It's the Lapsed Fan Wrestling Podcast with Jack and CRN SEO and JP Sorrows the
lapsed fans get all my years rustling, I never seen anything like it,
and it's the laps fan name by the one in the ring to get about
the slatter with the real king of swing. When the bell goes in,
then kick like me throne in the corner, which a splash like stay even
Jerry King can say off the clown nodding his head like hiss d low brown,
which you get low down, go even high up, flip you on
your head. But you know, cou driver you speaking more knowledge and dragon
spits fire keep you more shocked than my head. Tree tires drop a more
truth than the cond of sniper less you with a coconut, Roddy Piper checking
JP be like j y D drop the cupcakes and golden the brain. By
means the best podcast fun start to close. If y'all another journey in the
books and boss we earned this one. Yes, yes in some ways,
yes, yes, I mean TNH total NonStop Hogan. It's customary here at
the Lapsed Fan Wrestling Podcast after taking a deep and meandering journey, as we
have for the entirety of twenty twenty three to kick back a bit, especially
you know, with the summer weather and the humidity setting in, it's it's
really time to pour a glass of lemonade and reflect my thing. And of
course, whatever we do a journey, the Lapstan Solar System steps up like
no listenership in all of podcasting, with some of the most brought provoking feedback.
We can always count on that. I suppose, Tier, it's for
you, and we're going to do some housekeeping because it has been a while
since TLF has been on the traditional rails, so to speak, on that
track, So you better believe Santa's mailbag is overflowing. There's just so much
business to attend to, but it's always so much fun just to turn it
over to the solar system for sure, let them decide how will chop it
up coming off a heaping portion of vegetables. In terms of understanding the reality
of hul Hogan, you know, I'm thinking back on all we learned about
Hulkogan during his TNA run and I feel like it's going to be just as
it's going to inform our view of anything we watch or think about involving Hulk
Hogan in the years to come as anything we could have watched from his in
wing prime ably feel that way absolutely. I think I think this whole experience
gave us a deeper, darker look into his psyche than anything we've done before.
And how about that Gawker testimony. Oh, I mean that was just
unbelievable. I mean, because we're trying to stay Kate Figer didn't have a
chance to comment on it, but man, I mean that will was.
It was more than I could have ever bargained for. It was so ludicrous,
yea his I mean the fact that he went up on the stand and
said, you know, I mean I'd heard about it. I'd never really
heard the testimony before, just the bits and pieces, and the fact that
he sat up there with you know, a straight face and told the defense
attorney that he wasn't talking about Terry Bala, he was talking about hule Cogan.
That was Hule Cogan we were talking about, and actually deciphering between two
entities. It's lunacy. Isn't it such an amazing convenience to be able to
say I was in gimmick when I did that, and I was out of
gimmick when I did that before, you blame me from a single thing.
As many caging members of the Solar System were quick to point out in pieces
of feedback that we will convey on this episode, what A, what A,
what a convenience setup. It's one of the many ways that pro wrestlers
lived kind of a charmed life. It's a it's a sad life, it's
a strange life, it's an ask backwards life in so many ways, and
it's a painful life. But I'll tell you, man, when it comes
down to the fact that nobody takes these guys seriously enough to actually try to
counteract the notion that they're in gimmick versus out of gimmick. In gimmick when
they do something untoward, out of gimmick, when they're nice guys. What
what A, what A? What A thing to have in your back pocket?
When when when you get caught doing something wrong? Of course, of
course, I mean he literally said that whenever. I mean the fact that
he that he said, and I apparently convinced people that the only time he's
Terry Balayaz when he's at home. I mean, how do you get to
decide that, like who else besides I don't plan. It has the luxury
of I don't decide that, dude. It's not me, it's the fans,
it's the people outside. Brother. They don't know Terry Bala. They
can't tell the difference. Dude, Yeah, okay, so they think I'm
Holhogan, his his whole. You know, Terry Bala can't lift an eight
hundred pounds gihin over his head, brother, but Holhogan, he can't do
that. I mean that just you know, every interview he's ever given,
he's saying it is absolutely bullshit, or at least yes, I reserve the
right to say that everything I said in that interview is bullshit because the camera
was on, and therefore I can't possibly be expected to be Terry Bale if
there's a camera, I can't. I can't. I can't possibly be expected
to be honest if it's a camera on me. Right, So what you're
saying, Terry is Hulk Hogan. The character and all the ways you define
him, also has the character flaw of never really being able to rely on
anything he says, taking nothing. He says to the bank concluding I suppose
the five demandments. Brother, So it's it's it's just an amazing sort of
coming together, an amazing sort of moment where all that Hulkogan slash Terry Balaya
has been is laid bare on that stand and it's all on the line,
because if he gets this jury to convince, if he convinces this jury that
he was wronged here, which you know, I'm not saying he wasn't,
but if he can convince this jury with his guile is one of a kind,
pro wrestler Carney guile, that he was victimized here, he completely reverses
the state of his fortune. I mean, of course, little jury gave
him like a hundred plus million dollars verdict. By the time it all shook
out and the actual damages were handed down, it was like he probably took
home like five ten million dollars. I don't know. I kind of lost
interest in counting other people's money at that point, but suffice to say,
well, what I think is more impactful is not so much what he actually
deposited into his bank account, but what he was able to convince a jury
of his peers using these tactics he was owed. And that is just to
be the most stunning testimonial as to who Hulkkogan really was and why he was
able to stay on top in the wrestling business. This this is why,
you know, but despite the other worldly charisma, this is why ten years
after Vince McMahon thought hogan shelf life had expired, that he was earning more
money than he ever had in wrestling in WCW. Yeah, because because he
can make you believe, can make you believe, and he he has this
thing in his mind, this delineation that apparently nobody is going to gawk at
that he's Terry Balaya and the bodysy of his own home and nowhere can't you
can't say gawk, I'm sorry, because he has to maintain the idea that
when he was videotaped by Bubba the Love Sponge, you know, airing out
his wife, that that was Terry Balaya, because that's the person that has
to be, you know, in this case, that's the person that has
to have been defamed or dragged through the mud to collect the money in the
bashe at the Beach lawsuit, it was Hulkogan being defamed that can did right.
It was like even though he didn't, even though Vincerussou didn't say Terry
Bolea as a piece of shit. By saying Hulk Hogan was he was arguing
that there was an nexus between the two in that case, but in this
case he's arguing they are two very separate and distinct entities. They are and
they're not a philosophy the zen of the Hulkster. That and so much more
to take home, And we're going to turn on the solar system to really
let let a lot of these lessons really really sink in this week on the
show, please, and there's so much to talk about. But before we
do, we do always have to tip a cap to the sponsors that made
not only this journey possible, but but really just you know, teel off
on a go forward basis, the folks that stepped up and said, you
know what, the cast is worthy of renumeration and partnership, boss what Indeed,
we're talking about our friends at Tight Nutrition who love them. Yeah,
played no small part in getting us across the finish line and getting this thing
back on track. For those who are really looking to whip themselves into shape
for beach season, Um, you can't do much better in terms of supporting
the only podcast that really matters at the end of the day by doing it
with tight nutrition. Um, anyone wanting to optimize lean muscle recover from a
workout should be using a protein supplement to the problem is these powdered protein drinks.
They taste like chalk and they don't mix easily on the go. I
don't I don't endorse lean muscle. Really, that's a surprise. I want
massive muscle mass. Yeah, lean muscle does not sell tickets. What,
well, that's not much. A current roster is telling us, I don't
you know well you mean, I mean, you know this is this is
the thing is it's an illusion. What you're seeing is an illusion. Huh,
people, aren't you know what we're what you're looking at are actually giants,
big beef, massive, you know, fuckheads. But but through the
the optical illusion of camera tricks and smoking mirrors, they look small. You
know. I am looking forward to the time when AI can just put the
muscle mass on these guys. Oh, I know, so the front office
can feel okay and these guys don't have to drive themselves to a heart attack
at fifty you know, well, I still will insist on that. Yeah,
Yeah, well, only he'll only layer on further musculature in the in
the booth. Yes, problem is, like we said, many of these
drinks that taste like chalk, they don't mix easily on the go. But
we've found a solution here at TLF tight Nutritions namesake Protein Tightened Way. We
know all about the Titan Way around here, don't we you're d yes,
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They're so good, in fact, you're gonna feel like you're cheating, but
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and free shipping on your tight nutrition products. So again that's tight nutrition dot
Net with the discount code lapsed. Check them out and do let us know
if you convert, as they say in the business, and will be more
than happy to give you a shout out here on the cast. And of
course we owe said shout out to the latest adopter. Big shout outs to
Austin who wrote us that he finally pulled the trigger and took this thing to
the next level. Jack, no more hide the ball on dialing in this
way, cross brother. Time to get hanging in Bangan brother, a little
bit of that LPO shred ignite product advanced cutting formula, but that end light
powdered weight loss formula from her friends at tight Nutrition. Austin, thanks so
much for supporting those who support us. It's of course the only thing that
makes sense in so many ways. So I agree, let us know,
and let them know we sent you over a tight nutrition. And of course,
equally important to getting that physique in tune, getting that weight down this
summer is making sure that those fucking pubes aren't popping out of your right speed
up. Yeah, seriously, this is shit. And how do we do
it? Boss? How do we make sure that that the men among us,
they harry among us um are able to keep things in working order?
Well, first of all, you gotta take good care yourself. Down on
your crotch, right, we're talking about cross like we always do. Yeah,
yes, yes, this is a crotch cast. Okay, And you
gotta listen. Listen, men, women, non binary, they're all looking,
all right, they're all looking. If you go out there and your
ship's out there, people want to look. And when they look, you
want them to say those boulder as smooth as eggs. Okay, that's what
you want. You know. I did I tell the story about when I
was on the deck sunbathing. Oh, sir, you know, one day
I was on the deck sunbathing, you know, And it's it's it's more
or less. It's it's it's pretty private out there on the deck. And
I'm out there and I said, you know, fuck it, you know,
I'm just gonna do full body all right, just gonna lay on,
you know, lay lay on the on the couch out there, and just
go full body naked and just let it all hang out. And at one
point I get up and you know, I'm walking. I'm I'm walking over
towards the door. And then ship there's my neighbor cross the way, my
fucking neighbor, and and she's got her her her I don't know, family
or whatever there and and the course they can't not see me get a perfect
view of the fucking drive of her driveway, and and they all look over
and I stop. I'm like fuck. And then you know, she puts
her hand up over her eyes. You know, I'm like looking like what
And she says and she said it, She said, look at the are
those are those your balls? Yeah? And she said those things are smooth
as eggs. I said, I know. I use Manscaped support for TLF
brought to you by Manscape the Best and Men's below the Waiste Grooming. We're
talking about precision engineer tools for them family fucking jewels folks. Ndscape's Performance Package,
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use the promo code LAPS, you can unlock your confidence and always use the
right tools for the job with manscape. So we want to thank Manscape for
the support of the cast and want to keep directing you to their fine products
and big shout out as promised to Scott Sudikoff who converted strong and converted hard
big time Solar System MVP and always good to see and hear from him and
see his support. I hope he's enjoying the suite of products smooth as eggs,
he wrote in proof of purchase, a smooth as a seared hedger,
the perfect package four point zero. I mean, he's living in the lap
of luxury this summer thanks to that fucking integration. So how it's supposed to
work, folks, yep, and boss, how are you going to be
fucking all right? So we took we took care of the abs and and
the buys and tries. We're coming at this thing wide open, all right.
We took care of the pubes under arm on the crotch on the ball,
straight up the asshole, straight up the nose hole and earhole. That's
that's addressed in a TLF friendly fashion. But we got to pop a top
to really right, absolutely to make it a true all around TLF summer.
And god damn it, are we proud to say that you can do it
with a clear conscience by popping open a can of paps to this summer.
It's the past fan man number one and that fucking cooler. Perhaps Blue Rizzle
Brother got that right. We used to drink this on the road, dude,
going clear water making the loop? Do you do I'll always have been
doing a doing a piz i, a piz i all about doing the piz
biz Rizzle brother, Fuck yeah, dude. So you know, God,
is it on brand for us? You know, the beer for those who
don't take themselves too seriously get deserved to be taken seriously. Yes, in
a very low key, no cap way. So we do very much appreciate
the ongoing and continued support of PAPST. You were proud, of course,
to crack a can open at the top of our latest live WWE pay per
view call on Patreon of money in the Bank twenty three indeed, and that
available for patrons right now and so much more, but definitely the beverage and
the beer and the hops of choice of your coachairman this and every summer.
Hopefully our friends at PAPS thank them for the support. So um megapowers style
handshakes out of the way. We do want to let you know that you
can always follow the cast, not only on Twitter at the Lapsed Fan,
but also on Instagram. Boss does a terrific job keeping that thing lively and
vibran trying for sure, and we're also on threads now as well to extend
that that meta branding, so you can find us there and you can also
find us, and we don't we don't try to harp on this too much
because we don't want to flood ourselves. But I think now that TNH is
behind us, yes we can maybe, I don't know. With a bit
of hesitation, with a bit of trep dation points you to Cameo absolutely over
Cameo dot com slash the Lapsed Fan. You can really queue up any member
of the Solar System, litany of characters you want to say whatever you want.
Yep, Boss, they've put you to work, and you've done everything
from happy birthday wishes to you know, I'm going to kill you messages.
It's really true. Well, some of the more recent ones that were really
outrageous. Um someone you know, it's been quiet for a while, but
then all of a sudden, some we had some some uh some action going
on. I'm trying to second find it because it was very very funny.
Um like one request um for a tenth wedding anniversary and you know, she's
the woman's husband is a big fan, and and she she just wanted him
someone's a new dad. That one was fucking great. They wanted okay,
this is this was the request, tips on first time fatherhood, how life
will change, and pump me up about you know, for more. And
it was just like, let whoever do it. It's like, oh,
they can pick the character. Nope, Nope, didn't matter. They said,
just choose what you want to do. I'm all right. And so
Vince Hogan and Savage gave fatherly advice. Oh god, that's great because Savage,
who has no children, had no children, which was great legendarily legendarily
no children. So yeah, look, folks, put the coin in the
jukebox. I mean, get the computer working in the boss's head. And
every now and then someone wants a voice that I happened to do, so
glad to jump into on those. But really it's it's an all purpose way
to let the lapsed fan in your life know that you are tolerating their obsessive
fandom of an eight hour weekly wrestling podcast. Yea, so it's it's the
least you can do for the lapsed fan in your life. And we're taking
orders. The kitchen's open over at Cameo when we want to thank everyone who
patronizes us on that platform, and perhaps most significantly patreon dot com. Slash
the laps, which of course is the lifeblood makes the cast. Roll makes
the cast go, makes the cast to be able to say, you know
what, don't give a fuck. TNH calls for us to get the whole
Cocing testimony transcript. We don't care how much it costs, We're going to
get it. We unearthed it. We unearthed shit with this fund. We
don't just put it in our pocket. Of course, we put plenty in
our pocket because we deserve it in more. But it also goes back into
making TLF TLF, Patreon dot com, Slash, the Lapsed Man, you
know the Tears, you know the one K Club, you know how you
know who's legendary and who's working on it. And whenever we get around to
the broader non TNH mail bag for the summer of twenty twenty three, which
we'd be coming up quite soon, we'll give all the appropriate nods to this
huge backlog we have of folks that have stepped right up and got some hair
on their ass and said, you know what, it's time to not just
assumed shit for free like some fucking teenager in ninety eight. You know,
napster is over. Okay, yes, pay if people are doing shit that
entertains you and is worth your while, it's the only way it's going to
work. It's the only way creator is worth anything. They're going to keep
doing it is if the direct relationship between the consumer and the creator is iron
clad. I mean, shortly, they're middle men taking their piece and taking
their tax the technology that allows for it. That's fair, but it's not
going to be a thing where we can just hope that a podcast like this
that that services the fans so maniacally can be a financially sustainable enterprise on just
advertising and impressions alone. You know that market is We're not fourteen year olds
doing twenty four hour challenges and we're never trying to be so. We may
not be mister Beast, but we are beast mode in terms of what you
need from us. And the way to show that support is over at patreon
dot com, slash the lapse, fan and boss. It's not like it's
just some tip jar. You get an in exchange for your Do I think
you do? I mean, I mean, if I'm ill, I'll definitely
say, you know, if you if you have the balls, if you
can fucking nut up and join that EP tier like real people do. Executive
producer folks, all right, the executive producer tier or you know, the
moat tier, the mother of all tiers. I mean, you just you
know, these are the real fucking heavy hitters. These are the hitters.
This is what makes one the envy of podcasting. Absolutely I'm pretty sure we
are. Yes, And so with that you get under the cinement. And
we just did we ever, We just romped through a sampling of post modernity
that was just bizarre and whacky sampling. It was like a six course postmodern
You're right, You're right, absolutely, I don't think. I think you'd
have to have more courses and you have to have like to be a postmodern
meal, you'd have to have like thirteen and a quarter courses. I have
one man gangs in the movie. No one's getting hands right, and he's
there. I mean, what a what a bizarre It really was one of
the most unique experiences I feel like I've had doing under the cinemat with you.
Yeah, it's trying to I don't know a process. Well that's what
the director's aft here. And yes, it was so weird because it's so
isolated. It's such a it's such a movie that lives in its time.
It's not it's not relevant anymore like it does not. If you don't know
what it was like to live and watch TV in the early nineties, you
really have no fucking clue. You'll have no fucking clue what you're watching,
right, it's so whack so utc is where it's at, sinophiles among us,
And I want to say too, you know what, we're coming up
to a big, a big deal all right, end of the summer,
we will be hitting our one hundredth episode of Under the Cinemat. Oh,
don't think Boss isn't paying attention to that shit. Oh, I'm paying attention
hard. It's going to be very exciting. I'm very excited with what I
got planned for for the one hundred show. Everything that we hear about the
impact we have in the lives of listeners is amazing. One of my favorite
ones is people who actually have movie nights with Under the Cinema. Oh I
love that. Oh God, it makes me so happy. Isn't it the
greatest thing in the world. Yes, yes, they listen to to you
know, you sort of guide the research, me comment on it from the
Peanut Gallery, just like sort of like an inverse of what we do here
on the main podcast. Yeah. And then afterwards we watched the movie and
sort of live call format, watch a long format and people throw it on
yeah with us as the director's cut soundtrack or whatever you want to call that,
ye alternate commentary. And it really is a beautiful thing. It's so
much fun coming on a hundred very hard earned episodes and just all available to
you right now if you subscribe to the twenty dollars tier and up, and
of course the Moat Tier, which is our most expensive tier and our most
selected elite tier. It takes a lot to It takes a lot of sort
of self immolation. It takes a lot of like humility to say, you
know what, like they probably do deserve fifty bucks a month. They probably
do if I really think about it, and I really want to be in
that circle of people who are worthy of the blood, sweat and tears.
Yea, this is probably the way to express that. And it was.
We didn't go into it delicately or gently launching something at that price point.
We understand it's alienating for a lot of people, but god damn it,
it's not for plenty of folks. Yeah. And the Mote tier are the
ones that we These are our rider dies, These are the ones we go
into battle with. You know, these are the ones that you just any
podcast would kill to have um listeners of this level of dedication, and we
never hesitate to shout them out. We're talking about Abeleletier, We're talking about
Aiden Kevelhan and Annie Mlharn and Andy Toff and Arion and Austin King Saliver and
Austin Tyson, Blake Downing and Blad and Brandon Kiser and Brendan Moe and Brian
Blake and Brian Hinson, Chris Harris and Christopher Creeva and Chuck Piacio and cold
Stone Steve Austin. What about David Caminster and David Style and Dennis Owens and
Dominic Carrera. What about Gabe Yoakam and George Otto and Hull Coogan an Intern
Matt and James Irwin and James Milsom and Jim Morocco. What about Jisal Grazziato,
brother Josh Wright, Kevin Mills, Christopher Craig, Lutheran, Olie's,
Louis Perez, Marcus Classon, Mark Daper, Martin Ferguson, Marty Longhurst,
Matthew Finney, Michael Taylor and Mike Chespiel and Mike Hornicker and Mike Poulin and
Mitch Gee and Montie Davis Junior and Pedro Rios and Pete Cozy and Peter Panico
and Peter Rustling and are Ronaldi And of course we can't forget about Robert Holtzhammer
and Ryan Ball and Sam Fairbanks and Sammy Conduit and Scott Arnold and Scott Michael
Ferry and Sean mcger and Stephen Laird and Thomas at de Nacio, the leading
Lapst fan of all time, Tom William Murphy, Zach Medris, our boy
zv Esquire. I mean that's why we do it. Yeah, if those
were all of our listeners, I gladly continue doing this as hard as we
do it and as long. And you know, these are folks that just
are they're making podcast a thing, like podcasting an actual thing as opposed to
like, you know, a hobby. It can actually be like an entity
worthy of respect and notice. And we talked about cameo perhaps no more rewarding
piece of notice and acknowledgements. It's so humbling, of course, to see
these folks all over the globe that we perhaps will never get the chance to
meet unfortunately face to face, express this level of support. It's another thing,
though, to see, you know, somebody like Aw's Matt Minard on
some on Blake's cameo page acknowledge O my money. I mean I'm putting I'm
not putting words into his mouth. He said, you're a listener to laps
fan. Hi. I've stole so much stuff from those guys over the years.
Keep going, Matt, we are an open large language model. My
friend, train on that fucking archive, Train on the fucking repository of insight
and bullshit and nonsense that is our history. UM, it's there, and
it's there, I think, in more ways than people realize, it's always
appropriate when we're doing the sort of rundown of those who deserve acknowledgement here on
our shows, that the LAPS service is met as well. I mean we're
talking about if you get in touch with LAPS dot scribes at gmail dot com,
UM privileged access UM and exchange for sort of your support. It's sort
of like a Wikipedia model. UM. I guess it's free, but you
know, if everyone decided it was free, it wouldn't be worth the hustle.
But UM a tremendous contribution from a tremendous, tremendous member of the Solar
system. UM LATS is a complete transcription archive of the show, UM tech
searchable and all the rest. And it's always UM it's always appropriate here when
we've got some time to shout outs and stretch out a little bit and and
and give tribute UM to let folks know that, uh that LATS is where
it's at. UM. There are there are costs incurred to generate this and
this is truly a passion project from members of the Solar Systems. So if
you find if you're you know, drawn in by the by the idea of
um transcripts of the show over the years and sort of a bolus uh something
that I love, the idea of the scribes of the Monks, you know,
yes, esthetically transcribing UM for all uh from Posterity the co chairman's words,
it's it's it's a privileged access thing, and we do encourage you if
you're interested in and elevating yourself as a Solar System member, and if you
want to find accurate time stamps for anything and the publicly available t ALEF episode
archives using LATS, the Lapsed Archive Transcript service will likely make it possible.
So again that email to get involved is Lapsed dot Scribes at gmail dot com.
These things just keep falling out of the sky. The fans stop thinking
about stuff to do to enhance the showpe I, and then we get Christian
Hollister, Who's I mean talk about a ride or die Dame one motherfucker.
Yep. I think it's like the first ever hopper guys. Oh totally floats
an idea lapsed X because if my calculations are correct, you talk about one
hundred episodes of Under the cinemat Oh God, I ain't nothing. What other
milestone of significances around the corner, boss we got? We've got a decade
of destruction coming up. It'll be ten years in twenty twenty four since TLF
began a full scale invasion and pillaging of the wrestling podcast space, constantly vaulting
over the red gafause of those who don't get it, of the rectum of
the wrestling podcast space. That's right setting the tone, and Christian had a
wonderful idea. He writes, good evening, I'm writing to float an idea
around to you of something I first thought about months ago. As the tenth
year anniversary of TLF is next year, I was wondering if you would be
down with having an oral history, Oh my God, of the greatest college
podcast in the history of the Solar System, to pay homage to you,
guys, and to stand as a testament to all that you have done over
the past decade. His vision as follows stories and memories from those of us
who have been down since day one, or as close to the beginning as
possible, personal accounts of interactions between the solar system and the co chairs.
You're You're do that pretty soon, Christian. Let me tell you, Yeah,
favorite shows, favorite characters, favorite moments, stories of how each of
us found out about TLF, etc. He would love to see this and
even like a book form. Christian, we love the idea. We've been
We've been ruminating on it. You sent this weeks ago, but due to
the TNH situation, it was tough to find space for it. We love
the idea, but as as always, we only love it if we don't
have to do anything. Yeah, the best ideas require no effort from me.
That's how I look at the world. And if folks want to take
up the cause, if you want to give us a flavor of what it
might hound fight, Yeah, to sit down with your cell phone or whatever
your recording system and reflect on how you found the show and your absolute favorite
moment, why it's your favorite moment, and of course a premium placed on
not picking the same moments everybody else does, right right, We want ones
that are unique to you. We want moments that provoked the response in you
that nobody else would have had because I don't know it recalled a very specific
memory from your childhood or from your experience, or it happened to you in
your day. Try to think of it that way rather than like, what
are the lapsed Hall of Fame moments? We we've done that, we know
what the flashpoints are, and we are proud podcasts and and that, and
that I'm always more interested in anyway, is the is people's you know,
people's individual stories absolutely and ones that only they can attest to. You know,
everybody laughed at the SummerSlam ninety two show, right, sure, everybody
laughed at Bulldog on Crack. But but was there a moment? Was there
a turn of phrase? Was there a recall? Was there an imitation?
Was there a a long fucking essay on social media or whatever you rant about
that really hit you in a way that you feel like is unique to you
and spoke to your circumstance. That's really what I'd like to start compiling as
we come upon the tenth anniversary of TLF, because I think that's the part
of the show, that's why the show still stands so strong and so erect.
So look, the lapsed fan at gmail dot com is the email address
you already know that start sending a soundclips, give us an idea of what
it might sound like, and give us ideas on how we might, you
know, reliably program an appropriate ten year celebration next year. It's never I
don't know, it's never too early if you're going to do something like this
to start talking about it. When do they put up the WrestleMania twenty banners?
Like in November? And I think even before was it before? I
feel like it was really really early. Is twenty twenty four where it's all
going to begin again for the show? Um, I guess that'd be the
twenty This is I guess where I don't know what was Rustlemania tens thing?
It didn't really have a tagline. It was just X. I don't think
it did. Yeah, just like Raw thirty was raw x x X.
You know, it's very esthetically satisfying, that X presentation, So we're willing
to embrace it. So again, the call out is yours. The challenge
is laid down, and UM, I'm sure no matter what comes in,
no matter what form it takes, we can come up with something. But
we want we want the ingredients, you know what will totally we'll go into
the kitchen and cook something up, but we don't want to go grocery shopping,
you get it. Yeah, So let us know where your head goes
when we ask you to testify as to why the cast stands so strong ten
years on, and we'll see what comes out the other end. And big
thanks to Christian for really at least at least I can say pushing me across
the line on putting a call out like this because I had I kind of
had an idea. I'm sure you did too, Like something has to happen
for the ten year. Yeah, I agree, but it's not like a
big gesture from us. It has to be It has to be a celebration.
It can't just be like a big you know, the new product or
something I just didn't know. I just didn't feel like that's where the heart
of it's at. So we look forward to seeing what you come up with,
folks, including you, Christian, Thanks very much for the launch point
personal anecdotes. Let them know, let them you know. Think of think
of it as like just like wrestling. When someone asks you why the hell
do you watch that? You have a stock answer, right, ye,
come up with why you listen to the lapsed fan when somebody finds out that
it's two jackasses talking about twenty year old thirty year old wrestling for six hours
right in rating court transcripts and acting like fucking morons and also occasionally landing on
the truth of the matter, damn right back, much more than occasionally.
So that's that under the cinemats rocking and we we we saluted the moat tier,
and they have access to exclusive goodies as well. To say the very
least. Russell, mommya, what's mama sorrow been cooking up? Oh god?
Uh? Well, uh recently she we watched um uh the World War
three first World War three match, Oh my god. And uh by the
time this drops, well she we we would have watched the elimination chamber match
from New Year's Revolution two thousand and six. Unbelievable. What an eclectic mix.
I can never predict what you're gonna make her watching. Yes, no,
it's always uh, you know it's it's it's what I think is going
to give her the best reaction. Of course, you know, where are
we going to get the reaction? That's what I want to know. Yeah,
that that's kind of you know that you're getting at the magic of things,
because if you sit down and you think about a show with a concept
like ours, it's like, okay, you just pick the most famous shows
in history with the most historical significance, and it's like no, no,
no, you know what you do? You watch every Hulk, Hoge and
TNA segment in order you grapple with the reality of being a wrestling fan,
which is just oversaturation, oversupply, a constant sense of being absolutely barraged with
stuff ninety five percent of which you're going to forget minutes after you watch it,
and being able to account for and explain why that five percent resonates,
What it is about that five percent that you actually do remember, and that
that's kind of what what the match selection for Wrestling Mammia tests to. In
my mind, It's like, yeah, it's not about what the most famous
moments are, It's about what are the moments that are going to bring out
the kind of memorials, the kind of contexts, the kind of content that
only we can generate, and to go back to the living room carpet with
your mom watching wrestling with you Oh, that's just the fucking it's on the
sofa talking shit, what the fuck is this? You know, and then
getting into it, then getting drawn into it, right, pretend right,
pretending to be ironically distanced from it, but then getting actually invested in who's
who's winning and losing in the match. Exactly. It's wonderful stuff, and
it's it's there's no way, there is no possible way that moms and dads
of young wrestling fans today act anywhere near as entertainingly in the background, because
they were probably fans too, or at least there, you know, because
you know, you don't you aren't a why you don't aren't know? Why
too? Is that because nowadays you can sit there and watch stuff with your
kid that you don't want to watch and just be on your phone. You
know what. You nailed it, man, didn't you nail it? Yeah?
Yeah? What what parents going to take the time to question why that
guy's face isn't bruised, if he's really getting punched, if there's another video
about bar queuing to watch? Right? Yeah? Yeah, I know,
I saw, Yeah, honey, I saw that. That's great fucking dystopia,
man. Yeah, we're not really interested in what our kids do.
I want our kids are interested in much. I mean that we're not regenerating
the stuff that the raw material that this podcast was built on. It's not
regenerating for the next I'm afraid for the next generation. Man. Maybe I'm
wrong. Maybe in you know, twenty years, someone will want to do
a podcast just like this about how brilliantly, how brilliant it was to watch
something they fell in love with as a young kid. I somehow doubt it,
though, man, because if you watch six thousand videos a day at
twenty four seconds a clip, I'm not sure that any of it is going
to fucking is going to allow you to sit down and really stretch out and
plumb the depths of the impact it had on you, because you didn't watch
anything for long enough to let it affect you that way, to let it
seep deeper into your mind. Yeah, I don't know. I don't know.
Man, doesn't sound like a good recipe, but I hope I'm wrong.
But Russell Mommy is here for those that are still clinging to that golden,
golden shit. And sure it's just tremendous stuff to hear the boss and
mom to sit down and chop it. So check that out available to the
MOTE tier members as well, and something else we've been doing lately for MOTE
members. As we sort of consider you now very close to the bosom,
the inner circle, we figured why not share the calls with them? Right?
What we mean by the call? Yeah, oh yeah. So when
we hear about a famous wrestler passing away, you know, our history for
a decade before we even started this podcast was to make the call and just
simply say the name of the wrestler who passed away. It's a competition to
see which of the two of us can make the call first. So fucking
morbid when you think about it, it is. It's it's the sort of
game wrestling fans are left to play of our vintage true, you know how
else you're supposed to deal. It's a laugh instead of cry thing, I
think in a lot of ways. Yeah, it's it's it's a coping mechanism
um, as it is for so many of the business, and the recent
passion of Darren Drawstoff was the latest opportunity for us to bring that kind of
organic moment to the fans. The first one we did, which was the
passing of the iron cheek was kind of like a well, let's do this
after we'd already made the call. Yeah, so we kind of had to
re engineer the emotion of the initial reaction. But we've developed kind of a
workflow now where I think we're reliably going to be able to record for MOTE
tier members only our initial guttural reaction when the call goes out, nothing long,
nothing involved. We're not doing career retrospectives on this thing. It's really
just it's just a moment that we feel if you're going to show that level
of support to the show, you ought to be in onto absolutely, so
look for the call whenever whenever we lose another member of the sorority or the
fraternity in the wrestling business. So that's all available at Patreon. Of course
you get your live calls. We just didn't money in the bank. Summerslam's
coming up. Looking forward to calling that so you don't have to watch it.
And what's that? See what we do for all of you. I
mean, look, this is this is all, This is all sacrifice really
and in so many ways it's it really starts to feel like work. But
we can't deny it. People are saying, guys, do it. Guys
are saying please, just do it, And so we have to answer the
belt. We have to. We're not put on this planet to just not
respond when people are like, here, take this money, keep going.
Yeah, and in that vein, you know, while we're on announcements,
I mean I'm looking around, I'm thinking, what's I'm missing this year?
Yeah? Right, because TNH has been so all encompassing, Well, what's
been dominating? There's there's a rhythm that we're not in that I feel like
we're typically in by this point in a year. Yeah, Yeah, it's
been too long since we've connected with a member of the Solar System. We
had the opportunity to put Cheddar down and I don't know pick a show,
went a Blockbuster for or Coliseum pay renting media watching during Spring Great Talky talks
Man and just pinned Jake when I sat back and thought, damn, isn't
life great? Got a robbing man painted half black. Couldn't press of that
because obviously I had more spack in the Jack trans World all screen for the
Polkada Dream Slick form a team with boss Man orteen busters in the back talking
to Jean and I arrestedly know when to creating a fiend. Looking around now
you won't find its hopper. It's like you found gold while I'm looking for
copper because I'm a sexy boy. But here's the showstopper. It's chairman,
dug deep and bro back to Hopper, the hopper brother, Wait a minute,
where where's it been? Where's it been? It's back? Keep your
eyes locked to the lapsed fan on Twitter. Damn right for the return of
the Hopper twenty twenty three, Your opportunity to outbid your fellow Solar System members
in the mad scramble to pick the show that we review here at TLF and
uh we opened it wide open with TNH. I shudder to think what we've
enabled at this point. Well fuck, no, no, no, I
reserve the right. It sounds like what you're trying to say is you're willing
to do Bound for Glory two thousand and five. Back to the impact zone.
No, come on, boss, I've I have had enough impact zone
for a long, long, long, long, long, long, long
long time. How about it. You know you already know what it is,
folks. You know it's it's not always on. But when it's on.
It's on, and we're reopening the Hopper coming up real soon. Details
to follow at some point this summer. Uh, Folks in the Solar System,
we're gonna be able again to bid on a show and have the coach
and review it and then he can come on the show interviewed by us about
why it is the show of choice for you, one of the most fun
things we do and part of how we build that bond with you in the
Solar System, and and and again keep the engine flowing. I mean that's
you know, there is a degree of financial sacrifice not doing the Hopper all
the time. Yeah, that's true. It costs to keep things rare,
exciting and important, right, yes, yes, yeah, again theory.
You know, if if Hulkogan was on every single television show and throughout the
eighties and wright and defended his title every single television show, yeah, those
shows who do high ratings, but you better believe the tale would be much
shorter. That would be over in twelve months instead of six years. And
so we're playing a long game with the Hopper. We're trying not to abuse
the privilege, but at the same time answer the bell when the Solar system
says, hey, we want on the air with the we want on the
line with the coach heirs. We hear that call and the hopper coming back
to you. Quite soon. We're on the other side of h and we've
got so much to pass through in terms of consequence. I wanted to start.
It's so it's PTSD boss. It's over. You know, it doesn't
feel like it. It's um it's more over than Hogan was in a lot
of works, And in sifting through all the feedback we got, I think
the most appropriate way to start is what Matt wrote us, because I think
it reflects a lot of ways the the typical thing where we go extra hard
on something and it's only appreciated when it's been in the archives for three years
r and people can see in front of them the beginning in the end.
You know, it's so important if you binge a show that you see how
many episodes there are to watch, right, of course, and when you're
in the midst of things, you can't see the end, and so you
don't, and so all you can think about all of a sudden is how
much more there is instead of how much less is left? Right? And
I think These emails from Matt perfectly encapsulate well we ended up accomplishing with TNH.
This email is from February sixth. Dear Coach Chairs, I'm writing to
you to humbly request that you cease and desist the current ten journey. Wow.
I know you guys are simply laying out the facts and have no control
of what those facts are. I know that it is my fault for not
accepting what wrestling is. It is my fault for not expecting a cultural icon
of the eighties to have character issues, to say the least, But as
a current Tampa Bay resident, it is too much. I have driven over
the causeway coming home from Tampa International, but we'll never do so again without
thinking this is the road on which Hulkogan realized he had nothing to go home
too. I have dined at Frenchy's Rockaway Grill, and now the thought of
going there to see a corner table with Jimmy hard knobs and a tatted terry
chills me to the bone. I guess it was always the case, but
this journey has made me painfully aware that they are not even the w W
versions of themselves that may have been acceptable in the wild. They are in
fact much older and much sloppier than they have ever been. To know they
are still out there, roaming the streets wide, gliding and cooking omelets makes
me scared to venture outdoors, and it should. However, if you guys
decide not to stop the hoofs, I guess I have no choice but to
continue to listen to every minute of the remaining journey while continuing to involuntarily drop
brothers and dudes into my conversations, to the disappointment of my loved ones.
That's going to be the lasting legacy of TNH. Not just the insights and
hoping psyche foss but I'm I'm be saying brother for no reason for the rest
of my life. Brother and the kisses, oh, the miss days days
and the resis but double bizzles, Brother, double bizz yo. It's it's
Hulk at home. It's Hulk right right, it's Hulk taking wrestling with him
outside of wrestling. Thanks as always, It's what go ahead, please,
it's just so inappropriate this It's always for everything you do. And after writing
an email in February again subject line please stop now come June twenty fourth,
Matt follows up and he begins, please disregard my previous emmaw. I was
wrong. I didn't want T ANDH. But at the end of the day,
Brother, I needed it. I needed the Kazarni lingo and the sound
board from Heaven. I needed Dixie Carter's theme song to be my song of
the summer. Most importantly, I needed to be reminded that the most successful
person in this business is also the most paranoid, and that is not a
bug but a feature. Furthermore, this journey has taught me that when a
list names go to a C list company, it does not elevate the company,
but rather it denigrates the talent. It removes the smoke screen around these
figures, to the point that I question if Hulkogan in the eighties was essentially
just the right guy and the right place at the right time. From there,
did he simply take the ball and run with it, only to hide
that same ball later on Great Question, Stop Play Takes One to No One
Terry. His greatest enduring scale Matt Rights, seems to be in convincing the
right people to pay him and allow him to keep his spot. His expertise
is in picking the right legal team and getting ironclad contracts that often go against
the interests of companies offering them. Because Russ thing is the business it is,
perhaps it was the best vehicle to apply such talents. I leave it
to the court to decide. Your brother honors. As always, thank you
for putting in the work and delivering on a level no other podcast would dare
dream. Thank you for allowing me to express my inner terry in the form
of frequent tweets. Unfortunately, whenever there is a Hulk centric journey, I
easily become a model's itizen in the eyes of the TSA. Whenever I see
something, I am compelled to say something, it just happens to be in
the voice of lapsed Hulk Hogan. I guess sometimes I hear voices deep inside
me screaming out so loud, but defen want I need? I don't sure?
Five from them? The only five? Yeah you need? But what
do you mean? Fire? Thank wild, Thank you VP. May this
prospect continue that concludes no doubt, double biz. Yeah yeah, yeah,
So that's kind of the story, right, that's the full circle nature.
That's it. That's it, um blake. We're gonna go way back.
We'll go back to January, and we're just gonna march forward and see how
this thing evolved, how the sentiment wow level of the solar system evolved.
This TNH didn't is our appreciation for what Hule Coogan became did and what it
was he represented for these three very fertile years. I think I worked myself
into a shizuo brother m last evening as I was getting January way back in
the now. That's the first line of Blake's We're gonna hear from Blake quite
a bit. Absolutely, last evening, as I was getting deep in that
tang, it happened. Brother, what's going on here sounds off in my
head while he's fucking boss. That's a problem that people are doing, brother,
while in coitus with their significant other. Obviously, I cannot acknowledge what
is happening in my internal conflict or it's over, not over in a good
way either, So naturally I do the only thing I can. I stop.
This can't be. Then something I didn't expect happened. I hulked up.
Come on, brother, this thing was just starting to take off.
Let's get back in there and pull the nose up. Dude, Brother,
I have the tiger, Brother, You're a whole comaniac. Terry got the
heat back on the mcgilla cutty gimmick, and I was hanging in banging.
Then it was time to go home, and something even more and expected occurred,
as it was as if it were being said right in my face,
slam me boss. Sheets were clutched, toes were sheets were clutched, toes
were curled, and hote mania ran wild. Oh brother, Actually, I
kept this all to myself, and I proceeded to lay in bed for the
next five hours until I could finally fall asleep at four am. I am
fearful for what comes next? Did he double jizz red and yellow? Oh?
Commed ketrip and mustard at this wonders? Oh my god, I am
fearful of what comes up. But I do know that as long as I
say my prayers, take my vitamins, train and believe Hulk Hogan, I'm
going to be okay. But if I hear Terry, I'm just trying to
get hit on the gimmick. At any time my cock is out, then
I will channel Freddy Miller and float away out of my window like a piece
of paper floating away. What else is there to say, this is the
top of mount profession. Yeah, that's a good one. Yeah, crow
can m don't you miss Jeff Hardy yet? Boss? No? I mean
they came back and they're gone again from a W I just I can't.
I simply cannot. I'm so over that ship, so over. So we're
Matt doing the damage control afterwards. You know, lapsed in life, but
nobody, but nobody fucking does anything about it. You know, well,
yeah, yeah, it's nobody's it's nobody's problem, right, which makes it,
of course not a problem. How about Louis, let's hear from and
I apologize if that's not the way to pronounce l OOI, but I've never
seen that name before. Um who weighed in as we were embarking on this
TNA journey at the turn of February. I just want to say say thanks
for muscling through my last email. I'll admit it was written mostly to hear
JP's reaction. I do love that man's filterless disgusted with something he truly hates.
I don't know what that was. What was that that? I don't
know. I don't wonder if that was now I know it isn't finished.
In fact, it has hardly even begun. But even still I feel comfortable
saying that TNH is the greatest journey you've ever embarked on one month in a
bold statement, no doubt wrapped in bias, because it's an era I actually
grew up watching, but I feel it to be true. Don't get me
wrong, the podcast is a fantastic resource to learn about an era of wrestling
I wasn't even alive to experience. The main appeal of the show to me
is that it's as informative as it is entertaining. I mean my early twenties
and have been listening since twenty seventeen, so I find the podcast incredibly insightful.
The no Man Untested approach, you say to not only thoroughly covering shows,
but building a framework around them, including all of the details about the
backstage happenings from the time period, as a fantastic job of painting a picture
for fans like me who didn't live through that era. You could totally make
the argument that you guys are at your best when you're covering shows you watched
its children, And I'd even probably agree because there is something special in your
voices when you discuss a nineteen ninety one SummerSlam, for example. But there
is something to be said about how entertaining it is to hear you guys cover
anything that could be considered outside of the lapsed comfort zone, like the live
calls for example. No nostalgia, just peer fucking pain. The last email
was about how Jeff Hardy was his Hulk Hogan growing up. Remember that one,
Oh fuck you dude. TNH feels like a perfect blend because it's so
far removed from the wrestling you both grew up on, while still being centered
around arguably the main character of the lapsed fan, Hulk Hogan. There you
go to me, you get the best of both worlds. Hearing JP you
have to deal with Jeff Hardy and aj Styles in a robe with a hood,
also getting all the classic lapsed Hogan lore we've come to expect, including
shit I did not need to know, Like, yeah, that's the thing.
We don't just stop when we've told you everything you need to know.
We keep going, like like how Hogan doesn't fucking wash the pussy juice side
of his mustache so we can hulk up, so we can hulk up on
it. In the ring. I look that that's why the show is magic,
because we say something and then god damn it, a year later,
three years later, two months later, we stumble into actual evidence that it's
a thing. It's like we intuited, yea, the reality of the situation
because we're so we're so in the psyche of these men and women in this
business. Yes that like we can almost, like I don't know, adopt
their skin and be like this, this is what they would do, and
then sure enough they've done that at some point. Ye lapsed abyss being eaten
alive by tiny raptors and Rick Flair calling him your clown simply unbelievable. Unrelated,
but I meant to include this in my last email. JP got a
the old Stone Cold Return to save WWE from w c W and ec W
pop out of me when I saw his scene Mister Robot late last year.
Yeah, I knew the boss Man was an Orange is the New Black,
but this totally coughed me off guard. I'm sure he's discussed it before in
the show Beaus or anything. Jwe what I share about the experience, Yeah,
absolutely, it was Um, it was cool, you know, it
was It was a lot of fun. Um I you know, I got
to So I would say there were um two things that really kind of stook
a you know, stood out. Number one, anyone out in a soliystem
who's an actor and who's done TV before or or been a day player on
a on a on a set with a TV or movie, you treated like
a god when you first get there. All right, like everyone is like
paying attention to you. Do you need anything, you need water, do
you need a snack? They bring you to your quote unquote trailer, which
I had learned after doing Orange to make sure I bring shit to do yes,
because I'm not in a trailer. I'm gonna sell yes, all right.
I'm in a fucking cell. It's a it's a it's my own private
you know space for sure, and I can get food and drinks and whatever.
But it's like it's literally a cell. Um And so I learned to
bring uh iPads you know, and stuff and to entertain myself because it's just
it's it's a long long wait and um. But anyway, when I was
when I was brought to set, I had the um uh number one,
it was it was cool. So I'm in a scene with Bobby Kenna Volley.
Do you know him? Absolutely? Yeah, yeah, great actor,
great actor. And so I'm sitting there, you know, weed, I
did introduced myself to him. You know, we we chat for a moment
and he says, so, uh, you know, so, so what
do you you know we have any ideas for the scene. I'm like,
oh, uh, what are you thinking? You know, I'm like taking
aback, like you know, I'm just like ready to just take follow his
lead. He's asking me if I have any ideas of how we should do
the scene, and he was really cool. I don't remember what we ended
up deciding, but at one point I was like, you know, I
overheard them talking about It was he and the director who was the the creator
of the show. I can't remember his name, but he's married to um
Emmy rossum um and uh. They were talking about The Godfather and they were
comparing The Godfather and and Goodfellas and which is the better movie? And I
remember I just said, you know what, just fucking chime in on this.
Who gives a shit fuck, you know? And so I said,
I said, you know what I said, I said, I pardon me
for intruding, but I couldn't help it over here. I gotta tell you
now, I love the Godfather movies, but you know what, if that's
on or Good Fellas is on, I'm always gonna watch good Fellows over with
the Godfather. The god follows an investment, as we know from under the
cinema, you know, right exactly like you have to really you know,
it requires you to really get just you know, enveloped in a Good Fellas
is something you could is so good and it's something you just throw on and
it's there and it's it's like, okay, great, you know, and
I'll just watch from beginning to the end. And so we just we all
just started. It was me, the director, Cannavali and the DP all
just talking about Godfather and Good Fellas, just talking about that on the on
set. And then um, and then the other thing was when we when
we actually started filming the scene, because you know, it's a it's a
big crane show, Jim arm move its one shot, but it was like
just it's a massive movement shot. And um, what was funny was that
he didn't know his lines. He kept sucking up his lines. We had
to do the scene nine or ten times because he couldn't fucking remember his lines.
Amazing. Yeah, yeah, it was like it was and he was
so like, I'm so sorry. He could apologize me. I said,
dude, no, it's fine. I I came prepared. I didn't say
that to him, but um, you know, he just it was really
it was really funny and he was really cool. And then, um,
one thing, you know, you know, I have to admit, all
right, I have to admit I got a little too comfortable. Yes,
yes, yes, yes, And so what happened was is so there's a
moment before I have the scene um with like the dialogue between with with with
Bobby Cannabali there, I I have um a moment with an extra who is
supposedly buying a Carma. I used car salesman. I didn't say that before.
And so I'm having this moment and you know, I I the first
take. You know, they're just like, you know, just play with
it a little, you know, just just whatever. I said. Okay,
Yeah, so I, um, I did a hole. I went
into kind of like a Harry Potter thing and I said, I said,
hey, you know, I mean the thing is here, you know,
it's not like you know, you choose the car. The car chooses you,
all right, the car chooses you, and the I forget. I
think it was maybe the assistant director or somebody. After that first take they
were like did you say that like that like from Harry But I said yeah,
and they that's hilarious, you know, they were like really good.
I was like, oh cool. I was like, all right, cool,
and so I kept doing it every fucking take, as John Coffee used
to say, big mistake, I see, because then after like maybe the
fifth time, like okay, you can stop that now, Oh that's a
moment. Yeah, and it's like it totally. I was like, oh
fuck, you know, I was like, that's me. That is totally
my em o. You do something cool or that, you know, quote
unquote cool, you like this, you like this, okay exactly. And
then all I'm gonna do is I'm gonna keep fucking pushing, pushing, pushing
until it's you know, dead in the fucking ground style. Yeah exactly.
And so I was remember just feeling so, I mean, that was the
buzz kill for me for that moment. And then it's like they wrapped the
scene and they're moving on and it's like you're nothing. You're celebrated when you
get in there and everyone's like all about you, and the moment you are
wrapped, you are to garbage. They have gotten to be tossed out what
they need. That's right, exactly the whole time there was a number on
your forehead that you couldn't see. Yep, that's exactly it or a box,
it always is, check it. I you know, I tried.
I tried to get into that, into the game. I try to get
into the cool the cool kids group. But in the end you try to
be Yep, I don't. That's correct, mister Robot. Ladies and gentlemen,
Ye, mister Robot gave him more than he bargain for on that one.
Yeah. I haven't really thought about mister Robot in a while, so
that's that. Yep. Why don't you share Cody's thoughts next Rhodes, I'll
comment Good evening code Shares. I'm writing this as I'm listening to the Tenah
mail Bag episode and couldn't help but share my thoughts about the concept of twenty
year old lapsed fans. That is to say, lapsed fans who are twenty
years of age, yes, not who have been lapped for twenty years right
as someone on the tail end of that age bracket, being twenty eight,
we grew up with the product entering a transition period that would shape the future
of the industry to come. The peak of my fandom would be the mid
two thousands, which saw some wrestlers of days passed still trying to hang on
for that big push, such as Tatanka, who had a strange push during
this period. Year So true, it's so fucking weird. Wed random.
Yeah, I had that random was like two thousand and eight or something or
six dozen seven something something weird and he's like, what what what was either
rumble or something that was quite good. Yeah, it's fucking whacky. But
he had that giant belly too. Oh it's you know, it was a
complete starter, So fucking weird. Um. As well as Roady Piper maintaining
a relatively consistent spot on the SmackDown roster, we grew up still seeing some
great wrestling, with one of my favorite memories being ray Masterio winning the belt
after Eddie's passing. We also unfortunately saw the bad with that being the ECW
reboot and unfortunately t N a t NA filled a weird spot in my fandom.
I hated them, I hated everything. TENA was a out, but
yet I still found myself taping each episode and watching it every morning before school.
Sounds like a lapsed fan and mate in the making. You mentioned how
for us in this age group, we never really experienced a sort of Monday
Night War until TENA came along. While TENA wasn't on Mondays when I watched,
nor was Hogan quite there, yet I still felt compelled to watch the
competition. I wanted to know what was going to happen, or even who
might show up. I would watch every week, finding myself growing closer to
TNA, attaching myself to the likes of an early aj Styles and Samoa Joe
being the age I was. I never saw mid nineties ww herews JP said,
we simply missed out. I've since watched many pay per views from that
era and learned so much about that time thanks to this cast, and I
do envy the fans who got to experience the peak Monday Night Wars or the
attitude era. In the in full US, younger fans were presented with the
likes of Edge Eddie or Kurt Angel being followed by Eugene Simon or Kerwin White
on w WAD Kurwin White, fucking ah, what a disgrace. I mean,
poor fucking shovel girra, you know, being being told he is going
to be a fucking fucking uh. What do you call it? Yuppie golf
goofball? That's what you golf ball? Yeah, a golf ball, A
golf ball, that's right. Um uh. We also were front and center
to the real reality of these phony physical altercations. Seeing wrestlers show up drunk
for TNA or witnessing wrestlers murder their family. The dark reality of the business
put a steak right through my fandom. This is what we grew up with.
These guys were my flares Hogan's stings. We got to see some incredible
wrestling and memories that I will forever have. As shitty as TNA was,
I still have vivid memories. I can put myself right back in my living
room hate watching TNA before school and watching Raw or SmackDown when I got home.
I don't keep up much anymore. And while we still won't know what
it really felt like when it was really so much better, I do still
look back on a w and TNA era fondly. Sorry for the long letter.
I look forward to more TNAH being shoved up my ass. Imagine looking
back on this era longingly, fondly, fucking bullshit bully ray oh, thinking
that was like, that's pretty good stuff. Oh, it wasn't that bad.
Yeah, you know what, right exactly when you've been when you've been
bathing in diarrhea for years. Yeah, a hard shit smells great, It's
awesome. That's a that's a quadruple biz, quadruple biz. Well put.
This is from Dan, twenty six years old in New Zealand, after listening
to part one of the Tenah mail Bag, I thought I'd shared my memories
of this time period in TNA. I'm twenty six, born in nineteen ninety
six. Yeah, how can people have been born in nineteen ninety six?
They were born in two thousand. I was like, it's not allowed,
it's illegal to have done that. I'm twenty six born in nineteen ninety six,
and I've been a fan of your show since We're a Rumbo two thousand
five episode back in March twenty eighteen. Growing up in New Zealand and not
having access to any wrestling on television. I discovered my love of wrestling after
playing SmackDown Versus Raw on PS two. There you go, Wow, how
about the game? A w Strain do that again with their game? Yep?
Have you played it? Uh? No, I've seen it, and
I'm not impressed. You're not rushing to get it? No, No,
it looks it seems a little too like. I mean, I appreciate the
effort in trying to make it like No Mercy, but it's like a bare
bones game, like there's not a lot of stuff to do, and I'm
like, no, I got Universe Mode. I got territories to book in
Universe Mode. Nice. This would have been around two thousand and five or
two thousand and six, you write tonight had no access to the current product
at the time, whatsoever, bar this one game. Nonetheless, I became
infatuated with the idea of wrestling and needed to watch but and consume as much
as I could. My mother would let me wrint wrestling DVDs from the local
video stores I grew up, as well as buying neither new SmackDown Verse Raw
games every year for Christmas, as well as tickets to two house shows that
w TB had here. She supported me watching wrestling because, if she put
it, they aren't really hurting each other. It's fake. So go nuts.
You'll go nuts in a different way than you expect. Also, it
kept you out of her hair for a too, Yeah, exactly. The
DVD store had a very limited selection of older pay per views, mostly from
two thousand and three, that I would rent over and over for years.
I also managed to score select few DVDs of the Survivor series two thousand and
four, where a Rumbo two thousand and five, No Way Out two thousand
and five, and Unforgiven two thousand and six. Because of this, triple
h was my Hull Coogan and I made a homemade DX shirt with green paint
that I couldn't wash, and it eventually got so gross I had to throw
it away. As far as my exposure to TENA goes, fast forward to
two thousand and eight and the DVD store had gotten some new DVDs from her
promotion. I'd never heard of before TNA M. I had a double check
that it was in fact wrestling, and then convinced my mother it was not
pornography, as she knew. TNA stood for tits and ass. Eventually my
mother that's how the fucking sponsors fell too. So yes, we learned that
eventually when my mother relented and I got to rent TNA Best of the Bloodiest
two thousand and eight bound for Glorio eight and Destination X, and I was
absolutely hooked. AJ Styles, kurd Angles, Samoa Joe, the Old Way
Half the Old Halfway broken down, ec guys, the cool looking six sided
ring. He's just cool and all caps boss just for you and God cool.
It's pathetic. It's different to the WW stuff I'd seen, but I
loved it. I watched and watched and rewatched those TNA pay per views and
would often rack up large late return freeze from the store. Those were the
last wrestling pay per views the store got in and eventually it closed down and
I bought their entire wrestling stock, which I still have today along with the
DVDs. Also bought several VHS tapes from the eighties n WA, which was
big here. Yeah, with Steve Riccard promoting, I didn't get to see
any more n WA until twenty eleven, with when a new chain of electronics
stores opened up in New Zealand and they sold wrestling DVDs. I couldn't believe
my luck. I saved up my birthday, Christmas and paper out money all
year to buy as many pay per views as I could when we finally got
to go to the mall. Can you imagine that having no access to wrestling
on regular television and having to just like consume as many DVDs as you could
to get it? Yeah, that's your fix. Not being at all privy
to the Hulkster brother joining up at TNA. I bought as many of the
twenty ten TENA pay per views and was absolutely dismayed at what I saw.
Where was my six sided ring? Why is aj Styles wearing a bathrobe in
an earring? Why is it best dressed in a red and yellow sweatsuit?
Why are Rick Flair and Hulk Coogan wrestling? Didn't they retire? Aren't they
too old? I was so confused and disheartened. It felt that the entire
product had changed for the worse, and I could never follow what was going
on between pay per views because I couldn't watch the television. Hopefully the timeline
extends to the Lockdown pay per view well, as I have seen some as
I have some really vivid memories about that show in particular, and how it
killed any love or hope I had in TNA A truly awful show. Thank
you for reading this, thank you for lapsed fans, and thank you for
whole commedia. Thank you, Dan. That is quite a perspective to have
only taking this in through DVDs. That is true, Mike. I mean,
that's wacky. It's kind of like how a lot of people watched got
into UFC after its first run on cable and it got kicked off pay per
view cable and was only on satellite when like hardly anybody had direct TV.
Wow, but you could still get the original vhs is at Blockbuster, and
so many people have that origin story of getting into UFC because of the tapes
that were in the wrestling section years after they were off of television. Yeah,
yeah, Ben right, Sorry, y'all. I'm sticking my head and
again from the outside, but listening to TLF has a tendency to get my
mind racing. I was listening to the most recent mailbag episodes at work today
and there's just something special about intelligent pro wrestling fans that I don't see anywhere
else. I'm still an outsider a pro wrestling fandom, and I'm still circling
around my thoughts, but I wonder if y'all are among the last people in
modern Western society to be viscerally invested in anything. Woof, that's a fucking
deep conversation. I mean, one thing I have noticed, like whenever they
come out with the weekly top shows on cable and like aw was at the
top on Wednesday, but it's like six hundred thousand people. It's it's like,
you know, one thing you can say about wrestling fans, that's the
exaggeration. Usually it's higher than that. But I'm I'm disinterested. But one
thing you said at wrestling fans, are there the last people, I think,
the last fans of anything still living in a pre streaming consumption pattern,
and that they still turn to cable. And I know there are ways to
get cable on streaming, but I you know, I think the fact that
wrestling shows, despite you know, in terms of total volume of viewers being
like half of what it was ten years ago. I'm sure you have to
count those those heads are still out there, but they're just not watching in
a way that Nielsen counts. I get that, but they're the only such
that wrestling is now the top rated show on cable. I mean it always
kind of has been, but there's like nothing that touches it right right,
And it does strike me as I think about, like, you know,
you hear all these people dropping cable and I'm like, I can't do that.
I have too much wrestling in MMA, And it's like, well,
actually, are the only two things you could follow that still justify a cable
subscription? Yep? I mean because if I was into just general line entertainment,
every single thing is on a streaming monthly fee. Yep. You know
what I mean that I could get And I think that has a lot to
do with why wrestling fans can sometimes seem to be so much more like invested
because we have this. You know, every single week, there's appointment viewing
that's gone no matter what you watch now in terms of like every single week
appointment viewing, yeah, nothing else. I mean, even sports, you
see huge fluctuations for the biggest games, and of course there's you know offseason
time periods where those those people don't watch television ye ye in the exacting,
but they say we're the only ones left. Every single week where's my show?
Where's my show? There's nothing else? Very true, It's very true.
It's pretty amazing. And even people jones for a show every week,
they they watch it whenever the hell they want. There's no sense of like
it's live at eight o'clock. Yep, he says, I'm wondering if okay
and disappointed? All right, So if you're all if, y'all are among
the last people in Western society to be viscerally invested in anything and disappointed when
it gets fucked with the proverbial canary in the coal mine that says we're all
in trouble. I've listened all the way as TLF has expertly charted the shift
from when it used to be better and all the way forward to the present
day, from when we all used to be able to feel something in the
eighties, and all the way to now when we all can stream something.
This is the guy who's not a fan, right, I think so wrestling
fan. That's crazy. Everything in popular culture seems to be a derivative of
a derivative of a derivative of a derivative. Have the fundamental things that once
were true for everybody been strung out? So long in the pursuit of financial
gain that they're not even similacrum anymore. I think. So someone's been reading
Boudrillard, And what do we do with all the water down shit social media
we're presented with. I swear that basic human drive is going to end up
being satisfied by a wire directly connected to the pleasure centers in our brains before
we know it. And that makes me sad and angry, and I have
no idea what to do about any of it. But for reasons that are
far beyond me, pro wrestling fans can also see it, and they know
how to talk about it, at least if they're TLF fans. Sorry,
I don't mean to bring things down. I've had a few beers, but
fuck me and no need for butt stuff? Ben? I feel you,
Ben, I know those moments of despair bears always need for butt stuff or
society. And yeah, wrestling. The reason, um, it's so hard
to be a wrestling fan is it mocks you for caring, right, Oh
yeah, wrestling itself mocks you for caring more than people in your life who
don't watch wrestling mock you for caring. I mean, think about that.
That's that is an excellent, excellent point. Think about the fact that it's
literally it. Yeah, it's the only thing that, like, the only
hobby or interest that actively mocks the people who watch it and who care about
it. And the people who mock you for being so religious about it are
equally religious about it. They just think they're on the cool team, right
when everyone's a fucking nerd. Yep, everyone gets their lunch money taken.
Yes, And it's amazing because it's like this fallback position to deal with criticism
that's only available to wrestlers and wrestling it's fake, as if, like,
you know, an actor in a high level movie has his performance critiquingus.
It's just a movie. It's it's fake. Never hear that that that that's
not everybody knows it's fake. That's not a comeback. Go outside, stop
tweeting, go outside. It's like, okay, I'll go outside and complain
about dynamite. How about that, I'll go outside and complaining it. Don't
you get out? Don't you be active or something. I'm touching grass and
tweeting shit about Jesus. You know, why don't you get a life?
Yeah? Okay, those people who you want to get a life. They're
the ones who fucking pay your paychecks there, Right, what's worse the person
who doesn't have a life or the person that's calling out people who don't have
lives? Right, mum, what's the difference? I would submit? But
yeah, it's it's it's pretty it's pretty funky. What he's putting his finger
on there where it's Yeah, like, think about think about what AI is
it. It trains on what the past tells us is the pattern of things,
So it guesses you know, if you write this word, I've got
millions and millions of parameters in my model. Most of the time, when
you write this word, this word comes next, This word comes next,
and it guesses sentences. Yes, and it does similar things from music.
It's sort of like can listen to a catalog of an artist and and like
replicate how they would write a song or at least present that way, and
it even sound exactly like them. As we've learned, hearing is no longer
believing. I regret to inform you, and what the point of that is
is that's that's not the art. The art is taking your influences and doing
something on top of it. That takes it to a different place, and
that's what makes it you. You are not your influences. Your influences are
the base. But only when you do something to take the path your influences
put you on and make a sharp turn or add a totally different spice than
has ever been in the recipe, are you actually becoming something? And the
idea that derivative derivative, it's like, we're only that's only going to accelerate,
it's only going to get worse because we're now creating entire systems that rely
on the patterns of the past to spit out the next email somebody sends.
You know, yeah, but write me a write me an elegant sounding email
about this, or write me a write me a poem about this. What
you're getting is how everybody else would have written that email in two thousand and
twenty one, up until two twenty one in the case of chat GPT,
which doesn't go past twenty twenty one. And it's so it's like, you
think of Taylor Swift, if you told me to write a song in the
style of if you told an Ai to write a song in the style of
Taylor Swift, and I don't know. When she started, like two thousand
and three, you would get a country song. You would miss the fact
that when Taylor Swift completely shifted that sound and approach, she became an absolute
global sensation right when she took the pop approach, when she was able to,
you know, lean into that more poppy sound. Ye, but we're
gonna like freeze ourselves arbitrarily in time with this AI stuff, and we're going
to have nothing at our disposal besides derivative things because it AI can't make that
leap. It can't make an artistic leap. It can only smash together things
that have already happened. It can only recontextualize the past. That's why a
lot of these AI tracks are like the Beatles sing a song they never sang,
right. But the point is it's not a new song, right because
of the new songs, wouldn't they just they sound so um, I mean,
they sound convincing and that it sounds like the artists, But the track
is like, Okay, we've already heard this artist do that track. That's
not how That's not why we turn to artists. We turn to see what
they've got next, where they're taking it now I don't know, man,
I know that that's like that that's just a fucking you know what that that
reminds me of honestly, when when you when you when you put it like
that, you know, the idea that, oh, look to hear the
Beatles playing a song they never played before. It's it reminds me of kind
of the early days of Adobe after Effects about this, because so after Effects
is like it's a very don't get me wrong, it's a very advanced program
sure, but it was also consumer based, especially in like when we were
in college. It was kind of getting very hot with You're like, oh
shit, you know, like you can do CGI at home type stuff.
You know, you don't have to have all that stuff. You can actually
do stuff and the kind of goat it just the gimmick, you know,
because to me that seems like everyone's just trying to, you know, see
what you can do with it and and you know, not actually taking things
seriously and kind of wasting time in a way. And what people would do
all the time if you learn how to do Adobe after Effects, everyone fucking
did a lightsaber s oh. It was like that was the thing to do,
and that's kind of like what I feel like a lot of this AI
shit. It's it's hopelessly trapped in what's already happened, which is not right.
Why we wake up in the morning, we wake up to see new
ship or at least see fresh takes on old shit. I don't know.
I just feel like it's, well, it's gonna get worse before it gets
better, that's for sure. Yeah, don't be after effects. Yeah,
I canary in the coal mine maybe yep. On this whole thing, I
don't know, man, it just seems like we're we're charting, we're tethering
to the past more than ever in a way that's like not satisfying, in
a way that just completely disqualifies the possibility. It's reminding you, it's reminding
you that, you know, it's a it's a weird thing. It's trying
to we always you know, nostalgia is a very dangerous thing. It's an
extremely dangerous things like nuclear material, right because it's it's it's fine to it's
fine to kind of you know, sit back and and and you enjoy the
highlights, no doubt, no doubt, thank you. But if we actually
tried to recreate what it was like to live. Then you forget that there
was a lot of shit that you're taking, but you're taking for granted because
you're remembering the good stuff. And really what you're doing in your mind is
you're combining the good stuff with what you have now, right, You're assuming
that that's that you can have the modern conveniences, but recapture the lost you
know, sauce secret, sauce no no, And like you know, things
were that way because you didn't have the technology right, right, or things
were like that because of other advancements, whatever it is. You know,
because of your naivete you don't have that. You can never go back,
you can never relive that. That's why the dip, that's where the despair
comes in. That's why, right, and that's why it's like when you
when people start start recreating these these things and and kind of messing with shit
that's already there, it's like, well, let's just move forward, because
that's the only that's that's the only thing that actually is real. Oh,
beautifully put beautifully put right. The only thing that's real is what hasn't happened
yet. Yes, I see, I think that's worth telling yourself. Is
real it's the only thing that you maintain your sanity concerning yourself with. I
mean, it's absolutely true. You can make as we do every time,
and as we've been doing for ten years, make an assessment of the past,
make a sobering, clear comparison with the past, and conclude that conditions
were better than that people were inclined to be that people were not inclined,
but rather people were sort of forced by circumstance to be better, more interesting
people because they didn't have the tools at their disposal to let the worst parts
of their nature reign supreme. Like I'm sorry, I can't be demonized for
longing for a time where people weren't on their phones every ten seconds. Yeah,
there is nothing funny duddy about that, because we're not just talking about
being curmudgingly about technology. We're talking about the fundamental ways it transforms people's ability
to deal with each other, and the reward and the perverse incentives it creates
to be a total piece of shit. Yes, when you become obsessed with
like engagement and all that, and I mean, you know there are people
like killing themselves because you know they got two legs instead of ten. Oh,
I know, yeah, that's the yea, let alone the fucking mind
fuck it must be to become some viral sensation. Six million view motherfucker,
it's five, and then it's two, and then it's one and a half,
and then it's six hundred thousand, and now no one gives a shit
anymore. Now what are you going to do? Yeah? Right? I
mean now, now, look how you've set yourself up in this nascent economy
that we've built up, or in this attention economy that we've all sort of
brought into existence without a second's hesitation or moderation. Interesting times, friends,
we'll work it through together. You have to worry about AI over a year,
I'll tell you that. Brother. It's here from Jacob, all right
to do greetings, co chairman. I figured I should chime in since you're
covering TENA. Don't worry. I'm not fifteen years old. I was born
in nineteen eighty seven and the peak of my fandom was ninety six ninety eight
WCW. I grew up on the West Coast and we got the live feed
of Nitro, so I could watch it at a reasonable hour for an eight
to ten year old. Anyway, I was fully in completely lapse from about
two thousand until twenty thirteen. But I started downloading old shows from the eighties
and nineties when I was in college, and I became somewhat aware of current
wrestling around this time. The rush of nostalgia from the old shows prompted me
to attempt watching an episode of Raw in two thousand and seven, but I
couldn't stomach it for more than about ten minutes. I was expecting to see
something similar to what I'd left behind in two thousand, but it was nothing
like what I remembered, and I felt immediate shame, shame, and payin
for suggesting that my friends and I watched the show. In the summer of
two thousand and nine, I was still just watching old shows and heard that
TNA would be doing a house show, Oh you have in your heart is
Shame Pain. That's right in nearby Kennewick, Washington. I never had a
chance to attend a live show as a kid, so I thought this could
be a cool experience. Scott Steiner and Samoa Joe were both advertised, which
is exciting because I loved the Steiner brothers growing up, and I had heard
a lot of good things about Samoa Joe, but had never seen him wrestle.
At that point, I bought some cheap tickets way in advance, which
ended up being completely unnecessary for several reasons. As my friend and I sat
in the parking lot drinking beer in my car before the show, a middle
aged woman approached us waving a pair of tickets. She said she won them
on the radio and didn't want to go to the show, so she was
looking for anybody to take them. They were fourth row side, so of
course we gladly took them. I thought she was an idiot for giving them
away, but we were the idiot. There are no bargains and wrestling folks,
Okay, it's cheap for a reason. Every single time, the wrestling
firm is always the idiot ye as we approved. As we approached the arena,
there were signs on the door saying neither Scott Steiner nor Samoa Joe would
be on the card. Cool. When we got inside, there were a
couple hundred people sitting in a hockey arena that seats about seven thousand people.
It was a dark and emotionless environment. The only highlight of the show was
seeing aj Styles rustle the main event was Jeff Jarrett teaming with the Dudleys against
Beer Money and a third guy like a heel manager or something I don't remember.
After the main event, Jeremy Borash was in the ring offering the chance
to get a polaroid with the Dudley's an assigned piece of a broken table for
twenty dollars. I didn't see anyone take him up on the offer, and
the Dudley stood there like idiots. People shuffled out of the arena. These
are the stars, by the way. Yeah, I completely understand why Flair
refused to do polaroids in the ring when he got with the company in twenty
ten. It was a particularly sad sight after an evening full of sad sights.
A few months later, Brett's return at WW actually got me to watch
RAW again. I watched the January fourth, twenty ten episode and switched between
RAW and Impact. I was initially excited by the thought of having another Monday
Night War, especially because I was such a huge WW fan as a kid,
but seeing the execution of both shows, especially TNA was awful. Back
in the nineties, WW work because it was something new and different. TNA,
some of the same guys I remember from WCW, but they didn't have
anything new to offer. They were still trying to do the same old shit
that they were doing when I stopped watching in nineteen ninety nine. There was
nothing exciting about the show at all. Over on RAW, the show was
just devoid of anything that felt exciting or knew as well. I saw nothing
on either show that made me want to tune in the following week, and
I didn't. A few years later, in twenty thirteen, I had just
finished grad school, I didn't have a job, I was depressed, so
naturally I started deva ring Raw I'll Help in an attempt to feel something again,
and I've been more or less back as a fan ever since then.
Although the shows may suck now, the only thing that has ever changed.
Oh sorry, the only thing that has never changed is the shame. That
is the only constant in this business, and for some reason, we keep
coming back for more. I refuse to apologize for the length of this email.
Thank you loving the teenage journey so far, Thank you for sina Mania.
Never apologize for length around. That's right. If you feel like he's
exaggerating or that we're sort of you know just not to be taken seriously when
we say these kind of things. Stop watching, go ahead, stop watching
lestling next week? Oh yeah, do it right? Sorry, go ahead
do it. You're a joke and think so loser And one of the things
you miss out big time if you don't pledge to us on Patreon. Is
just a remarkable dialogue that happens from listeners underneath the file and the comment section.
Oh yeah, oh god, yeah. Always so fun to see what
they come up with, how they key off things we say, curiosities.
We have just so much fun, great listeners, Matt wrote unto one of
the files, just want you guys to know I'm enjoying the hell out of
this journey. So many memories I suppressed. I feel like I'm on a
hidden circle of Dante's Inferno. Thank you cute Kip Bob backlandon TNA. I
knew I was wrestling obsessed, but only now I realize that I have wrestling
based trauma. That's I blame Mike Tenay. I'm sure he's been on my
lawn at two am. Yep, what a revelation that's been. I never
look at Mike Tanay the same. No, you can't. He's such a
fucking freak. Ellis writes on Patreon, this is such a good journey because
it's the closest thing to seeing actual lapsed people in the real world. This
isn't Hull Coogan, This is lapsed token. This isn't Rick Flair or Richard
Fleer who we'd all like to meet, but lapsed Ric Flair abyss, someone
is lapsed before we have. Do you think people do you think people go
up to Sean Michael's and say, Hey, have you met Richard Fleer yet?
Or Michael Higginbottom? Yeah? Right exactly. I mean, god,
everyone calls this guy Sean and he's worried about meeting the real Richard Flee or
what about the real Michael Higginbottom or heartbreak? Right? No, god,
heartbreak, heartbreak, heartbreak? Fuck shit? Is that ai r? No
doubt? Is that mid journey on your wall? It's pretty cool? Is
that? What I don't know is that what do you what do you?
What is that daga? In the style of Jeff coup, Hey, you
know, fucking you got what do you got to fucking knockoff? Fucking h
cheval? Huh? How about does he drink AI wine? I'll tell you
he's got a fair degree of artificial heart break. Heartbreak. You know what
I fucking did. I fucking fucking made a glass of pino. Yeah,
from a three D printer, Nash's three D printed wine. Fuck it,
it's like fucking he's delicious. So let's write to biss. Is someone who
has lapsed before we've even been introduced a classic abyss. The entire operation is
just lap It's true, Like that is lapsed Hogan in the TNA ring.
Yes, Like that is not someone we have to caricature. He's doing that
for us. Yeah, right, exactly. That's why. That's why,
that's why I sat there and and and pretty much recorded every segment, right
because this is this is It just became a thing I just had to do
because he's just such a fucking goofball and you never know what the diamonds are
in the mind either, right right. It became very difficult as the weeks
unfolded in TNH to be like, Okay, this is the one, this
is the sound bite that's going to sound the that's gonna stand the test of
time. Often it was things we missed on first listen, or you know,
things that are buried in the middle of a six minute monologue, is
like, what the hell noise? Did he just make ye? Or what
does that phrase mean? I just so any of those like it just the
weird shit. I mean, he's so another poet. Yeah, he's like
an alien. Like I almost half expect him to un up his skin and
have like an alien under there. That's how one two at That's how bizarrely
he looks at the world. I mean, it's all there. A lot
of nuggets of wisdom too. If someone says Mike points out, I'm all
the way on the team, brother, then you immediately know they are not
on the team. A lot of lessons to live by in tnage faster than
Chuck writes. As much as I listened to TLF every day, it was
so fucking cool when Jack read my email about Hogan's retarded TNA Titan tron sorry
and they both laughed off. I know it's him just walking on. That
was one of my highlights. Such moron. My wife left me out of
the blue in October. I'ms already here. Then my mom died on Thanksgiving
and my dad is still in the hospital after having a heart attack on Christmas
Jesus. The Coachers gave me the first win I've had in a long time,
and it meant everything to me. Well, glad to be a service
man. I hope you're well. I hope you know things are looking up
days. I'm sorry, that's rough. Clarkson writes, I realize how obvious
this comment is, but JP's lap Snash is so fucking spooky in its completeness
my estimation, all good impressions have an anchor, sound, worden or cadence.
Right for lap snash, it has to be the trailing off you know.
Yeah, you know. It kills me every ship. I remember when
we did when the Hopper made us do the three hour, three and a
half hour Kevin Nash interview with our video. Yes, and you are so
done and so drunk and so sleepy that I shit you not for like the
last hour I drank during that one. Yeah, because you were trying to
channel Nash. I will if it became you just go and fuck it the
whole time exactly. That's the heart of it. You're right, and Clark's
is right. It is about little It is about sounds, Yeah, it
is. It is the AI model, like you train on the the addiction,
and you train on the essence of the sound of the guy's voice like
Hogan roll or depending on if he's screaming or not, right Warrior, do
you know? Yeah, Tyson, Um, I'm not sure how many hours
of shoot, interview, YouTube viewing you clocked in refining the voice, boss,
but bravos, there you go something you rebeled. Just sucking lex Yeah,
just grew over time. Although I do love why I haven't watched him
in a whip. I do love watching, especially when it fits into our
whole thing of him never fails. Brian Crews, who, of course was
great. He joined us talking about going to the Impact Zone for years in
Orlandos. Yes, yes, Um, And we're asking the question about this
and in apparently where Rick Flair you know, cut himself open, punched himself
in the head doing a wild promo and he why, he grabbed a handful
of blood off his forehead and threw it in the crowd. Remember that moment,
And I asked him if he was there, he says, on Flair
throwing his blood into the crowd. I thankfully wasn't in the pit area that
day, but I remember when had happened. He just whipped his hand and
blood splattered on people. Huge gasp, and then shit just went quiet for
a moment. I know it gone on some kid who was up there.
I can't imagine Tena was happy about that, oh flair. I can't.
I mentioned Teena's happy about a lot, actually, Stephen Wright. Someone at
one end of the building says Rob Terry, and at the other end of
the building, Hogan jumps to attention like a gazelle sensing a predator. I
didn't Rob Terry did. What What do you mean? Is there a comma
between Rob and Terry? Brother just answered the question. I mean it doesn't
matter, brother, Write it down, dude, you don't have to put
a fucking common dude. Who's Robin Brother? Who's Rob Terry? Now he's
right here? What big English bloke? Look how Jack Dye is He's wearing
a sweater for some reason? Dude? What do you mean Jack? Dude?
What? Who's Jack? And who? Brother? So holding im Robed
Terry? White? Dude? Whoa whoa brother? Hold on, dude,
let's dial this thing back here. I'm here, you know, brother guy's
coming at me wide open, dude, Why brute you're coming. I'm I'm
just sitting here, brother, completely defenseless dude, and you're trying to fuck
with me. Brother, You're trying to fucking steal. Dude. You know
how much a blation I've had in my back in the past six weeks.
Brother, Do you understand, dude, the kind of spinal shit I got
going on? Brother? I think you do, dude, And I think
that's why you're coming at me with a name like Rob. You're trying,
brother, You're trying to rob Terry. Brother. Tell you you want to
rob Terry. Get in line, my brother. It's been that kind of
a year for the hulkster fuck dude, but I'm getting mine. I'll get
it back. You better believe her, mother fucker. I can get the
FBI to bust down the door on TMZ lawyers that I can. We're gonna
fucking turned the nose upon this fucking thing, and I'm gonna fuck you up
there you go. Oh, he's taken off the TIMEX Bro? What brother?
What what's going dude? He's just standing there rob Terry, but the
Hulk it's all taking shape in real time. Yes, Brian, my good
friend, Brian Blake writes, It's fantastic how much lapsed Hogan is simply real
Hogan. Also amazing how JP doing Hogan is so much better at conveying his
emotions and being less stilted than TNA Hogan. It's what we do, so
we've been doing. It's what we'll keep doing. Yep um Rob writes a
series of things. Could you imagine if other IF performers and other TV shows
with real audiences and so much more money flying around were as petty about breaking
down their ratings as a second place wrestling company, Like I've never this is
like how they talked about the ratings on Impact all the time, Like I've
never heard discussions about the cast of Friends about how Jennifer Aniston the highest rated
minute or anything like that, or oh, I know, right, like
seriously, Or Matthew Perry's segments may have rated lower overall, but that was
right that he was highest in the eighteen to thirty four demo. Well,
we're all in the TV business, right, Yeah, I get why we'd
talk like this. Ah No, Yeah, that's a fucking great point.
Nobody fucking gives a shit do what that happens? Because we all want wrestling
to be a sport. Most of us are sports oriented people, and the
outcomes are totally fake. So we need something to point to to say this
guy won, this guy lost, or this company won, this company lost.
Something objective. But it's like, Okay, I guess I see what
you're saying, but nobody fucking um says hey when you know, uh god,
I can't think of a fucking you know when when I don't know,
when Matt Jones fucking tossed the ball to such and such receiver, did you
see the fucking fucking viewership went out. Well it's a point and that in
that thing, you have an outcome that you want. Like you you watch
to see the winner and loser, but in wrestling, the winner and losers
fake, so we have to look at some other way hiding success. It's
so nausea it is. It's I swear to god. It all stems from
the fact that we want wrestling to be presented as a sport. We want
to believe the winners and losers matter, and that basically you're you're just replicating
what would happen if it were real. Not the matches have to look like
shoot MMA fights, but that you know, that if it was an actual
sport, that you can watch it as if you could watch any other sport,
as opposed to like this whole story thing washing you over all the time.
Yeah, it's a beautiful thing when they pull off a storyline, but
like we've said a hundred times, it has to stem from the sporting aspect
of what's happening. It can't just air drop and somehow find a way to
be contextualized as a wrestling match and start as Shakespeare. It has to start
as a match between two people trying to win a sport. And that's why
on the other sports they have to worry about story. The story presents itself
because the win and losers get decided on the field, and that's why we
watch in wrestling, that's why we want to watch, but we can't.
So we look at things like ratings and pay per view halls and other things
to say that, all, right, well, this is at least something
where we can say the goal was met or what was not met? And
then we then we're then we all suddenly become fucking TV industry people, you
know, right now we're all now we all fucking we checked the overnights.
Now it was great when um there was a website. Um oh man,
I think it was called TV by the Numbers. I can't forget. I
can't believe I'm already forgetting what was called anyway, you know, the Nielsen
ratings aren't really something that's public there there. It's like proprietary, like you
know, of course all gets to subscribe to it if you're a television network
to get those right right. But there's always been in the history of you
know, the Internet and then social media, there's always been some source that
puts up a website or starts a Twitter account that lays a show. Buzz
Daily was the most recent one. TV by the Numbers I think was the
one before that, the generation before that. But there's always some insider that
gets the information and you know, like a hobbyist, like an industry journalist.
Basically it's usually anonymous because you're not supposed to really take this information and
rebroadcast it without paying for it. But they would, you know, you'd
be able to reliably turn to them to see all the ratings the next day,
you know, see who was number one on cable and wrestling. We
got very used to knowing this and then and then they closed. They said,
well, we're going to cease doing this. And what they said in
the message to why they're not why, but in the message saying they were
going to stop publishing this information, they said, We're going to miss you,
but we won't miss the wrestling fans, because like, these people are
just television geeks, they're not wrestling geeks, and they cannot believe how much
these wrestling fans care and hang on these ratings. It's just like the funniest
thing in the world to them that that's how I read it. And I
can imagine, like I'm running like this thing that I think is like,
you know, going to be read and followed by people in the sea suites
of the major networks who care about like actual television productions, and all I
hear about, all I hear from are these fucking wrestling fans that want to
know like eighteen to twenty four minute by minute, eighteen thirty four minute?
Yeah, what do you get there? You know? Are you doing?
What do we got? We did it decline? But did it decline from
that peak? I mean so, but when he was on TV, we
saw a kind of a we saw a rise and viewership, Ryan, is
that the third highest? I mean, look are we of the of the
month right? Just number? I'm also the lowest. I'm also the third
highest I've been all month? What amazing? Rob also writes him at the
part where you guys discussed the April nineteenth, twenty ten Impact with RVD winning
the title, and I think you missed a huge possible factor in the decision
to have the match in the Championship change hands on free TV with no build
up the night after the pay per view. This was the week that the
Raw roster was stuck in Europe because of all volcanic eruption that's right in Iceland,
which was mentioned earlier when it was explained that Doug Williams had to drop
the X division belt because of it, and there was a scramble to pull
something together, which ended up being a sloppy episode of Raw that starred Triple
H, the SmackDown Roster, and the cast of mcgruber. It was expected
to be an uninteresting shit show, so more eyes might have wandered over to
Impact, where they were trying their damned as to capitalize on WWB having to
call an audible and put on a nothing show. Maybe yep, that they
could have ended that was very much Tnasmo was like, you know, have
big shows and have big moments, not because it makes sense in the context
of what we're doing, but because this is a show we really have to
do a big number on. We saw like the Bully ray Brook wedding,
right, they made sure to put that on as the lead into the first
live Bellator fight light so that they could serve up a really strong lead an
audience for that to make the MMA show look successful. And yeah, they
probably and they totally rushed it, Like the wedding was like two weeks after
they first started hinting that there was even a chance of a proposal, and
it's all like working backwards, like from this totally arbitrary reason to do something,
And clearly there was no long range planning around RVD having the belt,
no fucking clue where to go from there. I mean, they you know,
presented AJ from the beginning of the Hogan bishof Run is the guy the
guy they're going to try to make, you know, worthy of that top
heel position. I'm in the strap and then it loses to RVD and they
have no fucking plans for RVD and he loses it without even a tangible finish.
Anyway, I don't see the problem. That's that it's all good stuff,
it's all high quality. It's what we need, it's what we deserves.
We want Adams where I'm going. It's where it's where we're headed,
Adam writes Bischoff playing the guitar, regarding it bishof playing the guitar. Remember
that episode bust this Apparently this was a post production splice. From what I
can find online, most seemed to think it was Dick Dale Oliver, who
did Tena's music, doing most of this, thus the hat and the close
up of the hands playing the guitar. Bischoff might have played some, but
the majority was Dale Oliver. I tried to confirm this, like if anybody
actually saw this segment being filmed, that if in fact that there was a
body double in for Bischoff on the guitar playing. I wasn't able to get
it. But if anyone knows for sure, that that's great detail. It
wasn't even Bishoff playing the guitar. I love that. If that's the case,
makes me happy. Yes, another dumb thing Tena took from WCW Adam
rights giving names to episodes. Nitro used to do the same when really I
don't remember that at all. Maybe it was all your guy, but they
didn't put it on the screen like TNA did. Oh Jesus the TENA principal,
He writes, the lowest paid talent see women consistently draw the highest ratings,
and the highest paid talent see most x W TBE guys draw the lowest
ratings. Sounds great, sounds like a great setup right now, I would
see the problem, wrote to Success. Neil writes, not sure if you
remember this, but there was an early episode where Hook puts a tracking device
in Brooks car to monitor her date. I think I figured out the persona
they created for Hogan and TNA. He writes. He's the sitcom dad that
they tried to make him, and Hogan knows best. Every episode of Impact,
he has a plan for his t and a family that goes awry right
and sends them on an adventure. Eric is the neighbor, always hatching get
rich quick schemes that get them into trouble. Dixie is the no nonsense mom,
abysses the sensitive kid. RVD is the wise, cracking older brother tenas
sitcom. I like it, yep, I mean, hey, we did
TAS Network TV Drama Network TV drama. Stephen writes, I know you talked
in the first episode about how ridiculously fast things we're moving to TNA's detriment within
a few months, But now a few episodes in, it's moving so quickly.
The shows don't seem just fast in their booking and philosophy changes. They
seem schizophrenic, as if they are changing plans almost mid shows. It makes
two thousand nitro like eighties Crockett a matter if it's that bad. But it's
not like their sixteen things happening in a segment. Yeah, but they're just
you just realize their rudderless. They have no yes, you know what I
mean, they have no game plan or just like every week in those early
months just coming to the production meeting and being like, all right, that
didn't work. What are we doing now, Like, let's totally go this
move, let's totally go that way. Let's not really give anything a chance
to prove over time that it's that it can build that's either going to work
right away or it's not going to work. And when you start with the
mentality and you're like, well, actually, when Hogan's on screen, it
is the highest rating of the show. You put everybody else in there with
Hogan and expect, somehow the attention to be on the guy standing next to
Hogan instead of Hogan himself. It's kind of an ass backwards formula. Brett
writes the subheading under the laps fan needs to be Your childhood was a lie
whole. Cogan was always a giant piece of shit. I don't know about
you, but I don't come away from TNH feeling like he was a piece
of shit. I feel like he's almost like this, this strange creature that
I can't to call him a piece of shit is to like expect something of
him, and I expect writing of him. Right, I'm just like an
awe of where his mind goes when he's in a pinch, you know,
yes, or when he's in a situation where he needs to cash a check.
I don't know, did you come away feeling he's a piece of shit?
A not a piece of shit? Piece of his shit is is is
someone who's like done bad things. I feel like I'm way too amused by
this guy too. Buck Zoomhoff is a piece of shit. Sure, sure,
yeah, I just I don't know. I'm just I'm too I'm too
fascinated by his like ways of recontextualizing reality when he gets, you know,
caught on tape having an affair, for example, right exactly, and the
sort of artifice he has to build up about where he was in his life
and all that, and he and by the by the time he's done,
it's like, yeah he was, he was victimized. By the time he's
done, Yeah, he's just deserved on one hundred million dollar damage judgment.
Yes, he does deserve to have the website that published the video shut down
forever and everyone go bankrun crazy. And for the radio DJ who who betrayed
his trust to basically lose his entire fucking radio care such as it was.
Jeff writes, I was doing weight training when Hogan called Spike. That's all
picks up the For my own safety, I listened to Mark Marin interview Wayne
Brady instead and went back to TLF at lunch. No way I would lift
and listened to Terry talk to President Obama all the good old days like six
months ago. Oh shit, it's good stuff. Jeff, it's good fucking
stuff. Pal. We love it, brother. So that's what Jeff's hearing
on the TNA tip. Let's keep going here. Who's next? Boss coming
your way? All right, you will be in receipt of TNA sentiment just
a matter of time. Here. This is from Ken. You better believe
that the subject line is TNH in life is pain, co chairs. This
teenage journey has been an extra size in pain. Every segment is worse and
worse. Hearing boss Man's disgust, however, has been well worth it as
all. Yes, as always flares the highlight of it, and the wou
off is something that my friends and I still send back and forth to one
another. Also, the Terry Balaya under the cinema journey has been just as
painful. Hopefully this email is both an action adventure and comedy for you.
Oh my god. Anyway, at a scroll, I decided that it was
time to up my gym game and decided to take up the tight nutrition offer
and pay my time my chairman. I must go now, as I believe
I have some sodas in my mini fridge to restock in my office. Also,
I need to remind Emily to pick up my package from gun Club Road.
Your yours in ass pain. Yes, that's correct. Agree, you're
that Jerry McDevitt is retiring, speaking of I did good man, I can't.
I can't, Yes, exactly, Jerry. If you lost your fastball,
Pal, Jerry, I listen, I grow a mustache, you shave
yours, and suddenly you're losing against MLW and court. Jerry, I think
it's time that you retired, Jerry. I mean all the catch and kill
deals he caught around the sex stuff, that's all out now. So Jerry,
Jerry, your time is over. I'd highly recommend that you just get
off the grid as soon as possible, because you're a liability at this point.
I mean, let me tell you something, Pal, if you don't
get off the grid, I will remove you from it. Should have known
when Jerry said on Dark Side of the Ring that his bond with Vince McMahon
is unbreakable, that was the beginning of perhaps the end that's broken, Pal,
when you say that it's already broke to Vince McMahon, Yes, I
yes, look at this, I'm looking the mailbag. I forgot. I
reached out to Brian O, our guy in the Impact Zone about the Bishof
guitar thing, and he did respond. He said, I only remember Bishof
in the ring back to the crowd playing the guitar. They didn't have the
screens on at the time, so we didn't see the tight shots of the
fingers whatsoever. I had a suspicion something was up during that whole thing.
Wow, So he stood it. He stood in the ring, perhaps boss,
and just pretended to play the guitar. I mean, I wouldn't I
wouldn't doubt it. It's not like he has a podcast and someone could ask
him that. It's not like you tell the truth anyway. Fort Back,
folks ask Eric anything. Whatever he does. Let's go a three weeks overtime.
Liam writes to us on Patreon. I'm gonna I'm gonna be sad when
this podcast returns to its normal Hogan everything else ratio brother, Well, this
is February. We'll see if he still feels that way. On Jack's point
about walking around muttering hoganisms, I actually told my physical therapist I was way
on the team with that brother when I asked about a possible new shoulder diagnosis.
This is bad. Wow, We're doing a lot of damage right here.
Yes, yes, and he writes, the lapsed Tulks tour is like
a paranoid angel on all of our shoulders. Isn't that the truth? Michael
writes, Hogan looks like Bobby from King of the Hill. You pretty much
is is it? Really? I mean I would say I would say that
the the Hogan family is kind of like King of a Hill, Wow all
together and that watch the show and drips and drabs over the years, But
I can't say what about the Hill family is similar to you? I don't
know. I mean I never really thought of that. I mean, you
get kind of this this oh fish, you know, head of household,
trichy. You know, you've got the kind of hot trashy daughter, sure,
idiotic son, and I don't remember remember the wife actually on King of
the Hill. Well, I'll tell you that the Hogans from Hogano's best kind
of Bundy vibes totally tell I'll tell you what. I think that more than
more than that, I feel like they're just they're Fox family vibes. I
love it, yeah, you know, because I mean King of the Hill
was on Fox. You know, it's like this was only appropriate for the
Fox, you know, risky. Yeah, yeah, yeah, whole cogen
is out, Bundy, m something to think about. Matt writes CoA Chairs.
I'm running to you today for two reasons. One, to let you
know that your teenage journey, while incredibly entertaining, is actively ruining me as
a person. We hear, we heard this a lot. I think we
really fucked people up with this thing. Yes, they're they're doing and saying
things they otherwise never would have done. Yeah, and they maybe shouldn't have.
Number two, to also let you know that I finally got my ass
and gear and joined the moat tier this morning. Fuck yeah, let's fucking
get it first. The teenage journey, he writes, I love absolutely all
right, let him know. Fuck. I love few things in this world
more than the twisted tales of Terry Boleo has exaggerations as long winded bullshit and
hiss insecurities can keep me entertained for days. Suffice to say, this journey
is right up my alley. I've watched my fair share of TENA Impact,
but did not catch any of the stuff you guys have been covering. These
segments sound agonizing an audio form, and I can imagine having to actually sit
through all of it, so I must thank you both for suffering to entertain
the solar system. Yeah, boss, there were times men to turn this
journey where it was just like, Okay, now I have to start up
another episode of Impact, and another one and another one last week on Impact.
I mean, I mean I said it before, like you know,
just like looking at the Yes. So if you don't remember or you missed
it, I'd get I'd get an email, yes you would from Jack.
Every master list of what we're talking about while we're covering, right, and
what I needed to watch was always highlighted yes. And it was agonizing.
Correct, It was so agonizing to read it and be like when is this
shit going to end? And there were sometimes this was what was great.
So there were sometimes where I'm like, oh, you know, this isn't
so bad. Actually this is okay, this isn't He's always bad. Okay,
I guess he's not here. I guess he's not all in out around
here that that much in this this year. And then apparently what I would
miss is the the link or the little little message right view entire messages like
no, no, no, no, this is like a quarter of what
we're watching it's like, oh my god, the fuck so much Hogan and
I look, I didn't highlight every Hogan segment. There were plenty that I
just can you imagine, and it was all so bad, Like, of
of all people, you would think Hulk Hogan at least his segments, well,
we'll feel worth watching. And by the time this was over, I'm
like, this guy is like the most boring person in TNA. I don't
know how it happened. He's the most famous wrestler of all time, certainly
captured our imagination as kids. Ye, God damn it. It's just no
one gives a fuck about Hogan and Jeans. Really, it like no one
gives a shit about Hogan, who's not going to get in the ring?
Pretty much. Something I did not expect at the start of this journey,
however, he writes, is that I would eventually be in voluntarily yelling out
ric flair isms like I have Tourette syndrome over the past week. You're a
clown, Hogan, Sting, Sting, Sting, I am a god in
your life. The abyss, the abyss simply just clown have overtaken my vocabulary.
I just can't shout just one either. If one phrase escapes my mouth,
I will, without fail yell out the rest. I'm not proud of
this, but it has become my life. My poor wife, God bless
her, has learned to deal with my wrestling fandom over the years, but
I don't think she ever expected Ric Flair Ticks to enter the equation. I
will say that I did hear her yell out clown to herself in a separate
room the other day. The disease is spreading as we're joining the moat tier.
I've been a twenty dollars patron for quite some time now, and I've
been teetering with making the leap for a few months now. I've been more
content with the ad free shows more than content with the ad free shows,
live pay per view, sorry ple calls, and under the cinemat the thought
of Russell Mommia it was interesting, and I've heard some of this American work
on YouTube, but I just kept neglecting to do the right thing. I
live in Michigan and last night there was a shooting at Michigan State University.
I don't personally know anybody affected, but a lot of my co workers either
live in that area or have children, family members that go to the MSU,
so this morning had a pretty somber feeling to it. When I got
in the car from my morning commute, I did what I usually do when
I need a distraction and turned on that fucking cast. I ponied up the
extra money, became a Moat tier member, and loaded up episode one of
Russell Mammia. Money well spent. I've listened to the first four and a
half episodes while driving today and have giggled like a little bitch multiple times to
myself. When Mama Sorrow suggests a match with the wrestlers have to climb a
rope to retrieve the championship belt instead of the ladder. That was a rap
for me. This stuff is a gold mine. Other moments that have already
etched themselves in my mind. Or Mama Sorrow asking if Randy Savage died from
Jake snake bite, asking what does Helkamania and JP not really beg able to
explain it to a normal person, asking if mankind is indeed mankind or a
bad guy right? Asking if Sid Justice, asking if sid Justice still plays
and her not giving a single fuck about mcfole or should I say Dan Cook
sacrificing his body for the industry that made him what he is, instead getting
increasingly more upset that they are not even in the cage. And that's the
one to listen to. Man, that's the summers lang Idi do is the
hell on this one? Oh my god? Yea and focusing focusing on the
Undertaker's quote uniform, I know the word choices are really just yeah. Apologies
if this email got a little rambley. Just want to let you guys know
that you once again made a shitty day a bit brighter. You guys are
awesome and you continue to pump out content that is simply unmatched. Thank you
guys for injecting Rick Flair sound bites into my brain. Thank you guys for
Mama sorrow, and thank you guys for all Comedia Flair and TNA just like
pictures right now, it's in the fucking wheelchair, the TA law thing.
Oh god, Ellis writes, I am one of those poor souls who bought
and ate a whole Cogan cheeseburger. Oh dude, I mean we saw these
in your frozen food ile. This one of the many things Hogan slapped his
his likeness on. I don't know if I mentioned this, but among the
documents from his um lawsuit against Laser Spine is an outline of how TNA kind
of bought the rights to exploit the whole COG and trademark. It's not his
contractor you know, appear as talent, but he got an extra million for
that. I hope folks know that for what? So the T and A
could license the whole trademark, like so they could you know, make toys,
eats, t shirts and keep you collect the money. Great things come
to those who wait. At that time, he says, of the cheeseburger,
they were being sold at the local dollars store. I a lot.
Just think about a whole Cogan cheeseburger from the dollar store, frozen, fucking
fucking things suck. Did you do it? Would I do at the Would
I eat it at the dollar from the dollar store? Do you eat Cog
cheeseburger from the dollars? Yeah? Let me just say you're ending the way
you described it doesn't give it justice. The burger, he writes, has
the taste of a gym mat covered with cheese that was the color of Hulk
themselves, and I would assume tasted the same as taking a bite of Hulk's
leathery hide, or the foods that create the soushage and feed the desire within
your soul. These are the foods that feed desire, or as our beautiful
lapsed ecosystem shirt on correscion teeth puts it, one of the key things,
and the lapsed ecosystem is undermined desire. The patty is life, j Patty
is life. Don't tell that to Shamus. It's time for you to reach
the next fish. I'm not exactly a picky eater, Ellis concludes, but
even I could not finish this monstrosity. But if it did have a good
quality, it did for my colin what my lapsed co chairman knew that the
gifted asunder brother, So there you go. Someone who ate the Hull Coven
cheeseburger deal writes why would Hogan er Bishop be interested in increasing paper views?
They are trying to get side deals with viacom. TNA being viable is fun,
but they are using it as a stepping stone like they did with WCW
and Turner Entertainment. What definitely never above name dropping Scott Fishman and Kevin k
was Eric Bishop Christopher Wright's interviewer. So about that tactitle win in TNA,
what was the point behind it? Nash? Please? What it was?
I was supposed to do? Pick my feet in Poughkeepsie. That's from the
French Connection, by the way, great flick, I got the god anyway,
you're fucking watched the making of you know, you know what the fuck
am I gene hacking the fucking French Connection. Shit, but you got me
fucking uh, you know, chasing a fucking subway, you know, a
fucking l train in a fucking car. Fuck, remember that that next thing,
you know, it'll be fucking you know, you'll me be fucking bogey
in the treasure this year of Madre, Remember that probo segment where it was
him and Jarrett and staying and He's like, I know where this is going.
I've seen this story, this game before. I've seen and he's talking
about this like back like backstage intrigue, and it makes no sense. It's
like the low point of the whole teenage journey to me. He's in there,
you know, you know, listen, I fucking saw Three Days of
the Condor right exactly. I know what the fuck is going on. Oh
my god, I'm trying to remember the kind of I'm trying to remember,
like a key search term that can help me land on the notes from that
one, But I can't remember some of the things he said. Oh my
god, I'm so it was so horrendous. They're just standing around saying these
impenetrable things. Nobody can understand what they're talking about, and they think it's
so intriguing, Like this whole company's going down, you know. Steve writes
there was no way Tommy Dreamer wouldn't sign with TNA once he heard they served
turkey legs at the Impact Zone. That's a good points. He was offering
a pizzeria too. You're gonna open a pizza stand for them, Tommy Kreamer.
All right. This is uh entitled The Accidental Brilliance of TNA in twenty
ten by Scott all Right. Chairman, Greetings, We recently interacted on Twitter
as I sent you the video of a kid cutting a promo on Hulk Hogan
at a store, with Hogan clearly not sure if he's losing his heat.
Yes, My brother Austin has been a regular LAPS fan contributor with his emails
and cameos. He had the Hogan Fears Finn Power promo and has included such
gems. An email of his signed buff Bagwell Baseball, I thank TLF for
helping me help him get his love of the sport of kings back. We
attend to wrestle many together this past year and it was truly a once in
a lifetime kind of thing, and I have TLF in part to thank onto.
The main topic of my email, that is the accidental brilliance to be
found in t H. Sting is often called the dumbest man in wrestling because
of how often he has been betrayed. Somehow, the creative minds in TENA
actually ran a low key brilliant story with Sting. From the beginning of TENH
to Bound for Glory twenty ten. Sting is finally ahead of the game from
his first appearance in TENAH. The story is that Sting knows he can't trust
Bishoff or Bischolf. He realized there's another seriously bishof every week in those early
Jesus. He realizes anyone siding with Hogan intentionally or being fooled is collateral damage
and if he has to beat the frog of Hogan the fog of Hogan and
Bischoff out of people he will. This is why he attacks RVD and sides
with him in twenty and twenty eleven, for instance, and why he initially
could be on Team Flair and then takes Flair on later in the year ye
when he is convinced Flair is all the way with Hogan or just in his
way. He is trying to protect TNA in a way no one is in
the entire year, because he knows those two are only looking out for themselves,
which they were. It's the one story you can go back and see
develop and appreciate that they held on for so long. I mean, I
guess, I mean, I can't imagine. Yeah, I see the point.
I see that, But I don't think. I don't think I would
have been interested if I was watching this fucking week to week and I forgot
about shit that happened. Yeah, yeah, I don't think it's like a
tribute to the story they're trying to tell with Sting. I think it's the
fact that the only person Hogan felt worthy sharing a storyline with the whole time,
with the exception of really in those last few months with Staying and even
then Sting is involved in like forty percent of it, right, It's like,
yeah, they have to be. They have to be involved in a
storyline the whole time. I'm not saying they land the playing completely, but
in some ways TNA is the best run of Sting's career. That's agreed when
you factor in match quality, promo's character work, et cetera. And that's
because TENA, for its false didn't relegate Sting behind others the way he was
in WCW so often they impact after Bound for glorious fascinating with Nash's promo about
not taking the money and stings killer moment when he singles flare out and what
at least comes across as an improviser, a genuine moment. He goes away,
comes back with the network behind him as if we need that, and
wins the title and does some good promo work and has some good title matches
Victory Road notwithstanding, I don't know if TENA saw this is a big plan
or stumbled onto it, but it's probably the highlight of the tenh era for
me. Thank you again and thank you for a whole commania. I think
you said that you developed a new appreciation of what Sting can do. Absolutely,
I think this is the best Sting. This is the best works thing
ever did that I've seen. For sure. His promo work was more or
less the best I've seen. Certainly the latter stage is just not as good,
Like he kind of went back to his old bullshit. But um,
I think I think it's because there was that shooting at the dark night.
He couldn't do the heath electric character is aggressively in the end, but it
wasn't even that. It was like he just started barking, lying like he
just was stupid, like it was he It was nineteen ninety five Sting like
saying weird shit and and looking like a corn dog. You know. He
he was so one dimensional in WW. I feel like his ninety one to
ninety two run is competitive with his T and run for for you know,
best of his career just in terms of how much better the in ring stuff
was. But the present presentation was so undimensional. I mean, the guy,
the guy could not get you emotionally involved in the storyline back then,
no way. It was just like, you know, the heat came from
the fact that he was like the cleanest baby face imaginable and the victim of
injustice. But he wasn't. He wasn't getting you invested in him as a
person on the mic at all. He was just this cartoon character. Um
hard Way writes, TNA, She's just pretty much fear and loathing in Orlando.
I like that. All this subtext makes me want to take acid.
There is probably a drug smuggling seaplanes air dropping narcotics weekly. Awesome. Imagine
that is the case, Jason writes it all the lapsed fan pantheon. There
may not be a more pitiful person than Dixie Carter. I'm not talking about
sympathy, but that pure, uncut pity that makes your stomach. Her absolute
yearning to be something beyond a feckless failed kid is only matched by her complete
incompetence to achieve anything of value. She is pitiful and painful to watch.
I half expect don seen It to show up on TEENA to grant her fucking
make a wish. Say what you will about Shane and Stephanie, which is
a lot. At least they know how to boss around the help. Shane
and Stephanie watch Succession and deny that they are those characters, whereas Dixie watches
with a wistful sigh, hoping one day she can be like those characters.
I think that's that's true. That's true, very true. Ellis also writes,
well, at least this end of the ECW revival stuff, that's true.
That did bring that whole trend to an end when they did EV two.
Wasn't that your favorite part of TNH boss when it became the ECW Revival
for a minute, huh how about it? Raven Tommy Dreamer, Rhino,
Yeah, oh yeah, actual, well, it did give my favorite fucking
Raven quote. Ever, it's that which is Hogan saying, quote the Holster
never more. I was a fan of that. Also writes kind of nuts
how they had Hogan and Bishop debut in January and by summer had already tried
to get Hayman and Ross to write this thing. And that's true. I
know, it's so true. It's all anybody could talk about in the sheets.
Was like his Hayman coming in. That's how fucking rudderless the ship was
our Ronaldi to answer the boss Man's question. In twenty and twenty two,
Impact averaged one hundred and five thousand viewers. There you go, I was
hoping to be one hundred and five viewers. Um, there was a question
about where they stand today, and that's that's where it is. Shout outs
to Chris Mains, who bumped up to the the big boy tier in the
midst of TNH and laced us with some notes here here's Ruce love how the
b story of TNH is examining culture right before social media irreversibly damage to the
world and the way we have discussions. So true, such a subtext like
Hogan becoming familiar with Twitter, Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, and like
tweeting like storyline stuff, but also tweeting things that you would never tweet a
decade later when you appreciate the public nature. But people were still kind of
unsure, like yeah, how much private is okay on Twitter? Like who's
actually seeing this? Is it really the whole world? Can it really blow
up? Yeah? You have Bischof, you know, writing drunk messages on
Facebook. As called out by Jeremy Borash on one of the episodes of Impact
is last Bischof's Last Impact. It's it's interesting, It's true. These these
guys are they know there's something there that they can leverage to stay relevant.
But they have not mastered how to use it at all yet, and they're
a ton of faux pause like Hogan doing a video. He's like high on
fetnel in the fucking hospital, like, oh, no self awareness, Liam
writes, and I think he's right. Eric Bischoff loves nothing more than a
cedar plank filet of meat yep. Is it about the cedar plank, boss?
Oh totally. I mean it's that's that's that's one of the things.
The wood chips, right, yeah, oh god, he totally fucking wood
chips everything. Daniel writes regarding the Blue Light for Hardcore Justice to Beat.
I mean, there's no let me with this way. His he has a
grill outside. It is not a gas grill, no fucking way. He
builds that fire every fucking time. He loves to get the smoke right exactly.
He loved his glasses. Yeah, you know, a serious scowl,
like stoke in the fire a little bit, you know, stoke in the
the wood chips and the coals. He is a very st He's wearing a
he's wearing a he's wearing a black button down shirt that had He's like,
but the top four buttons are unbuttoned. Oh all right, and he's got
he's got and he's got rolled up, you know, like the sleeves rolled
up and ship and he's got like you know, black slacks onto you know.
Oh my god, I can't, I can't. I can't get enough
of him at home. It's like, where's that reality show? Seriously?
I mean, she imagine all it would be would be like you know him,
I'm okay, like and I imagine him too. Like one of the
things he does. He gets up at like five in the morning, all
right, because about five in the morning and dog walk the hound. Yeah,
he walks walks the hound, you know, the like throws you know,
like places fetch with him every morning, hot hot coffee and right,
well this is what he yeah, well no, but he does that first,
and he comes back and he makes French press, all right, he
makes French press coffee. And then he sits out on the deck and like
reads some fucking book, you know, Like he's so awesome, dude,
some like you know, philosophy book or the newspaper maybe, you know,
just fucking sipping away like as as the sun comes up. Life fucking idiot.
My favorite part of this show is saying a series of completely inoffensive things
and concluding that it's deeply annoying and stupid. These things are like the most
anodyne things you could say about somebody. He's living a perfectly coint like life.
It's it's like a Verbo ad. Yeah, and you conclude with fucking
idiot, Daniel, because you know why. You know there's a reason behind
it, because because deep down all the uses of fucking Carny like it's all
a fucking fraud. I love it so much. I love it. He's
not a real person. No one lives like. That's what he read in
a fucking book when he was five years old. Idiot. Yeah, how
are you like? Did uh? Doc? Holiday? Aces and eights?
When it was right dead man's hand? Very cool, cool, extremely cool
stuff. Daniel was when we were watching Hardcore Justice, the one with the
ECW guys, Why is the ring blue? Why are they projecting blue on
the ring? And he said the blue light Firecore Justice I always assumed was
meant to make Tena's ring look like ECW's old ring, which had a blue
matt. Okay, that's really stupid, but that might be the reason ken
Wright's Cahonies. That was the name they gave balls. Mahoney, Remember I
really hate ec W. I really do you hate it more than TNA?
Um, that's a good question. I mean, obviously you'll hate ECW n
t NA the most. But and that's what we're talking about here. I
just I just hate you know, how guys in gene Shorts became stars like
cut off like not John cena Ones. It's not even that, It's just
that it's got this fucking legendary aura and there's so little that I've ever seen
that is worthwhile. Are you Are you trying to say we should do an
ECW journey? Thoughts crossed the thoughts crossed my mind only to get rid of
all the fucking shows and never have to do another one, you know.
And if I'm honest with myself about the genesis of coming up with TNAH,
it wasn't part that it was like there could be a hopper one day where
like we've got to get into the whole story of Hogan and TNA, and
yeah we did. We of course reserve the right to say no to shows,
and we may very well do that, but it does get the mind
turning. The same thing happened with Bash at the Beach. I was like,
you know, Bash at the Beach two thousand, that's where we can
really once we cover that, every time anyone brings it up, they're going
to mention us because we're gonna go deeper and harder and longer. We're gonna
leave no stone in turn. We're gonna get court documents, We're going to
do it the right way. And it's like, should I wait for somebody
to put the pressure on us to do it or should we just fucking do
it right? That's a real good motivation. I think to do a TLF
episode is to get it over with or at least two Yeah, you know
what, I mean, to do it on your own terms, on your
own timeline. And I feel like there's just so much about Hogan, a
lot of it too to go ahead. No, I'm just I'm just commenting.
I love it too. Is like, you know, Hogan knowing that
there was a moment I've talked to you about this where Hogan says that his
dick isn't actually that long, Terry Ballet is dick isn't that long? Like
knowing he said that in the Gawker trial, honestly, it's it's all about
building to that moment. Like the whole idea, of the whole conceit of
it was like, how can we while also doing something about a wrestling show
instead of just like this thing that has nothing to do with wrestling, but
I to do with Hulk Hogan, get to that moment where he says that
Terry Ballet is dick isn't as long as Hulk Hogan's. How can we get
there? Because that's however he ended up. There is a story, and
here we are. It's done. It's I don't have to worry about it.
And it's the It's the lunacy. It's the lunacy. Yes, it's
all the stuff. Because you realize he's saying and doing all this stuff on
TNA television as well. It's not just in the halls of the courtrooms.
It's not just an entertainment Tonight or TMZ or in the media. He's saying
and acting the same way, and he's doing storylines based around lawyers and legal
ease and hide the ball and manipulation and lying and friends turning on him and
trusting people when he was right all along to not trust them, like Bully
Ray. It's fucking amazing that it is. And Ken writes about how Baal's
mahoney was called Khons in Hardcore Justice, which I know was definitely something you
were just fascinated by. Writes, Cahones is as good a fake name as
they could have come up with for Ba's mahoney. And I'm like, well,
I mean, they really has called him balls Khones or something. Maybe
maybe they'd be too close to infringing. They got very scared about getting sued,
But maybe how about smallones. Neil makes a great point. Something we
need to know about whole Coogan is he's going to New York on business crucial
to his character. I mean, I mean also why New York, Man,
that's where Spike's offices are. I mean, I guess, but every
time he says he's going to New York, it's like, immediately think he's
going to w B. Yeah, we don't think he's trying to He's acknowledging
in some way that the headquarters city of the other company is where Syria should
have I'm going to New York's right, something that comes second when New York
comes walking, it's the same. It's the age old thing inferiority complex that
only had when we did Black Saturday. You know, it's like all because
you're from New York. The only reason Vince beat me in that whole Face
office because he's from New York and TV stations and fucking Butler, Ohio.
We're just over the moon with the fact that some guy from New York wanted
their attention. And it's probably right. Honestly, I probably did go a
lot further than Vince would be willing to acknowledge. Stephen Wright's boss is ever
waiting patience and tolerance for the stupidity of all involved in twenty TNA is the
most money thing ever. Well, I am here to please people with my
suffering, Ellis writes, after the tenth time hearing the Dixie theme, it
finally hit me. It sounds like something you'd hear in a mid nineties Cinemax
movie that features brief nudity in a female prison. Like exactly what he means
by that, Ye, James R. One, I think one thing needs
to be made clear. When Bob Kilowatt Cowboy Carter proposes taking a ride in
the ranch with JR. He says they could go on one of the horses.
That's Bob Carter astride a stallion with Jim Ross on the back riding bitch.
I'll leave that visual with you, fucking Jr. With his hands on
Bob Carter's waist. We're ready to turn down the offer. Oh my god,
So Jim Muddle, what's it gonna take to get you to come over
to TNA? What damn? Oh god, dare Bob. I'll take a
ride on a horse, damn it. Can you buy ten million dollars a
barbecue sauce? Well that I'm not gonna do. But I'll tell you what,
my friend, I will gladly get on a horse with you. Now,
you just you just saddle up with me. He's wrapping those hands around
my waist and we'll get on a good old fashioned horsey ride. I'm any
acres Fuddlund. Oh my god, it's so annoying. When Dixie did the
interview with Steve Auston on his old podcast, and he's like she's talking about
how like it's impolite to talk about how many acres the family actually owns,
and yeah, I don't give a rat sash about that. Why don't you
just tell me what kind of cheeseburgers. Your dad makes does he clear brush?
Does he clears you do? Let me ask you? Does he do
a dry rob? Are we talking dry rob? Your damn bitch? Yeah,
that's when the interview ended. Alex has a good question, Boss Ali.
Listen, at what point do you think Hulk Hogan became a parody of
himself? Ah? Uh? January four, twenty ten was it? It
wasn't in wcw Uh No, I don't think so. I don't think he
was a parody of himself. I kind of think he was in two thousand
when he went back to the red and yellow. Maybe, but you know
what, I'll tell you what mister America, Mister America's a good one when
he did mister America. Yeah, literally is a parody of himself. Yeah.
Jindi has a great question, why are we always waiting on the first
day of the rest of TNA's life. That was the story, That was
the take home point. That's all there is, man. As you tell
people, it's it's on the come, you can stay paid, can never
get there. That would be insane. It's like whenever you hear someone on
the news talk about how like we still got a lot of work to do,
like what the progress has been made, but we still got a lot
of work to do. In other words, please don't stop paying me,
right, because we're never we don't want to get there. It's always like
an easy sound bite, like when someone who's working to fight homelessness, for
example, says, I hope one day I'm out of a job. Now
you don't, No, you don't you hope that homelessness never goes away?
Of course it's akin to like you know, and you know what, I
don't fault you for that, no, because you acknowledge it'll never go away,
or at the very least that you're not incentivized to see it go away.
You're much more incentivized for to at least still exist, Like you want
people to need your service, right, even if it's not in the best
interest right, Adam writes, the one thing that sticks out for me with
this ten ten ten stuff is when hell Hardy, Jeff Jarrett and Abyss take
a sign from the crowd and no ship. The sign says they're here th
h E ri E TENA. Couldn't even get the grammar right. Yeah,
and we've very much confirmed that they were writing those signs. Phil writes,
well done, Jack, you got me go fine with Hogan saying dizzil on
the Liz Vizzi Rasadio with regards to accidentally appearing on Van Dam's call in show,
Dizzel on the liziv Rosadio on live radio. Maybe lez I Rosadio.
Yes, Dizzel on the Liz I Rosadio. That was something when Hogan called
an rd's radio show. Oh that was so fucking weird. Just in some
dark corner or the internet, nobody knew. Yeah, yeah, get get
up progressing tas fired up. Boss Matt writes. What I don't understand,
brother, is what you just said to me. Dude, print print the
T shirts immediately, let the folks know. I mean, if you're going
to do a teenage slip back meal back, I mean, what hit pro
ussing dot com slash the last Christ. I mean, so much shit went
into fucking I was just on there too earlier. Uh to go back here,
let's see when where it all started. Uh lapsed army. Of course,
that's a beat style of Bubba Army. Yeah, yeah, we got
a fun what did the whole thing say? Uh? We to get this
thing back on track, we need to dial it in. It's on one
shirt. It's on one shirt. We got uh clown Infrastructure, we got
just plain old Brother, we got Pummis Power. Oh yeah, I get
the Hummus endorsement. Yea, hide the Ball one of my favorites. I'm
buying that one. Yeah, talking to You've been talking to Frankie, dude.
We've got the mid Carterners and Zero's shirt, yes, stingmon this well,
this one's just new, but it's not nothing to teenage, but the
new TLFT generation shirt delicious. And then we've got Taz's Red Hooked Diner amazing.
It's just the T shirts become like a cliffs notes to these tests.
Yes, yes, because it not only highlights the broad strokes and highlights the
very strange esoteric only joked about at once. Corner of the show, corner
of the journey. Neil, Right, it's going to just throw this out
there. Does anyone think Hayman would have seriously entertained going to TNA. He's
had this unwavering loyalty to Vincence nineteen ninety five, through their ups and downs,
certainly had the opportunity to take other jobs in wrestling after he was dismissed
from WWE, but he never did anything. I think he was pretty clear
about what it would take to go to TNA, and whether he said that
knowing they would never do it, which is just a way of saying no
is I suppose that a thought worth entertaining. But I mean, basically,
he wanted ownership stakes, and he wanted to be able to make decisions on
talent over Dixie Carter and Janis Carter's head, and there's no fucking way that's
going to happen. The only reason TENNA exists is because Dixie gets to play
boss, right, the only reason it exists, the only reason money keeps
getting put into it, despite very very very little to show for it from
the pencil pushers and the number of crunchers at pant Energies Dallas offices. So
I think that's that's pretty clear. I don't think I think he probably knew
he was making demands that were never going to be met. Right, But
if they said guests like you can basically have ownership points in the company,
maybe even the men taken a public At some point, Dixie was making noise
like she was going to give equity points to the wrestlers long term. That
was something she thought would be kind of a like a profit sharing model,
which has never happened in wrestling as far as I know. I guess you
can say Hogan kind of had it, but it was more just like for
his personal appearances. It wasn't like six percent of all company revenue, you
know. But I was like, I kind of dig that that notion of
like cutting the wrestler in under profit, you know, I guess used to
happen in the territories, like when Jerry Lawler finally buys into the office and
goes into business with Jerry. Jerry, it's a percentage of everything off the
top. But that's just one wrestler. It's not like a model that cuts
everybody in a on a little percentage. It's one wrestler just rise the existing
owners out or starts up his own shop. Leam writes, the RVD radio
show segment just gave me such twenty ten PTSD that I just had to stop
ship shopping and sit inside my cart in the middle of Medjer. I guess
that's a store, Minyar. I literally just climbed all the way inside my
cart to listen to that in the middle of the paper towel Aisle yep agreed.
Any moments like that over the weeks and months, you Stephen do that.
Listening to this episode really hammers home that the wrestling business saw Dixie coming
from a million miles away. Oh god, yeah, I wonder what the
music was is she was coming from million miles away? I guess that's the
question. Down a voice is step beside me screaming out so loud over the
sign is saying it's stem telling me I want to do a brisket eye you
lose. It's the only way you your try go down. Tis tisn't his
arm, No doubt tis tisn't is a one two grenoli. No falling at
the rock double this, No doubt your clowd Foming at the crock great things
cool to those who ate se fucking thing sucks. Those balls are slow as
as fucking fuck you, hug. No doubt. I've done alcohol and I've
done the Rijan fucking Anti. I was in Mexico off the grid. It's
fake foming at the block. I ate a lot of Oh my god,
it's some fucking family feared man. That's some fucking funny shit. And for
those who aren't fucking hip, you missed the Running Man under the cinemat with
Richard Dawson going for the ride in one of the most magical moments of fucking
alchemy I've ever seen on a podcast, where you just hit that song at
the exact moment and the movie just cooperates. I mean it was amazing.
Oh God, got it. You gotta know, you gotta find out for
yourself what we're talking about. Get an that eptr or above Jesus, It
writes, Hogan is like a cat. If you leave a box out,
he'll sin in it because he feels protected on all sides. Brother, what
Ellis writes, Tena Wrestling is really a male soap opera, as it takes
them eighteen weeks to say something that could be said in eighteen seconds. Adam
writes, have come to a conclusion. The best way to summarize the Tenah
journey is to quote from the brahndra Anaka Upanishad, a sacred Hindu text.
We are like the spider. We weave our life and then move along in
it. We are like the dreamer who dreams and then lives in the dream.
This is true for the entire universe. This entire journey is one orange
orange man's dream, he writes, from divorce to willingly cucking a shock jock,
to getting conned into meme back surgeries that don't work, to turning heel
for no reason, and then ultimately leaving with little to no fanfare. But
at the end of the day, what will what will we remember? One
thing? The exact food he ate before fucking Heather clem Brother Philip a pig.
Yeah, that's one of the biggest ones is when he says I'm just
a country bumpkin to Heather clem ah in that private pillow talk moment. Oh
what's what does that say? Boss? I mean, now that we've seen
it all and heard it all from this guy back then, he still is
afraid of him. He still has imposter syndrome. Of course, it's amazing
he's whole Cogan and he's still afraid that people just look at him as a
country bumpkin. Most people don't even know he's from, you know, the
South Atlanta. I think he's from fucking Venice Beach, California, most of
them, right, Neil says. The cynic in me says that Bischoff and
Hogan are taking the pay per views because they are working on their separate deals
with Viacom, and pay per views don't help them to get their pet pop
projects off the ground. It's like Turner all over again, where Hogan thought
to get movies. Yeah, he made this point. It's possible. I
think what it was was that the pay per views were not making enough money,
like they had to do them. We found out that they had to
do them. They were contracted to do them right, and all they cared
about was delivering for the television partner that was funneling the real revenue stream for
TNA to whatever the annual rights view was they were paying. And yeah,
Bischoff is going to say a million times over that Spike paid his salary and
hogan salary. Of course they're going to care about giving Spike the ratings because
that's precisely where their bread is buttered, right right, You know, Spike
makes no money off the pay per views as TENA turned it around. Yet
no, it has oh turned it around. Check, Yeah, it's fun.
Throughout the course of the journey, Russell Vibes on Twitter was like continuously
checking and hes TNA turned it around yet have they turned Vera rights. To
be clear, Dixie had not been a TV character prior to this. She
was involved under the new creative regime because defeature her on the show makes it
more real. Yeah. Yeah, she had done that addressing of the troops
in November two thousand and nine before Hogan and Bischoff came in, and that
was really the first time we saw her. She wasn't exactly a television character
because that was kind of a shoot, but as the first time she was
presented as Tenna president on television in a way that was kind of like a
deal. Really great analysis, he says, By the way, to point
out to Bishof and Russo alike, they think it's somehow satisfying or enjoyable as
a fan for the Heels to say we played you like a fiddle. That's
why they always failed when making grand plans for angles. They pay no mind
to providing any actual Catharsis down the road. The swerve and the subsequent gloating
are the ends of themselves. Ah, that's so gross. Picture like Bishoff
and the Ring going, I we got you, like, just where where's
the remote? Where's the remote? It's just a fucking pieces. Should you
know what the Righteous Gemstones are? I know that it's a show, right,
I'm not sure it's a Zach makes the reference Jeff Hardy cutting promo sounds
like someone from The Righteous Gemstones, except he's trying to sound the show actors,
trying to come across as cringey buffoons. I think it's a show.
That's exactly what you're saying. It's like it's a cringey on purpose. Else
says I never watched a minute of TNA, but hearing it back, it
seems to me the story would only work if the audience had built up a
love and sympathy for Dixie, which I don't see having ever been established.
It seems like Dixie just assumed the audience loves her, so her being threatened
would be very impactful, and the audience did not give a shit. Ding
ning Ning, you nailed it right. That's exactly right. I think she
thought. Because she wandered and meandered amongst crowds of two hundred and fifty people
on the road and signed to autographs and took pictures with the X Division title,
that anybody who the fuck she was? And it's like those people are
not that's not the television audience, Like, that's such a small sliver of
people that you're asking to care about an angle involving you by staying tuned on
the television set. Definitely presumptuous about how many people knew who she was.
For sure, I would agree with that. Paul says, Mike, Mike
TNA's damn it, damn it is the exact thing he screams when the last
leg of his parlay doesn't come through. Let that echo, William writes,
does whole go to wrestler's funeral so we can walk up to the casket,
gently, place his hand in the body, and count one, two,
three under his breath. Yes, Therea writes absolutely, this is the problem
with the heel authority in the end, when you were on TV every week
telling the fans that you represent the company and are responsible for everything frustrating and
upsetting on the show, eventually the heat is transferred to the company. The
company should be babyfaced and want the fans to enjoy the product. Exactly for
so much of Hogan, ten A run him or bischoffice in the ring,
saying I've got all the power and the show is not what you want.
It to be Aha, Nan Nana Nan sounds great. Haystacks Hogan strumming in
the crutches that he needs to get down the rampwoy. He writes, Why
take the time to watch this stuff when the co chairman are distilling essences in
that cast iron saucepan. Yeah, yeah, we tend to do that.
We tend to distill essences. Mike rates Dixie cutting promos and talking wrestling sounds
like the mom joining in playing with the kids. That's exactly what it is.
She doesn't quite have the right lingers close, isn't quite knowledgeable enough,
but she can mostly fake it. And she doesn't have the same enthusiasm as
the kids are in this case the fans, but she pretends she does.
They're with that boss. Ye, there's our boy, Sam from Michigan on
Jeff Hardy well selling in. It's addressed to me because I asked the question,
but I'd love for you to share his response with the Solar System Jack.
On the last two episodes of Tenage, much hay was made about Jeff
Hardy declaring that he didn't sell out, but rather sold in on the service.
That seems illogical and you both asked how this is possible. Perhaps one
thing you're are considering is the possibility that Fortune Immortal operates from a parent company
perspective like a trust. It is. That's true. I haven't thought of
that. It is possible that upon joining the faction that Carnea Athletes, Jeff
Hardy and this instance transfer the ownership of their property to the trust, such
as a real estate investment trust or r EI a reet. I think it's
entirely possible that upon joining the faction, Jeff transferred the rights to his property
in this instances intellectual property, into the management of the Fortune Immortal Trust.
This would allow him to benefit not only from his income, but also from
a portion of income generated by all members of the trust. This transfer of
intellectual property would not strictly meet the definition of selling. But Jeff Hardy is
an idiot, so I can see how he might not understand this trans for
isn't a sale per se. It is a smart move, however, because
by hitching his wagon with the Fortune Immortal Intellectual Property trusts, Jeff maybe poised
to realize modest returns to the top. That's great, man, that's great.
That's a stroke of genius. Is what that is modest returns to the
top. I'm not a registered investment advisor. This is not this is not
constitute investment advice. Jeff says, unbelievable, He's sold in. I don't
see the problem. Adam writes Jeff Hardy's pretentious, inane poetic monologues sound like
Matthew McConaughey's rust Collie character from season one of True Detective if the character had
severe brain damage. Monica has a great dispatch from the front during the during
the Throes of Tnah, the subject line is bully Ray boss, share it
with the people, all right. Um, my two year old recently walked
into my husband and I watched a clip from a recent Impact pay per view.
It would have been more merciful for her to slight hold on one a
second here, Umm, merciful for her to have seen us fist deep in
each other's assholes. Let's go, Monica, that's right now. When she
goes to therapy will be to unpack the The formative memory of seeing Scott de
More do a Canadian destroyer is if we weren't already terrible enough parents for exposing
our sweet child at Tianna Impact The clip then ended on the face of Bully
Ray, a sweaty, stunned rictus of shock as he stared into the camera
seriously. Our two year old regarded Bully Ray's pale, pinkish visage with some
derision before declaring, with the utmost certain certainty, quote, balloon. You
think he looks like a balloon? Yep, balloon. So there you have
it. As you continue your your long suffering journeying to the depths of tenh
whatever Bully Ray curses your screens, just remember ballooney Ballooney Ray. It's pretty
fucking tremendous monica. That's amazing. That's a good one. Do you love
that one? Chrisiani? Shit, yeah, Tena joking about concussions just three
years after the ben Wah murders is just too much. Yeah, think of
that. That's true. Yeah. Adam simply put Angelo Baldament's Audrey's dance song
from Twin peaks in the background as they talk. Oh my god, this
is he said. It'd be an instant improvement to Tenay's endless Ten's endless backstage
segments. Bischoff has definite Benjamin Horn energy for those tell people about that.
I don't get the true Uh, he's just he's just you know, he's
he's he run he runs the hotel in Twin Peaks, and he's just he's
power hungry, he's selfish, and he doesn't really give a shit about his
daughter, you know, like unless things are bad. You know. Oh,
totally Wow, that landed with you. I could tell. That's some
good shit for those familiar weird craven, mercilessly, cutthroat, debased, sexually
funny, depressed. There we go, lot going on and TNA a lot
going on. It's no one's finest hour. And then that, of course
that's where the real investigation begins. Right, that's right, Jefftown writes.
Much like the WW network, the lawyers in this case obtained hours of raw
footage. Brother. This is during the Laser Spide Institute deposition. Dude,
my bizzle is out here. I suppose that's preferable to the time with Buba's
wife when his pizzle was out. Oh man, you're gonna, I'm gonna
you're not gonna rebably hear this, but you can hear it. Is that
the Twin Peaks music. Yeah, that's what he's talking about. This is
Addrey's danced boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom wow boom. That would
have improved Tena's backstage segments. I actually would have measurably, Adam writes,
Bolea Versus Laser Spine is the low budget Japanese monster movie the world needed and
sadly never received. Premise, A giant monster is wrecking Japan. Hulk Coogan,
fresh off of knocking out in Tony and Oki in the finals of the
njp w i WGP nineteen eighty three Champions League, is whisked away to a
secret government location where he's grown to be five hundred feet tall to combat the
giant menace. I can't be the only person who mindlessly sees something wild or
weird or interesting in my day to day life, and then utters, in
Hogan's voice some alternating combination of brother, dude and what's the guttle butt?
You are not? This is Hogan doesn't recall five thousand times during the deposition.
One thing he does recall what he ate before breathlessly fucking bub his wife.
That's right, do you remember what it was he ate? I don't
remember this. I don't remember or what it was. He felt like a
pig. I remember he felt like a pig. Yeah, he felt fat.
Brother. Is it Mexican? Maybe? Probably? There's always Mexican.
He's always eating Mexican. It's always Mexican food. Everyone's always eating fucking Mexican
food. All says it's gotten this bad. Actual conversation incoming. Wife,
I'm taking the baby to the clinic. I think she has an ear infection.
Again me brother, flash Meowski. So I'm following along here. Basically,
laser spine is snake oil, but they've tried to fleece the world's biggest
bullshitter. So everyone's getting lost in the weeds trying to figure out when Hogan's
lying because he picks and chooses what's complete fiction on TV and what isn't.
Never thought I'd see the day with the man himself has to repeatedly explain that
reality TV and pro wrestling is fucking fake, while someone desperately tries to say
that it isn't. Exactly, these lawyers want that Brookne's Best show to be
real. It's amazing it would serve their purposes if it were real. God
right, that episode avoided us, didn't it? It eluded us. What
the fuck is on? That? Thing? Reminds me of that one time
Lap Savage has had to do that with Elizabeth's parents after Jake Robert smacked Carlos.
Stallion writes, hul Cogan is perpetually incredulous and paranoid, which knocks him
off track. So he spends ninety eight percent of his energy trying to get
back on track thinking about omelets. Brother can't deny that would talk about all
these strange interjections that happened during the laser spine deposition. Brian or one of
our trusty lapsed attorneys from the bench rights at actual trial or courtroom testimony,
and objecting opponent will make a motion to strike to get improper questions and testimony
removed from the fact finder or juries cosideration, and you can object to your
own question or witness. Though almost no practitioner ever does this without the motion
to strike. But we're wondering, why why do they keep saying motion to
strike when everyone's already heard it right without the motion to strike, Brian explains,
in many jurisdictions, the testimony still remains. Depositions don't typically work like
that, though, so in my opinion. It's largely a bad habit that
some lawyers have to try and reset and rephrase a question and reflects in experience.
Okay, so yeah, we were wondering why in a deposition setting where
you're not like talking in front of a jury, does it matter to have
things struck from the record. It's like, no one's here, right,
right, But he's just saying it's sort of like a knee jerk reaction.
Nick writes, the further I get into these transcripts, the more interesting and
insight it is into Hogan and the way his head works. The lapsed togan
paranoia is so evident through the first three parts of the deposition and his head.
He sat with his back against the wall, and he will not acknowledge
a single thing if he thinks he can get legally rolled up from it.
On the flip side of that, you cannot get enough detail about him.
That is true, It is true, Neil writes. The truth is all
yeah, like Hogan has like this guy all of like a guy who can
sort of make you think he's just this clown, right, and it suits
his purposes. Yes, he doesn't hesitate to play no, nor should,
he writes, The truth is also much more depressing. Vince knew Hulk was
hard up for money, so he failed to could buy his trademarks. This
is, you know, when Vince was trying to hire Hogan before he went
to t NA and to the John C Program, the twenty five year contract,
all that stuff we talked about her at least Hulk Hogan talked about in
his deposition. He knew Hulk was hard up for money, so he failed
to could buy his trademarks at a reasonable price. Hulk tried to parlay it
into a few big money matches, and Vince wasn't interested in that, so
he strung him along a bit until both sides quit. While this was going
on, Hulk was looking for the shadiest doctor who would get him ready for
the ring. But he got more than he bargained for. But yep,
I like this line of reasoning. But he has constructed this very elaborate reality
where he is negotiating one hundred million dollars deal with WWE and is still at
the peak of his commercial appeal. It's so weird because who is he trying
to impress with all this. I know this isn't a public setting. It
goes way beyond trying to play up how much money he lost due to health
issues and into that fantasy world Hogan lives in for most of his life.
Yeah. I always assumed he just was doing that because he was trying to
drive up the argument he could make of how much money he lost out on
because of how that his back was treated. But but I suppose he does
go kind of further than that and sort of like he it is just kind
of weird. I agree with that at grand Dies. It's very odd.
No one right, you know, it's uh, there's a complicated thing with
him and Vince. I sort of, at first glance, I didn't think
of it as Hogan trying to get the Scena match out of Vince because Vince
wants something else. I kind of I kind of at first glance read at
his Vince coming to Hogan with the Scena match. Yeah, but if you
flip it, I can kind of see that it was Hogan that actually was
pushing wrestling John Cena, because I don't think Vince's heart of hearts he had
any interest in Hulk wrestling in the ring. And I agree, I think
hadn't I already had their scarre with Jerry Lawler's heart attack and Ricky Steamboat having
a stroke that I don't know that happened yet. Maybe that hadn't happened yet.
Well, now the steamboat thing happened, and um, he just talked
about I know we did talk about it. I think we talked about it
when we probably did his his Colosseum video. Oh yeah, most certainly we
did. I feel like there's a chance we even talked about it after that.
Let's see, when did we steamboat of a stroke twenty ten? Yeah,
yeah, there's no way. There's no way they would have put Hogan
in the ring after that happened, because that was the line in the sand
where they were like, okay, we can still use legends, but we're
not going to put them in physical angles. Right you think a warrior.
I mean he ran down there, he shook the ropes, he was sucking
win and he had a heart attack the day after. Right, what if
he did a physical angle, like Jesus, he could have lost somebody easily.
Well, maybe he would have lived. Maybe maybe that's the blood to
course through the vein or whatever he said they to day in Nick says,
on your question of who is trying to impress. I think the answer is
twofold. This is Hogan in deposition. Hogan is trying to prove to himself
that he's still got it as a name and a draw and still has that
one more big run in him. Always he's always thinking that, yes,
it fits into the same category. He's watching his documentary. He counter the
negativity he did. He admitted to watching his documentary over and over again,
the finding whole Cogan one he needs to believe again because if he doesn't,
then in his head he has nothing. And he's also trying to impress everybody.
The big learning from all these years of the Lapsed Fan is that all
wrestlers want is respect and they can't get it because everyone outside of wrestling thinks
wrestlers are a joke. Well, it's like it's this. They all want
respect, but they're also going to fuck you over right. They just want
respect as another way to get money out of you, right exactly. That's
why. Yeah, if there's no payday attached to the respect, they could
give a fuck exactly. They're gonna act all like incredulous and or like you
know, all like sanctimonious about it. When all it really is is them
trying to protect their marketability, their perceived market value. And I think that
what Tenah shows, he writes, is that the bigger you are in wrestling,
the more that want increases exponentially, that want for respect. Yeah it's
true. Yeah, you tell yourself you're breaking out of the pack, that
you're gonna be taking more seriously than everybody else in the locker room, and
then you realize, now, for the most part, everyone still looks at
you as just a wrestler, like a joke. Yep, Adam write,
I came into this thinking that I would think less of Dixie Carter, maybe
I've gone soft as I've gotten older, but actually feel sorry for her and
find many of the other characters encountered so far in the Teenage Journey, Hogan,
Bischoff, Bubba much more reprehensible and stupid. Dixie learned something about this
carny business that famous actor bad car driver Matthew Broderick learned in the film War
Games. The only winning move is not to play. Oh. War Games
plays coming soon under the cinemat. Probably I would imagine it haster, just
because it was the inspiration in some sorts to the you know the name.
At least to the match. Shout out to John, who says, boys,
I've got a crew of Mexicans putting on a roof and siding next to
me. Then Boss doing Dixie's theme kicks in. They laughed. Wow,
I laughed, and a good time was had by a lass sor. That's
right about those moments so much. That's why we do it. Yep,
Stephen, let's see, he writes bitsch Off at least once a week on
his daily morning patrol of Cody definitely deeply considers using his land for a doomsday
sex cult with him as the king of proceedings. It's true, pretty good,
pretty I can kind of see where he's going there. He also writes,
I remember Dixie coming out to greet the crowd at a Dublin House show
of this period. What was weirder and also hilarious about it? Which she
had somehow got her hands on two local children who were teeing a super fans
quote unquote. She asked the little girl her name, and the girl promptly
burst into tears. Clearly Dixie had just bought or kidnapped her from her parents,
and the little boy in what is known locally as a flat Dublin accent,
began telling her his favorite wrestlers, few of whom were currently signed to
TNA. Wow, so bizarre. While this is going on, Dixie desperately
tried to announce the new channel of TNA in Ireland, which was met with
total indifference. He remembers Dixie coming up to the crowded a Dublin house show.
Oh my god, the little memories that this job. I know.
It's so crazy, Tyler, coming with Hogan's legacy and coming from you,
boss mound up deer co chairs. I must start my thought process with the
traditional thanks even ever chore made, every chore made, easy road trip without
worry and grueling second of works. Grueling second of work is eased by having
the lamps fan pumping in my ears and I rushed to keep you in my
ass like the butt plug scenes and everything everywhere I haven't. Wow, Yes,
that's sucking. That would be a that'd be a cut that went deep.
Anxiety and mental fatigue can make a lot of things hard in this life.
But when I have your reassuring commentary like I had on my shoulder,
I can't be stopped. Much like every journey tenh is both delightful and haunting,
But on my previous historical accomplishments, this one continues to play out in
front of us, the sad story of hul Coogan continuing to erase any memories
of the eighties and nineties glory days and replace them with a broken down Carney
politician who with every episode comes off as even worse than the previous one.
Dennis Leary once had a bit how if Elvis had died earlier, we would
remember him as the young heartthrob, but instead we think of Elvis as a
fat, bloated has been who died taking a shit. Recently, a video
of indie wrestler Joey Janella performing karaoke at Hogan's restaurant has been making the rounds,
and I couldn't force myself to watch the whole thing, having seen enough.
With only a minute or so, Hogan zoned out and wishing he was
anywhere else. Eating food on a stage while drunk Florida people performing karaoke in
front of him is so sad and depressing. It tells you all you need
to know about the legacy of Hulk Hogan. My god vicious yet breakfast chef
Knobs right there with him, also failing to pretend like he wants to be
there, just adds the cherry on top of a comically sad picture. Every
new chapter of TNH confirms this is exactly where where he deserves to be,
but it still makes me feel some kind of sadness that most people in twenty
twenty three will think of this when they think of Hulk Hogan. It's one
hundred percent justified, but the childhood wrestling fan still laments something better for those
so called heroes of wrestling. Wow so and then he's good some ps,
yeah, yeah, ah, it's amazing Joe Russo, He writes, we
often blame the demise of wrestling on WCW going under and leaving only WWE,
but after listening to Vince Russo on this episode, the demise of wrestling is
because of people like him who think that wrestling is a TV drama and not
a presentation of combat sports centered around feuds and championships. He is kind of
thinking leads to nonsense quote unquote storylines like who controls a wrestling company? As
the writer give me a break, TNA was nothing more than Bischoff and Hogan
wanting to be on TV again. Listening to this makes me happy. I
never got into it. Glad to be his service once again. Seriously fucking
sucks. This one spook me out a little bit. Doctor Whizpip wrote the
tenah Boulever's Laser Spine series, and the ten journey scared the crap out of
me. I've been waiting for almost a year to get a spinal cord stimulator.
I had done. Now I hear how even the almighty hulks Or couldn't
handle it and how it didn't work for him brother. The same after as
I finished Bolaver's Laser Spine, I received the faithful call that my spinal cord
stimulator trial surgery has been scheduled from May. I was a mere mortal like
me, Doctor whiz Pip supposed to go under the knife, knowing I don't
have the power of the millions of ulkamaniacs behind him. Well, I hope
it went well first of all, But spice to say he had like the
most intense jacked up to two thousand one. He talked a lot about that,
so I suppose his experience won't be everybody's, and he had bad scoliosis
is sure curved spine, man, I'm not sure how much stimulation can do
to him. Ye shout out that pain Ls writes, So Hogan just refusing
to say he's wrestling. I wonder if that has to do with any settlement,
a potential settlement from leisure Spine or some kind of insurance. I'm not
a TENA fan, but it may turn around with the Unicorn verse STIXI cardon
maniment. Yeah, we talked about like why Hogan would always make that distinction
about I'll fight just staying, but I won't wrestle yet, right right?
I think it might also let's just be the legal sense DeBie Brown laser spine,
if such a thing existed. It might also just be that his contract
said if he were to wrestle a match, he get paid extras, as
we learned when he explained why he left TNA, he said that they came
to him with a match for Staying and Bound for Glory, and they weren't
going to pay him more for it, even though his contract required him.
Now, I suppose that the earlier matches he didn't get paid for more,
like the one with Staying a Bound for Glory twenty eleven because it wasn't framed
as a wrestling match, because he did he did take great care to distinguish
between the two. The whole laser spine. He's like, you know this,
this surgery could get me in there to do talking as an administrator,
but I'm not in there doing leg drops. That's like the line because he
wants to say that he needed to be able to do the leg drops to
collect the John Cino WrestleMania pay Day. He needed to have that level of
ability to jump around the ring, and he was cost that opportunity. So
he has to sort of right, Yeah, he can't say he was able
to quote unquote wrestle after the laser spine treatments, because if if those were
wrestling matches, then he can wrestle. But he's drawing this. It's almost
this artificial line in his head. It's very confusing, But Hogan doesn't say
anything by mistake. As much as he might seem like a blabbering person,
sometimes he really isn't. He always has some sort of angle to why he
Oh, I think he's one of the most calculated people in the whole fucking
world. Like he'll say these things like a total non secret or like why
do you include that detail? And then you go and you realize that,
like, oh, there's actually a backstory that he's trying to counter in his
mind. Yeah, without telling you the backstory, but in case you find
out about it, he's planted the seat to he's already protects actly. That's
right, Mike Rights. You can tell when the bloom comes off the rose
and regards to Hogan and TNA, when he stops calling the fans tena maniacs
and just calls them maniacs. Yes, a lot of people saying Dixie Coter
sounds like a middle management mom or a wine mom or a wine on ta
Oh. Absolutely, I mean that's pretty much absolutely. Ted She's such a
fucking idiot. Teddy says, the lyrics to the wors of Dixie's theme song
really just speak to me on a spiritual level. Wow, head and head
and out and Strudent taught him and he writes it off Poudent pound and he
dade lady sneak on boon, dude, he can dood And Matt says,
JP singing along to Dixie's theme is an alzheimer. This isn't real time feedback.
This was just the next mail on the queue. If you can.
I want to be surprised, but I think you know how this journey should
end. I actually listened to the whole song and, beyond the immediate community
value of it, the final versus absolutely hilarious. It asked the TEENA maniacs
to have faith in me. Surge was in charge of Teena's music. Wasn't
he outstanding? Oh? If that is what they were building to, they
might get all okay, And then he says serious notes, this is the
only time I've ever felt sympathetic towards Vince Russo this must be the episode where
he talked about breaking down. Remember that. Yeah, yeah, I don't
buy the nice guy stuff about him. He sucks, but I actually believe
he was trying to tell an actual story, and I can completely empathize with
the stress of working under dudes that hate you but also fuck him. I'm
fascinated by the Hogan Rude change. That is, the Rude winning the title
A Bound for Glory in twenty eleven. Is it just because if Rude actually
achieved his thing, the Hogan and Bischoff would be exposed. Is not moving
the needle. TNA has a history of not going with the guy at the
right time, and they did, and they do it in this thing with
Rude and Storm. But I wish more analysis could be done in the deliberation
behind that swerve. Bishops avoidance of the subject suggests something sinister. If it
was an innocent belief that Rude would be better suited to being a heel,
he would have said it. The pleading of the fifth on Hogan's path suggests
guilt. Fascinating. Yeah, yeah, that's one that I really wonder about.
I think it probably I think it probably came down to Hogan being worried
that. Yeah, I know if you can believe that that if Bobby Rude
was a baby faced champion, he wouldn't be money and if he was going
to beat card Angel after the build they had done for that Bound for Glory,
he was going to have to be a baby face and that Hogan just
saw Rude, and he saw aj the same way when he took the book
at the first He's he's much more geared towards like a suit wearing, charismatic
heel champion than like a baby face that overcame all the odds kind of champion.
I don't think he really even knew how to book that kind of guy.
If it wasn't a Hulk Hogan, that was, you know what I
mean, slaying giants. I think that's probably what it was. He just
couldn't look at Bobby Rude and see how he would book a company built around
him as a baby face as the champion. Adam writes a young son who
feels held back by his famous Midwestern wrestling father. He sounds like, I
don't know, I'm gonna skip that one. Um blahblah. The love sponge
Scott Young. Whenever I see that in the subject line, boss, I
feel like it's your responsibility to read it. Don't don't you think? Fuck
you nice? Uh m hmm, Good morning, Good morning, co chairs.
I wanted to share my quick introduction to the hero of the early teenage
episode hung Hoy Hoy. Yeah, I got a heat back, and I'll
turn the heat. I'm gonna eat my ship. Now, what is it?
Winter time? Turning the heat up, turning the heat up, get
the heat back, put the heat on, Put the heat on like I'm
a hotcake. Reverse the heat, reverse the heat, reverse the heat,
reverse the heat. Double reverse the heat doupe quarter pounder with cheese, double
douller quarter pound with cheese on my heat hung on stick on the bun stick
of the doune? Was that the last one there? Stick at it?
Done? Yes? Yes? Stick of it? Don till of the han
forget the pony havenge. No. I had only heard of him based on
a small info I knew about the Hogan Gawker lawsuit. I don't know what
this guy looks like, nor do I want to his name to show No.
I want his name to show up in my search history, to see
what this clown looks like. I'm a lifelong NASCAR fan, and to subscribe
the NASCAR podcast for old time driver interviews, because like the sport of Kings,
NASCAR used to be better. I opened my YouTube app and saw a
video of an interview with NASCAR driver Tony Stewart. Now, being a NASCAR
fan and listening to various NASCAR shows, I didn't recognize this guy who was
interviewing Tony Stewart because Tony Stewart is one of the biggest names in racing.
And how did this guy I I've never seen Lambi's interview. I see his
user name is Bubba Army, thinking maybe this is a fan channel for polarizing
NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace. I watched the whole ten minute clip thanks, thinking
his voice sounds familiar, but from where? But then I feel this pain
in my stomach. Yes, and my body involuntarily does Abbada I had been
violated? Yes, without even knowing, with the fork in the garbage disposal,
tones of Bubba the love sponge crossing over into another sport high love.
Thank you co Chairs for this journey, the journey we didn't know we wanted,
but that we all needed. I'm finishing making pancakes for my kids and
making coffee with you and my ears and my ass while hearing laps Hogan talking
to lapsed Brett, slowly working Brett to not come to the company, all
the way to trying to get Brett to jobs within seven minutes of a conversation.
Jesus, I remember that at all. Thanks you both, and praise
be to the war Lord. You very much. Boss um. Let's see
jefftown Rights. I think this is such a key part of Dixie and breaking
her down on the show. The image of her doing the run walk down
the ramp precariously balanced on high heels while trying to display some subblance of authority
is one spot on. She's just like totally a fish out of water.
Rinaldi says, Hohokken speaks like no other human on Earth. One two X
points out that hide the ball is a legal term which means to withhold evidence
in a trial that may hurt one's case. Did you know that? No,
or Hogan lawyer, legally he is making its way out of television.
Hide the ball is the same thing has hide the evidence, and so of
course his lawyers are talking to him about how the other side and the four
thousand lawsuits he's involved in are hide in the ball and we have to sit
there and not along. As he says it on Impact, like it means
anything to wrestling fans, Ryan writes, one of the big problems with Aces
and Eights is that right after it really got started, w W decided to
do like the only real good invasion angle they've ever done, and it's literally
the exact opposite of everything Aces and Eates did, except for being cool guys
in dark clothes. I think he's talking about Nexus, right, I don't
know. Daniel Brian choked justin Robert, I think it sincerely has its moments.
But Aces and eights is like ten old dudes from WB and a bunch
of dinghis wrestlers kids with a convoluted biker gimmick thing and a whole bunch of
pomp and circumstances and take forever to start wrestling, and I've underwhelming matches when
they do versus the Shield maybe means the Shield who are three guys young upstarts
from the developmental company who beat everyone in kick ass, YEP and dope six
man tags exactly like the radicals, Like, if you're gonna be an invading
force, you have to come in and kill kill it in multiple man tasks.
That's the thing the local force tries to do. They try to harness
their best troops to take you on and group warfare. If you can't have
great eight and ten man tags, you're not a good faction in pro wrestling.
Hard stop like his wrestling ever going to figure out that invasion angles only
work, he writes, when it's like three to four guys who really give
a shit and have a reason to be all shitty and annoyed, and also
they rule and wrestle good matches all the time. This doesn't feel different.
Yeah yeah. Sometimes ability to have a great match is like lowest on the
list to these motherfuckers, and then they wonder why it doesn't work. Remember
you're talking about how one of the parties involved in holkog and sex tape also
was involved in squashing a Kanye West sex tape. Boss Yeah. Zach from
Australia writes, Hey, guys, on a recent teenage episode two twelve part
one, you stumbled upon a lawyer claiming to have helped to block the release
of a Kanye West sex tape, putting two and two together. I think
that's the same incident Connie referred to it is two thousand and sixteen track Real
Friends, Jack May. Recalling the song, he mentions a cousin of his
that stole a laptop that I was fucking bitches on, saying he paid two
hundred and fifty thousand dollars to get it back. Oh Jesus, Hunter Biden
didn't have two hundred fifty thousand dollars. I think there's a fair chance this
is all the same incident, or if this has already been brought to your
attention, now that's a good one. I didn't know. I probably heard
that song, but I don't remember that lyrics, so that's probably exactly what
he's talking about. Devin writes, my friends and my friends and I drove
four hours to a TNA house show and far ago around this time, Devon
was in full Aces and Aids mode, and we chanted aces and aids and
they stopped wrestling and looked over at us and said, what the fuck?
We paid extra to meet RVD. It was part of a deal where they'd
give you an autographed RVD sting two pack of figures. He didn't even wrestle
that night. TNA and Fargo. Jesus, that's a dark place to be,
I say. Doctor Whizpip says, I slipped into hoganisms today while talking
with my wife. She asked if I was intending to go out today.
I told her I'm going out and about to hide the ball to kick the
chair play Marco Polo. She walked out of the room while I was in
mid sentence. Brothers, I was smart of her. Adam writes, Hoganisms
in life. There perhaps was a time before hoganisms, but my brain does
not remember it. Every suspicious gaze by a bystander results and who you've been
talking to? Dude, echoing in my mind, this is the new way,
James. I mean, I agree with that, Doc Holliday and dead
Man's Hand. Oh yeah, he's talking about as wild Bill. Who is
the dead Man's hand? Eric Adam writes in the same ven as Jack and
JP's in ill regular movies with weird data ask endings. The last impact of
the Ace's Nate storyline concludes with a new heart style reveal of the Universal Security
Guard waking up in his lazy Boy. This is an imagined scenario, of
course, chip debris all over his shirt Red Sox game on TV drool dropping
down as jowels the whole laces in Eate storyline had been a dream, if
only with sleep still in his eyes. The fat tired man stands and goes
into a full heartfelt rendition of being alive from company. Then his house explodes.
Roll credits being alarm me from two He continues to write from two hours
five minutes to about two hours ten minutes. This is what happens on this
episode. Bullies subtly reveals he's from Waltham, Massachusetts. Oh my god,
Hogan fully acknowledges that human sexuality is on a spectrum, ponders sucking bullies cock,
then admits this to his daughter. Are you gonna put your cog get
in my mouth? Dude? You put the cock in my mouth? Dude?
He says it like you do it like if you I mean, I'm
not not gonna do it. You can do it. Surreal, beautiful shit.
Adam writes why TLF exists, it's a fun one. We found a
lot of ways to cope, didn't we? Yes, we did. Jason
writes, of all the things to take minswick Man's tone of booking corks storylines
about your daughter wanting to be railed, getting railed, and engaging for more
railing all our daddy watches is a weird one to choose. Oh my god,
it's almost Stephanie, as if I personally deflowered you. Remember when she
was crying because remember when I remember I had flowered you. Remember when I
fornicated with my own daughter, not you with my own daughter, He says,
Remember when she was like crying because she said he you would pimper out
to his business associates on that SmackDown, what the fuck is wrong? With
this guy. Seriously, what kind of did what kind of psychosis is on
display here? I guess the former Cruise aweight champion temping paint easy. You
know, it's funny you say that. You know how a lot of the
TikTok videos now like you can just like put the text and they'll have a
robotic voice read it. Yeah. I pranked my sister like that kind of
voice. I did that. I did that voice for um Chroma Slam laid
down the Omelets Knobs, Omelets knobs Brother what brother dude? That thing which
I'll never forget, a master mix and this is it on TikTok, put
through an AI voice generator. Omelets Knobs, Omelets knobs brother What brother Dude.
Rob writes It's amazing how Bischoff's failures always seemed to be because of unforeseen
changes to the industries he's trying to get involved in, and not the fact
that he has no fucking idea what he's getting into. Like if the Hogan
slot machine or whatever it had taken off, it would have been just another
one of those things. But he talks like it's something that would have revolutionized
gambling as we know it. Well, Yeah, you gotta hype your product,
but I guess it just has bad luck. I guess, Mike says,
lll at Brook saying Vince McMahon was at her house every day. By
the time Brooke was born in nineteen eighty eight, Hogan was in and out
all the time making movies. When Hogan took his year long hiatus in March
and ninety two, Brook was only three years old. Yeah, that was
definitely the intended comedy of reading that article, Philip Rights, I think a
major issue is assuming that anyone in Europe gave a flying shit about Hogan,
Hasselhoff and Rodman in his two thousand tens. Needless to say, he found
out the truth at great personal cost. This would explain why he's essentially Conrad
Thompson brother brother Jason says, Yes, this has for me exposed Bischoff as
a basic boring guy out. Yes, Zach writes, and one thing you
always have to give the coach heirs is they will risk it all even if
they lose. It's the only way they can hold their heads up. Eye
say that again, Haul Cogan. What if Hogan actually did end up playing
in Antallica, I'm not here to play kill them all. Dude, I'm
not going to ride the lightning. Brother, Dude, I'm I'm I'm war
it has to feel like pain. Brother Chris writes Dixie singing, I only
realized in the most recent episode that Dixie sings her theme tune? Is that
true? Is that her voice? I don't know. I don't think so.
I don't know, I don't think so. Were there? Yeah,
I saved that email because I intended to put that out to the people thing.
I don't think that's true. I think it's somebody else singing that.
But it sounds like Goldilocks to me. It sounds like something like well,
like a rocker who ended up working in TNA, like Lendia Eric something.
Ronaldi has a question for you, boss, What do we think it would
cost for the coach here is to do an n Watna era journey? No
order to cost uh two million dollars yep two million. That sounds like a
fair price, yep. Bully raised, George Costanza, Paul rines that make
Hogan, Frank Costanza j W. Rights. I'd share snaps with Dixie.
No way, she isn't bombing. What's that? Bully is getting upset Why
would that be I cheer what George says. J W says, I'd cheer
snaps with Dixie. No way, she isn't bombing her family with tedious videos
five times a day. I know she's such a tweeter. Oh you know,
yes, she's text her and all that. Ah ah. Jeff writes,
today, I learned Tommy Dreamers. You know, she's also like a
fucking like felloel oh, you know, fucking OMG type person. She made
sour dough bread during COVID. She she wants to be hip to all the
lingo she wants to be part of, like the digital town Square. It's
just nauseating. Just just go away. She wants to um. She wants
an omni channel shopping experience like when when when like clothing retailers talk about like
what customers expect. She's the actual person they're thinking of, somebody who actually
is casts a critical eye towards a retail experience, so final, I just
don't at least saddled her with that with no evidence. It's such a fucking
swamp. Jeff goes, today, I learned Tommy Dreamer is apparently my wife's
uncle, based in your story of his failed children, and you basically described
all of the missus neighbors in Parma, Ohio as well. Chris mentions,
gentlemen, biker gimmick's gone bad. You were correct that the aces Neate storyline
shows that biker gimmicks don't work in wrestling. Your discussion about it during teenage
reminded me of a story from the Awa episode of Tales from the Territories.
The story is about a tag team named the Chain Gang that god I ambushed
by bikers at a bar called Village In in Rochester, Wisconsin in nineteen sixty
nine after a show. I've clipped the article from the Racing Journal Times the
image below this message. It was nice to the bartender at the tavern to
keep kafabe for the actual bikers. Yeah, that was That was a hell
of a story. That was um what was his name, Chris um Um?
Chris Chris Chris colt Um? Who was Um? I think he was
like a drag that guy like out of the ring, Okay and he um
they were they were playing these these bikers on television. You know how Bischoff
was very sort of like careful to not calm gangs. When you talk about
it on the odd Yes, yeah, it's just like that's what happens.
You know. These guys like if they think you'll portraying them in a negative
light on television, they'll fucking beat your ass. And that's what happened to
the Chain Gang, and that that gimmick disappeared very quickly after I presumably the
Hell's Angels snaps and pool cues over their heads in a bar fight. Really.
Oh yeah, that's the old school business Christian Hollis story. As Nates
Mcmanhelmsley regime re ducts. Do you have what it takes? Boss? Oh
boy, here we go, coach airs. First of all, I want
to salute you both for what you have done, once again and adding yet
another layer to the cannon of Lapstone with ten, because at the end of
the day, when every other podcast is done playing hide the ball and looking
to double biz their ratings and get their shows back on track, we all
know that T will serve as the primary source of reference on how to correctly
and accurately deliver the truth, the true records and accounts of the Empire,
a fictitious Olympic like grappling exhibitions. But what I want to do is just
dial this thing back in and present an argument as to why I feel Aces
and Eights, and particularly the Hogan Brook bully storyline, was nothing more than
just a McMahon Helmsley regime re ducks and why because of this it sucked so
much. Allow me to take you back to the fall of nineteen ninety nine.
Triple H Partdieux had just captured and lost his first w title. Austin
was on the shelf after having been run over backstage at the No Mercy pay
per view by a damn s ob. Meanwhile, a young and spry Stephanie
McMahon, fresh from having been duped by her own father and brother in the
ill fated Ministry of Darkness angle during the spring and summer of nineteen ninety nine,
was in a storyline romance with Tests. On the November twenty nine nine
Rod, Stephanie was set to marry Test. As virtually every wrestling wedding storyline
goes chaos ensued with Triple H revealing himself to have drugged and possibly sexually assaulted
Stephanie, swooping in and marrying her instead. Fast forwarding a few weeks later
to the Armageddon pay per View, where Triple H and Vince had their no
holds Barred Falls count Anywhere match. Stephanie turns on her father, siding with
her new husband and officially ushering in the McMahon Helmsley era. The next night,
on Ross, Stephany cuts a rather believable promo about why she did it.
Quote, you know, I have to admit I used to get butterflies
when Triple H would look at me. I didn't want to, I didn't
really mean to, but just the way he would stand up to you.
He was so strong and powerful, and he outsmarted you by making business personal.
And that's something you know all about, Dad. Isn't it making business
personal? Oh you look confused, like you don't remember. I guess it's
been a long time. It's almost been a year since you had me abducted.
You had me locked in a rat infestment basement with no light. I
thought no one was coming from me. You put me there, You put
me there. You get the point In the ensuing months at we could have
would have Triple H and Vince engaging in a blood feud, with Vince inexplicitly
and stupidly helping Triple H beat the Rock at the Mains two thousand. Soon
DX reformed with Tory Remember her, she was such a Yes, she was
a thing. Oh yeah, Tor the Sable Double Yes, Oh my god
was her last name. Tory Power, Terry Power was her wrestling name,
Yeah, and would be the ones to take most of the losses against the
APA, Jericho or whoever else was feuding with the Triple H and company.
This went on until Austin was ready to come back on the company swiftly pivoted
away from the McMahon Helmsley DX era. So let's compare Aces and Eights with
the above breakdown. In my opinion, Aces and Eights was Tena's attempt to
rehash a money storyline from over a decade prior in another company, but they
did it backwards and with the most nonbelievable cavalcade of goons imaginable. The money
angle to the McMahon Triple A storyline was at the beginning, not the end,
whereas the angle for Hogan and Bully was at the end, not the
beginning. Also, in the case of Triple H, he had already won
the WB title, although he wasn't champ when the story unfolded, and He
wasn't yet at the upper crust of the top just yet. That wouldn't happen
until that epic match with the Cactus Jack at the two thousand and Royal Rumble
for Bully, he wasn't anywhere near the level of Triple H was in the
fall of nineteen ninety nine, let alone Triple H at the start of two
thousand plus. And this cannot be overstated. Hogan is not Vince McMahon.
You can't tell me, however, that you're right that Hogan didn't swipe his
stash and think to himself, you know, brother, dude, you know
what if I be the Vince in this storyline, and Brooke Teeney is Stephanie?
What go back and look at the facial expressions of Vincent's when Stephanie goes
in on her dad and tell me you don't see a character who does who
looked it does look truly disappointed and called out Hogan. J did this Hogan
thing? Yes, Moreover, at least there was a long term payoff with
Triple H and Stephanie. Sure, Triple H wanted the title, but he
never played hide the ball brother. He made his intentions known long before the
storyline developed. The Hogan Bully thing was this strange, dry, boring,
and stupidly convoluted mess which only lasted a week or two and offered nothing of
substance in the aftermath. And I get it. Hogan couldn't go in the
ring anymore, which brings up my next point. If he couldn't go in
the ring, why the fuck was he always in the ring? Okay,
so the whole Aces and Eights thing DX fit in with the mcmanh Helmsy regime
because Triple H's history with the group Bully had less than zero history within of
the members of Vases and Eights. And yet here's the main event guy who
married the GM's daughter only to get a title shot. Make it make sense?
Yes, And I know Aces and Eights is more nWo than DX,
but the nWo never had a stupid marriage angle. And the sad part about
all of this is that Aces and Eights was the main storyline of the company.
DX was never the main storyline of the company at any point in its
post Sean storyline Sean of Michael's existence. Rather, yet here was Aces and
eight serving as the key cog in the wheels of a company of a company
story, which arc which was meant to drive fan interest week after week and
month after month. By the time Bully was revealed and his reasons explained,
it made less than zero sense. By the time Triple Late revealed he married
Stephanie, the whole story was just beginning. I'll end on this note.
Had Hogan coming to TNA with his storyline in twenty ten, or even began
it in twenty eleven instead of pulling that dumbass, immortal bullshit, then maybe,
just maybe TNA could have fared better. He stared at. I stand
by my thoughts that Hogan looked back on the best year of the w ever
had and thought, hmm, it would if I did that. Dude,
Yes, But he was either too stuck in his ways or to him inept
to change, to change creatively from the formulaic, formulaic ways of doing the
best Friend turns on him nineteen eighties nonsense to do, to ever do anything
I'd ever do right by something which in theory could have actually worked. Aces
and eights sucked, no doubt about it. Nothing could have ever made that
work. Scrapped the story. But if we're going to be the Vince in
the storyline with his daughter and bully. It should have been started from the
beginning, not the end. What do you guys think? What a lot
there? Boss, where's your head go? I think it still would have
sucked. Yeah, I think it's got less to do. I think he
makes a good point about it, about how they they did it, But
I think it all falls along this fucking biker gimmick that nobody gives a shit
about, and the fact that there's all these mid carters that nobody gives a
shit about. Yes, exactly, you don't have you don't have the crew
to pull this off. You don't have the crew to make me think that
there's you know, barbarians at the gate, right, And also because they
always lose. They just wrestles standard matches like anybody else. There's no like
you know, you know how to do this ring of honor and CZW that
program was the perfect way to do this where it's like the invading force shows
up, but it makes sense because the home team isn't afraid of them,
like like no, don't kick him out, like let's fucking go. And
the guys that are invading a rascals and they're totally they're totally different in esthetic
and approach and philosophy. You start with a crew that feels different than the
r the heart of roag. The wrestlers seem like just these garbage wrestler sort
of like thumbtack, barbed wire oriented bloodlust guys. Right, you have kind
of like a distinct just like the nWo ANDWCW. You have like a distinct
identity clash going on. Whereas in TNA it was like aces Nates. They
they slapped biker gear on them and pretended that that denoted outsider to dress like
a biker. And it's like, no, like that doesn't tell me at
all that these people are unlike the TNA roster because they're bikers. Like I
would just just quickly think most of the TNA wrestlers are bikers too. There's
nothing menacing about that. It's just like something you do. It's I don't
know, it was I guess the Sons of Anarchy inspired stable is something you
could have tried. But to make them the nWo just was not It was
not a sensible. Second half of the coin flip side of the coin agreed.
CITWO didn't go together. I don't know, he just didn't have enough
contrast between the guys they were invading and the invaders, so many of them
were just on the other side of the fence a second ago, like now
devon dresses and biker clothes, and he's a menace. Like, oh,
no, one's any more afraid of him than they were before. He still
can't win matches, He's still right, you still lose that ahead, and
nobody's fucking, you know, changing the booking of these fucking clowns. Big
shout out, And I'm trying like hell to find the initial tweet. But
on the day where we concluded the TNH journey sort of formally, there's a
wonderful video. Did you see this that a member of the Solar System put
together. The banner image on our Twitter is from Yes, it's just like
it's set to Johnny Cash as heard, and it's just like just a bunch
of still images of Hogan in some video. But it's like it's such a
fucking true tale of like how sad Hogan ended up becoming. Oh totally contrast
what he looked like in court and like what he looked like at his peak,
and of course he's gonna age. He's not gonna look as good.
But it's just like he's in a totally different context, this cartoonish context that's
like so beneath the cultural iconic class that Hulk Hogan was in the eighties.
You know, it's four lads hit a team on Twitter, tip of the
cap to him. I thought that was just a beautifully timed, if nothing
else thing. If you've sure you want to win us over, drop a
video like that that sums it all up at the end of a hard journey,
and that's one way to get it done. Closing off here, Neil
writes, there's some confusion about what a serious bible is, especially by Bischolf,
so it's worth clarifying. A serious bible isn't the story of your television
show, even though it can have elements of a story in it. A
show bible as a document that spells out immutable rules of the series that writers
can refer back to for point of reference. Is that how you understand it?
Boss? Did you get the distinction he's making there? Yeah, I
mean, but I mean, I'm sure I agree with Yeah, But I've
also heard of show bibles like not necessarily having it again beat by beat,
but it shows where you're going. Yeah, yeah, I think he's like
a kind of story bible. He says. Star Star Trek created one of
the first modern series bibles during its run, so it would be easier to
keep track of the expensive universe they were creating for existing writers and perhaps most
important new writers coming in. I mean that I knew stuff like that would
be in it too, Like it's it's all thea's basically everything. It's a
book of every piece of information that you have about for the show that the
show right, so that you do right, so that you do have a
reference to go to. You could also very well include where it's going,
not just as I mean, yeah, that's what I've always understood that that
the show bible does have, or it can have again, not like even
detailed plots, which it's like basically saying season one, this is where we're
gonna go. In season two, this is where we're gonna go. For
instance, he writes, the series bible for Star Trek would say that Spock
is from Vulcan is the science officer aboard the USS Enterprise, etc. These
are facts and Star Trek that cannot be changed if you were writing a coherent
script for the show. So he sees Bible as more like rules of thumb,
like a you know, things written in stone tablets that you can't violate
if you're going to write the show any right. So with Hogan's contract at
TENA was that they didn't want to roll over to the option year because he'd
be locked into the same rate. Yeah, that's how I took it.
When he talks in his deposition about how it ended, it seemed like they
came to him trying to lower his amount and not extended the current amount.
He says it seemed like dis he offered the new contract in hopes of comparable
money, but stretched out over a longer period of time. Yeah, for
sure. There were similar kind of showdown with Aja two where it was like
the offer looked insultingly low on when they first came to the table, but
it was yeah, you know, but then when you heard Kaboric talk about
it, he basically made it seem like it was like a backloaded contract and
that you know, it's probably trying to come up with like alternate ways to
get these guys paid so that it wasn't just like a flat guaranteed payment,
but maybe something more incentive based. That's a lot of what the cost cutters
and wrestling have always done. It was like even when m WCW was running
into the iceberg in two thousand and the short time period where JJ Dillon got
back in control. We know this from some of the correspondents that became public
record in the racial discrimination lawsuit. They were trying like creative ways to get
Jeff Jarrett paid. So like he wasn't guaranteed a ton of money. His
salary looked a lot lower on paper, but there were all these little ways
that he get paid for showing and paid for going into making dates and making
towns that that really offset that. Ellis writes, I'm not a TENA fan,
but the sheer balls that Bischoff and Hogan have to present TNAS some lost
cause they had zero chance of doing anything with after listening through three years of
them were hashing and wo mixing with sons of assholery and then adding Hogan sounding
like a stroke victim in his promos. Well, I just lost my train
of thought, something something man in me. I thought that was just a
little beautiful snippet of what they ended up being all about. Nick writes,
wanted to create the definitive list of things that matter in T and A.
So far, I've got h that's what the email says. That's what it
says. Nothing nothing, It's just a. It's just a colon and he
never wrote anything under it. Wow on purpose, Ellis wrote, Brooke is
entitled to I was like, yeah, I was still here. Brooke is
entitled to run away from the business and be happy in real life. But
her torpedo wing the angle just for real life congrats is such a microcosm of
her father, a man who is the Carneyist of Carney's and yet is so
desperate for regular acknowledgement he will roll their eyes and shit in the business if
it means something outside of wrestling. Um, I think yes. I think
she was definitely like a creature of her age that she couldn't help but instagram
the shit out of proposals, even though it fucked up what was going on
in wrestling. But I don't know if Hogan's like that, just totally fuck
up what's happening on his wrestling storyline because it'll get him attention in the real
media outside of wrestling. I struggled to think of an example of that he
kind of downplaced TNA, I guess, but he doesn't do it directly.
Yeah, he does it biomission. But I mean not until that deposition in
Laser Spine did he start in his testimony in the Gawker case, did he
say things like TENA wasn't a real wrestling company and it was a small time
operation and stuff. He was never yet I don't know. I mean yeah,
because I mean he was always talking about you know, we're almost there,
brother. Yeah. Yeah. I'm not sure that she got that from
him. I think she got that from just being a product of the age
where like people were so desperate to have things to celebrate on social media.
You know that they actually created things say was really proposed to, but it's
all like, oh my god, Like, what am I going to celebrate
this time? Maybe if I'm lucky, it'll make someone I went to high
school jealous. High school with jealous. That's what we're all about, Joseph
wrote, You know that your product is hot when it centers around an old
man's various knee and back surgery. Brother wrestling sucks, he adds, when
it is a TV show with producers and writers and all that bullshit. Wrestling
is good when it is an activity, slash, competition, slash whatever that
happens to be broadcasted on TV. I thought that was well put. Someone
else said, like as soon as people started seeing story and association with wrestling
all over. Adam writes, here's a simple idea to make tena better from
twenty eleven to thirteen, Samoa Joe has a Roman Rain length title Rain and
Kicks Everyone's ass. Simple as shit would have been better. I'll saying it's
a great idea, would have been better than what we've got, probably would
have been. Stephen says when Taz is hanging around Coney Island, he tells
anyone who will listen that the film The Warriors is based on his life There
we Go, and that the Michael Scott vibes off of Dixie are overwhelming.
I think of Michael Scott when you see Dixie Carter um No, I think
that's insulting Michael Scott. Michael Scott, British stew dog writes, I need
to cleanse my soul with another Listen to the wcc W journey. After this
NonStop trip of dialing it back in and getting back on track with Pulk,
Pogan and wine Aunt Dixie. That's fine, Devin writes, bubb isn't a
swinger, he's a cuckold. I'll miss this journey. I think it has
been my favorite one. And I started listening to Ta left in the Wrestling
Mania Journey years and years ago. I can tell it almost broke JP though.
Ha ha, yeah, that's mean. Hum Boss, consider your feelings
and your distress. Listen, listen. You know what I have no problem.
I laugh at people's stress. I encourage people to laugh at my stress
and my anxi and my misery. Ken writes, TNA should move us.
What's that I said? Because I will laugh at your misery? Right,
so it's only fair ye. Ken writes ten to move to the UK,
then Chris Saban's ACL surgery would have cost fuck all. Blake makes a very
good point, he writes, anyone worth a fuck learned a lot about themselves
on this journey, truly the work of God's We are forever grisateful brother learned
a lot about themselves. Michael has Hogan memories, and Boss, I wish
you would share them with The Solar system has got it get very close to
the bottom of the TNH mail bag and all that signifies hm ah Hello laps
co Chairs, A long time freeloader, first time emailer. The Teenage Journey
has been a real painful joy to go through and has really hit home with
the tragedy that is Hulk Hogan. My earliest memories of wrestling are, in
fact, the build to Hogan Andre the ripping of the shirt and cross and
the year bleeding line from Piper sent a chill down my eight year old spine.
I didn't exactly know who either man was, but I was totally drawn
in by the story. Not long after was the Saturday Night's main event where
Hogan won the Battle Royal and I was legitimately concerned that Hogan was going to
be killed in the ring and the way Terry recounts that this time period,
I'm not alone. Yes, my father is one of the original lapsed fans.
This ship looks fake now Yes, now, I'm gonna beat your ass
boy fuck, he was saying. In the late nineteen nineties, and wrestling
was treated with the same level of importance as all other sports. I sympathize
with the co Chairs and Universe members whose families were less than enthusiastic about pretend
pugilism living in the proud c town of Manchester, New hampshiess A closed circuit
screening of the mainstree was held at the JFK Center near downtown Manchester. Though
I could not attend, I did watch the news report of the event.
A couple thousand people were there with the typical types of interviews. You can
imagine the LAPS editor would be proud. The clip even showed the now famous
clip of Hogan slamming the seven hundred pound Andre, who unfortunately died moments later
due to shock and shame, with the glorious bouquet of flashbulbs exploding over the
one hundred and ninety three thousand strong Silver Dome. After that, I became
glued to Saturday and Sunday mornings at eleven AM. Watched Channel nine for the
newest episodes of Superstars and Challenge. A couple of years later we got a
black box with all the channels and primetime Wrestling World Championship Wrestling WW Main Event
and whatever afternoon wrestling ESPN would show a BA and later GWF. Yes,
GWF. I remember that Rod Price when in the North American Title. I
saw it on ESPN, Yes he did. Always hear it some Friday fucking
afternoon. We hear that, We hear about that one more than I know
fucking Rod Price Man when of that GWF North American Title. I needed all
of it, however I could get it. All. The other elements of
my fandom began to fill in during that time as well, diving into pro
wrestling illustrated in the aptermag learning about the NWA and Channel seventeen at six oh
five, staying up super late to watch Glow, crying tears with my entire
family, to the post match of Warrior Savage, reaching peak fan nirvana after
my pick Rick Flair proved himself to be the Marathon Man and win the ninety
two Rumble. Stumbling onto the Internet and coming across Russell Line and reading Scott
Keat's early work along with the Bagpipe Report, Tita Tito Shearer, etc.
Even organizing parties around Dave Sharer, even organizing parties around watching ECW on the
Spanish language Worcester station at two am on a Saturday night. Some of the
happiest, most transcendent moments of my life that I will remember vividly until the
day I die, all of it, all of it because with the red
and Yellow. Now as a cynical, jaded, smart fan, I certainly
picked up my criticisms of the of the Orange Goblin. But at the same
time, when the circumstances were just right WrestleMania X eight, I was sucked
right back in and was an eight year old again. Obviously, the one
two punch of the sex tape and racist comments completely blew up most of any
nostalgic sentimentality I feel for Terry Balaya. As an aside, it's tragic that
so many wholesome heroes of the eighties Hulkogan, Bill Cosby, O. J.
Simpson, Michael Jackson, etc. Were proven later to be kind of
horrible people. But I digress. As has been mentioned, the Lapse Fan
is as much a journey of the career of the Hulkster as it is an
insightful examination of the ridiculous pseudo sport we know and love. In light of
this exceedingly and excruciatingly long examination of the complete collapse of Hulkogan, I was
curious that the co chairs could spend a few minutes talking about what Hulkogan means
to them, thanks for everything you do and thank you for tea and h.
I mean, what Hulkogan means to me is what it meant to ellis
Hulkogan will say anything to anyone at any time and then backtrack it by saying
it was another guy and he got one hundred million dollars from it. Um
what whole cocod means to me? Yeah, not an easy one. I
mean he was the He was the reason in many ways that I wanted to
watch pro wrestling. Yeah, why ah, there was just something magnetic about
him. Yeah, you know, like I didn't. It's like when I
became a fan, he was already my favorite. There was no but he
was it. And I don't know why, Yeah, I think. I
mean, he was just so colorful, and he was like a cartoon character
on the TV screen and he knew that, and he knew how to be
a muscled up Marvel superhero in a wrestling ring. And you could say Superstar
Graham and you know Dusty Rhodes and all the other influences he had and that's
all valid, But that's like he had more energy than those guys in terms
of like not more energy Dusty's thing was the promos. Billy's was the promos
too. Hogan's promos were great, but it was really just the charism of
moving around. It was it was It was the idea of this guy could
be in the ring and just look to the crowd and just totally get Madison
Square Garden in their feet just by turning his head to the right. It
was the fact that he knew, yeah, when push came to shove,
that he has to come off like an ass kicker as much as he's sort
of preening and oiled up and all, that he wasn't a wrestler that you
could sort of make fun of for being in his underwear. And you know
what I mean, the mainstream were special, that he was really like a
special presence. Yes, and he knew enough about why people came to the
wrestling matches before the national expansion right right right that he knew where to go
when it came time to really satiate what real wrestling fans want out of wrestling,
Which sounds ironic to say, because the time people were like, this
guy's the fucking death knell of this business. He's not, you know,
Rick Flair is the antithesis you're either a Rick Flair Holklgan fan, and the
way he performs in that ring takes us so far away, yeah, from
the art form that we fell in love with, that's all. It almost
seems a prostitution of it. But you can't watch those crowds during that first
title run and conclude that he's doing it wrong. You cannot right right,
And what he meant to me is and we're talking about like he's already did.
We don't want to waste too much of this in but you know,
he ends up meaning to me a guy who taught me that wrestlers have to
be wrestlers one hundred percent of the time in all elements of their life to
have the success he had, and that even that success is fleeting. Because
if you follow the whole Cogan playbook, which reason would tell you if you
want to be the biggest star possible in pro wrestling, you would follow his
playbook, you still end up, you know, wearing a bandana in a
courtroom. Yeah, because you're afraid of how you look when you're bald.
You still wind up confiding in the woman you're cheating on your wife with on
camera that you're afraid You're just a country bumpkin. You still clink the revolver
against your teeth because the house is empty because everybody moved out overnight. You
still can't walk because your back is so badly damaged that you know, no
one told you, right. One of his favorite things was, no one
told me it was fake, And it's like, yeah, Terry, the
only thing that turned out to be real was the damage it did to your
body. The rest of it was all just string for you to play with.
Yes, And he admitted this just a few weeks ago. He was
doing another tour of interviews to promote whatever he's promoting now, and he said
it, He said, you know, and we cited the last episode of
The ten Journey to me. The winner is the guy in the ring was
making the most money. The work is getting the most money. That's what
motivated him. He was an accounting student. He was a guy that minded
the ledger, and he was a guy who despired how much money he ever
had, was always afraid he didn't have enough, and always felt like the
next hussele was a worthy one. The next hussle was was one he couldn't
afford to leave on the table. He's so like that that he even convinced
himself that he missed out on the George Foreman grill and he's playing a Metallica
and oh, exactly, he's right. He's he's convinced. He's convinced himself
of delusions because of things. Yeah, because of this mental stadias himself in
it, and as many pay days as he was able to grab along the
years, he's equally, if not even more focused on the ones that he
perceives he missed out on. That's the tragedy. He's never going to get
to a point where he looks around and says, all right, I squeezed
all of the juice side of that orange I possibly could, and now it's
time to enjoy the fruits, because he doesn't want to enjoy anything. He
just wants to make more. Yes, he just wants to be convinced that
the run isn't over. And he's doing interviews in his seventies talking about what
possibly wrestling again. He's his arms are back where they were twenty years ago.
If you see some of the videos he's been posting lately. Only God
knows what he's doing to get those arms back. And I mean we talked
about the trial of his life Bashed the Beach two thousand. In a lot
of ways, this is just an extension that the shows where he retired around
wrestling Menia eight. I guess what Hulk Coogan means to me as a wrestling
fan is somebody who showed us how brilliant a performer could be, yep,
only for us to realize that that brilliance is not always put to the best
use, yes, and that if circumstances changed in the worm turns, suddenly
those qualities start to look Macavellian, they start to I guess what it is
is you realize there's no scratching that off the surface. It's I guess it's
what he told us all along, that there is no Terry Balaya that's right,
that we'll ever see, right. I guess that's what hul Cogan means
to me, And so that's TNH. I want to thank everybody for writing
in, for their thoughtful feedback, yes, and for bearing with us as
we did what had to be done. History will reflect kindly upon it,
I would wager. I would wager that as well. For now it's time
for us to move on with with very little in the way of regrets.
Boss, I mean yeah, well, yes, I can't you know,
I get well, I guess there is one dragon. There is there is
one. There's the one dragon that the mystery, the missing piece. Listen
for it. Say hey, hello, bye. Got his legs went numb.
I'm gonna drive right up. Okay, why would have to go?
I have to go. My dad's legs went numb and he collapsed. I
has to go. Are you sure? Yeah? Next week A s as
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