --> 03:10:13.799
margary events. Yeah. Well,
you know, back in the day that

2647
03:10:13.959 --> 03:10:18.920
we were running the day after day, I was fifty four days straight without

2648
03:10:18.159 --> 03:10:20.600
a day off. So we did
the Royal Rumble Boom. It was a

2649
03:10:20.680 --> 03:10:24.840
great show, and I knew it
was a big push for me, a

2650
03:10:24.920 --> 03:10:28.000
big feather in my camp. But
the next day was another show, so

2651
03:10:28.120 --> 03:10:31.360
we loaded up and went to the
But I don't think anybody realized that the

2652
03:10:31.600 --> 03:10:35.040
Royal Rumble would become one of the
top four pay per views, or that

2653
03:10:35.319 --> 03:10:39.840
WWE would become the huge worldwide powerhouse
that it is. You know, I

2654
03:10:39.440 --> 03:10:45.360
always joke with the NFL guys at
Major League Baseball and the World champions Where

2655
03:10:45.440 --> 03:10:48.719
in the world have you guys been? You know, in my thirty six

2656
03:10:48.840 --> 03:10:52.159
years wrestling, I wrestled in every
state and union, every providence in Canada

2657
03:10:52.360 --> 03:10:58.520
and thirty different countries. It's amazing
to the appeal of professional wrestling around the

2658
03:10:58.600 --> 03:11:01.840
world. So yeah, he has
great memories of that night. Yeah right,

2659
03:11:03.000 --> 03:11:05.959
yep. Notice how he said the
biggest problem with the Art and Cheek

2660
03:11:05.040 --> 03:11:09.440
Arrest was that people thought we were
friends. And yes, yes, I

2661
03:11:09.479 --> 03:11:13.079
do think he put it to RF
video several years before that interview. Were

2662
03:11:13.159 --> 03:11:16.280
they friends or were they not?
Let's see, Jim oh boy. Well,

2663
03:11:16.319 --> 03:11:22.159
actually the Sheik and I were very
good friends. And we flew into

2664
03:11:22.200 --> 03:11:26.079
Newark, a territory. And I'm
not you know, I was over eighteen,

2665
03:11:26.159 --> 03:11:30.200
so I can't put no heat on
nobody but myself. But the she

2666
03:11:30.399 --> 03:11:33.719
said, maybe I have no credit
card and maybe I ride with you to

2667
03:11:33.840 --> 03:11:37.559
town. I'm sure she could have
ride me my head a little weed,

2668
03:11:37.639 --> 03:11:39.159
you know. Of course, back
then Bill Clinton was smoking the wheats you

2669
03:11:39.760 --> 03:11:46.040
big in the early eighties there or
min eighties. And I was drinking a

2670
03:11:46.120 --> 03:11:50.760
beer, which is rare because I
really drank pot. But the sheet drank

2671
03:11:50.840 --> 03:11:54.399
Saint Poly girls. And he's stopping
he Paly girls. As we're going down

2672
03:11:54.479 --> 03:11:58.280
the Garden State Parkway. The cops
saw me put this his drinking the beer,

2673
03:11:58.319 --> 03:12:03.520
and he pulled us all was trooper
smelled the weed, pulled me out

2674
03:12:03.520 --> 03:12:09.159
of the car so that the others, maybe four or five dubies under the

2675
03:12:09.239 --> 03:12:13.280
seat boom bought me for possession of
marijuana and drinking. My driving searches.

2676
03:12:13.440 --> 03:12:18.079
She had three grams of cocaine on
him, so of course, the next

2677
03:12:18.200 --> 03:12:22.920
day in the New York Daily News
is boozing bozos, you know, coke,

2678
03:12:22.079 --> 03:12:26.239
marijuana and booze on the Guarden State
Parkway. It was a huge story.

2679
03:12:28.079 --> 03:12:31.200
Of course. I never recuperated professionally
from that deal, but didn't kill

2680
03:12:31.319 --> 03:12:35.959
myself neither, you know, you
know, Vince, the first time I

2681
03:12:35.959 --> 03:12:39.159
ever got through the vents so quick
in my life, because you know,

2682
03:12:39.239 --> 03:12:43.879
we got popped and we're on our
way to Asbury Park. Of course we

2683
03:12:45.520 --> 03:12:48.799
that night she said we wouldn't work, you know, And I called my

2684
03:12:48.879 --> 03:12:50.200
wife and said, I don't know
if anybody will find out about it.

2685
03:12:52.680 --> 03:12:56.719
Of course she called me the next
night says everybody knows. And of course

2686
03:12:56.799 --> 03:13:00.719
my first call wasn't And my dad, who was chief of police wins Falls

2687
03:13:00.760 --> 03:13:03.959
at the time, and you know, he said, you get arrested for

2688
03:13:05.079 --> 03:13:07.600
cocaine? I said, noah,
pop, I got arrested for marijuana.

2689
03:13:07.959 --> 03:13:11.040
He said, well, I knew
that gets you in trouble sooner or later,

2690
03:13:11.040 --> 03:13:13.879
because I know you smoked that stuff
once in a while. And yes,

2691
03:13:13.959 --> 03:13:16.440
sir, you know, but he
was. My family was very very

2692
03:13:16.479 --> 03:13:20.680
supportive throughout that, and my dad
took a lot of eat because I lived

2693
03:13:20.680 --> 03:13:24.159
in Louisiana. Then I went home. I didn't answer my phone. Boom.

2694
03:13:24.479 --> 03:13:26.719
My family up in New York just
got bombarded with PRESSED. So I

2695
03:13:26.799 --> 03:13:31.719
went through a very hard time with
it. And of course the chic I

2696
03:13:31.760 --> 03:13:35.479
think he got a felony arrest for
three grams and the separate containers, and

2697
03:13:35.719 --> 03:13:39.440
of course it was a big schmas
And this is the Hillbilly Jim story we

2698
03:13:39.520 --> 03:13:41.799
were talking about earlier. So I
called Vince. You know the next thing,

2699
03:13:41.879 --> 03:13:46.280
I called my pop and you know, my Pope give me a choose

2700
03:13:46.319 --> 03:13:48.399
my butt a little bit and it
gives me support. My next call was

2701
03:13:48.600 --> 03:13:50.959
Vince. I never been through to
Vince. I quick in my life.

2702
03:13:52.000 --> 03:13:54.159
I call up as to Jim Jogum
for Vincent man. Hold on, boom,

2703
03:13:54.200 --> 03:14:00.120
boomp Jim, and I said this, sir, he says, I

2704
03:14:00.239 --> 03:14:03.760
remember verbatim what he says. He
says, Jim, what have you done

2705
03:14:03.840 --> 03:14:07.760
to us? I said, Vince, I'm embarrassed and ashamed. And then

2706
03:14:07.760 --> 03:14:11.000
anything you do I understand. He
says, turn your airplane tickets in and

2707
03:14:11.200 --> 03:14:13.879
go home boat or the phonos.
And I turned my tickets in, it

2708
03:14:13.959 --> 03:14:18.600
went home, and that night or
two later he hit a big meeting somewhere,

2709
03:14:18.600 --> 03:14:22.239
and he pounded the table. Dug
in cheek, will never ever work

2710
03:14:22.360 --> 03:14:26.520
for the WWF again. So Jake
called me that night, says, Jim,

2711
03:14:26.639 --> 03:14:31.760
who you might have screwed up?
There? Those sound good? So

2712
03:14:31.440 --> 03:14:37.440
I waited like a week or two
when I called Dusty at the NWA or

2713
03:14:37.840 --> 03:14:43.280
whatever it was that there in the
you know, Georgia deal turner and as

2714
03:14:43.319 --> 03:14:46.680
a negotiating with Dusty, Bruce Pritchard
called me, says, just way to

2715
03:14:48.000 --> 03:14:50.959
lay low for a little while.
So I laid low for you know,

2716
03:14:50.079 --> 03:14:54.639
like three months, and they brought
me back. So we're all in the

2717
03:14:54.760 --> 03:14:58.440
dressing room one night and hill Billy
Jim goes, you know that vencement man,

2718
03:14:58.559 --> 03:15:01.000
he lied to all of us.
You're sending one higher Duggan cheek,

2719
03:15:01.040 --> 03:15:05.840
and are Dugan soon right there?
Billy? Can I talk to you the

2720
03:15:07.000 --> 03:15:13.639
bathroom fuel? Please? A garbage
Duggan? Wow? So are your friends

2721
03:15:13.760 --> 03:15:20.799
or not? Jim A yeah?
And it wasn't boozing Bozos. I got

2722
03:15:20.840 --> 03:15:24.399
it right here in New York Gilly
News, May twenty eighth, nineteen eighty

2723
03:15:24.440 --> 03:15:28.879
seven. Brownie Bozos, it says, thank you very much, Ronnie Bozos

2724
03:15:28.159 --> 03:15:33.399
that's great pictures of dug In and
chic throne for loss. Two wrestlers face

2725
03:15:33.479 --> 03:15:39.879
New Jersey shirts. That's a shirt. I'll say this whole Bozos. That's

2726
03:15:39.959 --> 03:15:45.719
fucking great, Ronnie Bozos. Um, the article is a throne for loss.

2727
03:15:45.760 --> 03:15:48.319
Two wrestlers face New Jersey drug raps. Two professional wrestlers who took a

2728
03:15:48.360 --> 03:15:52.680
fall for drug possession were freed on
bail to grapple with each other in a

2729
03:15:52.760 --> 03:15:56.440
brone crushing chair smashing tag team bout
and her schedule to grapple with the New

2730
03:15:56.520 --> 03:16:00.239
Jersey court system on Monday axed Jim
doug In thirty three, a traditional American

2731
03:16:00.319 --> 03:16:09.840
good guy fucking grapple with the you
know, worse camp and Hossein the Aron

2732
03:16:09.879 --> 03:16:13.319
Cheek FAZII forty five and intie American
maps Set Heavy, who allegedly hils from

2733
03:16:13.360 --> 03:16:20.600
Iran, allegedly were arrested for marijuana
and cocaine. Both were immediately the most

2734
03:16:20.639 --> 03:16:24.040
truthful thing about him Actually, yeah, no, exactly, Like, why

2735
03:16:24.079 --> 03:16:26.760
would you doubt that he's from Iran? Exactly? Both were immediately suspended by

2736
03:16:26.760 --> 03:16:31.440
the World Wrestling Federation. Yeah,
it's important. Remember Duggan's father was a

2737
03:16:31.520 --> 03:16:35.760
police chief at the time right.
A trooper pulled him over on the Garden

2738
03:16:35.799 --> 03:16:39.079
State Parkway at two forty pm Tuesday
when he noticed Duggan swinging beer while driving

2739
03:16:39.120 --> 03:16:43.319
toward Asbury Park for about at the
convention Hall. As he was checking Duggan's

2740
03:16:43.399 --> 03:16:46.799
license, the trooper noticed the smell
of burnt marijuana from the direction of the

2741
03:16:46.879 --> 03:16:50.239
other man, said Sergeant John Cavalery
of the Homdale Barracks. Cops said they

2742
03:16:50.280 --> 03:16:54.920
found several partially smoked marijuana joints in
the cars ashtray, three grams of cocaine

2743
03:16:54.920 --> 03:17:00.440
and the Cheek's shaving kit kfebe,
and a small quantity of mar wanna in

2744
03:17:00.479 --> 03:17:03.680
a bag belonging to Duggan. Duggan
was given summons is for drinking while driving

2745
03:17:03.719 --> 03:17:07.159
and for possession of marijuana. The
Sheik was released on five thousand dollars bail.

2746
03:17:07.159 --> 03:17:11.200
They were scheduled to pier Middletown Court
Monday. After their release, the

2747
03:17:11.239 --> 03:17:15.200
wrestlers continue to Asbury Park for a
tag team match that pitted Cheek and Knpetera

2748
03:17:15.280 --> 03:17:18.680
against Taxaw and Nikolai Volkova. Saw
one after breaking a total of four chairs

2749
03:17:18.719 --> 03:17:26.520
over the Sheik's Turban. Turban never
wore a fucking turban. It's not a

2750
03:17:26.600 --> 03:17:31.559
turban. That's fine. Um,
it's just if it's an Arab headdress,

2751
03:17:31.600 --> 03:17:33.799
it's a turban to some I've noticed, what did he wear a head I've

2752
03:17:33.799 --> 03:17:37.159
never seen Oh yeah, he right, he wears the right were they?

2753
03:17:37.559 --> 03:17:41.479
I believe it's pronounced cafe. I
could yes, mispronouncing that, Yes,

2754
03:17:41.639 --> 03:17:46.799
cafe turban is what a seaquares like
high. It's that, right, exactly.

2755
03:17:46.840 --> 03:17:50.120
It's the whole. It's a it's
the cloth that's kind of I don't

2756
03:17:50.120 --> 03:17:54.840
know how it's kind of it's done
in a certain way. It's elevated,

2757
03:17:54.879 --> 03:17:58.600
it's like a right, it's like
the Pope's hat almost right. Um,

2758
03:17:58.120 --> 03:18:01.719
But anyway, that's uh, that's
the fun part of it, right,

2759
03:18:01.760 --> 03:18:03.520
as they went from this arrest to
wrestle each other in the garden because it's

2760
03:18:03.559 --> 03:18:07.959
fake, yeah, um, or
Asbury Park wherever the match was. So

2761
03:18:07.120 --> 03:18:09.360
that's uh, that's dug in.
And to hear him tell it that not

2762
03:18:09.479 --> 03:18:13.120
happened. Um. He might have
already been bigger than winning the rumble by

2763
03:18:13.159 --> 03:18:18.120
this point, but this is him
coming back after, you know, threatening

2764
03:18:18.159 --> 03:18:20.799
to go to Crockett. And as
we've well documented, the last thing Vince

2765
03:18:20.879 --> 03:18:24.520
wants is to be perceived as losing
a single asset to Jim Crockett at this

2766
03:18:24.559 --> 03:18:31.120
point in time. And don't duggan. Um listen, uh listen, you

2767
03:18:31.200 --> 03:18:35.600
don't what It's all good? I
mean, you know we we you know,

2768
03:18:35.920 --> 03:18:41.559
I'll tell you what I um,
Jim, I overread Jim. Pal,

2769
03:18:41.719 --> 03:18:45.200
come on, let me tell you
something, Pal. You know what

2770
03:18:45.799 --> 03:18:46.559
listen, I know the last time
we talked, I said, what have

2771
03:18:46.639 --> 03:18:50.559
you done to us? You don't
understand what I meant by that? I

2772
03:18:50.920 --> 03:18:54.000
said, you know, he wasn't
like what have you done? It's like,

2773
03:18:54.120 --> 03:18:58.399
what have you done to us?
What have you done for us?

2774
03:19:00.040 --> 03:19:07.559
And you you have to have helped
skyrocket the WWE Internet and IDI eight right,

2775
03:19:07.760 --> 03:19:11.920
you you know you gave us.
You know, listen, you know

2776
03:19:11.959 --> 03:19:16.440
what they say? You know no, nope, no press is bad press,

2777
03:19:16.200 --> 03:19:20.559
right, And that's the same.
And if you the thing is,

2778
03:19:20.600 --> 03:19:24.959
I can't believe you thought I was
being negative. I mean I'm sorry if

2779
03:19:24.000 --> 03:19:28.319
that. If that's the case,
I apologize you and I have always been

2780
03:19:28.360 --> 03:19:31.959
good. Pal. You know,
I go way back and we're gonna go

2781
03:19:31.000 --> 03:19:39.719
way forward. Right. I'm gonna
tell you what something right, now you

2782
03:19:39.840 --> 03:19:46.680
and I are gonna go to Canada
and you're gonna win the Royal Rumble.

2783
03:19:46.319 --> 03:19:54.440
What have you done to us?
Well, Pal, I would suggest are

2784
03:19:54.479 --> 03:19:58.959
you going somewhere with that? Or
oh and there's a lot more to be

2785
03:19:58.040 --> 03:20:00.840
done. So, Jim, how
much doesn't mean to you to win the

2786
03:20:00.920 --> 03:20:07.479
rumble? Uh? One of winning
the first round rumble back in eighty eight?

2787
03:20:07.719 --> 03:20:11.280
Yeah, it didn't. I mean, it didn't mean a lot of

2788
03:20:11.159 --> 03:20:16.840
question. It was just another night's
work. Didn't realize the significance of it

2789
03:20:16.959 --> 03:20:20.680
at that point. Quarter back then
he did to show that night in Urine

2790
03:20:20.879 --> 03:20:24.879
didn't mean nothing. The next night, it was just another night at work.

2791
03:20:24.120 --> 03:20:28.079
Yeah, we did all kind of
just blurred together or blurred together.

2792
03:20:28.760 --> 03:20:31.639
Yeah, thanks for answering the question
for me. Blurred I'm sure, I'm

2793
03:20:31.680 --> 03:20:39.159
sure a lot of things are blurred
together for a fucking Jim Duggan didn't mean

2794
03:20:39.200 --> 03:20:41.760
anything. It's basically what he just
said. Yeah, yeah, exactly,

2795
03:20:41.879 --> 03:20:45.559
that's what he said. Doesn't mean
anything. Now, the difference you notice

2796
03:20:45.639 --> 03:20:48.680
kind of a difference in tone between
the Hannibal answer and that answer. They're

2797
03:20:48.719 --> 03:20:52.399
the same in substance, but there
are a video interview. It's important to

2798
03:20:52.399 --> 03:20:56.559
remembers. It's back when you know, he was coming off WCW closing and

2799
03:20:56.799 --> 03:21:00.520
he was kind of still a little
salty about not how a place in the

2800
03:21:00.559 --> 03:21:03.479
business, and still he could contribute, and he's got to play down,

2801
03:21:03.239 --> 03:21:07.239
right, he's played down in his
mind the significance of what he's done in

2802
03:21:07.360 --> 03:21:11.520
WWF because he's still a businessman looking
at brighter and he's not back in their

2803
03:21:11.600 --> 03:21:15.799
graces with like a Legends contract and
basically like a paid mascot from the company.

2804
03:21:16.760 --> 03:21:18.399
But later on it's like, oh, you know it's at the time

2805
03:21:18.479 --> 03:21:20.600
it wasn't but it's been so great. No, I'm gonna be in the

2806
03:21:20.680 --> 03:21:24.559
Rumble again. And back then he
was just like, noun didn't mean anything.

2807
03:21:24.920 --> 03:21:28.280
That's the real Jim. That's exactly, thank you, exactly drive through.

2808
03:21:28.040 --> 03:21:31.559
As for Vince going back on his
word, we're gonna hear more from

2809
03:21:31.600 --> 03:21:35.159
this guy as we get into the
deep dive of the nineteen eighty eight Royal

2810
03:21:35.200 --> 03:21:39.079
Rumble Show because he's in the closing
tag match. But I'm here to let

2811
03:21:39.079 --> 03:21:43.120
you know Boss that I think Paul
Roma is our hardcore Hollie of the nineteen

2812
03:21:43.159 --> 03:21:50.200
eighties. Wow this guy and shoot
interview formats doesn't fuck around. Yes,

2813
03:21:50.479 --> 03:21:52.639
this is a guy we need.
This is a guy who did not grow

2814
03:21:52.719 --> 03:21:58.000
up a fan of the wrestling business, was recruited into it and had all

2815
03:21:58.040 --> 03:22:01.040
of the assets they were looking for, so got a quick push and therefore

2816
03:22:01.079 --> 03:22:07.120
had a chip on his shoulder who
had a background such where he wasn't going

2817
03:22:07.200 --> 03:22:11.920
to be disrespected. Everything was a
perceived slight and he's the kind of guy

2818
03:22:11.000 --> 03:22:13.559
that we want and wrestling, the
kind of guy who's going to say go

2819
03:22:13.719 --> 03:22:18.200
fuck yourself to someone's face. Yes, yes, and when asked by our

2820
03:22:18.399 --> 03:22:24.600
very video and a great shoot interview
that I'd highly recommend about the reaction in

2821
03:22:24.680 --> 03:22:28.159
the locker room to Hax saw Jim
Duggan returning to the w WF so shortly

2822
03:22:28.520 --> 03:22:33.600
after Vince, you know, acted
so betrayed by what happened in this New

2823
03:22:33.719 --> 03:22:39.440
Jersey arrest. Paul Romo puts it
quite clearly here. Vince came out and

2824
03:22:39.600 --> 03:22:46.280
basically said that they're both done,
they'll never work again. And then a

2825
03:22:46.399 --> 03:22:48.559
few months later, when it blew
over, Vince brought him back, and

2826
03:22:48.840 --> 03:22:54.159
people just when I tell you,
if they had any respect for Vince,

2827
03:22:54.200 --> 03:22:58.639
it was gone after that because all
he talked about in the locker room was

2828
03:22:58.719 --> 03:23:01.879
you know, oh yeah, you
guys are done. Hey, you'll never

2829
03:23:01.959 --> 03:23:03.040
work in his business again. Hey, looked they're back, you know.

2830
03:23:03.440 --> 03:23:05.920
And that was the big joke in
the locker room. Vince was a joke.

2831
03:23:07.680 --> 03:23:11.920
So awesome. Wow, a guy
who's not afraid to say Vince was

2832
03:23:13.000 --> 03:23:16.280
a joke. I love it.
I fucking love it. Paul Roma doesn't

2833
03:23:16.319 --> 03:23:18.079
give a fun I think I think
Paul Roma is a fucking I mean,

2834
03:23:18.760 --> 03:23:20.719
I've heard it. I've heard a
couple of interviews that he's done, like

2835
03:23:20.799 --> 03:23:26.159
he did Steve Austin's show years ago, and I, you know, don't

2836
03:23:26.159 --> 03:23:28.799
listen. I stand by. I'm
a Paul Roma guy. Yep. Yeah,

2837
03:23:28.840 --> 03:23:31.840
for sure. Yeah, He's definitely
one of those guys that, like

2838
03:23:33.040 --> 03:23:35.879
anything you can say about like how
he never lived up to his potential or

2839
03:23:35.920 --> 03:23:39.440
anything, it's because he doesn't give
a fuck, that's why. It's because

2840
03:23:39.479 --> 03:23:43.319
he doesn't give a fuck in a
business where everybody is trying to master the

2841
03:23:43.440 --> 03:23:46.719
art of kissing ass. The second
he feels like he's got a kiss ass,

2842
03:23:46.799 --> 03:23:50.120
he lashes out and makes any Yes, yep, that's my kind of

2843
03:23:50.159 --> 03:23:54.680
guy. Yep. X U Jim
Duggan in his book, doesn't really tell

2844
03:23:54.799 --> 03:23:56.239
much more of a flowery story about
winning the Rumble, but has a bit

2845
03:23:56.280 --> 03:24:00.479
more detail. It was while the
way wrestling evolved, he writes, from

2846
03:24:00.479 --> 03:24:05.520
a regional attraction to this big national
powerhouse. On Thanksgiving Night at nineteen eighty

2847
03:24:05.520 --> 03:24:07.680
seven, I was in the first
match in the Survivor series pay per view,

2848
03:24:07.719 --> 03:24:09.760
and it didn't really register with me
at the time how the business was

2849
03:24:09.879 --> 03:24:11.799
changing and going to this pay per
view business model. All I knew was

2850
03:24:11.799 --> 03:24:15.680
that it was an extra good payday. I never did think it would become

2851
03:24:15.719 --> 03:24:18.760
the big worldwide thing that Vince has
groaned it into with all these huge venues

2852
03:24:18.760 --> 03:24:20.079
and shows. When I was in
San Antonio, we would have looked at

2853
03:24:20.079 --> 03:24:22.399
a crowd of ten thousand and thought, Wow, this must be the biggest

2854
03:24:22.440 --> 03:24:26.440
show ever. Now the ww guys
see a crowd of ten thousand and say

2855
03:24:26.479 --> 03:24:30.079
where the hell is everybody? Meanwhile, that same Thanksgiving night, Crockett's NBA

2856
03:24:30.200 --> 03:24:31.840
was running its first pay per view, but Vince aced him out of most

2857
03:24:31.879 --> 03:24:35.239
of his pay per view clearances with
the big cable companies. Vince never mentioned

2858
03:24:35.280 --> 03:24:39.440
the NWA or anything they were doing
to the boys. We never really gave

2859
03:24:39.479 --> 03:24:41.520
them any thought. They were doing
their best, but Vince was just crushing

2860
03:24:41.559 --> 03:24:45.399
them. I never liked Crockett because
he had been rude to my dad.

2861
03:24:45.760 --> 03:24:48.360
There was some function we went to
early in the eighties and I had my

2862
03:24:48.479 --> 03:24:50.079
dad with me. I introduced my
dad to Crockett and he just brushed us

2863
03:24:50.079 --> 03:24:52.239
off. I'm sure Crockett doesn't even
remember it, but to me, that

2864
03:24:52.360 --> 03:24:54.680
was a big deal. He's lucky
I didn't punch him in the nose.

2865
03:24:54.799 --> 03:24:58.959
Hey, Jim, this is my
dad. Okay, Jim, it's great.

2866
03:24:58.440 --> 03:25:01.440
Jesus, you'd get out of here. This is my dad. Okay,

2867
03:25:01.479 --> 03:25:05.479
are you grown man? Why?
He might not even have realized what

2868
03:25:05.600 --> 03:25:09.079
he had done, but it always
stuck in my craw, Jim wrote about

2869
03:25:09.079 --> 03:25:13.879
two months later, after Survivor should
probably stuck in his craw. Every Rumble

2870
03:25:13.920 --> 03:25:15.959
since has been a pay per view, but that first show was a free

2871
03:25:15.959 --> 03:25:18.280
special in the USA Network, airing
January twenty fourth, nineteen eighty eight,

2872
03:25:18.360 --> 03:25:22.639
which, by complete coincidence I'm sure
was the night of Crockett's second pay per

2873
03:25:22.719 --> 03:25:24.000
view. The Rumble was a twenty
man battle Royal, but with a guy

2874
03:25:24.079 --> 03:25:26.520
coming in every two minutes, instead
of everyone starting in the ring at once

2875
03:25:26.559 --> 03:25:30.200
as in a regular Battle Royal.
The novelty of it reminded me of a

2876
03:25:30.239 --> 03:25:33.440
match Watts had done in Mid South, the Blindfold Battle Royal. That one

2877
03:25:33.559 --> 03:25:35.079
was a lot of fun because we
were wearing full hoods and can barely see

2878
03:25:35.360 --> 03:25:39.719
it sounds good, great time.
They drove people nuts because the ending would

2879
03:25:39.719 --> 03:25:41.440
be something like this. The last
three guys would be me, Ricky Morton,

2880
03:25:41.520 --> 03:25:43.959
and Hercules. The fans love Rookie
and Me, but hated Hercules.

2881
03:25:45.000 --> 03:25:46.840
It was a baby face. I'd
point toward Hercules the heel and the fans

2882
03:25:46.879 --> 03:25:50.239
were cheer, so I'd walk toward
him, but he'd start off in another

2883
03:25:50.280 --> 03:25:52.040
direction and we'd missed each other.
We'd go back and forth until at some

2884
03:25:52.120 --> 03:25:54.879
point Rickie would walk in between us
and I'd grab Rookie and beat the hell

2885
03:25:54.879 --> 03:25:58.680
out of him while the fans were
screaming at the tops of their lungs.

2886
03:25:58.719 --> 03:26:01.799
It's Rickie hacksots and the rumble was
fun too. Yeah, I can tell

2887
03:26:03.040 --> 03:26:05.360
somebody colorful. Sorry, now let
me tell you how much the rumble meant

2888
03:26:05.360 --> 03:26:09.479
to me. This is how we
did blindfold rumbles, and Mid South didn't

2889
03:26:09.520 --> 03:26:13.040
fucking care, he writes. The
crowd really got into it, and the

2890
03:26:13.159 --> 03:26:15.280
end came down to me and my
old friend one man Gang. When I

2891
03:26:15.319 --> 03:26:16.920
tossed him to win, the place
really popped, which made me feel good

2892
03:26:16.959 --> 03:26:20.040
to get such a warm reception in
Canada, where the show was held.

2893
03:26:20.040 --> 03:26:22.879
Even though I was best known for
being one hundred pound pardon me, one

2894
03:26:22.959 --> 03:26:28.040
hundred percent American patriot pounds, no
one cares last about winning the nineteen eighty

2895
03:26:28.040 --> 03:26:31.280
eight Royal Rumble. Then Jim dug
indes seriously, Jim was in the two

2896
03:26:31.280 --> 03:26:35.399
thousand nine Rumble. Remember they burn
him back. No, I don't remember

2897
03:26:35.440 --> 03:26:39.559
that at all. I'm ended by
big show. So around the time,

2898
03:26:39.600 --> 03:26:43.000
he was asking a lot of press
interviews about his memories of winning the first

2899
03:26:43.079 --> 03:26:46.239
Rumble. It was around this time
and he was trying to bank another Rumble

2900
03:26:46.280 --> 03:26:50.840
appearance for future years. That was
as a payday. Remember Nash was chasing

2901
03:26:50.879 --> 03:26:54.680
that. He was like campaign in
for another Rumble spot a long ago something.

2902
03:26:56.040 --> 03:27:00.280
Yeah, they decided to go for
every couple of years. She ended

2903
03:27:00.360 --> 03:27:07.120
up pleading innocent to the charges in
the nineteen eighty seven arrest and and said

2904
03:27:07.159 --> 03:27:11.360
the following This is from the Daily
registered newspaper runching second at eighty seven in

2905
03:27:11.399 --> 03:27:16.920
New Jersey, where they covered his
core proceeding, which was telegraphed there in

2906
03:27:16.000 --> 03:27:20.879
the New York Daily News article.
Walking across the parking lot to court,

2907
03:27:20.879 --> 03:27:24.040
Fazzeri clutched an iron cheeked doll from
Matthew viad four of Port Monmouth and kissed

2908
03:27:24.040 --> 03:27:26.719
the youngster on the forehead. I
hope you get off, and Matthew's mother,

2909
03:27:26.840 --> 03:27:30.639
Karen says, oh he will.
Yeah, it's up to you.

2910
03:27:30.799 --> 03:27:33.360
Karen. As iron Cheek signed the
autograph, I know you didn't do it.

2911
03:27:33.399 --> 03:27:37.639
Iron Cheeks said he flew into Newark
International hours before the bout, but

2912
03:27:37.719 --> 03:27:39.360
he said he had misplaced his driver's
license and had no way to reach convention

2913
03:27:39.399 --> 03:27:41.200
Hall. I don't like him,
I never have. I hate him,

2914
03:27:41.200 --> 03:27:45.000
iron Cheek said, and broken English, referring to Duggan. I think maybe

2915
03:27:45.040 --> 03:27:52.159
he did it on purpose. Yes, he put that cocaine in my gimmick.

2916
03:27:52.639 --> 03:27:56.319
That's an old Fritz trick, remember, And maybe with the free birds

2917
03:27:56.319 --> 03:28:03.159
planted the drunk on my boys.
Oh my god, what a fucking she

2918
03:28:03.360 --> 03:28:05.920
continued. Somehow, some way,
I'll get him, whether it's in a

2919
03:28:05.000 --> 03:28:09.559
ring or not. Um, he
said, despite his lawyer Sherman's advice to

2920
03:28:09.639 --> 03:28:13.440
fend off the question. This is
a court of law. Sherman, mister,

2921
03:28:16.959 --> 03:28:20.239
I think it's best if we just
come on Michael Sherman's I think it's

2922
03:28:20.280 --> 03:28:26.440
best if we don't mention that they
they listen. I think less is more,

2923
03:28:28.159 --> 03:28:30.879
Okay, I think less is more
in a situation among this, I

2924
03:28:30.959 --> 03:28:33.680
think we have uh, you know, the proper you know, you just

2925
03:28:35.520 --> 03:28:41.600
just don't don't speak, Just don't
speak, all right. I I I

2926
03:28:41.760 --> 03:28:48.399
fear for you. Oh that's a
lawyer. I want, Michael Owner.

2927
03:28:48.520 --> 03:28:54.600
I fear for you. I fear
for you, and I, uh please,

2928
03:28:54.799 --> 03:28:56.639
just mister cheek. I just think
that the best thing we can do

2929
03:28:58.000 --> 03:29:03.159
is is, um is, just
let me. Let me handle the talking

2930
03:29:03.840 --> 03:29:07.239
as Chik is going on trying to
make a promo out of this whole case,

2931
03:29:07.719 --> 03:29:15.719
your honor. I uh, he's
not my client. Yeah, that's

2932
03:29:15.760 --> 03:29:18.719
probably next. But what he said
first is this is a court of law.

2933
03:29:18.799 --> 03:29:20.959
Let's not associate the charges in wrestling. It's an insult to the court.

2934
03:29:22.120 --> 03:29:26.360
We don't need to listen. It's
it's it's we we don't need to

2935
03:29:26.440 --> 03:29:33.479
to to, you know, bring
out the illegitimacies of wrestling and the phoniness

2936
03:29:33.559 --> 03:29:37.280
and the buffoonery of wrestling, when
we can discuss the fact that they have

2937
03:29:37.440 --> 03:29:43.799
legal proceedings that are real, Paul
in world, Paul, my understanding decion,

2938
03:29:43.920 --> 03:29:48.639
Chike's got an arrangement today? Is
that right? Yes? Strikes strikes

2939
03:29:48.680 --> 03:29:52.680
me as an opportunity, Paul,
uh for what why were these two in

2940
03:29:52.719 --> 03:29:56.159
the car together? If it's supposed
to be real, these two are supposed

2941
03:29:56.159 --> 03:29:58.360
to be hating each other while we're
in the cart again, I want you

2942
03:30:00.000 --> 03:30:01.520
to run up on Chic in the
pocket a lot after the arrangement, and

2943
03:30:01.600 --> 03:30:03.959
I want you to ask him this
question, why are we in the car

2944
03:30:05.040 --> 03:30:11.680
together? You're right? Are you? Do you watch this? This is

2945
03:30:11.840 --> 03:30:16.360
something that you ask forward to the
article asked why the two traveled in one

2946
03:30:16.440 --> 03:30:22.559
car. The lawyer paused and sayd
car pooling. Yeah, listen, we've

2947
03:30:22.559 --> 03:30:26.079
all we've all had to give rides
to people that we don't like. You

2948
03:30:26.159 --> 03:30:30.440
know, we've all had to give
rides to you know, the enemy,

2949
03:30:30.719 --> 03:30:35.440
so to speak. And yes,
very familiar with that dynamic. I mean

2950
03:30:35.559 --> 03:30:39.239
think about it like this, you
know, imagine if you know you live

2951
03:30:39.280 --> 03:30:45.399
in the same apartment complex, as
as as someone you work with but you're

2952
03:30:45.440 --> 03:30:48.280
not very fond of them, and
they say, hey, I'm sorry to

2953
03:30:48.360 --> 03:30:52.280
do this, but I don't my
cars broke down, I could use a

2954
03:30:52.399 --> 03:30:56.799
ride to work. What are you
gonna do. You're gonna just leave them,

2955
03:30:56.200 --> 03:31:00.520
let them, let them get fought, potentially fired or not, you

2956
03:31:00.600 --> 03:31:03.040
know, showing up. But no, of course not. You're going to

2957
03:31:03.120 --> 03:31:07.399
be a human being. You're going
to be unfairness. If he's friends with

2958
03:31:07.479 --> 03:31:11.280
she can he gave me two different
answers in the space of two different minutes.

2959
03:31:11.319 --> 03:31:20.319
So um, well you know,
um the thing about the sometimes the

2960
03:31:20.399 --> 03:31:26.239
she gets confused. Yeah, uh, you know, I I wouldn't.

2961
03:31:28.280 --> 03:31:33.319
Maybe I think that maybe they're French. They have they have adopted a friendship

2962
03:31:33.399 --> 03:31:39.319
because of the of the car ride. But are were they friends at the

2963
03:31:39.440 --> 03:31:46.600
time? No? Are they friends
now? Uh, we're not. I

2964
03:31:46.799 --> 03:31:52.399
have no comment about that at this
time. Uh. I can tell you

2965
03:31:52.719 --> 03:31:58.399
that that that that we're all very
very upset about this tragic event, and

2966
03:32:00.239 --> 03:32:09.879
that we can just hope that we
all hope that we can um recover and

2967
03:32:09.360 --> 03:32:13.959
move forward with our day to day
lives. And we want to begin the

2968
03:32:15.040 --> 03:32:20.000
process of healing from this arrest.
Jim, what have you done to us?

2969
03:32:20.079 --> 03:32:24.239
Can you picture of Vincent eighty eighty
seven saying something like that, shive

2970
03:32:24.879 --> 03:32:28.319
done? Damnas, Jim, what
us done to us? What's us?

2971
03:32:28.440 --> 03:32:31.760
Give me a break? You've you've
destroyed the business. You have destroyed k

2972
03:32:33.239 --> 03:32:39.680
fabe idiot carpooling. They travel so
much. It's not whether they're good guys

2973
03:32:39.719 --> 03:32:43.840
are bad guys, Chicke's lawyer says. Sherman said his client understands the seriousness

2974
03:32:43.840 --> 03:32:46.959
of the charges and his indefinite suspension
from the Federation. We know that they're

2975
03:32:48.000 --> 03:32:50.639
serious charges. That's why he's not
commenting on that. He said, he's

2976
03:32:50.680 --> 03:32:52.680
so much shy about the whole situation. Sherman said he had no other comment

2977
03:32:52.719 --> 03:32:56.159
except to add, we're not going
to try this before the news cameras,

2978
03:32:56.159 --> 03:33:00.440
where sure justice will prevail. Weber
the de Wintive spoken and said Thursday have

2979
03:33:00.479 --> 03:33:03.239
suspended the wrestlers while it conducts its
own investigation. Permanent suspensions are a very

2980
03:33:03.280 --> 03:33:07.040
distinct possibility. I just don't know
right now what the chances are. He

2981
03:33:07.159 --> 03:33:09.879
said. Federation authorities will review the
arrest separately because of the differences in the

2982
03:33:09.959 --> 03:33:13.079
charges. He added during a suspension, Vizier said he would continue working with

2983
03:33:13.159 --> 03:33:16.200
young wrestlers in Georgia. Volkov,
Webber said, was not involved in the

2984
03:33:16.280 --> 03:33:20.159
incident. Earned Chik and Volkov won
the Federation at tag titles. Okay,

2985
03:33:20.200 --> 03:33:26.680
blah blah blah. So well,
at least they didn't handle it like they

2986
03:33:26.760 --> 03:33:30.600
did, mister Michael Sherman, Right, mister, let's not turn this into

2987
03:33:30.639 --> 03:33:35.319
a wrestling angle, and let's not
insult the court. This wasn't the first

2988
03:33:35.360 --> 03:33:39.959
time Cheky baby got the cuffs put
on him while under employee of Vince Jamers

2989
03:33:39.079 --> 03:33:45.319
Titan. You got arrested h for
hitting somebody in Bridgeport, Connecticut in nineteen

2990
03:33:45.360 --> 03:33:48.840
eighty five, a gas station attendant, and this same exact lawyer. Mister,

2991
03:33:50.280 --> 03:33:56.600
you know above the fray of making
this into wrestling hijinks. You know,

2992
03:33:58.719 --> 03:34:07.559
I think we're above this, of
showing up on promo day with the

2993
03:34:07.719 --> 03:34:13.040
WWF logo in the background and asking
the roster to offer testimonials as to the

2994
03:34:13.159 --> 03:34:18.440
character of this man causro ZERI,
oh my god, and it survives on

2995
03:34:18.600 --> 03:34:24.159
YouTube check it out. All right, we are we are going to do

2996
03:34:26.000 --> 03:34:31.520
I need quiet, please, all
right, ladies and gentlemen. This is

2997
03:34:31.559 --> 03:34:37.200
a very special presentation and I need
quiet please, Oh my god, what

2998
03:34:37.319 --> 03:34:41.680
an idiot. Ladies and gentlemen.
This is a very special presentation. This

2999
03:34:41.959 --> 03:34:48.520
is a presentation that is designed and
geared to help benefit the Iron Sheik in

3000
03:34:48.639 --> 03:34:52.559
his cause. Thank you very much. All Right, you may look anytime.

3001
03:34:52.280 --> 03:34:56.120
I'm gonna roll. I'm gonna give
you find. Okay, are we

3002
03:34:56.239 --> 03:35:01.840
righting? Here we go? Five? Four three, Thank you one,

3003
03:35:05.680 --> 03:35:09.399
Thank you very much. We're here
today to talk about the Sheik. Uh,

3004
03:35:09.719 --> 03:35:13.840
your honor is well aware that the
Chik has been charged with the salt

3005
03:35:13.879 --> 03:35:16.520
and the third degree in Bridgeport,
Connecticut. We've got some people here who

3006
03:35:16.600 --> 03:35:20.799
know the Sheik, who work with
the Sheik, and who think very well.

3007
03:35:20.879 --> 03:35:24.040
Often right, he's good, he's
honesty steaks. But God bless you

3008
03:35:24.120 --> 03:35:26.120
to thank you. But what but
do you feel strongly strong? Yes,

3009
03:35:26.319 --> 03:35:30.120
very strongly, because I know he's
missed, understood, miss interpretive and he's

3010
03:35:30.159 --> 03:35:31.600
a good man. If you weren't
good, I wouldn't stay ter. Thank

3011
03:35:31.600 --> 03:35:37.319
you for I'm the captain. You
got it. Thank you, Lou And

3012
03:35:37.559 --> 03:35:41.440
lastly, of course, jan I
thank you very much, mister Sherman.

3013
03:35:41.719 --> 03:35:46.040
If I am me I would like
to just expostulate momentarily God's virtues of this

3014
03:35:46.280 --> 03:35:50.559
very fine gentleman to your immediate left, Kasrova. Sorry, is not a

3015
03:35:50.680 --> 03:35:54.120
shik Ilahani or the iron cheek in
his country. In nineteen sixty eight in

3016
03:35:54.200 --> 03:35:58.760
Mexico City, I happen to be
covering the games for NBC Television and it

3017
03:35:58.799 --> 03:36:03.399
was at that time that I met
this tremendous gentleman, of course representing his

3018
03:36:03.479 --> 03:36:05.159
country at that time. Later,
as a matter of fact, I have

3019
03:36:05.360 --> 03:36:07.920
to be the best man in his
wedding. He has a lovely family.

3020
03:36:09.239 --> 03:36:13.159
He's married to a very attractive Scandinavian
girl from up in Minnesota. Judge,

3021
03:36:13.479 --> 03:36:18.639
this guy is first class all the
way. Granted, does have problems from

3022
03:36:18.719 --> 03:36:22.200
time to time with the language,
but certainly you can understand that. And

3023
03:36:22.360 --> 03:36:26.200
Judge Rotman, I've always been a
big proponent of yours and all of the

3024
03:36:26.280 --> 03:36:30.120
things that you've been doing in this
part of the country, and hopefully you'll

3025
03:36:30.319 --> 03:36:33.600
take this man into consideration where you
have to put the gabble down and close

3026
03:36:33.680 --> 03:36:35.959
up shop. Thank you very much, Thank you very much. I just

3027
03:36:37.040 --> 03:36:41.239
they'd like to say that all I've
got to collect telephone call I've got to

3028
03:36:41.239 --> 03:36:50.840
accept what an oath? Oh god, I think you just expostulate momentarily.

3029
03:36:50.200 --> 03:36:58.200
Yeah, please, I wish you'd
fucking explodulate. What is wrong with all

3030
03:36:58.200 --> 03:37:03.559
these people sushokling? That is bullshit, you know, like thinks it's all

3031
03:37:03.760 --> 03:37:07.360
style. You know, Oh,
I cannot stand covering the games in sixty

3032
03:37:07.440 --> 03:37:15.280
eight. And he's married with a
very attractive Scandinavian woman. I've seen her

3033
03:37:15.360 --> 03:37:20.280
naked through you. I can tell
you right now she is attractive. I

3034
03:37:20.399 --> 03:37:26.399
got a rock hard boner I saw
naked. Have you seen her naked?

3035
03:37:26.600 --> 03:37:30.719
Your honor? Exactly, your honor. This is supposed to what help him.

3036
03:37:31.479 --> 03:37:33.200
There's all kinds of like, you
know, you're hurt. I just

3037
03:37:33.239 --> 03:37:35.840
put the tail into Albano screaming about
but if they're all cutting promos, they're

3038
03:37:35.840 --> 03:37:41.280
all in their characters. And this
is mister attorney Sherman, who in eighty

3039
03:37:41.319 --> 03:37:43.000
seven thinks it's the last thing they
should be doing. In eighty five,

3040
03:37:43.120 --> 03:37:48.719
he's he's holding the microphone and he's
joking about you know, do you feel

3041
03:37:48.719 --> 03:37:52.399
strongly about it with Louelbano trying to
pop the wrestlers. I don't know,

3042
03:37:52.520 --> 03:37:56.000
man, I don't know. How
this happens. It's like everybody else is

3043
03:37:56.000 --> 03:37:58.559
a worst carding than the wrestlers.
I know. It's you know, I

3044
03:37:58.639 --> 03:38:01.239
think they want to get it on
the fucking they want it so bad.

3045
03:38:01.280 --> 03:38:03.879
I'm a joke. They want that
kind of attention, and they look like

3046
03:38:03.959 --> 03:38:09.639
fucking idiots, thank you, exactly
correct, like absolute losers. It's worth

3047
03:38:09.719 --> 03:38:13.280
The television TV Guide listings for the
Rumble said that Bam Bam Bigelow is going

3048
03:38:13.360 --> 03:38:16.280
to be there and Nikolai Volkov,
so that didn't come to pass. As

3049
03:38:16.360 --> 03:38:22.319
for the origins of the Rumble,
Let's get this out there. Oh yeah,

3050
03:38:22.319 --> 03:38:24.680
he is there. He's the right. I have that big thing with

3051
03:38:26.799 --> 03:38:30.840
the rock. That's right. Pat
Patterson created the Rumble. We know this.

3052
03:38:31.040 --> 03:38:33.920
How does he phrase it? Let's
turn to his book. Okay,

3053
03:38:33.680 --> 03:38:37.440
let's not forget um. You know, a veteran of rumbles, the guy,

3054
03:38:37.479 --> 03:38:39.840
a veteran of Battle Royals, um
in San Francisco and stuff. And

3055
03:38:41.000 --> 03:38:43.799
you know, I mean nineteen men, twenty men, twenty one men,

3056
03:38:43.840 --> 03:38:48.760
and that is hardly the most men
he took on in one night. But

3057
03:38:50.440 --> 03:38:54.719
uh, in terms of his experience
with this kind of match, it's deep.

3058
03:38:54.799 --> 03:38:58.120
He's seen it all, he knows
a lot of tricks as far as

3059
03:38:58.159 --> 03:39:01.120
how these matches, you know,
can create fun moment. So he was

3060
03:39:01.200 --> 03:39:03.760
so custom made to create the Royal
Rumble. And here's what he says in

3061
03:39:03.840 --> 03:39:07.000
this book about it. The first
Royal Rumble was January twenty fourth, nineteen

3062
03:39:07.040 --> 03:39:11.280
eight eight, in Hamilton, Ontario. The difference between WWS Royal Rumbl and

3063
03:39:11.319 --> 03:39:13.040
a traditional over the top rope Battle
Royal is that the participants come into the

3064
03:39:13.040 --> 03:39:16.040
match at two minute intervals, not
all at the same time. At the

3065
03:39:16.040 --> 03:39:18.840
beginning of the match, I wanted
to create something special, something just like

3066
03:39:18.920 --> 03:39:20.959
we had in San Francisco, where
it had been such a hot event.

3067
03:39:22.200 --> 03:39:24.399
The more I kept running the idea
over in my mind, the more it

3068
03:39:24.479 --> 03:39:26.879
took shape, and I was sure
I was on something. I felt it.

3069
03:39:26.959 --> 03:39:28.879
Every instinct my body told me it
would work. So I finally brought

3070
03:39:28.920 --> 03:39:31.920
the idea of events. He laughed
at the concept at first, saying that

3071
03:39:33.000 --> 03:39:35.280
an hour was way too long to
keep fans interested. I didn't get upset.

3072
03:39:35.360 --> 03:39:37.959
I knew sometimes he needed time for
ideas to sink in, but I

3073
03:39:39.079 --> 03:39:41.079
made sure to say, all right, but keep in mind. But keep

3074
03:39:41.120 --> 03:39:45.079
it in mind, will you because
I know this can work. Sometime later,

3075
03:39:45.200 --> 03:39:46.600
we had a meeting with the USA
Network about doing a special. We

3076
03:39:46.719 --> 03:39:50.680
worked on the special with Dick Ebersol, who did the Saturday Night's Made Event

3077
03:39:50.719 --> 03:39:54.280
shows for US at NBC. With
US for NBC, it was going to

3078
03:39:54.319 --> 03:39:56.079
be a three hour live show,
but it needed something to take to the

3079
03:39:56.200 --> 03:40:01.319
level of a WrestleMania or Survivor series. In desperation, Vince through my idea

3080
03:40:01.399 --> 03:40:05.120
out there. Pat tell Dick about
your stupid idea for that Battle Royal.

3081
03:40:05.680 --> 03:40:07.239
Wow. First, it's not stupid. I dig it's a good idea.

3082
03:40:07.319 --> 03:40:11.280
God damn it, I dig it's
a great idea. Abrasaul loved the concept

3083
03:40:11.399 --> 03:40:13.680
right away. He immediately imagined the
drama of the clock ticking down on screen

3084
03:40:13.719 --> 03:40:16.879
and the audience's anxious anticipation of who
was going to enter the ring next being

3085
03:40:16.879 --> 03:40:20.680
played out every two minutes. Vince, it's great TV, he said.

3086
03:40:20.079 --> 03:40:24.520
Vince told me to start putting it
together, and I approach at all,

3087
03:40:24.959 --> 03:40:28.440
don't you're talking about great TV?
Well we'll see, all right, We'll

3088
03:40:28.520 --> 03:40:31.399
fly in without a fucking compass.
You know what. I'll just sit here

3089
03:40:31.440 --> 03:40:39.440
and keep my cock in my hand. Exactly what about that boss. The

3090
03:40:39.559 --> 03:40:41.680
final touches were completed at the arena
on the morning of the show. Pat

3091
03:40:41.719 --> 03:40:45.399
writes, because I kept expecting Vince
to give me some direction run where he

3092
03:40:45.399 --> 03:40:46.319
wanted things to go, but he
never did. It's your match, he

3093
03:40:46.399 --> 03:40:48.959
told me. When we got to
the building. We didn't want to simply

3094
03:40:50.000 --> 03:40:52.239
call it a Battle Royal. We
had people at the office who came up

3095
03:40:52.239 --> 03:40:54.479
with the names, and they submitted
something like fifty of them to us.

3096
03:40:54.639 --> 03:40:56.920
As soon as we read Royal Rumble, we knew we had the name.

3097
03:40:56.280 --> 03:40:58.680
Personally, though I didn't care what
it was called. I just wanted to

3098
03:40:58.680 --> 03:41:01.879
see my idea come to life.
The talent was freaking out on the morning

3099
03:41:01.920 --> 03:41:05.360
of the show because all of my
detailed instructions, none of them had ever

3100
03:41:05.479 --> 03:41:09.200
done a match quite like this before. When it was all said and done,

3101
03:41:09.239 --> 03:41:11.600
I think they loved it. I
was happy too. The First Royal

3102
03:41:11.680 --> 03:41:13.440
Rumble was a success, but until
it was over, we didn't really know

3103
03:41:13.520 --> 03:41:16.879
if it would work. I knew
it was a unique idea, but until

3104
03:41:16.879 --> 03:41:18.559
a crab response, it's hard to
know for sure. That First Rumble had

3105
03:41:18.600 --> 03:41:22.760
only twenty participants. I feel that
thirty is the ideal number. Boss,

3106
03:41:22.760 --> 03:41:28.159
do you agree, thirty? Yes, the only number. At times the

3107
03:41:28.239 --> 03:41:31.879
match has expanded to forty participants,
and it's been too many. Patsy agreed,

3108
03:41:31.239 --> 03:41:33.719
you need to have main event wrestlers
in there to really drive home the

3109
03:41:33.719 --> 03:41:37.639
importance of the match, but people
have to feel that just about anyone can

3110
03:41:37.680 --> 03:41:39.559
win, just as with the case
in nineteen ninety two when Wick Flare won

3111
03:41:39.600 --> 03:41:43.280
the match in the vacant w B
Championship. That show took place in alban

3112
03:41:43.319 --> 03:41:45.479
in New York. When I came
back to a locker room, Flare was

3113
03:41:45.520 --> 03:41:48.040
crying like a little Katie was so
happy. Thank you so much, you

3114
03:41:48.120 --> 03:41:50.760
guys. Oh my god, I
can't believe this is happening. Imagine a

3115
03:41:50.840 --> 03:41:54.520
man that celebrated and decorated freaking out. That celebrated and decorated freaking out.

3116
03:41:54.559 --> 03:41:58.559
It was one hell of a site. He later says, I'm repeating myself

3117
03:41:58.600 --> 03:42:00.639
here, but I don't care.
People can say what they want about the

3118
03:42:00.680 --> 03:42:03.440
business, but to us, the
performers is as real as ken be Rick

3119
03:42:03.479 --> 03:42:05.680
had done everything that could be done
in wrestling twice, but winning the w

3120
03:42:05.719 --> 03:42:09.840
TB Championship in the Royal Rumble was
real for him. Moments like that validate

3121
03:42:09.399 --> 03:42:13.520
what we do. That's the passion
I try to share with our superstars today.

3122
03:42:13.760 --> 03:42:16.040
You need to think about and believe
in what you're going to do out

3123
03:42:16.079 --> 03:42:18.079
there to make it special. Some
friends of mine tell me that their kids

3124
03:42:18.120 --> 03:42:22.879
who are into WWB superstars today love
watching classic Royal Rumble matches on www network

3125
03:42:22.920 --> 03:42:26.399
and that they don't care if they
don't know all the characters. That is

3126
03:42:26.440 --> 03:42:30.319
so true. Like when that network
came out, Boss, that's one of

3127
03:42:30.360 --> 03:42:33.639
the first things I remember hearing people
watching her old rumbles. Yeah, yeah,

3128
03:42:33.719 --> 03:42:37.959
they'd be best and it was hell
of a way to show old rumbles

3129
03:42:37.959 --> 03:42:39.840
to your kids, you know.
Yep, when the network first came out.

3130
03:42:41.040 --> 03:42:43.200
They still find the match interesting and
surprising in a way most I mean

3131
03:42:43.559 --> 03:42:48.040
the Royal Rumble. I mean listen, that was the that was the one

3132
03:42:48.120 --> 03:42:54.879
match that that that that inaugural Women's
Royal Rumble. Watch that over and over

3133
03:42:56.040 --> 03:42:58.280
and over again when she was into
it. There you go, yep,

3134
03:42:58.719 --> 03:43:00.959
yeah, there's something to be said
for that. Sure. The Rumble of

3135
03:43:01.000 --> 03:43:03.799
as you talked about, every time
we do a Rumble show is the show

3136
03:43:03.879 --> 03:43:07.159
that people that didn't quite like wrestling
in your circle would still come over for

3137
03:43:07.680 --> 03:43:11.760
Yeah, and that's a huge accomplishment. Yep. They still find the match

3138
03:43:11.840 --> 03:43:13.040
interesting and surprising, he writes,
in a way, most of the Royal

3139
03:43:13.079 --> 03:43:16.520
Rumble matches have in this manner,
passed the test of time. They are

3140
03:43:16.559 --> 03:43:18.159
like a good movie you can watch
over and over again. It has now

3141
03:43:18.200 --> 03:43:20.440
become w t B second biggest event
of the year, and I believe it's

3142
03:43:20.440 --> 03:43:26.120
going to remain there for ever.
I'd say so. I think it's a

3143
03:43:26.120 --> 03:43:30.639
fair assessment. I mean, if
they fucking stop abusing it, it's the

3144
03:43:30.719 --> 03:43:35.000
one thing they need to stop doing. Yep. What's one thing. What's

3145
03:43:35.040 --> 03:43:37.600
one thing they need to stop doing. Yeah, there's just one thing that's

3146
03:43:37.680 --> 03:43:41.959
most important that they should stop doing
that they do every year or most years.

3147
03:43:41.000 --> 03:43:46.559
What should it be? It's the
Rumbo winner needs to be in the

3148
03:43:46.600 --> 03:43:48.760
main event of WrestleMania. Yeah,
back to that. That's it. It's

3149
03:43:48.799 --> 03:43:56.040
honestly, that's it. Everything else
is fine, Like honestly, the way

3150
03:43:56.079 --> 03:43:58.959
they do it, I mean,
yes, the Pat Patterson booking of them

3151
03:43:58.000 --> 03:44:03.959
all was always very, very very
It's so well done. It's brilliantly done.

3152
03:44:03.559 --> 03:44:15.159
Those especially those like those first five
pay per view rumbles, I think

3153
03:44:15.200 --> 03:44:22.799
are done so well, Chief's kiss
um, you know it's listen, they

3154
03:44:22.879 --> 03:44:26.719
start fucking with a formula and that's
when it goes to shit. Yep,

3155
03:44:28.040 --> 03:44:31.559
that's what happened the first time they
fucked with the formula and went to shit.

3156
03:44:33.040 --> 03:44:35.760
What do they do that year?
Ninety second intervals? Sixty second intervals?

3157
03:44:35.920 --> 03:44:39.159
Fucking hell, Get the fuck out
of here, Jesus, the hell

3158
03:44:39.280 --> 03:44:43.680
is wrong with you guys? You
know, I mean, I guess it

3159
03:44:43.760 --> 03:44:46.600
could be said that they fucked with
the formula year before by having two winners.

3160
03:44:46.680 --> 03:44:50.879
But I still, you know,
at the time, I love that

3161
03:44:50.000 --> 03:44:52.639
rumble, you know, I always
thought it was great. I thought it

3162
03:44:52.719 --> 03:45:01.440
was a unique one. I hated
ninety five. I hated sixty second intervals.

3163
03:45:01.920 --> 03:45:03.280
Bullshit. I don't know if you
either, stop watch out boss doing

3164
03:45:03.360 --> 03:45:07.520
eighty eight rumble. But those were
not consistent intervals either. From the very

3165
03:45:07.559 --> 03:45:11.200
beginning, I didn't but I could
feel it. Yeah, I could feel

3166
03:45:11.200 --> 03:45:13.920
it, And that wasn't the plan. But as Bruce Pritchard will explain here,

3167
03:45:13.920 --> 03:45:16.319
because he was responsible in part for
timing out the show with Dick Ebersol

3168
03:45:16.440 --> 03:45:20.959
right next to him at the table
near Gorilla, that this is what created

3169
03:45:20.040 --> 03:45:24.040
Titan time. This event created what
they called Titan time, which means,

3170
03:45:24.559 --> 03:45:26.760
you know, we can pretend two
minutes past if it feels like now is

3171
03:45:26.760 --> 03:45:30.920
the time to send out the next
participant, or we can actually wait for

3172
03:45:30.959 --> 03:45:33.239
the legit shoot time. And we're
looking at the show closely and trying to

3173
03:45:33.280 --> 03:45:37.399
make sure they could get it in
before the time window elapsed and have enough

3174
03:45:37.479 --> 03:45:41.840
time for the Young Stallions tag team
match versus the Islanders. They were very

3175
03:45:41.920 --> 03:45:43.440
much minding that as they decided how
much space. They thought, if we

3176
03:45:43.559 --> 03:45:48.200
really went two minutes between every entrance
as we advertised, we might not even

3177
03:45:48.280 --> 03:45:52.040
fit this all into our broadcast window. So here's Bruce Pritchard on Something to

3178
03:45:52.079 --> 03:45:56.399
Wrestle, talking a bit about just
becoming acquainted with the Rumble in the position

3179
03:45:56.440 --> 03:46:00.239
he found himself in producing the event
for USA. I heard you right about

3180
03:46:00.280 --> 03:46:03.920
the time that we were talking about
doing this live special on USA. Was

3181
03:46:03.959 --> 03:46:09.639
the first time I'd ever heard Pat
pitch the concept. It was interesting and

3182
03:46:09.559 --> 03:46:15.000
it was different. It wasn't the
traditional he kept I think what killed not

3183
03:46:15.280 --> 03:46:18.200
killed it, because obviously it came
to life, but what was killing it

3184
03:46:18.280 --> 03:46:26.040
in Vince's head was Pat continuously called
it a Battle Royal, and Vince just

3185
03:46:26.200 --> 03:46:30.520
didn't feel that an hour long Battle
Royal was going to hold the crowd's attention.

3186
03:46:31.079 --> 03:46:33.920
He thought, oh god, that'll
be boring as hell. But the

3187
03:46:35.000 --> 03:46:37.680
way Pat was explaining it, with
a new participant coming every two minutes,

3188
03:46:37.920 --> 03:46:43.399
He's like, a brand new match
starts every two minutes, and then you

3189
03:46:43.479 --> 03:46:48.120
get rid of people and there's more
people that come in. But the big

3190
03:46:48.399 --> 03:46:52.040
pitch that I remember from Pat was
that every two minutes you got a brand

3191
03:46:52.079 --> 03:46:54.799
new match because you got a brand
new guy in the ring. So it's

3192
03:46:54.840 --> 03:46:58.760
gonna keep it exciting. It's gonna
keep it going, and people are gonna

3193
03:46:58.799 --> 03:47:03.159
look be looking back wondering who's next
to come out into the thing. So

3194
03:47:03.840 --> 03:47:07.319
it sounded good to me. I
liked the idea, but I also came

3195
03:47:07.399 --> 03:47:11.479
from a place where the twenty two
man Battle Royal was a huge event,

3196
03:47:11.559 --> 03:47:16.319
and that was something I was pitching. And therebody stu fucking television bananza today.

3197
03:47:16.319 --> 03:47:18.959
If they put it on TV again
like this, oh yeah, and

3198
03:47:18.159 --> 03:47:22.159
arranged the ads such that they could
go without interruption, that would be a

3199
03:47:22.360 --> 03:47:26.079
huge rating. People would watch a
whole hour ye, people would no question

3200
03:47:26.120 --> 03:47:31.000
about it, and he mentioned,
you know, Bruce provided the color about

3201
03:47:31.000 --> 03:47:33.600
how Dick Eversow was just kind of
hanging out. He had no official role.

3202
03:47:33.840 --> 03:47:35.559
He had his own production company.
He had done of course centering against

3203
03:47:35.600 --> 03:47:37.920
the main event, and he would
work with Vince on different specials. Was

3204
03:47:37.959 --> 03:47:41.280
a big part of producing the Slammis
for USA Network, but he wasn't working

3205
03:47:41.360 --> 03:47:48.120
for USA Network, Dick Eversow that
is. And he remembers being there looking

3206
03:47:48.159 --> 03:47:50.840
at a card for the show.
The whole thing centered around, of course,

3207
03:47:50.840 --> 03:47:54.399
the Hulk Andre contract signing with the
matches sort of secondary and he said,

3208
03:47:54.520 --> 03:47:56.159
you know, the card did suck. It did suck. And he

3209
03:47:56.239 --> 03:48:01.520
remembered there being two more matches and
dug In having a match and another tag

3210
03:48:01.639 --> 03:48:03.479
match. It was all just matches. He likened it, like we said

3211
03:48:03.520 --> 03:48:07.239
before, to an MSG show or
a Philly show on Prism or something like

3212
03:48:07.319 --> 03:48:13.440
that. And that's when the interaction
that Pat Patterson talks about apparently happened,

3213
03:48:13.479 --> 03:48:16.440
where it was like, well,
then give him your idea, because Dick

3214
03:48:16.479 --> 03:48:20.280
Eversault didn't didn't love the card at
all. So yeah, sixty eight weeks

3215
03:48:20.280 --> 03:48:22.879
to put tickets on sale for the
show. According to Pritchard's recollection, and

3216
03:48:24.120 --> 03:48:26.319
again they were comfortable in Hamilton because
they had done TV from the market before,

3217
03:48:26.680 --> 03:48:30.479
he said, Dick Eversolt's fascination with
the thing basically came down to the

3218
03:48:30.520 --> 03:48:33.879
fact that it was something different.
Whose next notion and incorporating the clock in

3219
03:48:33.920 --> 03:48:37.440
the arena and on the television,
and they came up with a list of

3220
03:48:37.559 --> 03:48:41.040
names for the match, etc.
He doesn't remember it to the other ones

3221
03:48:41.120 --> 03:48:46.079
though, and yeah, just fill
it with bodies as best they could,

3222
03:48:46.200 --> 03:48:48.719
and they did. They did an
oral history onww dot com, which is

3223
03:48:48.760 --> 03:48:54.120
always a fun feature, asking people
what to remember about this initial inaugural royal

3224
03:48:54.200 --> 03:48:56.959
rumble. Knowingww dot com is calling, of course, the guys are going

3225
03:48:58.000 --> 03:49:03.559
to cook up something to say.
Bret Harts was the first entrant. Last

3226
03:49:03.680 --> 03:49:07.159
twenty five minutes is mentioned. They
know a Doug In and Tito Okay Patterson.

3227
03:49:09.479 --> 03:49:11.600
I was working in the office and
my job was to be creative,

3228
03:49:11.639 --> 03:49:13.600
and I always wanted to do something
that's never been done. It's like,

3229
03:49:13.639 --> 03:49:16.879
for example, a simple steel cage
match. Somebody somehow decided to have a

3230
03:49:16.959 --> 03:49:18.840
cage match. Where that started,
I have no idea, but somebody came

3231
03:49:18.879 --> 03:49:22.479
up with the idea. I started
thinking about the Battle Royal. But I

3232
03:49:22.520 --> 03:49:24.079
had it in my mind to simply
start with two guys and then every two

3233
03:49:24.079 --> 03:49:35.000
minutes a new guy comes out.
Why would bless his heart? Why would

3234
03:49:35.000 --> 03:49:37.680
Pat be into a match that starts
with two guys and then every two minutes

3235
03:49:37.680 --> 03:49:41.959
another guy comes out. When one
guy's eliminated, he's out, and so

3236
03:49:43.040 --> 03:49:43.440
on and so forth. And I
knew it was going to work. I

3237
03:49:43.440 --> 03:49:46.639
could visualize that, I could see
it. There was no question. Is

3238
03:49:46.639 --> 03:49:48.280
it true? The match was inspired
specifically by the annual Well, I think

3239
03:49:48.280 --> 03:49:50.959
we have a queue on an opportunity
here in Boss. I don't know.

3240
03:49:52.280 --> 03:49:56.000
I think we're gonna have to do
it that way. I didn't realize this

3241
03:49:56.200 --> 03:49:58.120
was back and forth. I thought
it was just Patterson offering quotes, Oh,

3242
03:50:00.079 --> 03:50:03.719
let's do this for the people,
all right, smattering of some some

3243
03:50:03.920 --> 03:50:13.479
peripheral participants as well. But this
is a perhaps a bit more colorful description

3244
03:50:13.559 --> 03:50:18.399
of how the Rumble came to be
than what pat necessarily offers in his books.

3245
03:50:18.520 --> 03:50:22.959
I'll get WW you can be w
dot com. I'll be Patterson from

3246
03:50:22.959 --> 03:50:26.520
there. Is it true? The
match was inspired specifically by the annual Battle

3247
03:50:26.719 --> 03:50:30.920
Royals that used to take place in
the San Francisco territory. Well, you

3248
03:50:31.000 --> 03:50:33.040
know, Roschil was very good at
building about a royal. Once a year

3249
03:50:33.040 --> 03:50:35.319
he had about a royal and you
could bet on it. Somebody was going

3250
03:50:35.360 --> 03:50:37.559
to be carried out on a stretcher, somebody was going to get hurt,

3251
03:50:37.600 --> 03:50:39.799
and it was exciting. He'd fly
in some stars that were not in the

3252
03:50:39.920 --> 03:50:43.079
territory, Dusty Rhodes and the funks. Bringing in stars like that made it

3253
03:50:43.200 --> 03:50:48.799
very, very special. But it
was just about a royal. Watch every

3254
03:50:48.920 --> 03:50:52.479
Royal Rumbel pay per view on WWA
network. I got stuck in there,

3255
03:50:52.719 --> 03:50:56.559
so did others in ww Share your
vision of the Royal rum will match.

3256
03:50:56.719 --> 03:51:00.239
I used to talk to Vince about
the Rummel idea have you know and call

3257
03:51:00.280 --> 03:51:01.719
it by that name, and Vince
couldn't visualize that. He'd say, oh

3258
03:51:01.799 --> 03:51:05.120
my god, it's too long,
My god, all twenty guys, that's

3259
03:51:05.120 --> 03:51:09.120
gonna take forever. Why does the
concept get from the page to the ring?

3260
03:51:09.479 --> 03:51:11.760
You know what brought it to fruition. We're having our meeting with Dick

3261
03:51:11.799 --> 03:51:16.440
Ebersol. We had a special editing
was the first special live on USA network

3262
03:51:16.479 --> 03:51:18.360
and it was a live show from
Hamilton, Ontario. So we gave Dick

3263
03:51:18.399 --> 03:51:20.680
episode to matches we were going to
have in. Dick Ebersol for some reason

3264
03:51:20.719 --> 03:51:24.559
didn't feel the card would be that
exciting. So we've got to figure out

3265
03:51:24.600 --> 03:51:26.360
what to come up with. And
Vince turns around and goes, Pat,

3266
03:51:26.399 --> 03:51:30.000
why don't you tell Dick Epersol your
stupid idea? Oh? So I turned

3267
03:51:30.040 --> 03:51:31.760
around and looked at the Vince and
I said, well, first of all,

3268
03:51:31.760 --> 03:51:35.000
it's not a stupid idea. I
describe what the concept would be.

3269
03:51:35.040 --> 03:51:37.479
And Dick Ebersow what crazy. He
loved it. He said that would be

3270
03:51:37.559 --> 03:51:41.520
so great for live tell ovision.
Every two minutes, another wrestler comes running

3271
03:51:41.520 --> 03:51:43.959
in. You don't know who's who
it is until you hear the buzzer.

3272
03:51:43.000 --> 03:51:46.680
So Vince went, you're on your
own. You're gonna have to do it

3273
03:51:46.719 --> 03:51:48.719
yourself. You're gonna have to produce
it. Holy Crow sounded good in my

3274
03:51:48.760 --> 03:51:52.559
head, but to put it together
it was another story. Oh you know,

3275
03:51:52.799 --> 03:51:56.760
so many moving parts involved. Yeah, how does the process of actually

3276
03:51:56.879 --> 03:52:01.559
executing the first rule wrol match go? Oh my god? It was crazy.

3277
03:52:01.600 --> 03:52:03.559
Actually, I probabused the first royal
rumbo of the morning of the morning

3278
03:52:03.600 --> 03:52:07.159
of I was going crazy because for
some reason I thought I was going to

3279
03:52:07.200 --> 03:52:09.479
sit down with Vince and put together
another and all that, and then he

3280
03:52:09.600 --> 03:52:13.239
got so busy tied up and vinceys
to me a day or two before,

3281
03:52:13.280 --> 03:52:15.840
did you get your Battle Royal producer? I said no, I had to

3282
03:52:15.879 --> 03:52:22.000
produce it that morning, going nuts, but I did it. Did you

3283
03:52:22.079 --> 03:52:24.239
always want to do something that's nerved
him before? Oh that's that thing?

3284
03:52:24.879 --> 03:52:30.079
Uh? You know what was the
reaction from the wrestlers upon hearing about the

3285
03:52:30.239 --> 03:52:33.639
much format. The funny thing is
when the boys found out, they what

3286
03:52:33.680 --> 03:52:35.840
the hell is this? Someone sounded
good sometime the metch was going to take

3287
03:52:35.840 --> 03:52:37.440
a long time. I said,
yeah, but it's the first time and

3288
03:52:37.520 --> 03:52:43.360
we're going to do it. I
think any time when seconding new like that

3289
03:52:43.639 --> 03:52:48.600
comes out, people wonder. They
used to do Battle Royals one way in

3290
03:52:48.879 --> 03:52:52.239
w WA at the time, So
when they come back and change the whole

3291
03:52:52.360 --> 03:52:58.159
format, I think everyone wondered if
it would get over the extended hands.

3292
03:52:58.760 --> 03:53:01.639
I don't think any one knew how
big it would become. The boys were

3293
03:53:01.680 --> 03:53:05.879
excited, but they were trying to
figure out, asking different questions what number

3294
03:53:05.920 --> 03:53:07.200
am I? And all that stuff. As far as the entrance goes,

3295
03:53:07.239 --> 03:53:09.360
and who is going to be next? I told her not to ask me

3296
03:53:09.399 --> 03:53:11.799
too many questions and just listen and
what it's your turn to go out there.

3297
03:53:11.879 --> 03:53:18.000
That's it, Jake Roberts, I
knew it would work. Yeah.

3298
03:53:20.120 --> 03:53:26.040
Yeah. Bumping people in one after
the other just creates excitement. If you

3299
03:53:26.159 --> 03:53:31.000
put a fresh guy in every minute
or so, it becomes here comes this

3300
03:53:31.200 --> 03:53:37.760
guy, who isn't Who isn't.
This is the anticipation thing, and the

3301
03:53:37.879 --> 03:53:43.280
fans are hoping that the next guy
to come out help their guy to win

3302
03:53:43.360 --> 03:53:46.639
it. It's all about the fans. It was tough on the damn athletes

3303
03:53:48.000 --> 03:53:52.920
though, it really was. Did
you think that the Royal Room will match

3304
03:53:54.000 --> 03:53:58.200
would provide a lot of creative opportunities
for story chilling? Absolutely? Over time

3305
03:53:58.239 --> 03:54:01.639
the boys got more and more creative. When you first started, you were

3306
03:54:01.680 --> 03:54:03.680
just happy to get it done and
that it worked out well. There's so

3307
03:54:03.879 --> 03:54:09.360
many guys in the ring, and
there are big men moving around. Choice

3308
03:54:09.399 --> 03:54:16.440
are always an issue. No one
wants anyone else falling on the back of

3309
03:54:16.559 --> 03:54:22.159
his legs. It's tough out there, and you're a young guy in these

3310
03:54:22.280 --> 03:54:24.879
matches. You want to go in
there and do a bunch of stuff,

3311
03:54:24.879 --> 03:54:28.280
and it doesn't take long for one
of the veterans to make you realize,

3312
03:54:28.280 --> 03:54:31.399
whatever you do, you have to
be aware of your surroundings. You.

3313
03:54:31.200 --> 03:54:35.280
You can't just be thinking about yourself. I was just thinking about how I

3314
03:54:35.440 --> 03:54:39.200
was going to survive this thing and
reduce the chance of injury and stuff like

3315
03:54:39.360 --> 03:54:43.559
that. Harley Race, a lot
of the younger ones that were just there

3316
03:54:43.639 --> 03:54:48.680
for the sake of being there.
We're all hyper and jumping around that Harley

3317
03:54:48.760 --> 03:54:52.600
Race is sitting still. You just
find a way to keep yourself out on

3318
03:54:52.680 --> 03:54:56.920
that part of it, and hopefully
you're still there at the end. Red

3319
03:54:56.000 --> 03:55:00.719
Heart became a challenge to keep the
fire going. It's like having a fire

3320
03:55:01.440 --> 03:55:03.000
on a branch in the ring,
and you have to keep passing it round

3321
03:55:03.079 --> 03:55:07.079
and keep it lit all the time. And you have to keep that fire

3322
03:55:07.200 --> 03:55:09.719
going throughout the entire match. Oh
God, sometimes you bounced from one opponent

3323
03:55:09.760 --> 03:55:13.600
to the next trying to light that
fire again. For me, I found

3324
03:55:13.639 --> 03:55:16.520
that much action that was going on, I could spark something in the corner

3325
03:55:16.600 --> 03:55:18.879
that would steal all the attention from
everyone else and make people watch me.

3326
03:55:22.719 --> 03:55:26.000
Thanks. Oh my God, such
a bitch. I had an ability to

3327
03:55:26.200 --> 03:55:30.159
not exactly steal the show, but
make people watch the flare up I had

3328
03:55:30.200 --> 03:55:33.200
going with somebody in the corner.
Then I would move on to somebody else

3329
03:55:33.239 --> 03:55:37.319
and start kicking something else on the
other side of the ring. Watch every

3330
03:55:37.440 --> 03:55:41.399
row rum a pay per view one
w W eating Network. It one was

3331
03:55:41.440 --> 03:55:46.079
an immediate reaction to the first floor
rule match. Did you know as soon

3332
03:55:46.120 --> 03:55:48.840
as the match began that you had
something special? Oh? Yeah, I

3333
03:55:48.920 --> 03:55:52.600
found it would out a doubt.
I didn't know what to expect at first,

3334
03:55:52.639 --> 03:55:54.399
and we had the first two guys
in the ring, and then the

3335
03:55:54.399 --> 03:55:56.360
buzzer hit and here comes another one, and after three or four guys went

3336
03:55:56.399 --> 03:55:58.799
in, I knew we had something. It was so good. I didn't

3337
03:55:58.799 --> 03:56:03.440
think it was going to be that
good. Hill Billy Jim, go ahead,

3338
03:56:03.479 --> 03:56:07.280
Boss Loan, I don't even like
him picturing picture sounds Loan me.

3339
03:56:07.399 --> 03:56:11.079
All. After we did the first
one, I knew it was going to

3340
03:56:11.239 --> 03:56:15.479
keep going going on. Of course, everything WW was doing was pretty much

3341
03:56:15.559 --> 03:56:20.079
landmark stuff, innovative from count of
groundbreaking, and everything was working in our

3342
03:56:20.120 --> 03:56:24.319
direction, and everything was in our
favor. Wrestling was on fire and the

3343
03:56:24.440 --> 03:56:26.639
Royal rumb Along Wrestleman. It was
just a perfect fit, and all the

3344
03:56:26.760 --> 03:56:31.040
boys in the show knew that it
was something that was going to be going

3345
03:56:31.159 --> 03:56:37.479
on every year after that. Still, I guess, yeah, Rob,

3346
03:56:37.639 --> 03:56:41.079
thirty minutes after the opening bell,
No, no, this is aw dot

3347
03:56:41.120 --> 03:56:46.760
com there Yeah, roughly a thirty
three minutes after the opening bell? Okay

3348
03:56:46.760 --> 03:56:52.200
here? Oh sorry? Were there
any lessons you know you took away from

3349
03:56:52.239 --> 03:56:54.719
that first rumble as soon as it
ended. Were you trying to think of

3350
03:56:54.760 --> 03:56:58.200
ways to make it even bigger and
better? Vince came up with that idea

3351
03:56:58.239 --> 03:57:01.719
to make it bigger and include thirty
superstars. Set out to myself, what

3352
03:57:01.799 --> 03:57:03.000
a crap, it's going to be
even longer now without those guys in there.

3353
03:57:03.319 --> 03:57:05.680
And I wasn't too sure if it
was too long, if I'd take

3354
03:57:05.719 --> 03:57:09.280
too much time. But if you
have the right talent, it doesn't matter.

3355
03:57:09.520 --> 03:57:11.079
You can go an hour and a
half if you wanted to. We

3356
03:57:11.200 --> 03:57:13.600
had a good talent, so it
worked out very well. As long as

3357
03:57:13.600 --> 03:57:18.680
the fans love it, that thought, it matters. You know, all

3358
03:57:18.760 --> 03:57:22.200
the big match types have been invested
with nine ninety eight. Hell on a

3359
03:57:22.280 --> 03:57:28.120
cell Nation Chamber, Your TILC matches. You was about the rumble that's enabled

3360
03:57:28.159 --> 03:57:31.920
it to stand the test of time. What makes the right rumble exciting is

3361
03:57:31.959 --> 03:57:33.840
the surprises. Who's next, who's
going to be eliminated. It's really exciting.

3362
03:57:35.120 --> 03:57:37.239
The buzzer goes and it's like,
wow, this guy's in now.

3363
03:57:39.239 --> 03:57:41.879
And a lot of times we have
guys who have left a business and we

3364
03:57:41.959 --> 03:57:43.280
bring them back for one night and
things like that. There's always going on,

3365
03:57:43.719 --> 03:57:46.799
always action going on in the ring, and it's a long match.

3366
03:57:46.879 --> 03:57:50.159
It's over an hour, you know, for one match one hour. A

3367
03:57:50.200 --> 03:57:52.159
lot of fun, hard differing together, but it's a lot of fun.

3368
03:57:54.079 --> 03:57:56.159
The beauty of the rumble is that
every couple of minutes another guy comes out

3369
03:57:56.440 --> 03:58:00.879
and just seeing what kind of difference
it makes. When you're having a royal

3370
03:58:00.959 --> 03:58:03.760
rumble and all of a sudden they
send out Bob Blackland. He's a whole

3371
03:58:03.799 --> 03:58:05.639
different type of wrestler than the one
two three kid around or the giant.

3372
03:58:07.000 --> 03:58:09.799
It changes the complexity the entire match. Everyone knows that if Andre is waking

3373
03:58:09.879 --> 03:58:13.600
up, everyone's intent is going to
go up. It's a whole different mentality.

3374
03:58:13.520 --> 03:58:18.639
You're looking back over your main creative
contributions. You are just inventing the

3375
03:58:18.799 --> 03:58:22.680
Royal Rumble match, Rang I'm very
proud of it, no question, but

3376
03:58:22.760 --> 03:58:26.079
it doesn't blow up my head like
oh men, I created the Royal Rumble.

3377
03:58:26.120 --> 03:58:28.559
I was never looking for Dad.
I was just looking to be creative

3378
03:58:28.600 --> 03:58:31.040
and do something different, and I'm
glad I did. I'm happy I did

3379
03:58:31.079 --> 03:58:33.840
it to fans love it. The
boys love it. I love it,

3380
03:58:33.319 --> 03:58:37.639
Vince loves it. That's part of
the job to be created. When something's

3381
03:58:37.639 --> 03:58:39.920
good, it lasts forever. I'm
proud of it, but I don't brag

3382
03:58:39.959 --> 03:58:41.479
about it. Who invented it doesn't
matter. As long as the fans love

3383
03:58:41.520 --> 03:58:45.440
it, that's all that matters.
Yeah. Yeah. He would go on

3384
03:58:45.600 --> 03:58:50.760
to hope and lobby for a a
Pat Patterson Memorial Cup trophy to be awarded

3385
03:58:50.799 --> 03:58:54.159
to the Royal Rumble winner every year. Wow, and they did not do

3386
03:58:54.319 --> 03:58:58.040
that. Yeah, sorry, sorry, Pat. I don't know why you

3387
03:58:58.079 --> 03:59:03.600
think you deserve that, but it's
not gonna happen. Yeah, I'm not

3388
03:59:03.639 --> 03:59:07.479
going to do that. Pell don't
think that there's a thing that I'm interested

3389
03:59:07.520 --> 03:59:11.159
in. I'm going to give a
trophy to somebody for helping us become better

3390
03:59:11.159 --> 03:59:15.239
acquainted with the notion of tightened time, right, Bruce, I mean,

3391
03:59:15.600 --> 03:59:18.079
I don't think that we really felt
that it was a home run. Quite

3392
03:59:18.159 --> 03:59:22.520
frankly, that day, we thought
it was good, it was interesting,

3393
03:59:22.840 --> 03:59:26.879
but we were trying to pick it
apart and think about how can we make

3394
03:59:26.959 --> 03:59:31.399
this better. One of the things
that came out of it was the phrase

3395
03:59:31.520 --> 03:59:35.639
tightened time, and that was from
Dick and I as we got into it

3396
03:59:35.799 --> 03:59:41.680
and we realized where we were in
the show. The Dino Bravo weightlifting thing

3397
03:59:41.760 --> 03:59:45.760
had gone long, and some other
things had happened on the show that the

3398
03:59:45.920 --> 03:59:48.360
timing was off, and that was
all my fault because I was a little

3399
03:59:48.399 --> 03:59:54.200
overwhelmed with my first live show.
That Dick sat next to me at Gorilla

3400
03:59:54.680 --> 03:59:58.879
and we started fudging the times and
instead of going every two minutes, some

3401
03:59:58.959 --> 04:00:01.000
guys would get him in to have
some guys would get a minute, and

3402
04:00:01.159 --> 04:00:05.600
we would just send them when we
needed to send them when it was right

3403
04:00:05.760 --> 04:00:11.799
for the match. So we learned
that as we went along that o,

3404
04:00:11.000 --> 04:00:15.040
man, it's two minutes going to
be too long for this thing, and

3405
04:00:16.200 --> 04:00:18.840
nobody's really nobody's sitting there with a
stopwatch, which I'm sure there were people

3406
04:00:18.920 --> 04:00:24.280
that were sitting there with a stopwatch. But we just started sending people and

3407
04:00:24.360 --> 04:00:28.000
that's where we coined the phrase Titan
time. We'll send it when we're ready.

3408
04:00:28.879 --> 04:00:33.079
But it wasn't something we look back
on that night and go, oh

3409
04:00:33.239 --> 04:00:35.360
my god, that was the greatest
match ever. It was like, that

3410
04:00:35.479 --> 04:00:39.879
worked pretty good, but there's got
to be a way to tweak it,

3411
04:00:39.000 --> 04:00:43.200
maybe make it better. Does this
match you're feeling after watching this Rumble show

3412
04:00:43.239 --> 04:00:48.399
that this is kind of like a
dud? No, not at all.

3413
04:00:48.479 --> 04:00:50.559
No, I'm surprised to hear this
commentary. Yeah, yeah, No,

3414
04:00:50.799 --> 04:00:56.120
I mean I think it looks spectacular, really registered with me, a really

3415
04:00:56.200 --> 04:00:58.920
hit. Yeah, I think it's
exciting. I think it's a it's a

3416
04:00:58.799 --> 04:01:03.639
it's it's something different, and yeah, I don't know what. I'm surprised

3417
04:01:03.680 --> 04:01:07.920
that it came across that so kind
of nonchalant in the back, like,

3418
04:01:09.040 --> 04:01:11.319
Okay, that happened, we'll move
on. It just seemed like so many

3419
04:01:11.360 --> 04:01:15.879
of the logistics of producing the show
preoccupied them that they didn't actually realize why

3420
04:01:15.879 --> 04:01:18.520
you were putting out there. Pritchard
would also add that he felt that Dick

3421
04:01:18.559 --> 04:01:22.440
Ebersol felt that the Rumble saved the
show overall, which I have to say,

3422
04:01:22.479 --> 04:01:24.719
if there wasn't a rumble match on
this, it would be a kind

3423
04:01:24.719 --> 04:01:28.280
of a week television, Oh for
sure. I mean, you know,

3424
04:01:28.399 --> 04:01:31.280
I mean, yes, the the
the contract sighting is exciting at all.

3425
04:01:31.479 --> 04:01:35.399
It has its moments, but you
know, you can't, you really can't.

3426
04:01:37.399 --> 04:01:43.440
It's hard to build a show like
this, which is basically a pay

3427
04:01:43.440 --> 04:01:46.280
per view, and like you said
on free TV, around a non wrestling

3428
04:01:46.559 --> 04:01:50.559
moment, right around Hope getting his
head banged into a table, and that's

3429
04:01:50.799 --> 04:01:54.799
right about the end of it.
He remembers Patterson having getting all the guys

3430
04:01:54.840 --> 04:01:56.200
in a room and giving them detailed
notes of who's in and who's out and

3431
04:01:56.280 --> 04:01:58.920
when, and making copies and everyone
had the whole match laid out for them

3432
04:02:00.000 --> 04:02:01.639
on paper, which, to Pritchard's
memory, was not really something they ever

3433
04:02:01.760 --> 04:02:05.319
quite did before. This may have
been a first where they're handing around sheets

3434
04:02:05.360 --> 04:02:07.760
of paper to talent to explain how
a match is going to go. I

3435
04:02:07.799 --> 04:02:11.239
mean, it makes sense, though, I mean, it's probably probably one

3436
04:02:11.239 --> 04:02:13.520
of the more complex matches that you
can do. Had to hear pat tell

3437
04:02:13.600 --> 04:02:16.440
it. He really was flying by
the seat of his pants. Communicating these

3438
04:02:16.479 --> 04:02:22.479
directions because he expected Vince to take
the brains on producing the match and realized

3439
04:02:22.520 --> 04:02:26.079
with just a day to spare that
that wasn't gonna happen. The only thing,

3440
04:02:26.159 --> 04:02:30.319
Patterson pardoned me, the only thing
Pritchard recalls walking through was the Andre

3441
04:02:30.479 --> 04:02:33.920
Hogan contract signing bit they got up
in the ring before the show started,

3442
04:02:33.920 --> 04:02:37.600
and who's going to sit on which
side of the table, And definitely that

3443
04:02:37.719 --> 04:02:41.280
was Vince's baby on the whole thing. That's what he cared the most about.

3444
04:02:43.319 --> 04:02:46.120
Meanwhile, Pritchard's writing the matches out
who would go where, slotting in

3445
04:02:46.200 --> 04:02:50.319
commercials and teases, and Vince was
the one that laid out Andre Hogan.

3446
04:02:50.799 --> 04:02:54.000
Vince in particular, he said,
and wanted Andre to slam Hogan's head into

3447
04:02:54.040 --> 04:02:58.040
the table. That was the most
That was the most detail they got into

3448
04:02:58.159 --> 04:03:01.639
as far as what they wanted from
the segment, he said. Despite having

3449
04:03:01.719 --> 04:03:05.840
timing shows forever for Paul Bosh and
others, it was kind of an overwhelming

3450
04:03:05.920 --> 04:03:11.360
task this rumble, he said.
The philosophy of Dick Ebersol was get all

3451
04:03:11.399 --> 04:03:13.239
your best out, get all your
best stuff out early, and you can

3452
04:03:13.520 --> 04:03:18.079
end with stuff that's not so important
because at that point and a time slot

3453
04:03:18.159 --> 04:03:22.920
like this, you're fighting sleep.
That was Dick Ebersol's big enemy was sleep

3454
04:03:22.000 --> 04:03:26.239
after you know, midnight on NSNL
or whatever shows he was producing, and

3455
04:03:28.079 --> 04:03:30.319
he was given an order by Vince
was pretty shared. No matter how much

3456
04:03:30.360 --> 04:03:31.440
time was at the end, that
was how much time the tag match was

3457
04:03:31.479 --> 04:03:37.479
going to have. So this young
Stallion's Islanders match is constricted or not depending

3458
04:03:37.520 --> 04:03:39.200
on it. And they got a
lot of time as it turns out.

3459
04:03:39.239 --> 04:03:41.200
I mean they kind of felt like
they were rushed because they did a whole

3460
04:03:41.239 --> 04:03:43.600
lot of other shit. I think
the popular memory kind of forgets that they

3461
04:03:43.680 --> 04:03:48.200
did a lot of like recapping of
the rumble right there was there was a

3462
04:03:48.239 --> 04:03:52.399
lot of dead time too, but
definitely thinks it should have been a one

3463
04:03:52.440 --> 04:03:54.879
fall squash. I don't know why
this match was two out of three falls.

3464
04:03:54.879 --> 04:03:58.479
I don't know either. I don't
know either. And also like yeah,

3465
04:03:58.680 --> 04:04:01.159
it was I don't know what the
fuck they were talking about with having

3466
04:04:01.879 --> 04:04:05.719
with going along. I mean they
had so much time at the end of

3467
04:04:05.799 --> 04:04:09.520
that show. Yeah, and a
new challenge too. The first time they

3468
04:04:09.559 --> 04:04:11.600
were trying to communicate to people in
the body of the rumble match, who's

3469
04:04:11.600 --> 04:04:13.559
supposed to go out? When?
How do you get messages to the ring?

3470
04:04:13.639 --> 04:04:18.840
This is before referees had earpieces,
right, and they were not accustomed

3471
04:04:18.879 --> 04:04:20.520
to doing this in a way that
you know, it's one thing in a

3472
04:04:20.600 --> 04:04:22.840
television taping to send word down through
a cameraman or something. But here,

3473
04:04:24.200 --> 04:04:26.680
according to Pritchard, what they worked
out was pretty much, you know,

3474
04:04:26.879 --> 04:04:28.440
the guy who was going down to
the ring to get in was to communicate

3475
04:04:28.760 --> 04:04:35.000
an instruction to somebody about when to
go out. And they also had referees

3476
04:04:35.040 --> 04:04:39.079
around ringside to send reminders too at
key moments. But the way he put

3477
04:04:39.159 --> 04:04:45.440
it is that they forgot to eliminate
Brett Hart. He was saying for years

3478
04:04:45.600 --> 04:04:50.319
that Pritchard was that Brook Martel was
in the first rumble, and he was

3479
04:04:50.360 --> 04:04:54.000
a guy that lasted very long,
but not because that was by design,

3480
04:04:54.559 --> 04:04:58.920
but rather because there was a miscommunication
from the person who was supposed to say,

3481
04:04:58.000 --> 04:05:01.159
now is the time to get this
guy out, or they forgot to

3482
04:05:01.280 --> 04:05:03.959
check that box and eliminate that guy
from the rumble when they were supposed to,

3483
04:05:03.360 --> 04:05:05.760
you know, sort of lost in
the muck of everything that's going on.

3484
04:05:07.440 --> 04:05:09.520
And then during the nineteen eighty eight
something to Russell, he has this

3485
04:05:09.600 --> 04:05:11.520
moment of like, oh my god, I've been saying it's been Rick Martell.

3486
04:05:11.559 --> 04:05:13.920
I meant it was Brett Hart now
that I watched the match, So

3487
04:05:15.639 --> 04:05:18.280
how his Brett might be for this
performance, And as much as Jesse Ventura

3488
04:05:18.360 --> 04:05:20.719
might put him over, and as
much as that creates the boiler plate for

3489
04:05:20.760 --> 04:05:24.639
a classic Rumble story of the guy
who lasts a long time, it was

3490
04:05:24.680 --> 04:05:28.680
not by design according to Pritchard,
of course, never oversight. So that's

3491
04:05:28.760 --> 04:05:33.760
fucking hilarious. And of course the
backdrop to all this is the big angle

3492
04:05:33.799 --> 04:05:39.120
for the big match between Hogan and
Andre Teddy Biassi preparing to buy the championship.

3493
04:05:39.520 --> 04:05:41.079
And you know, just as much
as the Rumble match, as we've

3494
04:05:41.120 --> 04:05:46.079
talked about, that whole thing is
very much part of the thrust of what

3495
04:05:46.159 --> 04:05:48.680
we're about to witness in taking in
the nineteen eighty eight World Rumble. Yep,

3496
04:05:48.840 --> 04:05:52.639
And I can feel I can feel
it, Boss, There's an intensity

3497
04:05:52.680 --> 04:05:58.920
these two get across. And oh, for sure, the whole the whole

3498
04:05:58.280 --> 04:06:09.000
fucking contract signing with Andre just just
kind of staring like in how he stalls

3499
04:06:09.079 --> 04:06:13.920
inside. It's it's great stuff.
It's really it's so subtle. It's so

3500
04:06:13.200 --> 04:06:18.639
subtle, but it's brilliantly done,
really is. And DBAs he was still

3501
04:06:18.639 --> 04:06:22.920
a hot character. He had just
kind of you know, had his big

3502
04:06:22.600 --> 04:06:28.719
coming out party in eighty seven um
to WWF and they'd done a bunch of

3503
04:06:28.799 --> 04:06:31.159
vignettes, but like what he was
actually going to do and if he was

3504
04:06:31.280 --> 04:06:35.959
if he was going to involve himself
in the the world title picture was not

3505
04:06:35.120 --> 04:06:41.479
quite clear right and here it is
abundantly clear. What what's going to happen

3506
04:06:41.559 --> 04:06:46.959
now? As fans are asked on
an edition of Primetime Wrestling leading into the

3507
04:06:48.120 --> 04:06:52.200
Royal Rumble what they think about the
Million Dollar Man's overtures to Hull Coke and

3508
04:06:52.280 --> 04:06:58.680
to sell the world title, and
what they think about um position Hule Coke

3509
04:06:58.719 --> 04:07:03.239
and find himself in heading into this
contract. I'm glad he didn't sell out

3510
04:07:03.239 --> 04:07:05.239
and I want to hope to rip
him up. I think the Holster did

3511
04:07:05.319 --> 04:07:09.200
that right thing. He wouldn't let
us fans down. Anyone that knows the

3512
04:07:09.280 --> 04:07:13.239
Hawkster knows that he does not have
a price for the million Dollar Man.

3513
04:07:15.159 --> 04:07:18.520
I think Hawk is number one and
I don't think he'll ever let up to

3514
04:07:18.600 --> 04:07:22.799
the million dollar man. Well,
I think he's right. Why should he

3515
04:07:22.879 --> 04:07:26.399
sell his belt? He's well earned
it and I think he'll probably hold it.

3516
04:07:26.000 --> 04:07:30.440
Hulk is definitely a true American,
and I know that he'd never succumbed

3517
04:07:30.479 --> 04:07:35.159
to Ted Debios and his money because
Holks, the Hulks, Wholka maniacs out

3518
04:07:35.200 --> 04:07:39.079
there. I mean more to Haulk
than any monetary value at all. I

3519
04:07:39.200 --> 04:07:43.680
think that he should reject that the
money's not worth the felts, not worth

3520
04:07:43.719 --> 04:07:46.159
any amount of money like that.
It should be able to win it,

3521
04:07:46.360 --> 04:07:48.840
not be able to just buy it. I'm very heavy at hawk hold and

3522
04:07:48.920 --> 04:07:56.959
didn't take the money from Ted DBIASI
way to go howk oh Man lost innocence.

3523
04:07:56.000 --> 04:07:58.159
Maybe Holk should have taken the money. He'd been set for life,

3524
04:08:00.040 --> 04:08:01.920
don't forget the world champ gets all
the creature comforts. But after a divorce

3525
04:08:01.959 --> 04:08:07.399
settlement and the accident and some back
surgeries, he probably could have used the

3526
04:08:07.399 --> 04:08:15.559
money. Huhe two should have went
three two one, because we've reached that

3527
04:08:15.639 --> 04:08:18.840
point where we're going to take a
pause and we're going to prepare ourselves for

3528
04:08:18.920 --> 04:08:22.920
the latest deep dive from the last
man. We're going all the way back

3529
04:08:22.000 --> 04:08:26.000
thirty five years ago to the creation
of the Royal Rumble as a live television

3530
04:08:26.040 --> 04:08:31.440
event. It's nineteen eighty eight,
January twenty fourth, Hamilton, Ontario,

3531
04:08:31.559 --> 04:08:35.479
Canada. It's yours the co chairman, going deep on a historical show.

3532
04:08:35.319 --> 04:08:41.719
It's that fucking But before we go, we have a death toll. Yes

3533
04:08:41.799 --> 04:08:48.040
we too. We have sixteen d
which the all things considered, you know,

3534
04:08:48.159 --> 04:08:52.959
given that there's a twenty man royal
Royal true, you don't think yeah

3535
04:08:52.000 --> 04:09:00.360
awful. But Gene Oakland, oh
sure, Howard Finkel, Jack Toney,

3536
04:09:01.719 --> 04:09:09.120
Joey Morella, Butch Read, Jim
Nidheart, Harley Race, Nikolai Volkoff,

3537
04:09:09.760 --> 04:09:18.319
Ron Baths, Frenchie Martin, Dino
Bravo, the Junkyard Dog, Rick Rude,

3538
04:09:18.040 --> 04:09:26.239
the Ultimate Warrior, Bobby Heenan and
Andre the Giant. Rest in peace,

3539
04:09:26.280 --> 04:09:31.319
all and wish us luck as we
deep dive the very first televised Royal

3540
04:09:31.399 --> 04:09:33.520
Rumble. On the other side of
this break,