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Speaker 1: Well, we are privileged here as part of the complete

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Hulkogan to welcome in the living legend himself forty glorious

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years in the wrestling business. Larry's Abisco has deemed us

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worthy of his time, and we're very grateful because Larry,

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you can't get to Chase Stadium in nineteen eighty without

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talking to you, because you and Bruno a fascinating program,

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fascinating series of promos, fascinating build up and what a

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night in Chase Stadium. So, first of all, thank you

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so much for joining us.

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Speaker 2: Well, thank you. I appreciate it, and I appreciate it.

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It was a different time and the build up was

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I mean everything that happened around Chase Stadium and Bruno,

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which involved him coming out of retirement and some other things,

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and we didn't realize it at the time, but if

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you look to wrestling history, Chase Stadium kind of marks

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the biggest event ever at the end the end of

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the old school. Yes, And when I say that, I

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mean it was the beginning of the territories disappearing in

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the beginning of nationwide TV and pay per view. I

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mean the Chase Stadium was before that, but it led

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to that absolutely.

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Speaker 1: I want to talk to you first about what Vince

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Senior was like. You know, we hear and know so

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much about how Vince Junior runs the company, but you're

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able to give that perspective of what it was like

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before Vince Junior got his hands on the reins. What

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can you tell us about what it was like working

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for Vince Senior.

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Speaker 2: Well, Vince Junior, I'm a very smart guy, and he

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was there, you know, but he kind of was quiet

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a lot at that time, but he was sucking all

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the information in his mind. Vince is a sharp guy.

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And McMahon's senior. Vince Senior had two partners, a guy

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named Willie Gilsenberg and another guy who was a real

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character named Bill Zacho. And it was different in those

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days because there wasn't sponsors and and pay per views

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and all that, and some of the promotions even had

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to pay some TV stations to show the thing. But

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but what happened with you know, and then and then

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the era changed to nationwide television and pay per view,

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and but working with Ben Senior, I mean it was

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it was tough dealings in those days because I had

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an idea to get myself a name, and Bruno was

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already retired. But Ben Senior and his partners, they were

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the guys that really had to take a chance and

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take out their checkbooks. Can you imagine what it costs

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to wrench a stadium for a day?

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Speaker 1: Yeah, that's an outlay and a half.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. I mean it was like over forty four thousand people,

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which was unheard of in those days. But the other

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thing is they turned away like five thousand or more

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people because the baseball park didn't allow chairs to be

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put on the outfield and are on the infield, you know,

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closed up ringside because they thought that chairs would tear

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up all the grass and stuff for the baseball season.

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Speaker 1: It's interesting, yeah, because we've seen I think the other

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Shay Stadium shows they did in the seventies there were

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some seats on the grass, but not I mean, you

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watch your stuff in nineteen eighty and it's just these

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these random people just walking around ringside. I suppose they

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have a job to do, but it's it's really kind

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of jarring to see these random people walking by while

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these matches are going on.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, I mean, you know what, I'm going to

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tell you something because you sent me I got an

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email on yesterday, the day before where you sent me

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the match, you know, and I've never seen the match,

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and you made a comment about it, I might want

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to watch it and stuff, and I thought about it,

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but then I changed my mind and I said, you

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know what, I'm not gonna watch it. Everything I say

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today is the first time I've watched it.

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Speaker 1: So that's great.

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Speaker 2: It's purely purely ad lib and spurred the moment it's

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going to be. You know, I don't have any pre

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planned lines to say or clever crap or what good good?

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Speaker 1: Yeah that was I was so excited. The real deal

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that you were willing to do that for us is

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to watch the match. So let's do that. I mean

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that that's as best a segues we're going to get.

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And then after after we watch it, I'm sure that'll

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open up more lines of questioning. So if you have

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it there, Larry.

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Speaker 2: Tell me what you want to do, sure, logan or whatever?

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Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, okay, yeah we will. But let's let's let's

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watch the match. Let's take the fan through it.

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Speaker 2: Here.

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Speaker 1: If you can hit play, I should be able to

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pick it up where you are in the matchup. Just

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just describe what you're seeing. If you see the time.

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Speaker 2: Code, okay, I'm seeing it says eleven seconds.

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Speaker 1: Okay, great.

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Speaker 2: But I'm walking around the ring and there's an announced.

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Speaker 1: That's Vince McMahon himself. That's Junior right there.

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Speaker 2: It's hard to see what it looks like Vince. Yeah,

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and they're announcing me in the crowd was booing the

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hell out?

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Speaker 1: Was it more than you expected? I mean, what was

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that like?

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Speaker 2: No, they hated me by the time we got to Shay.

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I mean, I didn't realize how much they'd hate me. Shit.

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I walked around and took a gun with me on

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the airplane, still a ts wow kicked in. But I

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had no idea intact. I made a record in nineteen

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eighty called Boo on Me.

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Speaker 1: Boo on Me.

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Speaker 2: Yes, and a friend of mine, Andrew You talked to him.

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He put it on Spotify, and if you go to

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Spotify and type in hashtag talent boo on Me, you'll

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see a picture of me and I sing the song.

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You get to hear boo on Me. And I got

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some shirts. A friend of mine at Pro Wrestling Teas

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made bow on Me shirts and they're bright yellow with

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a big boo on me. So I'm hoping to see

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a bunch of fans with bright yellow because they stick

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out in the crowd. Bow on me shirts just started.

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So did you work to attack them?

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Speaker 1: Did you work it out that he knew you were

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going to attack him right at the the fence there,

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right at the door.

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Speaker 2: No, you know what I mean? Back in those days,

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and I think I don't know. People realize it now,

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there new generations. But back in those days, the good

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guys had their own dressing room. The bad guys had

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their own dressing room. You couldn't have the same dressing room.

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You couldn't ride with a bad guy if you were

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a good guy in a car town to town. It

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was a very secretive, closed door business. So I didn't

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have any talks with Bruno before this match and was

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throwing me bouncing the Aftercado. I tell you, Bruno, God

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bless him. He was a gorilla. I mean I'm looking

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at him on TV. He looks like a gorilla. I

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mean he was the most believable, impressive guy. And back then,

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in those days, it was a big man business for

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main events. It really still is today, but there's way

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too many cruiserways. I mean, you got guys that are

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pushing to be top guy that weigh one hundred and

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fifty pounds. It's like, oh, come.

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Speaker 1: On, yeahs Bruno got he ran under the fence like

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five times in a row. Is He's saying, we're hitting

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the fence again? What time? And again? Like when do

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you know it's time to switch it up?

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Speaker 2: Well, we didn't know what time. Like I said, we

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didn't talk to each other. And Bruno was serious about

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this because, like I said, he was retired and he

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didn't want to go you know, into full retirement being

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a loser his you know, last match, right, So he

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wasn't going to take any crap. I mean, I mean,

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he was a gorilla. And in my in my time,

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I was trying to make a name for myself and

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get a break, yep, because I was. I was having

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a hard time getting a break in the business at

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that time because people knew me as Bruno's protege. Yes,

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of course, the whole was Larry's abisco. It was oh yeah,

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what's that guy's name, Oh yeah, Bruno.

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Speaker 1: Right, so there's the low Startlarry. There's the low blow

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right there, the low blow Bruno down he goes.

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Speaker 2: I had to because he was beating the crap.

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Speaker 1: I always wondered that about this era, Like, you know,

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does Bruno know that he's going to beat your ass

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and then eventually I know you didn't talk beforehand, but

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do you get it across to him in the ring

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that eventually the low blow is coming, or all of

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a sudden he gets hitting the balls and he realizes.

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Speaker 2: It's I freaked out because I didn't want to get

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killed in five minutes. I kind of took advantage of

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it because I knew how it kind of invincible Bruno was.

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I mean I worked out with him for years. I

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was his protege. He told me psychology, taught me holes

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and you know, how to think. So I knew it

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was given my all ar my career could be finished

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because now Bruno's trower.

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Speaker 1: So you know, you know that Bruno expects you at

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a certain point when he's throwing you all around the fence,

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he expects you at a certain point to get back

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at him and to hit him somehow. Word you can

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start getting some heat on.

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Speaker 2: Well. I don't know if he expected it, but when

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you look at the timing, I mean, Bruno is God,

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probably in his mid forties or so. Sure, and he

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and he's had your neck surgery, broke his neck and

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other stuff. And I was still in my twenties, so

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I had kind of an advantage in terms of not

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being injury prone and having more wind.

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Speaker 1: And so one thing that's fascinating is that he will

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get to it here. Eventually he blades his arm in

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this match, not not someone his forehead, but his arm,

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and I think he's got he's gonna start. You hit

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the corner turned buckle pat off. Pretty soon he starts

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doing that.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, the coin was there was I mean, people got

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to realize these stupid metal fences. Some of them had

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like pieces of I remember I remember Bruno going into

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a corner and then I saw blood on his shoulders

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and I know it was a piece of the metal

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and one of the cage corners. Would I try to

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put him together? Okay, they stick out.

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Speaker 1: I guess I'll just pretend to not see him blading

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his arm. That was one thing about Bruno. Bruno used

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to blade very obviously, was that thing. Yeah, I kind

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of felt when you when you hit him with a

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wooden chair. And in the TV tapings in Pa to

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start this whole thing. It was like very obvious, but

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you know, I don't think that the fans of the

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time had any idea. But it's it's it's it's cool

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because obviously you guys came in. I mean you knew

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you knew to carry a blade, right, I mean that

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you you have one, and you get colored in this match.

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So you came in knowing at some point I need to,

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I think, so yeah.

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Speaker 2: To tell you that I haven't seen this since night.

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You know, it's amazing.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, well, it wasn't really. The thing was, it wasn't

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really televised in a very easy to find way. They

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released it on home video years and years later. But

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now Bruno's turned the tides on you and you're you're

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you're in peril right now, Larry Well, I'm in trouble.

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Speaker 2: Bruno was limping a little thing. I mean, like I said,

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he's he's already had a long career, was basically retired.

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So yeah, his body, like my body now, feels it

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hurts and you can see him limping kind of.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, that's a good point. When you when you climb,

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when you climb the cage he yanked you off. There

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are you are you sort of giving him a second

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to get to you, to yank you off the cage.

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Does he know you're gonna climb? How does that work?

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Speaker 2: God? God, if you don't remember it? O, no, I

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think and yeah, I mean you're talking something that happened

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with forty yeah, six years ago.

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Speaker 1: Amazing. Yeah, it's such a significant mask.

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Speaker 2: How long ago? It's well, come my god, forty years

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forty six years soon by I could be dead any day,

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you know, I'm getting that old.

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Speaker 1: It's here we go again and climb, climbing the ropes,

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and here Bruno and I.

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Speaker 2: Want to get the hell out of here. And you

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can see how you can get cut easy with you?

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Speaker 1: Whoa what a gorilla? Press off the top? You tucked

239
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at the last second, Larry almost lay it on your

240
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head right there.

241
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Speaker 2: I was great.

242
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Speaker 1: That looked looked awesome. It looks like Bruno is just

243
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killing you, and he is. I mean, let's be honest

244
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to you.

245
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Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean he was a gorilla. I mean it's

246
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really hard to get across how ye strong he was.

247
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And if you look at him, his chest, his shouldered,

248
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his arm, it was hard to hurt his neck because

249
00:14:04,399 --> 00:14:07,960
his traps were so big, he really didn't have much

250
00:14:07,960 --> 00:14:08,759
of a neck.

251
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Speaker 1: Right, so he's just kicking.

252
00:14:11,720 --> 00:14:14,240
Speaker 2: I worked out with him in his basement figure. I

253
00:14:14,240 --> 00:14:17,080
mean when I was with Bruno with the one second

254
00:14:17,200 --> 00:14:19,679
pause on the wide grip, you know, on the bench press,

255
00:14:20,600 --> 00:14:23,919
my record was four hundred and sixty five and a

256
00:14:23,960 --> 00:14:28,440
half pounds. I was twenty one years old and weighed

257
00:14:28,440 --> 00:14:29,480
two forty five.

258
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Speaker 1: It's wild. What do you think of cage matches like

259
00:14:32,480 --> 00:14:34,480
the WWF did him where you can climb out or

260
00:14:34,519 --> 00:14:36,960
go through the door as opposed to pin or submission

261
00:14:36,960 --> 00:14:37,639
in the cage.

262
00:14:39,759 --> 00:14:41,960
Speaker 2: Well, you know what, to be honest with you, I'm

263
00:14:42,000 --> 00:14:46,039
kind of like old school. And when the cages came

264
00:14:46,200 --> 00:14:49,000
and then they had belts hanging from the ceiling, you

265
00:14:49,080 --> 00:14:55,080
gotta have ladder matches, that stuff started getting like beyond me. Yeah,

266
00:14:55,440 --> 00:14:59,519
but I mean something about getting out the door. I

267
00:14:59,559 --> 00:15:02,519
mean this was all kind of new stuff back in

268
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that era.

269
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Speaker 1: Yeah sure, yeah. New York used to do the escape

270
00:15:07,240 --> 00:15:09,120
the cage, and it made for some great spots, like

271
00:15:09,159 --> 00:15:10,639
when you try to scurry up the cage and he

272
00:15:10,679 --> 00:15:13,279
gangs you down. It's awesome. But all the other territories

273
00:15:13,279 --> 00:15:15,399
seemed to be much more like you know, the cage

274
00:15:15,440 --> 00:15:17,720
just is to contain keep out interferers. And you beat

275
00:15:17,759 --> 00:15:19,039
the hell out of the guy and you pin him.

276
00:15:19,080 --> 00:15:20,879
You don't try to escape, you know what I mean?

277
00:15:21,960 --> 00:15:26,240
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know I got Bruno in trouble.

278
00:15:25,840 --> 00:15:28,600
Speaker 1: And turned the tides. Bruno shot you into the corner

279
00:15:29,559 --> 00:15:31,240
shot maybe a little whisper.

280
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Speaker 2: Because I mean it was very emotional for me because

281
00:15:36,440 --> 00:15:39,759
he was my mentor. He helped me, he gave me

282
00:15:39,759 --> 00:15:42,679
a break. I mean, he didn't have to do that right.

283
00:15:43,320 --> 00:15:46,200
And then it just got to the point where he

284
00:15:46,440 --> 00:15:51,279
was retired doing the broadcasting Evince and I was getting like,

285
00:15:52,320 --> 00:15:55,759
you know, no one's fault, but there's so many guys.

286
00:15:55,919 --> 00:15:58,919
I was becoming another one or the guys. Then I

287
00:15:58,919 --> 00:16:02,559
would be another No Boddy. You know you gotta give

288
00:16:02,600 --> 00:16:07,360
him territories. But I had to pull something big off.

289
00:16:08,039 --> 00:16:11,320
And when I saw Bruno retired, plus I saw the

290
00:16:11,360 --> 00:16:15,360
way the business was, and I think at this time

291
00:16:15,480 --> 00:16:18,159
was Bob Backlin the championshire.

292
00:16:17,600 --> 00:16:21,360
Speaker 1: Was Yes, you had worked him in June at the Garden.

293
00:16:21,120 --> 00:16:25,919
Speaker 2: When when Bob Backlin was champion after Bruno retired, I

294
00:16:25,960 --> 00:16:31,440
mean the business tanked Madison Square Garden. You'd be lucky

295
00:16:31,480 --> 00:16:36,320
if it was half full, and what that meant to

296
00:16:36,320 --> 00:16:40,720
have been. Senior and his partners were they were losing money.

297
00:16:41,360 --> 00:16:45,519
Backlin wasn't drawing money. I saw. I've seen Backlan walk

298
00:16:45,559 --> 00:16:49,519
out and they had him against three guys and he

299
00:16:49,639 --> 00:16:52,759
won the whole place. Start chanting bullshit.

300
00:16:54,399 --> 00:16:57,200
Speaker 1: Definitely talk about Backland, because I mean that's huge on

301
00:16:57,240 --> 00:16:59,039
this show that he's not even really in the title match.

302
00:16:59,039 --> 00:17:01,799
But you see Bruno here grape scraping away at his arm.

303
00:17:01,799 --> 00:17:03,879
You're attacking the arm, not the head, not the gut.

304
00:17:04,200 --> 00:17:06,640
And Bruno is getting color in his arm here and

305
00:17:06,799 --> 00:17:07,119
see that.

306
00:17:07,240 --> 00:17:09,920
Speaker 2: Well, I saw the blood, so I figured you hurt

307
00:17:09,920 --> 00:17:13,119
his shoulders, so I start punching.

308
00:17:14,319 --> 00:17:16,960
Speaker 1: I love it. There you are going to town and

309
00:17:17,000 --> 00:17:19,240
he's really showing the arm. Dusty used to do that too.

310
00:17:19,279 --> 00:17:21,079
He's got all those he used to have all that

311
00:17:21,119 --> 00:17:24,079
scar tissue on his on his arm, not just the forehead.

312
00:17:26,440 --> 00:17:29,480
Speaker 2: I guess I'm scared to death of that kind of.

313
00:17:31,200 --> 00:17:34,279
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, were you were you kind of squeamish about

314
00:17:34,279 --> 00:17:36,000
getting color when you were in the business.

315
00:17:38,119 --> 00:17:42,400
Speaker 2: Yeah, And it really wasn't my thing. I mean I

316
00:17:42,720 --> 00:17:48,400
rarely started bleeding. Yeah, I mean, my head doesn't have scars,

317
00:17:48,880 --> 00:17:52,119
and the butcher had so many scars, so deep you

318
00:17:52,119 --> 00:17:53,319
could put a quarter in.

319
00:17:53,759 --> 00:17:57,839
Speaker 1: I've seen it. Disgusting, bless him, but my goodness, so

320
00:17:57,880 --> 00:17:59,519
you just called for the door to get open. It opened,

321
00:17:59,559 --> 00:18:01,519
Larry cut off. So you got to keep punishing the arm.

322
00:18:01,559 --> 00:18:03,720
You can see he's feeding you the arm there, and

323
00:18:03,799 --> 00:18:05,680
he's just he's giving you a lot right here. You

324
00:18:05,680 --> 00:18:07,680
were going off like, why do you think you're supposed

325
00:18:07,680 --> 00:18:08,079
to stop?

326
00:18:10,000 --> 00:18:11,839
Speaker 2: Well, I don't know.

327
00:18:13,400 --> 00:18:16,759
Speaker 1: I mean, door opens, he grabs you again. Here you go.

328
00:18:17,400 --> 00:18:21,319
Speaker 2: I mean you're talking about things, and I mean the

329
00:18:21,319 --> 00:18:25,559
way matches are today, I mean the way the business

330
00:18:25,640 --> 00:18:30,160
has changed. I can't believe how many, how these guys

331
00:18:30,200 --> 00:18:33,799
who are incredible athletes. I mean, you got amazing athletes,

332
00:18:34,759 --> 00:18:37,400
but they do so much. I'm thinking, how do they

333
00:18:37,519 --> 00:18:38,440
memorize this?

334
00:18:39,079 --> 00:18:42,480
Speaker 1: I know it's it's actually in its own way. It's impressive,

335
00:18:42,640 --> 00:18:45,640
you know it's it looks like you're struggling, if I'm

336
00:18:45,680 --> 00:18:47,720
not mistaken, Larry, looks like you're struggling with a white

337
00:18:47,720 --> 00:18:50,200
wrist tape here to get that gig out. You keep

338
00:18:50,240 --> 00:18:54,920
reaching for the wrist. You're flailing about. Oh my goodness,

339
00:18:55,039 --> 00:18:56,119
this is amazing.

340
00:18:57,799 --> 00:19:03,079
Speaker 2: Good. Yeah, that's the first time I've seen this guy.

341
00:19:03,160 --> 00:19:06,079
I'm still I'm looking at Bruno on him. I'm just

342
00:19:06,160 --> 00:19:11,119
so impressed. Look, and he was my hero and I

343
00:19:11,240 --> 00:19:14,440
kind of got us a little Bruno looked because I

344
00:19:14,480 --> 00:19:18,440
did the same workout, you know. Yeah, heavy, heavy chest.

345
00:19:18,559 --> 00:19:22,559
Speaker 1: Yeah, he had quite a h I gotta see it,

346
00:19:22,640 --> 00:19:24,200
quite a rug on his head at this point. I

347
00:19:24,240 --> 00:19:27,359
love the guy. But oh, I mean the height he

348
00:19:27,400 --> 00:19:29,480
got on that hair, that afro that he that he

349
00:19:29,559 --> 00:19:31,319
discovered in late seventies.

350
00:19:31,400 --> 00:19:36,319
Speaker 2: Earl, well, that was part of your business psychology because

351
00:19:36,359 --> 00:19:40,000
Bruno is going bald, right, and all of a sudden

352
00:19:40,079 --> 00:19:42,640
he got to weave something, some kind of thing they

353
00:19:42,680 --> 00:19:45,519
came out with. Why they sowed the weave onto the

354
00:19:45,640 --> 00:19:48,480
hair on the side of your head, right, because Bruno

355
00:19:48,920 --> 00:19:52,759
always said, you know, and that's right. You want to

356
00:19:52,920 --> 00:19:57,480
look the best and the youngest and most that you

357
00:19:57,720 --> 00:20:01,440
can so the fans will believe. You don't want to

358
00:20:01,480 --> 00:20:04,960
look like a little old ball guy if you don't

359
00:20:05,039 --> 00:20:05,480
have to.

360
00:20:05,880 --> 00:20:08,559
Speaker 1: You know, my god, you just threw yourself over the

361
00:20:08,599 --> 00:20:11,640
top rope into the fence, came down between the ropes

362
00:20:11,680 --> 00:20:15,079
in the fence. He is You're just you just at

363
00:20:15,119 --> 00:20:18,440
his mercy at this point, right, I mean, he's just

364
00:20:18,480 --> 00:20:20,519
guiding you like this is where you're going next and

365
00:20:20,640 --> 00:20:26,039
good luck. Oh yeah, yeah, you've got color here, Larry.

366
00:20:26,039 --> 00:20:28,279
I'm surprised you don't remember that. I see a red

367
00:20:28,319 --> 00:20:29,000
forehead on you.

368
00:20:31,920 --> 00:20:36,559
Speaker 2: I'm looking at my forehead. Yeah, and that arm is

369
00:20:36,799 --> 00:20:37,200
is Jack.

370
00:20:37,240 --> 00:20:39,599
Speaker 1: So he just he just this is such an interesting ending.

371
00:20:39,640 --> 00:20:41,519
He just stomps you in the head and he just

372
00:20:41,559 --> 00:20:44,200
like walks off like the hell with you. Look, this

373
00:20:44,279 --> 00:20:47,160
is how it ends. The hell with you and the

374
00:20:47,160 --> 00:20:49,119
crowd goes nuts and he just steps out of there.

375
00:20:49,240 --> 00:20:51,160
That's a great photo when he raises his arm. There's

376
00:20:51,160 --> 00:20:53,440
a photo that was taking Arnie school in there. He

377
00:20:53,559 --> 00:20:56,240
sells the arm because he, you know, Arnie tries to

378
00:20:56,319 --> 00:20:59,640
raise the arm and that's it. I remember if When

379
00:20:59,640 --> 00:21:01,319
I first I thought it was a little abrupt, But

380
00:21:01,359 --> 00:21:03,079
the more I watched, I think it's a great ending

381
00:21:03,079 --> 00:21:05,920
because it's just like he just he just shows you, right,

382
00:21:06,160 --> 00:21:08,240
he just shows you whose boss, who's the master, and

383
00:21:08,279 --> 00:21:11,720
just leaves you there to point and collar and cavetch.

384
00:21:12,279 --> 00:21:16,039
Speaker 2: Oh stay that's now off the step. Well I went

385
00:21:16,160 --> 00:21:18,880
down and after a match I realized I made a

386
00:21:19,000 --> 00:21:24,680
stupid mistake, but I still had the utmost respect for Bruno.

387
00:21:24,880 --> 00:21:26,759
Speaker 1: Yeah, you did say the promos, you did not hate him.

388
00:21:27,880 --> 00:21:32,000
Speaker 2: I mean he was look at that blood. I had

389
00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:33,519
to acknowledge him. He was.

390
00:21:33,599 --> 00:21:34,559
Speaker 1: Yeah, he raised his arm.

391
00:21:35,559 --> 00:21:40,039
Speaker 2: He was He was the original living legend. And then

392
00:21:40,079 --> 00:21:44,279
I wound up taking his trademark. Cuche Stadium was kind

393
00:21:44,279 --> 00:21:47,359
of what passed it down to me. And then as

394
00:21:47,400 --> 00:21:50,119
I got older, it made sense.

395
00:21:52,240 --> 00:21:55,839
Speaker 1: Get that off. You walk into the the New York night,

396
00:21:55,920 --> 00:21:58,480
the hot summer New York night, and there's Bruno. Really

397
00:21:58,480 --> 00:22:01,000
one last time. I mean, you've already touched on it, Larry,

398
00:22:01,079 --> 00:22:03,079
I mean, this was really the end of the Bruno era.

399
00:22:03,160 --> 00:22:07,079
This match. He did make a few more comebacks, but yeah.

400
00:22:06,920 --> 00:22:11,039
Speaker 2: But this was really the This really marks the end

401
00:22:11,039 --> 00:22:13,440
of an era, the end of the old school era.

402
00:22:13,519 --> 00:22:19,279
And shortly after this was the beginning of nationwide cable

403
00:22:19,359 --> 00:22:22,680
pay per views and the death of the territories. Right,

404
00:22:23,279 --> 00:22:27,119
So it changed the business because back in these days

405
00:22:27,160 --> 00:22:30,519
we were watching me and Bruno in the eighties, seventies, eighties,

406
00:22:31,079 --> 00:22:33,720
if you were in a territory pro a while and

407
00:22:33,839 --> 00:22:37,839
got burnt out where people have seen you so much.

408
00:22:37,920 --> 00:22:43,920
It's like, okay, anybody else to see. But then you

409
00:22:44,039 --> 00:22:47,119
always had another territory to go to if you're trying

410
00:22:47,160 --> 00:22:51,079
to go to a WA then but then after it changed,

411
00:22:51,319 --> 00:22:56,880
there was only two WWF and it turned into WCW.

412
00:22:57,160 --> 00:22:59,079
Speaker 1: So lastly, on the safe Stadium match, we have here

413
00:22:59,160 --> 00:23:01,960
the Wide Shot show to replay. I do want to

414
00:23:02,000 --> 00:23:05,279
ask you, you know, how how did you go into

415
00:23:05,279 --> 00:23:08,200
the ring expecting it to end? I mean, certainly you

416
00:23:08,279 --> 00:23:10,799
knew that Bruno was going to go over? Was there

417
00:23:10,839 --> 00:23:13,039
a certain point where he just said, all right, this

418
00:23:13,079 --> 00:23:16,160
is it, I'm walking out of here and just started.

419
00:23:15,960 --> 00:23:21,400
Speaker 2: I know, I can't trussure. I didn't know, but it

420
00:23:21,440 --> 00:23:26,279
was a double edged sword because Bruno was so great,

421
00:23:26,480 --> 00:23:30,160
so loved. If I would have won, I probably would

422
00:23:30,200 --> 00:23:36,000
have felt guilty and the tremendous you know career. I

423
00:23:36,000 --> 00:23:38,880
mean he was the most loved to rest forever. I

424
00:23:38,880 --> 00:23:43,400
mean I couldn't blame this that either, right, he sho

425
00:23:43,920 --> 00:23:45,519
he should retire the greatest.

426
00:23:45,640 --> 00:23:47,640
Speaker 1: Are you are you suggesting right here and now, Larius

427
00:23:47,680 --> 00:23:49,680
Bisco that you let Bruno win this match?

428
00:23:50,880 --> 00:23:54,640
Speaker 2: Well? I didn't let him win, but it wasn't easy

429
00:23:54,720 --> 00:23:55,640
to stop.

430
00:23:55,400 --> 00:24:00,640
Speaker 1: Him, all right, well, hey, thank you for doing that.

431
00:24:00,640 --> 00:24:02,160
I mean, I want to talk to you about because

432
00:24:02,240 --> 00:24:04,559
it's a great transition to the new area. You're talking

433
00:24:04,559 --> 00:24:07,759
about because who comes in in November nineteen seventy nine

434
00:24:07,799 --> 00:24:11,039
to New York Hulk Hogan and Cumsha Stadium. He's the

435
00:24:11,079 --> 00:24:14,200
co main event underneath you guys against Andrea where he

436
00:24:14,240 --> 00:24:16,440
slams him for the first time. What did you think

437
00:24:16,440 --> 00:24:18,720
of Hulk Hogan when he first came into New York

438
00:24:18,759 --> 00:24:19,119
You were.

439
00:24:19,000 --> 00:24:26,359
Speaker 2: There, well, those Yeah, that was the very beginning of

440
00:24:26,400 --> 00:24:31,920
a new era and it was interesting. I'll tell you

441
00:24:31,960 --> 00:24:36,000
a little Hogan story because Hulk I'm not sure where

442
00:24:36,079 --> 00:24:38,640
he started, but he was a big guy. Yep, he

443
00:24:38,680 --> 00:24:42,319
had good balance. He was smart enough to talk good.

444
00:24:42,440 --> 00:24:45,359
I mean, guys who got over with the crowds were

445
00:24:45,400 --> 00:24:48,440
able to talk good on the microphone. You know, they

446
00:24:48,440 --> 00:24:52,200
were great on the stick. Hulk was great, I was great,

447
00:24:52,240 --> 00:24:55,920
Flair was great. There was more of them, and that

448
00:24:56,079 --> 00:24:58,839
was one of the secrets. But the funny bit was

449
00:24:59,599 --> 00:25:03,559
haulk by the time we got to say stadium, Hawk's

450
00:25:03,599 --> 00:25:07,720
been there a while and he came in from the AWA. Yes,

451
00:25:09,000 --> 00:25:11,519
and back in those days, if you were you know,

452
00:25:11,759 --> 00:25:14,880
six seven like the Hulk or whatever, three hundred pounds

453
00:25:15,200 --> 00:25:20,039
you were like naturally taken advantage of as a bad

454
00:25:20,160 --> 00:25:27,240
guy because people had their local wrestlers they loved, you know,

455
00:25:27,359 --> 00:25:32,359
from that territory, and you know, and and but the

456
00:25:32,359 --> 00:25:38,559
AWA was the territory that made a hulk a babyface.

457
00:25:39,079 --> 00:25:41,000
Speaker 1: That's right, And that would be to be clear on

458
00:25:41,039 --> 00:25:43,279
the timeline. He hadn't gone to a w A yet.

459
00:25:43,319 --> 00:25:46,200
He went to a WA. The year after this he

460
00:25:46,240 --> 00:25:48,680
had come to vill Yeah, yeah, he had come to

461
00:25:48,759 --> 00:25:51,880
Vince after having worked for Ron Fuller in Alabama. He

462
00:25:51,920 --> 00:25:54,400
worked for Jerry Lawler and Jerry Jarrett in Memphis. He

463
00:25:54,480 --> 00:25:57,319
went to Ole and Georgia for a little while, and

464
00:25:57,359 --> 00:25:59,960
then in November of seventy nine he came to Vince.

465
00:26:00,400 --> 00:26:02,680
And he worked a little bit in Knoxville too, in

466
00:26:02,880 --> 00:26:06,680
the end of seventy nine, after Ron Fuller sold Knoxville

467
00:26:06,720 --> 00:26:09,480
to Jim Barnett. So he'd had you know, he'd been

468
00:26:09,519 --> 00:26:11,920
around quite a bit. But here he is walking in

469
00:26:12,039 --> 00:26:14,359
and here he is second from the top here in

470
00:26:14,480 --> 00:26:18,079
Chase Stadium. And you had said in your book that

471
00:26:18,119 --> 00:26:20,920
you know, Hulk was Hulk was somebody that came up

472
00:26:20,920 --> 00:26:23,240
to you when you did the power play to try

473
00:26:23,279 --> 00:26:25,160
to get the championship and try to you know, convince

474
00:26:25,240 --> 00:26:27,359
Vent Senior to give you the belt instead of Bob Ackland,

475
00:26:27,759 --> 00:26:29,680
and you were able to, you know, get your percentage

476
00:26:29,720 --> 00:26:31,200
of the gates and things.

477
00:26:31,559 --> 00:26:35,640
Speaker 2: You know, wasn't drawing anything now.

478
00:26:35,720 --> 00:26:38,039
Speaker 1: Hulk Hulk like that though, right, Hulk Hulk gave you

479
00:26:38,079 --> 00:26:40,319
props for the way you kind of.

480
00:26:40,559 --> 00:26:45,400
Speaker 2: Well, yeah, And it was an interesting time because when

481
00:26:45,440 --> 00:26:49,440
the Hulk came in, they brought him in to work

482
00:26:49,480 --> 00:26:55,680
with Andre because Andre was so big that Hulk was

483
00:26:55,799 --> 00:27:01,000
like the only opponent they had that I didn't squash

484
00:27:01,119 --> 00:27:04,519
them already. That people could say, hey, this guy might

485
00:27:04,599 --> 00:27:08,680
have a chance, because you know, even though Andre was

486
00:27:09,400 --> 00:27:14,480
so big, the Hulk was super big guy. So the

487
00:27:14,599 --> 00:27:17,880
fans really got into that. But the part that got

488
00:27:17,960 --> 00:27:22,319
me was one night, Monday night, I'm standing in the

489
00:27:22,440 --> 00:27:26,279
back hallway up Madison Square Garden. The match was going on,

490
00:27:26,400 --> 00:27:29,680
and I'm watching through the curtains, and the Hulk came

491
00:27:29,799 --> 00:27:33,359
up to me and he's already been there some months.

492
00:27:33,400 --> 00:27:35,559
He says, Larry, I got to ask you some advice

493
00:27:35,559 --> 00:27:38,119
because he saw what I did with Bruno. And then

494
00:27:39,279 --> 00:27:41,640
he says, I got to ask you some advice because

495
00:27:42,200 --> 00:27:44,119
I don't know what to do with my career. I'm

496
00:27:44,119 --> 00:27:47,920
getting buried here. I mean, he was getting tired of

497
00:27:48,160 --> 00:27:52,680
Andre beating him every night in all these clubs, you know,

498
00:27:53,200 --> 00:27:57,440
on the weekdays and the weekends. So he was basically

499
00:27:57,680 --> 00:28:01,160
for a while, Andre's job a guy, if you want

500
00:28:01,200 --> 00:28:03,720
to put it that way. But he was the only

501
00:28:03,720 --> 00:28:05,880
guy big enough where it would make any sense to

502
00:28:06,000 --> 00:28:09,400
have any kind of a match at all. And I

503
00:28:09,519 --> 00:28:12,880
told the Hawk, I said, you know what you know,

504
00:28:12,920 --> 00:28:14,920
and I think i'm I think that's when I gave

505
00:28:15,000 --> 00:28:16,680
him the advice. I said, you know, we get all

506
00:28:16,680 --> 00:28:20,240
the publicity here. If you're tired of getting you know,

507
00:28:20,400 --> 00:28:24,640
squashed every night by Andre, call the aw A, call

508
00:28:24,759 --> 00:28:28,079
the NWA. I mean, because all the all the publicity

509
00:28:28,200 --> 00:28:32,720
back then came out of New York, Georgia Poltono Bill

510
00:28:32,880 --> 00:28:38,400
after Wrestling Review, the Wrestler. So the other territories had

511
00:28:38,440 --> 00:28:42,400
no TV of you, but all the fans had the

512
00:28:42,519 --> 00:28:47,039
magazine and knew who you were before, you know, so

513
00:28:47,160 --> 00:28:49,720
when you showed up, they knew who you were basically,

514
00:28:50,799 --> 00:28:54,359
and that would have prolonged your career. So I gave

515
00:28:54,400 --> 00:28:56,640
the Hawk that advice. Maybe that's when he went to

516
00:28:56,680 --> 00:28:58,839
the AWA and then they changed them.

517
00:28:59,440 --> 00:29:02,640
Speaker 1: Yeah, he well, he did Rocky three and then Vern

518
00:29:02,680 --> 00:29:04,680
brought him in, and he always said that he had

519
00:29:04,680 --> 00:29:07,119
a disagreement with Vince Senior over whether he should be

520
00:29:07,160 --> 00:29:09,279
able to do Rocky three, and so that's why he

521
00:29:09,359 --> 00:29:12,119
left in New York Territory to shoot that movie. And

522
00:29:12,119 --> 00:29:14,359
then coming off that movie, Vern brought him in first

523
00:29:14,359 --> 00:29:15,880
as a heel and then as a babyface. And you

524
00:29:15,920 --> 00:29:18,359
came in in eighty four to the WA But as

525
00:29:18,359 --> 00:29:20,640
far as nineteen eighty, just to set the picture a

526
00:29:20,680 --> 00:29:22,559
little bit, I think you put it perfectly, he was

527
00:29:22,720 --> 00:29:25,920
kind of kind of ensure of whether he was getting

528
00:29:26,119 --> 00:29:28,200
the raw deal and how they were programming him with Andrea.

529
00:29:28,240 --> 00:29:30,039
I mean, it's not like he was losing to Andrea.

530
00:29:30,119 --> 00:29:32,160
In the clubs one, two three, there were a lot

531
00:29:32,160 --> 00:29:34,400
of dqs and fuck finishes and things like that. But

532
00:29:34,680 --> 00:29:36,799
you got the sense that Hulk kind of felt like

533
00:29:36,960 --> 00:29:39,839
he was sputtering a little bit because he was just yeah.

534
00:29:39,640 --> 00:29:42,039
Speaker 2: I mean, he just got feeling like, Okay, it's been

535
00:29:42,240 --> 00:29:46,680
months and I just get killed every night, right, you know?

536
00:29:48,000 --> 00:29:52,480
And Andre was Andre was more of an a traction

537
00:29:52,640 --> 00:29:56,240
than a wrestler. He'd be in the WWWF for three

538
00:29:56,319 --> 00:29:59,880
or four months and Vin Senior would book him out

539
00:30:00,119 --> 00:30:03,960
a different territory. He'd book him in Japan. Andre was

540
00:30:04,039 --> 00:30:08,039
huge in Japan, you know. But you know, so Hulpe

541
00:30:08,160 --> 00:30:11,640
was trying to make a name for himself and and

542
00:30:11,680 --> 00:30:13,640
all that. But you know, but he was getting a

543
00:30:13,680 --> 00:30:18,440
little frustrated. And he wasn't the only guy who realized,

544
00:30:18,480 --> 00:30:21,079
my god, not back. When everybody calls him, how he

545
00:30:21,200 --> 00:30:24,000
do he use the champ? No one, No one believes it.

546
00:30:24,640 --> 00:30:26,960
Speaker 1: He's wrestling podcast.

547
00:31:01,559 --> 00:31:05,440
Speaker 2: He's a LAPS fan wrestling podcast with Jack and Canio

548
00:31:05,880 --> 00:31:06,880
and j Pisaro.

549
00:31:07,400 --> 00:31:10,160
Speaker 1: In his first book that Hulk came out with, he

550
00:31:10,279 --> 00:31:12,279
was talking about Chase Statium and he said in the book,

551
00:31:12,319 --> 00:31:14,480
the top match on the card that day was Brunos

552
00:31:14,480 --> 00:31:18,119
e Martino against disport Je Larry's Abisco And then he

553
00:31:18,160 --> 00:31:19,279
had to say this, and I want to want to

554
00:31:19,319 --> 00:31:21,240
get your reaction to it, he wrote, But to be

555
00:31:21,279 --> 00:31:24,640
honest with you, nobody cared about the Sammartino's Abisco matchup.

556
00:31:24,799 --> 00:31:27,519
The only confrontation the fans really cared about was Andre

557
00:31:27,680 --> 00:31:33,799
versus Hulk. Hogan got you on that one.

558
00:31:35,000 --> 00:31:37,880
Speaker 2: Well, hey, you can't blame the Hulk for trying to

559
00:31:37,880 --> 00:31:42,000
put himself over. But yeah, like I said, for months,

560
00:31:42,039 --> 00:31:46,400
he's already been beaten all over the territory by Andre Plus.

561
00:31:46,519 --> 00:31:48,960
I mean, if you look at the card, you also

562
00:31:49,160 --> 00:31:51,559
had Boba versus a Nocchi.

563
00:31:52,759 --> 00:31:55,279
Speaker 1: Well, no, you had a Noch versus Larry Sharp. Baba

564
00:31:55,319 --> 00:31:57,920
had nothing to do with with New York at that time. Yeah,

565
00:31:57,920 --> 00:32:01,319
he was, Oh he was. It was just New Japan, Yeah,

566
00:32:01,319 --> 00:32:01,519
it was.

567
00:32:01,519 --> 00:32:05,759
Speaker 2: It was. He was there because I remember, you know,

568
00:32:05,799 --> 00:32:09,839
hearing that he came in for free, no money, don't

569
00:32:09,880 --> 00:32:14,720
pay me. He just wanted the publicity for being at

570
00:32:14,759 --> 00:32:20,160
say stadium, because he knew how huge it was. And

571
00:32:20,200 --> 00:32:25,799
then god, some years later and we had like over

572
00:32:25,880 --> 00:32:29,240
forty four thousand some people because I wouldn't let more cherish.

573
00:32:29,359 --> 00:32:33,319
But then some years later I wrestled Nasa Saido in

574
00:32:33,359 --> 00:32:36,759
the Tokyo Dome and it was sixty six thousand people

575
00:32:36,839 --> 00:32:40,319
held that out. Yes, And that was the day before

576
00:32:40,400 --> 00:32:44,400
the Mike Tyson Buster Douglas fight. That's right, that's right, yes,

577
00:32:44,480 --> 00:32:46,839
which did like thirty three thousand people.

578
00:32:47,240 --> 00:32:49,279
Speaker 1: Did you, Larry, did you ever work with Hulkgan in

579
00:32:49,319 --> 00:32:50,680
the ring. Did you ever match with him?

580
00:32:51,640 --> 00:32:53,079
Speaker 2: You know what, I never did.

581
00:32:53,279 --> 00:32:57,079
Speaker 1: I don't think so, No, Wow, I never did.

582
00:32:58,160 --> 00:33:01,000
Speaker 2: And the other guy I think I would have had

583
00:33:01,039 --> 00:33:04,960
great matches with at the time because of the territories

584
00:33:05,759 --> 00:33:08,000
was Flair and they never had a match with a Rick.

585
00:33:08,559 --> 00:33:10,599
Speaker 1: That's right. Yeah, that we came to fruition. That one's

586
00:33:10,599 --> 00:33:13,160
a little more famously what could have been. But yeah,

587
00:33:13,160 --> 00:33:16,279
the Hogan match never happened either. One of the things

588
00:33:16,279 --> 00:33:17,640
you say in your book about Vince Senior is he

589
00:33:17,960 --> 00:33:20,960
loved the racetrack. Can you tell us a little bit.

590
00:33:20,839 --> 00:33:25,240
Speaker 2: About that they had? Well, I didn't know much because

591
00:33:26,200 --> 00:33:29,279
they didn't talk to the wrestlers much, you know, I mean,

592
00:33:29,880 --> 00:33:33,759
and the business they were involved in, you know, him

593
00:33:33,799 --> 00:33:37,839
and his two partners, you know, I don't want to

594
00:33:37,839 --> 00:33:41,960
say shady characters, but you know who knows what goes

595
00:33:42,000 --> 00:33:45,599
on in some of these big arenas and payoffs for

596
00:33:45,759 --> 00:33:52,359
the you know New York Athletic Commission people, and and

597
00:33:53,400 --> 00:33:57,920
you know Madison Square Garden is not owned by New

598
00:33:58,000 --> 00:34:03,160
York City. That was privately own yes, and man is

599
00:34:03,240 --> 00:34:06,599
this square Garden was like a place to get a

600
00:34:06,759 --> 00:34:12,039
name and notoriety. But when you rented the garden. They

601
00:34:12,079 --> 00:34:15,719
took so much money, you really didn't make much of

602
00:34:15,760 --> 00:34:20,119
a profit. It was more of a publicity thing, you

603
00:34:20,119 --> 00:34:22,599
know than big money thing.

604
00:34:22,800 --> 00:34:26,039
Speaker 1: Yeah. And and like you said, they didn't talk a

605
00:34:26,039 --> 00:34:29,199
lot to the wrestlers. Was it your perception that Vince

606
00:34:29,280 --> 00:34:32,360
Senior was sort of like a you prefer to be

607
00:34:32,400 --> 00:34:34,320
at the track in the garden, Like I love that

608
00:34:34,599 --> 00:34:37,840
little morsel there of what he would really want to

609
00:34:37,840 --> 00:34:38,679
be doing with this time.

610
00:34:39,920 --> 00:34:42,039
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean to be honest with you, I mean,

611
00:34:42,440 --> 00:34:46,239
you know, I was in my twenties, you know, protege a,

612
00:34:46,480 --> 00:34:50,519
you know, new guys starting off, So I rarely spoke

613
00:34:50,639 --> 00:34:54,800
to Ben Senior, you know, I mean it just I

614
00:34:54,960 --> 00:34:58,360
really don't know. The only thing I heard is they

615
00:34:58,360 --> 00:35:02,360
had their privacy at the racetrack. And I know they

616
00:35:02,440 --> 00:35:07,960
put money in and back you know boxers and other sports,

617
00:35:07,960 --> 00:35:11,960
so you know they were promoters spread the actually back

618
00:35:12,000 --> 00:35:14,559
in those days. Yeah, back in those days, you could

619
00:35:14,559 --> 00:35:17,280
get away with things you couldn't get away with these days.

620
00:35:18,519 --> 00:35:21,760
Speaker 1: How are you being booked? Before you did the Bruneau program,

621
00:35:21,760 --> 00:35:23,840
we were looking at some of the matches and some

622
00:35:23,880 --> 00:35:26,599
of the cards Hogan was on before shea stadium and

623
00:35:26,639 --> 00:35:28,599
you're on those cards, but you're kind of like third

624
00:35:28,679 --> 00:35:31,320
fourth match, and then of course you springboard of the

625
00:35:31,320 --> 00:35:35,639
main event against Bruno. And back then before that, do

626
00:35:35,679 --> 00:35:39,280
you remember kind of feeling like I'm way too low

627
00:35:39,320 --> 00:35:41,239
on the card and I got to make this Bruno

628
00:35:41,320 --> 00:35:44,119
thing happen. Or was there always an idea in the

629
00:35:44,119 --> 00:35:47,599
office that we're working towards you eventually becoming a main

630
00:35:47,639 --> 00:35:48,440
eventor with Bruno.

631
00:35:49,360 --> 00:35:52,480
Speaker 2: You know what, I don't think there was an I

632
00:35:52,519 --> 00:35:57,079
don't think that the office, you know, was saying to themselves,

633
00:35:57,079 --> 00:35:59,239
oh yeah, we got to get some Bisco ready for

634
00:35:59,320 --> 00:36:03,480
a purse soon. And that's why I did what I did,

635
00:36:03,639 --> 00:36:11,119
because after Bruno retired, me being stuck in the cliche

636
00:36:11,360 --> 00:36:17,119
protege thing, I had to do it myself. And you know,

637
00:36:17,559 --> 00:36:23,239
me and Vince Senior had some talks, you know, nothing bad,

638
00:36:23,320 --> 00:36:28,159
but I wouldn't say arguments, but you know, just saying

639
00:36:28,199 --> 00:36:30,719
the truth, like, come on, Vince, bob back when don't

640
00:36:30,800 --> 00:36:35,360
draw money. I know you're losing money, give me a chance. Jesus.

641
00:36:36,760 --> 00:36:39,119
Everybody hates you know, but I knew I had to

642
00:36:39,159 --> 00:36:43,599
make a move for my career, and with Bruno being retired,

643
00:36:43,599 --> 00:36:45,760
and being the guy that was the biggest way to

644
00:36:45,800 --> 00:36:48,920
do it, because if I'd be back when that really

645
00:36:48,920 --> 00:36:51,760
wouldn't make me a big, super duper star anyway, because

646
00:36:51,760 --> 00:36:52,400
no one cared.

647
00:36:53,880 --> 00:36:55,920
Speaker 1: Do you do you remember, Larry And this is I know,

648
00:36:56,000 --> 00:36:58,760
kind of a really specific question, but do you remember

649
00:36:59,079 --> 00:37:01,880
that they had a show that was going to happen

650
00:37:01,920 --> 00:37:04,000
at Shae and they needed a main event that would

651
00:37:04,039 --> 00:37:07,320
fill the house or did they put it in Shae

652
00:37:07,360 --> 00:37:10,679
after they realized that they were going with you and Bruno?

653
00:37:10,800 --> 00:37:13,239
Do you remember if it was like a cart before

654
00:37:13,239 --> 00:37:14,400
the horse kind of thing or.

655
00:37:15,559 --> 00:37:18,320
Speaker 2: You know, the only thing that is in the back

656
00:37:18,360 --> 00:37:22,039
of my mind, I think I'm writers. We had a

657
00:37:22,079 --> 00:37:25,320
couple of matches in Madison Square Garden, yes, and we

658
00:37:25,480 --> 00:37:28,840
built it up for the cage, and I think they

659
00:37:28,960 --> 00:37:31,119
realized how hot it was.

660
00:37:31,320 --> 00:37:32,079
Speaker 1: The makes sense.

661
00:37:32,440 --> 00:37:37,760
Speaker 2: Madison Square Garden was too small. I mean, they could,

662
00:37:38,039 --> 00:37:41,960
you know, do a lot more people if they you know,

663
00:37:42,840 --> 00:37:48,320
did a stadium, which in those days was rare if

664
00:37:48,400 --> 00:37:49,800
it happened at all.

665
00:37:49,639 --> 00:37:52,679
Speaker 1: You know, yeah, yeah, that's that that that rhymes with

666
00:37:52,840 --> 00:37:54,840
kind of we were following the chronology. You also worked

667
00:37:54,840 --> 00:37:56,840
Bruno with the Spectrum in Philly, the crowd was red

668
00:37:56,880 --> 00:37:59,320
hot coming off the angle. Oh yeah, I mean the

669
00:37:59,320 --> 00:38:02,440
Angle of the Way Pittsburgh. Yeah, you did the angle

670
00:38:02,440 --> 00:38:04,000
in the winter, so they had plenty of time to

671
00:38:04,039 --> 00:38:06,039
run it around the circuit and realize that, you know,

672
00:38:06,360 --> 00:38:08,559
we add a cage to this thing. We had broke

673
00:38:08,639 --> 00:38:10,840
Bruno perhaps in a go home promo saying that if

674
00:38:10,880 --> 00:38:13,000
I can't beat Larry's Bbisco, I have to retire, and

675
00:38:13,000 --> 00:38:15,320
we could fill a stadium here. So yeah, maybe that's

676
00:38:15,360 --> 00:38:17,400
the answer to the question.

677
00:38:18,480 --> 00:38:22,280
Speaker 2: The one thing on my mind, Jack, was it was

678
00:38:22,320 --> 00:38:24,400
an outdoors show, which is rare.

679
00:38:24,559 --> 00:38:26,119
Speaker 1: I was gonna ask you about that. Yeah, were you

680
00:38:26,159 --> 00:38:28,079
afraid it was gonna raina What if it rained? What

681
00:38:28,119 --> 00:38:29,440
would you have done?

682
00:38:30,159 --> 00:38:33,360
Speaker 2: That was in my mind. I'm thinking, oh my god,

683
00:38:33,559 --> 00:38:40,679
please no thunderstorms, not next, you know, make it good weather, please.

684
00:38:40,840 --> 00:38:44,320
I could see Jesus Christ sit in ringside heat the

685
00:38:44,440 --> 00:38:45,400
storms away.

686
00:38:45,960 --> 00:38:47,840
Speaker 1: Did they have a plan, Larry, do you remember did

687
00:38:47,840 --> 00:38:49,679
they say, like, if it does rain, we're gonna just

688
00:38:49,800 --> 00:38:51,719
go with it, figure it out.

689
00:38:51,760 --> 00:38:55,119
Speaker 2: No, no, no one said nothing. But yeah, you know,

690
00:38:55,679 --> 00:38:57,800
thank god, it was a beautiful day.

691
00:38:58,079 --> 00:39:00,639
Speaker 1: That seemed like a beautiful night. So yeah, great. So

692
00:39:00,639 --> 00:39:03,320
so they kind of realized they had a stadium program

693
00:39:03,440 --> 00:39:06,360
on their hands and went ahead and uh and booked it.

694
00:39:06,400 --> 00:39:08,440
So that's terrific. But but I did notice a couple

695
00:39:08,440 --> 00:39:10,400
of things. First of all, the month before or two

696
00:39:10,400 --> 00:39:12,840
months before, you actually wrestled Bob Backland in the Garden

697
00:39:12,840 --> 00:39:14,920
in the main event for the Championship at ends via

698
00:39:15,440 --> 00:39:20,079
blood stoppage. The referee stops it because Backland is bleeding

699
00:39:20,119 --> 00:39:22,880
too much. Were you trying to make that a title

700
00:39:23,000 --> 00:39:25,679
change or had did they just have you go with

701
00:39:25,719 --> 00:39:28,280
Bob to set up Shay like? Did you?

702
00:39:28,559 --> 00:39:34,000
Speaker 2: Well? I was trying to get a title change only

703
00:39:34,079 --> 00:39:38,639
because I knew Ben Senior was a smart man, and

704
00:39:38,719 --> 00:39:41,960
I knew they weren't pulling in, you know, money like

705
00:39:42,960 --> 00:39:47,360
they needed to. So I figured if I pleaded with

706
00:39:47,440 --> 00:39:50,480
him and then bugged him and pestered him, and you know,

707
00:39:50,519 --> 00:39:54,760
because he was a smart guy, he knew he could

708
00:39:54,840 --> 00:39:58,800
draw more money with Backland, I think what the situation was.

709
00:39:58,840 --> 00:40:01,039
And I heard this might have been from Bruno too,

710
00:40:01,079 --> 00:40:06,199
because all the years Bruno was on top, Bruno was

711
00:40:06,239 --> 00:40:10,320
the guy who booked himself. Yes, he'd hear about other

712
00:40:10,480 --> 00:40:13,679
talents see and say, hey, bring this guy three hundred

713
00:40:13,679 --> 00:40:17,480
pounds George Steele and let me wrestle this guy. Bring

714
00:40:17,559 --> 00:40:21,119
this three hundred pound Ivan coat and let me wrestle

715
00:40:21,199 --> 00:40:25,639
this guy. Let me wrestle Killer Kowalski, Let me crush.

716
00:40:26,159 --> 00:40:31,000
So Bruno was basically running the show for some years,

717
00:40:31,320 --> 00:40:35,079
which worked out good for Evince because he made money. Yep.

718
00:40:35,519 --> 00:40:37,760
But I think it got to the point where after

719
00:40:37,840 --> 00:40:43,159
Bruno has done that been senior, he wanted control. He

720
00:40:43,239 --> 00:40:45,960
wanted to be the one him and his partners and

721
00:40:46,159 --> 00:40:49,920
made the decisions of who's going to be who because

722
00:40:50,079 --> 00:40:53,760
they haven't been doing it for years because Bruno did

723
00:40:53,760 --> 00:40:57,679
it right. That's the one story behind that.

724
00:40:58,960 --> 00:41:01,960
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's uh. Yeah. There was a lot between Bruno

725
00:41:02,039 --> 00:41:04,639
and in the McMahon's that he's he chronicle in his

726
00:41:04,679 --> 00:41:06,400
book and when he was alive, talked a lot about

727
00:41:06,480 --> 00:41:07,840
so we've got a pretty good idea where he was

728
00:41:07,840 --> 00:41:09,719
coming from and all of that. But it gets to

729
00:41:09,760 --> 00:41:12,440
the point where after you, well you work Backland, and

730
00:41:12,480 --> 00:41:15,480
so I wondered, like when you say that Backland didn't

731
00:41:15,519 --> 00:41:17,639
draw out the Garden like you were one of those

732
00:41:17,760 --> 00:41:20,519
main events and it seemed to be a pretty full

733
00:41:20,519 --> 00:41:25,960
house to me. Of me, I set you up on that.

734
00:41:25,960 --> 00:41:28,400
Speaker 2: Well, but back then I really was the guy that

735
00:41:28,519 --> 00:41:30,280
had all the heat for a while.

736
00:41:32,239 --> 00:41:34,960
Speaker 1: After the show after Shae Stadium, I'm watching the Garden

737
00:41:35,039 --> 00:41:38,440
Cards and then you're wrestling Tony Garia in the third match.

738
00:41:38,480 --> 00:41:41,360
You're wrestling dom de Nucci in the second match. What

739
00:41:41,400 --> 00:41:43,599
was it like after Shaye Stadium? What happened there?

740
00:41:44,639 --> 00:41:49,159
Speaker 2: Well, nothing really happened, except it got to the point

741
00:41:49,239 --> 00:41:53,119
where I think I think that might have been the

742
00:41:53,199 --> 00:41:59,639
time when the era was starting to change. And then

743
00:42:00,079 --> 00:42:02,480
McMahon still didn't want me telling him what to do

744
00:42:02,559 --> 00:42:05,159
and didn't want me. You know, a couple of shows,

745
00:42:05,199 --> 00:42:07,159
hold them up for money and say I want this

746
00:42:07,360 --> 00:42:09,880
much before I get in the ring, because Bruno told

747
00:42:09,920 --> 00:42:13,559
me to do that. Otherwise they wouldn't. They cheat me

748
00:42:14,440 --> 00:42:18,199
because they needed it. But I think it was before

749
00:42:18,320 --> 00:42:23,239
the time, right before the beginning where the business is

750
00:42:23,239 --> 00:42:26,719
going to change, and the other promoters, know Burn Guyn

751
00:42:26,840 --> 00:42:30,960
there from Minnesota, that area and the crust, and then

752
00:42:31,039 --> 00:42:35,000
the Crockets with their area in the South and Georgia,

753
00:42:35,320 --> 00:42:38,360
they really didn't notice it. They were millionaires, they had

754
00:42:38,400 --> 00:42:41,800
their territory, their business, and they didn't see it coming.

755
00:42:41,880 --> 00:42:46,480
I think Vince Junior, you know, because Senior passed away,

756
00:42:46,599 --> 00:42:48,840
but he was the first one on the block that

757
00:42:48,960 --> 00:42:53,280
saw the new era coming, yes, and he started bringing

758
00:42:53,360 --> 00:42:58,760
in people from other territories. You know, you'd have Jesse

759
00:42:58,880 --> 00:43:02,159
the Body and me and Bobby Heenan and somebody in

760
00:43:02,199 --> 00:43:08,039
the Carolina is Yead Snooker and Macho and Piper and whoever.

761
00:43:08,840 --> 00:43:13,280
So the ww EF provert was at that time, it

762
00:43:13,440 --> 00:43:18,159
was getting crowded, you know, with guys they wanted to

763
00:43:18,199 --> 00:43:21,440
push from the other territories. And I've been there a

764
00:43:21,519 --> 00:43:24,559
while and did my thing. And the good thing that

765
00:43:24,679 --> 00:43:29,239
worked out for me was because the w W took

766
00:43:29,320 --> 00:43:34,280
the other territories top guys. It made it easy for

767
00:43:34,400 --> 00:43:38,079
me because the top the territories needed me, they did

768
00:43:38,280 --> 00:43:40,760
other top guys especially.

769
00:43:41,119 --> 00:43:45,280
Speaker 1: Yeah, well that's such a good point. So after I

770
00:43:45,280 --> 00:43:50,719
don't want to lose. So in nineteen eighty, after Shay Stadium,

771
00:43:50,840 --> 00:43:52,800
to you, it's like you're pretty much done with the

772
00:43:52,880 --> 00:43:56,199
territory because it doesn't seem like they try to come

773
00:43:56,239 --> 00:43:58,719
off the Bruno program and put you in Maine events anymore,

774
00:44:00,480 --> 00:44:02,360
or had you pissed them off with your you know,

775
00:44:02,400 --> 00:44:04,079
ten percent of the gate thing that you talk about

776
00:44:04,079 --> 00:44:05,719
in your book, and they just tried.

777
00:44:05,480 --> 00:44:09,360
Speaker 2: To well, that could have been part of it, but

778
00:44:09,480 --> 00:44:14,960
again they knew how close I was with Bruno, And yeah,

779
00:44:15,000 --> 00:44:19,480
I mean, who knows, who knows? I mean, the business

780
00:44:19,599 --> 00:44:21,159
was just changing.

781
00:44:20,760 --> 00:44:24,960
Speaker 1: And absolutely do you remember kind of feeling like you

782
00:44:24,960 --> 00:44:28,239
remember feeling kind of disgruntled that, like you put thirty

783
00:44:28,280 --> 00:44:30,920
five thousand plus in Jay with Bruno and did some

784
00:44:31,000 --> 00:44:34,760
magnificent promos to fill that place and had had the

785
00:44:34,800 --> 00:44:37,159
match everyone wanted to see, and then afterwards you weren't

786
00:44:37,159 --> 00:44:38,159
in the main events anymore.

787
00:44:39,719 --> 00:44:43,880
Speaker 2: Well kind of, I mean, and I tried to push

788
00:44:43,960 --> 00:44:46,559
for it, you know, with the back him the thing

789
00:44:46,639 --> 00:44:49,960
and stuff. Right, I could see it wasn't going to happen.

790
00:44:51,320 --> 00:44:55,400
But I wasn't too disgruntled because, like I said, the

791
00:44:55,480 --> 00:45:00,719
doors of the awa enwa i A had a place

792
00:45:00,840 --> 00:45:01,079
to go.

793
00:45:01,599 --> 00:45:03,559
Speaker 1: He went to Georgia. I went to Georgia. After that,

794
00:45:03,760 --> 00:45:06,159
you went to IWF with Bruno because Bruno left too,

795
00:45:06,639 --> 00:45:08,079
and you did a little bit of work with them

796
00:45:08,960 --> 00:45:09,760
in the Northeast.

797
00:45:09,920 --> 00:45:14,800
Speaker 2: So so yeah, I mean, so I always had opportunities,

798
00:45:16,039 --> 00:45:19,960
so it really wasn't like that. But then you know,

799
00:45:20,079 --> 00:45:23,679
shortly after that, things changed and in the w w

800
00:45:24,239 --> 00:45:27,960
EF wanted to make their own stars. You know, that's

801
00:45:28,000 --> 00:45:31,840
when Hogan started getting his big break and the Matra

802
00:45:32,000 --> 00:45:35,800
man was getting his big break and Piper and so

803
00:45:36,079 --> 00:45:39,159
I didn't want to get lost in the shuffle where

804
00:45:39,199 --> 00:45:42,159
they just wanted me to get beat by everybody they

805
00:45:42,360 --> 00:45:45,920
took from the other territories. So I left and went

806
00:45:45,960 --> 00:45:47,159
to the other territories.

807
00:45:48,000 --> 00:45:51,519
Speaker 1: Well, indeed, one of the things I love in your

808
00:45:51,519 --> 00:45:53,880
book is you describe young Vince Junior when Vincent You're

809
00:45:53,880 --> 00:45:56,199
still in charge and you're looking for your percentage of

810
00:45:56,239 --> 00:45:59,039
the gate, you know, on Bruno's recommendation, and you're kind

811
00:45:59,039 --> 00:46:01,400
of at cross us. You're kind of at a cross

812
00:46:01,440 --> 00:46:05,079
purpose with the WWF for a second there, negotiating hard,

813
00:46:05,159 --> 00:46:08,480
and you know it's getting tense. And when you start

814
00:46:08,559 --> 00:46:10,840
dealing with Vince Jr. You write in your book, he's

815
00:46:10,880 --> 00:46:13,400
got that laugh, you know, despite the tension in the air.

816
00:46:13,440 --> 00:46:15,840
It's can you tell us about that? Like, what what

817
00:46:16,000 --> 00:46:19,000
was Vince Junior's manner like during this time of negotiation

818
00:46:19,199 --> 00:46:20,000
over the gate?

819
00:46:21,760 --> 00:46:24,639
Speaker 2: Well, like I said, I mean, Vince was a smart guy.

820
00:46:24,760 --> 00:46:27,239
I mean, I mean he really built a hell of

821
00:46:27,280 --> 00:46:32,320
a empire and wrestling. I mean, WW is a great company,

822
00:46:33,599 --> 00:46:35,599
you know. I mean, it's not like the old days.

823
00:46:35,639 --> 00:46:38,119
If you got hurt, you're out of business. You get hurt,

824
00:46:38,239 --> 00:46:41,320
now they pay for your surgery, they pay for your rehab,

825
00:46:42,400 --> 00:46:45,639
you know. But Vince was smart. So but but but

826
00:46:45,760 --> 00:46:46,519
he was a worker.

827
00:46:47,440 --> 00:46:53,800
Speaker 3: So if he thought he had to laugh, right, if

828
00:46:53,840 --> 00:46:56,599
he thought he had to do so, he did whatever

829
00:46:56,679 --> 00:46:59,000
he thought he had to do to get what.

830
00:46:59,119 --> 00:47:05,000
Speaker 2: He wanted, you know, without someone walking out on him

831
00:47:05,119 --> 00:47:08,519
or holding them up or yep, you know, leave it.

832
00:47:08,639 --> 00:47:12,119
So you mean he was smooth. It's very smart and smooth,

833
00:47:12,239 --> 00:47:16,559
and you know, he work any way he could to

834
00:47:16,639 --> 00:47:17,920
get what he wanted done.

835
00:47:18,360 --> 00:47:20,599
Speaker 1: And you got great work in the business after leaving

836
00:47:20,880 --> 00:47:23,079
New York in nineteen eighty. You've talked about it, you know,

837
00:47:23,159 --> 00:47:25,840
we've talked about it, a W a champ, you worked

838
00:47:25,840 --> 00:47:28,519
for the Crockets, You worked for WCW for years and

839
00:47:28,639 --> 00:47:32,440
did very well there. But never never did it seem

840
00:47:32,559 --> 00:47:34,639
to be a rumor that Larry's going to go back

841
00:47:34,679 --> 00:47:37,480
to New York. And in fact, when Vince bought WCW

842
00:47:37,639 --> 00:47:40,159
in two thousand and one, I don't think there was

843
00:47:40,280 --> 00:47:43,239
discussion about you potentially being hired at WWF. Do you

844
00:47:43,320 --> 00:47:46,280
think that Vince Junior saw the whole back and forth

845
00:47:46,360 --> 00:47:48,920
with the Bruno stuff and his dad and said, I'm

846
00:47:48,960 --> 00:47:50,760
not gonna I'm not gonna have Larry again.

847
00:47:52,000 --> 00:47:54,719
Speaker 2: No. To be honest with you, I really don't think so.

848
00:47:54,920 --> 00:48:04,760
I think what happened back then was I meancent Vincent

849
00:48:04,920 --> 00:48:12,960
by TBS, you know, C W. Turner sold out TBS

850
00:48:13,119 --> 00:48:17,119
to Turner, Time Warner of course, yeah, Time Warner whatever

851
00:48:17,239 --> 00:48:27,079
it is, and Time Warner didn't want sports, so they canceled,

852
00:48:27,440 --> 00:48:30,800
you know, the wrestling show, the number one show on

853
00:48:30,960 --> 00:48:37,679
TV on cable in their network. They canceled, and there

854
00:48:37,800 --> 00:48:40,039
was like, you know, two hundred people or so that

855
00:48:40,239 --> 00:48:42,519
got a one week notice. Oh hey, in the week

856
00:48:42,599 --> 00:48:46,239
you are, you're out of a job. No one's contracts

857
00:48:46,280 --> 00:48:50,639
getting renewed because AOL wants to mix T in the

858
00:48:51,320 --> 00:48:54,039
twenty four hour you know, fake news station.

859
00:48:54,360 --> 00:48:57,840
Speaker 1: Right, Yeah, for sure, Well that's certainly w BE came

860
00:48:57,880 --> 00:48:59,599
to an end. But do you think Vince Junior never

861
00:48:59,639 --> 00:49:03,000
wanted to to hire you? Why didn't you have a

862
00:49:03,039 --> 00:49:03,519
work for him?

863
00:49:05,039 --> 00:49:09,719
Speaker 2: I don't know. And to be honest with you, I mean,

864
00:49:10,119 --> 00:49:12,199
it was working out so good for me. I mean,

865
00:49:13,079 --> 00:49:16,800
Ben Vince was loaded with talent, and I was already

866
00:49:16,920 --> 00:49:21,320
now at this time, you know, late thirties, getting close

867
00:49:21,400 --> 00:49:24,840
to forty years old. Yeah, you know, a couple of

868
00:49:24,920 --> 00:49:26,440
knee surgeries already.

869
00:49:26,920 --> 00:49:27,639
Speaker 1: Sure, and.

870
00:49:29,239 --> 00:49:32,440
Speaker 2: And with the AWA you know treated me nice in

871
00:49:32,519 --> 00:49:35,920
the NWA. When I was with Turner, I mean it

872
00:49:36,079 --> 00:49:38,639
was great. I was employee. He made a bunch of money.

873
00:49:38,719 --> 00:49:40,679
It was at the time they were giving money away

874
00:49:40,800 --> 00:49:46,079
like it was candy. Yes, you know, so I really

875
00:49:46,239 --> 00:49:50,559
had no reason to leave. You know, Vince had all

876
00:49:50,639 --> 00:49:53,239
the talent and stuff he needed, but you.

877
00:49:53,360 --> 00:49:55,360
Speaker 1: You weren't on his You weren't on his ship list

878
00:49:55,480 --> 00:49:57,840
because of the the Bruno stuff. You weren't on his

879
00:49:57,880 --> 00:49:59,000
ship list because of that.

880
00:49:59,320 --> 00:50:04,079
Speaker 2: No oh no, yeah, Now you're talking years and years

881
00:50:04,199 --> 00:50:08,000
later after the Bruno stuff and Vince again, yeah, I mean,

882
00:50:09,000 --> 00:50:12,159
he wouldn't even care about that stuff that he Oh yeah,

883
00:50:12,320 --> 00:50:15,679
you're a promoter, right, so he wants to make the

884
00:50:15,760 --> 00:50:16,719
most money he can.

885
00:50:16,960 --> 00:50:18,960
Speaker 1: You know. But when you made those demands around the

886
00:50:18,960 --> 00:50:21,960
Bruno time in nineteen eighty round percentage of the gate

887
00:50:22,039 --> 00:50:24,039
and things, you said in your book that Hulkogan himself

888
00:50:24,119 --> 00:50:26,119
gave you props for that he said. I think you've

889
00:50:26,119 --> 00:50:28,079
even quoted him as saying, you're my hero for doing this.

890
00:50:28,559 --> 00:50:30,719
Did do you remember Hulk being kind of impressed by

891
00:50:30,760 --> 00:50:32,639
the way you drove a hard bargain And do you

892
00:50:32,679 --> 00:50:34,480
think he went on to kind of do the same

893
00:50:34,599 --> 00:50:35,320
thing in his career.

894
00:50:36,800 --> 00:50:39,400
Speaker 2: Well, I think he was impressed with your advice I

895
00:50:39,559 --> 00:50:43,480
gave at the beginning, and then he saw all the work.

896
00:50:43,559 --> 00:50:48,960
And Terry was a smart guy and he caught on quick,

897
00:50:49,000 --> 00:50:53,760
and he realized because of his size and the reaction

898
00:50:54,079 --> 00:50:59,000
he'd get that people born him. You know, yes, I

899
00:50:59,039 --> 00:51:02,079
mean when walked up he was like holy shit.

900
00:51:04,199 --> 00:51:07,800
Speaker 1: Absolutely. What was it like when he came into New

901
00:51:07,920 --> 00:51:10,559
York when he came into Atlanta you were there working

902
00:51:10,599 --> 00:51:13,039
as first talent in ninety four and then later as

903
00:51:13,039 --> 00:51:15,719
an announcer. Was it sort of like, wow, I haven't

904
00:51:15,719 --> 00:51:18,519
seen you since nineteen eighty or was he a different

905
00:51:18,599 --> 00:51:20,800
person and not really talkative to you? What was he

906
00:51:21,039 --> 00:51:23,679
like then, you know what?

907
00:51:24,599 --> 00:51:30,159
Speaker 2: To be honest with you, I mean, when the cable

908
00:51:30,320 --> 00:51:35,599
Wars started, yeah, you know, the WCW against the WWE.

909
00:51:37,039 --> 00:51:42,920
I was just finishing up and I started doing the broadcasting.

910
00:51:43,039 --> 00:51:47,440
But I never planned on being a broadcaster. It was

911
00:51:47,559 --> 00:51:52,119
the weirdest thing. But Bill Watts came in. He was

912
00:51:52,239 --> 00:51:56,400
a real a hole and he was proud of being

913
00:51:56,440 --> 00:52:02,400
an a hole, and he started a group with me

914
00:52:02,639 --> 00:52:08,440
and Arn and Bobby and Rude and Standing Steed, dangerous alliance.

915
00:52:08,519 --> 00:52:12,039
Yet I didn't want to be in a group. And

916
00:52:12,159 --> 00:52:15,320
I was already like maybe forty forty one at this time,

917
00:52:15,360 --> 00:52:18,440
which for a wrestler who was in the ring for

918
00:52:18,559 --> 00:52:22,800
twenty years every day, you know, And I have already

919
00:52:22,880 --> 00:52:26,760
had two or three knee surgery. I've been lucky, nothing bad,

920
00:52:26,880 --> 00:52:31,599
but there's some tared cardilis and stuff. But I didn't

921
00:52:31,599 --> 00:52:34,559
want to be part of a group. So I had

922
00:52:34,599 --> 00:52:36,639
a good deal with Turner at that time, and I said,

923
00:52:36,679 --> 00:52:39,679
oh my knee hurts. So they said okay, So they

924
00:52:39,880 --> 00:52:42,480
paid for it. And I was home floating the pool

925
00:52:42,559 --> 00:52:46,119
for a couple of months. We having and I get

926
00:52:46,199 --> 00:52:50,320
a call from I think his name is Craig Leathers,

927
00:52:50,400 --> 00:52:54,840
I remember, one of the producers, and he said, Hey, Larry,

928
00:52:54,960 --> 00:52:58,920
can you do us a big favor Jessee the body

929
00:52:59,280 --> 00:53:03,840
just quit and can you come down to CNN here

930
00:53:04,119 --> 00:53:09,360
and voice over a couple of you know shows. We

931
00:53:09,519 --> 00:53:14,800
got on tape, all done for the syndicated markets, and

932
00:53:14,960 --> 00:53:17,519
I went, yeah, sure, help hey me, I can sit

933
00:53:17,599 --> 00:53:21,960
there and talk. So I went down and I did

934
00:53:22,039 --> 00:53:26,039
the color commentating on a couple of shows they had,

935
00:53:26,239 --> 00:53:29,079
and I like, again, I never thought about it, you know,

936
00:53:29,400 --> 00:53:33,239
never even thought about it. And Craig comes busting through

937
00:53:33,360 --> 00:53:36,679
the door and says, hey, you're the greatest colored man

938
00:53:36,760 --> 00:53:40,039
I've ever heard. We talked, I talked to sell and so,

939
00:53:40,159 --> 00:53:42,079
and we'll give you this much a year. I'm going

940
00:53:42,159 --> 00:53:45,599
what almost fell off the chair. It was twice as

941
00:53:45,719 --> 00:53:49,239
much as I was making being a wrestler, amazing, and

942
00:53:49,360 --> 00:53:51,320
I was an employee, so I had almost a ten

943
00:53:51,440 --> 00:53:56,719
year run being a broadcaster. And then getting back to

944
00:53:56,840 --> 00:54:01,440
the home thing. Some years went by and me and

945
00:54:01,679 --> 00:54:05,760
Eric Bisho from the a w A, I kind of

946
00:54:05,840 --> 00:54:10,559
helped him get in with the NWA with w CW

947
00:54:10,800 --> 00:54:15,280
a little bit, and he wound up being the boss

948
00:54:15,400 --> 00:54:18,480
for a while. Yes, and I gave him some advice

949
00:54:18,599 --> 00:54:22,360
and then and then he had this idea. But I'm

950
00:54:22,440 --> 00:54:27,800
the one who named an influenced actually I influenced the

951
00:54:28,039 --> 00:54:34,719
name the New World Order, Yes, And and then I

952
00:54:35,000 --> 00:54:40,159
programmed how Scott Hall first showed up. How you know

953
00:54:40,400 --> 00:54:43,760
this happened? And then Eric, it got so hot. Eric

954
00:54:43,880 --> 00:54:47,800
want to be involved, so I programmed me versus bishof

955
00:54:48,840 --> 00:54:54,480
to save Nitrol from the New World Order, the world Odor.

956
00:54:54,639 --> 00:54:56,599
Speaker 1: We all remember you calling it the New world.

957
00:54:56,760 --> 00:54:59,679
Speaker 2: The New World Order. And then the New World Order

958
00:54:59,760 --> 00:55:02,360
got so hot, and then you'd see a bunch of

959
00:55:02,440 --> 00:55:05,320
guys that were in New York and not a contracts

960
00:55:05,360 --> 00:55:09,039
were getting bigger because the fight between promotions. But then

961
00:55:09,159 --> 00:55:12,559
you know, Hulk Hogan showed up in w c W.

962
00:55:12,760 --> 00:55:17,079
I think Macho Man showed up, Piper showed up. So

963
00:55:18,800 --> 00:55:25,400
it was a real it was a real, you know,

964
00:55:25,639 --> 00:55:30,559
influx of top guys all wanting to be a big,

965
00:55:30,679 --> 00:55:35,679
big star again during the wrestle wars between the two companies. Yes,

966
00:55:36,199 --> 00:55:38,880
and they've been in the w W for some years now,

967
00:55:39,000 --> 00:55:40,119
they're going to try it here.

968
00:55:40,920 --> 00:55:43,000
Speaker 1: How and how was Hulk that were?

969
00:55:43,199 --> 00:55:47,719
Speaker 2: Eric, let me just say, instead of listening to like

970
00:55:48,000 --> 00:55:52,000
one or two guys like me and someone else, he

971
00:55:52,159 --> 00:55:54,920
had ten guys up his ass. You know I could

972
00:55:54,960 --> 00:55:58,000
be telling him this idea, Mato would be telling him

973
00:55:58,039 --> 00:56:02,480
this idea, this rember my show. Eric told me once

974
00:56:02,639 --> 00:56:05,559
Mancho said to him could you ask Forbisco not to

975
00:56:05,760 --> 00:56:08,519
stand up and wave to the crowds at the beginning

976
00:56:08,639 --> 00:56:12,079
of the show because your announcers more over than I am.

977
00:56:15,159 --> 00:56:17,320
Speaker 1: That's yeah, that's a dizzying I mean, he was just

978
00:56:17,960 --> 00:56:20,159
he had he had it coming from every direction when

979
00:56:20,280 --> 00:56:22,440
when the egos got involved. But I was wondering if

980
00:56:22,480 --> 00:56:24,400
you noticed a different hult Cogan when you saw him

981
00:56:24,440 --> 00:56:28,320
again in WCW versus nineteen eighty Like, what was was

982
00:56:28,360 --> 00:56:30,400
he nice? Was he was? He personable? Was he?

983
00:56:30,519 --> 00:56:34,639
Speaker 2: Ye? He was always nice and personal around me. The

984
00:56:34,800 --> 00:56:37,519
thing is, in those days when the New World Order

985
00:56:37,679 --> 00:56:41,840
was coming and I was broadcasting, I did the first,

986
00:56:42,280 --> 00:56:44,079
you know, half of the show, and then Bobby he

987
00:56:44,360 --> 00:56:47,960
did the other half. Or I drive down during the

988
00:56:48,079 --> 00:56:53,000
week because CNN Center and tape, you know, tape over

989
00:56:53,119 --> 00:56:56,519
a show that they got in the can and that.

990
00:56:57,000 --> 00:57:00,360
But I didn't really in those days. I didn't. I now,

991
00:57:00,440 --> 00:57:02,880
with the boys, I had my wife, I had some kids.

992
00:57:03,280 --> 00:57:07,320
I played golf three four times a week, sure did so.

993
00:57:07,639 --> 00:57:10,360
I I mean I wasn't on the road working with

994
00:57:10,519 --> 00:57:15,199
the boys and and all that. Yeah, I really and

995
00:57:15,360 --> 00:57:19,079
I really don't know. And a lot of them I

996
00:57:19,119 --> 00:57:22,440
wouldn't even mess with the sun. Were nuts? Half cub

997
00:57:22,559 --> 00:57:26,960
were dead because had them were dead because they abused, Yes,

998
00:57:27,480 --> 00:57:31,000
some certain things so much, you know, just some drugs

999
00:57:31,039 --> 00:57:34,920
and the steroid abuse. And I mean you got ridiculous

1000
00:57:35,000 --> 00:57:35,559
for a while.

1001
00:57:35,840 --> 00:57:37,639
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's true. You know, it's funny to bring up

1002
00:57:37,639 --> 00:57:40,599
the golf thing because viewers of WCW at the time

1003
00:57:40,679 --> 00:57:43,440
were very knowledgeable of that, because you would often talk

1004
00:57:43,480 --> 00:57:46,159
about how you were, you know, leisurely living on the

1005
00:57:46,239 --> 00:57:48,880
golf course and you know, you very little could bother

1006
00:57:49,000 --> 00:57:51,480
you because you were living that glorious life. And we've

1007
00:57:51,480 --> 00:57:53,559
always kind of joked on the show about like, but

1008
00:57:53,679 --> 00:57:55,800
what was Larry's Tuesdays? Like would you hit the golf

1009
00:57:55,840 --> 00:57:58,039
course and then hit the bar at TGI Fridays on

1010
00:57:58,119 --> 00:58:01,159
a Tuesday afternoon? What did it look like? You know what?

1011
00:58:01,400 --> 00:58:06,800
Speaker 2: I never drank alcohol my whole life. I never drank.

1012
00:58:06,920 --> 00:58:09,079
I think it should be illegal, to be honest with you.

1013
00:58:10,519 --> 00:58:13,159
But I mean I killed two of my young cousins

1014
00:58:13,280 --> 00:58:17,440
years ago there driving run. Yeah it's just silly, but

1015
00:58:18,559 --> 00:58:22,400
but yeah, my wife, I mean, god, I used to

1016
00:58:22,519 --> 00:58:24,599
have the energy. I'd wake up in the morning and

1017
00:58:24,679 --> 00:58:28,199
I'd go to the gym and I'd do a heavy workout,

1018
00:58:28,360 --> 00:58:31,559
you know, do some reps with over four hundred pounds

1019
00:58:31,679 --> 00:58:36,880
heavy curled. Then I'd go back home, have a protein shake,

1020
00:58:37,840 --> 00:58:40,960
and then one one thirty drive down the road to

1021
00:58:41,079 --> 00:58:44,880
the golf course and golf till dark. And I'm thinking,

1022
00:58:45,800 --> 00:58:48,559
now that I'm sitting here talking to you, where the

1023
00:58:48,719 --> 00:58:52,199
hell and I get all this energy? Can I do that? Yeah?

1024
00:58:52,519 --> 00:58:52,880
Speaker 1: Amazing?

1025
00:58:53,000 --> 00:58:56,159
Speaker 2: I can hardly walk without hurt. Mean, my god, it's

1026
00:58:56,239 --> 00:58:59,880
amazing what you can do when you're young and hell

1027
00:59:00,239 --> 00:59:04,079
and take care of yourself as opposed to it's getting

1028
00:59:04,159 --> 00:59:05,280
old shit again.

1029
00:59:05,400 --> 00:59:08,800
Speaker 1: Yeah, not a lot to recommend it. Let me close

1030
00:59:10,000 --> 00:59:12,400
this great conversation. I'm really enjoying this, Larry, and thank

1031
00:59:12,440 --> 00:59:15,719
you for giving me so much time. I wanted to

1032
00:59:15,800 --> 00:59:19,239
talk about what we kind of picked up on before.

1033
00:59:19,280 --> 00:59:21,639
Hogan going to the WA was an eighty one. He

1034
00:59:21,719 --> 00:59:24,440
went over there after the Rocky movie and over you know,

1035
00:59:24,519 --> 00:59:26,400
as he was writing about it in his book, he said,

1036
00:59:26,800 --> 00:59:28,519
as time went, I want to get your thoughts on this.

1037
00:59:29,199 --> 00:59:32,320
He said, vern you know, had a couple daughters, and

1038
00:59:32,800 --> 00:59:35,280
seems he was always talking about how great Kathy was,

1039
00:59:35,360 --> 00:59:38,400
his older daughter. Olks says in his book, invited me

1040
00:59:38,440 --> 00:59:40,639
over to dinner with his family. He always seemed like

1041
00:59:40,760 --> 00:59:43,119
Kathy would come down and watch his tape TV. It

1042
00:59:43,239 --> 00:59:45,880
just seemed like to Hulk that Vern wanted Kathy around

1043
00:59:45,960 --> 00:59:47,559
him all the time. He said, it became a quote,

1044
00:59:47,559 --> 00:59:50,840
a very uncomfortable situation. Probably Vern was figuring it was

1045
00:59:50,920 --> 00:59:52,440
part of the family. I would if I was part

1046
00:59:52,480 --> 00:59:54,480
of the family, I would never leave. But I didn't

1047
00:59:54,480 --> 00:59:56,719
want to marry his daughter just to get a wrestling belt.

1048
00:59:57,800 --> 00:59:59,519
You were married to Kathy. What do you think of that?

1049
01:00:01,239 --> 01:00:05,159
Speaker 2: You know, I had no idea of what was going

1050
01:00:05,239 --> 01:00:10,840
on with the Hulk or Burn or any but I

1051
01:00:11,280 --> 01:00:14,239
really didn't the first time I heard of it, I

1052
01:00:14,360 --> 01:00:18,639
didn't know. I didn't know, and just I don't know.

1053
01:00:18,920 --> 01:00:22,039
Just I've known Kathy for a while again, a couple

1054
01:00:22,039 --> 01:00:24,960
of times in and out of the territory, and then

1055
01:00:25,400 --> 01:00:28,079
I don't know what happened. But one day we went

1056
01:00:28,159 --> 01:00:33,360
to a Bob Seegar concert and it went out a

1057
01:00:33,400 --> 01:00:36,199
couple of times, you know, and we just hit it

1058
01:00:36,320 --> 01:00:38,960
off and it worked out great. She was very nice sort.

1059
01:00:39,960 --> 01:00:42,440
She just turned seventy five a couple of months ago.

1060
01:00:42,639 --> 01:00:46,840
Oh wow, Yeah, was healthy.

1061
01:00:47,960 --> 01:00:48,920
Speaker 1: That's that's really good to hear.

1062
01:00:49,000 --> 01:00:49,480
Speaker 2: Yeah, we don't.

1063
01:00:49,519 --> 01:00:51,000
Speaker 1: You know, she was on TV a little bit. Fans

1064
01:00:51,039 --> 01:00:52,880
remember her. It's but we don't hear a lot about her.

1065
01:00:53,079 --> 01:00:55,239
Of course we know what happened with Vernon stuff. Was

1066
01:00:55,280 --> 01:00:57,519
that Verne's m Did you think he was happy to

1067
01:00:57,599 --> 01:01:00,519
have his champion paired up with his dog? Was that

1068
01:01:00,679 --> 01:01:02,280
kind of something he wanted to see happen?

1069
01:01:03,440 --> 01:01:07,199
Speaker 2: I don't think so, because I think when you're in

1070
01:01:07,280 --> 01:01:09,840
that position, you just want your daughter to be happy,

1071
01:01:10,639 --> 01:01:16,440
and a wrestler really isn't a good hobby candidate. When

1072
01:01:16,480 --> 01:01:19,960
I was starting off, a lot of the old timers

1073
01:01:20,039 --> 01:01:28,679
would tell you don't get married because it's it's not

1074
01:01:28,840 --> 01:01:32,159
the business. You're never home. You're in a different city

1075
01:01:32,320 --> 01:01:36,159
every night wrestling, or you say to your wife, hey, yeah,

1076
01:01:36,159 --> 01:01:38,760
I'm going to Japan for five weeks, see you next month.

1077
01:01:38,840 --> 01:01:42,079
Take care to get I mean yeah, I mean I

1078
01:01:42,159 --> 01:01:44,719
was married to one woman who was very nice from Iowa.

1079
01:01:44,840 --> 01:01:46,360
But after a year and a half she had like

1080
01:01:46,400 --> 01:01:50,400
a nervous breakdown because we had a house and then

1081
01:01:50,559 --> 01:01:54,320
the kid, but I was never there. Yeah, you know,

1082
01:01:54,440 --> 01:01:56,920
so it was a tough business to be married and

1083
01:02:00,039 --> 01:02:03,719
married once before did somebody. It was a doctor or

1084
01:02:03,760 --> 01:02:05,400
a lawyer. Oh wow, I can't remember.

1085
01:02:05,679 --> 01:02:07,679
Speaker 1: Okay, yeah, yeah, So that wasn't all right, So that

1086
01:02:07,800 --> 01:02:10,280
wasn't like a Vernon you know, because you see it

1087
01:02:10,320 --> 01:02:12,480
with with with Hunter and steph you know, it's like,

1088
01:02:13,079 --> 01:02:15,159
it's interesting how that works out, how the top guy

1089
01:02:15,800 --> 01:02:18,239
ends up interested in the daughter of the promoter.

1090
01:02:19,960 --> 01:02:23,440
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I worked out. I mean, Paul's a great guy,

1091
01:02:23,599 --> 01:02:27,920
loves the business. Stephanie's very sweet woman, very smart, and

1092
01:02:28,679 --> 01:02:33,039
sometimes you know that's again, WW is a great company.

1093
01:02:33,119 --> 01:02:34,760
If you can get in and work for them, you're

1094
01:02:34,800 --> 01:02:37,840
in good shape. Just sure save your money and don't

1095
01:02:37,840 --> 01:02:41,400
get hurt because wrestling is not a long term, guaranteed

1096
01:02:41,519 --> 01:02:44,000
career right least.

1097
01:02:44,679 --> 01:02:46,599
Speaker 1: So when you were with Vernon eighty four, you went

1098
01:02:46,639 --> 01:02:49,559
to a WN eighty four. Do you remember him and

1099
01:02:49,639 --> 01:02:52,360
Greg trying to make plays to bring Hogan back. There's

1100
01:02:52,360 --> 01:02:54,559
some there's there's always been things Greg has said that

1101
01:02:54,679 --> 01:02:57,679
indicates that even though Hull could you know, went and

1102
01:02:57,719 --> 01:02:59,480
won the belt for Vince Junior and was this big

1103
01:02:59,559 --> 01:03:02,239
TV st are that Vernon Greg felt like they could

1104
01:03:02,239 --> 01:03:04,320
get him back in the AWA. Do you remember any

1105
01:03:04,360 --> 01:03:04,519
of that?

1106
01:03:05,679 --> 01:03:09,039
Speaker 2: You know, I really don't. Okay, But then again, I

1107
01:03:09,320 --> 01:03:13,360
wasn't involved in the office, you know. I mean, sure

1108
01:03:13,519 --> 01:03:16,719
they were the office, and I was a wrestler, so

1109
01:03:17,400 --> 01:03:21,360
I really wasn't involved in any business stuff. I was

1110
01:03:21,480 --> 01:03:23,840
just worrying about my ass. Ah.

1111
01:03:24,239 --> 01:03:26,800
Speaker 1: You know, Greg Gania wrestled on the Shea Stadium show.

1112
01:03:27,199 --> 01:03:28,800
I thought that was all that was weird. I mean

1113
01:03:28,840 --> 01:03:30,679
I didn't I know, Vince Senior and Vern got along.

1114
01:03:30,880 --> 01:03:33,320
But that's the one match on that show, Larry, that

1115
01:03:33,400 --> 01:03:38,079
does not survive on videotape. Greg Ganya's match against Rick McGraw, I.

1116
01:03:38,199 --> 01:03:41,119
Speaker 2: Don't even remember. I didn't. I didn't even know he

1117
01:03:41,280 --> 01:03:41,440
was on.

1118
01:03:41,800 --> 01:03:45,719
Speaker 1: Yeah that many many many don't. Many don't. Well, just

1119
01:03:45,800 --> 01:03:49,280
wrapping up on this great perspective on a like you said,

1120
01:03:49,320 --> 01:03:51,000
an end of an era for WWF, and you can

1121
01:03:51,079 --> 01:03:54,119
feel the Hulk era coming on, not necessarily that it

1122
01:03:54,199 --> 01:03:55,960
was going to be Hulk, but that there was going

1123
01:03:56,039 --> 01:03:57,679
to be a change in the next you know, Top

1124
01:03:57,719 --> 01:04:00,199
Babyface wasn't going to be like a Bruno were a

1125
01:04:00,320 --> 01:04:00,840
backland and.

1126
01:04:01,639 --> 01:04:03,519
Speaker 2: There was a lot of them, and like I said,

1127
01:04:03,920 --> 01:04:09,400
unfortunately it started changing to where they weren't real wrestlers.

1128
01:04:09,440 --> 01:04:12,480
They were all like you know, steroid up body builders,

1129
01:04:12,559 --> 01:04:16,239
some died, some needed to deliver trains plants like Billy Graham,

1130
01:04:16,360 --> 01:04:19,159
And then you had a bunch of young guys dropping dead.

1131
01:04:19,199 --> 01:04:23,000
Got guys like Kurt Heading, Eddie Carrero, you know in

1132
01:04:23,079 --> 01:04:27,639
the WWE. Finally they put their foot down to this bullshit. Yeah,

1133
01:04:28,119 --> 01:04:32,559
they instituted the drug tests and if someone needed rehab,

1134
01:04:32,679 --> 01:04:35,199
they paid for it to you know, fix them up.

1135
01:04:35,559 --> 01:04:37,519
Speaker 1: The heart. The heart scans were a big one too,

1136
01:04:37,960 --> 01:04:38,519
the heart helse.

1137
01:04:39,639 --> 01:04:42,800
Speaker 2: But for a while it was some of the guys

1138
01:04:42,920 --> 01:04:45,519
weren't that smart, you know, the Ultimate Warrior when he

1139
01:04:45,679 --> 01:04:50,039
dropped dead walking through a parking lot and you know,

1140
01:04:50,159 --> 01:04:52,079
I mean, and they weren't old guys, but they were.

1141
01:04:52,880 --> 01:04:56,519
They were so gassed up and they croaked. Yeah.

1142
01:04:56,639 --> 01:04:58,639
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's been sad to see. And you're absolutely right,

1143
01:04:58,760 --> 01:05:01,400
so used to the whole is the last one for you.

1144
01:05:01,400 --> 01:05:06,280
You started the whole Bruto program by refusing to grant

1145
01:05:06,400 --> 01:05:08,880
him an interview at the TV tapings in Pennsylvania. You

1146
01:05:08,960 --> 01:05:10,599
walk right by him when you try to get your

1147
01:05:10,800 --> 01:05:13,960
your ear, Can you can you can you bring us

1148
01:05:14,000 --> 01:05:16,639
back to coming up with that whole concept and that

1149
01:05:16,800 --> 01:05:19,679
coming up with that whole idea that you were gonna leave.

1150
01:05:20,519 --> 01:05:25,679
Speaker 2: I mean after kind of talk Bruno and then Vince

1151
01:05:25,920 --> 01:05:32,320
and into doing that, Bruno came up with really most

1152
01:05:32,400 --> 01:05:37,960
of the ideas, and he's the one that's set up

1153
01:05:39,159 --> 01:05:42,599
the programming where I'd walk right past him the first time.

1154
01:05:42,800 --> 01:05:45,119
Great to know ye he said something. I guess you

1155
01:05:45,159 --> 01:05:46,960
didn't hear me this, We'll throw it back to you.

1156
01:05:47,719 --> 01:05:50,960
Speaker 1: Yeah. I was so so great, so subtle, was so effective,

1157
01:05:51,000 --> 01:05:54,719
and it filled Shaye Stadium to a to a significant degree.

1158
01:05:54,880 --> 01:05:57,039
So it obviously is a great example of how to

1159
01:05:57,480 --> 01:05:59,480
how to draw money in pro wrestling. And you did

1160
01:05:59,519 --> 01:06:02,639
an interview you woul draw money where you said, you

1161
01:06:02,719 --> 01:06:05,159
know you would you know Vance or a Vince Junior.

1162
01:06:05,239 --> 01:06:08,360
I've grown very depressed, you know, I feel stifled in

1163
01:06:08,440 --> 01:06:10,559
my career because I realized the man who helped me

1164
01:06:10,679 --> 01:06:13,679
so much is standing in my way. I was watching

1165
01:06:13,719 --> 01:06:16,199
that and you were delivering it so genuinely that I

1166
01:06:16,280 --> 01:06:19,079
did wonder like, was there a little bit of reality

1167
01:06:19,199 --> 01:06:22,239
in that you did you actually have a period where

1168
01:06:22,239 --> 01:06:25,280
you were kind of depressed in WWF in nineteen eighty

1169
01:06:25,360 --> 01:06:27,519
and work that into your promise.

1170
01:06:28,679 --> 01:06:32,480
Speaker 2: I wasn't depressed. I just knew it was time in

1171
01:06:32,599 --> 01:06:37,079
my career to make a move to become a top guy.

1172
01:06:37,639 --> 01:06:40,159
That's right now you're talking. I'm getting close to you

1173
01:06:40,199 --> 01:06:43,920
at twenty nine years old, twenty eight years old, So

1174
01:06:44,400 --> 01:06:47,880
it was getting time for me to do something to

1175
01:06:48,039 --> 01:06:51,199
become a top name, a big name in the business,

1176
01:06:51,360 --> 01:06:55,559
which almost everybody else in the business was trying to

1177
01:06:55,639 --> 01:06:58,800
do at the same time for themselves because you had

1178
01:06:58,840 --> 01:07:04,639
to otherwise it didn't need So yeah, yeah, it was

1179
01:07:04,840 --> 01:07:07,639
just out of hey, you know, this is the time

1180
01:07:07,719 --> 01:07:11,280
to make a move before it's it goes too long

1181
01:07:11,480 --> 01:07:14,920
or I get too old and it's time to go.

1182
01:07:15,360 --> 01:07:18,840
Speaker 1: So I went, so you went. So it made the move,

1183
01:07:20,000 --> 01:07:21,880
Sure did, and it was great to watch it play

1184
01:07:21,920 --> 01:07:24,480
out in real time. Even if you know we came

1185
01:07:24,519 --> 01:07:26,360
and focused on Hulk, we had to take this pit

1186
01:07:26,440 --> 01:07:29,079
stop and really appreciate what this program was and what

1187
01:07:29,199 --> 01:07:32,039
it represented. So thank you, Larry. We want to wish

1188
01:07:32,079 --> 01:07:33,960
you many more glorious years.

1189
01:07:35,280 --> 01:07:39,159
Speaker 2: Well, thank you. I'll be around and I'm always getting

1190
01:07:39,199 --> 01:07:41,880
a request to do a podcast. I'm in a movie

1191
01:07:42,599 --> 01:07:47,199
called The Unbreakable Bunch with Glacier and Mean and Ernie

1192
01:07:47,239 --> 01:07:50,159
the Cat and Miller, a couple other guys, it's on

1193
01:07:50,320 --> 01:07:55,519
Amazon Dot Crime, not Primate Prime, The Unbreakable Bunch. It's

1194
01:07:55,559 --> 01:07:58,039
a good movie and it's not about wrestling. It's about

1195
01:07:58,079 --> 01:08:01,559
some wrestlers that save a town from aliens. I'll son

1196
01:08:01,800 --> 01:08:05,119
very well. People got to check it out. And then again,

1197
01:08:05,239 --> 01:08:08,079
if if you want to, I'm not sure how you

1198
01:08:08,199 --> 01:08:10,360
do this, but if you want to download or I

1199
01:08:10,599 --> 01:08:14,400
doing a sudden and Spotify, yep, you just you just

1200
01:08:14,599 --> 01:08:19,239
go to hashtag talent and push on boo on me,

1201
01:08:19,680 --> 01:08:22,520
boo on me. And if you want to, if you

1202
01:08:22,560 --> 01:08:25,079
want a bright yellow T shirt to wear at the

1203
01:08:25,239 --> 01:08:28,600
shows that say boo on me, brother, you can contact

1204
01:08:28,800 --> 01:08:30,359
Pro Wrestling.

1205
01:08:30,079 --> 01:08:34,279
Speaker 1: Teas wonderful stuff. Well, I'm sure our listeners are going

1206
01:08:34,359 --> 01:08:36,920
to be game to support the living legend. Thank you,

1207
01:08:37,000 --> 01:08:38,720
Larry for taking some time to reflect with us. We

1208
01:08:38,800 --> 01:08:39,520
really appreciate it.

1209
01:08:40,439 --> 01:08:43,079
Speaker 2: Well, thank you, Jack, and you have a good one

1210
01:08:43,159 --> 01:08:44,680
And I'll be here if you need me.

