INTERVIEW CLASSIC: Keller interviews Eddie Sharkey, the trainer of Road Warriors, Rick Rude, Jesse Ventura, and others

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library dating back to the year two thousand and three.
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Now, PW Torch and Spreaker bring you the Wide Keller
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Pro Wrestling Podcast. It's time for this week's Interview Classic
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where Wade Killer Interview is one of pro Wrestling's newsmakers.
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Ten years ago this week I had the chance to
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spend about an hour and a half interviewing Eddie Sharkey.
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You may or may not have heard of him, but
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you certainly heard of the wrestlers he trained, the Road Warriors,
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Rick Rude, Jesse Ventura, and many more. He also was
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a longtime a w A wrestler in the nineteen seventies
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and an indie promoter into the nineteen nineties. He is
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somebody I got to know well in the early years
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of doing Proossing Torch newsletter. He was instrumental in giving
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a showcase for Sean Waltman, The Lightning Kid one two
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three Kid, and also Jerry Lynn in their early standout
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indie matches. Let's get to It. This originally live streamed
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on October third, twenty fourteen, and it is today's Wade
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Keller Pro Wrestling Podcast Interview Classic for Saturday, October fifth,
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twenty twenty three.
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Welcome to thep W Torch Live Cast. I am Wade Keller,
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editor and publisher of the Pro Wrestling Torch newsletter since
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nineteen eighty seven and also PW Torch dot Com since
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nineteen ninety nine and the PW Torch App available on
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iPhone and Android devices in the App store. Also for
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MMA fans and Big MMA Weekend. You cannot follow USC
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and all of MMA at mmatorch dot com and on
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our free MMA Torch app, also available in the iTunes
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and Android Google Play app Store. It is Friday, October third,
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twenty fourteen, and that means it is Interview Friday and
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today's guest is somebody who I should mention it as
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a preface. This is our twenty seventh anniversary of Progressing Torch.
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The first edition of the prosing Torch newsletter was published
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with an early October date in nineteen eighty seven, so
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that puts us at twenty seven years since we started.
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And somebody who I was around a lot in the
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early years of publishing The Torch and one of the
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very first interview subjects both for the prosing Torch newsletter
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and the Progressing Focus radio show was the man known
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as the Trainer of Champions, and that is Eddie Sharky,
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and I am pleased to introduce him for the first
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time on the PW Torch Live cast. Eddie Sharky, Welcome
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to the program. We're live on the air.
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Okay here, I am.
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Excellent Eddie, Welcome to the show. Thank you, Eddie. I
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have been around the Minnesota wrestling scene, you know, for
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uh as far as I go, you predate me by
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just a little bit. And so for listeners of this
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show who are kind of curious about your background, give
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give all of us three or four of what you
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find to be the most the most significant contributions that
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you made, are significant things that you've been involved with
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in professional wrestling, because you've done so many different things,
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and I'm kind of curious what the three or four
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top ones are that that that you look back on
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as being your favorite and most significant segments of your
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many decades in wrestling.
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Oh, you know, I couldn't begin to name them all.
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I started wrestling on a carnival. As far as I know,
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I'm about the last one last of the carnival wrestlers
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around here anyway, And you know rest a w A
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and referee in for w W and training training was
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the big thing. All the great wrestlers or road warriors,
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Rick Rude and we can them all. It's been so
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many and I was just so lucky to be at
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the right place at the right time. I don't think
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I'm a good trainer or nothing like that, but I
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just have so many great guys and girls too, and
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just just being a lucky, lucky guy in the business.
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You're kind of hanging in there, Well, what do you
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Let's let's do this. I've got a lot I want
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to go back and talk about as far as your
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your history. But what are you up to these days?
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For people who do know of you and are kind
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of curious what you've been up to?
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Well, actually, I'm living a kind of a boring, extremely
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happy life. I've been married now my new wife and
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my beautiful new wife for eight and a half years,
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and chased from the Philippines. So occasionally go back there
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and hang out, and I still go to the matches.
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I should go down to the Target center every time
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they're in town and see the guys, and I still
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work for Well peterw Well pw A too. Yeah, that's
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a wrong way. He runs South Saint Paul, and I
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was sure, Oh, I think I still work for Greg McDonald,
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who runs to Ksey Hall and Bloomington the last Friday
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of every month. And I'm just just just I guess
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they're going to have to kind of blow up in
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buildings to get me out.
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Yeah, well you were. You received a Lifetime Achievement award
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at at Hellier's wrestling event this summer out in Hopkins, Minnesota,
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and that's the first time that I had seen you
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and that we had seen each other in I mean,
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it feels like fifteen years maybe.
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Oh, and you said, what was it twenty seven years? Yeah,
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I remember when you first got started. God. Yeah, go
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so fast, it's scary.
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Yeah, those those days.
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He's doing very well too. You've done very good. We're
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all proud of you. Thank you for your oh, thank
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you contribution.
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Excellent. Yeah. So it's it's I feel like I'm not
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doing doing you justice. And like you said, you couldn't
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even begin to to list the things that you have
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done that jump out as the favorites, and so I'm
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gonna I'm gonna pull some I'm gonna try to pull
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some stories out of you. I remember one time sitting
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around at the Marriott Hotel after a wrestling event, and
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it was you and me and Harley Race sitting around
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the table having some drinks and just just telling crazy stories.
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And I just it was one of the one of
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the more memorable evenings hearing Harley talk about the old
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old a w A days running up and down Highway
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thirty six Cedar Avenue which is now Highway seventy seven
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out front of met Center and near the airport and
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pulling people, driving people off the road and getting in
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fights and all kinds of crazy old school stuff. So
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I'm gonna hopefully pull a few fun stories out of
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you on today's show. I also do want to let
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people know if you're if you have any questions for
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Eddie Sharky, the trainer of the Road Warriors, and Jesse
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Ventura and Sean Waltman and Jerry Lynn to go more
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contemporary in so many others. Our phone number here is
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six four six seven two one nine A two eight.
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That's six four six seven to one nine A two eight. Also,
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you can email PW Torchlivecast at gmail dot com. I
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do want to note that the PW Torch Live Cast
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is brought to you by Audible, a leading provider of
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Slash Pro Wrestling Torch. Use your Amazon login to sign
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up for your free trial. Eddie, let me ask act.
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You've got to be a very good speaker. You're you're
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you're speaking quite well, sound great. And about one thing.
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I want to mention all the guys I trained, and
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we can't name them all because I was really I
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never trained Sean Waltman. People keep saying that he was
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trained by Well, I think it was probably the greatest
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trainer in the world gotch in Lincoln.
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Oh at one good point.
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I started booking when he was sixteen years old, and
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I was the first one to use him wrestling that
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I never trained him.
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Yeah, and you know what that that I'm glad you
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clarified that because you're you and him are are linked together,
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because yeah, you used him on indie shows. The first
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time I think he ever wrestled in Minnesota professionally was
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on your shows, and that's where he got his acclaim.
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But in terms of actual training, yeah, I mean, you're right,
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it's it's it's a good clarification. Yeah, Eddie you uh
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you man. You and I go way back. Just hearing
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your voice brings back some fun memories. But who do
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you think who are you most proud of in terms
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of the career that they had that you trained? You know,
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Road Warriors, Jesse Ventura, Who which which? Which of the
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many people you trained, if you can name one, are
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you most proud of?
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Well, the greatest story team in the world, the Road Warriors,
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I'm very proud of, of course our governor Jesse Ventura.
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And Rick Rude was another one who was just there're
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such great guys. And then of course Rick died and
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Hawk died, and that kind of took a lot out
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of me when them guys went, and it's just never
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been the same since.
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Yeah, I do you each time that you, you know,
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heard about somebody that you were that close to and
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and so instrumental in training, dying had to just get
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you like a ton of bricks. Do you remember where
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you were when you heard about Hawk, Mike ex Rant, Yes.
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I was in the Mercedes Hotel in the Philippines, in Sibu,
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down the island called in the Philippines, and they got
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a hold of me there and it was quite a shot.
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Daved Melcher called me there, he yeah, called himself and
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you know, there I was what you know, and I
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couldn't believe it. How so far away. I couldn't go
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to know, our funeral, memorial service or nothing like that,
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which I feel very doubt about, but that was a
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terrible shock and to be so far away when I
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heard it.
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Thanks for downloading today's show. Take it to the next
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But tell me a little bit about your your earliest
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memories of Rodar or Hawk Mike hag strand what personality
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wise was he similar to what fans on TV over
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the years, or did he transform himself once he became
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a public figure.
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No, it was him all the way. He was just
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just just just you know, more than human. He was
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just just a superhuman being. I can tell you stories,
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great stories about him, what you saw on television, what
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he was really like. He's just a larger than life personality.
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The kind of people you meet, you know once in
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your life, you never meet again. Wally Cabo said, every
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once in a while, he said, every twenty thirty years
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a tag team like that will come around, and it's
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been twenty thirty years, and of course no one has.
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I mean, he was, you know when he was to
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bounce you at Grandma Bees. We're all worked at where
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all we're bouncers, toughest place in town. I mean, I
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can tell you stories about he. He had fights up
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there there. They're a legendary. I mean, he just whipped everybody.
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Nobody could touch him. He's the toughest guy around, and
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they're all tough guys. He had your Timey Ferreras and
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your Rick Ruge and Barry Darcels and not everyone could
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fight up there, and some guys he almost had to
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guarantee him a fight a week or they quit. But
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I remember one one one fight, he had one outside
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with the guy and beat the guy. In the meantime,
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a guy got run over out in the street, so
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they call him. An ambulance picked the guy up. The
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guy run over in the street, and the ambulance come
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picked up the guy that the Hawk beat up and
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went to the hospital. He was used beat up so bad.
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It was the wrong guy. But you know, that was
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a normal day up there.
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When you talk about it being a great guy to
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be around. Talk more about that. Did he just have
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people laughing all the time or what do you mean
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when you say that that he was a great guy
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to be around.
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You're just a great guy. He's play had a good
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sense of humor. He's laughing all the time. And and
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he was you know, you watch some interviews on TV,
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and that that was you know, really him. He didn't
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hear them great interviews and great tramos. What he was like.
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He's fun to travel with, fun to hang out with,
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just fun to be around. And he's always pick up
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the check. You know, sometimes you take out a bunch
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of guys and it'd be kind of expensive. You have
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a couple of beers and dinner. He'd always pick up
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the check. And one time he took us all. There's
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some new guys in the WWE, and we had wrestled
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in the same polige. So I'm gonna take all you guys.
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Come on where we're going down to J D. Horris
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on Washington Avenulee. He rented a room, you know, just
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for the guys and all the new guys, and he
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bought everyone dinner. It had a state dinner for everyone.
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I don't know there might have been twenty of us
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served and at least twenty the guys. And he was
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that kind of guy, one of the new guys was
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totally fascinated by who couldn't believe it was the Rock.
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That's when the Rock first, you know, start, you know,
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hanging out with the guys and I.
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Look at that story, elaborate more on that. Pardon me,
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tell me more about that. Why why why he was
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so fascinated by that by Huck.
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Well, he was in the business just a short time.
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He just started in in the WWE, and he just
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met the guys. Most of the guys he just met,
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you know, and I know, Charlie Norris and myself and
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a couple of others we just met him that night,
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and you know, he was such a nice guy. Everyone
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liked him immediately. So we hung out together and just said,
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you know how much funny he was having. He said,
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he I can't believe this, all these guys that my
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father has told me about. His father was Rocky Johnson,
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of course, and uh, you know, what a good time
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he had and it seems like yesterday and look at
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him now, you know what a great story that was.
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And the thing about you.
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Yeah, I'm sorry.
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Go ahead, no, no, Eddie, please go ahead.
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Well, the thing about him, you know, if you want
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to see one guy really succeed in life, it would
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be him. He is such a nice guy. He is
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He's the guy that you know you want to see
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succeed because he is here just a super.
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Personality you're talking about.
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You know, we had some great personalities back in the day.
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Well, the thing about road Wary Hawk and and really
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the road Warriors in general and is and you talk about,
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you know, them being a once every thirty year type
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tag team. It was road warri or Hawk's sense of
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humor mixed with the intimidation factor that he had mixed
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with then in combination, and it was a perfect combination.
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Joe lorn Eidison his his uh kind of this sense
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of unhinged temp or you know that because because Hawk
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would tell the joke and then Animal would just yell,
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and there was just there was a chemistry between those
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two that I mean, it's it's hard to come up
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with another example of two people who made each other
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more complete than Hawk an Animal, And obviously Hawk was
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the more distinctive, end quote entertaining personality of the two
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00:17:23.799 --> 00:17:27.039
but but together they just enhanced each other. And I
321
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mean they both did some singles work and teamed with
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other people, but nothing even came close to what they
323
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did when they were at Tag team.
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00:17:33.279 --> 00:17:36.920
Yeah, this isn't that funny. It's just two personalities. And
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00:17:37.799 --> 00:17:41.079
it was strange. You know, Ollie Anderson had the big
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TV down in a Landa, you know, for Ted Turner then,
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and he had some problems, so he came up and
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00:17:48.039 --> 00:17:51.160
to see me and see the guys I had that
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I had told him about. So there they were. He
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walked right in the again, Umphy, Grandma bees the bar,
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and then guys very decided what they're gonna do. They
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00:18:00.599 --> 00:18:03.119
had their pictures taken. Rick rud and Hawk were going
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00:18:03.200 --> 00:18:06.559
to be a tag team and Very Darsale Animal were
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00:18:06.559 --> 00:18:11.440
going to be a tag team, and Bolli Anderson just said, no,
335
00:18:11.759 --> 00:18:14.759
well you two, you and you the Road Warriors, you'd
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be on the plane Saturday, and the other two guys
337
00:18:16.880 --> 00:18:19.160
you'd be on the plane a week from Saturday. And
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00:18:19.200 --> 00:18:21.440
that's how they got in the business. It was it
339
00:18:22.079 --> 00:18:25.440
was just, you know, sometimes it's just easy. And then
340
00:18:27.000 --> 00:18:30.000
I don't know what happened. They're jerking around there and
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they didn't know what to do with them and all that,
342
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And then he went and saw the movie Ollie Anderson
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went and saw the movie The Road Warrior, and he
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called me. He went to the phone and called me
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and said, I'm gonna come up and take them guys.
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And I got an idea for him, and that's it.
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He had the makeup, Bill Watts had the makeup. He
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put the makeup on him and the rest there's a
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restling history.
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00:18:54.640 --> 00:18:57.279
So hat tell me a little bit more about Hawk
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and Rick Rude being pegged by you originally as as
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00:19:02.480 --> 00:19:06.039
the team. Where did those two get along better or
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00:19:06.079 --> 00:19:07.440
you know, like did they hang out a little bit
354
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more or did you just go with them because they
355
00:19:09.519 --> 00:19:12.079
had maybe a similar body type? What what was it
356
00:19:12.119 --> 00:19:15.200
that that made Hock and Rude initially the tag team
357
00:19:15.240 --> 00:19:16.480
that that you and they envisioned.
358
00:19:18.119 --> 00:19:21.200
Well, no, was their idea, It wasn't my idea. They
359
00:19:21.240 --> 00:19:23.839
just walked together and they just got along together. And
360
00:19:23.839 --> 00:19:24.279
that's all.
361
00:19:25.400 --> 00:19:31.400
So when when, only when only suggested that Hack and
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Animal team up, did Hawk object to that or or
363
00:19:36.119 --> 00:19:37.799
or think, well, hey what about Rick Rude?
364
00:19:37.920 --> 00:19:39.640
Or did did he go with it? Like to talk
365
00:19:39.640 --> 00:19:41.680
about how that how they ended up just kind of
366
00:19:41.720 --> 00:19:43.400
going Okay, sounds good, Olie.
367
00:19:44.400 --> 00:19:47.680
Yeah, okay, it sounds good. That's exactly what they did.
368
00:19:47.799 --> 00:19:50.359
And of course they had a good spot for Rude too.
369
00:19:50.400 --> 00:19:54.599
They took care of him too. Oh yeah, so you
370
00:19:54.640 --> 00:19:57.200
know he was he did. He did very well also,
371
00:19:57.240 --> 00:20:00.359
and very Darsal did very good too. I was a
372
00:20:00.759 --> 00:20:03.799
gentle Okay, let's go. Let's still become the union.
373
00:20:03.839 --> 00:20:09.240
Heires, that makes it easy. Yeah. Barry Dartha went on
374
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to be uh in Demolition, which was sort of Vincic
375
00:20:13.240 --> 00:20:16.759
Man's knockoff of the Road Warriors, along with Bill Eady,
376
00:20:16.839 --> 00:20:20.440
a highly respected veteran rest of them before the mass Superstar.
377
00:20:21.279 --> 00:20:21.440
Uh.
378
00:20:22.240 --> 00:20:25.000
Do you remember there being any any tension or heat
379
00:20:25.119 --> 00:20:28.279
between Barry and and Mike and Joe over the fact
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00:20:28.319 --> 00:20:30.559
that Barry went on and did a tag team that
381
00:20:30.680 --> 00:20:32.960
sort of filled the spot that the Road Warriors would
382
00:20:32.960 --> 00:20:34.079
have had had they signed with Vince.
383
00:20:35.359 --> 00:20:38.599
No, no, none, none, whatever. Right, I don't I remember
384
00:20:38.599 --> 00:20:42.079
any heat with them guys over anything. They're just a
385
00:20:42.079 --> 00:20:44.920
good Blancher guys.
386
00:20:45.160 --> 00:20:48.400
Hawking animal. Did you notice obviously Hawk and Rude you
387
00:20:48.480 --> 00:20:52.400
said worked out together? Did did Mike and Joe Hawkin? Animal?
388
00:20:52.480 --> 00:20:56.279
Did they have a chemistry that you recognized ear Leon
389
00:20:56.720 --> 00:20:58.960
or did that kind of take a while to form
390
00:20:59.039 --> 00:21:01.680
in the shape of into the form of their interviews
391
00:21:01.680 --> 00:21:02.200
in Atlanta?
392
00:21:04.000 --> 00:21:06.839
You know, I don't know. They just threw them in
393
00:21:06.839 --> 00:21:10.359
the ring. I remember watching the first match on television.
394
00:21:11.400 --> 00:21:13.599
It was good, you know. They did a couple of
395
00:21:13.599 --> 00:21:15.640
power moves and left the ring. And then I remember
396
00:21:15.680 --> 00:21:18.599
the Hawks flying through the ropes and pinning the die.
397
00:21:18.799 --> 00:21:21.640
They had forgot to pin the dive in their first match,
398
00:21:22.880 --> 00:21:27.440
and that was no, it was fine. Everything was everyone
399
00:21:27.559 --> 00:21:29.640
was happy.
400
00:21:32.359 --> 00:21:36.519
In twenty twelve, NXT transitioned into the developmental system and
401
00:21:36.640 --> 00:21:39.920
ultimately the brand you see today. On the Torch VIP
402
00:21:40.160 --> 00:21:44.240
podcast NXT Eight Years Back, we'll be taking a weekly
403
00:21:44.319 --> 00:21:46.799
look at this page in NXT's early history.
404
00:21:47.720 --> 00:21:50.480
Join Kelly Wells and me Tom Stout from p WT
405
00:21:50.640 --> 00:21:53.559
Talks NXT every Saturday as we go eight years back
406
00:21:53.640 --> 00:21:56.319
to the day to track NXT's rising talents and why
407
00:21:56.359 --> 00:21:59.119
they did or didn't work out exclusively for p W
408
00:21:59.279 --> 00:22:00.440
Torch VIP members.
409
00:22:04.720 --> 00:22:08.720
So we talked a lot about like Eddie, what was
410
00:22:08.839 --> 00:22:12.000
what was Joe like in contrast rotary Animal.
411
00:22:12.480 --> 00:22:16.000
Oh, he's more more conservative more down to earth, more
412
00:22:16.039 --> 00:22:21.720
of a businessman. Well he was a little more conservative,
413
00:22:21.880 --> 00:22:25.960
that's that's about all. He saved his money and you know,
414
00:22:26.160 --> 00:22:30.799
he took care his family and he's a very good
415
00:22:30.799 --> 00:22:33.880
family man. Of course Hawk wasn't married, but Joe, Joeys
416
00:22:34.240 --> 00:22:37.799
his family came first. Yeah, which you can see, you know,
417
00:22:37.960 --> 00:22:40.400
you can see. You know, a son's great football player
418
00:22:40.480 --> 00:22:43.599
now and he's doing real good. And and Joe by
419
00:22:43.640 --> 00:22:47.200
the way, as a gold miner in Africa.
420
00:22:48.559 --> 00:22:49.880
Oh wow, I didn't know that.
421
00:22:50.480 --> 00:22:54.039
There are some of you didn't though. Yeah, he's in
422
00:22:54.119 --> 00:22:56.359
South Africa mining for gold.
423
00:22:57.119 --> 00:22:58.759
Wow.
424
00:22:58.440 --> 00:22:58.640
Wow.
425
00:22:58.920 --> 00:23:03.240
If you're talk I talked, pud me No, go ahead,
426
00:23:03.279 --> 00:23:03.640
go ahead.
427
00:23:04.920 --> 00:23:07.279
Well I just I talked to his brother down at
428
00:23:07.279 --> 00:23:10.960
the WWE, his brother John. He send me to him. Goodies.
429
00:23:10.960 --> 00:23:15.359
He's finding some gold and he's adventure you know, so
430
00:23:15.640 --> 00:23:16.880
he figures to be something.
431
00:23:18.200 --> 00:23:21.039
Sounds like it. Yeah, if you are just joining us,
432
00:23:21.160 --> 00:23:23.799
this is the p W Torch Live cast. Eddie Sharky
433
00:23:24.240 --> 00:23:28.680
is my guest. Eddie Sharky amazing array of roles. In
434
00:23:28.759 --> 00:23:32.480
his career, he worked as a wrestler in the AWA.
435
00:23:32.640 --> 00:23:36.759
He promoted Pro Wrestling America. He trained some of wrestling's
436
00:23:36.759 --> 00:23:41.119
top stars in the eighties and nineties and has worked
437
00:23:41.119 --> 00:23:45.400
with so so many top wrestlers as an indie promoter
438
00:23:45.799 --> 00:23:51.039
who have come through come through his events that he's
439
00:23:51.079 --> 00:23:53.160
hired to work on his shows. And if you're interested
440
00:23:53.160 --> 00:23:55.319
in talking Eddie and talking about any of that placed,
441
00:23:55.440 --> 00:23:59.319
the number to call is six four, six, seven to one, nine,
442
00:23:59.599 --> 00:24:04.160
eight to eight Eddie. In terms of training Hockety Animal
443
00:24:04.160 --> 00:24:05.440
and then I want to move on to some other
444
00:24:05.480 --> 00:24:08.799
guys here, But in terms of training Hockey Animal, how
445
00:24:10.039 --> 00:24:13.880
what take me through the process A little bit of
446
00:24:14.119 --> 00:24:17.440
taking guys who are used to quote, real fights and
447
00:24:17.680 --> 00:24:23.319
bouncing and teaching them the art of combat performance so
448
00:24:23.400 --> 00:24:25.880
to speak? Did they did they understand? I mean, it's
449
00:24:25.880 --> 00:24:28.039
such a different era now than then, but did they
450
00:24:28.079 --> 00:24:30.440
in the early eighties kind of understand what wrestling was
451
00:24:30.480 --> 00:24:33.440
about and adapt to it? And how did you break
452
00:24:33.440 --> 00:24:38.279
them in on what wrestling, how wrestling fully worked, and
453
00:24:38.720 --> 00:24:40.759
the way to make things look like they heard without
454
00:24:40.759 --> 00:24:41.720
actually killing anybody.
455
00:24:43.240 --> 00:24:45.680
Well, they're smart guys and they're always good athletes, and
456
00:24:45.680 --> 00:24:49.000
that makes them easy to train. And we spend time together, Mike,
457
00:24:49.359 --> 00:24:52.480
all my wrestlers. We didn't just it wasn't just a
458
00:24:52.519 --> 00:24:55.119
work out. We'd hang out together. We'd go out for
459
00:24:55.160 --> 00:24:58.640
coffee and we'd talk over things. And I'll spend a
460
00:24:58.640 --> 00:25:03.400
lot of time with them. I'm not just training talking
461
00:25:03.519 --> 00:25:06.319
Like I remember when I first broke into business, I
462
00:25:06.359 --> 00:25:08.680
went to training with the best trainers in the world.
463
00:25:08.720 --> 00:25:12.720
We had up here, gotcha Malinko And I went to
464
00:25:13.079 --> 00:25:15.720
me and mitthle Ymca and said, well today we're just
465
00:25:15.759 --> 00:25:18.680
going to talk, so let's just talk about the business.
466
00:25:18.680 --> 00:25:20.680
And I remember how much did I learned that day?
467
00:25:21.000 --> 00:25:23.319
And I carried that on. We spent a lot of
468
00:25:23.319 --> 00:25:27.559
time talking. And I had a ring at Really Webby,
469
00:25:27.559 --> 00:25:33.400
remember Ray Webby, Yeah, in the church basement, and it
470
00:25:33.559 --> 00:25:36.440
was on railroad ties. It was a boxing ring and
471
00:25:36.480 --> 00:25:39.240
I had a little map. When little gym matts with
472
00:25:39.359 --> 00:25:43.039
all the stuffing coming out, it was the hardest ring
473
00:25:43.119 --> 00:25:44.640
ever seen in my life. And I made them take
474
00:25:44.680 --> 00:25:48.079
bumps on that ring and if they missed the map,
475
00:25:48.480 --> 00:25:52.640
they'd hit you know, the hard floor. And I guess
476
00:25:52.680 --> 00:25:55.839
that's why they're still mean. That they learned, and they
477
00:25:55.920 --> 00:26:00.559
learned fast, and they learned well. That they had nothing easy. Boy,
478
00:26:00.559 --> 00:26:03.799
there's nothing easy for him.
479
00:26:04.079 --> 00:26:06.720
The animal wrote in his book about how he and
480
00:26:06.799 --> 00:26:09.519
Hawk they got along, but every once in a while
481
00:26:10.559 --> 00:26:13.400
they might get in a fight. They even had attitudes,
482
00:26:14.640 --> 00:26:17.519
yeah that that sometimes erupted in arguments between them. Do
483
00:26:17.519 --> 00:26:19.759
you do you remember situations like that when they were
484
00:26:19.759 --> 00:26:22.559
pretty ballatile? I know Animal wrote specifically about blowing up
485
00:26:22.559 --> 00:26:24.319
at each other in the middle of the Atlanta airport once.
486
00:26:25.640 --> 00:26:28.480
Well, yeah, yeah, I know. I Animal called me up
487
00:26:28.519 --> 00:26:30.640
and asked if i'd call up the Hawk and talk
488
00:26:30.720 --> 00:26:33.240
to him, you know, because then we're going real good.
489
00:26:33.240 --> 00:26:35.720
I always talking to him, and this time he said no.
490
00:26:35.839 --> 00:26:38.319
He said no, He said no, I'm not going to
491
00:26:38.319 --> 00:26:40.960
do it. He said, I got a new tag team partner,
492
00:26:41.000 --> 00:26:43.599
and I'm going to bring him here to Minneapolis. And
493
00:26:43.680 --> 00:26:47.279
he did. They they they made it look like they
494
00:26:47.319 --> 00:26:51.480
met in in like a barroom brawl. And I was
495
00:26:51.559 --> 00:26:54.599
running shows up at Georgie's in the Park, you know,
496
00:26:54.720 --> 00:26:57.480
the bar you're you're probably there that I had. He
497
00:26:57.599 --> 00:27:00.359
brought up that Kenushi Sasaki, who was his new eighteen
498
00:27:00.400 --> 00:27:05.039
partner in Japan, and he went to Japan a signal partner,
499
00:27:05.039 --> 00:27:09.599
and their partners forever. I don't know really much what
500
00:27:09.720 --> 00:27:10.400
happened after that.
501
00:27:14.720 --> 00:27:18.720
The there's so many other guys you trained, but Jesse Ventura,
502
00:27:19.519 --> 00:27:22.160
you know, has gone on to become as famous as
503
00:27:22.200 --> 00:27:27.559
anybody so many phases of his life. He's such an eccentric,
504
00:27:27.920 --> 00:27:32.319
interesting person. I worked with him at KFN back when
505
00:27:32.359 --> 00:27:35.720
he was a Vikings color commentator in the early nineties
506
00:27:35.720 --> 00:27:37.480
when I was doing my prosing focus show. There you
507
00:27:37.480 --> 00:27:40.240
were on that show many times, Eddie. And he went
508
00:27:40.279 --> 00:27:42.839
on to become mayor of Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, one of
509
00:27:42.920 --> 00:27:46.079
the top populated cities in Minnesota, just in the Twin
510
00:27:46.119 --> 00:27:50.759
Cities metro area, and obviously then governor of Minnesota and
511
00:27:51.000 --> 00:27:54.480
obviously best known. And people on WW network are able
512
00:27:54.519 --> 00:27:56.519
to see some of Jesse's work, a lot more Jesse's
513
00:27:56.519 --> 00:27:58.920
work now through Saturday Night's Made Event and some of
514
00:27:58.960 --> 00:28:01.839
the early pay per views available now maybe they you know,
515
00:28:01.880 --> 00:28:03.759
there's a whole generation of people just getting exposed to
516
00:28:03.799 --> 00:28:06.480
Jesse for the first time, or at least in large
517
00:28:06.519 --> 00:28:09.640
quantity for the first time. And now you know he's
518
00:28:09.680 --> 00:28:13.960
been involved in the Conspiracy Theory TV show and living
519
00:28:14.000 --> 00:28:17.720
part time in Mexico. It's just he's such an interesting led,
520
00:28:17.799 --> 00:28:21.480
such an interesting life, and is such an interesting person.
521
00:28:21.519 --> 00:28:25.279
The he was I remember being at a movie theater
522
00:28:25.480 --> 00:28:29.480
in Idyna, Minnesota, Eddie, when the Predator came out, and
523
00:28:29.519 --> 00:28:31.880
when Jesse scene came up, you know, the whole theater
524
00:28:32.079 --> 00:28:34.160
erupted in cheers. You know that's our guy. That's a
525
00:28:34.440 --> 00:28:37.920
w A wrestler and WWF commentator, Jesse venturer there is
526
00:28:37.960 --> 00:28:39.640
and he's like, I ain't got time to bleed, and
527
00:28:39.839 --> 00:28:42.000
just you know, he's such an iconic figure, but you
528
00:28:42.079 --> 00:28:47.160
knew him, you knew him well before he would walk
529
00:28:47.200 --> 00:28:49.319
down the street and be known as anything. But hey,
530
00:28:49.359 --> 00:28:52.319
that guy's god muscles, you know. So tell tell me
531
00:28:52.359 --> 00:28:55.640
about what Jesse was like before he was the least
532
00:28:55.680 --> 00:28:57.319
bit famous.
533
00:28:57.920 --> 00:29:00.440
Well, well, I like the best of all, Jill. See.
534
00:29:00.680 --> 00:29:03.160
He had a great sense of humor, very good sense.
535
00:29:03.240 --> 00:29:06.759
He'd like to laugh. Just people don't realize what a
536
00:29:06.759 --> 00:29:12.119
good sense of humor he had and still does as
537
00:29:12.200 --> 00:29:14.400
far as I know. I went down he had a
538
00:29:14.440 --> 00:29:18.440
book signing, and I went down to see him and
539
00:29:18.799 --> 00:29:23.000
introduce him to my wife. And because I went to
540
00:29:23.079 --> 00:29:25.559
the Philippines, because Ron Peters in the boxing promoter, and
541
00:29:25.599 --> 00:29:27.759
I went to the Philippines and we both met our
542
00:29:27.759 --> 00:29:30.319
wives there and he was the one that told us
543
00:29:30.359 --> 00:29:33.160
he said, if you go one place in the world,
544
00:29:33.319 --> 00:29:36.079
you know, you know, for you beautiful women, He said,
545
00:29:36.079 --> 00:29:38.599
go to the Philippines. So he's the one that kind
546
00:29:38.640 --> 00:29:41.279
of sent us over there. So I went down talking
547
00:29:41.440 --> 00:29:43.920
for a while, and he can still speak some Fi
548
00:29:44.039 --> 00:29:47.200
dollog So it was nice. And I haven't seen him since.
549
00:29:47.240 --> 00:29:50.839
I imagine he's down in Mexico count his money, I suppose,
550
00:29:51.079 --> 00:29:51.440
I hope.
551
00:29:51.480 --> 00:29:58.640
So did Jesse come across to you relative to the
552
00:29:58.680 --> 00:30:06.319
other guys you trained as being more intellectual, more eccentric?
553
00:30:06.359 --> 00:30:09.960
I like, how how did Jesse come across to you
554
00:30:10.480 --> 00:30:14.359
as again, somebody who hadn't quote made it yet, relative
555
00:30:14.400 --> 00:30:16.079
to the other guys that you trained. Did did he
556
00:30:16.119 --> 00:30:18.759
seem like he was something special? Not to take anything
557
00:30:18.759 --> 00:30:20.559
away from the other guys you trained, but was there
558
00:30:20.559 --> 00:30:23.839
something about Jesse? You're like, this guy, this guy's gonna
559
00:30:24.160 --> 00:30:25.839
be something. I don't know if it's gonna be a wrestler,
560
00:30:25.920 --> 00:30:26.839
but he's going to be something.
561
00:30:28.519 --> 00:30:31.000
No, he was just one of the boys, just a
562
00:30:31.160 --> 00:30:35.000
real nice guy, nothing more. Yeah, just a nice guy
563
00:30:35.079 --> 00:30:38.519
with a good sense. Again, just fun to work out with. Well,
564
00:30:38.559 --> 00:30:41.400
we never went and we didn't know where we're going.
565
00:30:42.240 --> 00:30:46.839
None of us did he did. Did he seem very aspirational?
566
00:30:47.400 --> 00:30:50.759
Was he did he seem driven to be really successful?
567
00:30:50.839 --> 00:30:54.519
Or was wrestling training just sort of something that he
568
00:30:54.640 --> 00:30:56.119
fell into and decided to do.
569
00:30:56.440 --> 00:30:58.480
No, he just no, he just come into the gym
570
00:30:58.880 --> 00:31:03.119
and No, he's just one of the boys. We didn't
571
00:31:03.119 --> 00:31:06.240
know where we were going. How it is in the business,
572
00:31:06.319 --> 00:31:07.640
you never know what you're going to do, you know,
573
00:31:07.759 --> 00:31:11.759
I mean, who knows he trained her? Yeah, he was
574
00:31:11.759 --> 00:31:14.119
more driven than others. I would certainly say so that
575
00:31:14.319 --> 00:31:17.119
the way he trained, and he never missed a workout.
576
00:31:17.720 --> 00:31:21.599
So now he was just just a good guy. He deserves.
577
00:31:21.640 --> 00:31:23.079
He deserves to make a lot of money.
578
00:31:24.839 --> 00:31:26.200
I think he's done well for me.
579
00:31:27.960 --> 00:31:30.279
Eight millions. I hope he makes another million or two
580
00:31:30.839 --> 00:31:31.240
the three.
581
00:31:32.519 --> 00:31:36.960
He'll probably find a way. I'll probably You're.
582
00:31:36.839 --> 00:31:39.480
Always gonna hear about Jesse. He's never gonna go away.
583
00:31:40.079 --> 00:31:42.240
You'll come up with something. He'll be sitting around and
584
00:31:42.240 --> 00:31:45.680
he'll be on TV with something new you watch and see.
585
00:31:46.839 --> 00:31:49.720
Anytime you're watching w w E Raw or SmackDown or
586
00:31:49.759 --> 00:31:52.839
AW Dynamite in particular, send us an email if you've
587
00:31:52.880 --> 00:31:54.640
got thoughts on the show or a topic you want
588
00:31:54.720 --> 00:31:57.519
us to address or a question for us, Wade Keller
589
00:31:57.599 --> 00:32:02.880
Podcast at pw torch dot com. Wadekeller Podcast at pewtorch
590
00:32:02.920 --> 00:32:04.960
dot com. If there's anything else going on in pro
591
00:32:05.000 --> 00:32:07.000
wrestling that you want us to address on our main
592
00:32:07.039 --> 00:32:10.720
podcast during our mailbank segments, that same email applies Wade
593
00:32:10.759 --> 00:32:14.440
Keller Podcast at pw torch dot com. We invite that interaction.
594
00:32:14.920 --> 00:32:16.519
Let us know what you think of what we're saying,
595
00:32:16.680 --> 00:32:18.720
and let us know what you want us to talk
596
00:32:18.720 --> 00:32:22.640
about and ask us specific questions. Wadekeller Podcast at pw
597
00:32:22.680 --> 00:32:28.359
torch dot com.
598
00:32:28.519 --> 00:32:30.920
So I want to I want to take a detour
599
00:32:30.920 --> 00:32:32.480
away from some of the guys you train, and I
600
00:32:32.480 --> 00:32:36.880
want to talk about verne gania in AWA. As the
601
00:32:36.920 --> 00:32:40.799
AWA went out of business before the NWA and ww
602
00:32:41.279 --> 00:32:43.200
were bought out by the WF and now it's just
603
00:32:43.359 --> 00:32:47.200
WWE as the main company. The AWA history has been
604
00:32:47.279 --> 00:32:53.759
kind of lost now in certain ways because the WWF, well,
605
00:32:53.920 --> 00:32:56.720
WWE didn't go to war in the nineties with on
606
00:32:56.799 --> 00:33:00.839
Monday Night, high profile Monday Night War. The AWA Championship
607
00:33:00.839 --> 00:33:04.640
didn't get merged into what is now the WWE World Title.
608
00:33:04.680 --> 00:33:06.599
There's just that lineage is broken a little bit, but
609
00:33:07.119 --> 00:33:11.000
you were around when the a w A was at
610
00:33:11.119 --> 00:33:13.039
its apex.
611
00:33:13.240 --> 00:33:15.480
And oh yeah, you certainly was, yea.
612
00:33:16.200 --> 00:33:21.559
And yeah, talk about where because as a wrestler in
613
00:33:21.599 --> 00:33:24.359
the a w A, talk about where the a w
614
00:33:24.400 --> 00:33:28.640
A stood in the national scene and and what it
615
00:33:28.680 --> 00:33:30.759
was like to work for Verngani in the a w A.
616
00:33:32.440 --> 00:33:35.079
Well, it was the biggest territory in the world. You know,
617
00:33:35.640 --> 00:33:37.079
a lot of drive, and we had to go from
618
00:33:37.160 --> 00:33:40.599
Chicago to Winnipeg, to Green Bay to oh Omaha and
619
00:33:40.720 --> 00:33:43.440
you know, all places in between, and and and uh,
620
00:33:44.119 --> 00:33:46.200
you know, he worked in Minneapolis. He could work anywhere
621
00:33:46.200 --> 00:33:49.799
in the world. And it's Veron was a good pay
622
00:33:49.880 --> 00:33:54.400
He's hard to get along with sometimes, but he always
623
00:33:54.400 --> 00:33:57.799
paid very well, and everyone wanted to come here and work.
624
00:33:58.160 --> 00:34:00.000
A lot of guys just moved here and lived here.
625
00:34:00.119 --> 00:34:03.480
Some guys just never left, like Chris mark Off and
626
00:34:03.519 --> 00:34:06.279
people like that. They just stayed here. It was as
627
00:34:06.279 --> 00:34:07.119
good as territory.
628
00:34:09.280 --> 00:34:11.679
What you said, Vernon was tough to get along with sometimes,
629
00:34:11.719 --> 00:34:13.639
we've heard We've heard so many I've heard so many
630
00:34:13.639 --> 00:34:19.159
stories over the years of Verne that that it was
631
00:34:19.239 --> 00:34:25.079
over time that his relationship with talent changed and that
632
00:34:25.199 --> 00:34:28.840
his temperament got worse. What what was Vern like when
633
00:34:28.880 --> 00:34:31.000
you were first around him? What what year was it
634
00:34:31.039 --> 00:34:33.719
when you first got to know Vern in the sixties?
635
00:34:34.079 --> 00:34:35.679
Nineteen sixty one?
636
00:34:36.000 --> 00:34:38.320
Oh so okay, so very early. So how did what
637
00:34:38.440 --> 00:34:40.960
was he like then? I mean it, paint a picture.
638
00:34:41.000 --> 00:34:44.599
Tell me, describe to me what Vern was like when
639
00:34:44.639 --> 00:34:46.679
he was younger. Because I got to know him after
640
00:34:47.199 --> 00:34:51.239
he had gained a reputation for not being pleasant, and
641
00:34:51.280 --> 00:34:53.840
I had seen that side of him, and you know,
642
00:34:53.960 --> 00:34:56.119
out of touch and temperamental and all, you know, all
643
00:34:56.119 --> 00:34:59.760
the negative things that I've heard about him. But he
644
00:34:59.880 --> 00:35:02.480
was wasn't like that in nineteen sixty one. He was different.
645
00:35:02.519 --> 00:35:04.599
But how different was he?
646
00:35:04.599 --> 00:35:06.760
He's the greatest guy in the world, nicest guy I
647
00:35:06.840 --> 00:35:09.400
ever met. You know, you get him away from wrestling,
648
00:35:09.440 --> 00:35:13.079
and everyone loved him, and he loved everyone else. He
649
00:35:13.199 --> 00:35:18.079
is a wonderful guy. Yeah, I liked him, Everyone liked them.
650
00:35:18.440 --> 00:35:22.519
But they're wrestling. It takes I never realized until I
651
00:35:22.559 --> 00:35:26.199
started promoting myself how it. It'll eventually wear you down
652
00:35:26.239 --> 00:35:29.679
and drive you crazy. It's a very very hard business.
653
00:35:29.920 --> 00:35:32.400
I don't like to be you know, people say to me, said,
654
00:35:32.400 --> 00:35:35.440
my god, you've been in the business over fifty years.
655
00:35:35.480 --> 00:35:37.480
My god, you must love the business. I said, no,
656
00:35:37.639 --> 00:35:40.920
I hope the business. I said, horrible business. This is terrible.
657
00:35:41.360 --> 00:35:44.000
I love the people in the business. I'm here because
658
00:35:44.000 --> 00:35:46.440
of the nice people, the good friends, the nice guys.
659
00:35:46.679 --> 00:35:49.159
But as far as the business, it's an awful business.
660
00:35:49.599 --> 00:35:52.559
Long trips, you might die in the road, and yeah,
661
00:35:52.679 --> 00:35:55.639
you know, as you get older, if you live that long,
662
00:35:55.960 --> 00:36:00.320
you know, you're plagued by injuries as arthritis. That's in Oh.
663
00:36:00.639 --> 00:36:04.239
I wouldn't recommend anyone going into business, but it's just
664
00:36:04.280 --> 00:36:06.960
so damn much fun and you meet such nice people
665
00:36:07.239 --> 00:36:11.159
and you get to see so many interesting places.
666
00:36:12.519 --> 00:36:14.719
Do you think there was a trigger point with Verne
667
00:36:14.800 --> 00:36:16.800
or do you think it just kind of chipped away
668
00:36:17.480 --> 00:36:20.719
at him over the course of you know, sixties, seventies
669
00:36:20.719 --> 00:36:22.400
and eighties that he just.
670
00:36:22.559 --> 00:36:27.800
Yeah, it just warmed yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, it
671
00:36:28.199 --> 00:36:32.360
warmed down. And then everyone you know, started out drawing him.
672
00:36:32.400 --> 00:36:35.119
Even on spots shows, we'd out draw him. And then
673
00:36:35.599 --> 00:36:38.719
you know, events come around and had it was just
674
00:36:38.760 --> 00:36:43.079
too much warm. Wally, who is the smartest one of
675
00:36:43.119 --> 00:36:47.000
the two, Well, I shouldn't say he's the smartest they
676
00:36:47.039 --> 00:36:49.599
both were smart. But he got out. He seemed to
677
00:36:49.639 --> 00:36:52.039
come and he sold out as got as much as
678
00:36:52.079 --> 00:36:55.199
he could. And you kind of hung around and he
679
00:36:55.320 --> 00:36:57.599
was like me. We'd hang out together. We'd work for
680
00:36:57.639 --> 00:37:00.519
different independent promotions and we'd get to hang around regressing
681
00:37:00.599 --> 00:37:03.159
rooms and you know, we're around for the good times,
682
00:37:03.199 --> 00:37:05.360
and we still didn't have to take any bumps. So
683
00:37:06.119 --> 00:37:07.920
you know, we had a good time. Wally and I
684
00:37:07.920 --> 00:37:09.719
I miss him.
685
00:37:09.920 --> 00:37:10.159
Yeah.
686
00:37:10.360 --> 00:37:13.559
I think I called you when Wally died. I think
687
00:37:13.559 --> 00:37:16.519
I was the one who broke I think I can
688
00:37:16.559 --> 00:37:18.480
remember your action to this day when I called you
689
00:37:18.519 --> 00:37:21.760
to tell you about Wally. That was unless you're the
690
00:37:21.760 --> 00:37:23.440
one who called. I remember talking to you about it.
691
00:37:23.679 --> 00:37:28.360
Yeah, hotel in the parking lot. It was Eradicon man.
692
00:37:28.400 --> 00:37:31.039
You know it's whatever it's called now, you know the
693
00:37:31.039 --> 00:37:32.239
one that Bloomington there.
694
00:37:33.480 --> 00:37:33.920
Yeah.
695
00:37:34.039 --> 00:37:36.519
Yeah, he was a good guy. He knew he knew
696
00:37:36.519 --> 00:37:40.880
the business, he knew the rest. Still good.
697
00:37:42.440 --> 00:37:44.000
I've been I've been asked this, and I'm kind of
698
00:37:44.000 --> 00:37:46.239
curious your thoughts if if you were around him enough
699
00:37:46.280 --> 00:37:49.039
to get a sense and of great gania and and
700
00:37:49.159 --> 00:37:54.960
had things gone differently with the way Vince McMahon junior
701
00:37:55.480 --> 00:38:00.679
Vincent K. McMahon took over the national It took over
702
00:38:00.760 --> 00:38:02.760
as national promoter. I mean, obviously he fought it out
703
00:38:02.760 --> 00:38:05.039
in the nineties with with Eric Bischoff and Ted Turner.
704
00:38:05.079 --> 00:38:09.559
But was Greg ganya ever, somebody who had a reputation
705
00:38:10.159 --> 00:38:13.239
with some of the veteran wrestlers as a good wrestling
706
00:38:13.280 --> 00:38:16.199
mind who maybe would take over for Vern someday. We're
707
00:38:16.280 --> 00:38:18.880
kind of seeing the same speculation, or we're seeing that
708
00:38:18.920 --> 00:38:22.440
speculation now with Triple H and Stephanie McMahon, who are
709
00:38:22.599 --> 00:38:25.639
heir parent to Vince McMahon when when he no longer
710
00:38:25.679 --> 00:38:31.480
don WWE and so many people smart people. Yeah, so.
711
00:38:35.719 --> 00:38:38.480
I think Greg was capable. He was always a very
712
00:38:38.480 --> 00:38:43.239
good wrestler, but you know he he he was also
713
00:38:43.360 --> 00:38:45.920
very smart. He's got a family, he wants to stay
714
00:38:45.960 --> 00:38:48.719
at home with his family. Life's selling cars. He's happy.
715
00:38:49.360 --> 00:38:52.119
But if need be, he could have took over and
716
00:38:52.199 --> 00:38:53.840
he could have done just a good a job as
717
00:38:53.920 --> 00:38:54.920
Vern or anyone else.
718
00:38:57.360 --> 00:39:02.920
What what was his was his reputation as being favored
719
00:39:03.000 --> 00:39:04.840
and pampered a little bit because he was sot of
720
00:39:04.840 --> 00:39:07.519
the promoter. Did he seem like a good guy who
721
00:39:07.599 --> 00:39:10.320
worked really hard, and earned his spot, but had trouble
722
00:39:10.360 --> 00:39:12.599
being seen as being favored when really he just earned
723
00:39:12.599 --> 00:39:15.519
everything he had. Like every son of a promoter runs
724
00:39:15.559 --> 00:39:17.800
into that issue. How did Greg handle that and what
725
00:39:17.880 --> 00:39:18.760
was your perception of it?
726
00:39:20.719 --> 00:39:23.840
I'm not My biggest surprise with Greg is well the
727
00:39:23.920 --> 00:39:25.840
nice guy is. All he wanted to do is be
728
00:39:25.920 --> 00:39:28.000
one of the boys. He wanted to go at all parties,
729
00:39:28.119 --> 00:39:30.639
he wanted to drink beer with the guys. He wanted
730
00:39:30.679 --> 00:39:32.960
to laugh and have a good time. Everyone liked him.
731
00:39:34.480 --> 00:39:37.679
I never heard a bad word about him. Yeah, and
732
00:39:38.519 --> 00:39:40.840
I've never said nothing bad about him, never will.
733
00:39:41.679 --> 00:39:46.599
Well you don't say many bad things about anybody, Well,
734
00:39:46.440 --> 00:39:51.519
well we can always find somebody. You and Jimmy Hart
735
00:39:51.519 --> 00:39:55.800
are have the reputations for finding finding good things to
736
00:39:55.840 --> 00:39:58.519
say about just about everybody and getting really getting along
737
00:39:58.519 --> 00:40:01.519
with everybody. I mean, that's part of the genuineness of
738
00:40:01.679 --> 00:40:04.559
your history, is I mean you asked you and Vernani
739
00:40:04.679 --> 00:40:05.599
had quite the falling out.
740
00:40:07.440 --> 00:40:10.679
Well, we did. But you know one other thing about
741
00:40:10.679 --> 00:40:13.280
the wrestling business that people don't understand. Why are we
742
00:40:13.320 --> 00:40:16.760
so say so many nice things because they are nice?
743
00:40:17.159 --> 00:40:21.000
Now we control who we use, Like I'm a promoter,
744
00:40:21.159 --> 00:40:23.199
if we get a guy that don't get along, we'll
745
00:40:23.199 --> 00:40:25.559
get rid of them. We don't have to use anybody
746
00:40:25.599 --> 00:40:27.800
that we don't. You know, if you don't like to buy,
747
00:40:28.000 --> 00:40:30.400
if he's not getting along, get rid of him. That's
748
00:40:30.400 --> 00:40:32.800
why we just have guys that get along with each other.
749
00:40:33.280 --> 00:40:37.559
We control who we work with pretty much. Not many
750
00:40:37.599 --> 00:40:40.360
businesses can say that.
751
00:40:40.159 --> 00:40:45.840
That's that's definitely true. That's definitely true. The I remember
752
00:40:45.840 --> 00:40:48.920
the City Pages article on you that was written about
753
00:40:48.920 --> 00:40:52.440
you many years ago. It was a nicely downe article.
754
00:40:52.559 --> 00:40:55.280
You were on the cover of the local free alternative
755
00:40:55.639 --> 00:40:57.519
weekly newspaper here in the Twin Cities. They just did
756
00:40:57.559 --> 00:41:00.960
a cover stand me actually earlier this year. And one
757
00:41:00.960 --> 00:41:03.199
thing that I remember from that is is you talked
758
00:41:03.199 --> 00:41:09.320
about the It fascinates me now because I've seen enough wrestling.
759
00:41:09.440 --> 00:41:11.519
I'm not an old timer yet, but you know, I
760
00:41:11.599 --> 00:41:14.199
go back to watching in the last seventies and attending
761
00:41:14.280 --> 00:41:18.360
my yeah I can get in there thing SETI And
762
00:41:19.000 --> 00:41:21.760
you know, nineteen eighty one was my first live event.
763
00:41:22.280 --> 00:41:24.800
That you know, it's twenty years after you were first
764
00:41:25.039 --> 00:41:26.760
new vern So I mean you you predate me a lot,
765
00:41:26.800 --> 00:41:28.920
but I got it on the tail end. Of what
766
00:41:29.000 --> 00:41:33.719
I think was the era of wrestling that really qualifies
767
00:41:33.760 --> 00:41:37.800
as truly vintage old school in terms of crowds showing
768
00:41:37.880 --> 00:41:41.639
up that believed and that they watched it, and it
769
00:41:41.719 --> 00:41:44.960
was like Game seven of the NHL Playoffs every time
770
00:41:45.199 --> 00:41:47.239
that there was a big show in town and in
771
00:41:47.280 --> 00:41:49.400
the city. Page partachy, you talked about fights with the
772
00:41:49.440 --> 00:41:52.760
fans and how violent fans got. Tell me about some
773
00:41:52.800 --> 00:41:56.199
of your memories that would have that might astound some
774
00:41:56.199 --> 00:41:59.519
people listening to the show today who are newer fans
775
00:41:59.519 --> 00:42:02.199
and are used to a very family friendly, corporate atmosphere
776
00:42:02.440 --> 00:42:05.079
when they go to wrestling events. Tell me about how
777
00:42:05.239 --> 00:42:07.599
different it was back then and some of the things
778
00:42:07.599 --> 00:42:08.159
that happened.
779
00:42:09.519 --> 00:42:14.039
Well, it's extremely violent. I got a nice picture. We
780
00:42:14.159 --> 00:42:16.000
kind of get the mad Dog out of the ring.
781
00:42:16.039 --> 00:42:18.360
We didn't have the lease protection, we didn't have barriers,
782
00:42:18.360 --> 00:42:20.960
we didn't have nothing like that. So forming up a
783
00:42:21.079 --> 00:42:22.679
V and I was always in front of the V.
784
00:42:22.760 --> 00:42:24.920
I'd be the first guy out because I got some
785
00:42:24.960 --> 00:42:28.760
pretty good fights with the crowds. And of course, you know,
786
00:42:29.000 --> 00:42:31.480
they come up screaming, ask and they're easy to sucker punch,
787
00:42:31.519 --> 00:42:33.599
so you could take them out pretty easy. You know,
788
00:42:34.199 --> 00:42:36.960
but oh, you know, I like the one I mentioned
789
00:42:36.960 --> 00:42:39.880
in there about the time in Denver. I was just
790
00:42:39.880 --> 00:42:42.599
standing there in the crowd attack Harley Race and a
791
00:42:42.679 --> 00:42:45.239
guy to grab them just like in a death hold,
792
00:42:45.400 --> 00:42:47.960
and the wife is hitting them with a high heel shoe.
793
00:42:49.199 --> 00:42:51.599
So I just run over a few feet and I
794
00:42:51.679 --> 00:42:53.599
kicked the guy in the head as hard as I could,
795
00:42:54.440 --> 00:42:57.280
and nothing happened. So I'm just gonna stick my finger
796
00:42:57.320 --> 00:42:59.199
in his eye and pull them all right by the eyeball,
797
00:42:59.679 --> 00:43:01.880
and I suck my finger in an empty eye socket.
798
00:43:02.360 --> 00:43:05.880
Harley already pulled his eye out, and they'd blow over
799
00:43:05.920 --> 00:43:08.239
and all that stuff, you know, just another day after shop.
800
00:43:08.480 --> 00:43:10.639
We couldn't go back to Denver for a couple of months.
801
00:43:10.679 --> 00:43:16.800
So but it was, yeah, it was common, you know.
802
00:43:16.880 --> 00:43:21.159
We we we had one cop, one cop, no barriers,
803
00:43:21.400 --> 00:43:24.719
nothing like that. And you have to be so careful
804
00:43:24.719 --> 00:43:28.480
because they would sue you too. And now you got
805
00:43:28.519 --> 00:43:31.519
all the protection in the world. And these guys are
806
00:43:31.519 --> 00:43:34.320
so lucky now they don't have to worry about nothing.
807
00:43:35.400 --> 00:43:38.400
But back then, you know, people there, they really believed
808
00:43:38.400 --> 00:43:41.360
in it. And the evil way back to the old auditorium,
809
00:43:41.360 --> 00:43:44.920
they used to have to have an ambulance parked outside
810
00:43:45.159 --> 00:43:49.000
during the matches because the people have heart attacks. I
811
00:43:49.000 --> 00:43:57.800
remember when I, oh yeah, somebody said the eight yeah, congratulations,
812
00:43:57.880 --> 00:44:00.639
good match. Guide died during your match. I said, oh, okay,
813
00:44:01.840 --> 00:44:05.480
that was it. It was common. You look at the
814
00:44:05.519 --> 00:44:08.920
difference now, and if you ever look at and I
815
00:44:08.960 --> 00:44:12.280
look at some old wrestling pictures of myself and look
816
00:44:12.280 --> 00:44:14.719
at the crowd at ringside. Everyone had on a shirt
817
00:44:14.719 --> 00:44:17.840
and a tie, and everyone would dress up to go
818
00:44:17.880 --> 00:44:21.480
to the matches. What a different world it was. It
819
00:44:21.599 --> 00:44:25.320
was exciting too, I think, far more exciting than now,
820
00:44:25.880 --> 00:44:28.559
after that great atmosphere, you know, the dark building, the
821
00:44:28.679 --> 00:44:30.840
light on the ringing, and you know, and the great
822
00:44:30.960 --> 00:44:33.480
characters they had. And another thing, I was looking at
823
00:44:33.480 --> 00:44:37.119
some old programs, and you know, I realized, sometimes if
824
00:44:37.119 --> 00:44:41.239
the old auditory and they'd only have four matches and
825
00:44:41.480 --> 00:44:43.719
people were standing in line and the cold to get in,
826
00:44:44.760 --> 00:44:48.480
but their main events were that good. They weren't really
827
00:44:48.480 --> 00:44:51.280
that good, but people thought they were needed by today's standards.
828
00:44:51.320 --> 00:44:53.360
They weren't back thenywhere.
829
00:44:58.519 --> 00:45:01.559
Longing for some astouns or maybe you want to learn
830
00:45:01.639 --> 00:45:05.840
some wrestling history, don't miss the nineties Past cast every Friday,
831
00:45:05.880 --> 00:45:09.280
on the PW Torch Daily Cast Feed, Alex and Patrick
832
00:45:09.320 --> 00:45:12.599
will transport you thirty years into the past by taking
833
00:45:12.599 --> 00:45:15.880
you through the Torch issue from that very week. Follow
834
00:45:15.960 --> 00:45:19.119
news from the WWF and WCW and all the happenings
835
00:45:19.159 --> 00:45:22.079
from across the wrestling industry in real time as The
836
00:45:22.119 --> 00:45:25.679
Torch reported it thirty years ago. That's the nineties pass
837
00:45:25.760 --> 00:45:28.840
cast every Friday on the PW Torch Daily Cast Feed.
838
00:45:40.000 --> 00:45:42.519
Eddie, we started to lose your connection a little bit.
839
00:45:42.559 --> 00:45:44.679
If you're on a cell phone and you started moving around,
840
00:45:44.920 --> 00:45:47.000
or you're on a cord list, if you can walk
841
00:45:47.039 --> 00:45:50.360
back down, No, you're still sounding a little bit like
842
00:45:50.360 --> 00:45:53.519
you're underwater. Back to where I was, all right, I'll
843
00:45:53.559 --> 00:45:54.599
just no now you're getting better and.
844
00:45:54.599 --> 00:45:57.639
When I was walking roun am I okay though, mean yeah,
845
00:45:58.400 --> 00:46:00.800
I'll just I'm okay.
846
00:46:00.599 --> 00:46:02.360
Now, yep, you're good.
847
00:46:02.760 --> 00:46:04.719
Am, I I'm okay, okay, thank you.
848
00:46:05.039 --> 00:46:07.920
Yeah, I'm here. You just fine now, good, good, excellent.
849
00:46:09.639 --> 00:46:13.239
The it is, it's I mean, people can look back
850
00:46:13.280 --> 00:46:15.480
at old footage and and look at what you know,
851
00:46:15.519 --> 00:46:18.559
the live events used to be like. But the different
852
00:46:19.239 --> 00:46:21.320
you know, like I've been talking about it this week,
853
00:46:21.599 --> 00:46:24.199
Uh to VIP members on the Wade Teller hotline that
854
00:46:24.239 --> 00:46:25.679
I do every day, and one of the things we've
855
00:46:25.679 --> 00:46:29.159
been talking about is is the current attitude, especially of
856
00:46:29.159 --> 00:46:32.039
Stephan McMahon when it comes to k fabe, you know,
857
00:46:32.079 --> 00:46:35.360
where she talks just openly about, well, you know, I
858
00:46:35.840 --> 00:46:38.400
have fun playing this evil character on TV, but you
859
00:46:38.400 --> 00:46:40.199
know when I go to see kids at at charity
860
00:46:40.239 --> 00:46:42.960
events and at and speak to them at at school
861
00:46:42.960 --> 00:46:44.639
functions and that kind of thing and tell them about
862
00:46:44.800 --> 00:46:47.559
you know, I play this character on TV, but in reality,
863
00:46:47.599 --> 00:46:51.639
I'm this person and I'm really nice. I feel that's
864
00:46:51.639 --> 00:46:53.440
when I feel like an old timer because I feel
865
00:46:53.440 --> 00:46:56.480
like it's gone too far in the other direction where
866
00:46:56.880 --> 00:47:00.079
it's almost like people in wrestling are going out of
867
00:47:00.119 --> 00:47:03.320
their way. People in WW especially are going out of
868
00:47:03.360 --> 00:47:05.800
their way to show that they're different than the role
869
00:47:05.840 --> 00:47:08.400
that they play on TV. I want to ask you,
870
00:47:08.480 --> 00:47:13.440
I'm asking you to what extent did wrestlers in the
871
00:47:13.480 --> 00:47:17.960
sixties and seventies, when you were around before the change
872
00:47:17.960 --> 00:47:22.320
in kfabe kind of evaporating and being destroyed. How far
873
00:47:22.360 --> 00:47:25.360
did they go to keep the public image one that
874
00:47:25.400 --> 00:47:28.360
wrestling is real and two that the character they played
875
00:47:28.360 --> 00:47:31.280
on TV. The person they were on TV, I should say,
876
00:47:31.599 --> 00:47:35.519
reflected who they really were. I know, and I'm curious
877
00:47:35.519 --> 00:47:39.079
to hear you explain and elaborate how far guys would
878
00:47:39.119 --> 00:47:42.199
go to make sure that fans never saw that some
879
00:47:42.320 --> 00:47:44.800
of some or a lot of what they saw on
880
00:47:44.840 --> 00:47:48.039
TV was an enhanced or different version than the real
881
00:47:48.079 --> 00:47:49.400
life version of themselves.
882
00:47:50.559 --> 00:47:53.400
Oh, everything was real. Everything was real. If you would
883
00:47:53.440 --> 00:47:56.559
have said anything about the business, you would have been
884
00:47:56.599 --> 00:48:01.880
fired immediately. Yeah, everything, I mean, you know, there's no
885
00:48:02.000 --> 00:48:06.559
question about it. And I mean there'd be like vern
886
00:48:06.599 --> 00:48:08.480
would he'd break a new guy in the business. I
887
00:48:08.599 --> 00:48:11.440
won a year once every two years, but he'd want
888
00:48:11.480 --> 00:48:15.440
to hurt him. He wouldn't be nice to anybody. How's
889
00:48:15.440 --> 00:48:17.559
the first one to start being nice to people? He'd
890
00:48:17.599 --> 00:48:20.599
get he wouldn't hurt him himself. He always had good
891
00:48:20.639 --> 00:48:24.079
amateur wrestlers around him, like he'd have Jim Rask. He'd
892
00:48:24.079 --> 00:48:25.800
tire him out or something, and then he'd get in
893
00:48:26.159 --> 00:48:28.679
there because he couldn't take a chance of getting ten.
894
00:48:29.039 --> 00:48:32.400
He was a champion, you know. But I mean there
895
00:48:32.440 --> 00:48:34.000
was nothing nice. You know, they were nice of the
896
00:48:34.000 --> 00:48:37.920
public at all. You hadn't lived that part, and they
897
00:48:37.960 --> 00:48:42.039
did they did the day they died, the day they died,
898
00:48:42.039 --> 00:48:46.400
and nobody said nothing, and they still how often?
899
00:48:47.280 --> 00:48:50.000
How often in the in the sixties and seventies did
900
00:48:50.039 --> 00:48:54.639
wrestler or did fans outside of the wrestling environment recognize you?
901
00:48:54.920 --> 00:48:59.280
And how often did they ask you about how wrestling worked?
902
00:48:59.440 --> 00:49:01.719
Is it? Is it fake? How often did you get
903
00:49:01.719 --> 00:49:04.119
asked that or was it taboo for people to bring
904
00:49:04.159 --> 00:49:06.360
that up even if they suspected and they just respected
905
00:49:06.400 --> 00:49:07.679
that that's not something you talk about.
906
00:49:09.079 --> 00:49:12.000
Well, the disrespectful people would always ask the dumb one.
907
00:49:12.039 --> 00:49:14.800
They said, drunks people like that, and it really got
908
00:49:14.800 --> 00:49:18.239
hard to take after a while. And and there's you
909
00:49:18.239 --> 00:49:21.000
know a few people like Harley Race or just just
910
00:49:21.039 --> 00:49:23.800
bunched people right in the mouth, and they said that
911
00:49:23.840 --> 00:49:27.679
he protected the business as well. They would have had
912
00:49:27.719 --> 00:49:31.679
to fight even Brom he would he did actually have
913
00:49:31.760 --> 00:49:33.639
to fight him. You had to fight him right there.
914
00:49:34.119 --> 00:49:36.639
It was a tough business and it's going to stay
915
00:49:36.639 --> 00:49:39.119
that way, and sometimes you had to prove it.
916
00:49:41.360 --> 00:49:46.119
And wrestlers who were given pushes and and main event
917
00:49:46.199 --> 00:49:49.239
matches and big time wins over big names, they had
918
00:49:49.239 --> 00:49:51.639
to prove that they were really tough like that was.
919
00:49:52.519 --> 00:49:59.360
There were exceptions, but those exceptions were were not. Old
920
00:49:59.400 --> 00:50:01.840
timers didn't like it. I mean, luths didn't like Rex
921
00:50:01.840 --> 00:50:04.880
Flair being a world champion. Rick Claiir arguably the greatest
922
00:50:05.360 --> 00:50:07.360
wrestler progressor of all time in terms of the body
923
00:50:07.360 --> 00:50:08.920
of work you put together. But Luf Dees didn't like
924
00:50:09.000 --> 00:50:11.519
him because he he didn't seem legit tough enough that
925
00:50:11.840 --> 00:50:14.519
he was too much of a showman. Every generation looks
926
00:50:14.519 --> 00:50:16.679
at the next generation as, oh, they're too much of
927
00:50:16.679 --> 00:50:19.559
a showman. Even see that with Triple H now making
928
00:50:19.679 --> 00:50:23.039
you know, making fun of and Ricardo Rodriguez just talked
929
00:50:23.079 --> 00:50:25.400
about this in an interview this week that I talked
930
00:50:25.400 --> 00:50:29.440
about on the Keller Hotline yesterday, about you know, Triple
931
00:50:29.599 --> 00:50:34.880
H making fun of his style and doing you know,
932
00:50:34.920 --> 00:50:38.400
flips and more athletic moves. Talk about that a little
933
00:50:38.400 --> 00:50:41.920
bit about what it took to become accepted back in
934
00:50:41.960 --> 00:50:46.280
the sixties and seventies as a top or semi top guy,
935
00:50:46.360 --> 00:50:48.599
and how you had to prove that you could when
936
00:50:48.599 --> 00:50:51.400
push comes to shove, literally hold your own in a
937
00:50:51.400 --> 00:50:52.920
street fight like Harley and Verne.
938
00:50:52.760 --> 00:50:56.320
Could well see he will get your chance. It would
939
00:50:56.320 --> 00:50:59.519
come to you you didn't have to wait long. You'd
940
00:50:59.519 --> 00:51:02.039
get tests it every once in a while, if not
941
00:51:02.199 --> 00:51:06.800
in a riot, in a bar somewhere, they'd come to you.
942
00:51:06.800 --> 00:51:08.559
You wouldn't have to go looking for a fight, you'd
943
00:51:08.599 --> 00:51:11.400
find one. But lu says he'd figured everyone should be
944
00:51:11.440 --> 00:51:15.239
a great amateur wrestler, and and uh, most of your
945
00:51:15.239 --> 00:51:18.920
great champions never were. They were just good workers. So
946
00:51:19.360 --> 00:51:21.119
you know, that's the way it is today, is still
947
00:51:21.159 --> 00:51:24.079
the good workers, We don't know. And then and then,
948
00:51:24.159 --> 00:51:26.239
and then I'd even got to a point after after
949
00:51:26.320 --> 00:51:29.719
that where people didn't want to want to be amateur wrestlers.
950
00:51:29.719 --> 00:51:32.039
They didn't want to know, they don't know, people would
951
00:51:32.039 --> 00:51:34.840
think them as amateurs, they would never think them as professionals.
952
00:51:34.840 --> 00:51:36.719
So it changed quite a bit there after.
953
00:51:36.880 --> 00:51:45.360
As how many how many times did you see wrestlers
954
00:51:45.760 --> 00:51:49.280
fight each other for real? And ak, it's probably a
955
00:51:49.360 --> 00:51:52.599
large number, but I don't know outside of a wrestling ring,
956
00:51:52.719 --> 00:51:54.199
like you know, when there when it wasn't a show,
957
00:51:54.760 --> 00:51:57.039
how many times did did you see wrestlers get into
958
00:51:57.440 --> 00:51:59.840
actual fights with each other, be it at bars or
959
00:52:00.159 --> 00:52:00.960
clubs or wherever.
960
00:52:03.159 --> 00:52:08.519
Never, I can't any now, like I say, we picked, Uh,
961
00:52:08.840 --> 00:52:10.480
you know, if we had bad guys who got rid
962
00:52:10.480 --> 00:52:11.000
of them.
963
00:52:11.840 --> 00:52:14.119
Yeah, yeah, interesting, you know.
964
00:52:16.000 --> 00:52:18.280
Like they threw a dinner for me the other day
965
00:52:18.320 --> 00:52:21.559
and Derek Dukes gave the speech. Everywhere he went, people
966
00:52:21.559 --> 00:52:25.000
are always fighting and arguing except here in Minnesota. None
967
00:52:25.000 --> 00:52:27.159
of my guys have forgotten any face with each other.
968
00:52:27.280 --> 00:52:29.360
We never ever had a problem. All the time I
969
00:52:29.440 --> 00:52:32.800
promoted her. Wow, we wouldn't get a bad guy. We
970
00:52:32.960 --> 00:52:36.000
get rid of them. Well, they were really a brotherhood,
971
00:52:36.000 --> 00:52:39.000
they were. They were very tight. Wrestlers are very close
972
00:52:39.039 --> 00:52:41.840
to one another. They can't go out and say as
973
00:52:41.920 --> 00:52:44.000
my brother. Their arm around each other and that like
974
00:52:44.519 --> 00:52:48.840
some people can't. But but they're just as close as anyone.
975
00:52:50.559 --> 00:52:54.880
Michael rubin Uh asked on Twitter, Eddie, was there ever
976
00:52:54.920 --> 00:52:57.800
a match you witnessed that turned into a shoot.
977
00:52:58.920 --> 00:53:01.079
Massa turned into it? No, I can't think of I'm
978
00:53:01.079 --> 00:53:03.239
sure it must have happened somewhere, but I can't think
979
00:53:03.280 --> 00:53:07.719
of it because there's no money in that. And then
980
00:53:08.199 --> 00:53:11.599
it's well, you know, if you've got a guy who
981
00:53:11.599 --> 00:53:13.599
thought he was a shooter, you know every company had
982
00:53:13.599 --> 00:53:16.079
their company shooters, you know, then his next master would
983
00:53:16.079 --> 00:53:19.519
be a Danny Hodge or someone like that. And people
984
00:53:19.559 --> 00:53:23.559
straighten out pretty fast. Then all of a sudden, they're
985
00:53:23.559 --> 00:53:24.800
the nicest guys in the world.
986
00:53:28.639 --> 00:53:30.199
Give yourself a reason to look forward to going to
987
00:53:30.239 --> 00:53:33.760
the mailbox each week with a PW Torch newsletter paper copy.
988
00:53:33.880 --> 00:53:38.280
Subscription details at PW torch dot com slash paper Copy.
989
00:53:38.480 --> 00:53:41.280
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990
00:53:41.280 --> 00:53:43.840
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991
00:53:43.880 --> 00:53:46.119
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992
00:53:46.199 --> 00:53:49.880
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993
00:53:49.880 --> 00:53:54.000
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994
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Zach Haydorn, Torch Talk transcripts, the latest news and more.
995
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PW torch dot com slash paper Copy. Take a break
996
00:54:01.920 --> 00:54:05.079
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997
00:54:05.119 --> 00:54:08.119
megadosua wrestling news and analysis. With a Pro Wrestling Torch
998
00:54:08.199 --> 00:54:11.480
Newsletter paper copy edition in the year twenty twenty two.
999
00:54:12.039 --> 00:54:14.519
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00:54:14.679 --> 00:54:17.719
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1001
00:54:17.719 --> 00:54:24.199
week trial subscription PW Torch dot com slash paper Copy.
1002
00:54:24.960 --> 00:54:28.400
Do you have any examples of somebody who used dot
1003
00:54:28.440 --> 00:54:30.840
come through the locker room and they thought they were
1004
00:54:31.559 --> 00:54:35.679
the biggest badass that ever walked on earth, and an
1005
00:54:35.719 --> 00:54:38.519
example by name of who they were and who humbled
1006
00:54:38.559 --> 00:54:40.440
them and taught them that they weren't.
1007
00:54:42.039 --> 00:54:42.199
Well.
1008
00:54:42.239 --> 00:54:45.360
See, by the time they got up here, they're well established.
1009
00:54:45.400 --> 00:54:47.800
Everyone knew who they were. You didn't have any other
1010
00:54:47.960 --> 00:54:50.079
walk in their just room and say they're a bad ass,
1011
00:54:50.119 --> 00:54:51.920
because they would have got their ask kick if they
1012
00:54:52.000 --> 00:54:56.639
knew it. You know, yeah, they know, they're just you
1013
00:54:56.679 --> 00:54:59.199
know your place. Just be a nice person. That's all
1014
00:54:59.239 --> 00:55:02.480
they ever asked. W you know, well, we had a
1015
00:55:02.480 --> 00:55:04.400
guy here wanting to keep him welka bitch. He went
1016
00:55:04.519 --> 00:55:08.639
as one of the Camelkot brothers and he was a
1017
00:55:08.679 --> 00:55:12.119
bad guy. He was telling guys wives that they're cheating
1018
00:55:12.119 --> 00:55:15.239
on and all that. And I had to work with house.
1019
00:55:15.320 --> 00:55:17.679
I was. I was still doing jobs on TV then
1020
00:55:18.199 --> 00:55:22.440
and I had to work with them and the guys aside. Basically, listen,
1021
00:55:22.519 --> 00:55:24.719
you know, you just do your finish school and your
1022
00:55:24.719 --> 00:55:27.599
finished and I'm beachy, but do everything you can to
1023
00:55:27.639 --> 00:55:30.559
make him look bad. Get up faster than him, and
1024
00:55:31.360 --> 00:55:33.400
be quicker than him, and move better than him. And
1025
00:55:33.440 --> 00:55:37.199
I did that, and uh, he looked like shit, And uh,
1026
00:55:38.599 --> 00:55:42.880
next week they started putting me over and I fired him.
1027
00:55:42.559 --> 00:55:46.440
So I'm happy with that. And everyone hated them, and
1028
00:55:46.639 --> 00:55:48.239
you know, they all were my friends, you know, guys
1029
00:55:48.239 --> 00:55:50.679
that hung out with that's going back to all the
1030
00:55:50.679 --> 00:55:54.039
old great French Canadians and be Lajohn's and Reesel points
1031
00:55:54.079 --> 00:55:56.039
in the Crusher and you know, we had a really
1032
00:55:56.199 --> 00:55:59.599
great bunch of guys back then. We always did, but
1033
00:56:00.360 --> 00:56:01.679
it seemed even better back then.
1034
00:56:04.000 --> 00:56:10.599
Uh, fast forwarding a lot, Eric Rowan Joseph Rudd is credited.
1035
00:56:11.280 --> 00:56:13.800
You're credited for having a hand in training him. Uh
1036
00:56:14.679 --> 00:56:15.800
can you talk about him a little bit?
1037
00:56:20.400 --> 00:56:22.000
What do you call it? With the beards?
1038
00:56:22.480 --> 00:56:23.599
Yeah, with a big red beard.
1039
00:56:25.079 --> 00:56:25.239
No.
1040
00:56:25.280 --> 00:56:26.840
I was just a good I'm just a friend of his.
1041
00:56:27.280 --> 00:56:30.599
We're just friends. I just would do everything I could
1042
00:56:30.840 --> 00:56:32.559
just you know, he's one of them guys that you're
1043
00:56:32.599 --> 00:56:34.559
just like. I wish I could have done a lot
1044
00:56:34.679 --> 00:56:37.159
more for you know. He was just so big and
1045
00:56:37.480 --> 00:56:41.119
a nice guy and just a good guy. And I'm
1046
00:56:41.119 --> 00:56:45.719
so happy he's he's he's where he's at.
1047
00:56:45.400 --> 00:56:47.880
But what involvement, how did how did you know him
1048
00:56:47.880 --> 00:56:50.119
in an under what circumstance did you work with him
1049
00:56:50.159 --> 00:56:52.920
at all or or know him at all.
1050
00:56:53.599 --> 00:56:56.119
It just worked than my shoes. And then I helped
1051
00:56:56.159 --> 00:56:59.440
him every way I could, Yeah, talk to him a lot,
1052
00:56:59.639 --> 00:57:02.119
and after he come back from Japan and that, and
1053
00:57:03.000 --> 00:57:05.000
I guess I had as much to do with with
1054
00:57:05.119 --> 00:57:09.400
him as anybody. I sure tried, because he's really good guy.
1055
00:57:09.440 --> 00:57:15.400
All them guys, they're they're really good guys. Because you know,
1056
00:57:15.599 --> 00:57:18.519
why have he goes back with my old friend Blackjack
1057
00:57:18.559 --> 00:57:22.199
them all again, you know? And uh and in fact,
1058
00:57:22.800 --> 00:57:24.920
I'm nott Wyatt. I didn't know who he was. I
1059
00:57:25.159 --> 00:57:27.960
called up Blackjack and told him how nice it was
1060
00:57:28.039 --> 00:57:31.559
that I meet his grandson. And of course his father's
1061
00:57:31.960 --> 00:57:34.039
Mike Rotunda, was a great guy too, you know. So
1062
00:57:34.599 --> 00:57:36.760
I know the family pretty well. And then they're they're
1063
00:57:36.800 --> 00:57:38.840
just great guys. Now they got the new one in there,
1064
00:57:38.599 --> 00:57:41.239
the young kid who's they're just the nicest guys in
1065
00:57:41.280 --> 00:57:43.440
the world. So it makes me feel good. I've known
1066
00:57:43.480 --> 00:57:48.840
him now one, two, three generations. Another question down to
1067
00:57:48.920 --> 00:57:51.480
the targets, I'm sorry, Oh, yeah.
1068
00:57:51.320 --> 00:57:53.360
Because you get to there's always somebody there that you
1069
00:57:54.679 --> 00:57:55.239
have a history.
1070
00:57:55.440 --> 00:57:58.320
Yeah, I always I've always got a connection with somebody somewhere.
1071
00:57:58.599 --> 00:58:00.559
That's why I go down to the targets and went
1072
00:58:00.599 --> 00:58:03.199
over there in town and you know, keep in touch
1073
00:58:03.239 --> 00:58:06.400
with everybody and see everyone and all that. I certainly
1074
00:58:06.440 --> 00:58:07.119
enjoy it too.
1075
00:58:09.039 --> 00:58:11.280
Another email question came in from Julian who wants to
1076
00:58:11.320 --> 00:58:13.800
know if you believe the Road Warriors are the best
1077
00:58:13.800 --> 00:58:16.360
tag team ever and also how much credit you give
1078
00:58:16.400 --> 00:58:18.519
to Austin Ais for the career that he's had given
1079
00:58:18.519 --> 00:58:19.119
his side.
1080
00:58:20.639 --> 00:58:23.280
Austin Areas is great. I give him all the credit
1081
00:58:23.320 --> 00:58:25.880
in the world. He was always always a good wrestler
1082
00:58:25.960 --> 00:58:28.719
and I trained him with Terry Fox, who was also
1083
00:58:28.760 --> 00:58:31.559
a pretty good trainer too. You know, he was just
1084
00:58:31.599 --> 00:58:33.960
a great guy. And I think the Road Warriors the
1085
00:58:33.960 --> 00:58:35.760
greatest tag team in the world has ever known and
1086
00:58:35.880 --> 00:58:41.000
ever ever will. And now that's what Melzer says, too cool.
1087
00:58:41.320 --> 00:58:46.000
They were an incredible, incredible act, the Road Wors. I
1088
00:58:46.000 --> 00:58:48.320
mean I got to see them, not in Georgia, but
1089
00:58:48.639 --> 00:58:50.119
you know, some of their work in the a w
1090
00:58:50.360 --> 00:58:52.760
A at the Saint Polcific Center predated my doing the
1091
00:58:52.760 --> 00:58:55.480
Torch and it was, you know, it was post Hulk
1092
00:58:55.519 --> 00:58:59.519
Hogan and it was the closest that that building got
1093
00:58:59.599 --> 00:59:01.840
to fear feeling like the whole Comnia era when the
1094
00:59:01.920 --> 00:59:04.960
Road Wars would come out. You know, all the music
1095
00:59:05.000 --> 00:59:07.519
that they had Iron Man was a big part of
1096
00:59:07.519 --> 00:59:09.400
what made that act work. But it went to work
1097
00:59:09.440 --> 00:59:12.440
for just anybody obviously, but that that music and their
1098
00:59:12.519 --> 00:59:15.880
ring entrance, the way that they made that they walked
1099
00:59:15.880 --> 00:59:18.400
to the ring again, this was before there were security
1100
00:59:18.440 --> 00:59:21.480
barriers and surrounded by a bunch of you know, uniformed
1101
00:59:21.920 --> 00:59:24.519
bouncers and all that it was. They walked right through
1102
00:59:24.519 --> 00:59:26.159
the crowd and fans could you know, pat them on
1103
00:59:26.159 --> 00:59:29.079
the shoulder and get up close. And they were intimidating
1104
00:59:29.320 --> 00:59:33.480
and believable and a complete, well rounded act.
1105
00:59:33.960 --> 00:59:34.440
Just it.
1106
00:59:34.639 --> 00:59:37.840
You know, it was one of the last great main
1107
00:59:37.880 --> 00:59:41.159
event acts that the a w A had. The Road
1108
00:59:41.159 --> 00:59:44.119
Wars just were had a phenomenal presence to them, and
1109
00:59:44.159 --> 00:59:47.559
so many people tried to imitate them, and nobody succeeded
1110
00:59:47.800 --> 00:59:52.480
on their level. And why why has there not been
1111
00:59:53.000 --> 00:59:56.639
another new Road Warrior tag team? I mean, within within
1112
00:59:56.679 --> 00:59:59.719
the confines of of everybody being aware of steroids and
1113
01:00:00.119 --> 01:00:02.599
testing procedures, and I mean broder Animal wrote about that
1114
01:00:02.639 --> 01:00:04.360
in his books. So I'm not talking out of school
1115
01:00:04.440 --> 01:00:07.360
or not saying anything not obvious, but you know that
1116
01:00:07.360 --> 01:00:10.280
that somewhat limits the look that they had, but the
1117
01:00:10.320 --> 01:00:14.119
idea of just a badass street tough tag team where
1118
01:00:14.159 --> 01:00:18.440
there's two personalities who just stand out so much but
1119
01:00:18.599 --> 01:00:22.039
look like badass bouncers. It's just why hasn't that another
1120
01:00:22.079 --> 01:00:24.480
one come around? That should be the easiest in a way,
1121
01:00:24.519 --> 01:00:26.559
it seems like it should be the easiest act to create.
1122
01:00:28.079 --> 01:00:30.159
Well, I think everyone in the world is asking the
1123
01:00:30.159 --> 01:00:33.599
same question. Why I know, I've heard it one hundred
1124
01:00:33.639 --> 01:00:37.400
thousand times and nobody knows. Yes, when that happens is
1125
01:00:37.519 --> 01:00:40.159
maybe because they're for real. They were tough guys right
1126
01:00:40.199 --> 01:00:43.320
out of a tough bar, right, you know, real street fighters.
1127
01:00:43.519 --> 01:00:46.039
I don't know. Well, if I knew, I'd do it again.
1128
01:00:46.679 --> 01:00:50.679
That is the right answer, right, yeah. Ah, let's go
1129
01:00:50.719 --> 01:00:52.199
ahead and take a phone call. This is Louis. You
1130
01:00:52.239 --> 01:00:54.639
have to remember Louie calling from New Jersey. Thanks for calling, Louis.
1131
01:00:54.960 --> 01:00:56.559
What have you got for Addy? T're going on?
1132
01:00:57.320 --> 01:00:59.280
Yeah, I just have to take it all speaker for
1133
01:00:59.320 --> 01:01:01.719
a second. I have to wait to get you a
1134
01:01:01.760 --> 01:01:04.800
little pad out because I'm just gonna ask three questions
1135
01:01:04.880 --> 01:01:07.320
like I guess I'll just eat it, just ask them
1136
01:01:07.320 --> 01:01:08.239
straight through that fought.
1137
01:01:09.119 --> 01:01:11.760
Yeah, yeah, go ahead, yep, very.
1138
01:01:11.599 --> 01:01:15.480
Cool with veran Gania and whatnot. Back in the n
1139
01:01:15.599 --> 01:01:18.079
w A, my thing is just like with any of
1140
01:01:18.119 --> 01:01:21.199
the big territories, even like the Memphis territory and whatnot.
1141
01:01:21.480 --> 01:01:25.400
You know, the promoter always liked to have the champions
1142
01:01:25.760 --> 01:01:30.079
as either himself or somebody that he can't pick, even
1143
01:01:30.119 --> 01:01:34.000
now with Sena, you know in Wven though Sena doesn't
1144
01:01:34.000 --> 01:01:36.199
have the belt right now. But the thing is my
1145
01:01:36.400 --> 01:01:39.800
thing is if you know that the promoter is going
1146
01:01:39.840 --> 01:01:43.239
to be the champion, I mean, what light at the
1147
01:01:43.320 --> 01:01:46.480
end of the tunnel? And you know, I don't even
1148
01:01:46.519 --> 01:01:48.519
know how to ask exactly, like what light at the
1149
01:01:48.639 --> 01:01:50.599
end of the tunnel? Did the wrestlers that it's the
1150
01:01:50.639 --> 01:01:54.800
lower card guys or even the lower top guys? I mean,
1151
01:01:55.239 --> 01:01:58.840
like what insensitive was given to them if they knew
1152
01:01:58.880 --> 01:02:00.719
that the promoter was always to be on top. So
1153
01:02:00.760 --> 01:02:03.440
that's my question and then I'll ask the other two
1154
01:02:03.519 --> 01:02:05.719
right now, which is did you have I don't know
1155
01:02:05.760 --> 01:02:09.639
if your paths ever crossed? Thanks so by looking at
1156
01:02:09.639 --> 01:02:13.400
your history, but have you if your paths have never crossed?
1157
01:02:14.320 --> 01:02:18.039
Can you tell us any ultimate warrior stories on life?
1158
01:02:18.119 --> 01:02:21.199
But both are like fact stories that really like either
1159
01:02:21.360 --> 01:02:24.880
back up or don't support why people bashed them so much?
1160
01:02:25.239 --> 01:02:27.519
And a last police, I just want to know if
1161
01:02:27.559 --> 01:02:31.199
there is just a since you were a trainer, was
1162
01:02:31.239 --> 01:02:35.079
there just like a natural is there a natural like
1163
01:02:35.199 --> 01:02:41.199
current bitterness, like you know, towards the current generation right now,
1164
01:02:41.239 --> 01:02:43.280
you know, since they have the performance center and they
1165
01:02:43.320 --> 01:02:47.360
have pretty much everything given to them, and like, for example,
1166
01:02:47.400 --> 01:02:50.920
are you worried about them not being humble and not
1167
01:02:51.039 --> 01:02:54.320
being grateful, you know, for what they got, you know,
1168
01:02:54.360 --> 01:02:56.480
in comparison to how you guys had it back in
1169
01:02:56.519 --> 01:02:59.480
the day. And that's it. You're commuting now, Thanks, appreciate.
1170
01:02:59.119 --> 01:03:02.159
It, Sorry for the kambozy, thankfully, very good, very good.
1171
01:03:03.119 --> 01:03:08.199
No bitterness, No no, no, they're they're they're not getting
1172
01:03:08.440 --> 01:03:10.519
everything given to them. They're working their ass off for
1173
01:03:10.599 --> 01:03:13.280
everything they get. They're going to make them long trips.
1174
01:03:13.320 --> 01:03:16.559
They got to the worst way of traveling on an airplane.
1175
01:03:16.800 --> 01:03:18.760
It was easy in the car. You get a few guys,
1176
01:03:18.800 --> 01:03:20.800
you have a couple of beers, you got someone to
1177
01:03:20.840 --> 01:03:23.519
talk to. An airplane, you got nobody. No, they're they're
1178
01:03:23.519 --> 01:03:25.760
getting they're they're getting nothing given to them. They're earning
1179
01:03:25.800 --> 01:03:29.199
every everything they get. I hope they make millions of dollars.
1180
01:03:29.199 --> 01:03:31.800
They deserve it. As far as the Ultimate Warrior, I
1181
01:03:31.840 --> 01:03:34.880
never met him. I seen him in the back at
1182
01:03:34.920 --> 01:03:38.119
the matches, but I never really talked to him. And
1183
01:03:38.280 --> 01:03:42.039
as far as the promoter making himself a champion, well, eagle,
1184
01:03:42.760 --> 01:03:44.960
you know, you know burn A lot of guys say,
1185
01:03:45.000 --> 01:03:48.000
you know they had big eagles. And another thing, you
1186
01:03:48.079 --> 01:03:50.920
got somebody to depend on. You know, the champion is
1187
01:03:50.960 --> 01:03:53.519
not going to hold you for more money or walk
1188
01:03:53.559 --> 01:03:56.400
out on you, which would happen. So that's a good
1189
01:03:56.440 --> 01:04:00.320
reason too, because you could depend on yourself. And that's
1190
01:04:00.320 --> 01:04:00.719
about it.
1191
01:04:06.760 --> 01:04:10.519
I'm Kelly Wells, host of PWT Talks NXT, the longest
1192
01:04:10.599 --> 01:04:14.519
running NXT podcast anywhere. Join me along with Nate Lindberg,
1193
01:04:14.599 --> 01:04:18.079
Bruce Lee, Hazelwood and special guests, live every Tuesday night,
1194
01:04:18.440 --> 01:04:21.559
just minutes after NXT, where we cover the good, the bad,
1195
01:04:21.639 --> 01:04:23.519
and the ugly on the way to becoming a star
1196
01:04:23.639 --> 01:04:27.360
in WWE. Check us out live on YouTube or stream later.
1197
01:04:27.239 --> 01:04:38.880
Wherever you get your podcasts.
1198
01:04:38.360 --> 01:04:43.000
The idea is that to be the champion, you had
1199
01:04:43.039 --> 01:04:45.199
to be really tired with the promoter or the promoter himself.
1200
01:04:45.239 --> 01:04:52.960
I think Louie's wondering was that did that cause an
1201
01:04:53.039 --> 01:04:56.320
issue with wrestlers feeling like they could really reach their
1202
01:04:56.360 --> 01:04:58.960
potential if they felt like there was no chance for
1203
01:04:59.000 --> 01:05:01.039
them because they the promoter or the front of the
1204
01:05:01.039 --> 01:05:03.599
promoter to be champion. And I think that taps into
1205
01:05:03.920 --> 01:05:06.960
a change in in wrestling over the past twenty years
1206
01:05:06.960 --> 01:05:10.079
compared to the decades before that, which is, most wrestlers
1207
01:05:10.119 --> 01:05:12.320
didn't enter wrestling thinking they had a chance to become
1208
01:05:12.360 --> 01:05:15.559
world champion. Most wrestlers didn't think you had to be
1209
01:05:15.599 --> 01:05:18.960
a world champion to have a successful career. Being a
1210
01:05:18.960 --> 01:05:23.039
world champion was something that just a very small handful
1211
01:05:23.519 --> 01:05:26.760
of the hundreds of guys working full time would ever achieve.
1212
01:05:26.800 --> 01:05:29.800
It wasn't because today it seems that he like world
1213
01:05:29.800 --> 01:05:33.639
titles are handed off handed around to anybody who gets
1214
01:05:33.719 --> 01:05:37.280
over slightly, and it just wasn't always that way. It
1215
01:05:38.360 --> 01:05:40.880
wasn't expected that everybody or half the guys in the
1216
01:05:40.920 --> 01:05:42.760
territory would get a run with a belt.
1217
01:05:44.000 --> 01:05:46.800
In all championships mean nothing. They don't mean nothing now,
1218
01:05:46.840 --> 01:05:47.840
and they meant nothing now.
1219
01:05:48.440 --> 01:05:48.639
You know.
1220
01:05:49.039 --> 01:05:52.599
It's a funny story. And then happened to me. I
1221
01:05:52.639 --> 01:05:56.280
didn't say it. Sometimes a wrestler has been saying, I
1222
01:05:56.360 --> 01:05:58.159
need more money. I got to have more money. I'm
1223
01:05:58.159 --> 01:06:01.559
going to go to another territory. Have like twenty some
1224
01:06:01.800 --> 01:06:04.559
territories we could work in back then. But they say,
1225
01:06:04.639 --> 01:06:06.360
but I'll tell you what. We can't give you any
1226
01:06:06.360 --> 01:06:08.199
more money, but we're going to give you the belt.
1227
01:06:09.280 --> 01:06:12.559
And the sucker would go for it, you know, yeah,
1228
01:06:12.760 --> 01:06:15.280
oh the belt, go for me. Get my picture taken
1229
01:06:15.320 --> 01:06:17.480
with a belt, and they go for it, and i'd
1230
01:06:17.519 --> 01:06:20.880
we'd laugh about it. And out of Saint Joe, Kansas
1231
01:06:20.880 --> 01:06:22.519
City one time and I said, well, you know, I
1232
01:06:23.280 --> 01:06:25.840
gotta go now, because you know up in Minneapolis, you know,
1233
01:06:25.920 --> 01:06:28.679
things are pretty good up there. And they said, no,
1234
01:06:28.840 --> 01:06:30.679
you stay here. We're going to give you the belt.
1235
01:06:30.880 --> 01:06:33.519
We're going to make you the champion. I said, okay,
1236
01:06:33.639 --> 01:06:37.119
I'll stay in. Sure enough, they put me over Roger
1237
01:06:37.199 --> 01:06:40.800
Kirby and Wadu. Iwa wow. I got a belt, you know.
1238
01:06:40.840 --> 01:06:43.159
And I brought it back to Minneapolis and showed everybody.
1239
01:06:43.199 --> 01:06:46.360
And then I remember my first match in Sedelia, Missouri
1240
01:06:46.400 --> 01:06:48.719
as a champion. My payoff went up three dollars a night.
1241
01:06:50.000 --> 01:06:52.400
That's about what the belt was worth. Not only that,
1242
01:06:52.519 --> 01:06:55.960
then at some places I couldn't get beat but I'd
1243
01:06:55.960 --> 01:06:58.679
have to go like an Ottowa with guys like Pat O'Connor,
1244
01:06:58.760 --> 01:07:01.199
who is one of the great world champions. Ever, you know,
1245
01:07:02.239 --> 01:07:05.000
the playoff, maybe I got another four dollars and that's
1246
01:07:05.000 --> 01:07:07.119
what the belt was. That's about what this was?
1247
01:07:08.480 --> 01:07:13.119
What what was there a Was there a reverence in
1248
01:07:13.199 --> 01:07:17.880
the locker room for the world champion of the territory? Well,
1249
01:07:17.880 --> 01:07:20.400
I mean, did other guys go this guy earned it,
1250
01:07:20.440 --> 01:07:22.840
deserves it, and he's the locker room leader and the
1251
01:07:22.880 --> 01:07:26.159
guy who's drawing the crowds and and or or not?
1252
01:07:26.840 --> 01:07:28.599
What was the attitude in the locker room towards the champion,
1253
01:07:28.599 --> 01:07:29.960
because I mean over the over the decades, I mean
1254
01:07:30.000 --> 01:07:32.719
I've heard that the world champion, even Ring of Honor
1255
01:07:32.760 --> 01:07:35.079
had an issue with Michael Egan recently about you know,
1256
01:07:35.119 --> 01:07:37.360
whether he had the full support of the locker room
1257
01:07:37.360 --> 01:07:38.840
and the respect of the locker room that he was
1258
01:07:39.639 --> 01:07:42.000
deserving and carrying the title in the way that they
1259
01:07:42.079 --> 01:07:44.559
expected the champion to do so? Was was that an
1260
01:07:44.559 --> 01:07:47.599
issue for that you observed in the sixties and seventies.
1261
01:07:49.039 --> 01:07:52.159
No, we have so many great wrestlers now. Every champion
1262
01:07:52.159 --> 01:07:54.679
we had deserved to be a champion, and they drew money.
1263
01:07:54.840 --> 01:07:58.039
Harley raised pressure. All them guys, the mad dogs, they
1264
01:07:58.079 --> 01:08:00.039
all drew money, or they wouldn't be champion. Say, I
1265
01:08:00.039 --> 01:08:03.440
always had respect. They had respect before they're a champion,
1266
01:08:03.480 --> 01:08:07.280
and after they're a champion. It didn't mean really except
1267
01:08:07.320 --> 01:08:09.400
you know, you want to be a you know, championship
1268
01:08:09.440 --> 01:08:10.840
match with a hot match. You want to be on
1269
01:08:10.880 --> 01:08:15.159
the show because you make more money. Favor carn't right.
1270
01:08:16.239 --> 01:08:18.680
Did was the world champion usually a locker room leader?
1271
01:08:18.920 --> 01:08:21.840
Or did the world champion isolate himself most often when
1272
01:08:21.880 --> 01:08:24.439
you were around, whether it was Werner, Pat O'Connor, whomever,
1273
01:08:24.960 --> 01:08:27.960
Did the champions get treated differently and act differently?
1274
01:08:29.319 --> 01:08:32.319
No, champion is one of the boys. He had to
1275
01:08:32.319 --> 01:08:34.000
be one of the boys because he wouldn't be a
1276
01:08:34.079 --> 01:08:36.159
champion unless all of them guys put him up there.
1277
01:08:36.359 --> 01:08:38.319
They're the guys that made him the champion. The guys
1278
01:08:38.319 --> 01:08:41.079
in the dressing room. No, they they wouldn't isolate them.
1279
01:08:41.399 --> 01:08:45.279
One guy did. One guy Luthez would isolate himself. He's
1280
01:08:45.319 --> 01:08:47.199
the only one that did. The rest of them they
1281
01:08:47.640 --> 01:08:51.439
understood why they're a champion because the guys put him
1282
01:08:51.520 --> 01:08:53.119
up there. The wrestlers.
1283
01:08:53.920 --> 01:08:56.079
A lot of people have a lot of reverence for Luths,
1284
01:08:56.119 --> 01:08:59.520
but I hear guys who know wrestling history who are
1285
01:08:59.560 --> 01:09:03.319
a little bit critical of lou for what you describe
1286
01:09:03.439 --> 01:09:07.520
being judgmental, uh, not adapting with the times, being judgmental,
1287
01:09:07.640 --> 01:09:12.359
perhaps being overly having an ego that showed itself a
1288
01:09:12.359 --> 01:09:13.680
little bit more than a lot of the guys that
1289
01:09:13.720 --> 01:09:16.359
you talk about. And it's interesting you say that he
1290
01:09:16.439 --> 01:09:18.479
was the guy who you know, that you remember, who
1291
01:09:18.560 --> 01:09:19.560
did isolate himself.
1292
01:09:20.840 --> 01:09:23.600
Yeah. I can't say really nothing about him. I can't
1293
01:09:23.600 --> 01:09:27.079
tell you, you know, I got so many good things to
1294
01:09:27.119 --> 01:09:29.279
say about so many many guys, but I can't tell
1295
01:09:29.279 --> 01:09:31.840
you nothing good about him at all. He was, he was,
1296
01:09:33.079 --> 01:09:35.560
and he was a good restler. He was no Ray Stevens,
1297
01:09:35.680 --> 01:09:37.720
or he was no Harley Race or he was never
1298
01:09:37.760 --> 01:09:42.960
that good. No, I don't understand the big thing about him.
1299
01:09:43.279 --> 01:09:45.560
He was one who's a good worker and a good
1300
01:09:45.560 --> 01:09:47.680
aff any respect of the business. He wore a suit
1301
01:09:47.680 --> 01:09:49.159
all the time, and that's about all.
1302
01:09:50.800 --> 01:09:51.039
Today.
1303
01:09:51.479 --> 01:09:52.560
Nothing, what's just a good thing.
1304
01:09:54.039 --> 01:09:56.239
I think he could get across, Oh, I think he
1305
01:09:56.279 --> 01:10:00.159
could get over as a heel today for being real,
1306
01:10:00.000 --> 01:10:05.640
really good but carrying himself like he thought that that
1307
01:10:05.640 --> 01:10:07.800
that being really good at wrestling was the be all
1308
01:10:07.800 --> 01:10:10.800
and end all, and expecting a level of reverence paid
1309
01:10:10.800 --> 01:10:13.560
to him that that other people found distasteful. And a
1310
01:10:13.640 --> 01:10:15.239
guy who I've seen do that today. And I don't
1311
01:10:15.239 --> 01:10:16.439
know if you've seen much of his work, I don't
1312
01:10:16.439 --> 01:10:19.960
know how much you watched today, but Antonio Cizarro in WWE,
1313
01:10:20.439 --> 01:10:24.359
especially when he did the initial nice thing. Yeah, super
1314
01:10:24.439 --> 01:10:27.560
nice guy, super intellectual, super smart, and know it's always
1315
01:10:27.199 --> 01:10:31.720
like where's a suit? Tremendous least and he to me,
1316
01:10:31.840 --> 01:10:33.640
he seems like a throwback. He's a guy that you
1317
01:10:33.640 --> 01:10:36.520
could have dropped into the sixties and he would have
1318
01:10:37.000 --> 01:10:40.760
completely fit in. And when I envisions how to make
1319
01:10:40.800 --> 01:10:42.960
money with him, I think the way to make money
1320
01:10:43.000 --> 01:10:46.159
with him today is to have him be an exaggerated
1321
01:10:46.239 --> 01:10:50.640
version of the bad parts of luthe's's reputation a guy
1322
01:10:50.640 --> 01:10:54.359
who's really good but isolates himself from everybody else and
1323
01:10:54.479 --> 01:10:58.079
acts above them. And that's just it's just inter I mean,
1324
01:10:58.199 --> 01:11:00.840
just kind of throwing an idea out there. But Cizarrow
1325
01:11:00.880 --> 01:11:04.199
is somebody who carries himself like that old time champion.
1326
01:11:04.560 --> 01:11:06.600
But maybe someone who would take himself a little seriously
1327
01:11:06.600 --> 01:11:09.399
and isolate himself from the boys.
1328
01:11:09.439 --> 01:11:11.359
You know, I thought the same thing about him. He
1329
01:11:11.439 --> 01:11:15.640
reminded me so much of that great a French Canadian
1330
01:11:15.800 --> 01:11:18.520
a wrestler I want to say, the Hans von Schmidt.
1331
01:11:18.760 --> 01:11:22.640
I think it was. He looked like him. But another thing,
1332
01:11:23.399 --> 01:11:26.119
just think about wrestling history. You talk about vern Gania
1333
01:11:26.560 --> 01:11:29.199
and you talk about Luthez. Just think of the money
1334
01:11:29.239 --> 01:11:32.000
they'd have made, especially vern if he'd have turned heel.
1335
01:11:32.680 --> 01:11:35.159
But the Eagles wouldn't let him think about that.
1336
01:11:35.239 --> 01:11:42.079
Ah, yes, yeah, it would Like the idea of vern
1337
01:11:42.159 --> 01:11:46.720
Gania turning heel was because everybody talks about John Cena incessantly.
1338
01:11:47.000 --> 01:11:48.439
A day doesn't go by in my job, or I
1339
01:11:48.439 --> 01:11:51.199
don't get an email or a phone call, or somebody
1340
01:11:51.199 --> 01:11:53.079
bring up that possibility. Why don't they do it? They'd
1341
01:11:53.119 --> 01:11:54.760
make money? And you know the reason they don't do
1342
01:11:54.800 --> 01:11:56.920
it is because once you do it, you've done it,
1343
01:11:56.920 --> 01:11:57.600
it's done.
1344
01:11:59.039 --> 01:12:00.720
Get to do it, you know, back and forth like
1345
01:12:00.720 --> 01:12:01.880
they do. They do it all the time.
1346
01:12:01.920 --> 01:12:04.880
Now, well, true, but there'll never be a first time
1347
01:12:05.000 --> 01:12:07.319
he'll turn for John Cena, just like there's only one
1348
01:12:07.479 --> 01:12:09.479
you know, I don't.
1349
01:12:09.479 --> 01:12:09.960
I don't know.
1350
01:12:10.279 --> 01:12:13.560
Yeah, yeah, it would be a great hel he would
1351
01:12:14.479 --> 01:12:16.960
do it. But oh yeah, well he could do anything.
1352
01:12:17.439 --> 01:12:19.720
Well, no, he's he could be a really good heel.
1353
01:12:19.760 --> 01:12:22.359
But I guess my question is, did Vern when you
1354
01:12:22.359 --> 01:12:24.600
were in A w A were there, did you ever
1355
01:12:24.640 --> 01:12:26.920
hear that subject get brought up in a serious way
1356
01:12:27.199 --> 01:12:29.239
where people thought, Hey, if we want to pop the territory,
1357
01:12:29.279 --> 01:12:30.920
all we have to do is have Vern turn heel.
1358
01:12:31.159 --> 01:12:34.359
Because Vern was an institution in the A w A territory,
1359
01:12:34.439 --> 01:12:38.279
especially Minnesota, in a way that you know, Brett Farv
1360
01:12:38.399 --> 01:12:40.079
used to be in Green Bay and maybe still is,
1361
01:12:40.479 --> 01:12:43.039
and the way that John Cena is on a national
1362
01:12:43.119 --> 01:12:45.640
level with a certain part of the fan base. Did
1363
01:12:45.880 --> 01:12:48.319
was there ever a time where Verne thought, yeah, I'm
1364
01:12:48.319 --> 01:12:51.079
gonna throw away my my reputation in the community and
1365
01:12:51.079 --> 01:12:54.039
and reputation to to to make a little bit extra
1366
01:12:54.079 --> 01:12:55.000
money by going heel.
1367
01:12:56.359 --> 01:13:00.359
Never, Nope, it's never got up. Well, we have some
1368
01:13:00.560 --> 01:13:02.119
good workers, and you know, look at all the great
1369
01:13:02.119 --> 01:13:04.359
heels we had. Crusher was a heel, the mad Dog
1370
01:13:04.479 --> 01:13:06.640
was a hill. We have mister m and you know,
1371
01:13:06.680 --> 01:13:09.640
the list goes on and on. You could get anyone
1372
01:13:09.680 --> 01:13:11.840
in the world. Barn had all the power he could
1373
01:13:11.840 --> 01:13:14.079
bring in, all the great heels in the world he
1374
01:13:14.079 --> 01:13:16.720
could bring in, so we didn't need that.
1375
01:13:16.760 --> 01:13:19.279
The ultimate answer just staff the andy and you did it.
1376
01:13:20.000 --> 01:13:22.600
So Yeah, the ultimate answer to why not why you
1377
01:13:22.640 --> 01:13:25.359
shouldn't turn John Cena heel is that would be a
1378
01:13:25.399 --> 01:13:28.520
sign of failure that you didn't develop enough heels to
1379
01:13:28.520 --> 01:13:29.319
make money with John.
1380
01:13:31.439 --> 01:13:33.800
Well, there's a lot of ways of looking at it.
1381
01:13:33.840 --> 01:13:38.359
Whatever works at the boss office all that matters. Yeah, everything,
1382
01:13:39.640 --> 01:13:41.840
I don't know. Yeah, I try to figure out what's
1383
01:13:41.840 --> 01:13:43.680
taking us out. I never could, never will.
1384
01:13:46.399 --> 01:13:48.159
We're about to go to a commercial break. Why list
1385
01:13:48.239 --> 01:13:50.680
of commercial breaks? When you can go v ip and
1386
01:13:50.760 --> 01:13:53.439
experience our shows with the ads and plugs removed. Pw
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01:13:53.479 --> 01:13:57.159
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01:13:57.199 --> 01:14:00.119
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01:14:00.159 --> 01:14:03.920
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01:14:03.920 --> 01:14:06.239
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01:14:08.800 --> 01:14:11.600
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1393
01:14:11.640 --> 01:14:14.840
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1394
01:14:15.159 --> 01:14:17.119
with a VIP or Patreon membership.
1395
01:14:20.319 --> 01:14:24.000
Let's take Oh, go ahead, go ahead, Eddie. I'm sorry,
1396
01:14:24.000 --> 01:14:24.720
I don't mean talk avery.
1397
01:14:24.960 --> 01:14:27.439
Well, I mean the problem nowadays is I'm talking on
1398
01:14:27.479 --> 01:14:31.079
a local level now. Yeah, every all the local promoters,
1399
01:14:31.119 --> 01:14:32.680
and we got some good ones. We haven't drawn some
1400
01:14:32.920 --> 01:14:36.119
who good houses in Bloomington every last Friday and every
1401
01:14:36.119 --> 01:14:40.439
month after KC Hall, we've drawn good houses, great houses.
1402
01:14:40.720 --> 01:14:45.079
Everyone is in the storyline storylines us and I'm old
1403
01:14:45.119 --> 01:14:47.199
school and I'm just in the dressing room and I'm
1404
01:14:47.239 --> 01:14:49.640
saying the best storyline is a good wrestler, you know.
1405
01:14:49.920 --> 01:14:51.840
And we go back and forth and back and forth,
1406
01:14:51.880 --> 01:14:56.279
and what cause it is changing? So but anyway, it's working.
1407
01:14:56.399 --> 01:15:00.119
So I don't say much that I still believe, but
1408
01:15:00.239 --> 01:15:01.600
that's gimmick is a good worker.
1409
01:15:03.000 --> 01:15:05.600
Yeah, and something we said for that. Let's let's go
1410
01:15:05.600 --> 01:15:07.960
to another call here. This is Erico three four seven
1411
01:15:08.000 --> 01:15:09.880
in New York. Please state your name and the city
1412
01:15:09.920 --> 01:15:10.720
you're calling from today.
1413
01:15:12.039 --> 01:15:13.640
Hello, this is Christian, New York.
1414
01:15:15.199 --> 01:15:16.680
Hey, Chris, what have you got for Eddie Sharky?
1415
01:15:17.560 --> 01:15:18.119
I'm fine.
1416
01:15:18.159 --> 01:15:22.800
I have two questions. Does anything that K and A
1417
01:15:23.399 --> 01:15:26.479
is similar to what the aw was. The aw a
1418
01:15:26.720 --> 01:15:29.159
was when he was about to fade away. And the
1419
01:15:29.199 --> 01:15:32.199
second question about Vince McMahon did some of the old
1420
01:15:32.239 --> 01:15:35.239
time promoters did they get joy out of the fact
1421
01:15:35.319 --> 01:15:38.159
that Ted Turner was actually taking the fight to him
1422
01:15:38.640 --> 01:15:41.039
or do they feel it was kind of different because
1423
01:15:41.159 --> 01:15:44.760
Vince McMahon was created his old empire in the eighties
1424
01:15:44.960 --> 01:15:47.239
where Ted Turner was beating him because he had so
1425
01:15:47.319 --> 01:15:49.960
much more money and cable networks, et cetera.
1426
01:15:51.640 --> 01:15:52.359
You know, I don't know.
1427
01:15:52.600 --> 01:15:56.279
I'm gonna I'm a big Vince McMahon fan. See, I'm
1428
01:15:56.279 --> 01:15:58.199
a fan of Vince McMahon, and I can talk all
1429
01:15:58.279 --> 01:16:00.279
day and tell you why. I mean, he's been really
1430
01:16:00.319 --> 01:16:04.520
good to me for one reason. And how many promoters
1431
01:16:04.560 --> 01:16:07.439
are good to the old wrestlers He still sends money to.
1432
01:16:07.520 --> 01:16:09.760
Some of the old guys are too crippled up to work.
1433
01:16:10.560 --> 01:16:13.920
And you know, a guy with that attitude has just
1434
01:16:13.960 --> 01:16:16.479
got to succeed because the boys will be behind him.
1435
01:16:17.439 --> 01:16:19.680
And I don't know about Ted Turner, I never met him.
1436
01:16:19.680 --> 01:16:20.960
Wait did and out together?
1437
01:16:22.039 --> 01:16:24.239
Well? And the thing about Ted Turner, Chris is Ted
1438
01:16:24.239 --> 01:16:28.319
Turner built an empire too. It's just Ted Turner diversified,
1439
01:16:28.359 --> 01:16:30.680
you know, had a more diversified empire that allowed him
1440
01:16:30.720 --> 01:16:33.279
as Vincent Man hated. I mean, Vincent Man called me
1441
01:16:33.359 --> 01:16:36.600
up one time and complained for I don't know, twenty
1442
01:16:36.600 --> 01:16:38.760
minutes on the phone about Ted Turner using money from
1443
01:16:38.760 --> 01:16:40.920
other divisions to try to put him out of business.
1444
01:16:41.439 --> 01:16:43.560
But they both built their own empires. They both came
1445
01:16:43.560 --> 01:16:46.640
from humble beginning. So the idea that you know, you know,
1446
01:16:46.680 --> 01:16:49.359
Ted Turner beat up on Vincent Mann and Vince you know,
1447
01:16:49.399 --> 01:16:51.720
built his empire, you know, built his business himself, well,
1448
01:16:51.760 --> 01:16:53.680
Ted did too, and Ted had every right to take
1449
01:16:53.680 --> 01:16:55.880
it to Vince the same way that Vince took it
1450
01:16:55.920 --> 01:16:58.279
to the territory promoters back in the mid eighties when
1451
01:16:58.279 --> 01:17:00.560
he you know, rated Wally Carbo and Vern Gany and
1452
01:17:00.600 --> 01:17:03.279
a w a of their talent. So it's just that's
1453
01:17:03.359 --> 01:17:06.479
that's promoting. That's business. That's that's what's done. And you
1454
01:17:06.479 --> 01:17:09.119
don't you don't get into the wrestling business, Eddie with
1455
01:17:09.159 --> 01:17:12.039
the promise that the only competition you'll ever face are
1456
01:17:12.079 --> 01:17:14.720
people with the same amount of resources as you, that
1457
01:17:14.840 --> 01:17:17.479
you succeed by beating people who have a lot more
1458
01:17:17.520 --> 01:17:21.039
and a lot less. Uh, and and and yeah, so
1459
01:17:21.119 --> 01:17:23.279
the idea that Verne was treated or I'm sorry that
1460
01:17:23.359 --> 01:17:26.279
Vince got treated unfairly by Ted Turner because Ted had
1461
01:17:26.600 --> 01:17:30.000
succeeded in building a business outside of wrestling. That just
1462
01:17:30.159 --> 01:17:33.520
that's just Soeller grapes. You know, Vern Vince, excuse me,
1463
01:17:33.640 --> 01:17:36.840
Vern Vince eventually won. You know, Vince Vince ended up
1464
01:17:37.039 --> 01:17:39.600
winning that war, and he had the staying power, but
1465
01:17:39.680 --> 01:17:42.000
he had less resources to work with, and he still
1466
01:17:42.039 --> 01:17:44.039
managed to do it, thanks in great part to Stone
1467
01:17:44.039 --> 01:17:44.800
Cold Steve Boston.
1468
01:17:46.640 --> 01:17:51.640
Right. Yeah, I don't have the TNA.
1469
01:17:53.079 --> 01:17:57.520
Yeah, yeah, I know what to do with them. I
1470
01:17:57.560 --> 01:18:00.000
don't know if the DNA analogy holds up very well.
1471
01:18:00.479 --> 01:18:04.760
But the dying days of the a W A you know,
1472
01:18:04.960 --> 01:18:06.640
it had to be said. I mean the a WA
1473
01:18:06.680 --> 01:18:08.680
it was, you know, it was just a logo and
1474
01:18:08.960 --> 01:18:11.680
you know, a family of you know, Verngania promoting the
1475
01:18:11.680 --> 01:18:15.039
business with Wally but knowing what it once was. I
1476
01:18:15.079 --> 01:18:17.960
know from people, you know, friends of the Torch All
1477
01:18:18.000 --> 01:18:20.119
Start contributed to store Pew the Torch All Star panel,
1478
01:18:20.159 --> 01:18:22.760
mccarsh and George Shire, they've been on this show and
1479
01:18:22.840 --> 01:18:25.760
it was they talk about it. It was sad to
1480
01:18:25.880 --> 01:18:29.760
watch the AWA get to the state that it did
1481
01:18:30.399 --> 01:18:33.000
and to fade away. It's you know, people are depressed
1482
01:18:33.039 --> 01:18:34.840
right now in Minnesota over how the Vikings got beat
1483
01:18:34.920 --> 01:18:38.039
up by the Packers last night on national television. You know,
1484
01:18:38.119 --> 01:18:40.119
that's kind of how a WA fans felt. But it
1485
01:18:40.159 --> 01:18:43.560
was a much slower forty two to ten defeat. It took,
1486
01:18:43.600 --> 01:18:47.159
you know, six seven years of really just oh you know,
1487
01:18:47.319 --> 01:18:51.680
really bad failures to make comebacks. You know. So how
1488
01:18:51.760 --> 01:18:53.199
did that feel for you being such a big part
1489
01:18:53.199 --> 01:18:53.880
of it for so long?
1490
01:18:55.039 --> 01:18:57.560
Well, of course, you know Vernon and I we had
1491
01:18:57.560 --> 01:19:00.439
that big fight and you know, the shooting up all yeah,
1492
01:19:00.479 --> 01:19:05.680
you know that story. That's but anyway, I'll tell you.
1493
01:19:06.279 --> 01:19:08.960
For people who don't know that was going to happen.
1494
01:19:10.720 --> 01:19:13.279
Yeah, thirteen shots, twelve and clad one in the chamber,
1495
01:19:13.399 --> 01:19:16.880
nine milimeters Brownie, high power. I gotta tell the story
1496
01:19:16.880 --> 01:19:18.840
everywhere I go, but it's it's a good one.
1497
01:19:20.239 --> 01:19:20.560
Everywhere.
1498
01:19:21.720 --> 01:19:24.520
But anyway, nobody got.
1499
01:19:24.399 --> 01:19:27.600
Hurt friends, you know, no, no nobody got hurt, right
1500
01:19:27.800 --> 01:19:31.000
we no, no one got hurt. No, no, no, we
1501
01:19:31.119 --> 01:19:34.439
became friends. We made up because his territory was in
1502
01:19:34.479 --> 01:19:38.680
the toilet and he needed the road Warriors, so I'm
1503
01:19:38.720 --> 01:19:41.239
having meetings with Wally Cabo and going back and front.
1504
01:19:41.399 --> 01:19:44.000
So the phone rings and the Road Warriors said, we
1505
01:19:44.119 --> 01:19:46.479
just lost he just lost the TV. We're out of work.
1506
01:19:47.199 --> 01:19:49.319
I said, well, come on home. It was you know,
1507
01:19:49.800 --> 01:19:53.079
everything with them guys. Just one was so good. I said,
1508
01:19:53.119 --> 01:19:54.800
come on home. So I got the Road Warriors in
1509
01:19:54.880 --> 01:19:56.560
and that's where he's seen him in Saint Paul. And
1510
01:19:56.600 --> 01:19:59.680
I was refereeing then and and and we were happy.
1511
01:19:59.680 --> 01:20:02.279
And then he got shitty with all of us again.
1512
01:20:02.359 --> 01:20:04.880
So we all went our separate ways, and I run
1513
01:20:04.920 --> 01:20:08.560
my own promotion and I started beating him in some towns.
1514
01:20:08.600 --> 01:20:11.399
I was all drawing him in some of the suburbs
1515
01:20:11.399 --> 01:20:13.680
and that around here. I was drawing from real big
1516
01:20:13.680 --> 01:20:15.439
you'll probably I don't know if you're there when I
1517
01:20:15.479 --> 01:20:18.239
was doing it or not. But but what I had
1518
01:20:18.600 --> 01:20:20.880
what he didn't have. I had a big wrestling school,
1519
01:20:21.239 --> 01:20:23.840
and I had all the students selling tickets. I had
1520
01:20:23.880 --> 01:20:28.960
Tommy Ferrer on Northeast Minneapolis, Charlie Norris on the south side,
1521
01:20:29.000 --> 01:20:31.880
and getting me all the Indian owned casinos, and the
1522
01:20:31.920 --> 01:20:34.720
whole gimmick is not me. I really, I just had
1523
01:20:34.760 --> 01:20:36.159
the right place at the right time with the right
1524
01:20:36.199 --> 01:20:39.600
bunch of guys. But then we went down the toilet
1525
01:20:39.640 --> 01:20:44.159
and now he's not what he's doing. I hope he's
1526
01:20:44.159 --> 01:20:45.680
doing all right. I hope he's okay.
1527
01:20:46.840 --> 01:20:52.079
Yeah, yeah, I hope, I hope. So, yeah, I did.
1528
01:20:52.239 --> 01:20:54.600
Did when if you go back on the time machine
1529
01:20:55.159 --> 01:20:57.840
to you know, late seventies even early eighties, did you
1530
01:20:57.920 --> 01:21:01.920
think the a w A would ever have with just
1531
01:21:01.960 --> 01:21:04.640
within a ten twelve year span of selling out the
1532
01:21:04.640 --> 01:21:07.840
Saint Pacific Center and being I won't say as big
1533
01:21:07.840 --> 01:21:10.760
as Minnesota Vikings in Minnesota but talked about as an
1534
01:21:10.800 --> 01:21:12.840
institution in the same way, and vern Gania is such
1535
01:21:12.840 --> 01:21:17.079
a celebrity. Did it? Did you and Wally kind of imagine, hey,
1536
01:21:17.119 --> 01:21:18.560
this could all go away in a year or two.
1537
01:21:18.600 --> 01:21:21.000
I mean, there's no guarantees. We've seen so much happen.
1538
01:21:21.039 --> 01:21:23.119
Or did you just think that, hey, you and I
1539
01:21:23.239 --> 01:21:26.079
might be talking here and on a on a podcast
1540
01:21:26.159 --> 01:21:29.319
on the internet live in twenty fourteen, Eddie, thinking we'd
1541
01:21:29.319 --> 01:21:31.760
still be talking about the AWA selling out shows.
1542
01:21:33.279 --> 01:21:35.079
You know the old saying is too big to fail?
1543
01:21:35.960 --> 01:21:40.640
That's yeah, we thought, yeah, so that's there. It was, Well, Wade,
1544
01:21:40.720 --> 01:21:42.720
I got to run and take up my wife, she's
1545
01:21:42.840 --> 01:21:45.880
at work. This has been such fun. Let's do it again.
1546
01:21:46.880 --> 01:21:50.960
Absolutely, I really appreciate your time. It has been a
1547
01:21:51.000 --> 01:21:54.439
great trip talking about so many big stars that you've
1548
01:21:54.439 --> 01:21:59.039
been around and some good history. So enjoy your Friday night, Eddie,
1549
01:21:59.039 --> 01:22:02.039
and and let's do it against time. Maybe we'll bring
1550
01:22:02.079 --> 01:22:04.079
on one or two other people for a fun old
1551
01:22:04.119 --> 01:22:06.960
time round table two talking about Minnesota, Indye and Awa
1552
01:22:07.119 --> 01:22:09.359
and good old memories too. That'd be fun a fun
1553
01:22:09.359 --> 01:22:10.079
follow up show.
1554
01:22:11.359 --> 01:22:14.600
Well, why don't you come down the last Friday of
1555
01:22:14.640 --> 01:22:16.119
the month. Why don't you come down the show at
1556
01:22:16.119 --> 01:22:18.960
the k C Hall and Bloomington. We both live in Bloomington.
1557
01:22:19.720 --> 01:22:20.560
Why don't you come down.
1558
01:22:20.600 --> 01:22:23.159
I'm not at Bloomington anymore, but I'm right across the river,
1559
01:22:23.239 --> 01:22:24.960
so yeah, I should definitely make it off there. Don't
1560
01:22:24.960 --> 01:22:25.600
Sayhidi again?
1561
01:22:26.119 --> 01:22:27.920
Yeah, well why me know? So I didn't put your
1562
01:22:27.960 --> 01:22:28.600
name at the door?
1563
01:22:28.640 --> 01:22:30.800
You know, excellent? I will.
1564
01:22:34.920 --> 01:22:37.680
Do you remember when Hulk Hogan shocked the world and
1565
01:22:37.800 --> 01:22:40.520
formed the New World Order, or when stone cold Steve
1566
01:22:40.560 --> 01:22:43.520
Austin passed down on the Sharpshooter to break the hit
1567
01:22:43.560 --> 01:22:46.960
man heard. I'm Torch contributor Frank Petty Ani and I
1568
01:22:47.159 --> 01:22:51.399
review these shows and many more for my exclusive VIP podcast,
1569
01:22:51.479 --> 01:22:54.520
Pro Wrestling Than and Now. Together with a rotating chair
1570
01:22:54.560 --> 01:22:58.039
of co hosts, we go back ten, twenty, even thirty years,
1571
01:22:58.439 --> 01:23:01.239
review pay per views from top ten bottom, talk about
1572
01:23:01.279 --> 01:23:03.800
where the wrestlers were at the time, and compare what
1573
01:23:03.920 --> 01:23:06.560
took place then to what is taking place now. You
1574
01:23:06.600 --> 01:23:10.159
get exclusive access to these and other podcasts as part
1575
01:23:10.159 --> 01:23:13.760
of your PW Torch VIP membership, which is compatible with
1576
01:23:13.800 --> 01:23:17.479
the Apple Podcasts app. Visit PW torch dot com slash
1577
01:23:17.520 --> 01:23:19.960
go vi P for details and sign up.
1578
01:23:19.840 --> 01:23:29.520
For ye great dogging again. I was so thrilled with
1579
01:23:29.640 --> 01:23:32.640
you at the at that Hopkins show, your alma mater.
1580
01:23:33.520 --> 01:23:36.520
That's nice seeing you, Yeah, you know, yeah, so much
1581
01:23:36.520 --> 01:23:38.840
to see guys from the old days, you know, because
1582
01:23:38.920 --> 01:23:41.800
most are gone. Thank you so much again for saying
1583
01:23:41.800 --> 01:23:43.079
well to me. It was very nice to you.
1584
01:23:44.039 --> 01:23:46.720
Absolutely stop down, and you.
1585
01:23:46.680 --> 01:23:49.119
Know some of the old guys were still around. Billy
1586
01:23:49.359 --> 01:23:52.760
Billy Borie is still there, and Mitch Paradise looks real good,
1587
01:23:52.760 --> 01:23:54.159
and we're trying to get the hater back.
1588
01:23:54.239 --> 01:23:58.880
And and before you run, I know you gotta go.
1589
01:23:58.920 --> 01:24:01.439
Whatever been to Tommy for ours.
1590
01:24:01.560 --> 01:24:04.199
He's he comes to the mattress, he's he's doing good.
1591
01:24:04.520 --> 01:24:07.800
He's not wrestling anymore, of course, but yeah, he's just fine,
1592
01:24:08.039 --> 01:24:10.680
happy as hell, just talk about days.
1593
01:24:11.840 --> 01:24:14.279
Yeah, he was always he was always just always had
1594
01:24:14.279 --> 01:24:15.840
great energy and it was fun to be on.
1595
01:24:16.199 --> 01:24:19.279
All right, what's your name? And bring all the people
1596
01:24:19.319 --> 01:24:24.600
you want? Every month? That is great, yeah, you know
1597
01:24:24.640 --> 01:24:27.039
how but but sometimes it's kind of hard to get
1598
01:24:27.039 --> 01:24:30.199
through because I have a phone robbed to my wife's
1599
01:24:30.600 --> 01:24:34.479
cell phone. I'm not home, but I never him. I
1600
01:24:34.560 --> 01:24:38.520
got social labligations, you know, hanging around McDonald's a white castle,
1601
01:24:38.600 --> 01:24:42.800
you know, stuff like that. Anyway, I've better let you
1602
01:24:42.880 --> 01:24:44.560
go and I better go pick her up, and thank
1603
01:24:44.600 --> 01:24:45.720
you so much for this time.
1604
01:24:46.720 --> 01:24:48.800
Thanks Eddie. It's great, havy on, it's it's it's been
1605
01:24:48.840 --> 01:24:52.880
great catching up. You bet all right. That is Eddie Sharky,
1606
01:24:52.880 --> 01:24:55.359
the trainer of so many big names. Great to have
1607
01:24:55.399 --> 01:25:00.880
him on the show here a really nice Uh, it's
1608
01:25:00.920 --> 01:25:02.840
good timing. You know, this is twenty seven. It's not
1609
01:25:02.960 --> 01:25:05.079
like you know, a round number twenty five or thirty years,
1610
01:25:05.119 --> 01:25:08.159
but twenty seven years of doing Progressing Torch newsletter and
1611
01:25:08.520 --> 01:25:09.880
Eddie was one of the one of the guys who
1612
01:25:09.920 --> 01:25:12.439
was a friend to what I was doing early on
1613
01:25:12.520 --> 01:25:15.399
and helped me with phone numbers. He and Ray Webby
1614
01:25:15.800 --> 01:25:20.159
were so gracious, make carsh so gracious. So many people
1615
01:25:20.640 --> 01:25:24.119
early on who were such institutions in the Minnesota wrestling
1616
01:25:24.159 --> 01:25:26.560
scene were so helpful. People often ask me, you know,
1617
01:25:26.600 --> 01:25:28.359
how did you get your start, how did you break in?
1618
01:25:28.439 --> 01:25:30.479
And you know, back in the day. Back when I
1619
01:25:30.479 --> 01:25:32.000
say back in the day about the nineteen eighties, it
1620
01:25:32.039 --> 01:25:34.199
sounds weird to say that, but back in the day
1621
01:25:34.600 --> 01:25:37.439
before the internet, before anybody could just start up a podcast,
1622
01:25:37.560 --> 01:25:39.680
or start up a website, or write a blog or
1623
01:25:39.960 --> 01:25:43.800
publish something on Bleacher Report, it was tougher to break in.
1624
01:25:43.920 --> 01:25:46.439
It was tougher to get the respect to people in
1625
01:25:46.479 --> 01:25:49.199
the industry to go on record and do an interview.
1626
01:25:49.199 --> 01:25:51.000
In fact, I was, you know, the Torch Talk series
1627
01:25:51.000 --> 01:25:54.319
in the newsletter was the first series of insider wrestling
1628
01:25:54.319 --> 01:25:58.000
interviews ever done. It was groundbreaking in that respect. It'll be,
1629
01:25:58.159 --> 01:26:01.359
you know, one of the things that I am likely
1630
01:26:01.399 --> 01:26:05.119
recognized four you know, good bad whatever. I'm just saying
1631
01:26:05.239 --> 01:26:10.439
like that, that establishing a forum on a regular basis
1632
01:26:10.760 --> 01:26:14.199
where wrestlers and promoters would talk on record about the
1633
01:26:14.199 --> 01:26:17.279
inner workings of the wrestling industry. Was something that did
1634
01:26:17.319 --> 01:26:19.560
not exist until the Torch Talk series started in the
1635
01:26:19.640 --> 01:26:21.560
late eighties and the Prosing Torch newsletter, and Eddie was
1636
01:26:21.600 --> 01:26:23.720
one of the first interviews I ever did. He might
1637
01:26:23.760 --> 01:26:25.479
have been the first. It might have been Eddie Sharky
1638
01:26:25.520 --> 01:26:29.800
was first, and Burnnghani was second. And so it just
1639
01:26:29.840 --> 01:26:34.319
felt right here in October twenty fourteen to bring Eddie on,
1640
01:26:34.439 --> 01:26:36.159
especially because I just seen him a couple months ago
1641
01:26:36.960 --> 01:26:39.960
at the Ed Hellier promoted show out in Hopkins, Minnesota,
1642
01:26:40.560 --> 01:26:43.239
where Eddie achieved a Lifetime Achievement award and the city
1643
01:26:43.279 --> 01:26:45.600
in which he went to high school in Hopkins, and
1644
01:26:45.680 --> 01:26:47.520
so it was great to have him on. And I mean,
1645
01:26:47.560 --> 01:26:52.560
I can talk forever about old Minnesota wrestling, and I
1646
01:26:52.640 --> 01:26:55.520
learned something new all the time, especially when there's so
1647
01:26:55.640 --> 01:26:57.840
much that I think resonates with today's fans, whether it's
1648
01:26:57.880 --> 01:27:01.399
talking about you know, all the content done WWE Network
1649
01:27:01.439 --> 01:27:04.279
and all the way through Rowan and Ari's people who
1650
01:27:04.359 --> 01:27:08.159
Eddie Sharky has had a hand in moving along in
1651
01:27:08.239 --> 01:27:10.880
their careers. So it's great having Eddie on. And I
1652
01:27:10.920 --> 01:27:12.399
mean that I want to have Eddie back on and
1653
01:27:12.840 --> 01:27:16.239
with somebody else to do kind of a roundtable because
1654
01:27:16.239 --> 01:27:18.199
there are other people who are around Eddie firsthand who
1655
01:27:18.279 --> 01:27:20.600
can bring out more stories. It takes Eddie a little
1656
01:27:20.600 --> 01:27:23.600
while to get revved up and start giving longer answers
1657
01:27:23.640 --> 01:27:26.000
and loosening up. And I've known that all along. The
1658
01:27:26.039 --> 01:27:27.760
longer I hang out with them on any given night,
1659
01:27:27.800 --> 01:27:30.319
the more the more the longer his stories get, and
1660
01:27:30.600 --> 01:27:32.760
the more detailed they get. And it'd be fun to
1661
01:27:33.039 --> 01:27:35.680
do a roundtable and get somebody else who's been around
1662
01:27:35.720 --> 01:27:37.960
him and part of the Minnesota scene to share some
1663
01:27:38.000 --> 01:27:39.960
stories and bring out some stories that maybe I wouldn't
1664
01:27:39.960 --> 01:27:42.479
even know to ask about. So if you are not
1665
01:27:42.560 --> 01:27:46.039
a subscriber prosing torch Newsletter or pw toorch VT online,
1666
01:27:46.079 --> 01:27:47.640
I encourage you to check it out. We'd love to
1667
01:27:47.680 --> 01:27:49.720
have you as a customer. We've been in business now
1668
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twenty seven years and it would be great to add
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you to our subscription list. We have a print newsletter.
1670
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I publish it every week, mail it worldwide, and it
1671
01:28:01.439 --> 01:28:05.920
is available for ninety nine dollars for a full year subscription.
1672
01:28:06.279 --> 01:28:09.680
That's roughly fifty to fifty two issues a year. That
1673
01:28:09.720 --> 01:28:12.439
we publish for ninety nine dollars flat fee. You get
1674
01:28:12.479 --> 01:28:15.399
every issue, and that's a great detail, especially a great deal,
1675
01:28:15.520 --> 01:28:17.439
especially when you think about the price of postage. But
1676
01:28:17.520 --> 01:28:20.319
if you prefer you can you can subscribe for ten
1677
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dollars a month too, if you want to get the
1678
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newsletter mailed to you on a monthly basis and not
1679
01:28:24.279 --> 01:28:26.680
commit to a full year, but obviously save about twenty
1680
01:28:26.720 --> 01:28:29.000
one bucks by committing to a year. The same price
1681
01:28:29.039 --> 01:28:31.159
applies if you want to get a VIP online membership,
1682
01:28:31.159 --> 01:28:34.960
which includes the VIP Audio after show for this PODU
1683
01:28:35.000 --> 01:28:38.920
Towards Live cast are archives of interviews and the newsletter
1684
01:28:39.000 --> 01:28:40.640
in PDF and all text format. If you don't want
1685
01:28:40.640 --> 01:28:42.560
to get the print copy in the mailbox, you can
1686
01:28:42.600 --> 01:28:45.319
still read the newsletter cover to cover on your tablet,
1687
01:28:45.399 --> 01:28:47.479
or print it out yourself, or read it on your laptop,
1688
01:28:48.000 --> 01:28:50.920
either in PDF format or text format. Add free access
1689
01:28:50.920 --> 01:28:53.520
to our website all of our VIP audio shows. We
1690
01:28:53.640 --> 01:28:55.840
put up more than one audio show every single day
1691
01:28:55.880 --> 01:28:57.880
the way Keller hotlines every day, and there's one or
1692
01:28:57.880 --> 01:29:01.319
two other shows every day also. And I'm really proud
1693
01:29:01.359 --> 01:29:02.920
of the product we put out in the team that
1694
01:29:02.960 --> 01:29:06.279
we have that I put together over the years, and
1695
01:29:06.600 --> 01:29:09.279
we're also running if you enjoy old time discussions. We
1696
01:29:09.319 --> 01:29:14.039
are running on a weekly basis a retro radio shows.
1697
01:29:14.239 --> 01:29:18.279
I just was converting John Arathy radio show from May fifth,
1698
01:29:18.359 --> 01:29:22.039
nineteen ninety one, an extended interview with Carry Funk as
1699
01:29:22.079 --> 01:29:25.720
part of the show, plus the inimitable Herb Abrams, the
1700
01:29:25.800 --> 01:29:30.199
late UNWF promoter, one of the kookiest personalities I ever
1701
01:29:30.239 --> 01:29:32.520
dealt with. I'll put it nicely. He was on that
1702
01:29:32.520 --> 01:29:34.399
show too. We're gonna be putting that up for VIP
1703
01:29:34.479 --> 01:29:36.319
members this weekend, first time that show has been heard
1704
01:29:36.319 --> 01:29:38.399
since the dared originally in New York May fifth, nineteen
1705
01:29:38.439 --> 01:29:41.279
ninety one. You'll get to hear the whole show as
1706
01:29:41.319 --> 01:29:44.880
a VIP member. And then Jim Valley is his radio
1707
01:29:44.960 --> 01:29:47.920
show called Total Chaos Radio in the early two thousands
1708
01:29:48.039 --> 01:29:52.520
during the Attitude era. We also add episodes of and
1709
01:29:52.960 --> 01:29:55.520
we've got more of those coming up this fall with
1710
01:29:55.720 --> 01:29:58.880
vintage interviews from the Attitude era. And what I like
1711
01:29:59.079 --> 01:30:01.079
as much as the interviews, maybe more, Sometimes it's just
1712
01:30:01.319 --> 01:30:03.800
the talk about current events in the news and callers
1713
01:30:03.800 --> 01:30:06.399
calling up. Both the John Arezzi Show from the early
1714
01:30:06.479 --> 01:30:08.960
nineties and Total Chaos which in Valley in the early
1715
01:30:09.000 --> 01:30:12.199
two thousands, plus My Progressing Focus Show which you heard
1716
01:30:12.239 --> 01:30:15.079
me talk about with Eddie Sharky from Kfan over one
1717
01:30:15.119 --> 01:30:17.319
hundred show. About one hundred episodes of that show are
1718
01:30:17.359 --> 01:30:19.199
available as soon as you sign up, and that's from
1719
01:30:19.199 --> 01:30:22.840
the early eighties. That includes Eddie Sharky interviews, Sean Waltman,
1720
01:30:24.000 --> 01:30:27.359
Jerry Lawler, Eric Bischoff called up the show once or twice,
1721
01:30:28.079 --> 01:30:31.960
Bill Watts, Oh gosh, I'm just Jim Cornett, Paul Hayman,
1722
01:30:32.720 --> 01:30:35.680
road Warrior Hawk, Jesse Ventura speaking of guys, Eddie Train
1723
01:30:36.239 --> 01:30:39.720
real vintage interviews from the early nineties, and you get
1724
01:30:39.760 --> 01:30:41.800
access to all of those instantly when you sign up,
1725
01:30:41.840 --> 01:30:44.279
and the place to go to sign up is pw
1726
01:30:44.359 --> 01:30:49.319
torch dot com slash go vip. That is pw torch
1727
01:30:49.359 --> 01:30:54.279
dot com slash go v ip. We would love to
1728
01:30:54.279 --> 01:30:55.600
have you on board as a member if for any
1729
01:30:55.600 --> 01:30:57.319
reason you had a membership and you let it laps.
1730
01:30:57.439 --> 01:31:00.600
Now it's a great time to come back and we'd
1731
01:31:00.600 --> 01:31:02.640
love to have you, so check out details again pw
1732
01:31:02.680 --> 01:31:08.800
torch dot com flash Go viip. All right, just incredible,
1733
01:31:09.039 --> 01:31:11.760
And Kazarnie, we're the guests of Pat McNeil on Wednesday's
1734
01:31:11.760 --> 01:31:14.479
live cast check that out. Yesterday, James Caldell and Greg
1735
01:31:14.520 --> 01:31:16.680
Parks hosted this show and talked about the big picture
1736
01:31:17.079 --> 01:31:20.039
of the state of the wrestling industry. Tuesday, I was
1737
01:31:20.079 --> 01:31:22.239
joined by Jason Powell of Pro Wrestling dot Net and
1738
01:31:22.239 --> 01:31:24.600
we talked primarily about rob but also some other subjects
1739
01:31:24.600 --> 01:31:27.039
in the news. And Monday it was Bruce Mitchell and
1740
01:31:27.039 --> 01:31:30.399
Travis Bryant. It is a great Monday through Friday lineup
1741
01:31:30.399 --> 01:31:34.600
here at PW torchlivecast dot com. We appreciate you joining
1742
01:31:34.720 --> 01:31:37.680
me and us on a daily basis and helping us grow.
1743
01:31:37.920 --> 01:31:41.079
We are approaching, speaking of anniversaries, our five year anniversary
1744
01:31:41.319 --> 01:31:44.039
this December of doing the Pro Ussing Torch Live Cast
1745
01:31:44.479 --> 01:31:51.000
live every single day without exception Monday through Friday, holidays
1746
01:31:51.079 --> 01:31:53.960
and through sickness and in health, we have managed to
1747
01:31:54.119 --> 01:31:55.880
be live on the air every day for five years,
1748
01:31:55.880 --> 01:31:58.279
Monday through Friday, plus sometimes Sundays after pay per views,
1749
01:31:58.319 --> 01:32:02.920
and will something special for that in December I'm sure
1750
01:32:02.960 --> 01:32:06.560
also all right, Well, anyway, without further ado, just be
1751
01:32:06.640 --> 01:32:09.119
sure to check out PW Torch dot com our website
1752
01:32:09.159 --> 01:32:12.239
every single day packed with news the ESK PW torch
1753
01:32:12.399 --> 01:32:16.039
feature that is exclusive to PW torch dot com, and
1754
01:32:16.119 --> 01:32:18.359
many other features that you can find only at our
1755
01:32:18.359 --> 01:32:22.359
website pw torch dot com. And also we are customized
1756
01:32:22.399 --> 01:32:24.880
for your mobile phone and your tablet, so whether it's
1757
01:32:24.880 --> 01:32:27.119
a PC or a laptop, or a mobile phone or
1758
01:32:27.119 --> 01:32:29.560
a tablet, pw torch dot com is placed to go
1759
01:32:29.600 --> 01:32:32.600
to get the latest news and tons of exclusive features
1760
01:32:32.920 --> 01:32:37.319
including Michael Moore's Collectibles column, John Mazzera's Hits and Missus column,
1761
01:32:37.560 --> 01:32:40.279
and much more. Check it out every single day. You
1762
01:32:40.359 --> 01:32:42.800
never know what's going on in wrestling until you log
1763
01:32:42.840 --> 01:32:46.239
on to PW torch dot com and you see the headlines,
1764
01:32:46.359 --> 01:32:48.960
and it is a crazy world of wrestling, and there
1765
01:32:48.960 --> 01:32:51.960
are always twists and turns every day and we've got
1766
01:32:51.960 --> 01:32:54.520
you covered. So thank you again for your support and
1767
01:32:54.840 --> 01:32:59.079
until next time. Wade Keller signing off line.
1768
01:33:08.119 --> 01:33:10.560
Invite you to email the show with feedback or questions
1769
01:33:10.680 --> 01:33:15.079
or comments. That email address is Wadekeller Podcast at ptwtorch
1770
01:33:15.159 --> 01:33:19.039
dot com. That's Wadekeller Podcast at pwtorch dot com. Also
1771
01:33:19.039 --> 01:33:21.880
welcome your feedback on Twitter even follow us on Twitter
1772
01:33:21.920 --> 01:33:25.840
at PW Torch and follow me at the Wadekeller. That's
1773
01:33:25.880 --> 01:33:29.439
at PW Torch and at the Wadekeller.
1774
01:33:30.720 --> 01:33:33.720
Searching for more great pro wrestling talk, Then join me
1775
01:33:33.840 --> 01:33:37.560
Jason Powell, host of the three weekly Pro Wrestling Boom Podcast.
1776
01:33:37.800 --> 01:33:40.119
Each week you'll hear the latest news and analysis from
1777
01:33:40.119 --> 01:33:42.199
me and my team at Pro wrestling dot net along
1778
01:33:42.239 --> 01:33:45.199
with other pro wrestling media members. Plus, the Pro Wrestling
1779
01:33:45.199 --> 01:33:48.560
Boom podcast features long form interviews with notable names in
1780
01:33:48.560 --> 01:33:52.479
the pro wrestling industry. Subscribe and Itunestitcher, downcast, and all
1781
01:33:52.520 --> 01:33:56.039
your favorite secondary apps, or visit us directly at PW
1782
01:33:56.079 --> 01:34:01.479
boom dot com. Once again, that's PW boom dot com.
1783
01:34:01.640 --> 01:34:03.600
Thanks for listening to our podcast. Did you know we
1784
01:34:03.600 --> 01:34:08.159
also have a website pwtorch dot com. Daily news updates, editorials,
1785
01:34:08.520 --> 01:34:11.560
and my live TV coverage covering Raw, Dynamite and SmackDown
1786
01:34:11.800 --> 01:34:15.800
and my live pay per view coverage for WWE and AEW.
1787
01:34:16.039 --> 01:34:18.119
Create a tab or bookmark, make it a daily stop.
1788
01:34:18.279 --> 01:34:20.439
Visit us throughout the day every day to keep up
1789
01:34:20.439 --> 01:34:25.199
on breaking news and more. That's PW torch dot com.
1790
01:34:25.479 --> 01:34:28.640
Need an extra dose of positivity in your wrestling podcasts?
1791
01:34:28.800 --> 01:34:31.880
Will come join me Alan fourrel over in the Progress
1792
01:34:31.960 --> 01:34:35.560
Paradise at Pterbeo Torch VIP as we mask on the
1793
01:34:35.600 --> 01:34:38.239
bright side of wrestling and focus on some of the
1794
01:34:38.279 --> 01:34:42.720
great matches and shows from around the world, be it US, Japan,
1795
01:34:43.079 --> 01:34:46.640
Europe or Mexico. There's always a place for wrestlings past
1796
01:34:46.680 --> 01:34:49.720
and the Paradise too, and we've done fun historical shows
1797
01:34:49.800 --> 01:34:53.039
such as the We Love Liger series celebrating the glorious
1798
01:34:53.079 --> 01:34:56.479
career of Jusian Thunderliger and our I was there when
1799
01:34:56.600 --> 01:34:58.880
shows where our guests will join me to talk about
1800
01:34:58.920 --> 01:35:02.199
a classic bount they were in attendance for. We love
1801
01:35:02.279 --> 01:35:04.720
variety and you can expect lots of it at the
1802
01:35:04.760 --> 01:35:09.720
Progress Paradise. Detailed pw tors VIP subscription information on a
1803
01:35:09.800 --> 01:35:13.039
list of all the VIP benefits is available at pwrew
1804
01:35:13.079 --> 01:35:17.520
Torch vipinfo dot com. And yes, all VIP podcasts are
1805
01:35:17.520 --> 01:35:22.119
compatible with popular podcast apps on iPhone and Android devices,
1806
01:35:22.279 --> 01:35:24.600
or you can stream them directly from our ad free
1807
01:35:24.880 --> 01:35:27.640
VIP mobile site See You in the Paradise.
1808
01:35:28.840 --> 01:35:31.319
One way that you can help us sustain our schedule
1809
01:35:31.359 --> 01:35:33.520
of putting out podcasts throughout the week is by giving
1810
01:35:33.600 --> 01:35:36.319
us a five star rating on Apple Podcasts. Just go
1811
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to Apple Podcasts and look for our Weightkeller Pressing podcast
1812
01:35:39.079 --> 01:35:41.279
and Weight Keller Processing post show and give us a
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01:35:41.399 --> 01:35:43.760
five star rating. We hope you think we've earned that
1814
01:35:43.960 --> 01:35:46.760
score with our fast turnaround times and our quantity and
1815
01:35:46.880 --> 01:35:50.399
quality of wrestling analysis throughout the week. So take a
1816
01:35:50.439 --> 01:35:52.600
moment out for us and do us favor and give
1817
01:35:52.680 --> 01:35:54.960
us a five star rating and Apple Podcasts. That helps
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01:35:55.039 --> 01:35:58.119
us on search returns and helps us grow. And if
1819
01:35:58.159 --> 01:35:59.640
you want, you can add a few comments about what
1820
01:35:59.680 --> 01:36:02.039
you like about the programs in the comments section. Thank
1821
01:36:02.079 --> 01:36:02.600
you so much.
1822
01:36:06.119 --> 01:36:10.279
In twenty twelve, NXT transitioned into the developmental system and
1823
01:36:10.399 --> 01:36:13.720
ultimately the brand you see today. On the Torch Vip
1824
01:36:13.960 --> 01:36:18.000
podcast NXT eight years Back, we'll be taking a weekly
1825
01:36:18.079 --> 01:36:20.600
look at this page in NXT's early history.
1826
01:36:21.479 --> 01:36:24.680
Join Kelly Wells and me Tom Stout from PWT Talks
1827
01:36:24.760 --> 01:36:27.479
NXT every Saturday as we go eight years back to
1828
01:36:27.560 --> 01:36:30.279
the day to track NXT's rising talents and why they
1829
01:36:30.279 --> 01:36:34.199
did or didn't work out exclusively for PW torch Vip members.
1830
01:36:35.359 --> 01:36:37.760
PW torch Vip membership doesn't just give you ad free
1831
01:36:37.760 --> 01:36:39.680
access to these shows and a ton of other VIP
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01:36:39.800 --> 01:36:42.439
exclusive podcasts throughout the week, but you also gain access
1833
01:36:42.479 --> 01:36:46.560
to our unmatched vast library of wrestling history, our contemporaneous
1834
01:36:46.600 --> 01:36:49.159
week to week coverage through our progressing Torch weekly newsletters
1835
01:36:49.239 --> 01:36:51.840
dating back to the late nineteen eighties, along with streaming
1836
01:36:51.880 --> 01:36:55.159
and download access to hundreds of retro radio shows from
1837
01:36:55.159 --> 01:36:58.319
the nineteen nineties, including some of my interviews with wrestling's
1838
01:36:58.319 --> 01:37:02.119
top newsmakers in the nineties, and also our podcast library
1839
01:37:02.199 --> 01:37:04.159
dating back to the year two thousand and three. There's
1840
01:37:04.239 --> 01:37:08.680
no larger, longer spanning pro wrestling podcast library than that
1841
01:37:08.680 --> 01:37:11.399
that comes with a PW Torch VIP membership. Now we're
1842
01:37:11.399 --> 01:37:15.119
approaching twenty years of podcasting. Go vip and dive into
1843
01:37:15.119 --> 01:37:17.439
our post pay per view roundtables are covered with some
1844
01:37:17.439 --> 01:37:21.199
of your favorite eras of wrestling, top name long form interviews,
1845
01:37:21.520 --> 01:37:24.760
and special format podcasts that we've done throughout the years.
1846
01:37:24.880 --> 01:37:28.640
Pw torch dot com slash go vip. We have a
1847
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streamline sign up for me and you can pay with
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PayPal or directly with your credit card or debit card.
1849
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In one or two minutes from right now, you can
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be a VIP member and diving into our library, pw
1851
01:37:37.800 --> 01:37:39.680
torch dot com, slash go, VIP,