Speaker 1: The views expressed in the following program are those of
Speaker 1: the participants and do not necessarily reflect the views of
Speaker 1: Saga nine sixty AM or its management.
Speaker 2: It's Wednesday, and you know what that means.
Speaker 3: Ringside Heat is back on the air on new STOK
Speaker 3: Saga nine sixty with a new episode.
Speaker 2: Ladies and Gentlemen.
Speaker 3: My name is Lextan, hosted producer of the show, and
Speaker 3: you can follow me at Lextan Media. You can follow
Speaker 3: the show at Ringside Underscore Heat and alongside me here
Speaker 3: for this episode of Ringside Heat, as always, is our
Speaker 3: TNA Wrestling Expert, our wrestling memorabilia and general collection expert.
Speaker 2: He is, uh, he's a whole.
Speaker 3: He's sporting one of those WWE snap bands of the
Speaker 3: Spinner Championship and which you can't see because you know,
Speaker 3: we're not putting this up on YouTube right now, but
Speaker 3: he is celebrating a championship alongside alongside a certain NBA
Speaker 3: team who hast won one in fifty three years. His
Speaker 3: name is Chico Nugate and you can follow him and
Speaker 3: his collection at Coco Collects.
Speaker 2: Chico. Welcome to the show. Nice to be back after
Speaker 2: a couple of weeks where I couldn't join you unfortunately,
Speaker 2: so I couldn't. I couldn't join the show either at
Speaker 2: that point either. So oh that's true. Yes, anyway, Sorry,
Speaker 2: but man, it's so surreal. I know we're going to
Speaker 2: get into the weird stuff that's going on in pop
Speaker 2: culture and sports entertainment intersecting, but dang, what what a
Speaker 2: what a time? What a time to be a pro
Speaker 2: wrestling fan? Actually, mm hmm exactly.
Speaker 3: And the thing, the question I want to start off
Speaker 3: with here today to begin our discussion here on the air,
Speaker 3: And of course you can you can follow us anywhere
Speaker 3: on social media, and hey, reach out for us if
Speaker 3: you like. If you really like what we're talking about
Speaker 3: and want to ask us a question, you should reach
Speaker 3: out to anyone of us on social media and uh, hey,
Speaker 3: we'll respond as long as you as long as you
Speaker 3: keep it one hundred, you know.
Speaker 2: But here's the question I would like to pose to
Speaker 2: you to think about, Chico.
Speaker 3: What is the weirdest wrestling idea that ever got you
Speaker 3: emotionally invested. It may not be the best match, it
Speaker 3: may not have been the best the biggest star, but
Speaker 3: the weirdest idea that somehow made you care? I give
Speaker 3: you a couple of seconds. I'll give you a couple
Speaker 3: of minutes to think about that.
Speaker 2: Uh and uh and.
Speaker 3: I'm I'll go into mind, I'll go into my personal
Speaker 3: uh top three before you know, growing up as a
Speaker 3: wrestling fan and before this year. I'm gonna say I'll
Speaker 3: compartmentalize it by saying, let's go back into the archives
Speaker 3: for sure.
Speaker 2: Sure. So one of.
Speaker 3: The things that that that made me, uh, you know
Speaker 3: that was the weirdest wrestling idea that got me emotionally invested.
Speaker 3: The Firefly Funhouse. My goodness, that was amazing. It was
Speaker 3: like and it was it was weird. It was like
Speaker 3: you know it it had such a it had such
Speaker 3: a really really uplifting theme song talking about we're really
Speaker 3: glad that you're our friend and this will be a
Speaker 3: friendship that will never ever end. I mean like and
Speaker 3: and then it's Bray Wyatt with his McMahon puppet and
Speaker 3: his sister Abigail puppet and then him and like like
Speaker 3: sweats and a headband, uh, you know, just doing an
Speaker 3: eighty style exercise video taunting whoever he wants it to
Speaker 3: talk would put him in a man and then he
Speaker 3: and and then you got invested in that you wanted
Speaker 3: to watch more Firefly Funhouse every single week, and you
Speaker 3: can hear the pops every single week, just.
Speaker 2: Get louder and louder and louder.
Speaker 3: And then Alexa Blis gets involved and then and then yes,
Speaker 3: I know, with a lot of wrestling things and a
Speaker 3: lot of things that McMahon does, it fizzles out. But hey,
Speaker 3: it was there, It was, it was there. Another another
Speaker 3: weird one, Santina Morella, Well, hold on, hold on, wait
Speaker 3: before you go into your next idea. Uh, I mean
Speaker 3: the mister Rogers aspect of the fireflyfe on House was
Speaker 3: also kind of cool. You know, he gave that wholesome
Speaker 3: side to his his characterization and then it made it
Speaker 3: this this crazy Uh I guess I don't know how
Speaker 3: to reword it any other way, but kind of a
Speaker 3: schizophrenic nature of his character. Yeah, that would probably be
Speaker 3: a pretty good explanation of that character.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, or dissociative personality disorder or something like that,
Speaker 2: something where he had multiple personalities on screen. And and
Speaker 2: then you know, of course if and you don't want
Speaker 2: to get on his bad side, because then the fiend
Speaker 2: will come and get you right, right, right, right right,
Speaker 2: I mean speaking of coming and get you, coming to
Speaker 2: get you. The Boogeyman did not do that for me,
Speaker 2: So I was okay, I was amused by that, in fact,
Speaker 2: very amused. I even like I mean, of course, the
Speaker 2: Booker team made it even even more entertaining because of
Speaker 2: how much he looked like he genuinely feared the Boogeyman
Speaker 2: every time he appeared on screen. Along with his wife,
Speaker 2: the Lovely Queen Charmel would also add to the the
Speaker 2: the lore of it too, so which I really respect.
Speaker 3: I mean, like they really bought into the absurdity of
Speaker 3: the Boogeyman.
Speaker 2: Yes, and they made me like thoroughly entertained in those segments, uh,
Speaker 2: and I mean speaking of bizarre and talking about the Boogeyman.
Speaker 2: I remember there was even this Vince Man really thought
Speaker 2: of some weird, weird stuff back in his day as
Speaker 2: creative head. Oh but but Boogeyman, like he ate the
Speaker 2: birthmark off of Jillian Hall's face. I remember that, Like
Speaker 2: she had a big, huge thing like a growth on
Speaker 2: her face for a while, and then like I think
Speaker 2: how they got rid of that was I think the
Speaker 2: Boogeyman consumed it like he ate it off of her face,
Speaker 2: like the very very very truly strange and yeah, no,
Speaker 2: I mean wasn't the best, but I was entertained because
Speaker 2: what is pro wrestling. It's it's entertainment with sports. So
Speaker 2: I mean exactly, I mean, we'll go into that some more,
Speaker 2: but go on. You had another answer to your own question.
Speaker 3: Well, there's this little Santino Morella was also one of
Speaker 3: the weird concepts where it's just like, you know, you're
Speaker 3: going into crowd and in Milan of all places, and
Speaker 3: then you know, just pulling somebody out of the crowd
Speaker 3: randomly and he wins the inter Continental Chain Championship and
Speaker 3: you know what, and which is another weird concept.
Speaker 2: But hey, it was. It worked.
Speaker 3: It got me invested into the Santina Morella character. And
Speaker 3: you know, we're still talking about and we're still laughing
Speaker 3: about Santina Morella Anthony Corelly years decades.
Speaker 2: Later, which is amazing number. It is, by the way,
Speaker 2: the director of authority on TNA Wrestling.
Speaker 3: That's right, expert, that's right, TNA expert. You would you
Speaker 3: are the authority on that? And uh, a little bit
Speaker 3: of a weird concept, but uh and a little bit
Speaker 3: awkward but it did get me emotionally invested in It was,
Speaker 3: wwe bite this Leada and Matt Hardy and that whole storyline,
Speaker 3: The whole Leada and Matt Hardy storyline. There it got
Speaker 3: me really Leada, Matt Hardy and Edge. That there you go, Leada,
Speaker 3: Matt Hardy and Edge storyline. It was the It was.
Speaker 2: Awkward, it was weird, it was.
Speaker 3: It was uncomfortable, but I got emotionally invested in it
Speaker 3: because it was because despite the the unfortunate circumstances of
Speaker 3: what was happening in real life, they all bought into
Speaker 3: the story that they were telling.
Speaker 2: So that's an interesting situation because by the time any
Speaker 2: of the drama between Matt and Edge and Lida made
Speaker 2: it onto the screen, we'd find this out years later,
Speaker 2: but they had made up backstage already by the time
Speaker 2: even a little bit of it, I think I think
Speaker 2: even before the bite this call. Yes, I think even
Speaker 2: before that they had already made up and were thinking
Speaker 2: about creative ways to do this because their boss was
Speaker 2: telling them to use it for on screen drama, which, honestly,
Speaker 2: like it did for you, it got me emotionally invested
Speaker 2: in the product. Like I loved it when Matt came
Speaker 2: back and he had that what Matt Hardy will Not
Speaker 2: Die shirt or something, and like he supposedly had been
Speaker 2: let go and they had they we didn't know that
Speaker 2: they brought him back already. And then when he attacked
Speaker 2: Edge and Lida I guess, or try more of Edge,
Speaker 2: I guess.
Speaker 3: He attacked Edge, he called him Adam on the air,
Speaker 3: he called Lida just Lida, and then he actually this
Speaker 3: is off Mike. Yeah, no, well no, it was actually
Speaker 3: on a live microphone.
Speaker 2: Oh okay, yes, it was actually on a live microphone.
Speaker 3: They played it so well that we all thought it
Speaker 3: wasn't part of the show.
Speaker 2: That it was that that that that that that k
Speaker 2: fave was actually broken. Yeah, and like you said, like
Speaker 2: you're about to say, he was plugging a ring of honor,
Speaker 2: which was at the time kind of mostly taboo to
Speaker 2: mention anyone else. And so I feel like I might
Speaker 2: have at least one answer to your question at this point,
Speaker 2: now that I've been listening to you for a little while.
Speaker 2: Mm hmm. Yeah, I mean I think I know what
Speaker 2: one you're going for. I think I think I know
Speaker 2: which it is. I'm not sure. I think the one
Speaker 2: you're thinking that I would say will come later on,
Speaker 2: but now I'm thinking of digging way back into the
Speaker 2: archives and as a kid, and to me, this is
Speaker 2: strange to be associated with pro wrestling, but it was
Speaker 2: the Summer Slam where you had the match made in
Speaker 2: Heaven and the match made in hell. Now specifically it
Speaker 2: was the macho man Randy Savage and Elizabeth wedding storyline.
Speaker 2: That is one of my earliest, earliest recollections of something
Speaker 2: that was not just quote unquote wrestling but made its
Speaker 2: way onto this product. And you know, there weren't really
Speaker 2: many moves involved. I mean, it was a drama between
Speaker 2: a wrestler and his valet who he had kind of
Speaker 2: a on and off relationship with, and you know, of
Speaker 2: course the infamous Elizabeth, will you marry me? Like I
Speaker 2: remember that? Yep, that was just in blazoned into my
Speaker 2: head as a kid. It's so weird. But I'm like,
Speaker 2: oh man, it's such drama, you know, oh it was.
Speaker 2: It was such drama. And then when they finally got
Speaker 2: married on screen, I forgot what the what form that took.
Speaker 2: It might have been that Summer Slam. I think maybe
Speaker 2: that was where the wedding was on screen. It was
Speaker 2: I think I got legit like emotional even as a kid,
Speaker 2: I'm like, oh my gosh, they're tying the knot. They
Speaker 2: overcame adversity and then you know, we'd find out later
Speaker 2: behind the scenes that they they were already divorced by then, Yes, exactly,
Speaker 2: and it was that situation, but hey, they found a
Speaker 2: way to make money out of it, exactly. They're they're
Speaker 2: being professionals, you know. So and I think I think
Speaker 2: Mauch did really care for Elizabeth, you know, like all
Speaker 2: the way through.
Speaker 3: Oh, that was very very clear that like that, like
Speaker 3: even with the I mean, like there are different stories
Speaker 3: that come out, but I think as well, I agree that,
Speaker 3: like I do believe that Macho Man and Elizabeth really
Speaker 3: did care for each other.
Speaker 2: Yes, he was very very jealous.
Speaker 3: I was a very very jealous partner, a very jealous
Speaker 3: husband even and uh but I mean, but then again,
Speaker 3: at the same time, it's at this at the same time,
Speaker 3: like you know, when you when you're hot headed like that
Speaker 3: and everything, it's like it's it can be very very
Speaker 3: easy to really let the jealousy because jealousy will Jealousy
Speaker 3: is a kind of a is a very human trade
Speaker 3: and everything it's it's a I mean, I mean, you know,
Speaker 3: it's everybody. Everybody experiences in one form or another. But uh,
Speaker 3: it just flared up a lot with him because of
Speaker 3: you know, his own personality and his own personal issues.
Speaker 3: But at the same time, Elizabeth was, you know, the
Speaker 3: first lady of wrestling, Like you know, she is one
Speaker 3: of those at the time, and she was really uh
Speaker 3: when she and Macho Man were at their prime back
Speaker 3: in the eighties, you know, she was considered the most
Speaker 3: beautiful woman to ever grace a wrestling ring.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, for years. She definitely definitely was. Uh yeah.
Speaker 2: So that's now now hearing you talk, that's what my
Speaker 2: brain went to is that was kind of you know,
Speaker 2: it's it's part of professional wrestling, but it's like no
Speaker 2: wrestling involved sort of in that in those portions of
Speaker 2: the show. So yeah, kind of kind of weird, kind
Speaker 2: of off killed her a little bit exactly.
Speaker 3: And that's the thing is that And that's the thing
Speaker 3: is because we've said this before many many times over
Speaker 3: the years, that it's not just wrestling, and there's a
Speaker 3: there's a great YouTube video on that that like you
Speaker 3: know that that that that some many wrestling fans may
Speaker 3: have checked out called wrestling isn't wrestling, And because it's
Speaker 3: not just the professional wrestling, the athletic side, It is
Speaker 3: the artistic, it is the storytelling, It is the acting side.
Speaker 2: It is the.
Speaker 3: Pump and pagistry, pageantry, and the the fireworks.
Speaker 2: And that and and all that that that come with it.
Speaker 3: And it's because it's just wrestling is ridiculous, and thank
Speaker 3: god wrestling is ridiculous because to not because I mean,
Speaker 3: then the the story of this of the past few
Speaker 3: weeks and everything, Uh, we're talking about two main stories
Speaker 3: that sound like they were pitched by a sleep deprived writer,
Speaker 3: haunted Carnival Parker and somebody who lost a bet at catering.
Speaker 2: And uh.
Speaker 3: And the first one and we're going to talk about
Speaker 3: is Dan Housen helping uncurse the New York Knicks on
Speaker 3: the way to the championship and cursed, cursing Stephen A
Speaker 3: Smith and by default uncursing the Knicks as well, which is.
Speaker 2: Oh no, no, no, I think Stephen A Smith is
Speaker 2: still cursed now, okay, okay, okay. There there was a
Speaker 2: distinction there. It was a cameo where Dan Housen got
Speaker 2: paid human moneies. Yes, yes, yeah, that that humbly requested.
Speaker 2: A fan Fanausen requested that that he lift the curse
Speaker 2: on the Knicks, uncursed the Knicks. As a response to
Speaker 2: that cameo request which Smith, yeah, no, but Stephen A.
Speaker 2: Smith like he went back onto ESPN, I think it
Speaker 2: was and reiterated that Stephen A. Smith is still cursed,
Speaker 2: but the Knicks are uncursed. So he kind of made
Speaker 2: that distinction. And ever since that cameo and him like
Speaker 2: fulfilling that request, I guess yes to uncurse the New
Speaker 2: York Knicks. That's when they went on their thirteen game
Speaker 2: winning streak.
Speaker 3: Exactly, and they've only lost and they only lost that
Speaker 3: one game in then, Yes, one game since then and
Speaker 3: they rolled and it's like yes, and then like yeah,
Speaker 3: the the comeback game twenty nine points down.
Speaker 2: Yeah. And much credit to Square Guardian, Yeah, much credit
Speaker 2: to Toronto Raptors alumnus og An Andobi now a champ
Speaker 2: on two different June thirteenths.
Speaker 3: Yes, exactly, exactly. Hey, you know what you got og
Speaker 3: on your team. Good things are going to happen.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 3: I still remember his buzzer beater against Boston back in
Speaker 3: the twenty twenty Pandemic playoffs. He hits it, he hits it,
Speaker 3: doesn't even look at it. He's just like or he
Speaker 3: sees it go through and he's and he doesn't even
Speaker 3: raise his hands. It's like the sound that runs into
Speaker 3: my head is Andy Sambers, who guys don't look at explosions.
Speaker 2: Well, I think he learned a lot about being even
Speaker 2: keel from one Kawhi Leonard when when they were on
Speaker 2: the same team. So that's part of it too. But yeah,
Speaker 2: I know, I mean to go back to the sports
Speaker 2: entertainment of it all. I've been very entertained by by
Speaker 2: Dan Housen and really the coincidence in him uncursing the
Speaker 2: Knicks and it actually happening, you know, because it's it's crazy.
Speaker 2: The Knicks have for the past couple of decades at least,
Speaker 2: have been that team where they'll make it to the playoffs,
Speaker 2: but you never expect them to pull it out, you
Speaker 2: never expect them to win the big one.
Speaker 3: So you're basically saying that the New York Nets, the
Speaker 3: New York Knicks until this year have been the Toronto
Speaker 3: maple Leafs.
Speaker 2: Yes, and now the Toronto maple leafs continue to be
Speaker 2: the Toronto maple leafs so well. I have heard or
Speaker 2: seeing a couple of comments, one of which came from
Speaker 2: our very own Jose Taboada. Then Dan Housen should really
Speaker 2: also uncurse the leafs forgot ah. Yes, but we need
Speaker 2: to pay him human money as though. That's the thing.
Speaker 2: That's right. I'm a little I don't make that much money,
Speaker 2: so somebody else is going to have to pay him
Speaker 2: to uncurse the leafs. Maple leafs. Sports and Entertainment.
Speaker 3: You're listening to the show right now, pay the human
Speaker 3: moneys to Dan Housen to uncurse the leafs.
Speaker 2: That's right, that's right, oh man, that's your team exactly.
Speaker 2: And you know what I think, Dan Housen even I
Speaker 2: don't know if you noticed this, but Dan Housen also
Speaker 2: uncur the Carolina Hurricanes a little while ago.
Speaker 3: He did, he did well, he well, he did put
Speaker 3: a curse on them in Game two of the playoffs,
Speaker 3: and then he I think he must have uncursed them
Speaker 3: before that, because the Carolina Hurricanes did go on to
Speaker 3: win the Stanley Cup. The next night, after the New
Speaker 3: York Knicks one, the stat uh one won the Ilari
Speaker 3: o' brien Trophy. So uh and uh well unfortunately, uh well,
Speaker 3: which is which is the craziest thing, because former Maple
Speaker 3: leafue Freddie Anderson is now a Stanley Cup champion.
Speaker 2: However, now who was on who was on the Golden
Speaker 2: Knights that was a former mate belief that didn't get
Speaker 2: to win the championship this time, Mitchell Mitch Marner. Yeah,
Speaker 2: there you go. Yeah, I heard somebody comment about that too.
Speaker 3: Uh So you you, as a person who doesn't follow
Speaker 3: the Toronto Maple Leafs, who you know or hockey and
Speaker 3: you know the name of Mitch Marner. That's actually you
Speaker 3: know that that that that that's actually pretty uh phenomenal.
Speaker 2: That that guy has cost over a Yeah, one of
Speaker 2: the few names I know just because he's a big
Speaker 2: name in the Toronto hockey circles. Yeah, I mean, so
Speaker 2: Dan Housen has really but that guy is one of
Speaker 2: the answers to your question to the you know about
Speaker 2: the strange things that have gotten me emotionally invested, because
Speaker 2: I mean I first heard about that guy when he
Speaker 2: was in Ring of Honor. I heard about him during
Speaker 2: the pandemic and so I saw these kookie vignettes as
Speaker 2: part of ROH Days or the Dying Days of ROH
Speaker 2: before being bought by Tony Kahn. Yes, yeah, Dan Housen. Honestly,
Speaker 2: I think dan Hausen was the one that made me
Speaker 2: tune into ROH during the pandemic. Maybe a couple of
Speaker 2: other people, like maybe there's one or two other storylines
Speaker 2: that I caught on too, just because I was digging
Speaker 2: that deep into pro wrestling, because it was just a
Speaker 2: weird time, because the pandemics is a weird time. But
Speaker 2: out of that weird time came Dan Housen for me.
Speaker 2: Like I learned about his jar of teeth. Yes, I
Speaker 2: learned about like exactly the nature of his character that
Speaker 2: he explained as Conan O'Brien possessed by a demon's.
Speaker 3: That is, yeah, and his voice, the voice is actually
Speaker 3: really you can actually hear Conan O'Brien being possessed by
Speaker 3: a demon in the Dan Housen voice.
Speaker 2: Yeah. So I learned about him then and I thought, okay, cool, like,
Speaker 2: and then eventually he got so much indie traction that
Speaker 2: ae W hired him for a little while featured him
Speaker 2: for a few things. But I mean there's a combination
Speaker 2: of dan Housen getting injured and also Tony conn not
Speaker 2: knowing what to do with him, so he didn't put
Speaker 2: him on as much when he got back from injury. Yeah,
Speaker 2: and then he got and then his contract ran out,
Speaker 2: and thankfully WWE scooped him up. That's you know, because
Speaker 2: I think we've talked about it on the show. If
Speaker 2: there's any company that would know what to do with
Speaker 2: a Dan Hausen, it would be the sports entertainment juggernaut
Speaker 2: of WWE. Exactly.
Speaker 3: So yeah, exactly, And you know what, I want to
Speaker 3: get a little bit more into detail about the phenomenon
Speaker 3: of what just happened with Dan Housen.
Speaker 2: And and we're also going to.
Speaker 3: Talk about, uh, the the Al Grande Americano versus o
Speaker 3: g L Grande Americano later on, because I think there
Speaker 3: are a lot of similarities and intertwinings of what happened
Speaker 3: with Dan Housen what happened with the El Grande Americano
Speaker 3: the storyline. We will get into that in you know,
Speaker 3: after this break over here Ringside Heat on New Stalksaco
Speaker 3: nine sixty am back off these promotional considerations.
Speaker 2: Wait, this is the little and you're listening to Springside.
Speaker 1: Pastream us Live at Saga nine am.
Speaker 2: Dot c.
Speaker 4: Yo bro It is Vince Russo Man and you are
Speaker 4: listening to Ringside Heat bro It News Talk Saga nine
Speaker 4: sixty am.
Speaker 3: And welcome back to Ringside Heat on New Stock Sagaine
Speaker 3: sixty am. Media, Chico at Coco collects and Ringside Heat
Speaker 3: at Ringside Underscore Heat episode two hundred and twenty here
Speaker 3: on Sagon is sixty am. It's called very nice, very
Speaker 3: eaviy with two eyes and very over as well. And
Speaker 3: Chico is doing the Dad Housing curse pose right now
Speaker 3: with the with the eyes all.
Speaker 2: Engaged in everything.
Speaker 3: So I'm very very U see, it's already working. It's
Speaker 3: already worked. I'm stuttering already, so I think you might
Speaker 3: have cursed be already.
Speaker 2: Let's go back into it then, here we go. Let's go. Yeah,
Speaker 2: let's go break back into it.
Speaker 3: Because you mentioned before the break that that that if
Speaker 3: there's anybody, if there's any company out there who knows
Speaker 3: what to do with a Dan Housing character, a quote
Speaker 3: unquote comedy character in professional wrestling, it would be the WWE.
Speaker 2: That's right, and they've let him have some creative freedom
Speaker 2: as to like how to get his character over and
Speaker 2: that and whatever lightning in a bottle just happened for
Speaker 2: Dan Housen. Uh. With all of that combined, the past
Speaker 2: couple of months have just been crazy for him. Oh
Speaker 2: my gosh. Yes, And that's the thing. It's like it.
Speaker 3: His rise is probably the most improbable rise of a
Speaker 3: WWE character, a WWE superstar to cross over into the
Speaker 3: mainstream culturals like geist, because we've had you know, we've
Speaker 3: had Dwayne the Rock Johnson, We've have Stone Cold, Steve Austin,
Speaker 3: we have Chris Jericho, all of them.
Speaker 2: And a few more as well too.
Speaker 3: Hulk Hogan exact exactly to Chico, pointing to his hul
Speaker 3: Camania T shirt that he's wearing right now.
Speaker 2: I mean, like, we have seen.
Speaker 3: The crossover stars, and it is obvious, it is obvious
Speaker 3: to see why those four names that I mentioned, Chris Jericho,
Speaker 3: the Rock, Stone Called, Steve Austin, Hulk Hogan have crossed
Speaker 3: over into the mainstream. And of course he could add
Speaker 3: Riclair into that, because who doesn't love Riclair. But Dan
Speaker 3: Housen a crossover star in three months in the WWE.
Speaker 2: YEP, He's been in the company for what one hundred
Speaker 2: and ten days something like that. Yep, exactly, and the
Speaker 2: mizz and yes, I know that.
Speaker 3: All I've also put them is over on this show
Speaker 3: about being a crossover him stuff, But he has not gotten.
Speaker 3: He has not gotten to the level of Dan Hell
Speaker 3: has gotten in one hundred and ten days as a
Speaker 3: WWE superstar. And Dan Housen becoming a crossover star works
Speaker 3: because he is not trying to be cool in the
Speaker 3: traditional sense.
Speaker 2: He's not trying to be Roman Reigns. He's not trying
Speaker 2: to be Cody Rhodes. He's not trying to see him punk.
Speaker 2: He's not trying to be Dwayne.
Speaker 3: He's something some more strange and more and more precious.
Speaker 3: He Donovan dan Housen. That is a committed, full, fully
Speaker 3: committed character. It is a walking bit. It is a
Speaker 3: merchandising machine. It's a bridge between old school gimmick wrestling
Speaker 3: and modern meme culture. Dan Housen brings in the non
Speaker 3: fans because the character is instantly understandable.
Speaker 2: Do you agree with that? I totally do. And it's
Speaker 2: also a little bit fool proof because his gimmick is
Speaker 2: that he is he is absurd. He is kind of
Speaker 2: not in touch with reality. He is so full of
Speaker 2: himself and he's in his own world that he can
Speaker 2: be that character anywhere, any time. M hmm. And he
Speaker 2: can like like we all know the character of Dan Housen,
Speaker 2: but nobody cares to know Donovan, and so he can
Speaker 2: protect his like real life exactly. You can keep that
Speaker 2: separation just by the nature of that character. So it's
Speaker 2: that rare lightning in a bottle and it has hit
Speaker 2: across like he's transcending professional wrestling and he truly is
Speaker 2: a sports entertainer like no one else has been. Uh.
Speaker 2: It's such a quick rise, meteoric rise into the cultural zeitgeist,
Speaker 2: like you said.
Speaker 3: M And here's a couple of a couple of other
Speaker 3: points about that. I would say he also is bringing
Speaker 3: back old fans because he feels like the throwback to
Speaker 3: when wrestling was allowed to be weird. I mean, like, yes,
Speaker 3: we lament every now and then that like you know,
Speaker 3: May Young gave birth to a hand as the Mark
Speaker 3: Henry uh and then but and he's like that right.
Speaker 5: Uh.
Speaker 3: But the thing is, the curse gimmick is so absurd
Speaker 3: everybody and everybody. I don't think there's anybody out there
Speaker 3: who thinks that it's real. Everybody knows it's fake, but everybody,
Speaker 3: including Stephen A. Smith, just completely agrees to play along
Speaker 3: with the gimmick.
Speaker 2: That's right, that's right. And even people like Ben Stiller
Speaker 2: have have come on TV and acknowledged Dan Housen, you know,
Speaker 2: like the only thing, Okay, the one thing or one
Speaker 2: of the things that I wish did happen during the
Speaker 2: course of the NBA Finals was I wish that Dan
Speaker 2: Housen had gotten his wish, his demand Housen rather to
Speaker 2: be seated courtside beside Tim Shalom or as you said before, Chamalay,
Speaker 2: there you go. I wish I wish that Dan Housen
Speaker 2: was was that they gave in to that demand and
Speaker 2: Sadam court side, uh say, ringside courtside between Chama and
Speaker 2: Kylie Jenner. No, it would been very amusing. Oh that
Speaker 2: was great. I mean, like, and hey, you know what
Speaker 2: it is? It is? The thing is here. Here's the thing. Though,
Speaker 2: I believe I've heard something.
Speaker 3: I heard a rumor, it might be confirmed, but I
Speaker 3: think he is actually going to be part of the
Speaker 3: New York Knicks championship parade.
Speaker 2: Yes, so it has publicly been posted by w Fans
Speaker 2: Sports Radio in New York. Who are going who are
Speaker 2: going to be part of? I think part part of
Speaker 2: the championship parade. They invited him to be their guest
Speaker 2: as part of the New York Knicks Championship Parade. Goodness gracious,
Speaker 2: that's that's online. So I mean, I would guess that
Speaker 2: Dan Housen will probably take up that offer and be
Speaker 2: there for the parade.
Speaker 3: Oh he better, he had better. I mean, live it up, Donovan.
Speaker 2: Honestly, seriously, I am so happy for that guy, and
Speaker 2: he seems like such a genuine sweetheart of a guy.
Speaker 2: That's the real man. But I mean, like the character
Speaker 2: is just so entertaining and deserves the success that he's
Speaker 2: been getting. I'm going to carry it forward and hope
Speaker 2: that and oh my gosh, and all of this is
Speaker 2: just aligning so well. I'm finding it hard to find
Speaker 2: the words because I think the stars are aligning so
Speaker 2: well for the schedule that ww has upcoming, because on Saturday,
Speaker 2: July eighteenth will be the fiftieth Saturday Night's main event,
Speaker 2: that's right, and the first time that Saturday Night's main
Speaker 2: event will be at Madison Square Garden since August of
Speaker 2: two thousand and seven. And what better way to come
Speaker 2: back home to MSG because WW is known as the
Speaker 2: New York promotion of course, right, what better way to
Speaker 2: come back home to WWE at the world's most famous
Speaker 2: arena than to bring out Dan Housen maybe retire, maybe
Speaker 2: retire his cape in the rafters amazing. And and you know
Speaker 2: who's a gigantic WWE fan, the Finals MVP, Jalen Brunson. Yes,
Speaker 2: I'm sure that they're trying to get Brunson on board
Speaker 2: to show up at his home arena, yep, and to
Speaker 2: have some sort of interaction with not only the crowd,
Speaker 2: but hopefully with Dan Housen. I mean there are Brunsenhausen
Speaker 2: t shirts like this. Is how far that that the
Speaker 2: collaboration has gone between Dan Housen and the Knicks? Uh,
Speaker 2: you know and the NBA and w W That the
Speaker 2: Dan Housen Knicks merchandise was available at the NBA store
Speaker 2: at the games. Yes, And that's not a wrestling event,
Speaker 2: It's not, No, it's not at all. It's it's ye
Speaker 2: mainstream sports culture.
Speaker 3: It's not just pop culture, but mainstream sports culture has
Speaker 3: embraced them.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and that's That's part of what is blowing my mind.
Speaker 2: So I'm hoping that for the very next Saturday Night's
Speaker 2: Main Event on July eighteenth, that all of this comes
Speaker 2: together and it's just one big spectacle. I hope they
Speaker 2: even get you know, Adam Silver, whoever to agree to
Speaker 2: let the Larry O'Brien Trophy be at Saturday Nights Main event, well, I.
Speaker 3: Believe that's well, that's up to the next now, because
Speaker 3: they own the trophy like this like that, because the
Speaker 3: the Lario Brian Trophy, like the World's the Commissioner's Trophy
Speaker 3: in Major League Baseball and the h and the and
Speaker 3: the NFL Championship Trophy there a new one is made
Speaker 3: every year. So the trophy that the New York Knicks
Speaker 3: got for this championship is under their custody, so it's okay,
Speaker 3: so they can decide what to do with it, yes, exactly,
Speaker 3: and it'll probably be in the same building. So I'm
Speaker 3: I'm just saying, I think this is a huge opportunity
Speaker 3: even even to benefit the NBA and specifically the New
Speaker 3: York Knicks in terms of market value, you know, like
Speaker 3: is it's all entertainment. All professional sports have entertainment aspects
Speaker 3: exactly exactly. And that's the one thing as well too,
Speaker 3: because of because it's mainstream sports, it's it's supposed to
Speaker 3: be everybody will should be able to get involved in,
Speaker 3: you know, cheering for your local sports team, and it's
Speaker 3: it's something that's supposed to be able to cross over generations,
Speaker 3: across over demographics. And that's what Dan Housen is as well.
Speaker 3: Because he's weird, but he's not alienating. Kids are able
Speaker 3: to enjoy him. Adults can enjoy him because they can
Speaker 3: enjoy the irony of what's going on.
Speaker 2: Yea, and they understand and and they understand.
Speaker 3: That, you know, you don't have to you don't have
Speaker 3: to break the k fab for this over here. You
Speaker 3: can just participate it. Let the kids participate it, because
Speaker 3: it's just fun to do. Hardcore fans appreciate the commitment
Speaker 3: to the bit. Casual fans are in on the joke
Speaker 3: in no time flat because he's easy to explain. You
Speaker 3: don't need twenty minutes to tell you who Dad Housing is.
Speaker 3: He's very nice, he's very evil. He curses people. That's it, yep.
Speaker 2: And so now I'm intrigued and everything he does so
Speaker 2: whenever he pops up on ww television or somewhere else,
Speaker 2: I'm like, my eyes are glued to that product. So
Speaker 2: like sometimes I feel like checking out like ESPN's YouTube
Speaker 2: channels to see if they somehow feature Dan Housen, Like,
Speaker 2: you know, so there's a bit of like draw to
Speaker 2: different things too now so and also back to WWE's product,
Speaker 2: like I'm intrigued by him and sort of my eyes
Speaker 2: are brought back to the wb product because he's been
Speaker 2: so successful and so entertaining.
Speaker 3: Exactly, and you know what, because of that, that that improbable.
Speaker 3: I'm not gonna say impossible, because it just because if
Speaker 3: Kevin Garnett said anything is possible, robbable success to another
Speaker 3: improbable success story.
Speaker 2: When we come back from the break, we will talk
Speaker 2: about we'll move.
Speaker 3: We'll move from Dan Housen and the next to a
Speaker 3: storyline that may have been one of the most beautifully
Speaker 3: stupid and stupidly beautiful things that WWE and Triplet have
Speaker 3: ever done. El Grande Americano versus og L Grande Americano,
Speaker 3: The Match to honor, the match for the honor to
Speaker 3: represent Mexico between two men who are not Mexican.
Speaker 2: We know we know they're not Mexican.
Speaker 3: Somehow, by the end, it felt like the fatal Buca
Speaker 3: Biba itself was hang in the balance, and we'll talk
Speaker 3: about that when we come back from the break. On
Speaker 3: News Tim Scaca at sixty am. This is Ringside back
Speaker 3: after these promotional considerations.
Speaker 5: Hello everyone, this is former pro Wrestling Slash Sports Entertainment
Speaker 5: referee Jimmy Corderos, and you're listening to the new voice
Speaker 5: of Pro Wrestling Slash Sports Entertainment in the GTA Ringside
Speaker 5: Heat right here our News Talk SAGA nine.
Speaker 1: No Radio, No Problem stream is live on SAGA nine
Speaker 1: sixty am dot ca. A.
Speaker 2: Hey guys, I'm Shan Spears and you're listening to Ringside Heat.
Speaker 3: And welcome back to Ringside Heat a News Talk SAGA
Speaker 3: nine sixty Am. Lex stand at Lextan Media Chico at
Speaker 3: Coca COLECX, Ringside Heat at Ringside Underscore Heat Episode two
Speaker 3: hundred and twenty, Very nice, very even, very over and
Speaker 3: because Dan Housen, I believe that Dan Housen's rise and
Speaker 3: his success have very very big similarities to what happened
Speaker 3: just a couple of weeks ago as well with Triple
Speaker 3: UH with the El Grande Americano versus og al Grande
Speaker 3: Americanos storyline, the storyline that should not have worked. Agreed,
Speaker 3: it was an absurd premise treated with total seriousness, and
Speaker 3: what happened was wrestling alchemy. And first of all, here's here,
Speaker 3: here's here's here's a couple of points. The names alone
Speaker 3: sound like parody, because exactly that's exactly what it is.
Speaker 3: What Chad Gable started that one out to be as
Speaker 3: a parody. Basically, the premise is deeply ridiculous.
Speaker 2: Neither man is Mexican.
Speaker 3: That should have destroyed the emotional mistakes of the entire storyline. Instead,
Speaker 3: it made the whole thing even more surreal, especially when,
Speaker 3: in your words, in your your naming, El venti Americano,
Speaker 3: uh came that, I came by and started speaking perfect
Speaker 3: Spanish to the to the trip to our crowd. The
Speaker 3: match then became even about identity, respect, performance, tradition, and spectacle.
Speaker 3: And because of all of this, the crowd chose to
Speaker 3: believe it, because the performers believed in it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, basically they dove in fully, even even the bookers
Speaker 2: down in triple A. And now that's such an interesting thing.
Speaker 2: And I don't know how the timing works with this.
Speaker 2: I don't know the behind the scenes of everything. But
Speaker 2: when Chad Gable started his journey as the original El
Speaker 2: Grande Americano, uh, you know, like over a year ago
Speaker 2: maybe or less than a year ago, whatever it was.
Speaker 2: I don't know if WWE clued him in on like
Speaker 2: the purchase of Triple A that was imminent. I don't know,
Speaker 2: because the timing just seemed like to be very very
Speaker 2: like lucky for him, because he definitely started doing those
Speaker 2: vignettes and stuff. I think before Triple A was announced
Speaker 2: as being purchased by by the KO Group or whatever. Yes.
Speaker 3: So, so just for the story or for the for
Speaker 3: the timeline here, El Grande Americano, Chad Gable started.
Speaker 2: Uh.
Speaker 3: He began appearing as America Americano on WWE RAW March
Speaker 3: twenty four, twenty twenty five. And Triplet ah literally bit
Speaker 3: Triple I was acquired by WWE on April it was,
Speaker 3: it was announced on April the nineteenth, twenty twenty five.
Speaker 2: Uh.
Speaker 3: And yeah, so this so literally a month before Chad
Speaker 3: Gable took on the role of Al Grande Americano. That's
Speaker 3: when the announcement that Triplet is now a ww property basically.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's crazy, man. I think it was just I
Speaker 2: feel like maybe dumb luck because uh man, yeah, I
Speaker 2: mean Chad wouldn't have known. I don't think they probably
Speaker 2: not that the purchase was coming. And then I guess
Speaker 2: when they get into it, maybe WWE didn't really necessarily
Speaker 2: know what to do with the Al Grande Americano stuff
Speaker 2: long term. Uh. And then I guess the booking team
Speaker 2: down at Triple A, of course, as we know, headed
Speaker 2: by the Undertaker, I guess they they needed some like
Speaker 2: crossover stuff too because they need WWE's global reach to
Speaker 2: rub off on Triple A too. So so that kind
Speaker 2: of started that journey. And then I guess Chad goes
Speaker 2: down an injury, right he did as Elgrindi Americano, and
Speaker 2: then so they brought in another El Grinde Americano. I
Speaker 2: just never thought that it would take on the life
Speaker 2: that it's taken on. I mean, it ignited the Mexican
Speaker 2: culture and like you said, Chad Gable, like you know,
Speaker 2: like Caucasian American guy. Uh. And then the yeah German
Speaker 2: guy who's pretending to be an American guy behind a
Speaker 2: mask and speaking perfect Spanish. Just the whole thing is crazy. Yeah,
Speaker 2: it's it's such a and it could have been such
Speaker 2: a mess. But I love that the Triple A crowd
Speaker 2: really took it on and and you know, chose their
Speaker 2: sides and informed Triple A and ww like you know,
Speaker 2: like who they really supported. And then for a while too,
Speaker 2: it had that it had that Brett Hart ninety sixth
Speaker 2: dynamic where like one he'd get cheered somewhere and then
Speaker 2: booed in the other place. Yes, you know, they had
Speaker 2: that thing where in America original Al Grande Americano was
Speaker 2: getting cheered and the second one was getting bowed, and
Speaker 2: while in Mexico the other way around, the the more
Speaker 2: recent Algrinde Americano was getting cheered and the original was
Speaker 2: getting bowed, and the original was sort of like disrespecting
Speaker 2: a lot of Mexican stuff, you know, and couldn't and
Speaker 2: couldn't speak Spanish. Really, Yes, it's kind of hilarious how
Speaker 2: he like really couldn't and and he like tried to
Speaker 2: just like put off all the people who ask questions
Speaker 2: and in Spanish, yes, exactly, yes, So it was just
Speaker 2: I don't know what it was. It was weird to
Speaker 2: start clunky at different parts and then it hit a
Speaker 2: stride and then the crowd kind of like was the
Speaker 2: glue that brought it all together mm hmm. And it
Speaker 2: just became a phenomenon.
Speaker 3: Man and and the and the match itself was probably
Speaker 3: it was captivating from bell to bell before and after
Speaker 3: it was the story.
Speaker 2: Uh the story was what's your name of Bizardo or
Speaker 2: something was Andrea was Bizarrete or something?
Speaker 3: So the yeah and the partner of Venti, yes, sure,
Speaker 3: uh yeah, and like that just just just like the
Speaker 3: just this the emotional beats of the story, the wrestling
Speaker 3: beats as well to uh, everything just everything just very
Speaker 3: just clicked so much. But that's because over the year
Speaker 3: since March the twenty fourth, when they introduced the old
Speaker 3: Grande American character.
Speaker 2: It's you know, and when.
Speaker 3: Ludvik Kaiser became the second Grande American Venti uh he
Speaker 3: uh yeah, just and everybody, as you said, bought into everything.
Speaker 3: I would say this the stakes that the stakes were
Speaker 3: fab but the emotion was real. It was respect for
Speaker 3: Luca Libre, it was audience investment and the performance legitacy
Speaker 3: from both legitimacy from both of those performers from both
Speaker 3: of those wrestlers.
Speaker 2: Uh, it created such h.
Speaker 3: Like like wrestling artistry, and that's something that you could
Speaker 3: you would see from from that, From from that, from
Speaker 3: what happened with Stone Cold the Rock back in WrestleMania
Speaker 3: X seven, Daniel Bryan winning again I've mentioned these before,
Speaker 3: winning at WrestleMania at thirty the n Disputed Championship.
Speaker 2: Uh.
Speaker 3: They there were so many things that just came together
Speaker 3: because because because the performers bought in, it made the
Speaker 3: crowd buy in, and everybody had a stake in making
Speaker 3: it all happen, and it had.
Speaker 2: Dave Lagrecov busted open Radio calling that mask versus Mask
Speaker 2: match the best match he's seen in a very long time.
Speaker 2: I would say the same. Like I went into that
Speaker 2: night not having sort of completely followed everything, but even
Speaker 2: the vignettes leading up to the main event that night,
Speaker 2: top notch stuff, like it was explained so well that
Speaker 2: I was more than ready to see this match happen.
Speaker 2: And the match itself, like the execution was amazing, Like yes,
Speaker 2: everything the emotional peaks and valleys, like the whole story
Speaker 2: of the just the match itself and everything riding on it,
Speaker 2: like the drawa the build up matches as well too. Yeah,
Speaker 2: this the the the drama of like partially ripping each
Speaker 2: guy's mask, you know, like that whole thing. And I'm
Speaker 2: not even like a full on fan of Triple A
Speaker 2: in the Mexican tradition, but I got into it man
Speaker 2: like it was really it was pro wrestling magic.
Speaker 3: Mm hmm exactly. And that's where I and and see
Speaker 3: that's the thing that we're where both these two stories
Speaker 3: of Dan Housen and the El Grande Americanos they wouldn't
Speaker 3: They would never conventionally intertwine with each other or find
Speaker 3: similarities with each other. But here's where I think it
Speaker 3: is as well as that is that the lesson from
Speaker 3: Dan Housen and El Grande Americano is this wrestling does
Speaker 3: not have to become less weird to reach more people.
Speaker 3: It just has to be more committed. Dan Housen did
Speaker 3: not cross over by becoming normal. El Grande Americano both
Speaker 3: El Grande Americanas did not go over by becoming logical.
Speaker 3: They work because wrestling remembered what it is sports entertainment,
Speaker 3: theater with bruises, myth and merch, comedy and consequences. Ritual
Speaker 3: performed in spandex under suspicious letting, and when it's done right,
Speaker 3: the crowd does not ask why am I cheering?
Speaker 2: They just do.
Speaker 1: There.
Speaker 2: It is.
Speaker 3: That looks like we're out of time here actually on
Speaker 3: the radio, just in time. Actually, this is great. You know,
Speaker 3: we had a great I mean, out of all the
Speaker 3: things that we could have discussed, I think those are
Speaker 3: the two great things that have happened with the pro
Speaker 3: wrestling industry over the past couple of weeks that we've
Speaker 3: been off the air here or that we've been running reruns.
Speaker 3: But but that's one of the reasons why we just
Speaker 3: love this stuff. It's like it's because it's because it's
Speaker 3: because of this. This is what it really breaks it
Speaker 3: becomes too. We love it because of this.
Speaker 2: Yep, this is my stories. Man. When people say I
Speaker 2: want to watch my stories, you know, like when they
Speaker 2: want to escape the pressures of life and you know
Speaker 2: they want to just get into their form of entertainment,
Speaker 2: this is this is my form of entertainment too, man,
Speaker 2: mm hmm. Per professional wrestling since I was young entertain
Speaker 2: me because it's not just the sportsy things. Yes, it's
Speaker 2: it's this drama it's this like weirdness. It's it's all
Speaker 2: of it. It's it's not oh boy, it's not just
Speaker 2: the one aspect of it. It's it's all of the
Speaker 2: aspects that we've just discussed. It really is like the
Speaker 2: happy medium of sports entertainment.
Speaker 3: Mm hmmm, I.
Speaker 2: Love it, hey, exactly.
Speaker 3: Wrestling very very much works well when everybody commits to
Speaker 3: the bit until the bit becomes truth. And with that
Speaker 3: we're gonna signing off over here. Thank you to Chico
Speaker 3: at Coca Collects. Follow him and his wrestling collection and
Speaker 3: his general collection collection at Coca Collects.
Speaker 2: I'm lex Tan. You can follow me at lex Tan Media.
Speaker 3: You can follow the show at Ringside Underscore, Heat and hey,
Speaker 3: guess what, we're very nice, we're very evil, and we
Speaker 3: very much remember the things you've probably forgot.