Speaker 1: PayPal jar open for Andrew to Tollvey, who sends us
a quick buck and says, you know what, making up
for being a loser skipping my morning coffee.
Speaker 2: Hey, you know, I appreciate the fact that he admits
the truth.
Speaker 1: I mean skipping your coffee for that cast. Yes, we're
back in the main event nineteen me some coffee for
that matter, or some uh what was it Nordelli's m
We got a we got a gift card there and
it was for and we were like trying to figure
out what the what the reference was to and it
was apparently, uh, we had made we had made some
kind of comment about pall Bearer uh being buried in Hash.
Speaker 2: Rob Writes writes to us.
Speaker 1: The Nardelli's gift card was inspired by The Buried, a
live episode The Lapsed Tight and Office's lunch order while
brainstorming dropping truckloads of earth onto Mickey James and Tristratus
at WrestleMania twenty two.
Speaker 2: Oh My God.
Speaker 1: Episode also featured audio with Paul Barre being buried alive
in hash. Lapsed Food.
Speaker 2: You got damn right, damn right, that's a good shirt
right there.
Speaker 1: The Lapsed Food, The Lapsed Food the lapsed Cuisine if
you will there we go said, do you remember joking
about Paul Barre being buried in hash?
Speaker 2: I don't even I don't even remember that. I don't.
I don't remember it per se. But that doesn't mean
it didn't happen. But it won us a free sandwich.
I guess, god, you know, people don't I think. I
think also the order from Titan Towers that they order
from Nardelli's we joked about, which I do remember that.
Speaker 1: I remember them deciding what to have for lunch because
it's going to be a long, a long, a long meeting,
long strategies.
Speaker 2: Nordelli's Yeah, down the street perfect? Can I get an
I'm gonna get a one of the the the full,
the you know, a whole Italian with you with everything
on it. Nordelli's way.
Speaker 1: Let me ask you something. Can you put a protein
bar in a sub?
Speaker 2: Let me have something? Do you listen? Do you put
protein in your subs? Well? Yeah, we put more of
you down and I understand that. Do you put protein?
Speaker 1: Do you put unadulterated way protein in yourself?
Speaker 2: I'm talking about do you like the powder? Do you
drizzle it on the sandwich? Absolutely not. No, I don't.
I don't think so, well, why not do you understand? No?
Speaker 1: What a wonderful follow up question. Do you understand? There's
why not? And there's d what do you understand? Speaking
of which, we talked quite a bit earlier this year
about WWF taking off on NBC do you do covering
the very first Saturday and it's main event from nineteen
eighty five? And we were talking a lot about the
main event nineteen eighty eight, which of course we've covered
in the archives with Hogan and Andre, but which did
all those ratings and everything, and the Solar System was
extra sharp on that, keeping us in check when we
forgot certain things or didn't place things into the appropriate context.
And so in the spirit of that, let's go to
a couple of pieces of correspondence. This one here kicks
us off, kicks us off from Josh, who starts starts
at a high level. He starts with Barth.
Speaker 2: Yes, and that's where you that's where we all should start, honestly,
uh Boston, Part one of this episode, you wished there
was a time where people could just appreciate wrestling for
what it could be. I'd like to share something I
wrote earlier today, and inspired by you guys, that I'd
be very interested in the co chairs and the solar
systems thoughts. First, let me start with a quote from
Roland bart quote. The virtue of all in wrestling is
that it is the spectacle of excess. Yes, here we
find a grandiloquence. Wow, that's when you don't hear every
day a grandiloquence, A grandiloquent word indeed, which must have
been that of ancient theaters. And in fact, wrestling is
an open air spectacle. For what makes the circus or
the arena what they are? Wait for what makes oh, no, no,
I see? And in fact, wrestling is an open air
spectacle for what makes the circus or the arena what
they are is not the sky a Roman circus was covered.
It is the drenching and vertical quality of the flood
of lights, even hidden by red velvet. Wrestling partakes of
the nature of the great solar spectacles, Greek drama and bullfights.
In both, a light without shadow generates an emotion without reserve.
There are people who think that wrestling is an ignoble sport.
Wrestling is not a sport. I mean fucking says it
right there.
Speaker 1: Sports even has to has to make sure that nobody
thinks he thinks it's real.
Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly, even he's got a little bit of shame. Shame.
It is a wrestling is not a sport. It is
a spectacle, and it is no more ignoble than to
attend to wrestled a wrestled performance that went down. Hold on,
I know it's not done yet.
Speaker 3: I know.
Speaker 2: A wrestled performance of suffering.
Speaker 1: Capital s yes, I mean what have we been saying, folks?
Barth knew the great philosophers know what we're on than
a performance of the sorrows of a mole?
Speaker 2: Is it a mole? Our novel? Our novel? Arnolfi? Or Androma?
Queen drama Kay? And Rama Kay? Isn't that?
Speaker 1: Wasn't that Charlotte's husband and Rama Ka? Well, there's only
was a lot of andrama there. Of course, suffering in
wrestling is not a sign. It is the very meaning
of the spectacle, even hidden by red velvet. Wrestling partakes
of the nature of the great solar spectacles. Greek Oh
that he repeats himself, Greek drama. Bullfights in both a
light without shadow generates an emotion without reserve, and then
from Wyndham Rotunda. Yes, Bray Wyatt quote, wrestling is not
a love story. It's a fairy tale for masochists.
Speaker 2: Wow. A comedy for people who criticize punchlines. Wow wow,
Oh love that. That's that's What do you like.
Speaker 1: About a comedy for people who criticize punchlines? What does
that do for you?
Speaker 2: Like it? It's it's for what that says to me
in a way. It's kind of funny. It's like, this
is a place for the cynics. This is the place
for everybody, for the people who don't like anything else. Yes, yes, yes,
that's true. Yep, yep. A fantasy. Most can't understand a spectacle.
No one can deny. Lines are blurred, heroes are villains.
Budgets are cut businesses, business budgets are cut. It must
have been that year got laid off. But it can
also be a land where dead men walk, where honor
I mean, especially with the video games, that's all they
do is walk. They always bring them back. Where honor
makes you elite.
Speaker 1: Were demon capitalized, agent capitalized, d so corny, where demons
run for office and rock bottom is a finishing maneuver.
No is a reason is a reason to rejoice. Woo,
it's an escape.
Speaker 2: Think about him, man, think about him, Man rock Bottom, Man,
I know rock Bottom, but it means I'm a different
man than this world we're in. Man, you know your
dad doesn't talk like that. Right.
Speaker 1: Where did this develop? Where did this kind of voice develops? Honey,
I think we need a different accountant. Yeah, he is
not a chip off the old block.
Speaker 2: No, not at all.
Speaker 1: He's not a chip off the old H and R block. No,
he's not H and R shoulder block. How was that
not a finisher?
Speaker 2: You know what? It would be great, you know what,
it would actually great if at one point Vince McMahon
made bray Wyatt be an accountant, like be like, you know,
I don't know like some some you know, play off
of the I R s. And He's like, Vince, I
can dig him in. I can do it in the
Blues clues, man, I can it can be.
Speaker 1: It can be a run. I can self referential. Vince's like, no, Pal,
you get the wrong idea. No, no, certain no, no,
this is it. This is your character you're gonna be.
Speaker 2: You know, you're the son of an accountant, just like
Dusty was a son of a player an accountant. Yeah,
we we decry.
Speaker 1: All the occupation based gimmicks of the mid nineties, But
I ask you what's worse being the wrestling garbage man
or being the son of a wrestling garbage man.
Speaker 2: You're gonna be the son of a wrestling you know,
a tax collector. You know he he taxes the wrestlers,
and you tax our time. Hell bell, he might just
tax his way to the title. He might tax his
way to the title. Maybe you will, Maybe you'll do
what your dad couldn't and tax your way to the
WWS champions I can see it. I can see it
right now. Pal.
Speaker 1: You can grab a hold or you can rab a withholding.
Speaker 2: You know you could, you know you got well how
about this? You know you got brock Lesner's got the
F five. You could have the W two. How about
that he wrote them off?
Speaker 1: One could say, you have a certain I don't know
into it, shin.
Speaker 2: You could be the Turbo tax collector. Well then, big
fan of that. We could sell that to Turbo tax foul, right,
we can You know you could do commercials. You just
know you could that if they came up with the
I R. Skimmick, in twenty twenty five. They would find
a way to sell it to Turbo Tax. Absolutely all
the logos all over the fucking arena when they wrestled. Yes, yes,
And you know he would have been they would have
made a deal to have him be the spokesperson for TurboTax,
and he had been in all the commercials and then
he'd like beat people up or something.
Speaker 1: You can see you can see bray Wyatt, like the
commercial opens, he's got the spectacles on. He's kind of
like dressed like a square accountant guy, and you know,
the tax season can be distressful, and then he rips
it off and everything blows up like the Super Bowl
commercial they did.
Speaker 2: Oh my god, it'd be so great. I think it'd
be so fucking funny. Well, they still got a Rotundo,
don't they. Isn't is it one of them? His brother? Yeah,
although he's disappeared, but well, you know, it's tax season,
after all, they could bring him back as a tax collector.
Speaker 1: And after all, like the tax office blows up and
bray Wyatt walks out the front door. They just show
Mike Rotundo in the background with his his glasses down
at his nose, shaking his head, like, what is going on?
Speaker 2: Oh, I think that'd be great. I think that would
be great. Uh, demon's running. Brock Botto is the reasonly woo.
It's a it's an escape, a reason to point at
the blame at any one but yourself for two to
three hours, an excuse to be a kid again, and
nothing matters except the moment we are in.
Speaker 1: He's describing, by the way, all entertainment.
Speaker 2: That's fine, I know exactly. Wrestling is not a love story.
It's much more.
Speaker 1: It's oh, hope, Well, it certainly has a way of
attracting the hopeless.
Speaker 2: So I can see what you're trying to say. And
in a world surrounded in hate, greed and violence, a
world where closure may never come, we all know a
place that has that has hot and cold hope on
tap for better or for worse. Not anyone who has
never understood professional wrestling. These two quotes might seem contradictory.
Barth paints it as grand theater, a morality play of suffering.
Why it, on the other hand, describes it as a sanctuary,
a place where reality bend is just enough to let
us breathe. But the truth is they're saying the same thing,
because wrestling isn't about competition, It's about emotion, Daddy, And
for those of us who have lived through trauma, who
have led our who have had our lives rewritten in
ways we never asked for, wrestling offers something no other
medium does. It takes pain, the kind of pain we bury,
the kind of pain that festers in the back of
our minds, and turns into something we can see, something
we can feel without consuming us. Wrestling externalizes suffering. It
makes it something you can cheer for, rage against, invest in,
and most importantly see resolve. It used to be that way.
Speaker 1: It used to be that way because I never you know,
I've never, when considering my deepest, darkest pain, broke out
in chance of this is awesome.
Speaker 2: Yeah. No, No, or even my my biggest joy usually
my big my happiest moment. We be speechless, right.
Speaker 1: Yes, And rarely when I see something I cheer, rage,
cheer for, or rage against or invest in become resolved
and real in front of my eyes, do I think
to myself, where's the herd camera? Can I get onto you?
I'm always looking for the hard camera. Hold on here?
Where was I?
Speaker 2: I just accidentally because here's the thing, and the real world,
closure is a myth. The bad guys don't always get
what's coming to them, well neither in wrestling, for that matter.
The people we love disappear and sometimes there are no answers.
But in wrestling, Oh, in wrestling, the score always gets settled.
The hero does come back from rock bottom, the villain
will pay for their sins, betrayals are answered, debts are collected,
especially if you're irs, and every tragedy serves a purpose.
It's catharsis plain and simple. But more than that, it's escapism.
For those few hours, we don't have to be ourselves.
We don't have to be the people carrying whatever weight
life is dumped on our backs. Instead, we can step
into an absurd, ridiculous, beautiful world where pain is temporary,
where the fight is never over, and where the impossible
can happen. That's why bray Wyatt could create monsters and
demons and yet still be one of the most human
figures in wrestling, because wrestling is where pain transforms into mythology.
We're suffering isn't just something that happens to you. It's
part of the story and the world that often leaves
us adrift wondering why things happen the way they do.
Sometimes all we need is a place where the suffering
means something, even if it's just for a little while.
Speaker 1: Thoughts well, Josh, I would agree that it it does.
It does provide a respite from the reality that people
suffer all the time and nothing comes of it, no one,
no life lessons are gained. There's you know, there's no
there's no upside, there's no there's no silver lining, you know.
That's why it's so uh, that's why it's so comforting
to lean into visions of what happens to us after
we die. That's the that's the currency of religion in
a lot of ways, is trying to offer that comfort
when the plain fact is you see people who don't
deserve things get shit all the time, or you see
people who don't deserve to die die all the time.
You see people who don't deserve to live live all
the time. Yep, And so yeah, I guess, I guess
I get what you're saying. And that in wrestling, you
if you see something that impacts you that way, you
can take comfort in the fact that the storyline is
set up so that eventually that person's going to get
their So now the problem is that in wrestling, a
lot of the people that are set up to be
the good guys in those scenarios turn out to be
complete pieces of shit in reality, right, which is not
something you have to worry about, is it regards Peter
Parker or Clark Kent. But in wrestling, these are actually living,
breathing human beings deeply flawed, which explains why they're in
the business in the first place. And that really fucks
it up because you can't always rejoice in a I
don't know, in a hul Cogan winning in the end
that gets taken away from you eventually.
Speaker 2: But I don't know, do you have anything to say, Boss,
it's you know, it's interesting. I can I can appreciate
the the that that idea I mean, I think I
don't necessarily I mean that that to me that this
description of of this, this place is could be anything. Honestly,
I don't think of it as just professional wrestling. I
think if it is anything a book, this this could
be the movies, you know, it could be movie theater,
could be the exact same thing.
Speaker 1: But because like for me, it sounds like a lot
of what he's saying. It sounds like what they say
every year at the Academy Awards, you know, when they
have those big, long, drawn out like what the movies
mean moments.
Speaker 2: Which is equally annoying to me. Yeah, as someone who
loves the movies, who wants you know, you know, just
always had a fascination with with movies and being a
part of it. I I it's like, come on, like
what you what are you doing? Like, yes, there are listen.
Art is art is the most to this day, is
like the most underappreciated thing we can we do with that.
That that that in this world, you know, everyone everyone
wants other things more than or things, other things are
more important than art, even though there are a million
reasons to show that art can be one of the
most important things to to to help people or to
do anything like it's but at the same time, it's
like there are yeah, this this thing they do with
making the you know, the movies feel so like this
like it's saving people lives, save with people with lives,
and listen, it does. For sure, there are people's lives
who are say by by watching movies. In certain way,
it's not necessarily directly for sure, but it's like it's
you know, those films are one in a million, you know,
like you can probably count on maybe two or three
a year that that could and don't necessarily don't necessarily
get to the point where they have that impact. Now, wrestling,
for me as a kid, when I first got into it,
I was not a real sports fan. That's not a
sports key agreed, because I just never you know, it
just I don't know it was ever. I like, I like,
I've always liked going to games. I've always liked going
to games, but I was never into sports like a
lot like most other people are. And that is the
key deliinegation, because it's I'm not saying one's better than
the other, but if you came to pro wrestling being
a huge fan of real sports, then you want pro
wrestling to be something different than people who came to
it from comic books and and this is what I
wanted sports to be. To me. That's what drew me
in was the fact that holy shit, you know, like
they they're treating it like a sport. But this is
what I want sports to be, right, Like, I don't
even like boxing when I was a kid, like it
just it bored me, you know, like I just never
found it interesting, but this did because it was like, yes,
this is what sports should be.
Speaker 1: It's all high spot, it's all it's all what it's
all towards the goal of making the most exciting things
possible happen in front of your eyes. It's not all
high spots. But it's also like it's like, you know,
what do I want on like a football field. I
want the other team to attack the team on the sidelines.
I want the team to I want the teams to
fight on the sidelines, you know, like have a pull
apart brawl on the sidelines that doesn't get pulled apart.
Speaker 2: Yeah that's what that they actually, you know, and that's
all that's to me what wrestling was like, here are
athletes who are kicking each other's ass because they don't
like each other, and I'm like, that's amazing.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's boundless in that way, like you can. Pro
wrestling allows you to let people react as we would
all like to react deep in our souls, you know,
but we can't because we live in a society and
unless you want to be a total fucking idiot and
you have to keep that inside.
Speaker 2: And like and and and I can, I can, And
it is interesting. It is a very curious thing. I
will say this. One thing that I think wrestling has
over any other form of entertainment is that at its best,
there are at its best, it is a way to
to to like, see, I take the you know everyone
everyone Austin McMahon. Okay, everyone loved the idea of, you know,
being able to beat up their own boss. That was
the way most people lived vicariously through Steve Austin's They
would watch this to see, you know, to feel like, yes,
that's what I want to do my boss. For me
in high school, that's what I wanted to do to
my principal, right, sure, any authority, you know, anybody exactly.
It was like, you know, there was that one you know,
well not the not the overall principle, but the you know,
the the dean of the junior, the dean of students juniors,
and anybody that you felt was abusing their power, right right,
or at least like didn't let you do what you want?
Abusing their power? Yeah, well, not necessarily. Sometimes there are
rules in place in which they're not abusing their power.
You just don't want to go by the rules, you know,
And because like I'll say, the Dean, she never fucking
shed an abuse her power, Like she just followed the rules.
But you know, when you go to a Catholic high school,
you don't want to have to fucking tuck your shirt
in every fucking minute of the day.
Speaker 1: And you tell yourself that if they really wanted to,
they wouldn't have to follow that rule to a t
and nothing would happen to them, right, right, And that
that that's kind of what I mean by abuse of power.
It's not that they're going outside the rules, which is
a great point. I mean that is abusive power is
when you go extra judicial in a way. But but
the you know, if anybody can tell you what to do,
it's very easy to to say, you know, you didn't
have to do that. I don't care what the rules say,
you know, right, And that that's kind of like Vince,
you know a lot of the things that he was
telling Steve Austin to do in the beginning kind of
makes sense just coldly on paper. Is if he's the
guy who runs the organization and wants to keep it,
you know, respectable or whatever the gimmick was. You know,
you can understand why he's acting this way, but you also,
you know, wrestling gives you license to just stomp all
over that with no consequence, you know, and we can't
do that in life. You know, there there are people
who will own us until the day we die. Yep,
there is no other way to organize a society. That's
when it lasts. And so agreed, we we navigate it.
We navigate accordingly. We download the rules of the game,
and we don't drive ourselves insane trying to pretend that
we can somehow circumnavigate that that whole thing. We just
play the game. So good stuff, thought provoking.
Speaker 2: Stuff, now, I yeah, and then they're they're they're parts
of that that I totally, I totally can agree with,
But you know, I just think, yeah, I don't know,
in a weird way, I feel like Bray Wyatt, It's
wrestling is too deep for him, Like, well, calm down,
I agree, Yeah, he got he rest in peace. I
really enjoyed a lot of the stuff that he did,
But there's a reason that it always hit a wall
with him because eventually it gets cringe, you know, Eventually
it's like this is this is calm down, you know, like,
and most of us are not watching it so that
we don't go into a depression watching it, right, because
it can be pretty cool if done well right, And listen,
all the power to him, because he's the only person
in the world who could pull off a fucking exactly
a horror monster character and to that degree, like.
Speaker 1: Off the kind of promos he was cutting, you know,
just so abstract. And but there's something really kind of
like sad when wrestling has to be abstract art. You know,
it's like it's the one thing that should allowed. It
should be on the nose. It should be what you
see is what you get, you know.
Speaker 2: Right because again, like I like I said, I see
it like a sport. I see it like a fantasy sport, right, Matt, Right, again,
you see athletes just want to beat each other up.
They don't they don't hold back in their anger. They
let their anger take over.
Speaker 1: And there's room for character there, I mean, every sport.
When you learn about some of the craziest personalities you
find out Brian Pillman was Brian Pillman in a lot
of ways before he ever became a pro wrestler of course,
you know, and football players share a lot in common
with the wrestlers, as Kim would talked about, So it's
not like this is unique to wrestling. That you know,
these people can have characters and successful at their sport.
But I'm sorry, somebody wired like Bray was in any
other sport, it's not going to be a pro. He's
too scatterbrain, like you can't. So so it kind of
it starts to get a little ridiculous. And this was
always Bray's problem when he took that whole thing and
then try to get in the ring and make us
care about wins and losses. That there was those spark
moments where people felt he was so good at his
care that they wanted to see him get his flowers.
But wanting someone to win the title to get their
flowers is a lot different than wanting someone to win
the title because they fucking rule and you know, right,
and it's their time and they're finally getting their hands
on somebody and their opportunity. Bray, it was always like, okay,
now now he has to wrestle, and everything that makes
him interesting doesn't translate into a match, right, And when
they tried to do it, it became a complete shit show, right,
the right shit show, The Purple Match, what was it,
the the Mountain Dew black Match, the worms on the canvas.
They had to do so much of that because it's
so impossible just to put them in the ring, and
you have people care you know, right, interesting stuff. Yeah,
it definitely is on twin Peaks, Chad writes. Once, during
a vacation of Seattle, a couple of friends and I
took a twin Peak side trip to Tweet's Cafe, which
is the real life Double R. Yes, I ordered some
sort of open faced turkey sandwich. There was so much
gravy on the plate it must have been a leader.
My friends were making fun of my choice, so I decided,
fuck you guys, and I ate the whole including the
earth gravy.
Speaker 2: Wow, good for you.
Speaker 1: After lunch, I agree, I do like I do. Like
what's the word I'm looking for? Spiteful eating? Yes, there
is something to be said for Oh you know what
I'm gonna do about it? And you know what I'm
gonna do about all the anxieties that food gives you.
I'm going to eat right now. Yeah, whatever the fuck
I want? How about that exactly exactly after.
Speaker 2: Lunch, we lot.
Speaker 1: We hiked down to the bottom of snow call Me Falls.
It was a steep trail. I knew I was going
to be in trouble on the way back up.
Speaker 2: Ready to go.
Speaker 1: Nah, I'm enjoying this, let's say for a while, I said,
But I couldn't keep k fabe forever. And during and
after the walk back I had the worst heartburn of
my life. That Solar System was the day I sweated.
A leader of Brown Wow should have opted for coffee
and pie.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Oh my god. That's brutal.
Speaker 1: The stuff that the Twin Peaks Journey is brought out
of Solar System members. It's quite something to see a
whole different side. Daniel James done. We want to thank
you very much for your or his pledge. Welcome into
the EPT or same to you, Macbuddah, Marty. We appreciate
the support that piece of shit. Hulkgan followed back up
and asked why was Shawn's boyhood dream a big deal
in ninety six but not when he was trying to
win the Rumble in ninety four or when he actually
won it in ninety five and got the shot at
Diesel I call bullshit. I don't think Sean had dreams
during his boyhood. I didn't realize.
Speaker 2: I also don't think he lost his smile either. I
think he had it all in a time in his
pocket right all the time.
Speaker 1: It's true, like when they were building Wrestlmingia twelve, Shawn
never reflected on the other times he had title shots
and lost. That wasn't part of it. It was like,
this is the first time he ever got the title shot.
I know, well, it was the first time he ever
had a.
Speaker 2: World title shot as a babyface, right, But that's kind
of you know, that's kind of his point, like it
wouldn't have been the achievement of a boyhood dream if
you were a heel and won it. You know, no,
I guess not because that makes you because I mean, listen,
I agree. I'm not saying he should have said it
when he was a heel. I'm saying when he was
a face, maybe reference to failures in the past may
have made some sense, you know. Yeah, well, no, we
don't want to acknowledge that stuff. It's a different time
didn't happen. But pal anything, anything, anything prior to nineteen
ninety four was old generation.
Speaker 1: I think yesterday was anything I want to forget.
Speaker 2: Is right. I think I don't want anything. I don't
want to acknowledge anymore. Is not ever happened? Also right.
Speaker 1: I didn't realize at first that Sean was calling his
fans the click. I didn't even know what the word
click meant. When the April Lank, I know, huh. That
was the first time I hear you know, you know uh,
because I I it was. It was so funny I
heard it. I heard it there. I didn't really know
what the fuck that meant.
Speaker 2: And my mom, believe it or not, was the one
who kind of she knew what a clique was, and
she knew like and she started like, I remember she
said it one time. So I heard it first with
Sean Michaels. And then my mom said something about a clique,
like are you gonna hate? It's just like that, she said,
you know something. It was like she said, oh, you're
gonna like hang out with your click or something like that,
And I was like, what the fuck is it? What
do you know about clicks? Mom? Exactly are you gonna
Then she explained to me what a you know, a
click was kind of like a group or a you know,
or I mean she put it as a gang.
Speaker 1: But you're not going to buy me that sewn Michael's
deadam jacket for Christmas?
Speaker 2: Please don't, mom, Please, I have a little bit of
pride and so yeah, but so like that's what I'm
And then and then I heard it all the time
after that, then I heard it all the time, and
like there was even a group in high school, in
my high school that people called the Click. Yeah. I
was like, the fuck?
Speaker 1: Is this ship very very clicky? They sometimes?
Speaker 2: Yes, oh yeah.
Speaker 1: When the upper linkediny six issue of WI magazine arrived
in my bailbox, he writes, I remember the cover had
a picture of Seawan Michaels in the headline kicking it
with the click.
Speaker 2: I remember that. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Since I didn't know what click meant, I thought k
l i Q you were the call letters of a
radio station.
Speaker 2: Oh that's good, there you go, that's yeah, that works.
Speaker 1: Why is there an article in this magazine about Sean
Michaels hanging out at a radio.
Speaker 2: Station hanging with you got a kali q pop radio?
I'll say?
Speaker 1: And I had a wonderful point made here in conclusion.
German Wrestling had a round system, but Auto vance was
a round system, or was systemically round, systemically round. Suddenly
it sounds like an area of academic study. Whenever you
say something is systemic, all of a sudden there's professors around.
Speaker 2: Yes, I believe, I believe Otto Vance was studied.
Speaker 1: The question is it? The question isn't did it happen?
The question is is it systemic? Question is is there
somebody we can blame and displace from the top echelon?
Is there a secretary or an executive director or a
CEO that we can get rid of because of this?
By claiming it is there, always is there, always is,
looking for that sculp, looking for that scalp.
Speaker 3: You know, wrestling podcast, the wrestling podcast that knows the
boys need their candy. It's the lapsed Fan. He's the
lapsed fan. Wrestling podcast with.
Speaker 2: Jack, And.
Speaker 1: It was always it's always so funny to me, Like,
you know, journalists take on politicians all the time, but
when they do an investigation and they want it to
be perceived as having consequence, they need politicians more than
ever because they need someone to submit a bill to
change the problem that they spotlighted in their reporting. Because
if no one wants to introduce a law to change
what it is. They pointed out that it isn't a
really big deal, now, is it? Strange Bedfellows? Strange bedfellows?
Chris writes coach chair, as I'm convinced there's a supernatural
and centrifugal force prompting a twenty twenty five TNH re Listen.
Speaker 2: Oh my god.
Speaker 1: Years after the fact, I see posts from Brandon in
New Jersey and he's feeling the same left wing vibration
sweeping the nation. Brother, hide the ball ring around the
Rosie motion for summary judgment, apropos, Hogan and Bishoff. Everything
that was once bad is back and worse than ever.
Those outside the Solar system are finally getting a taste
of the established lesson that doubling down on the same
tired formula produces and even shitty result the second time around.
Spoiler alert, everyone loses DNH. Pat Addison, we want to
thank you very much for your increase in pledged. It
seemed to you Richard Kimmel, thanks very much for stepping
up in a very big way. Cliff has mort say
in Royal Rumble ninety six to year co Chairs on
the Night of Rod rum ninety six, I tried to
bite my dad's neck. I'm just kidding. It's an old
you bitter goodie real ones now n ninety six I
got the biting thing under control. I did, however, have
another irrational fit of anger. Allow me to explain where
Rumble ninth ninety six was the first Royal Rumble that
I was going to watch live on pay per view.
Like most of the pay per views I'd watched by
the time, I asked my grandmother if she could ordered
on TV since she had the pay per view box.
I paid for it using the money I made from
mowing lawns the previous summer. The night of the show,
I gathered at my grandmother's house with her, my grandfather,
my parents, my sister Carrie, my best friend Tony. When
eight o'clock came, the pay per view channel was still scrambled.
Oh God, do we know the struggle? Oh it's the worst. Panic, panic, yep.
I grew up from every minute counts. At this point,
my grandmother called the cable company to get the problem fixed,
but no go. After a while we all realized the problem.
Speaker 2: Wasn't going to be fixed.
Speaker 1: I walked across the street to my house with Carry
and Tony. Feeling dejected and disappointed, we hung out of
my sister's room, listening to the show through a scrambled feed.
It probably wasn't the best idea because all it did
was remind me that I couldn't watch the show, but
we listened anyway. When the pre Rumble promos began, I
was shocked to hear the voice of Jim Cornett speaking
for his newest charge, Vader. I was confused. The last
time I had seen Vader he was in WCW and
had become a good guy, joining Hulkogn's team of Hulk
a Maniacs for the Wargames match at Fall Brawl the
previous September. When ww F anounce which I know, and
that funny that Vader left is a babyface. Yeah, like
Vader Left is an ally of Hulkogan, not his you know,
chief foil. When WWF announced that Vader would be debuting
in the Rumble match, I just assumed that he would
continue to be a face. So you can imagine my
surprise when I heard Cornett's voice hyping up the mast
to Don. That surprise quickly turned into anger and with
the lingering disappointment of not being able to watch the
show weighing on my heart. My angle anger boiled over
and I shouted, Vader, you're a trader legendary. Tony just
looked at me and said, Cliff, come on. Not only
did I feel betrayed by this fat piece of shit
by us, I felt embarrassed for acting like such an ass.
The night wasn't all that bad. My mom ended up
going to Blockbuster and renting me a wrestling tape. Oh
that's sweet, so I could at least watch something that night.
She brought home w W Hollyween Havic nineteen ninety four.
Tony and I watched it and decided during the wow
Arn Anderson Dusty Roads match to have a steel chair match.
It was really just a pillow fight, but we pretended
the pillows were steel chairs. I think I lost.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah.
Speaker 1: Anyway, my grandmother was able to order the replay of
Royal Rumble two nights later. So you see, there was
such a thing as happy endings. And I'm not talking
about the kind that Robert Kraft got at that day Spond,
Florida few years back. Yours truly, Cliff, and he says,
I don't know goes on in New England to catch
up is entirely appropriate for eggs and eggs sandwhich is
you know, we're not going to do this.
Speaker 2: No, we're not going to do this. Nope, nope, nope,
you're wrong, You're wrong. Listen. That is the thing about ketchup,
all right. The thing about ketchup is if if on
certain foods, it completely overpowers everything. You know, some foods
it doesn't. It did overpowers it does.
Speaker 1: It really is a condiment that you use when you
don't like the taste of the food on the plate.
Speaker 2: I'm sorry, no, I don't agree with that because I
love I love French fries with ketchup.
Speaker 1: I love friend, but I love good French fries without ketchup.
I like decent French fries with ketchup. I no, I
love French fries with ketchup all the time. Okay, you
need and and I need and listen, by the way, yeah,
I need it on a burger listen.
Speaker 2: And I don't want to just just ketchup. I need
the full you know, I mean a lot of different
things on on there. But yes, you do, all right,
you know, listen, I want to ketchup and the mayonnaise
and the yellow mustard and the relish and then tomato
and cheese, all that shit. I want to I want
a loaded burger, but ketchup is a must. Without it,
there's a weird like and I've had it without it,
you know, someone you know Sometimes I feel like that,
you know, I don't really want the ketchup and then
everything else that I have on it, it just makes
it too rich. But just having mustard and whatever, it's
like it's just too rich all of a sudden, and
like there's the vinegar miss of ketchup cuts that. See.
Speaker 1: I agree, I agree with what you're saying. But when
I I hold that against the burger, if it's too
rich without ketchup, see, I think that burger doesn't.
Speaker 2: Have to be that way. No, it's not the burger though.
It's it's like if you put the condom, let me listen. Listen.
Sometimes I have a burger with nothing, just a cheeseburger
bread that's it too. That's spectacular and I love that.
But when I want condiments on it. When I'm feeling condiments,
I I need to have ketchup on there. I can't
not have ketchup on there.
Speaker 1: I need ketchup mayonnaise, mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard, raw onion, and moroccan.
Speaker 2: Sure, yeah, we need any manaise for sure need mannaise
on there. Mayonnaise is like it's yeah, it's it's a
miracle worker.
Speaker 1: I've said this before and it's very clear. McDonald's cheeseburger's
tastes like ketchup, Burger King cheeseburgers tastes like mustard, Wendy's
cheeseburgers taste like mayo. And that's that's the So whatever
fast food chain you grew up eating the most, that's
what you want in your burger. That's my personal opinion.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean you're not wrong. You're not
wrong with that, and uh it's just uh yeah, there
are there are some things, you know, ketchup is it.
I'm picky with it, like I can't just have it,
like I can't and I usually can't have it alone,
you know, like I can't have it alone. I need
to have something else with it. Except with French fries,
French frise, I can have ketchup and it's it's wonderful.
I guess, I guess, I guess we are going to
do this. Yeah, we are doing this. You can't. You
can't put it on the table. Listen, it's there, it's there,
and it's gonna be it's gotta be cattle, all right.
Speaker 1: So rolling on here, because Rob, he put a lot
of work into this, boss, and I know we don't
always like to encourage this, but he makes a hell
of a case. He says, the Fantastic Four movie qualifies
for Under the Cinema? Which one you're about to find out? Oh,
you can convey his uh, his findings.
Speaker 2: All right, let's see, let's see him dear openers of
my anus, Like you know, I picture you got one hand,
I got the other. Like we just let's go, Rob. Yeah,
I feel like a real bitch. What do I to start?
Because I'm rewriting you an email last May I wrote
into my favorite college podcast and it was pretty cool
to hear Jack read out my name in the summer
mail bag. But the excitement ended right there when the
email itself disappeared quicker than the tag team of Kwang
and Hakushi in nineteen ninety five. So here, I am
pathetically rewriting that email to you guys, like the absolute
bitch that I am feeling like I've called a girl
on the phone, She's hung up on me, and now
I'm calling your back. Ah, you know, I would you know?
I think the line's good. Disconnected. I do this mainly
because I saw the latest trailer for the new Fantastic
Four movie and realized I had some info that might
be of use to under the cinema and the solar
system at large. I've hesitated to send an email like
for fear You'll think I'm looking for some free promotion
in advertising. Just do it. Just do it. Won't make
that decision. Just do it. I wouldn't dare. I'm well
aware I don't have that PAPS money. But hearing about
the whole ballgame in recent episodes, I thought the Chairman
would got a kick out of hearing about another one
of their podcast children outside the world of wrestling. For
four years now, the Marvel versus Marvel podcast has been
applying a good, healthy chunk of that TLF approach to
the world of Marvel movies and the long history of
the Collic books that inspired them. Hmmm, that's interesting. From
the beloved greats like Sam Raimi, Spider Man two, the
Avengers in Infinity War, to the terrible failures like Morbiasts
and Madam Webb, to overlook slices of history like Howard
the Duck, the Japanese spider Man TV show from the seventies,
and the failed, low budget nineteen nineties Captain America movie
starring the son of J. D. Salinger as Captain America.
It's like TLF. We have no we leave no fucking
stone on the turn. That's right. I've been a member
of the Solar system since not quite day one. I
jumped board during the WrestleMania journey, and since then, I've
been letting this college podcast ran my rear end to
an embarrassing degree. Hey, listen, what have we done? Yeah, listen,
we've done the right thing that we have. I ruined
an entire family holiday for myself by spending it going
through the truly emotional Owen Hard episode telling my seven
year old niece to blame Martha Hart's book for why
I'm in no mood for family fun time. Please not
recommend it recommended, but not at that time of year. Yeah,
and then the pandemic ruined my life. I'm a comedy writer.
I've written for TV and radio shows in the UK,
and I spent a lot of the year working with
comedians on their tours and on shows for the Edinburgh
Film Fringe Festival. But my job took a beating once
COVID brought us a pain across the Pacific and shut
everything down. During the UK lockdown, we were only allowed
to leave the house once a day for an hour
to exercise. For you fucking prisoners, you're fucking outdoors time
to exercise or do some essential shopping quote essential shopping
to help stave off cavin fever and true madness. I
began binging the laps fan from the very beginning, but
I knew I needed more. I needed everything else to
occupy my mind than the same way that TLF occupies
my ass. It's like a you know, it's like a
like a like a like an insect that kind of
finds a little you know, like a like a carpenter bee.
You know, it's good. That's what we are. Like, we're
like carpenter be's, you know, he's kind of like, you know,
we burrow a little bit and kind of like nestle inside.
I love it.
Speaker 1: Well, it's good to know the ass stuff lands with
a professional comedy writer.
Speaker 2: Exactly, and once again TLF showed me the way. Of course,
I couldn't do a wrestling podcast. I couldn't follow them
directly in your massive footsteps for fear coming the Greg
Gagny of the podcasting world. I've had two obsessions in
my life, wrestling in comics. My parents even taught me
to read using Marvel comics. They'd wipe out Spider Man
word balloons and then write in simple things for me
to read, like dog and ball That's pretty cool, Yeah,
a nice idea. One of the things I loved about
early TLF shows is that it very much feels like
an expert in the ins and outs of an industry
discussing shows with a die hard fan to get the
two perspectives. So, as a Marvel expert of nearly forty years,
I got together with a friend who likes the movies
but has never read a Marvel comic in his life.
Answering all those questions, it's great and hopefully achieving the
true yin Yang of the fan experience. We had no
idea how to put a podcast together. The first few
episodes were a shambalic mess, until eventually I decided to
borrow liberally from the format of The Men who Were
going to town on my ass like a used chew
toy do daycare yep. Every show starts with us exploring
the production history of the movie, the behind the scenes
shoes between Disney and Universal, the failed Marvel projects from
Jim Cameron and Darren Aronofsky, the rewrites, the friction between
cast members, and everything else. Then we take a look
at the business side of the comic books and how
these characters were created, how Marvel Comics got started, and
how the X Men and Hulk were failure to begin with,
the fights between the publishers and the creators, and the
legendary artists who died in poverty while their creations became
beloved billion dollar intellectual properties. Like William Reegal says, don't
ever forget it's a bent business. And then, just like
my beloved TLF and just like the whole ballgame, we
deep dive of an entire movie or TV show to
pull apart the great moments and the terrible one, stopping
along the way to explore comic book history and trivia
along the way. We're a modest little podcast, but the
format we took from this Goddamn College podcast has helped
us attract an audience for four years and deliver over
one hundred episodes. We've been able to run some small
live shows, meet our listeners, and even won the Best
Live Podcast award at the Nice Good Comedy Felt. The
big part of that is thanks to the inspiration from
your podcast. Sure, when we started, everyone told us that
long form podcasting was a big mistake. Welcome. Fuck Uh,
they ain't worse shit, Yeah exactly, But TLF did it,
so we went from ninety minute episodes to four hour episodes.
Your commitment to telling the whole story informed how we
approached our subjects. We wanted each episode to be the
definitive account on each movie in character. Your mantra of
no sacred cows informs how we report the history between
companies and powerless creators and helps us call out the
history of Marvel that is often racist and sexist. I
even beg for Patreon support by browbeating the cheap listeners
who don't support us and telling them they need to
do the right thing, which I ripped directly from TLF. Hey,
beautiful thing. You know, like you know, good writers borrow,
great writers steal.
Speaker 1: Yep, all right, proof of concept just keeps rolling in, folks.
I don't know what else we can say.
Speaker 2: Last year we celebrated one hundred episodes, and soon we'll
be marking five years of making shows, and a large
part of that modest success comes down to the from
the TLF inspiration. Now, obviously we're not going to tell
the boss Man about wrestlers who've appeared in the Marvel movies.
He's all over that front of the cinemat. But do
the Chairman know about the uc WF in the Marvel comics?
In the Marvel comics, there is a federation for wrestlers
with superhuman strength called Unlimited Class Wrestling Federation. That's better
than World Class. I guess so Unlimited Class, that's kind
of and included Ben Grimm aka the Thing from the
Fantastic Four as one of the wrestlers. The UCWF first
appeared in Marvel Comics just three months after WrestleMania one.
And what was happening in that first UCWF story. It's
about how most of the wrestlers were hooked on a
dangerous drug to give them super strength for wrestling just
three months after the first Mania. This was such a
prevalent thought in the public's mind that it could form
the basis of a comic book for kids. So I
submit for consideration that Under the Cinemat can include any
Fantastic Four movie as it features UCWF wrestler Ben Grimm,
as well as the twenty twenty one movie Eternals, as
the character Icarus played by Richard Madden also laced boots
for Marvel's Corrupt Wrestling Company. Thanks for ten years of
TLF and thanks for years I thanks for four years
of MVM. Well that's interesting. That's an interesting thought.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think that was worth passing on because that's
kind of something we never would have We would have
just looked at the cast list, you.
Speaker 2: Know, yeah, like does does the character like? Because because,
if I'm being honest, like it is kind of an
interesting thing because with comics translating into films, it's a
whole different it's a whole different kind of beasts. So
I wonder that if I kind of using even though
like the I don't know how they're going to do
this new Fantastic Four movie, but in the Fantastic Four
movies that they've done already, there is no mention of
the wrestling. But does because the wrestling, because the character
in the comics wrestled, does that make it qualify. Yeah,
it's a great question. It's an interesting it's not I'll
tell you what. It's definitely something I'm going to consider.
Speaker 1: Robin followed up with a tremendous piece of proof. Take
a look at what I just sent you. This is
from a nineteen seventy two thing comic.
Speaker 2: Gotcha. This is the way Dory Funk starts wrestling matches.
And if it's a good enough for the champ, it's
good enough for old Benjamin Grimm. He's fighting a hulk.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's thing talking. And they reference Dory Funk Junior.
Speaker 2: Is that fucking Matt Murdoch down there? I think so,
Like down there with the cane and the glasses, I
think that is Matt Murdock. That's very interesting. I do not.
I'm gonna I need to look this thing up the
u c WF. This is I've never heard this before.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that sounds definitely like a little side project for sure.
Speaker 2: Yep.
Speaker 1: Maybe we could call upon the expertise that we know
is out there in the solar system around comics and
really make that one say.
Speaker 2: Wow, that's wild. Are you ready for this? Are you
ready for this? I'm just stumbling upon this here. What
the fuck? The Grapplers is a fictional organization appearing in
American comic books published by Marvel Comics. It is a
loosely organized group of female wrestlers, most of whom game
superhuman strength to the group known as power Broker in
corporate I've never fucking heard of this shit. Well I'm
not like, listen, I love comics, but I'm not like,
I'm not an expert in it. So this is this
is wild. Yeah. The thing is that they've got it's
got a bunch of different kind of you know, wiki
wiki pages, it is. It is really cool.
Speaker 1: I love instances of how wrestling is mainstreamed before Hogan. Yeah,
I adore those examples because it runs so counter to
the narrative that like, only you know, weirdo wrestling fans
knew who the big wrestlers were before rock and Wrestling,
and it's such bullshit. You know, It's like they're wrestling
fans everywhere, including people at Marvel. And if you drop that,
if you drop that reference in a Fantastic four comic
in nineteen seventy two. You have to think that most
people would know who Dori Funk Junior is, Like, yep,
there's no way you just say that. So I think
it's really interesting.
Speaker 2: They list forty nine members. This is a Marvel fandom,
the Marvel fandom wiki, and they list forty nine comic
book characters who from specifically from the Earth six one
six the universe, which I believe Earth six from six
is the real is like our Earth right, And let
me see here who I reckon? I Ben Grimm, the
Beyonder is one. Let me see. I don't know them.
I don't know that. So were you a big Fantastic
four guy? No, not really. I mean, like you know,
when I was when I was uh uh, when I
when I was a kid reading comics, I was definitely
a DC guy. I mean, Batman, Superman, those are my things.
I liked X Men two, but definitely was a was
a Sharon Ventura, I Wonder, I Wonder and slaughter Boy.
There's some little uh, there's some there's some names in
here that make me make me think that they're getting
some uh, you know, some inspiration from from some folks
in the ring. Joseph Hogan brother, right, I mean Joe Hogan,
who's talking to dude, Joe Hogan brother? What Joe Hogan
is gonna fly? Actually? But like you know, more recently,
I'm definitely more into Marvel comics and stuff and the movies.
Really I did that. I love the movies. I'm I'm
very forgiving of most of the movies, even the crappy
ones that are currently being made. But you know, it's
a you know, there's I want to say, you know,
there's uh, there's stuff bruin. So maybe I'll be in
touch with Rob at some point. There's stuff bruin. I
love it.
Speaker 1: Hey, you know, if we can put a pod on,
so to speak. Yeah, it's a good it's a good situation.
Jarra Vargas, thank you for increasing your pledge. Welcome to
the executive Duscer Tier. My friend Sam O'Connor same to you.
A big ballsy move. We appreciate it, uh, Sammy writes
to us, Hello, coach. Heres recently the latest okay, recently
the latest iOS update. There is now a way to
convert your own voice into your own sery voice by
reciting a bunch of lines. Sort of vice will analyze
your voice create your own serie voice. I would pay
big for Boss to record these lines so I can
have my own personal Jesse or Vince.
Speaker 2: Let me do that.
Speaker 1: Holy shit, perhaps a cameo was an order?
Speaker 2: Do you know that? That feature? No? Very interesting?
Speaker 1: Well, Sammy, hit us up your email. Maybe we can accommodate.
Speaker 2: Create a personal voice on your Oh you can do hey, hey, hey,
oh you want to tell me? I want to tell
you where to go fantastic union protection. By any chance,
I'm going to tell you right now, I'm going to
I'm going to do. I'm going to shed you down
completely union union recognized roads. That's funny, Okay, everything. I
read a series of randomly chosen text prompts and to
record fifteen minutes of audio. If you have difficulty pronouncing
or reading full sentences, you can also choose to record
short through. This is amazingly. Shits are changing rapidly. Oh
my god, things are changing very rapidly. Oh my god,
paranoid hogan. Brother, why are you making that turn? Dude?
Right at the stop side, make a let Wait? What
do you mean left? Brother? I mean yeah. People would
be fucking like confused, like would I take a left
or not? Brother? Right, Why all of a sudden there's
an emergency. Why can't we all chill out here for
a second? Brother? Brother?
Speaker 3: Whoa? Whoa, whoa?
Speaker 2: What's the dizio? Whoa? Let's calm down, brother, shit, fuck you.
Speaker 1: Appear you appear to be uh shifting in and out
of the lane. Let's get this thing back on track, dude.
Speaker 2: So you're shifting in and out of the lane, brothers,
kind of get this thing back on track, dude.
Speaker 1: Oh, Scott, I felt bad. I described somebody as he
looks like a guy who comes to the restaurant to
set up your POS system with a blazer on over
a polo, and Scott writes me at work yesterday t
shirt with a blazer who does set up POS systems?
Feeling very yet act but accepting my fate.
Speaker 2: I felt that. No, I don't know, I just had this.
I just had this, like.
Speaker 1: This image in my mind of somebody that like is
at a restaurant at two point thirty in a blazer
on a on a Tuesday, because he's working on the
technology in the restaurant.
Speaker 2: You know what I mean, He's not there. I don't know.
Speaker 1: Sorry, you felt attacked. Not not that sorry, but it
was funny that I nailed it like that. He probably
deserved it, right, I love I love the thought of
a listener hearing something we say and just looking down
at themselves.
Speaker 2: Being like, oh shit, I know right, like just called
them out. Jeff has a great point. You see, it
could be the exception of the rule. I don't know.
Maybe you will.
Speaker 1: Absolutely you are everything we always say. Let me make
this proviso. I can't believe it took us ten years
to say this. Everything we ever say is always present,
company excluded. That's right, Jeff says, we need to list
out every wrestler who's used their fat rolls to store
food in eleven years of laughs. Oh shit, he says,
hulk HOGI is a food truck at the farmer's market
where everyone looks like Jeremy Allen White.
Speaker 2: That's good.
Speaker 1: The sandwich has caused thirty five dollars, take an hour
to make and taste awful.
Speaker 2: Yeah, of course, that's right. I'd be right with like
it's like with Rosemary jam It's like right and uh
and uh sprouts, Yeah, okay, stop, its fucking mess is
what it is. Whenever, whenever Sprouts is involved, I'm gonna
throw it in somebody's face. It is always very forced.
It is I great sucks sprout like, don't don't fucking
give me spear.
Speaker 1: Here's a sandwich. Let's make it taste like grass.
Speaker 2: Listen, I want to have eight a sandwich that tastes
like you know, what a fucking human being would eat,
not this fucking sprout, what a rabbit would eat. Right,
Eric Holman's thank you for that big plage.
Speaker 1: Eric, We appreciate that very good stuff. Carla Wright sad
demize for the luscious one. Luscius Johnny Valiant. Everything tracks
tragic and fatal collision. But then five thirty am puts
a whole other spin on it, another world, black, whole
of time. Five thirty am, he was valiant while staring
down the headlights, no doubt. For those who don't know,
he is run over by I think a bus and killed.
And for close listeners of this American work, Jesus. For
close listeners of this American work. Who knows the kind
of admiration one Vince Junior had for the Valiants, and
and and Jerry in particular. One does wonder if that
that fatal crash was ever fully investigated.
Speaker 3: Fan wrestling podcast, the wrestling podcast that knows the boys
need their candy. It's the Lapsed Fan. He's an lapsed
fan wrestling podcast with Jack and and.
Speaker 1: Jpiro Carlo also says, I'm popping like good old or
orvile Reddenbacher over here every time. Jeanne says Baltimore and
Bruno San Martino.
Speaker 2: Yes, oh yes, yes see.
Speaker 1: He says, the more I'm exposed to his personality, the
more Monsoon comes across as the JB l of his era.
Oh interesting, I did read that some of the talent.
I think this was like in The Observer, anonymously sourced
at the time. But part of the reason people did
like Goerrilla and commentary is because the talent was told
to only hook the leg if it was the actual fall,
and Gorilla would come on, deviate, rip you to shreds
for not hooking the leg on every pin, just so
he could like look cool to predict ahead of time
that it wasn't the finish, you know, kind of getting
himself over as prusciant, you know, and a sage observer
of the wrestling that's going on.
Speaker 2: I thought that's funny. I have no problem with that.
I'm totally fine with that. He's allowed to do that.
He's you know, he's he's sacred. I will say that, girl,
Monsoon is sacred. Nothing you can do about him, He'll
always be that way. There you go, no matter how,
no matter how much you fucking hate his commentary. Don't care.
Don't care, because he is a fucking he's yeah, don't care.
Speaker 1: I can see old Italian ladies having paintings of him
hanging out.
Speaker 2: I don't know what. Perhaps, of course they did, of
course they did.
Speaker 1: Saint Marilla uh Steve says in Ireland, I think that
w W Legends book and I didn't bother to look
it up also has the story that hay Stacks Calhoun
crushed to death his pet dog when he rolled on
top of it in bed. Also popped at Boss's disgust
that Oakerland's appearances. It has always been a joke in
my family that my Gene Oakland is my dad's skinnier doppelganger.
Speaker 2: That's pretty fun, that's funny.
Speaker 1: This is the reason Pedro went back to WWF. This
is in the Colosseum collection where we were kind of
seeing eighty six stuff. The reason Padro Morales went back
to w WF could have been because of a couple
of bad territory runs in the Carolinas in Florida where
he didn't have the work rate to make it higher
up the card. I've seen results for JCP from the
early eighties that have Pedro in the opening match. Yes, yes,
that's a good point. I don't think he ever was,
you know, committed to go into that territory full time.
It started to happen was as things got super intense
between Crockett and Vince in eighty five, after Crockett took
over TBS from Georgia, well they bought it from Vince,
and so it was fucking war at that point because
Vince failed on TBS and that can't happen right, And
Vince started to run a lot of you know, Georgia
cities and Georgia Championshiprestling cities in mid Atlantic cities and
start trying to push in those areas. They tried to
clap back and go into the Northeast. They went to
Philly a lot, they went to Boston a lot, did Crockett.
And what they would do is they would they would
pretty much sign up anybody who used to be used
to be a top guy in the garden who wasn't
for whatever reason, with Vince anymore. So you'll see a
lot of those old JCP results with Backland having one
off matches. You'll see Pedro, You'll even see Brunos San Martino.
I think a couple of times. I know Bruno went
to Georgia in the early eighties with his son, like
eighty two or so. He was on TBS when he
was on the outs with Vince, with the McMahons, and
and so that's more what it was. It was more
and they would put Carlos Cologne in those cards to
try to get the Porto Rican fans in the northeast
to come out. That's that's more what it was. It
was just like when they're in the Northeast, they would
call these guys up. They wouldn't go, you know, they
weren't working fucking Winston Salem and you know, Greenspo or
anything like that. Ryan writes, nobody getting limited from a
rumble until the end sounds like a terrible idea. Oh well,
got to see it once. Yeah, Yeah, We've had so
many rumbles that now any any novelty that's left, I
just want to lay eyes on it, even if it
doesn't sound like a good idea. Yep, haystex Caloon points
out very smartly that the we're talking about Scotland, and
how the hell does our Arnold Scoland get pronounced that way?
He says, the double a in Scoland is an alternative
spelling for a with the accent mark on it, which
sounds more or less like oh oh h in English.
So whenever you see double as, if you are to
pronounce it like an oh Scoland.
Speaker 2: Okay, well, so far you're telling you stuff that I
don't find acceptable.
Speaker 1: If you're wondering if it checks out, the answer is no.
Christopher writes on the Colisseum collection, this is a unique journey.
It's the journey we all took his VHS sluts. Yes,
it's the journey of ww's video production and marketing machinations.
And it's the journey of what the public would see
in the video shops and aisles while they shook their
heads and walked away.
Speaker 2: What does this? What's this world coming? You know?
Speaker 1: They have the wrestling now on video. I was at
the grocery store today I saw hul Cogan. They had
one with a luel Bano is that his name?
Speaker 2: Like? What is this? What's this world coming to? Where
this stuff is put out for public consumption? I couldn't
help ask myself who's renting this stuff? Yeah?
Speaker 1: Well, I mean, you know, like deviance. All right, Mary,
I almost asked to talk to the manager. I'm serious.
Speaker 2: I listen, I'm gonna I'm gonna put it. I'm gonna,
you know, I'm gonna make a petition. All right, We're
gonna this is this is not happening in my town.
I'm gonna I'm gonna take Listen, no supermarket that I
go to is gonna have that fake ship right out
in front where where where people were good, We're good.
Speaker 1: This is going from people. This is going from shaking
your head to militant acted. This is getting very strange.
Decent people, okay, good decent people.
Speaker 2: When did wrestling hurt you? Pal? I'd like to recruit you.
I like to make you a reporter of mine, please.
I like that.
Speaker 1: I like the way you sing, and I heard you
got you got some concerns that very much aligned with
editorial stance on this wrestling stuff. Not for nothing, Legion
ao D, Legion ao D, thank you very much for
upping your pledge on Patreon my friends. Charles writes, Hello,
co chairs, first time, long time. I just want to
pass along little newspaper blurb from nineteen ninety three about
the Holkstore attending a bass fishing tournament on Lake Minnetonka.
Figured you guys would a kick out of it. I
can't help but wonder if he stopped to visit the
Ghania estate while he was there, and if Old Verne
tried to take ninety percent of the fish caught thanks
Rob A glory to the war Lord, ol glory to
the Warlord. He said, I can't disagree with that. I
want to send to you just so you can soak
it in. It's not it's not a full article. It's
just a picture of him standing up on a boat.
It kind of looks, honestly, it almost looks like, I know,
I know what it is. It's an event he's appearing at,
but I would say he's on set for a thunder
and paradise almost the way he's dressed. Hulk line, hulk
line and sinker.
Speaker 2: It says, oh my god, fresh and resident hulk Hogan
Center scan the waters of Lake Menatonka on Wednesday during
a pro am segment on the fourth annual Don Shelby
US Invitational Bass Tournaments Go. The event, which begins and
earns today, raises money for the Ronald McDonald House, a
program that offers a home away from home for families
of children who are hospitalized for treatment for cancer and
other blood related diseases. On board with Hogan was pro
Best fisherman Ted Capra left and Twin Cities business man
Irwin Jacobs. Erwin Jacob's like on the fucking cell phone, like,
get me the fuck out of here, honey.
Speaker 1: You won't believe who I was on the boat with today.
Speaker 2: Oh my god, it was he was you know the day.
Remember we used to go see him at the uh
you know in in uh, you know, Minneapolis.
Speaker 1: We saw him in the in the ring, you have
to say, at the Civic Center. We saw he blew
the roof off the place. Roof, he sure did. Were
you talking to Cogan? Hul Cogan raising money here for
the Ronald McDonald House. Vad are raising money for McDonald's.
Speaker 2: Crazy money to eat Ronald mcgradlem. Yeah. You can either
raise money to support McDonald's or can raise money to
eat McDonald's.
Speaker 1: There's two choices. Declann malloy, Thanks very much for your pledge,
my friend. We appreciate you being at a corner. Kirk writes,
the point of winning the Rumble is to get a
world title shot at WrestleMania. So giving a title shot
to the runner up before the winner gets their shot
defeats the purpose. What makes the concept specialist the guarantee.
Speaker 2: No, it's the guarantee of the main event in WrestleMania
to get a title shot.
Speaker 1: The idea think it's making the champions next title defense
against the Rumble winner a date with destiny.
Speaker 2: No, it's the idea that whoever, because the idea is
that you could. No, I disagree, because the idea is
that the way they've always said it and the way
it's been perceived, he's going to WrestleMania. Is that what WrestleMania.
Winning the championship at WrestleMania is in the main event
of WrestleMania is a bigger deal than winning in the
main event of any other show. Yes, if you win it,
then you're crowned a true like legend. If you win
it anywhere else, fine, but WrestleMania is the place where
you get I mean think about mc foley. Mcfoley, the
same fucking thing. He said this, and and and he
said uhh. When after he lost his career match to
Triple H, he said, the one thing I never did
was main event WrestleMania. Yes, cm Punk, the one thing
I didn't do was main event WrestleMania.
Speaker 1: You didn't want to know something? Boss quickly on that. Yeah,
him versus Roman Verse, Seth and a triple threat is
the night one main event and he is. Cmpunk has
been on TV crying that he achieved his dream of
main eventing. But you're not, dude, Come on, man, like
that was the one thing we were supposed to be
able to count on cmpunk for that. He wouldn't lean
in to a bullshit narrative even if it flattered him,
you know, like he would he would absolutely not rest
until he knew that he was actually fuck If this
is the main event, then he may evented against Undertaker
in New Jersey. It's the same position. If it was
one night, it'd be the Komain. It is the same thing, right,
It wouldn't give me right break. This night one main
event ship makes me absolutely sick.
Speaker 2: To my stomach. I don't I don't. I don't mind
it if it's done with something. You know that, I mean,
I mind it, like I don't mind it. I'll tell
you what what what bothers me is? I think it's
an opportunity every year to have the women main event
a WrestleMania. Yeah, fine, night they should do that. I
think I think the main event should always a night one.
Top two would always be right the or no championship
match wherever it is, Championship match women and then championship
match men. That's what that should be. It shouldn't be
this change of the ship like just settle it. It
needs to be one of those two things.
Speaker 1: I mean, God bless Sammy's ain, but like him and
Kevin Owens versus USO's it was a highly anticipated match. Sure,
Sammy Say's walking around calling himself the main event. Do
you think a tag title match will ever headline WrestleMania. Well,
I thought Hogan and Beefcake versus Money Inc. Was going
to and it didn't for a reason because it's not
a main event.
Speaker 2: Well, well, because Hogan needed was gonna win the title anyway.
Speaker 1: Well, you know, I wonder I wonder if Brett was
gonna if Yoko was just gonna win, or if Brett
was going to retain, if they would have done that,
if they would have put Hogan on for last, I
still somehow can bet.
Speaker 2: If they if they were better, if they if they
were gonna have Yoko's going to win and win actually
win the title, then then they would have probably had
Hogan and the tag titles going last.
Speaker 1: Oh, there's a WrestleMania nine documentary coming out soon on Peacock.
Maybe we can get some hints.
Speaker 2: No, that's very interesting. I mean, I know, like the
reason they're doing that is because of Vegas Vegas, but
like it's like, of all the fucking WrestleManias, I.
Speaker 1: Think that was one where they actually like kind of
like Wrestlmingia nineteen, where they went in with a with
a game plan and make a documentary so they have
the footage. I think the other ones it's probably very
scattershot because I don't think they went into every WrestleMania
shooting the you know, the preparation, because this one was
like way over the top in terms of like pageantry,
you know the result of that.
Speaker 2: I mean, they needed to do something for the fact
that that they were going from like, what was it like,
like sixty thousand people or whatever, or forty thousand people
at wrestlming eight to like ten people. It's terrible in
fucking Vegas. Yeah, you can.
Speaker 1: Definitely see its ordering a documentary to like compensate for that. Like,
this is actually bigger than anything we've ever done.
Speaker 2: We need to ramp it up. This is Vegas now,
you know we're not talking about Yes, indeed, maybe we
have a smaller crowd, but you know, in terms of grandeur, right,
I mean the camels, look at the cameras then everything,
this is the most This is the most extravagant wrestlemaning
we've ever had.
Speaker 1: We are show business, Yes, somebody are the Biz show.
Someone said as a clip events on bite this when
they had that show of him saying that if there
was one thing that could bring the Jews in the
Arabs together, it was WWF.
Speaker 2: Oh my god. But to go back to the thing,
I don't mind because because the whole thing about the
it's like they always said, they'll meet whoever is champion
because the idea originally, the idea originally was that the
champion was defending the belt almost every night on the
road it's like Brett Hart, even though we're not seeing
televised matches, he is supposed to be defending the belt
every night on the road. He doesn't defend in thirty
days and more than thirty days exactly, so and he
could potentially lose the belt on the road, you know.
And so Yokozuna in ninety three would have faced whoever
was champion in the main event of WrestleMania. So I
understand the point. And I know you've argued that they
shouldn't have a show in between, and da da da da.
I I don't know. I mean, I I think it
only serves. It serves the current time where you've got
like eighteen thousand world champions and so you need to
like set up contenders. So I don't mind elimination chamber.
And I think, I don't know, I think it would
be a unique idea to have the just that the
you know, then they then then like the runner up,
they get an opportunity to main event WrestleMania if they
win the championship, which you know, depending on the situation,
it's a different way to Mania. But everyone trying to
get to Mania, not to the Bell right, which seems weird,
but well, no, I think everyone. I think people want Yeah,
I know that there is a weird thing that everyone
wants to go WrestleMania, which I think is stupid. But
I think the because like especially because it's not like
you're not going to be at WrestleMania. Yeah, like you're
going to beat WrestleMania. We know that, So just act
like you are going to be a WrestleMania. The idea
is that you want to be in the main event
of WrestleMania, and you want to be in the main
event to win and not and you want to be
in the main event going for the gold. That's that's
what the Royal Rumbles about. Yeah, the Royal Rumble is
is and the fact that you know, the fact that
it's not happening is stupid. I don't like when they
have someone win the Rumble who is not going to
even though I don't want, I didn't want seeing it
to win a third Rumble because I like Austin having
that that that that record. I still think I still
think he should not have he should have won it.
I mean, I know storyline purposes, it wouldn't have worked,
but I still think you should have won it, Yeah,
and because you know it'd be one.
Speaker 1: Thing if Jay vers Guntu was going to be Night
one main event, right and you were trying to actually
make a straight faced case that both world titles are
on equal footing. But if you're not even going to
put that as the main event of Night one, what
you know, who's Who's Who's shitn't who here?
Speaker 2: And and honestly too, like the Sampunk doesn't want a
main event WrestleMania. He wants to be in a world
title match with the main event Wrestleman.
Speaker 1: Everybody knows what Sampunk wants was to win the Rumble
and then he wants to beat the top guy in
the company wrestle Everyone knows that to be in the
main event WrestleMania, it means you're in a world title
match one on one. That's what being in the main
event wrestlemanium could be a triple threat. But you know
what I mean, right right? See if we know what
it is, and you know what, it's not Sean Michael's undertaker. Sorry,
that's not the main event WrestleMania, even though it went
on last Like to me, that never is the case.
Speaker 2: It's just so I don't again. The idea is that
the champions supposed to be defending their titles on a
regular basis, again thirty day things, so they have to
defend the title, and so they have to defend him
a certain point. I don't know. I mean, listen, I
I appreciate your your opinion. It's wrong, but that's the
way it is. You know.
Speaker 1: I'm revising my stance on Chamber in a way because
I'm seeing how much they're struggling to keep the scene
of thing hot between Chamber and Mania. If they did
this at Rumble, oh my god, they would, they would.
They would go stir crazy trying to find ways to
extend this thing for two months.
Speaker 2: Sure, sure, I listen, I don't that's because they put
him on TV. Well we know what the solution is.
But yeah, they're not going to do the most interesting
thing about it was the fact that he wasn't on TV.
That's what were talking that he wasn't on TV. Don't
put him on TV.
Speaker 1: They're they're almost like a discipline in the booking office.
Do less, do less, do less. Like as you're laying
out an idea, right like, and as you lay it
all out, Okay, give us give me the full pitch. Okay,
do less, do less, do, keep keep going until all
you're doing is what's absolutely necessary to get the angle across.
Because that's that's the that's your essence right there, you know,
that's your essence. When you gussie it up beyond that,
like you're just making pro wrestling way more complicated than
it needs to be. And the fans don't appreciate that.
There's some because they need something to write about every
week or tweet about that, that like that. But for
the most part, it is like so suboptimal. It's like
the reason for a match has got to be a
sentence or two and that's it. Yeah, And you can't
be can't be booking a match, you know, with with
thirty minute monologues in mind for seven eight straight weeks,
you know.
Speaker 2: Oh, I know, I know exactly like you know, I
mean again, you know you think about too WrestleMania is
of old, and I know it's a different day and age,
and I know you can't follow the same format, but
think about even a WrestleMania eight, like you know, half
the shit that was that that would that would create
feuds and drama happened not on this not on the screen. Yes,
you know, like all all the Flair shit happened via
like promos, off site, off site promos and the fucking.
Speaker 1: Magazine like they used them a point. Show me, show me,
I'm sure it happened. I'm not saying like, if you
show me, I'm I'm wrong here, because I'm sure there
was moments. But you know, show me Randy Savage and
Rick Flair face to face in the same ring before WrestleMania.
Show me Hulk Hogan and Sid face to face in
the same ring before WrestleMania. No, not, No, didn't have
this idea that you have to have a wrap battle
with your pay per view opponent every single time is
so wrong, especially in a social media age where these
guys could keep things alive round the clock and they report,
they report to television to do whatever the promotion has
for them that night. I mean, I mean it would
have been you know, would have been great, like like
to to you, you know, you know, in a weird way,
you know, would have been great to have like dood
b cameras. I don't know where Sina was, I don't
know if he was filming a movie or not, but
like to kind of be wherever he was and trying
to get a word with.
Speaker 2: Him, and he doesn't. He doesn't take it like you
get like that. To me, that would be the only
thing to have him on TV is to have like
you know, like they're trying to get on a film
set and the security is not letting them come on.
Say you know, mister Sena has said no one's allowed
to be on set, and yet you see him kind
of walk by in the background. They do a quick
zoom in and you see like a very very quick
thing that that would have been great. I don't know,
that's hard to come up with.
Speaker 1: It took us like fifteen minutes. Yeah, here's how your detox.
You set a soft rule that this is going to
be the year where our main eventors never come to
blows ahead of the match and they never even really
cross paths with each other. It doesn't mean that they're
it doesn't mean one party is absent from TV, but
we just have to get career creative about keeping the
tension boiling outside of the four walls of the of
the arena where raw happens to be that week. Yeah,
and I know that that's kind of it. What it
does is it kind of dilutes why people buy tickets
to see raw, to see all these stars. I know that,
but I feel like, but you're not seeing But listen,
you're not.
Speaker 2: You're not. You're not You're not. If you're buying tickets
to see John Cena every week, I mean you're not anymore.
That's those days are gone, Yeah, very much. So you're
not buying those those tickets. You're not buying tickets to
see Roman Reigns every single week. You know you don't
or I'll say this, Uh, even though they're not on
every week, people still buy tickets to go. So there's
something there. There's something that people. You know, people want
to buy tickets and people want to see Cody Rose,
people want to see uh Jay Uso. They want to
see all these other clowns and and and it's like,
you know, you still have that, but you can still
play the you know, the anticipation of it sometimes. Like
for me, when I was a kid, part of the
reason I wanted to make sure that I was watching
wrestling whenever it was on was because maybe Hulk Cogan
will be on this time.
Speaker 1: Yep, that's why. And you weren't it wasn't, like you
weren't it turned off if he wasn't.
Speaker 2: No, no, But it's like, maybe he's going to show
up this time. Maybe he'll be on Superstars or Challenge.
Maybe he will wrestle a fucking jobber. Never did, probably
never would. But you know that was kind of the
you know, that was the thing that that maybe he would.
And I think that is a good thing you're paying for,
maybe him coming someone coming out, maybe seeing something interesting.
You know, that's that's I mean, that is certainly a
lost thing. You know that that is a another something
that used to be better that that I don't you know, we,
if I'm being completely honest, was destroyed because of the
Attitude era and the Money Night Wars. I mean that's
the thing. You know. As exciting as they were, the
Money Night Wars in many ways ruined the simplicity of wrestling. Yeah,
and because now you can't have a television show so
true without all main event caliber matches and a bunch
of showdowns and this and that. And that's why Russo
caught such fire for them at that time is because
he was writing it with no regard for that. He
was writing it like you would write a television show
designed to have peaks and valleys and beginning, middle, and
end in one episode. Yep, yep.
Speaker 1: And when you do that, you really do sacrifice. You
really do kind of elevate expectations in the fans mind
such that you know, you're kind of you're kind of
fucked if you want to take your foot off the gas,
which is necessary to make people want something, you know,
but it feels like a sacrifice every time you take
a break and let let let a guy cool off
a little bit, or let the fans cool off on
expecting something from them every week. I don't know, it's
just this is all what we've always been saying. The
reason it used to be better is because it can't
be the way it used to be. It's not because
people are failing to make it the way I remember it.
It's because the structure that they operated in in the
past was superior. It led to a superior enjoyment of wrestling,
a deeper enjoyment of wrestling because they didn't have the
pressures they have today. You know, as much as you say,
you know they get guaranteed money. Yeah, that's all well
and good, but they still have to make everything a
fucking super spectacular all the time. And that's not that's
not what leaves you remembering things. Everything bleeds together when
everything is fucking epic like that. Yes, you know, if
you have like if every month on Raw there's like
a thirty minute classic, or every week on Dynamite there's
a thirty five minute four star match, I'm sorry, I
think we all know. All that does is make four
star matches mean less. That's all it does. Exactly credit
to the guys that can pull that off. But we
know better. We know that two or three of those
a year is optimal, not not two or three a month.
Speaker 2: Yeah, or at least you know, if you're gonna go
if you need to have something, you have, have one
of those. You know, have one crazy ass match per
pay per view. That's fine, Sure that can be a slot. Yeah,
but that's the idea is that you do you have
those good matches, you have those epics. At a certain point,
you don't make it so that it's the identity of
all the time, you know, And again it was done
out of necessity because of the of the competition. I
understand that you're trying to you know, ratings and stuff
like that, but it just it it ruined. It ruined
the wrestling like kind of the simplicity of wrestling, because
you could have you know, think about all the if
you think about all the matches like a WrestleMania eight,
the one that had the most kind of dramatic and
over the top storytelling was Savage and Flair the magazine
And you know, maybe it needed it. It might have
needed it because on paper it might not necessarily have
looked like a crazy ass, you know, big selling feud,
and I I would argue that it was that and
then them having a kick ass match at WrestleMania that
made that feud more interesting and be able to last
throughout the summer, you know. And but yeah, like just
you know, less is more, even in wrestling, less is more. Yeah,
I mean, so it's a lost thing.
Speaker 1: And we're getting these promos and they're great promos, but
there are too many of them. There are too many,
like there's too much of a reliance on like did.
Speaker 2: You hear what he said? Oh he was supposed to
say that, Like like like how how cool would it
have been if you think if like throughout this whole thing,
like Cody comes out a couple of times, and he's
promised seeing to see to know shows and then Cody's like,
you know what, then I'm gonna I'm gonna take my
time and I'm gonna fucking train. I'm gonna do something
so that I'm ready for anything John Cena can give me.
And so he goes off TV. I'm like, you simply
get the cameras are like following him around wherever he is,
whether he's working out, whether he's at home, whatever, and
he's doing you know, he can say something to uh
to John Scena that way, but.
Speaker 1: Instead they have to take the mic every week and
start with something like the year was two thousand and nine, right,
And a lot of people don't know this, but I
looked up stop stop, do you want to win? Why
do you want to win? How are you gonna win?
Speaker 2: Right? That's your true north. Not it's not a biography
every time, it's not an A and E biography special rights.
There is a place for that.
Speaker 1: I feel like when UFC was really rocking and rolling,
their countdown shows were excellent at that. They take the
main event and even if they told the story before,
because the guys you may invented several shows, they would
tell you their whole story and how the story leads
to this fight, and how this fight it represents kind
of like an intersection of of these two guys stories,
and that's that's the format for that when you're really
sitting down to try to add depth and history and
context to your match. But you don't do that in arena.
You don't do that face to face on the microphone. Right,
that's just kind of goofy to me at a certain point.
I mean, I can enjoy it. I'm not saying it's
bad television. And the guys, some of these guys are
wonderful promos. We're kind of in a golden age of
that talking. But that's kind of my point. When we're
not in the golden hage of talking, it's going to
be a tough look, you know, like, yeah, all of
a sudden, people that can't carry on in a thirty
minute like fucking history lesson, can't main event.
Speaker 2: That's stupid.
Speaker 1: Think how many big money players you would have boxed
out if that was a hard and fast rule. So yeah,
Ben Buck, thank you very much for that big contribution.
We deeply appreciate it. Seemed to you esc we love it.
Darren McAlpine, thank you very much for your support. On Patreon,
we talked a little bit on the Colisseum video collection
about how Bruno s and Maartino once talked about being
booked against Hulk Cogan and Wheeling West Virginia in nineteen
eighty five or eighty six, shortly after he made his comeback.
A lot of folks looked in that Forrest Connor writes, Hi, guys,
first time, long time. I was listening to the latest
episode and heard the Bruno audio clip about facing Hogan
and how Hogan ducked him and Sergeant Slaughter ended up
taking his place in Willing, West Virginia. I looked on
Cage Match. The only time Bruno wrestled Slaughter and Wheeling
was on March eight eighty one, which of course was
before Hogan came in in fact perk Cage Match, well
not before he came in, but before he was read
and yellow in fact perk Caage Match. On the wrestled
three matches and Willing in his career. Connor rights of Bruno.
Hogan was working in Japan from March sixth to the
eleventh that year. So as funny as the idea of
Hogan ducking a match with Bruno, as it looks like
that isn't true. It also appears that this match, if
it was considered, would have been when Hogan was still
a heel, which makes sense to me. Yeah, I did
kind of take Bruno's remarks in that shoot interview as
saying it was during Hogan's run as world champion. Yeah,
but I guess we can't necessarily disqualify that he was
actually thinking about before Hogan was the made man, before
he be four.
Speaker 2: That is true.
Speaker 1: That is not sure he really delineated that. But the
context that they were talking in when that question was
pose was what did you think of, you know, the
company turning the whole, all the keys over to Hulkogan
And that's when he said that. So it's kind of weird.
Mike says, first off, this is a good one, Okay,
sick with us. First off, still sucking on Musk's tit
while begging for money. Remember when you didn't care if
anyone listened, then cared if they paid money. Whoores like lapsed?
Vince loves at least acknowledge you were horrors. At least
JP is talented with his caricatures.
Speaker 2: I can.
Speaker 1: I can read other people's actual research. It's not a
skill anyways. Listen to edges reaction today, aw grand slam.
There was still real emotion, even if it is an
old school heat. I'm giving you shit. I love your
college level podcast. That's what's what's even better is being
able to assume the form and manner and speech of
a detractor. Right, Yes, that's the key. That's the key is.
Speaker 2: When absolutely that is the key.
Speaker 1: When you because it lays bare, how basic and thin
the critique is when somebody who doesn't even believe it
can convincingly convey it, you know, it's like, okay, that's
it's not complicated to just be a contrarian. It's actually
quite easy and easy to mock as well. By the way, Yeah,
Sam Wrights where I'm from, the lapsed fan always plays
I like that line, Carlos says, shout out Stravinsky, very
apropos regarding Lynch. Twin Peaks is a rite of spring.
The co chairs have a very sharp blade to discern
the pretentious s thet from the mad genius. You're goddamn right, Carlo,
I want to say that again, and don't you fucking
forget it. If you're within the sound of our voice.
The co chairs have a very sharp blade to discern
the pretentious s thete from the mad genius.
Speaker 2: That's the sound of a sharp blade.
Speaker 1: Very good, very very exceptional judges of character around here. Yes,
and we're not going to let anybody get away with
carrying themselves like a mad genius without us deciding they've
earned it. I'm really glad, he says, David Lynch fell
in their favor. Give us an open question. You're you're
hearing this from the Solar system. When it came to
diving into Lynch, they didn't know if we'd like him, boss.
Speaker 2: I know. I mean listen, I I I wasn't sure
because you know, again, I don't. I don't necessarily, like
I said, I don't necessarily like his movies. Uh for
the most part, I I they they don't. They don't
for me. They don't mesh with the actual individual all
the time. Oh and we well they do. It just
takes a long time, right right, But like it's like
a it's a it doesn't necessarily like you know, it isn't.
It's not obvious, it's not all you know, And no
he's just you know, and the stories you hear about him,
he's just such a genuine, a genuine, fascinating human being.
Was because he's you know, dead.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, we have to use the correct tense. I mean,
that's why we're that's why we're here after all, that's
why we decided to pay tribute in a lot of ways.
That's right, and I think that's that's a point very
well taken. He says, I'm really glad David Lynch fell
in their favor. Could have gone either way, that's true. Yep,
could have been either.
Speaker 2: He could have he could have he could have come
across like a complete douche, you know, But he's just
he's too genuine, honestly. That That's that's what's about. That's
what makes him stand out. He is so genuine.
Speaker 1: At the time it aired on TV, he says, there
was equal applause and derision in my house for sure. Yeah,
we can't discount like as much as where to looking
back and retrospect it at Lynch and Tree Peaks, there
are people who lived through it who remember just how
kind of polarizing his style was on mainstream and television
like that.
Speaker 2: Of course, no question.
Speaker 1: Rob writes, Terry Funk is too wonderful? What David Lynch
is too incredible?
Speaker 2: Mmm?
Speaker 1: Rob Or Luthernoli writes, Hello, gentlemen, I hope this note
finds you well. I just learned that Quentin Tarantinos Once
upon a Time in Hollywood qualifies for under the Cinemat.
Speaker 2: Which one was it? Once upon a Time in Hollywood?
Oh yeah, yeah, I knew that that one's on the list,
but he can tell me.
Speaker 1: He says that Wikipedia explains why Booth is inspired by
Gary Kent, a stuntman for a film made it the
Spawn Ranch while the Manson family lived.
Speaker 2: There, and and he's it's also partially, supposedly partially based
on Judo Jene Bell. It's based on him partially. The
character is partially based on Jean Le Bell. And there's
another connection, yeah.
Speaker 1: Says here as well as stuntman professional wrestling two times
Judo jam Jean the Bell.
Speaker 2: Well, there's another connection as well, and that is the
fact that Jungle Boy was a PA. He was for real, Yes,
he was that he because his dad was in the
movie what's his name? Oh my god, Luke Perry, Yeah,
Luke Perry and Prairies in the movie great movie too,
Is it.
Speaker 1: Really Oh my god, we'll that'll have to go, that'll
have to go into the cinemat for sure.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, Oh yeah, yeah, it's it's been on the
list for a while. It's I'm I'm I'm waiting for
a real uh you know it's gonna be it's a doozy.
It's yeah, yeah, so I'm I'm waiting. I'm waiting it'll happen.
Speaker 1: Though that the conclusion of the Twin Peaks journey, Jerome
makes a great point. He says, what other wrestling podcasts,
what have the willingness to do something like this? I
think one of the biggest issues people in the bubble
have is never leaving their bubble and absorbing other forms
of art. The Chairman hero willing to sit through borderline
experimental short films, and one of the weirdest filmmakers ever.
I think watching the movies and shows really enhance Jack
and JP because they're not just focusing on wrestling. Am
I the biggest Lynch fan either?
Speaker 3: Know?
Speaker 1: Am I glad this weirdo got to make a number
of movies and shows. Yes, this is a unique, one
of a kind journey that no other wrestling podcast would
even consider this is how they all earn my Patreon dollar.
Mm hm put it on a fucking headstone, man, I mean,
that's the bottom line. Josho had that very thought provoking
email about Barth and stuff that we read in a moment.
Ago also did the following, gentlemen, Well, my current situation
only allows for a modest pledge to the Patreon and
my dad will ever reach at one K club. It's fine, pal, See,
I'm going through a lot of shit right now. Most
days of late have been more lapsed to Barnett than anything.
But after seeing Hogan's reception on Netflix, and after the
momentary thought that Jack's Skinner theme was somehow on Netflix raw,
I smiled, I have faith in wrestling fans again, just
a little bit. Then I figured, what would lapsed Vince do?
Inspired by what I am calling the varied Vienna voyages
of softball, said Uty, I sent hel Hogan a twenty
pack of roll ups. I have the receipt right here.
He sent it.
Speaker 2: He sent it to Hogan's beach shop. Oh my god.
Speaker 1: Figured, you know, the boys need their candy, and it's
not like Hogan hasn't accepted shipped candy before.
Speaker 2: Good mind.
Speaker 1: Not sure if he had someone's signed for it, but
would love to see the reaction. But I'm pretty sure
we all know how it'd go. I think I'll get
an autograph picture. God, I hope not unless it's the
look on his face upon opening and reading the note.
There it is proof of delivery, Betty Crocker Fruit roll
Ups variety pack delivered right to the Hulkster. Wow, I'm
sure he was concerned. Jordie Angus, thank you very much
for that executive producer pledge. We appreciate it. Matthew Folk
to welcome very thank you very much, and welcome to
the inner Circle. Let's see, Matt writes to us to
your co chairs, well you got me.
Speaker 2: That's a shirt.
Speaker 1: After many years of plundering my puckered and prolapsed poop shoot,
I've decided the time has come to pay you for
such a circuit.
Speaker 2: Puckered and prolapsed poop poop shoot and got it. That's
a lot of alliteration. I mean, shooting broke exactly. How
do you spell shoot? Brother? What? That's not how you
spell shoot? Dude? What you're trying to work me over? Brother?
Speaker 1: You're trying to avoid detection by Ai.
Speaker 2: Brother. Why brother, what are you doing? Dude?
Speaker 1: Do you know that I systematically scrape emails for the saho.
Speaker 2: You where dude? That brother? You don't? Brother, I know
what a shoot is, dude. Right, so we're talking about
Bamba bad were shooting? Brother?
Speaker 1: Shoot you behind my back like you're obliged to say
it to him?
Speaker 2: Right, right? Right.
Speaker 1: I cannot remember exactly when I first started listening to you.
I am only certain that the first time you had
me doubled over in pain from laughing was the debut
of Hulk La Orange. The rest is, they say, is history.
My earliest memories of watching wrestling involved sneaking downstairs in
the wee hours to greet my dad after he had
been on the road all week as a lorry driver,
truck driver if Here and Trump Land. I distinctly remember
getting comfortable with him on the couch and both falling
asleep to the vision of Yo Kazuna sitting on Brettart's face.
After my parents' divorce, I continued watching throughout the Attitude era,
only one minute around the corner with my new step siblings. Seriously,
my dad moved six houses away. Weird, right, We would
often pile on to a friends trampoline and wrestle, acting
out what we had seen on the TV. After all,
it's not like there were any warnings to not try
this at home. Right this is where I had my accident.
Around eight of us had climbed to the trampoline no net,
and we were acting out our NWOWWF fantasies. I'm not
sure exactly how it had happened, but I was on
my back, as often being the smallest, getting ready for
my big comeback and hot tag. I leaped back up
to my feet, ready to power bomba motherfucker, but instead
became the victim of en ring miscommunication. My opponent and
an apparent bid to get his shit in, came down
on me for his favorite frog splash. There was a
white flash and a sting of pain in the top
of my head as we both found ourselves on the
patio floor. I placed my hand upon the top of
my head to feel a hard alien protrusion and could
see my opponent sat sobbing with his hands covering his
mouth as blood trickled down his chin. Upon reflection, my
opponent was a bit of a shoot bully and still
to this day. I get a sense of grim satisfaction
at this memory. As I came to I came to
the realization that he had bitten my head and the
confusion as we tumbled off the trampoline and left his
front tooth embedded in my head. His tooth is stuck
in his head. I came away from this experience with
well earned respect from the boys in the locker room,
and after having my head glued back together, quickly returned
to action. And the following years my interest in wrestling
was up and down. I remember looking in on Booker t,
appearing on Raw and the Invasion Cinemania, discovering TNA on
UK TV, and then Cmpunk. It was Punk that led
me to seeking out ROH than PWG and NJPW. My
wrestling net had now been cast wide. My girlfriend now
wife at the time, soon discovered my interest in wrestling,
despite my best efforts to keep it my shameful secret.
Slowly but surely I introduced her to Choice New Japan matches. Oh,
this is this is not the move Matt to Choice
New Japan matches. See this is different. This is like
serious wrestling, closer to a sport. And we began to
watch and enjoy Luca Underground together.
Speaker 2: Oh that's nice.
Speaker 1: We both loved Prince Pumah, the Lucha Brothers and the
Bullet Club. This led to us being diehard aw Marx
since its inception, as it featured all our favorites, dropping
off briefly around the birth of our daughter. We attended
all in Wembley and had a blast, but I must
admit we are now a year behind on TV. We
have a few other hobbies and shows who'd like to watch,
and although I keep up with wrestling news, watching aw
TV is just unfortunately the bottom of the list. Anyway,
I've now subscribed to you on Patreon as the sound
of Fritz trying to open windows. I guess I sort
of have a tentative request. Would you ever be up
for charting the history of the NWA World Heavyweight title
post ecw Oh my god, that's such a rotten idea.
Who I believe it may be a glorious indie rific
shit show. Yours and payment, Shane, and thank you for me.
I mean that's bad. I mean we're talking unflattering situations.
Speaker 2: That's just yeah. I mean, it's never had a glorious
period since no, I mean really, since WW dropped it
such a bad idea.
Speaker 1: You know, it's funny, though it's funny, it's a funny idea.
But I don't know, man, I don't know if we
have the stomach for that. I mean, there's going to
be a way one of these days. I'm just gonna
say it, there's going to be away one of these days.
If you want to really make it happen, you'll be
able to. But be fucking careful, be very careful. The
the sound of Fret's opening windows just became an eight
eight eight pound pledgure. Thank you so very much, DP,
thanks very much for the pledge. Michael Tremarco, thank you
for boosting your contribution to your co chairs. Sean wants
us know that Bruno is all about the man of
the community restaurant eater.
Speaker 2: Oh absolutely.
Speaker 1: When he had an interview on Jericho's podcast, Bruno insisted
that it would take place over dinner at an Italian
restaurant because it's not all about food.
Speaker 2: Listen, I have no doubt, yes that for Bruno San Martino,
it wasn't real food unless it was Italian. Absolutely all right.
The SECONDI yeah, I'm not saying he didn't have other foods,
but he would only do it out of like you
know somebody else, right, politeness, somebody. You know, if someone
invited out to dinner and they went to you know,
like some other but no, no, no, listen, ninety percent of
the time he's eating Italian. Yep. It's like I imagine
I imagine that that his kitchen was just lined with
hanging spaghetti all right, just drying. It was brand you know,
fresh fresh spaghetti, just drying on racks around his fucking kitchen.
Like pretty much. I'd say, I would say every morning,
like first thing was he would make he would make
a a. You know, he'd make pasta. Do, let's do
it every morning, make pasta do and he just kind
of do it. And then he'd make his pasta and
he just drape it over there. You know it's going
to be eaten at some point in a couple of days,
without a doubt, right, the longest couple of days. So
he's always he's always got fresh pasta in the house, right,
And then you know, and then he's like every Sunday,
you know, every Sunday he's got Every Sunday he makes
a giant vat of sauce, of sauce, of gravy, all right,
like and and then listen, he puts it in and
he puts it in containers, and he puts it in
the freezer, you know, like he's it's ready, it's ready
to go at a moment's notice. Like he's probably Bruno,
Sam Martino. Okay, listen to this. This is what it was.
He had a garage freezer that was specifically for sauce,
no question, all right, and he just had just you know,
as much as he would put in there, he would
take out at some point during the week, all right.
That's it. He just always loads of sauce. Just what
he had to do. Like everything. It's like it's like
it's like a it's a requirement to get the week gone.
You know, you're gonna make the pasta in the morning
and then you gonna make sauce every Sunday. I'm hungry's
fucking go, let's go to Bruno's house.
Speaker 1: It's like that video of him like having like a
thirty five minute meal with a bunch of other hangers
on and suits and yeah, just clang in the forks
and everyone's just kind of sitting there waiting for him
to say something so they can laugh at what he said.
And you know, I mean he's he's running the whole table.
And that's that's a big part of it for Bruno.
It's the power of being, Oh, the guy at the
table who knows the owner, you know.
Speaker 2: Right right, he listen. He wants to be fucking Tony
soprano Vesuvio. That's what he wants to be.
Speaker 1: I'm so sorry to go there, but that's that's that's
what I mean, that's it.
Speaker 2: He wants. He wants to be that guy who knows
the owner. Hey, we went to high school together, you know,
like like the old friends. You know, he maybe you
know what chances are Bruno gave him some money to
start the restaurant. You know, like this is And I.
Speaker 1: Want to ask you a question. When you go into
a place like that with Bruno, do you have any
fucking choice but to say you love the food?
Speaker 2: Oh no, If you don't love the food, then you
eat like it's the matter, what's something wrong with it? Stops?
Like just just imagine the you know, how's your you know,
how's your real scallop? Uh? Yeah, a little, a little,
a little tough. It's like everything stops bearing at you. Well,
it's stuff. I can't picture. That was wrong.
Speaker 1: The main is thoughts, and so come one, it was
you want to know what tough is? The toughest hair
that arm, hair covering your wrist watch.
Speaker 2: That's come here, I'll show you tough. Okay, fine fucking fist.
Speaker 1: I'll tell a little story. Dana White, Dana White for
the UFC, is from Boston and he loves I don't know.
Speaker 2: That really, Oh yeah, I had no clue.
Speaker 1: He always talks about it, and he was he was
born in Maine, Connecticut and Maine, but spent.
Speaker 2: Like his was born in Connecticut and Ma was born in.
Speaker 1: Connecticut, up in Maine and Vegas. It's a very complicated thing,
Jesus Christ. I know, it's very strange what what was
what his parents?
Speaker 2: His parents?
Speaker 1: I don't know anything about his dad and his mom
is like estranged from him. So it's hard to really
piece that part of his story together. Frankly, so he uh,
he loves this steak tip place in Southie, Okay. He
talks about it all the time and he actually one
time when UFC came to town, he actually had a
media lunch there, and so all the media, like you know,
goes and has these steak tips at this like you know,
it's like one.
Speaker 2: Of those.
Speaker 1: Bar and grill you know kind of deals, like not
not many windows, you know. Oh yeah, the shiny wood bar,
you know, the whole deal.
Speaker 2: Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah, oh yeah, like dark wood everywhere. Yeah.
Speaker 1: And and Lorenzo Fertita, who was the the guy from
Station Casinos, the Vegas guy who Dane actually met in
high school and became the big money man behind buying
the UFC when it was on the verge of bank
and turning it around and his kind of right hand man.
And from a business perspective, he was there too. And
Lorenzo has always been a guy of money and higher tastes.
You know, he's he's uh, he's eating at the finest restaurants,
I'm sure all the time. And I remember he had
he had some of that. He was there, and he
had some of the steak tips. And I don't know
if it was it's Dana that asked him, but somehow
he was put on the spot just like we're saying,
just like we're saying, he was put on the spot.
How steak tips and I remember he's chewing, he's looking
down and he goes solid, and I was like, solid,
that is as close as he's going to get to
saying I don't understand how anybody could eat this, how
anybody could seek this out? Why do these steak? Why
do these little pieces of steak taste like terry aki?
What the fuck is that? This isn't a Chinese restaurant?
Why does this taste like teraoki? It's like, well, it's
a boss. Why That's all I got out of Yep,
it's looking at the plate chewing solid, solid, solid.
Speaker 2: That's not what you want to hear. Solid, dangerous, very,
That's the fucking danger in the eye of the beholder.
At that point, that's where my mind went when you
did the Bruno like you know what I'm wrong? Yeah, yeah, Well,
because you know I remember that too, Like I remember
I had friends when I lived in La I had
friends who you know, they heard me talk about Duncan
Donuts all the time, you know, and it's like, you know,
and how I missed Duncan Donuts coffee, and it's like,
you know, then they go there and they're like, hey,
we had duncanos. We're not dunking the most comedy. I'm like,
all right, I mean okay. I was like, you know,
here's here's the moment of truth, Like, oh my god,
how do you you fucking like this coffee? Yeah? I
love it. I choose nothing else over it. Go fund yourself.
Speaker 1: It's amazing, isn't it. Yeah, Splash Bandicoot, thank you very
much for the pledge. We appreciate the supports to you.
Golder Stern, Thanks for the cake. We'll earn it. Joseph
al Paul, thank you very much for bumping up your
pledge to the co chairs. Haul Cogan writes, in the
spirit of Ring of Honorable Mention, which is one of
the greatest things you have ever said, Boss, ever ever
ring of Honorable Mention for Ring of Honor, I stand
by that, Haul Cogan says, in the spirit of that
his favorite still is Boss is lapsed Vern calling the
WWF in Wringling Brothers?
Speaker 2: Did I said that? In Wringling Brothers, I said, as
Verne as Vern, that's brilliant. Life and death baby, who
the fuck new life? And we're going back to Minnetonka.
Christian Hollister always such strong support. We appreciate your recent
remote upgrade, Ruben Villigercia. Thank you very much, he writes,
clearly a t left three matches nineteen ninety Nikolai Volkoff
versus nineteen ninety six. I ed Johnson the yells. Oh, yeah,
of course that would be something to hear. Oh, there
have to be a yell off.
Speaker 1: You know, we did the t lf x X Games
best tournament, Uh, you know, tournament to determine the best
character ever. We should do one determine the best noise
maker ever. We got Louis Albano Volkov, We've got Vince
who makes noises. We've got, as he mentioned, the dust
doy of Ahmed Johnson.
Speaker 2: Who else fits? Yeah? Ah? Who else? Who else makes
guttural sounds? Oh? Well you say, did you say Luger? Luger? Sure?
Speaker 1: And there's Hogan all the things he said in t N. Yeah,
that's the greatest utterance. What's the greatest guttural? Fucking suck.
Speaker 2: Hard to beat? I mean, especially like you know when
you're getting I mean there was there was an undertaker
one too, What about Gian Gonzales. Oh yeah, that's a
great one, man, I don't care what anybody says.
Speaker 1: That's a great one, Adam writes, I finally joined the eptire.
Thank you too for over ten years of entertainment. You've
all been around the world with me. You were there
in the hospital for the birth of all three of
my children. You were there one morning the loss of
loved ones, and you were still there. TLF is life.
I love you, guys, and thank you for all that
you have done for the solar system and my ass. Well,
thank you, Adam. We do it for listeners like you,
Paul writes, we do it for ass. Sunday dinner, Bruno
to David, garlic bread, Sammartino. Oh you come from good stock,
my boy. I saw as man no stroll, nay.
Speaker 2: And then he says, look at this, Carol, you've outdone
yourself again. Oh you picture him huddled over a steaming
bowl of ministras. Oh my god, it's the little condensation
is forming on the gold rolex. I would love to
have been a fly on the wall of the Sammartino
home when Bruno was eating dinner. Oh, still in my heart,
just the scenes, the absolute scenes that would have been spectacular.
That's brilliant, It's positively brilliant. What a scene, What a
thing to picture Chris Man writes, the CoA Chairs enjoy
talking about Bruno San Martino. The man is a walking
continent of material. He is. There's no question about that.
Speaker 1: So Adam, thanks for that big bump up and pledge.
We feel you, man, We appreciate that. Steve writes, it's
funny Boss mentioned Sopranos as Bruno constantly claimed he was
offered a role in the show but didn't want to
say that he was an unsavory character. Oh my god,
Bruno is one of those guys. He he adds, that
would act a Paul that being offered a happy ending.
Speaker 2: What do you mean?
Speaker 1: And then he puts an ellipses and says, while getting
into a more comfortable position to receive said ending, yes, yes,
has to play.
Speaker 2: He would have to publicly decry that, all right, he
would have to publicly say no way, But deep down
he knows what he needs, Oh my god, what he wants.
I think this is like a well known thing, but
one of the my favorite things I've ever heard. Is
one of the reasons that you don't see as many
undercover stings in rub and tug joints as you'd expect.
These these massage parlors that pop up in in areas
where nobody wants a massage with no you know, absolutely
no light in every windows covered. They're everywhere. That one
of the reasons you don't see undercover stings is because
of a fear that the cop won't stop the massage
therapist from finishing them off and actually, in the process
break the law and succumb to the succumb to the pressure.
That's just the funniest thing in the world. Some like
dip shit lieutenant just like coming all over the place
because god damn he did. Exactly.
Speaker 1: Fuck, okay, all right, can we can we move? Can
we go in now? Like there in the van outside,
you're ready to fucking break the door down. This guy's
curling his toes, his fucking sad sack, pathetic chief brunch
motherfuckers sitting there fucking letting himself bubble over off. And
they're like they're in the van, they're looking at the monitors.
They got their index fingers on their ear with the earpieces, like,
oh my god, Oh my god, he's coming, he's coming.
This is unbelievable. Exactly, it doesn't even enjoy it. It
just it boils over, you know, oh motherfucker. Oh, They're like,
this is a total bust. Now we've got a whole
other problem on our hands. Like, oh no, is that chief?
That's him again? She ticks all limp after all, just
slaying there knowing he fucked up, knowing he fucked up,
like button size cock.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 1: The post nut clarity is on another level as he realizes,
like absolutely, I have months of work to do to
make this go away. This could follow me the rest
of my career. It will that I couldn't stop Mama
son from finishing me off here. Tremendous stuff. And that's
what I think about when Bob Kraft, as much money
as he has, can't help but pull a hat down
low and get tugged off in Tampa wherever the fuck
he was. Tremendous stuff, that piece of shit. Holkogan writes,
club Yeah, sure together, that's the new open.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: John writes, I could listen to huge pops in old
arenas all day. This is, you know, Colosseum Video Man,
Colosseum Collection, Bruno's Comebacks, Adro's comebacks. Listen to that audio
if you want to get an idea of what we're
talking about.
Speaker 2: It's phenomenal shit, he.
Speaker 1: Writes, I could listen to huge pops and old arenas
all day, whether it's wrestling, boxing, music, basketball, et cetera.
There's just something about the way fans sound in pre
HD film and that's it. The sound isn't digital. It
makes a huge difference because it can flood, it can
drown out, it can reach a level where it's just
not being captured anymore. It's taking over the levels.
Speaker 2: It's huge, it's a very it's a it's a massive,
massive thing.
Speaker 1: Such an effect. Anonymous, thanks very much for the doubling
of your pledge. We appreciate it. Rick S, thank you
very much for the support. Crosley Bendix, We thank you
very much. Welcome to the EP tier. Same to you,
Omari Corey Smell great homie. Thanks very much for bumping
up to the vip tr. Chad writes, Hey, gentlemen, few
insights for the next time there's a feedback show here.
We are as far as Owens and Cody and the
winged Eagle belt. Didn't know if you caught it, but
that's actually just a WW shop replica anyone can purchase.
Wasn't a legit handmade belt?
Speaker 2: Yeah? I got I figure this. Yeah, of course it's
not gonna be because they can't do the real one
because it's got the the F in it, and isn't
the F the isn't that F the one that's a problem.
I don't know for sure. I thought it was that F.
I thought it was. I thought maybe more so I
thought it was. I thought I thought that's what it was.
Maybe all f's are. But yeah, they can't. They can't
even use that one because it's not and of course
not they have they're not. And also they're not going
to use that one, right, They're not going to use
the one that isn't it doesn't have the current the
w W logo, right all right, they're not going to
have the F. The F is gone. The F never happened,
The F has been gotten out, Yeah exactly.
Speaker 1: I mean, how sad was it when they were going
through their old school phase and started coming out with
all the old merch with the old logo on it
and they had to lob off the F. What what
a laughing stock they made of themselves? Like yep, the
raw thirtieth were like it was all everything was old,
but it was the WWF logo without the f on.
Speaker 2: It so pathetic, so pathetic, I mean even worse when
they had that that Ultimate Warrior documentary or that something
I forget what it was, but they showed a clip
or they showed a still of the WrestleMania six contract
signing with and they and they, they digitally removed the
logo and put the E logo in.
Speaker 1: They've shown like scans of articles from back then and
gone to the trouble of manipulating the scan of the
newspaper article to say WWE, when yes, there was no
such thing at the time the article was printed. Yes,
what's happening here?
Speaker 2: They're they're they're doing the right thing for business.
Speaker 1: Really, do enjoy Chad right to the SNME live call
Saturday Night's main event. Glad you've kept up on them.
Must suck to have to watch all that modern stuff. Though,
crazy idea, but why don't they just go back to
having Saturday Nights main event replace the lower lower level
pay per views. It's a good question because now it's
all on Peacock anyway, and they're making the same amount
of money. I don't know if Peacock necessarily cares if
you call it no mercy or Saturday Nights main event.
Speaker 2: I'm sure they don't care at all. Just do about
eight snms a year. I love this.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and have your big six four to six pay
per views, because then you can use the Saturday Nights
main event to shoot the big angles for the pay
per view, which was always the magic of Saturday Nights
main event. That's where you shot your big angles that
had to move units on pay TV.
Speaker 2: But but it kind of defeats the purpose if you're like,
if you're if you have like two Satura Nights main
events in the run in a row, you can do it.
Speaker 1: It's a little trickier. You just have to be you
can just do less snmes. But I like this point
where it's like, why do those have to be on
top of And as we're seeing with how strategically they're
deploying these shows, maybe it's starting to make some sense.
Did you hear that they they booked a Saturday Night's
main event to run the same weekend as aw's big
all out Texas Stadium show in July in the same
market in Texas.
Speaker 2: Not they're intext they're gonna be doing in Texas as well. Yeah,
holy shit.
Speaker 1: So that's that's what Saturday Night's main event is there
for whatever they need to fuck with AW on Saturday Night.
Speaker 2: And like, I mean, it's kind of funny, like you'd think, though,
are they gonna Is that gonna work? Though? With a
mean because its main event is kind of less than a.
Speaker 1: Pay per view it is for a pl what what's happening?
It looks like is AW is actually gonna move their
start time back substantially so that their pay per view
it's pretty much going to be over by the time
Saturday Night's main events start. So it was to not
split at least the television audience. And I think they're like,
it's it's Texas. So there's I think one San Antonio
and one is one is Dallas, so it's far away
enough that it's you know, it's not the same two markets.
It's an incredibly long drive if you're a ticket buying
wrestling fan, right, So it's not like it's hurting, but
the fact that they would do it, it's just classic shit.
Speaker 2: You know. Oh yeah, that's old school, man, That's honestly,
it's the way it should be.
Speaker 1: And it was so weird because WWE shifted to Saturdays,
which fucked with AW. But then AW now is the
Sunday night pay per view company, because now they have
a Saturday night television show and TNT Collision that they
have to do. And so if they were to run
Saturday night pay per views, which is very optimal for them,
I think they have to cancel Collision, which which of
course I don't know why they're just use it as
a pay per view pre show, but that's neither here
nor there. And yeah, they're moving it up. And they're
also now holding off on announcing dates too far out.
They don't want to announce these dates too far out
because wwe can can play aimes and counter program.
Speaker 2: It's pretty amazing. Chat that's funny, Man's that's funny. Fucked
up it is. You didn't you wouldn't think they would
have to do that, but I mean you right, Like
I mean, I guess all they wanted to do is
just wait so they can fucking, you know, buy the company.
Speaker 1: The craziest one I saw because UFC did this too
big time. When number two groups would pop up, they
would run head to head and book shows on the
fly to compete with pay per views and other upstock
groups are trying to do the best.
Speaker 2: One was.
Speaker 1: Bellatore, which was at the time a rising number two.
It was no threat to the UFC, but it was
you know, they were signing big time fighters. They were competing.
Bellatour was at Mohegan Sun in Connecticut and UFC was
in Foxwoods and Connecticut on the same night, almost the
same night, running to the two Connecticut casinos.
Speaker 2: That's how crazy it got. That was a wild night.
Speaker 3: Wrestling podcast. The wrestling podcast that knows the boys need
their candy. It's the Lapsed Fan. He's the Lapsed Fan
wrestling podcast with Jack and carn S mjpro.
Speaker 1: Chad writes, less belts, What the fuck are they doing
with a women's US And I see, yeah, that's the
thing too. You didn't see like, I don't know, maybe
I'm a little unplugged. I gotta get some catching up in.
But you don't even see like why they did it.
It's very rare that. I mean, here's why they introduce
those belts. It doesn't hit you over the head. It's
not because it's not it's not a hit you or
the type of thing. It's a it's a fucking all
it is was about the equality of it.
Speaker 2: I guess that's what it is. No reason, there's no
reason to actually do it because it just, you know it,
it just there's no value to it at all. I
am there's no value to it. I am all for
people making a living in pro wrestling. I don't want
anybody to lose their job. Don't take this the wrong way.
But if you look at your roster and you say,
you know, we've got so much women, so many women,
that we need to introduce a second belt, so a
lot of these women have something to compete for and
to you know, orient themselves against, what you might be
telling yourself is you might not need that many women. Frankly,
I don't understand why, like you don't just employ the
people you need at the time that you actually have
plans for, you know what I mean. It's it's very.
Speaker 1: Strange, like the tale of both rosters, Like what the
what the company has in mind?
Speaker 2: You know?
Speaker 1: Like I said, I absolutely am not advocating that they
just get thrown out on the street, but I do
wonder what the mentality is of having so much talent
under contract both companies. WW is better calibrated than AW.
AW has so many people that they pay just to
sit home, because unless they have a storyline for you
right now, they don't even bother flying you to TV.
Speaker 2: But they still pay you every week. So it's kind
of a great set.
Speaker 1: But the thing now is the talent is so much
more geared towards They want to work, they want to contribute,
they want to show off, they want to show out.
It's not like the old days were, like you know,
if you told a carneye in the eighties or nineties
that like will pay you to not do anything, it's
the greatest fucking thing they've ever heard of, that's right.
What they get up in the morning forest to stumble
into an opportunity like that. That's where everyone loved working at
WCW and the mid to late nineties. But still it's
it's really weird why they don't just kind of say,
all right, we've got we've got a couple of programs here.
We're going to employ these people until the program is over,
and then we'll cycle someone else in and get them
locked under contract. Like why have like a bench of
thirty options when you can only deliver one match of
pay per view anyway? From that roster, it's it's interesting
to me. So yeah, less belts, of course. I mean, god,
we all know three is the magic number the women's
title for come on, I mean, this is not complicated, This.
Speaker 2: Is not I mean part of Also, you know, it
wouldn't be as big of a deal if they didn't
have so many fucking world championships. Yeah, that's part of
the problem. That's a big part of the problem. Like
if they were just if they would just let the
other belts be subservient to the big Belt, if they
would just well, if they would just fucking cut a
world championship, I've never under I still don't understand like
what that does except dilute the other the real world championship.
Guntor should be IC champion. That should be enough, and
then one day he's ready for the Big Belt, and
that's a beautiful day, right exactly. You know, like it
because because nobody thinks of it as equal, it's introduced
it like last year, because the only time, the only
time it was equal, there was only one time when
it was equal, and that was that was like two
thousand and four, two thousand and five. They did it.
They did such a great job at because I remember,
you know, when when when Triple H first got the belt,
it was like it was such a joke. It was
such a joke, and it meant nothing. But when they
you know, especially I think of WrestleMania twenty as being
the time where both championships really meant something.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I thought by then the World the Big Gold
had so thoroughly eclipsed the WW Beltah's Belt of Choices.
He wanted to cosplay as Rick Flair, of.
Speaker 2: Course, and and I agree that it kind of had.
But at the same time, you know, when Brock had
the belt and when had the belt, yeah, there was
like you know, when they have those, there was some
Even when Sena and Batista had it, it was close,
there was like there was a real like these guys
aren't equal planes, Like there I can see them both.
But but since then, it's like it's just a fucking
it's it's a joke, it really is, and title is
what it is, right, there's no need to have two
world champions and this in order to have two women
world champions like you could easily. I like having a
US Belt. I always liked having US belts. I think
having three championships for the men and then tag titles
and then three champions for the women and then tag titles.
Is great, that's it. That's all you gotta have.
Speaker 1: Clearly, and I think introducing all these belts it just
goes to show that like they're not as creative as
they like to think they are, because they don't know
what to do if they can't orient the show around
everyone chasing something that's perceived as the world championship, right,
like they can the ideas that the ideas that you
are supposed to be always chasing the world championship, but
you're doing that by winning matches and winning against Imagine
that more prestigious, more prestigious opponents. Imagine that, you know,
like yeah, and you can have it doesn't have to
be one show has the world champion, the other one doesn't.
The World champ can go from roster to roster. You know,
they can be on SmackDown for two months if the
top contender happens to be there, and they can Beyond
Raw for two months if the top contender happens to
be there. But the idea that both shows have to
operate on these two separate islands, because the only way
we understand is this waterfall structure where everything comes down
from this one world champion at the top of the hill,
and we have to almost pretend for the sake of
this self contained show that there isn't another world champion
in the world, that the person doesn't exist. Almost is
completely stupid. It just begs people to not take the
world title seriously, and they shouldn't, frankly, because it was
just clumsily thrown back out there because Triple H didn't
know what to do on raw. Because here it's no
coincidence that the company absolutely lit on fire when Roman
had both belts on his shoulder. There was one champion.
That's how you fucking do it, and he proved it.
He proved it still the case. You look at how
much of an attraction he was when he had both
belts swinging, swinging like a big dick all over the place,
and Becky the same thing. Becky never felt as big
as she did holding those two belts high. Oh, of course,
no way, come on, folks. And for rumble, he says,
you think you miss gorilla on the death toll? I
don't know think ninety six rumble is that what he's
talking about about, uh rub ninety six is Gorilla on there.
Yeah he is, Yeah, because the next night he gets
splashed by Vader, right did I?
Speaker 2: I mean, well, I can I can see Meg. I
must have missed him. I don't know how I missed
it happens. Don't miss Gorilla of all people, he says.
Speaker 1: And you are right to think of the rumble as
where Razor always loses the icy Belt. He also lost
it in ninety five to Double j and I totally
agree to the rumble match would always go last Chat agrees.
But so far as double Duty goes despite the negatives
of it, years when the roster is so thin like
in the New Gen years, wouldn't it benefit the Rumble
match to do it instead of having tons of Jabroni's
in it. I kind of feel like anyone besides the
guys in the World Title match should be on the
table the years they didn't doubled dip, like ninety three
to ninety five and ninety six or some of the
least exciting rumbles to me. So he's saying, if guys
can't come back to compete in the match at the
end of the night, it just hurts. The rumble just
makes the brumble too thin. I mean, he's not wrong,
but I still hate it. And I never liked the
double dipping at all.
Speaker 2: I still hate it. Yeah, I hate it. Hate it.
Speaker 1: You show up to the building trained and focused to
win the Brumble, and then the other guys are trained
and focused to win their matches.
Speaker 2: You can't. You can't do both.
Speaker 1: I mean you can, but it's just like one of
the two is going to suffer needlessly, rightly, because the
whole reason you put matches other than the Battle Royal
and the Royal Rumble is to spice up the card
and make it more attractive from a marquee standpoint, right,
And if all those guys are just also Rumble participants,
it doesn't really spice up the card because those guys
are in the Rumble anyway. It's not something extra. Martin Wilson,
thanks very much for your pledge. We deeply appreciate it.
My friend Matthew Johnda, thank you very much for the cake.
It will be put to good use. Tim l thank
you very much for generously doubling your pledge. We see
you and appreciate you. Asked Blaster eighteen sixty five, that's
the fucking ticket right there there.
Speaker 2: It is absolutely and.
Speaker 1: Rumble ninety six. Paul writes Dorance Junior wearing a two
pey and thinking that it's the funniest thing ever that
everyone is no selling. It just tickles me. He might
actually be as simple as lapsed Dory. Ryan Harvey, thank
you very much for your increased pledge, Sam writes, Jack
brought up DJ Dwayn Johnson the idea of Dwayn Johnson
entering at number thirty one this year. In the rumble,
we were talking about what if? Right, Yeah, that's literally
and I did forget this, I'll admit it what Triple
H did in twenty sixteen entered number thirty one and
won it. Totally forgot that that was the rumble, that
it was for the title. And then he he wasn't
thirty one, he was thirty.
Speaker 2: He wasn't thirty one. I don't think so he was.
Let me take a look.
Speaker 1: I think they did this thing where like, because he's
the power player, he pulled a power play and got
the things were a rumble.
Speaker 2: Twenty fifth, twenty sixteen, twenty fifteen, twenty sixteen, Pretty sure
it was. I think it was twenty sixteen, because it
was it was a year we went to Dallas, Texas
for wrestling. I was sixteen. Yeah, no, he was thirty, Okay,
he was thirty. He was thirty.
Speaker 1: That's not what I meant. I said thirty one. Yeah,
it should be here. I am falling on my sword.
That's not what I mean.
Speaker 2: I mean.
Speaker 1: He pulls power play and adds a spot to the rumble.
Speaker 2: Right, right, that's the idea. That should be an extra spot.
Not that he's in it, but that all thirty guys
have entered. And then like four minutes later, the clock
goes down again, right, you know, or like when there's
like or or even better, even better, the guy wins
the rumble and the clock starts going down and then
out comes Dwayne.
Speaker 1: He didn't win, right, William, you ran. Thank you very
much for your pledge. John Lamb, thank you for.
Speaker 2: Remember remember remember when you know, remember like this was
such a that that was actually one of the biggest
fucking triple H bullshit moves ever when he when he
won that, because not only did he did he win it,
but then he's like, you know, here they are, they're
trying to build up Roman reigns as the guy and
he tossed triple H just fucking tosses him out, and
then he crotch chops him and does all that ship
and comes across as the biggest fucking all time. It's
such like a fucking like, you know, you're not you're
not doing You're creating so much more harm than any
sort of I mean that that's his m O really,
up until most recently, I suppose, is that's what he
would do. He would fucking know until that heart attack
where he wasn't like a lie to actually get in
the runing anymore exactly clips everybody.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that was pathetic. There was something. There's some backstory too,
and I'm trying to remember the details. I feel like
it was supposed to be Roman and somebody else, and
that having Triple H went it that way and get
into the main event was like a plan B. But
I can't remember. I can't remember if it was just
people wanted it to be someone else, or if it
was going was supposed to be a Rock, because I
remember Rock had done the thing where he came out
with Roman, remember, and endorsed him after he won the
Rumble that year.
Speaker 2: Right, yeah, the year the year prior so, and everyone
and everyone bowed the shit out of rock. They sure did,
They sure did. That was the hint of things to come. Yeah,
not pathetic.
Speaker 1: And then you know, you know, you know Triple Agency
in that record Gate and that record one hundred thousand
plus crowd number, and it's I pulling the whole coga.
How can I sign myself to that?
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, yeah it was.
Speaker 1: It was a decent match, but it didn't get didn't
get Roman off to the races.
Speaker 2: I'll tell you that. No, well, nothing, nothing really could
at the times true, honestly, he was fucked.
Speaker 1: I was searching for what David Lynch thing from the past.
Someone had written to us about people leaving the theater.
Carlos says he saw a racerhead in theater. People walked out.
The people I was with were pissed. I felt that
warm pariah feeling like being a wrestling mark, the sense
of really connecting with something that earns contempt from the
normis a racerhead. Mahalan drive in the twenty twenty two
Weather Reports are personal faves. Blue Velvet was too much,
too much.
Speaker 2: I wasn't ready. Wow, you no shit? What is this movie?
Why is people?
Speaker 1: I'm ready for it. I'm fascinating I know, I know,
got to make time to watch this thing.
Speaker 2: I gotta do it.
Speaker 1: Patrick Weisberger, thank you very much for your support and
increasing your pledge recently. We appreciate it very much. Paul Epton,
thank you for the support. Michael Tremarco. Another shout out
coming your way for increasing your pledge earlier. Tim Lee,
thank you very much for doing much the same. These
people see these live calls, boss, and they need it.
It's not complicated.
Speaker 2: Yes, yes.
Speaker 1: Nicholas Chapara, thank you very much for your increased pledge.
Same to you, Andrew Mansow. And that's a meaty number
coming our way. We appreciate that. Eric red Bee, thank
you very much for your support. Sam also clarifies that yes,
Fordfield does have one of those windows where you can
see the sky during the day. Remember we were wondering
about that, Yes, and you had that foggy memory that
when we went to ford Field for WrestleMania that year
that it was like it was yep, Okay, I can
confirm right, Sam Rivers, thank you for the pledge. Pete,
thank you for the support. On Patreon. Josh Wright, welcome,
my friend to the moat tier. You mighty mighty Motor
Michael Kaprio, thanks very much for the support. Tim Weiss
jumped all the way up to that fucking moat tier
as well. These people don't fuck around man, No, they're
not intimidated, Curtis writes, Love Rumble ninety six show.
Speaker 2: Thank you.
Speaker 1: Also loved your idea of having a rumble where all
thirty people get in the ring before a single elimination.
See he loves it. What's it going to be?
Speaker 2: Is it?
Speaker 1: Is it a bad idea or is it a good idea?
It's not a bad idea, idea they haven't done yet,
he says. Would be for one guy to be standing
alone in the ring as the buzzer goes for number
twenty nine, and those who immediately brawl and double eliminate
each other, leaving an empty ring as they milk number thirty.
Who would be the winner by default?
Speaker 2: Yeah? I would that'd be. I mean that would be.
I have mixed feelings about that, Like, it's definitely something
that would be cool to witness. At the same time,
it would be such a you.
Speaker 1: Would have to choose that wonder very carefully. It'd have
to be some big time heel or something, right.
Speaker 2: I have be somebody who who honestly had no chance
in hell in winning, but it needed to be someone yeah,
kind of legit. Santino, No, I don't think so. I
think that would have been bad. But it could have
been m Alberto del Rio yea, Seamus Yeah Alberta now yeah, yeah,
either of them like im not.
Speaker 1: Just smarmy heels that you know, don't deserve to be.
Speaker 2: There, right, and they really had no business fucking winning
that thing, right, but they did. Yeah.
Speaker 1: His idea, Curtis's vision is what you have is the
announcers aren't emphasizing that they know who the last person is,
so they did they haven't figured it out yet. But
once this emergency occurs where the last two guys before
number thirty are out and therefore number thirty is gonna win,
they're like scrambling trying to figure out, like, who haven't
we seen yet? Who the hell is this gonna be?
Who's gonna win this fucking match? It'll be like the
longest countdown ever.
Speaker 2: And what would be amazing too, is if it was
is if it happened they eliminated to each other with
like a minute to go. Yeah, you know, like a
memory before and everyone's gonna wait there and like, who
the fuck is it?
Speaker 1: You know when this would have been a stroke of
genius ninety nine, that's how Vince wins.
Speaker 2: Oh that works. That would have been pretty cool. Yep.
Speaker 1: It has to be a rumble where you don't plan
on putting the winner in the WrestleMania Maine.
Speaker 2: Event like that year. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yep.
Speaker 1: Kevin writes, I'm watching the nineteen eighty nine rubble Jesse.
You just said you weren't eliminated until you go over
the top rope and both he't hit the floor.
Speaker 2: What the fuck? I thought it wasn't until ninety five?
He says it what n Kevin reports back, Yep, all right,
it's a look at it complicates things. That does complicate things.
I will admit that if that is the case, and
then then my argument is, uh is fucked. Although they
didn't play by that rule any other year that year,
that was never specified.
Speaker 1: Absolutely yeah, there's apparently early evidence of it, but they
did not emphasize it anywhere near as much through the night.
Speaker 2: I mean, once you, once you, I mean, I'll uh.
It is hard. I will say this though. What really
bothers me more than the more than the two feet thing,
more than the two feet thing. What bothers me is
when somebody is somebody clears the ring. Yeah, when you
clear the ring, if you're like hanging onto the rope
like Sean Michaels did, I can kind of I can
see that as being somewhat even though I still think
it's bullshit. I'm willing to excuse that. But when you've
got fucking uh Naomi who is on the fucking announced
table and hasn't touched feet, that's bullshit. You are cleared
from that ring. You have been cleared. To me, more
to do with It's got more to do with the
fact that your foot hit the floor and you you
let go of the ring. You let go of that
ring rope, like you're no longer struggling to stay in.
Speaker 1: We're not connected to the ring anymore. Yeah, right, you're
floating right outside of the field of play. You're out
of bounds. Essentially, you can't make a catch out of bounds,
even if you're standing. Yeah, it's it's it's It gets
on my nerves too, because it was creative for a while,
but now it's like every year everyone waits for the
spot and that's annoying, right. Shout out to Andrew for
bumping up to the moat teer. We appreciated, Austin says
regarding breakfast sand, which is yes, a great breakfast sand,
which is amazing. However, a great breakfast taco burrito absolutely
properly will change hundred life absolutely, no question, he says.
JP's description is really good, but I have to say
top three thing I miss about living in Texas is
the ridiculous availability of top quality breakfast tacos, not only
from the usual taco restaurants, but more importantly at hole
in the wall joints connected to gas stations where you
get the real amazing stuff.
Speaker 2: Great. Oh yes, now I'm hungry with zero good taco
spots around me in northern Virginia. Yes, sorry, Austin, that's
the name goes, and I gotta make my own burritos
all day breakfast tacos. Oh, I love breakfast burritos. Holy shit.
If you do, you get a breakfast burrito, all right,
and you got? I mean I like sometimes I like
a crazy one, no question, but more often than not,
all I like in a breakfast burrito is eggs, bacon, cheese,
and potatoes, all right, and if you've got the right
amount of both ingredients, I put what I like to do.
I put a little bit of like I'll cut it
in half, all right, and I'll put a little bit
of sour cream on on part of it. And then
I put usually it's my own, my homemade salsa, and
I'll put it on. Take that bite, forget it, forget it,
forget it. So I'll tell you what. I'm not crazy
enough to have two. But when I'm done, I want
another one. And I get big ass fucking flower tortillas
like I'm not like the like like like kind of
the size that we had at the fucking Mexican place
in Brooklyn. All right, yeah, exactly, and I want another one.
I want another one. Potatoes, bacon, and it's it. Yeah,
that's it. I'm gonna have one tomorrow. That's it my
fucking morning. Now, do you have all the ingredients you
get to go? Get? Absolutely, I'm ready to go. Wow,
fucking nail that ship, my man.
Speaker 1: That's how we fucking live around here. But Austin does
write hard disagree on one thing. Hot sauce is a
requirement for a great breakfast sandwich taco burrito. Maybe that's
the textan in me.
Speaker 2: Shit for burrito, Yes, not for a sandwich. Depends depends again.
Sometimes I like to go crazy, like there's some places
nearby they've got like a you know, uh volcano breakfast
sandwich or whatever, and it's like, okay, you know I
have that. It's got like jalapenos and mix it with
the egg and it's like good hot sauce and great. Fine.
I'll do that every now and again. But in terms
of day to day no, not in a breakfast sandwich.
Like if I'm gonna do just fucking English muffin, bake
an egg and cheese, it's with grill the English muffin,
you know, like you do it a fucking New England diner.
Se I don't know. Not everyone grilled English means like
if you go to I remember the first time I
was like embarrassed when my fucking parents would ask for
a grilled English at a at a at a diner
in LA They're gonna actually like, no, you can't, They're
gonna put it on the grill. If they're actually gonna
grill it, like it's not it's not what you think
it is. They're gonna put it on the grill where
they make the fucking burgers, and you're gonna have lines
on it. They're not putting butter on it and pressing
down with it with a fucking spatula to make it
flat and crunchy. That's again so grilled English, very specific, okay,
very You have to cut it. You can't fork o.
You can't just pull it open. You can't pull it open.
You get to slice the the English muffin with a
knife so that both sides are flat, the insides are flat.
You put butter on the on the sides of the
uncooked English muffin, and then you fucking put that down
on your pan or if you're looking up to have
a griddle, you put it down there and you and
you gotta have something to just put some pressure on it. Unbelievable,
so that that that everything that's you know, it's got butter,
so it creates this crunchy surface. You put a fucking
you put bacon, egg and cheese and that ship. Forget it, man,
forget it. I went out of that as well tomorrow.
And the fucking breakfast burrito. Yeah, no fucks given, let's
get it, oh ship, it's all about breakfast sandwiches. Man, Oh,
it really is. You can you can survive your whole
life on breakfast sandwich, like late in the morning, like
count me in. Oh, there's some listen. I'm sometimes you know,
I don't. I don't usually do it, but if i'm
if I'm home alone for dinner, dude, do it, no question,
fire it up. Yep, yep, Because I got to make
three meals in my house anyway for my fucking family.
I'm not like, I won't necessarily do that. I'll try
to keep one of I'll try to keep my meal
to be something like the other meals, but usually with
with meat. But no, I'm I'm cooking three meals for
everybody every fucking night. Yeah, that's the way it works.
That's so much and we're all the beneficiaries. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Having tasted the Thanksgiving sandwich for it, h great, heavenly
uh Neil Wrights, I guess I always had trouble see
Shawn Michaels with the belt in nineteen ninety six, this,
of course in reference to Rowbald ninety six, which we
did this year. I understood at the time that they
were positioning him as this Michael Jordan ESK human highlight reel,
and there was some appeal to that kind of guy.
Being the WWF standard bearer, you could certainly do worse
than pushing someone who is so exciting to watch. But
I think I even knew back then that it was
more jab at WCW having Savage and Hogan than Vince
believing he had found the guy who could lead his company.
Our guys are younger and more athletic, et cetera. They
were even airing new generation ads that attacked older styles
of wrestling had on. They sure were seeing him in
the Rumble and the rest of his nineteen ninety six
Sean is an athlete performer is such a big part
of the presentation, but it feels like they are masking
the truth that everything else isn't working that well. The
promos angles character work aren't very good, and even if
the matches are exciting, you don't really care about the
people Sean is wrestling. Yeah, I think that becomes true
when Diesel leaves. I think they would have had a
hell of a program if Diesel stuck around. Yeah, I
think they could have gone a SummerSlam with that thing,
And I think he could have worked a Razor too,
you know, yep, oh yeah, the world title Razor turns
heel on him or something. He never had a had
a world title after after Brett A. Razor never wrestled
for the world title again. That would have been a
great program, like Turn Turn Razor heel. He needed that
so bad at that point. Oh yeah, that was the time, like.
Speaker 2: He was so he was so stale late ninety five
through ninety six, he was so fucking stale.
Speaker 1: And that's part of the reason Sean was so despondent,
as he's talked about in his book and other things
about Kevin and Scott leaving, because they had built the
whole that they had established a way of running the WWF.
The clique did such that you know, they really found
ways to only work with each other, and if they
stepped out of that, it was for a very limited
period of time and they eventually through some kind of
fit like a Dean Douglas or something. You know, it
just didn't It never worked out unless they were working
against each other. And if they were working against each other,
they were motivated and it was all good in the
hood and it was good stuff. You know, they would
go out and really really try hard on promos and matches,
and I think Sean could have had that kind of
ninety six if those two guys were there, But without them,
all of a sudden, he's casting about trying to find
people to work with. You know, Davy is someone he
was close with, in particular, someone he could score drugs
with back in the day. I remember Davy was the
one who was there when he got beat up by
the Marines. Not not Hollan Nash they were overseas at
the time, or even Kid. You know, I'm not sure
he would have had a great program with one to
three Kid, but he was gone by the middle of
ninety six.
Speaker 2: I'm sure would have been I'm sure would have been
good matches, yeah, but for sure again, but Kid was not.
I mean, Kid was nowhere near main event level, even
on his fucking best day.
Speaker 1: So even if they were people, even like Vader, that
the fans could be led to care about, I think
it's I think Sean would admit that he wasn't. He
wasn't in the headspace to accept those guys as guys
he would really help elevate as much as he would
if it was his buddies working against him. You know, ye,
he was hitting a wall just as much as the
fans were in terms of perception. He was really doubting himself,
you know, throughout nineteen ninety six. Matt Anderson, thank you
very much for the pledge. You appreciate that. Chris writes
imagining the person who saw TLF winning the award for
Best Wrestling Podcast and hearing a thirty minute discussion on
breakfast sand which is you heard another one, and what
that person's reaction is, Now, I need to go get
some bagels to make a late dinner. See that's the
point that so what we're saying, that's it. That's it,
Chris Man. It's tip from my fellow Englishman. When making
yourself a breakfast bag at, get yourself a tiger stick
from Cyose Bakery. Slice it horizontal, remove the bread so
you're basically left with a crusty shell. Fill it with
sausage and bacon. Less bread equals more pork. Complete game changer.
They know sausage over there.
Speaker 2: They do. They do? Remember how remember how Subway used
to cut their sandwiches? No, remember that, you remember that
what they used to do? I don't know what happened,
Probably they're just like, all right, let's just fucking be
normal here. But what they used to do, instead of
slicing it down the middle like a normal fucking sandwich,
what they would do is they'd cut the top offs
and they had like kind of like a they'd create
like a a valley of sorts where they'd kind of
stuff it in and then they'd put the cutout piece
on top. And it was a weird little thing, but
that was the subway side instead of cutting in. But
they create this like little hold wouldn't take out more
of the bread, but that's you know, it's not a
bad idea. You know, just pull out some of the
some of the bag at bread and just you have
more room and it kind of stores stores, you know, meat, eggs, cheeses,
whatever a lot better. Today it's a nice less gluten
option as well. Yeah, it's like a.
Speaker 1: Big thing is like how can we people People know
bagels or some of the most delicious food in the world,
but there are people who just they can't They just
can't eat something that they think is going to make
them fat. They just can't do it. So we have
to find ways to make bagels without gluten, or we
have to scoop them out like we do in l A.
Speaker 2: You know, like or you could, you know, you could
do yourself a favor and just shut the fuck up
and stuck out eat your fucking bagel.
Speaker 1: I don't know, man, It's like, if you have to
do that, you're acknowledging that, like.
Speaker 2: They're the perfect food. So why are you fucking with it? If?
If I understand, you know, I know that people who
have gluten and I'm not excluding that, I'm not yeah,
I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about the fucking
idiots who who because I mean, I think I've even
too that it doesn't really actually it's not actually a
good diet to lose weight anyway, take out gluten. It's
like it's not necessarily one that works.
Speaker 1: Just to wait, you know, if you think you've got
it to wait six months, right, someone will find a
way to make money off offering you the exact opposite advice.
And they will also be on steroids, by the way, Right,
it's not that complicated.
Speaker 2: Everybody's on steroids. Everybody's on steroid.
Speaker 1: Everybody you think you can look like it's on steroids.
That's trying to sell you. You know, sell you something
that's you know, the opposite or counterintuitive, you know, or
or highly complicated. Highly complicated, you're got to get up
at three thirty in the morning. It's like, okay, that's enough.
Thank you, Simon. I think he nails it. He says,
Sports podcast awards make a mistake letting the lapsed fan
and the debates. M Ain't that the truth? That it
better for us not even to put our name in
the hat, because you know what happens once we do.
Daniel James Dunn, thank you very much for your generous pledge.
We appreciate it. Brian writes to us, that's just I'm sorry,
it's Todd. Pardon me. He goes by Todd dear co
chairs after the last two TLF releases, mentioning the fabulous Mula.
I have to mention that here in the city she
lived in, she was a bit of a celebrity. The road,
of course, to which her home sat, was named in
her honor. Boss, have you ever seen Mula drive before?
That's a World Heritage site. Take a good look at it.
That and Fritz Lane right down in Dallas Lake Dallas. Yep,
that should be there. Since her death in twenty oh seven.
The property has passed through many hands until the house
burned down in twenty twenty one. The burnt remains are
still there. There's a local restaurant chain that displays her
WW book. The Fabulous Mulah first got us of the
squared circle in a display case but facing away from
general view.
Speaker 2: That's pretty funny. Yeah, so that's a I can imagine that.
You know, a lot of shit comes out about her
and it's like, no, maybe we should you think that's
what it was. They downplayed it. Yeah, we should kind
of ma return this around a little bit so it's
not in public.
Speaker 1: Was in Lapstom Todd, thank you for that one, Bud.
Speaker 2: Wow, that's funny.
Speaker 1: Chad Linquist, thank you for the increase in pledge show
and we deeply appreciate that and your support. Zach has
a whole Royal Rumble thing.
Speaker 2: Man.
Speaker 1: He was fired up and we didn't get it in
before he went. I hope he had a great time,
but he was headed to the Rumble this year and
he wanted Voss to let us know all about it.
Please take it away on behalf of all, right, Zach.
Speaker 2: Here we go on behalf of Zack Holy shit, dear
co chairs, I'm very excited to let you guys know
that I am going to the Royal Rumble this year. Now,
normally I wouldn't send you something like this. I have
been to countless shows, just like the next fan, but
this is different. Ever since the moment I had become
a fan, I have been memorized, mesmerized by the Rumble,
just like UJP. The Royal Rumble nine ninety one was
the first show I had ever seen. I started watching
in ninety eight ninety nine as an eight year old,
but this was the first show I rented and saw
the love of Hulk Hogan and the artwork alone drew
me in. I mean, dude, the fact that you could
find fucking ninety one Rumble in ninety eighty nine is
actually real, absolutely yeah, because I remember it was not
easy to find older, not that I was looking for
him per se, because I was so like jaded and like,
oh no, I don't want that old shit, I want
them new, real stuff. Yep. But you know the fact
that you were able to find that is really remarking.
Speaker 1: You had to find a video store that didn't really
turn inventory. They just kept stuff forever.
Speaker 2: Yep, that's crazy. Uh. The lore of the Love of
the Lore, Law of Hogan and the artwork alone drew
me in one of the most underrated rumbles in history,
I agree. Even if Knobs was in the final three,
that show was the springboard to my fandom. It was
a renting spree for life from there. Next I went
into the eighty nine Rumble. I didn't know how to
duplicate tapes of the time. Then later it was pulled
from my video store due to being too old. I
guess yes, So it was all but a vague memory.
Mostly mostly just remember the unforgettable moment of Jake busting
out the snake on Andre, Brother, bust on your snake
on Andre? Dude? What cock dude Brother, seeing him terrified,
the epic start with acts and smash charting still to
this day, the greatest start to any rumble in history,
and seeing the boss Man for the first time, and
my five year old brother Nick saying that that was
his favorite because he was a policeman. From there it
was the ninety three to ninety four rumbles. Austin and
Hogan were my favorites at the time, but Brett quickly
rose up My rankings as I concurrently watched these old
tapes along with discovering Nitro and Raw. At the same time,
I got to watch my first live show at my
uncle's The Royal Rumble nineteen ninety nine. I was playing
with my cousin throughout the night, but I vividly remember
Mankind being thrown off the balcony by the rock under
the exploding entrance equipment. This was is one of my
favorite matches of all time. M full too. He loves
that match, loves that match so much. Right then, my
other family friend taped this along with sold Out ninety
nine for me. So this was the first pay per
view tape I ever owned. You guys know how that
is no matter how weird or bad the show is,
it's your show, right, I agree, I mean, listen, that's
the only that is the reason why I can love
an awful show at the ninety three Rol Rumble, because
that was my first ever pay per view and I
and I kept it that way like it was. I
didn't even ask right to buy like I was. So
I was so enamored by the idea of the Royal
Rumble that and I wanted to you know, I wanted
so badly to buy the ninety two Rumble, but I said,
I don't want another show, like I want my first
pay per view to be a Royal Rumble. And that's
what it was, and I'm okay with that. I like
that show, and to me, it is a It is
another tour de force performance by Bobby the Brainheenen and
that's all I need. No matter how weird about the
show is, it's your show. You may say Vince winning
was weak, but you have to admit it was a
very original idea, the ultimate swerve bro Austin and Vince
starting off the match fighting in the bathroom in the
middle of the match, then Vince winning. We all knew
it was a foregune conclusion. Austin was winning in main
eventing mania, Ah right, I know. It was like I
was like, there's no way he can't win. But how's he?
You know, are they really going to put a guy
over the Rumble three years in a row like that
never happened three years in a row. That's crazy talk.
That'd be something. I think it would have been something. Honestly,
I think that would have been a great idea actually,
But I mean, obviously you get a swear bro I understand.
Royal Robot two thousand was another early recording I owned
by my other U, my other uncle, with the beginning
of the tape showing an infomercial for five seconds saying
have you been called fat or fatty? Oh my god? What?
Oh man? I love those fucking like still even those
two thousand, late ninety barely two thousand like late nineties commercials,
just like so awful. Then it quickly cut to the show.
Fellow Laps fan Damien and I still laugh about this
to this day. It also had another one of my
favorite matches of all time, Cactus versus Triple H. I
went to a SmackDown in two thousand as well, the
first show I ever went to. I was there when
Mankind turned into Cactus Jack and beat Triple H's ass.
This moment played in the promo package at the Rumble,
and I would always say I was there. I also
bought the rock shirt that said layeth the smacketh down
on your candy ass. My mom was so pissed off,
pissed that my uncle let me buy this and made
him laminate black all over the word ass. I love that.
It's like my mom with the fucking James Bond have that. Nah, uh,
you're going to a Catholic school, No way you can
have that. Woman's took us hanging out there. I actually,
you know, I got you know what I used to like.
One of my favorite shirts that they would do was
whatever city they were going to, they would print rock
shirts that said finally the rock has come back too
on the front and on the back it was the
city that they were in, And so I liked that.
I mean, I got woolster, but like for the most
money making machine, it really was because like I was like, yeah,
I wish it was Boston, but we were in Worcester,
you know, Wasster Centrum after the two thousand and King
of the Ring. So that was that. And I remember
watching this show for the first time in the basement.
It was rare that my whole family would hang out
down there. It was a true I was a true
basement dweller. But we had our family computer down there,
the gateway two thousand. Holy shit, that's a computer if
I ever heard one. Old school. My parents happened to
be down there when the Bikini Contest came on because
it was the live recording. It showed May Young showing
her saggy tested with a good three second lag time
for the censor twice. My mom was like, what is this?
I was mortified. My mom didn't even let me watch
MTV because of the women in the music videos, so
I didn't know how she would react to this, But
for some reason, she just made a joke out of it,
bringing it up off and on for years to come.
She didn't ban my nine year old self at the
time for watching it. And of course the two thousand
and one Rumbled, my favorite of all time, Jeff and
Matt fighting in the beginning and Matt reacting a whole
two seconds after getting hit. I don't know that's funny.
I don't even remember that. Actually, the hardcore moments, the
star Power with some of my favorites of all time,
Stone Cold, the Rock of the Undertaker, and of course
the Man Austin winning for the third time. Needless to say,
the Royal Rumble, but I still hate the end. I
agree it could have been the greatest rumble of all time,
but that finished with him fucking using the chair over
and over and over again. I'm Caine, I hate that. Yeah,
like that, that's how he wins. He smashes a chair
over Caine's head and that's what dumps him over the
top rope. It's kind of goofy. I hate it. I
hate it. That's why I hate the ending of WrestleMania seventeen.
I hate the fact that he doesn't win with a
stunner that he fucking just uses. I know, storyline purposes,
great whatever, but yeah, that worked out. He sucks. Fucking sucks.
It's like that should have been, that should have been
really just unbelievable moments. But it's all.
Speaker 1: Downhill from there. I mean, it was have zagged and
sometimes you can't recover from that.
Speaker 2: Like that fucking idiot Austin paranoid is ship like calm down,
I know, like he stale. I can feel it. Yeah,
you know what. He fucking destroyed his own his own character.
He destroyed Steve Austin. Amazing. It's not talked about enough.
It isn't that he did it. Isn't that he did it,
because it was never the same after that, it was
never the same.
Speaker 1: He had like five six more years left as that
Texas Texas rattlesnake that we all need kicking ass.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, he went back to it. You know that's
the proof, right, but it but you know what, it
wasn't the same. It wasn't By the time he came
back to it, he was like third from the top, right,
and then he's fucking mid caarting with with Scott Hall.
Yeah he I mean, what was I mean? I guess
the last show he made event it would have been
Survivor Series, right, he didn't made event another show after that?
Are you talking about two thousand versaries? That's where he
got hit by Rakishi series Versaries two thousand?
Speaker 1: Yeah, the Winner take All if you consider him.
Speaker 2: Oh no, he did. He did made event with with Jericho.
Jericho would have been the last one, no way out.
That would have been the last main event. Unreal. That's
crazy until WrestleMania with Kevin Owens made event at Night one.
Yeah he's a main event right, yeah, other rioter. I
needless to say that Roll Rumbo is my favorite show of
all time. The Rumble is wrestling for me. I used
to play every Rumble match in a row from ninety
one the earliest I had to whatever the current one
was in two thousands. I had other tapes, but these
were always the go tos YEP So with all the
anticipation leading up to this year's Rumble, you guys inspired
me to get hyped. I decided to create my own journey.
If you wheel, I'm playing every Rumble you guys have covered,
which is most of them, the only casts missing from
the laps timeline or eighty nine, ninety six, and ninety nine.
It's cool ninety six anymore, Yep, just eighty ninety's the
two Wow the decade there, eighty nine and ninety nine.
It's been cool to hear the progression and regression of
the Rumble match year by year and just really taking
it in and analyzing each year, and hearing you guys
talk about the lost rumbles from eighty seven, eighty eight,
and ninety four. I was actually able to track down
the full shows of both ninety four rumbles. In ninety four,
wait both, I don't understand that. Didn't they have house
show rumbles? Well? They did? What one? I think it
was a MSG where Owen Hart, Yeah, one, something like that.
I've only walked watched the match Owen won so far,
and I've got to say I love that match. I
think it's better than the actual ninety four Rouble Crush
being the diesel of the match. Then Owen comes out
and is the one to stand up to him. Then
Brett comes out and is able to save his brother
from being outnumbered by the heels. Plus you have the
great Michael's Jeannetti moment. Like the official ninety four Rumble,
I was also able to see that there was an
inkling of possibly the worst the first ever Royal Rubble
type match in nineteen seventy six, with the likes of
Kevin Sullivan, Bobo Brazil, Bruiser Brody, Stan Hanson and Chief
j Strongbow. The winner is not known, however, but the
show's flyer advertises battle Royal eighteen wrestlers two at a
time until we have a winner. Huh. Winner receives five
hundred dollars two at a time. Yeah, that's not even
timed intervals. That's one man has to be eliminated. Right.
That's interesting though, But it's kind of a similar format
in a way.
Speaker 1: Should they try that one year, do away with a
countdown and just make it.
Speaker 2: Never never never never no no no no no, come on,
you can't no no, they can do that for another show. Yeah,
you know, that would be an interesting anything that would
be the Saudi one. It's kind of like a gauntlet.
Yeah right, It's kind of like a gauntlet type match,
you know, but you throw them over the top rope.
I mean, be interesting for sure, but definitely not. You can't.
The countdown is key. Countdown is key for the format works.
Don't fuck it up the two times they've tried to
change it. They fucked it up when you when you
when you made it a minute, sucked when you added
forty wrestlers. It sucks down. Don't fucking touch it how
it goes. I also saw there was one in the
us W a h on January third, ninety six that
was won by Doug Gilbert and w House.
Speaker 1: It's funny because we go on to cover Rumble ninety
six and we go on to cover that that actually
qualifies him for the rumble.
Speaker 2: Yep, oh wow, that's right. That's right.
Speaker 1: They had a pretty close working relationship with USWA at
the time.
Speaker 2: And a WW house show on November twenty nine, ninety six,
which was a twenty man rumble in White Plains, New
York won by the Blue Chipper Rocky Maya Villa. Wow
did we talk about that? Now? I've never heard of
that before. I've never heard of that either. I had
no idea about the tag one on Raw in eighty
eight with Caine ninety eight with Cain and Mankind winning.
I don't remember that at all either. I don't remember
that that was the same night as the as the
Raw Tag Hell in a Cell match, which is crazy.
I also didn't know they had a five man rumble
on SmackDown in September ninety nine. I remember that, like
they've done like mini rumbles and stuff like that. I
know to do stuff. The journey also brought on another thing,
making my brother an official lapsed fan. He used to
watch shows and tapes back in the day with me,
but as adults, he only really had time to keep
up with current wrestling. It's on literally every day of
the week if you follow TNA and a W two.
He's going with me to the Rumble this year, so
I told him about the journey I was embarking on.
I have been bringing up the cast for years. He
gave it a chance years ago, but determined it was
too long and he lost interest. With all the crevices
you guys dive into with each show, it's the crevices
that matter yes, pal, I say that again. All right,
that's that's yeah. You try to block us from your crevis.
All right, again, we find we borrow in where Carpenter
fucking girling. All right, we find our spot, we borrow
in and we live in that. Take up all right,
take up residence in your anus. But this journey to
go along with going to the Rumble intrigued him, so
he's been listening almost every day. He is also making
time into his wrestling schedule to watch every Old Rumble show.
In sequence, I'm so proud going on the journey. I've
come to realize a few things. There is pretty much
always a random tag match on the show with people
not good enough to be in the Rumble. That's true.
That's true. The boss Man, for some reason, always has
a singles match ninety ninety one, ninety three nine. That
ninety three match with Bam Bam was actually a barn burner.
By the way, I agree. I think it's an underrated match.
He puts. He puts Bam Bam over Huge in his
little in his swan song out of the company, and
Matt got me thinking, who has the who has had
the most non Rumble matches at the Rumble Roman reigns, Undertaker,
Randy Orton and Triple H have had six. John Cena
and Kevin Owens this year have each have seven matches.
That's crazy to me, considering Ko only had the Universal
title for a cup of coffee. Some of these non
Rumble matches are some of the greatest and my most
favorite in the history of w Besides rock versus Mankind
Form nty nine and Triple H versus Cactus from two
thousand and I mentioned, it also has some other all
time classics Rockers versus or An Express ninety one yep, yep, great,
the opener of my life of wrestling. I mean, listen,
I'll never forget. I'll never forget because I'm sitting there,
you know the first time I rented that tape. Okay,
I rented that tape and I had my friends come
over and we watch it, and that is the opening match,
and we were fucking blown away by that match, Like
what the fuck? I mean listen, by that point, I
had I knew Pat Tanaka was a fucking jobber. I
knew Cato was a jobber. What business did they have
having a fucking match like that with the Rockers? Absolutely
who gave them the right to do that? So amazing
Jumping Bomb Angels versus the Glamour Girls I n. Eighty eight. Absolutely,
that is a that is great stuff, such a glorious
fucking Remember when we saw that for the first time
and we're like, what the fuck is this? Oh, they're
doing these moves in the WWF and Zerra Right Parties
versus Dudley's Tables match from two thousand, Triple H versus
versus Sean Michael's Last Man Standing in two thousand and four,
Sena versus Rollins versus Lesard twenty fifteen, Sena versus Styles
twenty seventeen, Brett and Owen versus the Quebecers in ninety four.
Even other matches I wouldn't consider great but are still
pretty damn good, like Brett versus Brett versus Razor is
way better than than bretton Owen versus Quebecers. I'm sorry,
I'm sorry. Yoko versus Taker Seiners versus Beverley's is awesome.
I love that one one of the greatest Frankensteiners of
all time. That's what I think of right away, as
him spiking him on his head. Yep, because like the
because you know, and I said this before, but what
makes it so great is is is youo somehow? I mean,
that's somehow. I mean, obviously there's something there is physics
here to work. But he he takes it, lands on
his head, but then like his shoulders go down and
then us that's been so fucking phenomenal Brett versus Diesel
and Sean versus Taker, and I hate to call it
a classic before it happens, but all signs point to
Kao versus Cody in the ladder match being a class
I don't remember. Was it good?
Speaker 1: It probably cost him his career honestly, is he yea,
he he's out or Mania. He basically announced that he
might have a career ending injury to his neck.
Speaker 2: No shit, wow, Codin, she better give him a fucking
Christians another guy that Ko made.
Speaker 1: I mean it didn't make like single handedly, but you know,
put into a position to really stand out from everybody else.
Speaker 2: Yep. But as far as the Rumbo match itself, eighty
nine to ninety four of the Golden years for me,
ninety five, ninety seven suck, ninety eight to two thousand
are decent. Two thousand and one two thousand and seven
are good great, good to great stuff dozand one and
two thousand and seven are great. I don't think I
liked much of the ones in between either. I think
they are does dozend three is okay, doesn't four is good,
dosand five not good. Thousand and six is not good
mainly honestly, it could have been the greatest rumble of
all time if it wanted to be. But the problem
is it's in the middle of the show. It's even
worse than not going on last the middle of the shows.
That the year they had Angle and Mark Henry in
the end, yeah, because the and the reason they had
it was because they broke the fucking ring. Maybe don't
do that. Maybe that's at the end right one? That
year six that would have been that was Ray. It
was Ray mysterious. Oh yeah, to get the triple threat,
ye right right, Well, not yet. They were gonna he
was gonna lose. Was he was gonna lose the title
shot to Randy Yorton. They were they were obsessed with
Randy Yorton and they were gonna put him over no
matter what. But than the fans almost put him over.
Undertaker of the Year before to break the streak, right right,
that's right, that's right. And that's the only time I
ever thought they should have done it, that's true. The
only time it made sense I thought they should have
done it. Then I was like, you know, to me,
to me him, I actually thought that that that that
that Randy Yorton losing that match actually set him back
quite a bit.
Speaker 1: And that was that was them saying, I'm they flirted
with the idea of putting him over, but he was
such a head case backstage at that point. He was
so pilled out, he was so rash and just acting
like incredibly immaturely on the road.
Speaker 2: And is that when he was shitting in people's.
Speaker 1: Bags, prone to fits of anger, and he was he
was high all the time.
Speaker 2: It was bad.
Speaker 1: They they they had a real problem on their hands
with him back then. M It's pretty funny how it
worked out.
Speaker 2: But yeah, I know, right, that was pretty bad until
I would say the twenty eighteen Women's Rumble. That's not
the first one. Yeah, that was a good That was
a great rubble. Actually, I like that one. Some good
and bad ones after that. Twenty twenty was pretty great too.
That's the Lessenard thing. Yeah, lessner owning the first half,
with the star power at the end and the edge
return made it one of the few all timers from
this era. Yeah, okay, if you if you like that
kind of shit, sure, Yeah. I was reading the sport
ki the sport Keita sport Keita what. Yeah, it's a website, oh,
ranking of the greatest rumbles of all time, and they
put ninety two number nine and twenty twenty number one.
What that is bullsh that that's written by fucking idiots,
fucking fucking idiots who probably never even watched the fucking
ninety two rumble, And I thought that was just absurd,
Probably someone in their twenties ranking that shit. My favorite
is two thousand and one, but objectively, I would have
to put ninety two is the greatest of all time. Yeah,
I don't think it will ever be topped. But on
that note, what are your top guys, top five man
biased favorite rumble matches of all time? Ninety two, ninety one,
ninety I really like ninety seven. Actually I do like
ninety seven quite a bit. Oh you're crazy, I know.
Speaker 1: I don't know why that floated into my mind, but
uh oh four oh one. I like, uh, I like
ninety M.
Speaker 2: I would say ninety one is my all time favorite,
always will be. I'll never take that out. I think
ninety two is the best rumble, but still not my favorite.
But I put ninety two is number two. I would
put ninety as number three, I would put ninety three
is number four, and I would put two thousand and
seven is as number five. Ninety three. Wow, only because
it's just I got a love for it. I got
love for seven the best. He said favorites A dozen
seven is a great one. Forgot about seven is a
great one. Yeah, dozend seven has got the serious sea
Yeah yeah, yeah, where you don't know who's gonna win.
And it was fucking great. Yeah, it's true. I kind
of just discount a lot of the post two thousand,
onesousand and seven because it was also it was the
first time where where it didn't feel like it didn't
feel like guys are getting tossed left and right, like
people actually were there for a while, like you know,
after ninety three and ninety four. Actually really it started
in ninety five with the with the minute intervals were
now all of a sudden, everybody's just being cost like
there was just no, it didn't feel like people were
in there for a while except for the people who
were going to be in there for a while. It
just it didn't It didn't feel as spontaneous as as
as it did because it it felt like guys were
in there for a while and then they just get
tossed out and just like, oh wow, I can't believe
they were in there for that line. You know that
that guy, like by the fact it was Valentine in
there for forty five minutes, you know, Jesus Christ. So yeah,
in two thousand and seven was the first time where
I was like, this feels old school, Like it felt
like an old school rumble, And then it had that
crazy ass ten minute one on one thing that was
just unbelievable. Yeah, it's a great one. I should have
wound in there. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I like the one with AJ and Diesel came back.
I like that one. I think that's fifteen that Roman
won that one, right or no he won and yeah
he won fifteen. Yeah, so that sucked, but I like
that felt very veentful that one. I feel like they
really pulled some rabbits out of the hat to make
the match, like really pop that first Woman's one. It's
good as the ones in recent years have all been good.
They've been you know, fun to watch, but they just
they fade, you know, the memory.
Speaker 2: They don't write. That's the thing, Like, they don't they
don't stand out like.
Speaker 1: The one this year seems so awesome when Jay won,
but now about two months later, I'm like, really, what
do I really remember about that? You know, I don't
remember anything about it, Drew getting pissed off that any
night got in the way, and these little like trivia
notes more than I don't.
Speaker 2: Yeah, the thing, I don't remember a damn thing about
it all. I just remember, Yeah, but I can remember that.
That's part of what I'm what I think of is like,
what what rumbles can I really like? That have have
meant so much to me that I've watched them over
and over and over again. That's the only way I
can rate a well rumble. And again It's why crappy
rumble technically can like ninety three can be in my
top five because I've seen it so many times. I
know every single beast in that fucking match, and so
I'll always cherish it because it has it has a
fondness for me, so we close this one. The reason
I sent this email was to convey just how much
excitement I have being able to literally live out a
childhood dream. Just something as simple as being able to
count down from ten is going to be an amazing experience,
living the surprises in person, being a part of and
having genuine pops throughout the show, being able to see
another possible five star match in the annals of Rumble history,
I feel like I've relived the history with you guys.
I know these are some of your favorite shows too,
and now I will be a part of the history
of the Royal Rumble saying I was there in twenty
twenty five. Thank you for rumble Mania, thank you for
unknowingly giving me the evolution of the Rumble journey, and
thank you for giving me this outlet to speak my
excitement through.
Speaker 1: Glad to do it, Zach, and we can identify because
I will say, of all the wrestling shows I've been
to go into that Rumble at O three, that was
like one of the most like flutter of my stomach
ones ever because yeah, you're about to participate in just
like he's saying, the countdown and all the special things
of a Rumble.
Speaker 2: The only Rumble I've ever been to live. I think.
I don't think I've ever been in rub Yeah.
Speaker 3: Me too, wrestling podcast, the wrestling podcast that knows the
boys need their candy. It's the Lapsed Fan. He's the
Lapsed Fan wrestling podcast with Jack and Corn and JP Soro.
Speaker 2: That's gonna go to just go to some of those,
I know. I mean, I guess they've never really been
close by. Not really, No, that's true, job they I mean,
I'm one. Last one they did in New York was
was it? It wasn't to us? And eight wasn't the
last one.
Speaker 1: I think it was because they've been doing all these
stadium scale arenas now and they tend to do you know,
second tier cities for Rumble. It's a it's a you know,
a stadium show they can do without it having to
be a huge metropolitan area like Indianapolis and stuff. But yeah,
I can't think of the closest one to us when
it was. That's a great point. Maybe they did Philly.
Speaker 2: I remember, I'll take a look here and say, yeah,
Philly was in twenty fifteen. I think yep, like Florida.
Speaker 1: Never coming back to Providence again, they're never going to
be in Oh no, no, had those dis.
Speaker 2: I mean yeah, especially you know they can't even do
a fucking stadium up here in the winter. It's true too,
you know. Yeah. The last that was close by so
like it was. Yeah, the last one that was close
by was twenty eighteen in Philly. Yeah, and that's not
really that close. That's kind of funny, like twenty to
twenty fifteen and twenty eighteen were both in uh in Philly.
That is funny.
Speaker 1: It is funny now too that they're that they're all
about stadiums for the Royal Rumble, like we're never going
to get one of the East coast again, like the Northeast.
Speaker 2: No ever, because we don't. We don't even have any
domed stadium. We would, if we write, if we had
a dome stadium, we could, but nope, we don't, So
fuck it.
Speaker 3: Uh.
Speaker 1: Joe Bernina, thank you so much for joining the moteeer.
My friend Tony Garvey, thank you so much for the pledge.
We deeply appreciated Christopher Wright. This was literally like watching
a rumble on the floor with my hasbros. You know
what he's talking about When he wrote that boss wrestle
Mamia to the nineteen ninety rumble.
Speaker 2: Oh yes, Oh that's a long that's a long time coming. Yeah,
like watching her. You know, we watch him, We watch
I watched it. We watch it in preparation for you know,
I mean we've obviously watched it way in advance. But
I watch it every you know, right to the uh
you know when I'm watching, and I always put a
rumble right by the rumble, and I'm doing them in
order with my mom. Unbelievable.
Speaker 1: Yeah, another reason to keep your eyes locked to wrestle
Momy revisit totally in the past versions of the upcoming show. Yeah,
he remembers his rumble on the floor with his Hasbros,
with his mom doing the ironing behind him, getting weirdly invested,
but constantly forgetting the one rule of the match. The
one rule of the match had to be reminded of
Todd Wright, still laughing from when a few entrants into
the match.
Speaker 2: My fucking mom. My mom does the same thing, like
watching these matches with her now, she she cannot remember
that you have to be pinned on your back, right,
She says, Well, wait a minute, why isn't he Mom?
Is gonna be on his back and his shoulders aren't
not counting out like boxing, So why aren't they counting?
That's funny, she says that. But they do sometimes pretend
to have standing ten counts in wrestling, you know, we
do sometimes pretend that you only have ten seconds to
gheit to your feet. It's weird, I know, compending on the.
Speaker 1: Match Todd on that same wrestle Mommy in nineteen ninety
Royal Rumble episode right, still laughing from when a few
entrants into the match, it is revealed it up until
that point your mother was under the impression that she
was watching the nineteen nineteen Royal Rumble. We got a
lot of great feedback on our interview with Brian Penry,
who was a creative consultant for Creative Director the first
one WW have had design the logo, all the rest.
You know, it's in the archives. If you skipped the
shame on you. It's really relevatory and such a great
kind of download of a unique vantage point on a
Vince McMahon that's coming into his own and realizing all
these licensing opportunities, in these NBC opportunities and becoming a
different person than the guy Brian knew, starting very humbly
owning the Cape Cod Coliseum and getting started with Linda
with out really a pot to piss in, so to speak,
and slowly winning over his father and getting in control
of the company. But Andrew Key doing something that I
think is so important from that interview, he wrote, Vince's
failed construction companies and Linda forcing him to make amends
with his dad to get into the wrestling business explains
so much about that, It really does. And Brian's memory
of Vince, you know, after a hard day's work, saying,
you know what, it's time for a tall one.
Speaker 2: I love That's That's still the greatest fucking ship.
Speaker 1: Chris writes coach here, I don't know how you tracked
down Brian Penry, but this was a first ballot TLFX
Hall of Famer. Imagine living in a world we're moving
down a Manhattan's mowing down rather a Manhattan squeegee guy
is the rational alternative to returning Vince his defaced Lincoln Continental. Yeah,
the phenomenal. Yeah, that's a great story. He tells of
being responsible for Vince's Lincoln Continental once and you.
Speaker 2: Know, are you ready for someone by the way, this
is something I didn't fucking know. This is totally about
shorty rumbles here do you know that as of twenty
twenty three, As of twenty twenty three, the entry number
that has won the most Royal Rumbles It took until
twenty twenty three, by the way for this to happen
is number thirty. Oh my god, it's sypathetic. It kind
of is actually like bec is this year? Yeah, the
first one whoever won by No. No. Twenty twenty three
was Cody Codens to number thirty and then twenty twenty two,
twenty sixteen, two thousand and eight, two thousand and seven.
Like the fact that two thousand and seven the Undertaker
was the first one to win at number thirty is
also pathetic, right, you know that's advantage, Like, honestly, if
you know, to really set the thing going, it's John
Studd should have been number thirty in eighty nine. Yeah,
honestly that should have been the thing because that been
right there makes number thirty a.
Speaker 1: Threat, protects the psychology of the match.
Speaker 2: Yeah, if they had done it from the very beginning.
If they didn't, they.
Speaker 1: Probably didn't even know how long it was going to go.
They probably didn't see it having the legs that did
to you know, book with well, yeah, six rumbles in
the future, you know, it'll be important to establish x
y Z. Steve Key did another great thing from the
Brian Penry interview. It was like he had just walked
off the plantation with a mint jewel up in his hand.
That is Brian Penry describing Jim Barnett, which was so
fun because it kind of felt like Brian forgot about
jim Zy until we mentioned him, brought him up, and
he said, oh my god, that guy. Tremendous to find
someone out in the wild who has these deep seated
memories of all these colorful, pivotal characters in the WWF
history and never apparently ever having an outlet to tell
these stories, you know, never having anyone ask him in
a way that activated his mind about all these people.
And it turns out he was like right there for
so many critical moments in time and decisions, and you know,
the kind of photo shoots that he went out and
did in the earliest days of promoting WrestleMania one just
just amazing, really really proud of that one. And Brian's
such a great guy. He's kept in touch with us.
He's even sent us some of his prints and stuff.
I hope some members of the Solar System were able
to meet up with him at the Connecticut con that
he was plugging on the interview. But a big ups
to that guy. Very glad to have made his acquaintance.
Speaker 2: This phenomenal guy. Phenomenal absolutely spent.
Speaker 1: A lot of time talking during the Saturday Night's Made
Event Episode one coverage that we did about the time
Hulk Cogan and Mister T hosted Saturday Night Live, thus
beginning in a lot of ways the NBC relationship before
WrestleMania won. A lot of digging as to why and
how they became hosts. Was the host in fact sick?
Speaker 2: Was he not? Was there a writer's strike? Was there not?
Speaker 1: What really factored in to putting Hulk Cogan in Mister
T in that coveted hosting spot in kind of an
impromptu fashion? Well, of course Tomasinasio did some digging.
Speaker 2: He knows how to dig around.
Speaker 1: One of the things he contributed, he said, that's interesting
considering the writer's strike was over by the nineteenth, so
he's writing, let me let me try to keep this
in order as I think, Corey. Yeah, Corey in Winnipeg wrote,
I had read that about a year and a half ago,
looking for info and why the host backed out. I
can't call the specifics. The interview was not related to wrestling. Okay,
I'm losing the context here. Oh, he does say before
I forget the switch from Animation's Obsession, the original theme
song for Saturday Night's main event that we spent so
much time celebrating. He said, the switch from that to
the SNM a theme that we would later know Dent
Dent Tent. Yeah, was the main event Febry fifth, nineteen
eighty eight.
Speaker 2: The oh wow is it?
Speaker 1: That year's January Saturday It's main event still had the
an emotion song. So that's that's good. That's something we
were wondering aloud about and weren't quite sure how to take. Okay,
so back to this back and forth, and there's a
lot of it.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: So Corey had written for Hogan and Tea hosting SNL.
The host didn't get sick. He pulled out of the
gig the week of the show because of an expected
writers strike. I see an expected writer strike.
Speaker 2: Okay.
Speaker 1: Steve Landsberg from the TV show, Bernie Miller was the
scheduled host. He still appears, that's right. We did establish
that and does a stand up bit on the show.
That's what struck us as weird. He wasn't sick. He
was on the show. Ultimately, he was on the show.
And we also noted this the show was the only
one that doesn't have a weekend update segment on it.
Speaker 2: Wow. So somebody even.
Speaker 1: Asked us on Patroon, would we ever just deep dive
the Hogan mister t Saturday Night Live. I don't know,
kind of seems like under the cinemat adjacent more than
the main show.
Speaker 2: Worthy, but might have an idea. Yeah, that's something like
we could do.
Speaker 1: So that's I consider it an attempt to kind of
set some things straight. But Tom wrote back a series
of findings. One of them was, let's see that's interesting,
he writes, considering the writer's strike was over by the nineteenth.
He was originally supposed to host the show on the
sixteenth Steve Landisburg, which was bumped because of the strike.
He pulled out of that one for sure. Okay, so
there was a Saturday Night's Live that Steve Landisburg pulled
out of but it wasn't the one that Hulk Cogan
and mister T ended up hosting. Now I get the confusion.
The thirtieth Hulkin T's episode, he writes, was supposed to
be a rerun. I see, I didn't know that. Really,
I think hulkon T were going to make an appearance
on the sixteenth. Tom writes, by the time the thirtieth
show came around, it looks like Landisburg had a conflict
and couldn't host, So really a lot of dumb luck. Yeah,
because he said something in the press that we read
about having to go to a family emergency or a
family related thing, like a right engagement of some type.
Maybe not an emergency, but an engagement. Yeah, by the
time the thirtieth show came around, it looks like Landisburg
had a conflict that to say, March third, thirtieth and
couldn't host. So really a lot of dumb luck went
into Hogan and Tea hosting the night before Mania. The
no weekend update segment is fascinating, though Downey seems to
have written on the thirtieth show, so not sure why
him and Chris Guest didn't write an update. Has to
have something to do with the strike, but lord knows
what he says. Tom says further to Steve Landisburg, it
looks like he had a conflict in the week of
the thirtieth and couldn't rehearse. But that was also during
a time they were using revolving guest hosts to give
the show more rhythm post Eddie Murphy. That's right now.
We talked about that too, so who knows. They easily
could have slotted someone else in. It doesn't look like
Landisburg was specifically bumped from Mania Saturday night's main event promotion,
but Eversall did make the call for Hogan and te
to host as opposed to using one of their old standbys.
So much dumb luck went into Mania one success.
Speaker 2: It's just wild to think about. It's so true.
Speaker 1: It's not just it's not just that they happened into
the celebrities, it's what the celebrities are able to do
with that time. Tom further writes a few notes on
eighty five TV. Dear co chairman, all the talk of
network TV history as my mind buzzing, But no one
needs to hear another long die tribe from me. Yes
they do about the mechanics of the TV business. So
I thought I'd just thrown a few quick notes. One
the reason why Vince couldn't mention Saturday Night's main event
on Tuesday Night Titans, Yeah, we talked about that. Why
is there no promotion for this huge NBC thing was
centered around the Time Inc. Paramount Co ownership of USA,
Time Inc. Had a strong standing policy that any promotion
of another network shows on USA had to involve a
quid pro quo. USA wanted TNT promoted on NBC in
exchange for USA promoting Saturday Night's main event.
Speaker 2: That's not happening.
Speaker 1: NBC's advertising team, already skeptical of wrestling's ability to draw
the eighteen to three before audience that NBC had built
their comeback on under Brandon Tartakoff, refused the deal, and
hence the first Saturday Night's main event wasn't advertised or
promoted on USA. It's great intel, and I trust that
it's sourced well too. NBC's local affiliates had an outsized
influence in NBC programming decisions and how they were promoted. Yes,
they've always heard this about NBC that, unlike the other
networks like Fox, NBC's local affiliates really have a lot
of power for some reason. They like I can straight
up say like I don't care what you want to
put in prime time, We're putting news, and you're just
going to have to find another way, whereas Fox can
force that and force the local news and the local
affiliates to do whatever they want. There's some imbalance in
the contractual language that NBC has visa the affiliates compared
to the other national networks. Anyway, in the late seventies
early eighties, he writes, during Fred Silderman's ill Faded Rain,
NBC lost local affiliates had an unprecedented rate, especially after
Jimmy Carter pulled Team USA out of the Moscow Olympics,
almost bankrupting NBC. Of course, we know the Olympics are
basically the heart of NBC's operation. That's where a lot
of the money is made is advertising against the Olympics.
When Silverman was finally ousted in eighty one, Grant Tinker
became chairman and CEO of the network and immediately went
to work wooing the affiliates back by offering unprecedented sweetheart deals.
See that's where it comes from right there, they're under pressure,
giving the affiliates a tremendous amount of freedom as to
how and what they promoted. This was an incredibly risky strategy,
as affiliates were more likely to see overnights and abandoned
shows faster than NBC wanted, and all likelihood it led
to the disastrous nineteen eighty three season, which saw none
of the nine new programs NBC had green Lip make
it to the second season, despite Tartakoff pre Wow President
of Entertainment Undertinker, pleading for patients. Yet it also helped
lead to NBC's turnaround the next season, as the affiliate
saw The Cosby Show as a hit before the network
execs and gave it twice the local advertising time that
NBC was giving it on their Holy owned stations. My
guess is NBC produced fifteen second, very cheap bumpers for
Saturday Night's made event, the ones on YouTube that you
played in the SA Enemy episode, but the affiliates had
carte blanche to advertise it any way they saw fit.
As I mentioned my last email, my uncle claims that
in Baltimore, Saturday Night's main event was promoted as a
mini WrestleMania. I think that was probably the case across
a WWF strongholds in the northeastern mid Atlantic and only
in the import affiliate cities like Saint Louis, Chicago, and Minneapolis,
in which wrestling was a known rating straw. It was
a safe way for NBC to dip their toe into
bringing wrestling back to network while also being able to
pull the plug if it was an abject failure. Yeah,
that's true too. Gee, by being an NBC there playing
a risky game of affiliates saying Nope, not on my
network wrestling. Are you fucking kidding me?
Speaker 2: Three?
Speaker 1: The articles you found mentioning Snemy potentially being a monthly
show indicate that the first episode was a variation of
a backdoor pilot. Backdoor pilots are usually spin offs of
existing shows, a bait and switch that uses a time slot.
Speaker 2: We were We talked about this with something on Cinement
I don't remember h a reference to Twin Peaks. You, No,
it wasn't. I was thinking that might have been it,
but I don't think we did. I don't because the
the spin off for Sherylyn Fenn wasn't. Wasn't uh a
backdoor pilot, but I'm thinking actually Baywatch might have been it,
because I think I think there was a plan m
for Thunder and Paradise to a no no, Yeah, maybe
at some point Thunder Paris was going to be a
spin off. We're going to do a backdoor pilot or
something like that on inspired the show. For sure, I
forget about I forget how that all worked. I don't
remember some I know I've talked about backdoor pilots before.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you're basically trying to saddle onto an existing hot against.
Speaker 2: Well, what you're doing is you're you're putting you're basically
taking an episode of of a of a of a show,
and you're kind of instead of following with your normal characters,
like you'll introduce a new character in that episode and
that character will kind of take over that episode for
the last one left off right and then and then
that so that that kind of becomes what they call
a backdoor pilot, so that they've they've added it, They've
included it in an already existing show with the intention
of creating a different show. I love that.
Speaker 1: N cis Tom Notes is the most recent example of
successful backdoor pilot, with CSI as the progenitor. SNME was
obviously not a spin off of Saturday Night Live, but
by marketing it is preempting SNL a reorn of SNL, since,
as the cast pointed out, SNL's season was already over.
It's clear that ever Saul was presenting SNME as a
potential monthly replacement for SNL, which wasn't officially even renewed
until Lord Michaels agreed to return. Although I have no
proof of this, SNME probably didn't end up with the
monthly time slot simply because it was wrestling. As Jack
pointed out, SMMME drew similar ratings to the faltering Saturday
Night Live and eighty forty five. But even with the
rock and wrestling connection and all the efforts to market
wrestling as an ironic postmodern reimagining of the every man
morality plays of the sixteenth century that the sophisticated and
unsophisticated audience could enjoy on different levels, and that's a
great description. It didn't fit NBC's idea of itself as
the producer of slick, fast paced, high concept dramas and
quick witted, sardonic with a heart sitcoms, making it the
go to network for yuppies. Despite Eversall's efforts, I doubt
he could convince Brendon Tartakoff's acolytes that were dominating the
network by the n of eighty five that wrestling fit
the network's sensibilities since still since wrestling made money and
no doubt was hot and never saw still had a
lot of jews, it kept SNMY earned its spot as
a special that could be relied on to maintain a
good portion of SNL's audience three or four times a year.
And for mister T and Hogan, hosting SNL is probably
the luckiest thing that ever happened to Vince. Not only
did I ever Saul probably agree to the appearances that
turned it into hosting because he knew SNMME he was
in the works. The March thirtieth episode was actually supposed
to be a rerun. The two weak writer strike of
nineteen March fifth to the nineteenth caused the scheduled March
sixteenth episode to get bumped. Had the March sixteenth SNL
gone forward, I don't know whether T and Hogan would
have been on the show or not, but it definitely
wouldn't have had the impact on WrestleMania the March thirtieth appearance,
Did I have a bunch of stuff?
Speaker 2: I never saw this.
Speaker 1: Incredibly interesting but a bit overrated career. But since this
is already too long, I will save that for another time.
Maybe they ever saw tribute. Yeah, he's gonna pass. He's
going to pass. Yeah, we gotta be ready to consider
what that would mean happen. Oh and for anyone who cares.
He adds that this info comes from a variety of sources.
I used to create lecture notes for one of the
entertainment history classes I taught back in the day. Fuck you,
I fucking bring it, Tom, Jesus christ Man. We have
the beneficiaries of the downstream intellect and the downstream or sources,
and life experiences and career experiences of our listeners. Yes,
they're all tributary, so this mighty fucking stream, he said.
I sent the sne to Me one episode to a
few old TV lifers who really loved it. Made them
nostalgic for the old days that indeed used to be
better yours and cinemania, Tom, that's right, it's good stuff.
Now you were in Semnia, Myermania. I want you to
take a look at what he sent us before I
read off the the email. The description here it is
a sight to behold. Tell the people, Tell the people.
Before I read the email, what you see, Dotter be
Frank Silva, You're almost there?
Speaker 2: Wow, holy shit? What do you see? H Yeah, it
is a sch Mortgas board of of Mattel w what
it was this ninety seven? I guess huh, it's all
ninety seven guys with in the front. You got Psycho
sid with the ball water Yeah, pointing at sausage.
Speaker 1: He's got a legit can of Vienna is set up
right in front of this parade, almost like a nineteen
ninety two Royal Rumble promotional poster.
Speaker 2: Right, it's all ninety seven. You got the DX in
the back, triple h China HBK, even fucking insurance policy,
Rick Rude. You got the Heart Foundation on the right.
You got the three Faces of Foli. You got Taker Austin, Rocky,
my Via, the Sultan for fuck's sake, the Headbangers with
tag bells of the Nation, Domination and Vodder. That's a
that's a fucking that's hilarious. You're right.
Speaker 1: I normally don't send the same stuff of emails. They
don't patroon boards Rex, But the look of pure disgust
my wife gave me when I bought this can of
Viennas for my ninety seven display made me even more
proud to be hashtag lapsed. Sincerely Meyermania, PS, Fox, Scott
Norton and Buff Bagwell sit in a can Viennas are
the real, vicious and delicious, incredible pictures, incredible scenes. We
should post time with the.
Speaker 2: Episode that's that's really funny with the ball water water
truly special. Anonymous.
Speaker 1: If you want to see the picture when you listen
to this episode and we forgot about it, which is likely,
just send us a message on X and we'll post
it anonymous as or maybe Meyer will. Eleven years into
the cast Anonymous rights and they got me dying laughing
at King Kong. Bundy hooked up to a feeding tube.
Chris Man, all that you got that episode?
Speaker 2: Didn't you?
Speaker 1: All that moisture? Chris says, that was always on SID?
What if it was Vienna juice?
Speaker 2: Oh oh, listen, listen. I have no doubt that the
juices that flow from SID or Vienna come from Vienna,
or at least a VJ and baby oil mix just
to give it that very specific beating effect, that that salty, salty,
meaty beat. That's so nasty.
Speaker 1: It is salty. So yeah, the beats of sweat on
Sid or salty age.
Speaker 2: Yes, listen because you can see the like basically the
salt on its flesh. It's it's so rough. Oh you know,
it's so weathered, be so weather beaten. It's exactly right.
It's exactly right.
Speaker 1: Amber saw under the Cinemat episode one thirty seven, Death
from Above speaking of Sid, and said, you know what,
just upgraded my pledged access this one. Very excited for
future discussions about bankers and tears as well. Oh I know,
oh my god, Oh that's one to see. As we
paid tribute to the short, short lived film career of Sydney,
Darren sent us something that kind of shocks the conscience
when you first see it. I'm gonna let you see
the picture, boss, and then tell the story. Yeah, you know,
it's not just wrestling analysis that we're looking for. Sometimes
we also get slices of life from our great listeners
in the mailbox. Take a look at Darren here fucking
tough time, Hey guys. He writes, you were talking about
taking a headbut on the Death from Above cast and
I had to share a couple of pictures of me
when I got busted open by running into the back
of someone else's head.
Speaker 2: While playing oh shit.
Speaker 1: Soccer, football whatever. It was such a weird sensation, but
I know sold it and felt like prime mcfoley. The
cut is on the right eyebrow. You can just about
make it out.
Speaker 2: E c dub dub.
Speaker 1: You ever been busted open like that? I have not,
h no, but I I did. Hi.
Speaker 2: I was talking about when I, when I, when I
hit when I, when I kit nogging my you know,
with the but that was that was like right in
the middle of my face there, right between my brows.
I see. But the other time I ran headfirst into
somebody's skull. I was in I think it was in
third grade and it was gym class and I was
running and I just I was looking to my to
the side, and and then I turned forward again and
I ran face first into the kid's skull and I
broke my nose. Oh like I I hit him. And
then the next thing I knew, I was like on
the floor and I had, you know, it was like
in a movie where you you know, they had the
camera angle of somebody who's passed out and you've got
like a circle of people around you, like looking down
at you. That's what happened.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that happened to me. But I didn't get busted open.
But I banged my head in a poll and the
recess one time.
Speaker 2: Oh, and I was so.
Speaker 1: Mad because people just okay, okay, okay, and it's like
you're putting more pressure on me to make you feel
like I'm okay than than just letting me be and
get over this, you know, and recovery.
Speaker 2: I don't know what's going on.
Speaker 1: I got knocked silly, Like right, I don't I'm not
worried right now about giving you the answer you're looking for. Yeah, Like,
was so pissed off that so many people were like,
oh talking to me at the same time as I
don't want anything to do with anybody right now. Absolutely, yeah,
I remember, like and they were and the gym teacher
was like talking about oh, yeah, you know, it's so
big deal. All they'll do is will just fucking you know,
they'll put your nose in advice and just fucking crack
it over.
Speaker 2: I'm like, no, that sounds fine. You know, thank you.
I never got it fixed. You didn't know. I never did. Fascinating,
never did heal. Was no fucking way that I'm gonna
have someone fucking touch my nose in uh no way.
Speaker 1: Like it like cracking a popsicle stick? Ship No so sinewy,
oh so much? Cracking so much like popping noises? Oh fuck?
Don't Brennan fucking Myers rights happy to be the person
who sent JP the pick of Jerry Lawler in the Bubbles.
I'm not sorry and we'll do it again.
Speaker 2: Lawla in the bubbles? Remember that one that was a
bubble bath? What's the next email?
Speaker 1: Ali says in retrospect, it would have made more sense
for sibbyan owner Mula to walk out to she Bop instead.
Speaker 2: Of Wendy Richter. It's hard to argue that. Big ups
to Roberto for the place I forgot about fucking on
the city or the corner of the Westinghouse dryer. Is
that ship? Oh fuck sounds from Mula drive? Oh my god?
Speaker 1: Yeah, we always know how how much it intensifies that
the experience and the sensation to scream my pussy in
the middle of it. Imagine, Matthew writes, after it.
Speaker 2: By yourself like no one. Oh she's so old, So
she's been through so much trusty fucking fucking lakes like
oh flakes.
Speaker 1: Oh fucking Marge Simpson's sister over here. Oh oh yeah, gross,
Matthew writes, after all these years, it was a tag
team called the Big Short with the Shareholder as they're finishing, move.
Speaker 2: That makes Boss completely lose it. Oh God, so stupid.
Speaker 1: Nicholas Moore, thank you for the pledge. Welcome to the
VIP circle, my friend. Yes, this is a big one.
We talked about the main event and I had this
feeling that it wasn't live. Remember this, Yes, it's like,
was the Hogan Andre match live? Why do I?
Speaker 2: I messed up? It was live?
Speaker 1: Of course the Friday night primetime ones were the Hogan
Savage one to set up Brus twenty five was live.
What I was remembering And I looked back on this
and Christopher knows because he says he was in attendance
at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee and he remembers Vince
exhorting the crowd to make as much noise as it
could as they counted down to going live on NBC. Yeah,
you don't do that unless you are alive. I guess
now what it was was it aired on a three
hour delay on the West coast, so it could air.
Speaker 2: At eight PM. Oh sure, And a lot of the word.
Speaker 1: Had traveled for people, you know that could pick up
the phone. It's hardcore wrestling fans found ways to know
what was about to happen. But further than that, there
was reporting earlier in the week and some of the
mainstream press, not just the wrestling newsletters, that andre was
going to go over for the title, and WWF did
not refute the reports. In fact, interestingly, they didn't even
freak out about him. They didn't even care about them.
Speaker 2: Well because you know what that's actually going to get
people to tune in, right or because when you got
like Hogan been champion for.
Speaker 1: Four years, to see how they're going to pull that off,
right exactly. That's an excellent point. I wonder if that
crossed their mind. But whatever the case, they were nonchalant
about it. And that's what it was. It was like
people went into that show knowing that Andrea was going
to win, That's what I was remembering, But they didn't
know he was going to win because the show had
been taped three days before.
Speaker 2: You know what I mean, it was about to air.
Speaker 1: That wasn't the case like the other Saturday It's made events,
Jeff writes, with Netflix, because of course, we go back
to our Netflix live call that kicked off twenty twenty
five here on on Patreon with Netflix one of the
most It used to be better parts of modern society,
he writes, his boardroom speak being part of every day vernacular.
Fans applauding to be part of a record gate, fans
cheering on the ratings points. You're not in a boardroom,
You're in sweatpants on Reddit. Stop living vicariously through the
company's analytics.
Speaker 2: You're what are you talking about? He writes, like this
is great shit.
Speaker 1: He says, laps fan stories that make me want to
cry one Mike Chris Van Eric two anytime they read
stories about eighty to nineties television, a time when the
networks created programming that we wanted to watch, not content
to trend and vanish a week later.
Speaker 2: We didn't about content.
Speaker 1: We didn't know how good we had it. Yes, the
best stuff is better, he writes, but day to day
programming back then was so much better and easier to access,
and just saying people were a lot more agreeable when
they had something to watch every night with little effort
required from the view that puts gets people agitated when
they got to do all this fucking work to find
something to watch. Sure, Marshall McDonald, thanks for your increase
in pledge. Further to the Netflix point, JW. Wright's of
streaming and archives, they threw everything they could at it
on that January what was generary third raw whenever the
Netflix one was was the sixth.
Speaker 2: It was the sixth. That's right, January sixth.
Speaker 1: I remember that they threw everything they could at it,
and it was the same remaining three million US marks
tuning in as much less than that. I'm not sure
if total minutes watched had been released, but expect some
unique and meaningless vanity metrics. He was right and irrelevant
exbot stats.
Speaker 2: Once.
Speaker 1: It's clearly the same sad remnant of two to three
million fans in the US who were willing to spend
time watching their bad live streaming sport simulation comedy sketch program.
Just like one point six million Network subscribers are two
million Fox viewers. It's not going to end up being
worth it to Netflix, and the Carnival will pull up
its stakes and head to the next platform archives. The
problems are demand driven. Was also a huge Jeff One
fan as a kid in the nineteen eighties. Until summer
twenty twenty two, you could see everything on archive dot org,
ESPN versions with commercials or without BBC, you name it.
Someone uploaded their vhss all the way back to nineteen
seventy eight. When the F one Network pulled the plug,
I was assured by fools that it didn't matter because
they too had an archive. They didn't they didn't have
shit ten minute recaps in race per season, whole seasons
covered in a forty five minute video. But the moronic
fans on social media will say with god like certainty
that the F one Network has an archive dating back
to all the past seasons. The people who pay the
most attention are massively outnumbered by people who think they
are paying attention but really aren't. They are about to
learn that lesson hard when it comes to the when
it comes to the past, let me tell you I'm worried.
Josh Rumbin, thank you very much for the pledge. Josh rumbin.
We appreciate it. Jordan Biddle, thank you so much for
your support on Patreon. JB is really feeling it, he says,
I'm not sure if this can be read on air,
but I would appreciate it. Hey, co chairs, forgive me
as I have sinned for far too long. I've been
listening to TLF as a free loading bitch, going back
to the Main's journey, and I have not offered my
pension that gives me penetration. That has now changed. I'm
happily in the twenty dollars tier for those who've taken
advantage of this amazing content. If you have not yet
given look yourself in the mirror and asked, why stop
being a bitch? Pay the men. Pay them not what
they deserve, but what they have earned. I won't take
up too much time, but really want to thank you guys.
Years ago, I was struggling to quit smoking. Driving is
always the hardest times. TLF helped take my mind away
from that and help me steer clear away from SIGs.
I love that. That's good stuff. That's a great use
of a podcast right there. Yes, you can turn it
on when an urge strikes a craving strikes. That is
a craving that is not good for you. I'm ashamed
to say, work in life got in the way and
I fell off of TLF for a period, and consequently
I started smoking again. I quickly came back to TLF,
but am back on my journey now of no smoking
and it's been about a month. TF has come through
for me again. TF is there to help my smoking
urges in my extremely long daily commute. Not only do
I need TLF, but my mind, body, and soul does.
My health depends on TLF. Love you guys, and can't
wait to see what goodies you have in store for
my anal sphincter in twenty twenty five. Color equals money,
anal color equals TLF.
Speaker 2: Money equals TLF. You're damn right, Jay, it's all, it's all,
it's all true.
Speaker 1: We're glad to be of service, and we hope, hope
you're staying strong up in that twenty dollars tier GMB
eighty five. Thanks so much for your media increase in
pledge up to the mote tier. Not kidding around at all,
Corey so excited to see the Colisseum collection back in
twenty twenty five, It says, Bravo, this is what we
needed most excited I've been in a while for a show.
We'd need that sweet coliseum video action march this train
all the way to the best of the British Bulldog's tape.
He says, how far down the road is that one?
Speaker 2: Boss? I don't even know. Let me see here. It's
it's not like two. I mean, well, it depends like
it's hard with these Colosseum tapes. Let me see video. Okay,
you're looking big.
Speaker 1: Shout outs to Lucas Vincent for bumping up recently to
the EP tier.
Speaker 2: Different way, but that's okay, here we go. Let's see here.
Speaker 1: DT, thank you very much for your pledge. Kate, well,
thank you for your pledge in the ten dollars tier.
We deeply appreciate that.
Speaker 2: It's not that fighting, really, Bridge Fox is number thirty
and what do we just do? We just best of
w's the best of seven? Right? Yeah? All right? So
then we at one, two, three, four, five, six more?
What's the next morning Ago? Next is ww's explosive TNT show.
Oh Jesus, that's a big one. That's a tasty one.
That's going to be very very interesting. I agree.
Speaker 1: Team Janner writes, democracy gives people the illusion of choice.
Speaker 2: The last Yes, the.
Speaker 1: Lapsed will last forever. Graveyard Entertainment writes, greetings, co chairs
want to submit a request for Under the cinemat if
looks could kill starring Richard Greicho. Oh god, IM sure,
but any and connected for him? But Gabriel Anoir played
a role. And it was also Fiona on burn Notice,
which was paired with Raw on USA for years and
featured an episode with Big Show season five, episode four
doing scenes with Gabriel Andnoir. Could be more connections, but
that was the one I found that. I hope it
is enough, not even close to being a connection. Yeah,
that does Gabriel an war acting with someone's got to
be on wrestling.
Speaker 2: Yes, that's what to be. Someone's got to be on wrestling.
They can't have interacted on a on a on a
show that isn't wrestling. I appreciate the effort. I'm not
trying to Oh yeah, I appreciate all effort, but they've
got to be. It's got to be a real.
Speaker 1: Childhood favorite of his. So he's hoping against.
Speaker 2: Hope, but I know I understand. Listen, you know what,
they probably there might be a one. I mean, because
to me that that's even It might as well have
been Richard Grieco being in the connection because he was
an almighty four with fucking Kevin Nash. You know that's
the same kind of connection and that that doesn't work.
But what's the name of the movie again? Oh? Man,
I just had it. I just lost it too. Uh,
let's see it is. Bear with me here for a second. Yeah,
the movie is If Looks Could Kill If looks I
feel like sounds familiar. Yeah, it does sound familiar. I'll
sign me one. Yeah, I'll see. I'll take a quick consideration.
Keep on.
Speaker 1: Well, take a look Team Jenner. We need to thank
Team Jenner as well, not only for that democracy message
but a way to increase in pledge. We deeply appreciate that.
My friend Chris writes, let's see, uh, this is the
episodehere the chairman almost killed me. Okay, this is which one.
Speaker 2: Let's see that could be any of the four hundred
fucking episodes that we've.
Speaker 1: Done talking to our villains of the Squared Circle Coliseum
collection episode. Because what happened was this is the first
time on the bench press with a way I haven't
tried in years. Halfway through the second set, in the
exchange between Dick Eversoll and Vince goes like this, Dick,
this fucking guy over here, Vince George Steele, Do you
want me to call him this fucking guy? I can
do that, no problem. Not an exact transcript, Chris writes,
I was fighting for my life to keep the bar
bell from dropping on my throat because I was laughing
too hard while trying to rack the bar bell. Well,
be careful about operating heavy machinery with that cast buried
in your ass.
Speaker 2: That's all I can say about that. Hey, listen, Yeah,
that we we when it comes to working out, we
strive as to fuck you up.
Speaker 1: Christopher raises a sobering point, and we talked about it
when we did some Colisseum videos with so many guys
from the seventies on it. He writes, I wonder how
long it will be until every single person on a
show is also on the death toll.
Speaker 2: Yeah, like a main It's gotta be like a like
a main show, like a night like an eighty show.
Speaker 1: Can't be that far away from that. We'll be casting
when the day comes. I can feel it.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I mean, you know, there will come a time
where there there will be a uh, you know, kind
of retroactively changing, you know, like if like Wrestlmingia too,
for example. I know has got so many fucking dead people. Yes,
and it's only obviously expanded since we did the show.
That's gonna be the thing is there's going to be
an older episode where everybody's going to be dead. Wow.
Get ready for it.
Speaker 1: Bess says, I often think about that. Sadly, I think
by the end of the twenty twenties, no one from
the eighty four to eighty six era will be around anymore.
Think about that, Scott Gallagher, thank you very.
Speaker 2: Much for that. I mean, I think I think Steamboat
is going to be around for a while. I think so.
I mean, is he any any health problems. I don't
think so, No, not that I've heard of. I think
he's all right. I think he's he's gonna be someone
who fucks it up for everybody. Yeah for sure. Yeah, yep,
that's a great point. You probably will do that. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Tom had to write in this is a different Tom
the Lapse Litigator. Tom, here's co chairs. It's been a
while since I've sent a missive from the lapsed litigation department,
despite the fact that we've been in the.
Speaker 2: Car from our legal department. Oh yeah, we've got lapsed legal.
That is the name of a TV show.
Speaker 1: We've got that base covered. Not a fucking problem, not
a fucking problem. Yep, it's been a while since I've
sent a missive from the lapsed litigation department, despite the
fact that we've been in the court room with Terry
Funk and the Master and Ruler of the World, among
others lately. Yes, plenty of court filings to pull. Oh yes,
to be honest, Jack's legal analysis, he says, typically so good.
You can't really have me on on a retainer. You
don't really need to have me on retainer. Every time
I think there is a hole to be filled with
MA expertise, a few minutes later we've clarified the issues
and can move on to the good stuff. Today, I
wanted to write about something outside the scope of work.
I want to talk about the video store.
Speaker 2: Mmmm.
Speaker 1: You have waxed poetic and hit me right in the
nostalgia hole many many times when it comes to that
video store feeling, there really isn't much like it anymore.
Picture it. It's Friday evening, your little league game is
over and Dad has driven you to the mini mall.
On the way home, he parks the car and you
get out along summer light just giving way to dusk.
Oh man, you're getting me, you're getting me good right here, yep.
As you walk up the concrete steps to the elbow
shaped row of commercial properties, you pass the nail salon.
Not interested. The Chinese place is next, no things, the
dry cleaner's lame, the weird store with like beanie babies,
and I don't know, picture frames or something you never
even looked in the window. Then there it is the
video store. Dad tells you to go inside and figure
out what you want to rent this week. Then he
walks a few shops down to Brother's Pizza. He's going
to order two pies because at seven pm and he
worked all day and took your sorry ass to the
little league, and he'll be damned if he or the
missus is going to cook tonight. And Dad thinks, you
don't know, he's going to sneak a Marlboro or red
before he goes into the pizza shop.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, you know, you know what He's gonna smell
like when he fucking comes out.
Speaker 1: Because he told everyone he quit again. But you know
you saw the pack in his shirt pocket when he
came out of the woah wah yesterday.
Speaker 2: This makes this makes me think of the you've seen
the meme around that goes around with with an old
eighties Mel Gibson photo with long hair and he's smoking
a cigarette. Everyone told everyone people like that this is
what eighties moms looked like, or something like that. It's
no fucking great that it's awesome.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and you know that smoke buys you a few minutes,
he says, that's right. The anticipation is overwhelming before you
even walk in the door. This is it all week
and long. Whatever you rent will be the focus of
your life. You got through school and sports and CCD
all week suffering because you don't control anything about what
you do day to day at this age except on Saturday, Saturday,
burly before mom and dad and watch whatever you rented
all morning long. Yep, Saturday is freedom. You walk into
the video store alone. You have no phone, Your dad
has no way to find you if you something goes wrong,
but you don't care. It's time to focus there are
only two sections that matter in this video store, the
cartoon section and the special interest section.
Speaker 2: We know it.
Speaker 1: Well, okay, that's not true, he says. You know, there's
a third section that matters. You know this because that
section is roped off from public access. You need to
be an adult to go back there.
Speaker 2: You got to like, oh, man, the the the the
steak heart pounding, yes, oh, like a heart pounding when
I'm in there, and I know, like, I'm just I
just want to see if I can. You know, a
guy went back to put it away, and I'm like, oh, god,
just get a little peek. God, the heart is racist,
just to see, just to see the fucking covers, right, yeah,
because they were pretty graphic, man, of course they were.
It had to be.
Speaker 1: Oh, you need to be an adult to go back there.
And you think maybe your dad did once, but you
weren't sure. That's action isn't for you, and you don't
know why. But the fact that you can't go back
there makes you desperately jealous of everyone who does.
Speaker 2: I love the idea like that. You know, it's kind
of funny, the idea of of you know, the person
who goes back there, who just walks back there. I'm
gonna run born right.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's just a Saturday night, you know, Friday night.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, I feel like jerking off tonight.
Speaker 1: As in that long week of work and he goes
home and just beats off, but he has to go
to a video store first.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, I gotta get some fucking you know, I
get something to kind of, you know, inspire me.
Speaker 1: I bet even that guy longs for the days where
he had to put in a little bit of work
to get a nut. Of course, now it's like, okay,
just open the computer, like lower on my phone, like like.
Speaker 2: You can fucking you can work and jerk off at
the same time. Believable. Forget that.
Speaker 1: Tom says focus the cartoons are tempting. You could snatch
up G. I. Joe or he Man tapes and they're
clear clamshell cases. Those are easy watches, fun and breezy
and a guarantee. But damn it, you can't stop looking
at the special intro section. Why do they call it
that wrestling is a sport the best sport? Special interest
makes it feel like these tapes are somehow not cool.
If wrestling is in a sport, am I supposed to
like it. No, despite your misgivings, the box art grabs
your eye. One is Hulk Cogan and Andre the Giant
staring at each other. The artwork is dark and lonely
and seems old. That can't be good. You don't recognize
the wrestlers on the next one. No Hogan, no Warrior,
though one guy has face paint.
Speaker 2: Nobody you know.
Speaker 1: And then you see it, cartoon versions of every wrestler
you know, looking muscular and angry and ready to invade
your living room. There's like a hundred of them. It's
Royal Rumble nineteen ninety one.
Speaker 2: Oh, don't even heavenly, you've rented it sixty times. Now
we're talking. Dad walks in. He's gonna get a movie
to watch with Mom later. You'd better hurry. The pressure mounts.
Dad see somebody he knows and stops to chat. That
gives you a moment. What to get. You've narrowed it
to like eight videos. But what if you picked the
one you haven't seen and it sucks? It would ruin
the only good four hours of your life. Yes, Dad
walks over, he's standing behind you. He doesn't say anything,
but you have a fucking movie. At for fuck's sake,
Jesus Christ, I want to get home.
Speaker 1: You feel the pressure. The pizza will be ready soon.
And he's already holding whatever rom com mom demanded. You
reach out and grab a box. You hold it close
to your face with both hands, and spectcat.
Speaker 2: Can we get when Harry met Sally? I haven't seen
We haven't seen that one. We keep talking about it, right,
we do, keep talking about it. We never rent that one.
Speaker 1: I'll have what she's having, inspecting like it contains the
secret to world peace warrior check Hogan, check huge opponent
for the hulkster check. Yes, and that's smarmy, gross, smug,
prick rick rude, SummerSlam ninety. That's it this time. You
hope it delivers, and it does. Thanks for all you do,
especially UTC. Hope to see some al Berke movies coming.
Speaker 2: Soon, Tom, which one? Al Burke? Al Burke?
Speaker 1: I don't think I know Albert. I don't know, did
you We.
Speaker 2: Talked about Albert Alberke movies. I don't let me see.
Al Burke.
Speaker 1: Known for the wedding singer, Cradle the Grave. Honeyboll Sure,
I don't.
Speaker 2: Know the guy. Oh, he's in the movies. I see
his face. Is he a wait a minute, Oh, he's
a wrestler. That'll do it. That's the connection. I think
he must be a championship on Oh yeah. Sixteenth. Al Burke,
also known as Mister Outrageous, is a sixteen time professional
wrestling I don't know. Okay, let's look at his filmography.
What do we do to your time? Sixteen times? That's right, brother,
he's got two and thirty nine movies. Oh my goodness,
under his under his hat here, that's a lot to see.
There's anything that's that's that that's been kind of lacking.
I've been but uh uh is there a home fucking
moves there even heard of? Which is great? I'm not
saying that. Listen, he's all qualified. So it's noodles of Nudeland.
Huh huh, Yeah, let's do it. I'm looking at Yeah.
These a listen, these are all fucking all fine paranormal
attraction Killer Waves to Killer in Suburbia. Yeah, we're gonna
plut albrok on. He'll get his time. Let's see. Uh,
let's go back kind of, let's go back a little
ways here, let's go sometimes these guys have been in
like old let's see when he started. He started eight.
N Oh, look at he's on fucking w Superstars and Challenge.
Look at that ten episodes of Superstars, eight episodes of
Challenge and IWF at the zone. He's in the wedding singer.
He's in the wedding singer. Anything about this guy? That's amazing?
All right? Uh, his wedding singer already on the fucking list.
I don't know. Let's take a look. The list is
always expanding. I mean seriously, if I ever showed you
the list, you'd be like, I can't even read this.
Fucking need you tonight. It's so massive the list. Uh,
wedding singer is not on the list. It is now.
To not be on the list is a big enough deal. Yep,
Let'll let alone qualify wedding singer. Al Burke, got it.
That's fucking that's huge. So we're doing huh high crimes
on the Kingdom episode of the King of Queens. Oh
my god. I love these guys who like had who
were on like big things when they were younger. He
did he did the wedding singer, and then he did
like an episode of Mad About You. Uh uh, you
know the Bold and the Beautiful King of Queens. And
then as he goes on he starts to get into
the really crappy shit. Yes, and that's where the money is.
I love it. That's where the fucking money is. Well,
you did it. You hooked the boss hook Line and Sinker.
He did a Christmas movie called It's Christmas. Brother. That's great.
I mean it's Christmas, dude, what it's not? What are
you saying? Nothing to forget it? Terry? This is great?
All right? No, we got al Burke. We'll see mean,
we'll see what we can do with al Burke.
Speaker 1: Liam wants to throw something in play too over in Cork.
He says, I recall JP saying Dan Severn, look like
there will be bloods Daniel plain View and one of
your old Attitude era pay per view reviews. That qualifies,
and when you cover it, I will finally join the
cinemat Deer. There will be blood.
Speaker 2: Okay, So that's that's all it takes. If you're ever
looking for twenty bucks. Yeah, if I say someone's looking
looking at all, right, there we go. I guess that
somehow makes it. That makes it more worthy than big
show being on the fucking TV show with what's your butt?
To qualify that other movie? I don't know. Yeah, gabriel
Anwar Oh yeah really.
Speaker 1: More eiks Le's good to Hawaii. Huh what do you say?
Speaker 2: I listen? I love Hawaiian lovely.
Speaker 1: Cultures, wonderful place and our homie Kaipo always holding it
down over there, wants to let us know about his
fiftieth state Big Time wrestling recollections. You want to talk
about remembering the warm, golden glow of the way it
used to be. So remember going to uh Owahu three
or four years ago, and I probably told this story.
There was an old head there. He looked like Buddha man.
He was like this fat old guy with white hair
and a hugely friendly disposition, lifelong islander. And we were
just sitting there and near the pool, and I started
talking to him about Lord James Blears and High Chief
Peter Myivia and neph Mayava and he was like, who
the fuck is this guy from Wow, New England who
knows about all these Hawaiian wrestling guys that I grew.
It was a wonderful talk as he was what we're
calling all these all these names and all these stories,
it's not like he was the biggest wrestling fan in
the world. But that's what was cool about it, Curtis,
I Ka, every buddy in the island knows these guys.
You don't have to be a wrestling fan. You're just
a Hawaiian right right, and Kaypo knows what's up, he
writes toteer coach chairs. I wanted to write about him,
and my experience is growing up in Hawaii and hearing
some of the older generations talk about the wrestling scene
out here in the sixties and seventies. I was tempted
to write this email. When you guys covered Goldfinger and
put the spotlight on Harold Sakata, that would make sense, boss.
Speaker 2: Right, mm hmm.
Speaker 1: And that show Jack talked about interacting with the old
timercy I knew I told the story before in Hawaii
and seeing his face light up at the mere mention
of wrestling in Hawaii. I'm here to back that up,
as my parents both love and love to talk about
their wrestling experiences growing up. First, my dad. My dad
has since passed on, but he grew up in Khali,
which is a town with the Downtown Honolulu district. Within
the Downtown Honolulu district. His house was about ten minutes
by car to the old Honolulu Civic Auditorium where they
would hold shows weekly. Man he was born in nineteen
forty three, so we got to experience the good shit
at an age where he could remember and in some
cases get involved. I remember him telling me stories about
Saint Kila Kawalsky and Sam Steamboat, how he would be
in the mob with all the Samoans to watch High
Chief Peter Mavia. He admonished me when I met Prince
Ikia from w c W and pronounced his name iakeya
wow like the announcers did. He told me it was
pronounced eokaya. Interesting roller. He absolutely loved the heels and
would root for Fred Lassi and would get into constant
fights at school for calling people pencil like geeks. He
would talk about Ed Francis and how mister Fuji, who
my dad would call Fuji Fujiwara, that's a great would
all we start as promos with Dankie Massa Franzis and
the most pig pigeon English accent you could you could find.
His love for wrestling as a teenager and young adult
male made it fun to watch wrestling with him. He
loved Yokozuna because mister Fuji was his manager and because
Yoaks looked like a big sumo and he used to
hang out with And he immediately dismissed Leilani Kai as
a Hawaiian and culture a hioala, which is slang for
taurus or white person.
Speaker 2: Awesome, Wow.
Speaker 1: I love the words that non white countries have for
white people. I think it's so funny.
Speaker 2: Oh, please more more of them. They all have them
all right, listen, we all deserve them all right now.
Speaker 1: My mom, she's about thirteen years younger than my dad
and grew up on the west side of O Wahoo
in the town of Maha mccaha, pardon me Macaha. Fortunately
for her. Ed Francis would run shows out of the
Wainai High School gym, which is in the neighboring town.
My mom and her siblings towne Town Mahine not Tom
Mahaa Tom. That's how I say it. Shout outs to
Max Holloway, by the way, for talking about whiney. My
mom and her siblings would go and watch the matches.
She would see guys like Lord James Blears, Nick Bockwinkle,
the Missing Link, gentlemen Jim Hady, Rippercollins and Hansy Handsome,
Johnny Barand among others. Whenever I bring up wrestling in Hawaii,
she always tells me the story of waiting outside to
get autographs of the wrestlers and seeing them leaving the venue.
She was astonished when she saw Ripper Collins and Ed Francis,
who were feuding at the time, get in the same
car together. Kay Fabe died for her that day, but
she still loved going to the matches. She also lived
down the street from Lord Blears and would ride her
bike down to where Blears's house was to catch a
glimpse of her favorite wrestlers. Another story she had was
that one day her and her siblings were walking on
the beach and saw a washed up whale carcass. This
happens from time to time here and it can get
pretty stinky. But the whale was freshly washed ashore and
the carcass didn't start to rot yet, so my mom
and her siblings started climbing it and jumping on it.
Lo and behold, James Blears was walking on the beach
as he always would, and immediately told them to get
off the whale and go home. They all knew him
from wrestling and instantly listened or else they would they
thought he could slap the V four on them. A
lot of her memories a little shot now, but she
can still recollect those times and also enjoyed that I
got into pro wrestling so she can relive those days
going to shows with me. She even remembered Harld Sakata
when I told her I was learning about him on
a podcast. I wonder what podcast that would be? By right,
she knew all the accomplishments and accolades like the back
of her hand. Lastly, when my mom got older, she
moved into Honolulu and worked at a Woolworth and the
Ala Muana shopping center. There she saw celebrities such as
Jack Lord from Hawaii five oh and would occasionally see
wrestlers as they passed through. One such occasion had her
bring to cashier for Andre. Had her being the cash
for Andre the Giant. She described him as a huge
man with huge hair. Yeah, he was accompanied by four
jobbers who were his handlers because Andre was one hundred
percent completely blitzed off of marijuana and whatever else he consumed.
This is all to say that pro wrestling still has
a rich history among the locals here. I wish they
would have some sort of museum for the history, but
at least we still have some of the generation that
lived it to educate us youngins about a great time
in wrestling history. Thank you both for all that you do.
It's all too easy to just delve into the big companies,
but you guys go the extra mile and discuss those
great territories lost to time. Appreciate you and all that
you do. Look for a care package in the mail
for the next unwrappening with treats from Hawaii. Oh boy,
Oh boy, chocolate covered macadamia nuts. Boss, give him caramel
Macadamian nuts, ConA coffee, take care and as always.
Speaker 2: Give me some ConA coffee. Yes it wasn't Gene Snitz.
Also a.
Speaker 1: Great and some con crush. Yeah, if we're lucky. How
about some David Beltran pledges. How about Sean three sixteen
about Lucas Vincent upping his pledge. How about Team Janner
and Jake Anthony Martin and Cody Fague and Andrew Carpenter
and Travis Wilcox and Brett Derizo and Liam Coucy and
Jonathan and Zane Shima.
Speaker 2: How about all these folks, boss that works for me?
You know what I mean?
Speaker 1: These are all folks putting cash on the table. How
about Justin who right? Just want to say hello to
the fellas that are getting me through this broken tibia
and fibula.
Speaker 2: Oh.
Speaker 1: I've been a motor now for a little while, and
it was the best fucking decision I've made in a while.
My mom was just like Johnny Ace. I told her
I can't go off the second step carrying this one
hundred pound cabinet. I wasn't obligated, but she told me
I had to, and I did it. Snapped my fucking
leg into Jesus Jesus Christ. First words out of me,
out of my mouth, damn it, damn it.
Speaker 2: Just like Sid.
Speaker 1: Oh, my mom runs out and that's what happened. And
I followed it with a shut up. You guys are
awesome and I appreciate the hell out of you. While
Sid is up there laps Togan is still my all
time favorite. Just another reminder it used to be better.
Have a good one, fellows, and thank you all the
way from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. I hope you're
on the man justin.
Speaker 2: Wring my favorite, my favorite brother. We're talking about favorite, dude?
What what was I supposed to be the underdog? What
is it?
Speaker 1: Wouldn't say that I'm favorite? Wait a minute, what do
you are you? You said upper peninsula?
Speaker 2: Brother? What my peninsula? Trying to get the upper hands?
What do you Michigan? Bro? Is that that's kind of sauce?
Don't you think? Dude? Isn't that where I slammed a giant? Dude?
You work in silver dorm? What do you know something
about the actual attendance that are you saying? Are you
saying are you saying you had a cousin that worked
at the box office? Dude? Are you saying brother? Are
you saying that? Are you saying that it wasn't sold out?
Are you getting that? Dude? What? What? Well? Che Bobo Brazil?
Cobo Hogan, Cobo Hogan, Hogan, Bro? I didn't know what's
going on? Dude? What are you here? Where do you
get off being from Michigan? What do you brother? Why
do you say Michigan? Dude? Like that's like the third time?
What's Michigan? Brother? What's going on? Dude?
Speaker 1: It's a huge concern. I need did you brother, did
you shut O factories and relocate jobs to the macchiadoras
in Mexico?
Speaker 2: Dude?
Speaker 1: Are you taking advantage of duty free US MCA imports?
Speaker 2: Brother? Are you taking what are you talking about? Duty? Dude?
You're talking dooky brother. I didn't know these things. Dude,
do they collect doukie at the border or duties?
Speaker 1: John right on our Netflix show when uh you know
what our Netflix show when we covered the raw Netflix debut.
What was the first thing we saw?
Speaker 2: Do you remember? Uh?
Speaker 1: No, there was a curtain around the ring, wasn't there?
And then a pyro explosion when the curtain came down.
Who is in the middle of the ring.
Speaker 2: Game?
Speaker 1: John writes, when that curtain dropped, I was finally able
to understand and appreciate why Vince decided not to leave
the company to his idiotic daughter and dufus son in.
Speaker 3: Law Wrestling Podcast, The wrestling Podcast that knows the boys
need their candy. It's the Lapsed Fan. He's the Lapsed Fan.
Wrestling Podcast with Jack and Carnaco and JP Soro.
Speaker 1: Michael Allen, thanks for the increase in pledge meet uh
let's see the Cutman. Thank you very much, DP, thank
you very much, Name of Avery. We love the pledge.
Thank you, Sir Snyder and SSI. We appreciate your support.
On Patreon, Jacob writes, when thinking about the coach here
is doing a hog contribute. I feel like the entire
cast to spend a Hogue contribute all along. M something
I think about you, there's some there's some truth to that,
Chris Hughes, We love it. Welcome to the executive producer here, Derek.
Thank you so much for your support and pledge. On Patreon.
Martin Wilson as well, Welcome to the Inner Circle. James writes,
how early did you know about Vince McMahon's corporophilia? How
about twenty sixteen? While listening to the star K ninety
one stop on the Memorial Tour. During the discussion of
Vader and Hughes versus Steiner and night Stalker, Boss goes
into an extended description of Vince wanting to shit on
the talent in the middle of the ring. I mean,
how fucking on the nose is that? Well, it's mostly
on the chest, but I get your point.
Speaker 2: I believe well, listen, I am not a you know,
I'm not as stubborn as I come across on the
television as you've heard. I am fine to you know.
I don't have to drop feces on any particular any
particular body part. I can do whatever is desired. My
feces are very, very They go anywhere anywhere you need.
I can drop here.
Speaker 1: I am her rights, enjoying the shelf life of that
fucking cast when I'm shook at how you managed to
come up with exactly what Vince has been accused of
nearly eight years before the Janelle Grant lawsuit which details
the accusations of Vince shitting on her. I think this
is just more evidence of how you managed to tap
into Vince's psyche and plumb the depths of his depravity
for our entertainment. Just reaching out to thank you for
ten years of quality entertainment and to remind you just
how much truth you've been laying on the table since
day one. Hashtag shelf life coming to you from Crockett Country.
Speaker 2: James.
Speaker 1: Never forget that, Never forget the point he makes. Yeah,
Eric esc welcome to the Executive producer tier. Same to
Liam McGrath, Matthew Muns. We deeply appreciate your bold and
vainy jump to the moat tier. Andrew just wants to
say you guys honestly make life better. Just want to
say thank you for this today. Well, thank you pal.
We'd love to hear that legion a AOD. Thank you
very much. We already did shout you out, but you've
been climbing the Patreon ladder, so we need to acknowledge
e'd step along the way. Anthony Desanzo, thank you for
your support. William Webb, Thanks for going all the way
up to the moat tier, my friend. We know it's
a plunge, but you'll find it's worth it. Steve Maltez,
thank you very much for your support on Patreon. Ryan Morris,
thanks for bumping up to the Executive producer Tier Scott writes,
thanks for keeping me hot the company on my hike today,
healthy habits developing with the coach here is directly at
my ass. That's happening a lot. Yep, we are part
of this balanced diet, happy to do it. Here is
Paul very quickly wishing us a happy new year. Let's
not forget we're going back to the turn of the
calendar here on this Millback also wish you could share
Paul sentiments.
Speaker 2: Sure, CoA chairs. I was talking with a co worker
when ben Walk came up for some reason, and I
told him about the definitive tenth anniversary tragedy cast you
gentlemen did nihon eight years ago. Now, I mentioned I
needed to re listen to it half hashtag shelf life.
I started listening this morning while making breakfast. The later later,
my wife and I got into an argument, and I
started and I started anger cleaning. I tried to channel
anger into something positive, but it still involves a lot
of muttering to myself. That's amazing. My earbuds ran out
of battery and the ben Wa Pott started playing from
my phone at the table. She was sitting the concerned side.
I stare, I got as we were all as we
were still steamed at each other. I'm sure she was
envisioning me texting my brother about the dogs being in
the pool house. Oh my god, and already dialed nine
and one and was ready to hit the last one.
The reader of the Simpsons, Oh yeah, totals of the
Simpsons where Millhouse and his family are at his grandma's house,
and and there's and Bart's knocking at the door because
he sold his soul and I'll let shit and the
grandmother goes, okay, you dial nine one and when I
say go dial one again, it's so fucking great. And
we already hit that last one if I tried to
lock her in across face before we started rolling with laughter,
which eased the mood. Thank y'all for that. Wow.
Speaker 1: Look at that come absolutely speaker and bringing a little
levity to tense domestic elements. We'll be there for that too,
and we'll be there for Nick from Minnesota, who says,
hello co chairs this summer, you guys read my email
about my mom listening to the lamentable tragedy after she
had watched The Iron Claw. She has finished the Wow,
although she skipped the match breakdowns because she didn't understand
what was going on. Can you imagine some of the
hasn't watched pro wrestling in their lives gets to the
deep dive portion, they what's going on? I'd like take
over head, says or ants her shoulder tackle by brett
her Overall thoughts are as follows. Fritz is responsible for
all of his son's deaths. Yep, the Iron Claw movie
did not do justice to the family story.
Speaker 2: Yep.
Speaker 1: Why would anyone get into pro wrestling? It seems really
bad for you.
Speaker 2: Yep.
Speaker 1: Lastly, she said she likes listening to TLF because she
can tell you guys really are best friends. Here's to
ten more years of TLF. Nick from Minnesota, Thanks for
sharing that, Nick, That's really cool.
Speaker 2: That's she And then you know how she felt about
Vince beating the shit out of Fritz. That's important. What
happens in the Yeah, what happens at the end? Mom?
What did you think when he kicks him right in
the fucking nuts? Yeah? Exactly. For all this, he just
gets kicked in the nuts and that's the end of it.
Christopher M.
Speaker 1: Panda, Todd Harding joining the Mote Tier. Thank you, wire
Tap eight oh four, Tom Bauer, welcome to that tip
top tier, Jacob. Thank you very much for joining us
at the executive producer level as David May and Sackster.
Tony Allen has joined the Mote Tier as well. Since
we were last with you in this format, Chris Awesome
Mike Hogan has also joined the Mote Tier. What a
way to start the year. Eric Ramos bumping up to
EP Tyrone Terrell tom Bauer. Hmm, it's just an amazing
and humbling roster.
Speaker 2: It is, It absolutely is.
Speaker 1: We conclude with two final notes. All right, that's when
we recently received from Michael. It's entitled The Nature of
Life and Wrestling. Yes, he put boy in parenthesis after nature,
m Chairman, My chairman, lend me your as I weave
a yarn into a work that is a shoot for
those who believe that being the worker who does the
job will generate the heat needed to put them over
all others.
Speaker 2: But can reverse the heat is a question.
Speaker 1: I am but a humble craftsman of words. So I
call your attention to the words of our chairman. Life
is pain. If it doesn't hurt, have you lived? As
our philosopher and residence Lapsenash reminds us, it doesn't matter.
Speaker 2: It's all fake.
Speaker 1: M This leads me to my greatest moment of clarity
on what I have learned from being a fan as
a child and as a lapsed fan. Now, why does
society have such disdain for and contempt of wrestling or
what he calls previously agreed upon and contractually obligated aggressive action.
Please read this portion as a monologue of lapsed Stone
or Nash giving a lecture at the bond.
Speaker 2: Are you ready? Uh huh, trying to figure out where
it stops.
Speaker 1: Okay, here we go, I mean your way, take ahead
of Sativa, bring bring us home.
Speaker 2: Now and we all have the story. I was watching wrestling,
I was sharing my interests in wrestling, when suddenly, out
of left field, the other person goes, hey, hmm, you
do know that this? Uh? And what are they doing?
It's all uh? I mean it takes two to do
some of those things and boom, just like that, life
is no meaning anymore. Yeah, because they're lying. Wait who
is lying them? Or them or both of them? You know,
we claim it a work and they're trying to roll
us up from behind. You know. This brings me to
my lesson for you today. What's life? Is life? A shoot?
A work, a performance entertainment or a series of costume
self promoting workers trying to get themselves over by making
you sell what they're throwing because you believe them shooting
on you. Also you can throw it to another due
to do to do a job, so you can get
them over them, put over them, you know, But do
they tell you the secret that it's all fucking fake.
Your parents, your teachers, your boss, your spouse, your kids,
you know, the strangers on the street, lease, the government,
even the planet's rolling you up from behind, and the
sun rolling it up as well. Then life shows as
a Steve Austin, Rick Flair Dwayne Brock who shows us
there's another way. Hope is out there for somebody who
can finally get over on all those that got over
on me. Huh. You know we're jubilant, you know, we
go and we sell what they've done, and we have
a champion. Yet you break from the delusion of hope
as others refuse to do the job for you the
way others did for our champion, it all tumbles away
because now we see that even through it all, if
it was all fake, how doesn't it work for real?
Oh wait, you know that guy that time told me
it takes two to do some of us, and the
delusion that the majority of those around us have previously
agreed upon and contractually obligated bigated aggressive action that they
will force us to accept or force us out if
we don't. But now, who is it that's trying to
roll you up? Brother? Them at the top saying it's
a shoot. For them telling you it's a work, I say,
claim it all of work, yep. That they're trying to
roll us up from behind, hit someone's intro music, then
drop the big leg on him, well frozen in their
pre planned moment. Then ten ninety nine there ass.
Speaker 1: Close with the words have been. I've been listening to
TLF for years, and probably more intently than most, even
though I'm not and never have been a fan of
professional wrestling. That notwithstanding, I think that everything I've learned
from that cast mostly boils down to this life is
almost entirely just one big fucking work.
Speaker 2: Hmm.
Speaker 1: So like what you like, laugh at what you think
is funny, support and cultivate the things you care about,
do good when you can, and give a shit about
the people who give a shit about you. Thank you
for ten rock hard years, co Chairman, and thank you
those in the Solar System for filling our till and
our mail bag.
Speaker 2: Once again. We'll see you next time.
Speaker 3: When as a teaching to Santus production, its contents is
intended for private use only.