Episode 398

Your global campaign just launched.

But wait, the logo's cropped, the colors are off, and did legal clear that image?

When teams create without guardrails, mistakes slip through, but not with Adobe Express, the quick and easy app to create on-brand content.

Brand kits and lock templates make following design guidelines a no-brainer for HR sales and marketing teams.

And commercially safe AI, powered by Firefly, lets them create confidently so your brand always shows up polished, protected, and consistent everywhere.

Learn more at adobe.com/slash go/slash express.

Upgrade your laundry routine with a durable and reliable Maytag laundry pair at Lowe's, like the new Maytag washer and dryer with performance-enhanced stain-fighting power, designed to cut through serious dirt and grime.

And what's great is this laundry pair is in stock and ready for delivery when you need it the most.

Don't miss out!

Shop Maytag in-store or online today at Lowe's.

I dropped paper.

All right.

Hello again, friends.

And you are our friends, another happy edition, summertime edition.

It's summertime and the living is easy.

Welcome to Jim Cornett's drive-thru.

I'm your host, the great Brian Last.

We have a lot to get through today.

Let's see how we do as we are recording.

It is the hottest day of the year.

And it's only about to get hotter with this man, the leader of the cult of Cornet, Mr.

Hothead himself, Jim Cornette.

Summertime.

Yeah, it's I.

What's your dew point?

There, fella.

What is your dew point?

I'll check for you.

73.

Son of a gun, you're right up there.

What's your air temperature?

96, maybe.

I don't have you.

You let me check the dew point.

They didn't even check the real temperature.

Jesus Christ.

Okay.

It is officially hotter in New Jersey

than it is then.

And where you live with all the forests around you and the big feet and everything.

It's even cooler out there.

It's hotter in New Jersey than it is down in Kentucky.

It's 93 here

with a dew point of

around the metropolitan area that's being reported anywhere from ones I saw 70 to 74.

So you, you got us.

But we all got the heat index where you can't walk outside.

We're inside the refrigerated cocoons that we have built for ourselves, you and I, where it's, it's, it's.

The living is easy as long as you don't venture out into the world where it slaps you in the face.

Fucking,

there are people that listen to this show around the world.

I understand 3% of them in Australia.

I don't know what the weather's like down there right now.

But imagine that you go into your bathroom, you turn the shower on full hot blast, close, leave, close the door, and let it run for 30 minutes, and then walk back into it.

Is that what it feels like to you there, Brian Lass?

It's bad.

And it was bad early in the morning when I went outside of the Wakswami at like 7 a.m.

I'm like, oh, it's already hot and balmy.

This is not a good start to the day.

Oh, no, the lows are not going below like the high 77, 78 with humidity for the night.

So with the first thing when you walk out, it's bop.

And

then you're struggling to breathe with the air quiet.

You're right next to New York.

So imagine all of that rat shit and bum vomit on the streets of New York City that is is baking in that heat and wafting in your general direction.

No, I know.

New York City is really hot.

Because when I used to work there, I'd get off the Long Island Railroad.

I had two options: take the subway, which is go underground on the hottest day there is and sweat more, or I could just walk.

And that's what I would do.

I would get a good work.

Now, here's a question.

Here's a question that I've never thought of before.

The subway is not air conditioned.

Is there air conditioning in

the subway?

In the subway.

The subway station.

Oh, no.

Oh, no.

The subway itself.

Yeah, there may be.

Probably.

Draw a,

for those of us like me who have always lived in civilized places our entire lives and didn't have to scurry about in tubes underground like rodents in a fucking science display.

How does that work?

I've seen the entrances.

We've walked past them.

I remember Remember, you and I probably walked past one where I said, I would never go down to that son of a bitch.

You go in there and it's, I've seen the movies.

Pelham 1, 2, 3.

That's the example of the subway.

The one with Walter Mathow now, not the fucking remake where they fucked it all up.

But that's, I've seen the subway.

It's, it's a, there's a platform and the, the, everything.

That's not, there's no air down there.

There's no air flowing around where you're standing around.

No.

And usually those are the days where the subway's late.

So you're just standing there in the heat while some lunatic's like taking off his clothes and another person's playing music.

Are they working together as the person taking their clothes off to the beat of the music?

Seriously, I've seen some amazing musicians in the subway.

And all I'm thinking is they're sweating all day while they're making this great music.

I'll give them $8 for the CD.

But what about the strippers?

Have you seen amazing strippers in the subway?

No, amazing strippers.

That's a great name.

amazing strippers how sweet they're tits tonight on amazing strippers she has four tits amazing

that uh the the extra nipple thing could probably make you a tip

but anyway but you think the weather is bad here brian Have you heard about what happened in the news?

It's just a brief news bulletin update.

What happened this weekend in Florida?

No, actually.

Weather related.

No, I do not know anything about the weather in Florida currently.

Between, I don't know the exact number, but between four and five people got hit by lightning in Florida this past weekend.

And you always hear, oh, you got as much chance of being hit by lightning.

Apparently, it's quite common in Florida.

Four people this weekend.

That's that's four or five.

That's apparently three in one clump.

What county?

They didn't mention the county.

That's another thing.

I mean, it's a big state.

Were they all in like the same area?

Or was it just all over the state?

Well, no, it was in random incidents.

The three were in the same place and they all got hit together.

And then the other one or ones or whatever was, but it's just a bunch of people got hit by lightning.

You see, you're trying to pick this apart

to the point of the thing.

If you get hit by lightning in Jacksonville and another guy gets hit by lightning at Key West, it's kind of like being in two different places.

It's not the same state, even though it is.

Well, you know what?

We're going to argue this point about how far things are from things here a little bit later on in the program.

But, nevertheless, there's a buttload of people got hit by fucking lightning in Florida.

The three women said they were they, the storm came up and they were bundled under a tiki hut.

And bam, apparently, even though the lightning did not hit the tiki hut in question, it apparently traveled through the ground.

And they said they were near enough to them.

They said the next thing that they knew,

they woke up disoriented, I think.

Was the queen.

And I can

identify with that as a former lightning strikey.

Hey, kids, if you haven't heard the story, I'm sure it's on YouTube.

Look up Lightning Striking Cornet or whatever the fuck.

Not the ones that people wish on me.

but the actual stories that I've told of that before.

But

anyhow,

I just thought that was odd that strange things keep happening.

Do you think this is, where's Nanny?

Remember Nanny and the Professor?

I don't know what the hell's going on over there.

I do not know Nanny and the Professor.

What's that?

Oh, that was the.

No, with Juliet Mills and Richard Long, the 60s situation comedy, where the professor got a nanny for the kids and she was a,

well, I hate to say the word witch.

That sounds derogatory, but she was supernatural.

A Phoebe Figalilly is a silly name, and so many silly things keep happening.

Has this ever been in reruns?

I've never seen it.

What is that magic thing they call Nanny?

Oh, that well, I saw it first run.

You know, that's a show that ought to be rerun more often.

How many episodes were there?

Probably not enough.

But she made magic with the things she did.

And I believe she either levitated or

flew about.

And this was the same time as Bewitched?

Well, goddamn, just Google it then now, because I don't have my reference material where I can reach with my headphones on.

Nanny and the Professor.

I think they were on ABC.

Oh, here it is.

Nanny and the Professor, early 70s.

It aired from January 21st, 1970 to December 27th, 1971.

There you go, concurrent with Bewitched, because Bewitched ran till 72.

And there's two seasons, three seasons, excuse me.

So they should have enough episodes.

Well, 54.

No, they said they were they a mid-season replacement.

Did they get canceled in mid-season?

Only 54 episodes were completed.

Yeah.

And

for early 70s network, a full season at that point was still,

what, 30 episodes?

Because it was 39 in the old days.

The series first aired as a mid-season replacement on January 21st, 1970 on ABC, with the final episode broadcast December 27, 71.

The series enjoyed initial success due to its Friday night time slot when it was scheduled between the Brady Bunch and the Partridge family.

Well at Murderer's Row, which were shows aimed at similar demographics.

Ratings suffered in the third season when ABC moved the series to Monday night opposite Gunsmoke and Rowan and Martin's Laughing.

Go!

The death slot!

After the series was canceled, it was seen for a few years in syndication.

It was also one of the first shows rerun on the FX network in 1994.

The show was added to the Get TVs lineup in May 2016 for a short time and briefly appeared on Nick at Night.

Well, there you go.

Oh, Ray Bulger.

Ray Bolger played Uncle Horace.

That's right.

That is correct.

He wasn't a horse.

His name was Horace.

Because that was a whole other show with a different gimmick.

All right.

This is your show.

No, it's not, but I've got to take you.

Somebody is taking you to task, and I've got to let you know about this.

Make you aware of this.

There's been somewhat of a sanction sent down.

We've gotten a letter from the people we've heard from them a time or two before, but the people at NAGS.

You remember NAGS, fine,

esteemed organization that they are, Brian.

I have no idea what Nags is, though.

The North American Gerbiling Society.

Oh, Jesus Christ, this.

No, we've heard from them.

Okay.

We've heard what we've heard from them on a matter or two before.

But dear Jim, it has come to our attention here at NAGS,

the North American Gerbiling Society.

that Brian Last has violated his oath and the bylaws of our beloved society.

On a recent episode of the drive-thru, Brian Last denied that there were any creatures or pets frolicking across and therefore tickling the ivories of his organ.

Because remember, I accused you on one of these solos you played, like, you know, fucking Richie Blackmore on Bad Acid or whatever.

I said, you've got just random critters, squirrels, rodents, marmosets, whatever they may be,

running across your keyboard is making that sound, and you denied that.

And they go on to say, in fact, it was a gerbil producing those notes, and it's a gerbil that tickles more than one organ belonging to Brian Last.

Brian will deny this when confronted, which is simply acceptable.

Yeah, of course.

It will break his heart, but henceforth, Brian Last is disfellowshipped

and forfeits any rights and pleasures previously afforded to him by NAGS, North American Gerbling Society.

It's signed by Vince R., the president and the vice president.

Vince R.

Yeah, Vince R.

Okay.

Vince R.

and Kenny O, or they're a tag team,

Vice and President.

Well, you know what they are.

Oh, yeah.

But that came to my attention.

Um, there's people with a lot of time.

Well, no, they

tell you.

you and people they take this quite seriously.

Oh, there he goes.

Oh, yes, see that was the piano, not the organ.

Come back, George.

Would you like to hear from a this is a this didn't go through the official channels for the drive-through, but it follows up on something that

we talked about here a week or two ago, however long it's been.

Kind of one of the subjects that we were talking about.

We now have a, this was emailed directly to me because I don't know whether they considered your

email possibly trusted enough.

Maybe the fucking foreign minises have hacked into it or whatever.

This was sent to me by back channel.

Hello, hello, back channel.

Well, no, we, well, I'm telling you right now

that my channel

will remain in the back.

We have.

So your gerbils remain too, your back channel.

We have now stopped talking about them.

They're innocent animals.

We have eyewitness testimony from a normal human being that has gone to the garbage wrestling show

that has ventured out into that subculture or underculture or lack of culture or whatever they call it and has gone to one of the garbage shows to report back.

to us here in the main world of logic and reason.

Would you like to hear some of the observations, Brian?

I don't know where you're going, so this will be interesting.

All of a sudden, you're getting these first-hand reports from people about these things.

Well,

you know, I'm telling you, most of the time, you know, you are filtering out the drech for me and sending me the interesting stuff, but every once in a while, somebody sends it to me via my own email.

Good day to you, gentlemen.

I committed a sin against the wrestling business, and I wanted to confess this folly to none other than the leader of the cult of Cornet at COC himself and his trusty co-host.

Last night, June 20th, I attended a garbage championship wrestling show in Little Rock.

They're running Little Rock now.

One of the...

You would think one of the more traditionally minded markets in the country, not

acceptive to such tomfoolery, right?

but he says i've never watched a gcw show before and had no idea the event was taking place until they announced the return of elena black fka cora jade of wwe fame so she's

one of the young ladies that they recently released that we

then has gone back to using her i guess her regular

real or older assumed name.

Has that passed the name test for you, Elena Black?

It ain't bad.

I can't see nothing wrong right now, just on the surface of it with Elena Black.

But wait,

there is more.

So apparently, we'll get back to the email.

He's Elena Black, formerly Corey Jade.

I saw an opportunity to support a wrestler that I'm a big fan of.

Wrestlers have to make a living somehow.

So I shelled out 70 smackaroos for a

front row twicket.

I shelled out 70 smackaroos for a front row ticket quicker than Dick the Boozer blades himself.

Plus, it's only a two-hour drive from Memphis, so I figured why not?

He must be supporting her.

$70 for a ticket to an independent, using that term politely, wrestling show and driving two hours each way.

I also subscribe to her OnlyFans, and I know what her birthday is.

This sounds a little creepy.

But no, no, he's actually, you know, you'll see he has somewhat of a level head to him, despite this.

It might work out in the end, is what I'm saying to you.

He continues: the apprehension that stewed inside of my gut over this decision only intensified when they announced that Elena would be facing jelly fucking Nutella.

He's wrestling women in Little Rock now.

If there's any parole officers that need to know any kind of information,

so

this email writer says, when I left an unfavorable comment on a Facebook post in regards to the skinny fat fuck, Joey himself saw my remark and responded with, sell your ticket, we don't want you there.

And he enclosed, he attached a screenshot of him saying this, Bubba Smith is his name, by the way.

And he's attached a screenshot of him

saying, I bought a fur row ticket for this as soon as they announced her.

And I've been nervous about attending Garbage Championship Wrestling ever since and seeing her booked versus Jelly Nutella.

I love Elena, but man,

I don't know what this last line means, but it might mean.

I hope the Twin Peaks in Little Rock is good because I'm fearful of this show.

Is that a diner or a local establishment?

TV show didn't take place in Little Rock.

I have no idea.

Well, anyway, Joey Janello responds.

That might, there you go.

That sounds like Twin Peaks?

Yeah.

But he responded, sell your ticket.

We don't want you there

to the random fans that are buying a ticket for $79.

By the way, where is he supposed to sell it?

Well,

there's a big secondary market in tickets to Twin Peaks.

Oh, I'm at the wrestling show.

Yeah, no, that might not be so easy.

Especially if

he could buy a front row ticket to the show as soon as they announced her.

Was she the first fucking thing they announced?

Hey, Nathaniel, we're going at it with on social media is outside.

How do you know?

There's a guy out there scalping tickets.

He has one ticket.

Prime Minnesota fans are bringing back tickets from last show for a refund.

Anyway, back to the email.

It was at this moment that I decided to wear my my cornet face shirt to the show

so that everyone would know that I wasn't there to enjoy their tomfoolery.

Waiting in line for the doors to open in that oppressive Arkansas humidity had us all sweating, as Chris Candido would say, like Marilyn Manson at a Baptist revival.

which only amplified the smell from the lack of those around me applying proper personal care products.

I felt as though I was the only one in attendance who had not partaken in a mild-altering substance of some description.

Once doors were open and a man with no pinky finger on his left hand waved me through with his metal detecting wand.

When is that the first time that those English words have ever been put together in that order before?

Yeah, I mean, maybe the guy had an accident.

I don't want to laugh.

We don't know who this pinkiless man is.

Well, maybe, maybe he just didn't deliver the package properly.

If you have no pinky, do you think your nickname is pinky?

No, I think your nickname is don't do it again, motherfucker.

We'll take the whole hand.

But anyway, he so Bubba here grabbed a beer and stood in a bemused state of what I'd gotten into.

That was until a fine gentleman approached and recited the official cockwoo greeting.

No.

Remember the cult of cornet wrestling integrity watchers.

Cockwoo!

To which we then interlocked our middle fingers and said fuck them it was nice to see at least one other level-headed human being in that bunch of nuts i can't believe that come on

well no they know the you know because he had the shirt you haven't even addressed that that stupid whatever cockwoo and it's for a year

well there it's an underground thing that people know about that are in the know

Bell time came upon us and the ring announcer hyped everyone up by screaming fuck multiple times in between other words that I didn't care to listen to.

Um,

and this is a long email, so I will skip through some things.

But

there was a fat guy with a fat jitsu gimmick, but he couldn't work and he whiffed his shit.

And then apparently, Louisville's own Billy Starks took on Adam Priest.

And apparently, they do the much of the inter-species-type type wrestling here with the men and the women.

Gender, not species.

Well, whichever.

But anyway,

the babyface got an upset win over the dick heel.

So the girls beat the guys here, too.

Match number three was for the tag team championship when the team of Buck Nasty consisting of Buck Skinner, S-K-Y-N-Y-R,

you read that right.

There's no D to be had here.

And a guy named Rob Schitt

came out, slapped hands with fans, jumped the two grimacing Pip Squeak champions, ringside brawling, furniture in the ring.

All four doing what they wanted for several minutes until suddenly two of the participants were on the apron getting tagged in.

This didn't last long as all four were soon back in the ring doing shit to each other until the Pip Squeaks won.

Then they had Blake Christian versus a

Japanese wrestling girl whose name escapes me.

So there's another.

Oh,

when Blake dove outside the ring and the Japanese girl held up a door that Blake landed into, he sent the door hurtling towards a woman two seats down from me, smacking her in the face.

87750 Steve.

Stone Cold hit the barricade of mania, and Nick Con was there to immediately check on the woman who was selling like Shawn Michaels did against Hogan.

Yet the woman next to me got hit in the face by a door just to be quickly asked, Are you okay by some fat yuts wearing a t-shirt that he forgot to take out of the dryer?

Oh,

skipping ahead, Elena Black.

I'm fond of her in the way that Brian is fond of Anna J,

who I'm also fond of as well.

Athleticism.

He doesn't, he just leaves it there.

Nevertheless, Jelly Nutella brought this down for me.

They had a garbage match.

So now they've got intergender species garbage matches

after they've already had the regular inter-gender species matches on the show.

He goes,

it pained me to see a woman of Elena's caliber have to resort to this.

Jelly threw a chair at Elena's head, then did the saboo pose, which made me hang my head in shame.

He really does think he's some badass wrestler who's doing this wonderfully.

They used chairs and fought on the floor until Jelly won.

This left me feeling like a balloon three weeks after the party.

So he beats the girl, the ex-WWE star that might have drawn, did draw one guy.

And he beats a girl.

And then.

Hey, listen, I think he may dominate the women's division if he keeps this up.

But wait a minute.

He then got on the microphone to thank Elena and tell us that they put on a show for us.

Geez, Jelly, thanks for telling me.

I thought you were doing this bullshit for the flies fucking in the restroom.

Their championship.

Effie, the champion, defended against action Mike Jackson.

The Mike Jackson.

He's 70 fucking, what is it, six?

I've known Mike Jackson for, I watched Mike Jackson on TV when I was a kid.

Really, seriously.

He's amazing, but

they were in Arkansas.

I thought Alabama, but no, Arkansas.

But nevertheless,

back to the email.

After 50 years in the business, actually, it's 55.

I wonder if being in the ring with a man wearing fishnets and acting like a less gay Orlando Jordan was the lowest point of Mike's career.

Effie won, and I realized that's where he got his name because I asked myself, why the F is he in the wrestling business?

Effie then got on the mic and said he's been doing this for 11 years and hopes his career is bountiful, is as bountiful as the 70-year-old man's is who just lost to a man wearing fishnets.

He didn't say that verbatim, but I was thinking it.

Well, it seems like good sportsmanship, at least after these matches.

Everyone gets on the mic and thanks their opponent.

yes and

i appreciate the opportunity to to whip this 70 year old man here today or this 120 pound girl finally time for the main event shotsy blackheart versus some hot topic looking motherfucker

i'm not sure is that a guy or girl i don't know

But let's read the description.

We'll try to figure if it...

This was exactly what I knew it would be.

They fought in places I couldn't even see, did some sloppy shit, jabbed skewers into their head.

Then the match ended when Shotzi was slammed through glass.

Oh, wait.

No, it didn't.

The glass was a two count.

The hot topic reject fuck.

Then picked Shotzi up and gave her an inverted DDT.

Instead of your standard DDT, this move sees person A grab person B like they're about to do a running bulldog,

but instead person A just falls belly first to the mat,

driving B headfirst along with them.

Wouldn't that mean that you're doing a face plant to yourself

as well?

Hello?

I guess so.

Well then how the fuck is that supposed to what are we here?

Let's both commit suicide.

What is that?

How are are you going to beat somebody with something when it knocks you the fuck out?

Nevertheless,

I grabbed a piece of the glass to examine, and I've attached a picture of it for you to see also.

They asked me if it was sugar glass.

I told them I hadn't tasted it to check.

I couldn't really tell anything by the picture.

But yeah, and also they have doors under the ring for the guys and girls to sit up on chairs and put themselves through.

instead of tables.

He said, I thought if only there were already in existence some sort of contraption made of particle board with folding legs that could be used

instead of erecting this dumb shit.

I've seen that before.

There was a, this,

it has to be years ago now because I was actually at a wrestling show.

But they say, oh, they don't make the right kind of tables anymore.

We're having a hard time finding the right kind of tables.

So they were just getting

like the light wood-grade

door with no knob or hinge or anything in it from Home Depot.

And I said, Well, what sense does it make to have a fucking bare, empty, goddamn, unfarnished, unfinished fucking door

stacked up?

Even the table could be used for something, but what?

Well, we can't get the

tables.

It doesn't have the fucking tables.

All right.

It's just me.

What was the name of this guy that sent in this email?

Bubba.

Bubba Smith.

Thank you, Bubba.

Never send anything in again.

But thank you.

I thought it was a good.

He's a bore.

He doesn't know how to write anything.

He's a good dissertation of what the average person has to put up with.

The average person?

When they go to one of these things.

Okay, okay.

All right.

One more thing I found

because you know, we've been talking about my files, and I've been going through stuff that had been stacked in the drawer, etc.

And it's all over the place.

But some of this stuff I realized because I've moved a number of times.

This, these two things right here may never have left this house for 20 years until we had everything remodeled.

But

it ties into what some of the things that we've been talking about in our discussions this

season

about the Eddie Gilbert dark side of the ring, the Eddie Gilbert wrestling news file,

the

different ways that Eddie, you know, was preparing for getting in the business, et cetera.

And I found two letters from him from 1982.

Would you like to hear a couple of

epserts?

Yeah.

Or excerpts, real quick.

No, the previous episodes are really good.

So I want to hear those episodes.

I'll tell you what.

82.

So 81, him and Ricky Morton were teaming up in Memphis.

83, or the end of 82, he goes to the WWF.

Was he in Puerto Rico or is he already in WWF?

Well, hold on.

Because remember,

did I tell the story when we talked about the Dark Side of the Ring episode with Evan Husty or when we talked about it afterwards when it aired?

But remember the Christmas time that Eddie and Tommy at the end of 1981, because Regan Morton had already left territory.

Eddie and Tommy Gilbert were teaming at the end of 81 and they got in the Christmas punch at the Louisville Gardens.

Oh, that's right.

You remember me telling you that story?

Christine Jarrett flipping out because the Gilberts got into the spunk.

The Gilberts got in the spiked punch, right?

Well,

I found this and I looked at it.

I said, my God, I don't even remember this ever existed.

But this is a letter from Eddie,

January 15th, 1982.

And he always dated his

letters, thank goodness.

Then it's a letter.

It's not an email that didn't exist.

It's on notebook paper.

And he wrote to give me his new address.

That's when they went to Kansas City, or at least he did.

Tommy may have gone somewhere else, but Eddie went to Kansas City for a brief time.

And he gave me his new address because he's, I need some more black, white, eight by tens like you gave me before.

I was still the photographer, right?

So,

and Eddie's always won pictures for publicity.

But he said,

I really hated what happened in Louisville that night, but I just had to let my feelings out.

When I saw this, I was like, oh, my God.

Oh, wow.

I forgot.

He said, if you just knew how they treated my dad all the time he wrestled there and then started on me, I think you would have to blow your top also.

I talked to your mother about it one night right before I left.

I hope you or her don't hold nothing against me and my dad for all of that.

Whoa.

So this is interesting because all those stories about Eddie in the office having issues in Memphis, you started hearing them from like 88 on.

This is him before he ever booked or did anything.

He flipped out.

What happened?

What do you remember?

Well, I know, remember, I said, with the

they had

originally it started with, with, as I recall, being the ringside photographer, one of the ringside fans, heckling fucking Eddie for being the young baby faced little kid that looked like he was 12 years old with Tommy.

And Tommy got mad.

And as remember, as I said, the

manager of the Louisville Gardens, what was her goddamn name, not Germaine to the story now.

Or maybe it was Alan T.

One of the administrators of the Louisville Gardens

had

brought punch in a little Christmas, because it was right before the holidays set up in the back, and somebody had spiked the punch.

And Tommy and Eddie had gotten the punch.

And Tommy was picking at the ringside fan, and it ended up, and they're the baby faces.

Tommy and Eddie both jumped down and went into ringside.

There was a shoving, and the cops got them back.

And then they went in the back, and there was some yelling and hoopla going on.

But I was at that time,

I couldn't go down the locker rooms.

I didn't know the full effect of it, but that's when Teeny afterwards had said, Oh, they pitched a fit.

And,

you know, but apparently, Eddie had apologized to my mom at the show.

I can't remember that.

This is 45 years ago.

Well, that's interesting, too.

I mean, you know, Eddie is a little different than other wrestlers because he was your contemporary and you knew him before he was a wrestler.

And you guys both went to the WFIA and everything.

But did other guys know your mom?

The fact that he apologized to your mom and spoke to your mom about all this is interesting.

Well, yeah, only

because

she was there constantly.

If we were at Evansville, I was at Ringside taking pictures.

She was selling the pictures at the merchandise stand.

The same thing in Louisville.

We were out in and out the back door carrying the stuff.

They interacted constantly.

Lexington.

I think.

I'm not going to rule out that Eddie might not have taken a couple of trips with us because my mom, as I've told you, like me,

I don't ride in a car with anybody else driving.

My mom didn't ride in a car with anybody else driving.

So if I went and we and she went, she was driving.

So

no, there was all kinds of interaction.

Oh, and the, but hold on, there's something else, but the PS on this letter is, tell Lawler I said hello.

Yeah.

See, that's fucking funny.

Oh my God.

Yeah, right, but my new phone number is 816, blah, blah, blah.

Your friend Eddie Gilbert, P.S.

tell Lawler, I said hello.

The way that was phrased about how the office is.

How did he say how the office is treated as dad?

What was the exact thing he said there?

If you just knew how they treated my dad all the time he wrestled there and then started on me.

But

what do you think that is?

I mean, is that basically a kid hearing his dad come home and vent about the office?

And then

I'm wondering, did Tommy have have some of the

is it was it paranoia or conspiracy theory or whatever that Eddie was talked about having in dark side?

Did he pass it on?

Because

Tommy was a huge babyface here for years.

They and

I don't know that there was ever a problem with him and Jarrett because he worked in Jarrett's territory as much

after the split as he had worked for Gulis beforehand.

Eddie Marlin and Tommy Gilbert had been tag team partners.

They were the top babyface tag team and Eddie was in the office by that point in time being Jarrett's father-in-law.

You know, I don't,

I wasn't

involved behind the scenes early enough to see how Tommy had been treated, quote unquote, ever since he'd wrestled there, which had been 15 years at that point.

On and off.

And then the way Eddie said started in on me, what does he mean?

Does he mean like Tony D.

Yeah,

I don't know.

He got a push right away in 79.

He got a push in 81,

but they didn't push him past Lawler.

I mean, could that be the issue?

Well, no, no.

At this point in time, no, this is January 1980.

Eddie's a month older than I am.

So

he was at this point 20 years old.

But

no, that one, but I don't know.

But I got another one here.

Hold on here.

Listen to the other fucking side of the coin.

September 7th, 1982.

Because we talked about the, the,

he had a history of being down about stuff, but then being up about stuff, right?

He said, first, thank you again for getting the photos done for me.

I appreciate it.

Blah, blah, blah.

But now listen to this.

Now listen to this.

Two hours, and I'd forgotten I'd got this also.

Two hours after I got off the phone with you, George Napolitano called me and told me that I was to call Vince McMahon

at the Holiday Inn,

the same place Barnett and the Alliance meeting was held.

So of course I called his room.

The first thing he did, and this is senior, by the way.

Because this is September of 82.

The first thing he told me was he had an assignment for me to go to Japan to work with Tiger Mask.

And remember that happened,

did it not?

Or did they, they had a match in the garden?

No, it wasn't the garden.

I don't think I think it may have been Philadelphia.

They wrestled when Tiger Mask came on a tour of the WWF in 1983, wrestled against Eddie.

I don't remember Eddie.

Did he go to Japan, though?

Did he go to, so it was when Tiger Mask came here, but I thought they did that in the garden.

Maybe I'm

once, but I don't remember that match in the garden.

I could be wrong, though.

Nevertheless, they had the match somewhere.

But he says then he asked me if I would be interested in coming to work in New York.

Boy, was I in shock.

He said he was impressed with me at the meeting.

Did he go to the NWA meeting?

Yeah, I had heard that before.

I don't know if it was that year or the year before.

It must have been that year, although it was.

It was that year.

Yeah, because George Napolitano said, call him in his room at the Holiday inn.

Yes.

Well, then that's why he says same place, Barnett.

An alliance meeting was held.

And he went to the alliance meeting.

And that's the year before.

And that's the year before Barnett and Vince Sr.

and Vince Jr.

resigned because that was September 83, right?

Yes.

So

there you go.

But he told me to call him back this week to set something up.

Now, I've still got to call Barnett back.

So apparently he was going to go.

I have probably two of the biggest offers in my life.

I've still got to call Barnett back.

So I don't know what to do.

And we know what he did do.

But so apparently Barnett wanted him to come to Atlanta at the same time.

What was the date?

September 7, 1982.

Well, because on page two, at any rate, thanks again for sending the photos to Atlanta for me.

So that.

And think about it.

Three months later, Barnett got pushed out by Ole.

So if Eddie had gone there,

who knows if Eddie Gilbert and Ole Anderson at that point would have coexisted well together?

Yeah.

But the other way it was, they ended up together in the end because Barnett went north.

I thought you meant 1990.

They all ended up working together.

Okay.

And also, and here's the last bit, but also

congratulations on your future manager duties.

I just done my first two weeks of TV, right?

Keep in mind what we were talking about if I get back anytime in the future.

I don't remember what we were talking about.

But again, this was 43 years ago.

Would he have ever talked to you about managing him back then?

That may have been a thing.

I don't know.

Anyway, take care and tell your mom.

Hello.

Also, Lawler, Miss Christine, and Randy Hales, have you seen?

There you go.

I had not even remembered that these two letters existed.

That first letter, again, I hate to go back to it, but I'm fascinated by the idea that, you know, all the paranoia that Eddie had, and people attributed it to different things from drug use, and I don't think it was just that, to his height in the business, to his injury.

But you never really hear a lot about,

you know, was that just him?

You know, was it Tommy?

Was it Tommy and the way Tommy talked about the business in the car and talked about?

Well, remember the

and again, I didn't know

in 1979, let's say, that I was going to be needing to be dissecting people's intentions in this fashion in front of worldwide consumption

you know 50 years later or whatever but teeny always said the gilberts are moody

and that in her

southern polite southern way the gilberts are moody

but tommy was used very well and was always

I mean, at the end,

I can't remember what what year Tommy was born, but in like when I managed him, when he was the massed ace of spades in 1983,

when he was shortly to go to Louisiana and become a referee, it was the end of his career.

No, they didn't put him on top then, but

he'd been a fucking main event guy on and off for the Gulis, Welch, and Jarrett companies for

ages and eons.

And I don't know if he was going to get that kind of push anywhere else, to be honest.

No,

he did.

He was an excellent worker that, in the 70s, in some of the territories, he went to West Texas, worked for the Funks.

And

I think he had a run in Florida at one point where he could hang in the ring, but

he didn't have the promo to be a top babyface unless

the hometown

native of Lexington, Tennessee, helped him in the Tennessee territory.

And then,

because he was just like one of them, their fucking brother-in-law or whatever the fuck.

And what a babyface.

But he could be a heck of a fucking heel.

And I think in another territory, he probably got a heck of a lot of heat just from the shit that he did in the ring.

But that was his primary

babyface in Tennessee was his primary calling.

I drove him a couple of times when he worked for Dennis for those Eddie Gilbert Memorial shows and we were all staying.

What, crazy?

Very funny.

I liked Tommy.

He was a very nice guy.

I got to see if it wasn't his last match.

It must have been one of them, him against Dory Funk Jr.

Oh, well, the Gilberts and the Funks, you know, got along and the Gilberts all looked up to and respected the Funk family.

But it's your show.

Were those all your Eddie letters?

I mean, not to ask you to go through more of them right now, but did he keep sending you letters through the years?

Well, no, there's a few other things that I glanced at that didn't appear to be too earth-shaking either.

You know, here's my new address.

There's my new address in Puerto Rico, but not in 1995 and fucking 1981 or whatever it was, too.

And thanks for the picture.

I've got to know when Ricky Morton and Ken Lucas went to,

goddammit, was it?

Alabama or Oklahoma, they kept getting their pictures for me because poor Lil Al Vavasor had been run out of the business by then.

And I've just, I kept notes that, you know, for like Ricky would say, thanks for the pictures, Jimmy.

Here's your check.

P.S.

stick it in your ear.

You know, just shit like that.

I'll assemble in a book one day.

Would the people like to see a book of just my ephemera?

Just the shit that I have collected over, just reproduced over the course of 50 years.

If done well, if done nicely, if presented in the...

proper context, yes.

Well, what about if just shoved into your hand on a street corner in Las Vegas and with the other hand out said, give me a quarter?

That sounds like a lot of the author is in professional wrestling nowadays.

No, I don't know.

I think people would love to see that kind of stuff.

I think people love, especially correspondence, to just see one-way or, in some cases, two-way back-and-forth communication.

It's cool.

And, you know, here's an example.

It kind of opens a door in terms of how history happened.

It's not a major part of history, but Eddie Gilbert writing to you to say that George Napolitano put him in touch with Vince McMahon, and that's what led him to going to the WWF.

That's news.

Well, not news, but that's history.

So I think it's really cool.

Well, and also the thing is, I've seen that as generations go by,

back in the old days, you have more of the shit that people sent to you and not a lot of the shit that you sent to them.

But recently, it's because you've either...

typed, you made a carbon copier, then faxed it, or then emailed it.

You've got the shit you sent to other people, but you might not have the shit they sent to you

so

i'm trying to sort this out in the deck i've only got

what six decades to work with so

i'm trying to kind of narrow it down and get it filed there

jim why don't we uh right now pick up from where we left off on the experience because when we ended the program we did not have aew ratings for a grand slam in mexico city at arena mexico and we now have them we we We now have that.

And

to be honest, you know, by the time that the holiday intermingled itself and everything,

it's kind of a, we had the total, but we didn't have the breakdown.

So it's kind of anticlimactic, but I have to see, and I want your

suppositions and theories on how the fuck they managed to wangle

an extra 100,000 people with more

wrestlers on the show that have never been heard of before?

Unless,

is this the 100,000

disconnected fans of Lucha that have moved to the United States that haven't been able to follow these guys?

Or was this 100,000 American citizens tuning in?

to see what the fuck was with these guys.

Was this the end of the basketball season?

We don't know.

And another question is: if this is a successful formula, I don't think any of these luchadors play basketball.

If this is a successful formula, why not just have random wrestlers just run out all night every week?

It doesn't even have to be the same people.

Let's see if the theory works.

Jim, AEW Dynamite Wednesday, June 18th, 2025.

On average, watched by 736,000 viewers.

And up, what, 100,000 from last week?

Yeah, and looking at the trend line, it's well above the 90-day trend.

Last week was 597.

Oh, geez, 140.

Four-week average, 616.

So obviously, this is well above everything they've been doing lately.

Let's go to the quarter-hour breakdowns.

These were compiled by WrestleNomics.

Quarter one,

Hangman Adam Page's promo in Spanish,

Stokely Hathaway's ramp promo, and the entrances for the first match,

777,000 viewers.

Oh,

so

not only is that an intriguing number, 777,000, but they're going to keep a fairly solid number of these people through most of the program because that's almost their average.

Well, we go to quarter two, 8:15, 8:30 p.m.

Atlantis, Atlantis Jr., Templario, Bandito, Adam Cole, Brody King, and Daniel Garcia

versus Volador Jr., Dax Harwood, Hetchichero, and the Don Callis family with picture-in-picture,

750,000 viewers.

And there you go, 27,000.

They never

lose the minor amount of 27,000 from quarter one to two.

This is amazing.

Well, we go to quarter three, 8:30 to 8.45 p.m.

The continuation of that gigantic match, a recap, an ad break, and the start of Mark Briscoe versus Kazushka Okada,

777,000 viewers.

And they go back to

quarter one for the first time in history.

Is that the, that's, that's the first time ever?

Well, we're going at a quarter four, 8:45 to 9 p.m.

Continuation of Briscoe versus Okada with picture-in-picture, post-match with Don Callis and an ad break,

771,000 viewers.

Is this one of those deals where the fucking button gets stuck and is just spamming?

Is that what they call it?

Go ahead.

Well, we go now at a quarter five, the big nine o'clock hour, nine to nine.15 p.m.

Mystico versus MJF with picture in picture,

801,000 viewers.

You lie.

And that is the high point of the night.

That has to be the first time ever that they've done a bigger number on the top of the first hour or top of the second hour than they've done at the beginning of the show.

Again, I've been on for almost six years.

I don't know if it's the only time, but I can't remember another one.

I buy double fucking, I can't double dog dare yet, don't apply.

I bet you something.

How about your double dog?

No, no, you leave my double dog alone.

All right, we can.

Mama, don't take my double dog.

Mama, don't take my double dog away.

I'll bet you an unspecified sum if anybody proves me right and you wrong.

We're going at a quarter six, 9:15, and 9:30 p.m.

The continuation of Mystic O versus MJF, the post-match with the Hurt Syndicate, Bandito, Templario, Titan,

Jet, Speed,

and then Ad Break.

Speed meth.

Crank.

Followed by entrances for the next match.

794,000 viewers.

Good lord, they can't run them off with a stick.

That wait a minute, hold on here.

Let me look at this.

This is

they have not varied more than 51,000 from bottom to top on the entire program.

Again, this has never happened, but move to Mexico, move the whole Wangdoodle to goddamn Mexico.

You guys will be goddamn kings of the world.

This is amazing.

Well, we go now to quarter seven, 9.30 to 9.45 p.m.

Mascara Dorada versus Leo Rush versus Hologram versus Ricochet.

Oh, here's a test.

We're picture-in-picture.

703,000 viewers.

Ooh, okay.

There it is.

And when the crash came and the dust fell.

You know what that is?

That's after MJF and Mystico.

You know, MJF is MJF and the Hurt Syndicate of the Hurt Syndicate, they've been established on this show.

If there was anyone in CMLL that you would think possibly could

lend to the viewership, it would be Mystico, I think.

So who knows?

But I mean, still at this late in the show to not be just now hitting 700,000 is amazing for them.

Well, we go now to quarter, what is this?

Quarter eight.

I remind you, we have one, two, three quarters of overrun after this.

Oh, boy.

9:45 to 10 p.m.

The continuation of the aforementioned four-man match in the previous segment, an ad break, and the start of Mercedes-Monet versus Zeusis,

or Zeusis, however that's pronounced.

With picture and picture.

If you knew Zusie, like I knew Zeusie.

733,000 viewers.

Good God,

they gained this late.

Again, this is what type of witchcraft is this?

We go now to the big 10 o'clock hour, quarter nine, 10 to 10.15 p.m.

The continuation of Monet versus Zeuxis, the post-match with Tony Storm, an ad break, and the beginning of entrances for the main event.

677,000 viewers.

Okay.

Everybody's got a price and everybody's got a breaking point.

I think we're starting to hit these people's.

Well, now the big main event, Jim,

quarter 10, 10.15 to 10.30 p.m.

I remind you, we have a seven-minute overrun after this.

The Death Riders, the Young Bucks, and the Beast Mortos

versus Will Ospreay, Swerve Strickland, and the Ops with Picture and Picture,

652,000 viewers

seven-minute overrun including the post-match with hangman Adam Page

589,000 viewers ouch well there yeah I mean that's they've got to the ridiculous point at that time but

652 in quarter 10 when they started with 777 is amazing

and with the the boar horseman being starred in a in a role uh and the the buckaroos

that do they need to move to mexico was so whose curiosity was this was this as i said

the expatriates from mexico that haven't seen

the their favorite luchadors in a while or want to see what the fuss is about or was this the americans that wanted to see what the fuss was about

because it didn't appear to be any one segment or match that you know was responsible for a great great deal of anything

so was it just curiosity and then now that they've seen it are they confused as to who's who or do they have a new favorite it'll be interesting to see once again the death riders and the young bucks

people don't stay around or come back for that stuff for anyone who wants to say jon moxley moves the ratings

We cover this every week.

He moves the ratings.

He does.

Yeah.

But MJF and Mystico, there's a clear line to that.

And then it drops off.

And, you know, the build to it wasn't perfect,

but at least it was building to like a one-on-one.

You kind of understood who's on what side.

And they had the match.

If you watched it, it had heat,

some sloppiness from Mystico, but it had heat.

But not everything has a clear line of what they're building.

And sometimes you just need to do simple stuff.

And we'll see what happens this week.

Back in America.

But that was AEW Dynamite Ratings.

Of course, Jim, Mexico City may be a scary place for some.

There are lots of places in the big world of ours that are scary.

You may not want to walk around with a giant wallet.

It may get taken.

But maybe you need something compact, something that you can use, something just for you.

And Jim, we have new friends to tell the listeners about.

Our friends with Ridge.

Ridge Wallet.

Yes, we certainly do.

The Ridge wallet, but it sounds uncomfortable, the term Ridge.

It's not really.

What it is, is indestructible.

And like you said, we talked about on the program the other day.

If you've had one of those big fat wallets, stuff full, probably not with cash, but with receipts and fucking various DREC alongside the stuff you really need, you stuff it in your back pocket.

You walk around, not only does it throw your hip out of joint.

Not only do you look deformed like you've got a growth coming out of your nether regions, but you're a target.

I mean, somebody can sneak up behind you and knock you on the head and take that thing and they wouldn't know that it's filled with nothing but receipts from former blockbuster video rentals they'd think something was good in it but now with the ridge not only can you keep your stuff safe but you can slip it right into anything you could You could slip this up amongst your balls if you wanted to, if you were in a sketchy neighborhood.

I don't think that's needed.

Of course, you can put it in your wallet.

It won't stand out.

And for those.

Put it in your wallet.

It is your wallet.

It is your wallet.

Put it in your pocket.

Pockets are where it goes.

Pockets in your pants.

Ridge is there to escort you and your pants with all your stuff.

Pockets in your pants and Ridge for your stuff because this is

a unique, slim, and modern design.

It's like the same size as a credit card, but it holds up to 12 credit cards plus cash.

One of those credit cards could easily be a driver's license as well.

You know the drill.

We're talking cards here.

And they make these things out of aluminum and carbon fiber and titanium.

50 colors and styles to choose from.

They've got a lifetime warranty.

These things are indestructible.

And again, you can keep all that you need, right?

And nothing's going to fuck.

I'll tell you what.

This is a black box for a human being.

Now, let's say you're in a fiery airplane crash.

They're not going to need the dental records to identify you.

They're going to be able to pull this thing out of your pocket unharmed.

And they're just going to flip through and look at your driver's license, go, well, there's poor fucking Sal.

He didn't make it.

He's burnt to a crispy critter right now.

But goddamn, don't his driver's license is in such good a shape.

If we can find somebody that looks like him, they can use it.

That's if you have a Ridge wallet, ladies and gentlemen, and you're in a fiery plane crash or a bus accident or potentially, you know, a nuclear explosion, this is the, leave a note in this son of a bitch and it'll be fine.

And you're never going to lose it.

Let's hope none of these situations happen.

And of course, let's not make any

statements about the survivability of a nuclear

bash.

A nuclear bash or a blast of the ridge.

Well, if you, you know, if you don't believe me, folks, right now, as I'm speaking to you, go to ridge, r-i-d-g-e.com.

Ridge.com, that's even a simpleton could remember ridge.justovertheridge.com.

And you can use the code JCE if you're just going to order one anyway, but you can see exactly what it looks like and the way that it operates.

It's got this sturdy strap on it for your cash underneath there.

And I still say you could also use this as some kind of oriental fighting star, flinging it at somebody like you're trying to skip a rock on a lake if they were to try to.

take you down in a dark alley.

And see, that's the thing.

Ridge also makes the key, the key tag, the key case

that you can fold your keys up in a nice, neat little bundle instead of your pockets jangling.

If your pockets are jangling like a rodeo clown, then you won't be able to carefully sneak up behind somebody without them knowing you're there.

And then, if they've got a bulge in their pocket from the old-fashioned wallet, you'll know whether to hit them on the head or just go about your business.

But if they hear your keys jangling, there's no way you're going to creep up on them.

So you need to dress your credit cards cards and your keys up in fine containers from our friend at Ridge.

And right now, you can get 10% off of whichever you want or both or just whatever the fuck you'd like to do.

If you use the code JCE

at ridge.com, 10% off right now on these.

And again, they will survive time.

They've got a lifetime guarantee.

None of you son of a bitches out there right now are going to live long enough to see time or gravity or anything

diffuse this situation.

And they've got, they've got suitcases.

They've got all kinds of stuff over at Ridge.com.

Everyday carry essentials.

If you're looking for something to carry something in, ridge.com, promo code JCE, and tell them that you heard about them from us over here.

while you're over there.

Because then they'll be nicer to us over here, over there they are very nice people we don't have to worry about them being nicer but of course well it never hurts to butter some son of a bitch up

well you won't have to butter up your credit cards they will fit right into the ridge wallet it's a great boy no lube not a bit of lube needs to be used with this wallet no diddy but this wallet is for you Except if you're planning to sneak it into jail.

Then

don't it's unfortunate.

It's unfortunately shaped for that.

Again, that won't be happening, and let's not focus on that segment of the audience here.

But Jim, why don't we let the listeners know once again how they can get this great wallet?

ridge.com, R-I-D-G-E, Ridge.com, use the promo code JCE, 10% off the wallet, the key case, the various premium everyday carrying essentials.

If you have enough of these things all about your body, you'll almost have a bulletproof outfit on.

This stuff's indestructible.

And get 10% off and tell them that we told you to do it.

So

they'll know who's telling you what to do.

That's right.

Ridge.

Yes.

All right, Jim.

You know what that means, of course?

It's time to.

Does the sponsor have to pay any extra for you to give them these cute little advertising jingles?

When they don't pay extra, they get the piano.

You pay extra.

You get the organ.

How much do we have to pay to not get either?

What kind of budget you got?

Moving on.

All right.

Well, moving on.

And I guess, Jim, we should preview.

There's a pay-per-view.

Well, it's not even a pay-per-view.

There was an event,

a premium.

There hasn't been an event.

There's going to be an event.

Maybe there's going to be an event.

Maybe there's going to be an event because there's been events.

There's been some events here.

Can I jump in?

I've been doing it anyway.

Fuck.

Sorry about that.

It's your show.

But no, it's not, but we'll pretend it is for a minute.

Because you've made the point several times.

You know, people send, have you seen this?

Have you seen this?

Well, yes, if you've seen it, we've seen it.

I was inundated on the Twitter machine.

here just a day or two ago.

But for one of the more innocuous things that I have ever said or published or tweeted out,

I tripped some kind of bot thing, I believe.

Allow me to explain.

Somebody tweeted out a map of the part of the world that contains Saudi Arabia, that also contains Israel, that also contains Iran and their

proximity and location to each other in the world,

and had the places circled.

Then the WWE

premium blood money event

is circled.

It's in the middle and down south in between Israel and Iran, who last as we are recording this

were shooting bombs at each other, right?

Have we got an update on that, Brian?

Have they quit in the last couple of hours?

I don't know if you say shooting bombs, shooting missiles, dropping bombs, but not shooting bombs.

Well, missiles, bombs, there's some shit getting blown up, right?

And so I retweeted that with the tagline, Stanford, we have a problem.

Because I would think that it would be self-evident that there would be some discussion about this in WWE offices.

And

suddenly I'm hearing from,

because he got, what are the 10,000 of the little hearts?

Does that mean people like it?

And

2 million of the view things or whatever.

But usually, when I tweet something about Schitler and his band of criminal henchmen, that will trigger

whatever the bots are that they program to defend,

you know, the indefensible and the maggots come out.

I don't know all the patriots and whatever.

But in this case,

I don't really know whose side these people are on, otherwise, than is it a

Republican thing to act like there's nothing to see here, there's nothing wrong, everything's fine, everything's under control?

Because people started that I

don't follow me, that I've never heard of before,

and saying basically the same things like the bots do with the Republican talking points.

You just don't know geography.

Why, it's a thousand miles to here to there.

Yeah, I don't give a fuck if goddamn South Carolina gets to goddamn war with Wisconsin.

If they're shooting bombs over Kentucky, I'm not going to be goddamn happy about it, right?

What do I take to the skies?

Well, execute and flying around, but more on this in a minute.

That's one of the, they're a thousand miles apart.

Or you don't think that Iran would be stupid enough to fuck with Saudi Arabia, do you?

Like these people are fucking textbook examples of level-headedness themselves

you don't think that goddamn as much money as the saudis are paying for the show that they're not gonna have all kinds of money for security for the wrestlers

well god damn they've assassinated presidents in the motherfuckers can happen

If you could keep anybody absolutely 100% safe all the fucking time,

well, it would throw the world into chaos because everybody'd be trying to be that person.

But nevertheless, I digress.

It's too far apart.

They don't have the balls to fuck with Saudi Arabia.

You're just trying to make a big deal out of it.

Well, they're going to keep them safe.

I would think it would be self-evident.

What side are they on?

I don't understand what the.

I don't know.

They're just arguing.

Like pro-Saudi Arabia?

Is that what it is?

Like pro-traveling Saudi Arabia?

And by the end, there's State department advisories on various countries over there right now they're just at a level two in saudi arabia except level four is do not travel and kiss your ass goodbye for like 20 or 30 miles of saudi arabia next to the border of something something

but again the point is that they just are they're arguing like this is going to be a caribbean vacation

I've never said that the goddamn head, the president of Iran was going to say, we got got to bomb those american wrestlers that'll show them

but it's the same point brian as you raised a good point you got to get in and out of there

even

accidents happen

in crowded and they're restricting airspace they're redirecting people around certain things

or

You mean to tell me that just because the Saudi Arabian prince spends a bunch of money to bring the Americans over, every Saudi Arabian loves the Americans.

Or there's no Iranians living in Saudi Arabia that don't like anybody.

Who the fuck is on whose side over there?

Do they have their own homegrown unabomber?

Certainly in countries like Saudi Arabia and Iran and points of that direction, they wouldn't have any.

nut cases living in those countries that might just want to blow some shit up on their own.

What the fuck?

Do you want

somebody actually said,

if do you cancel a show in South Carolina if there's a forest fire in North Carolina?

Only if it's caused by fucking nuclear fallout,

you dumb shits.

And again,

the point that I was trying to make is regardless of of whose side you're on or what you think,

and another point they were making was, well, you know, they don't care at the WWE.

They're going to go through with it no matter what.

Fine.

Does that mean to goddamn it all the fucking minions have to go through with it too?

Because again, they're issuing

reports on Americans in that entire region of the world.

Travel with caution.

People don't like you over there.

So now here comes

a giant group of some of the most visible American celebrities on television around the world

to have this big wing ding.

And they got to get there and they got to get back and they got to go to the hotel.

And they apparently have to eat food of some description.

They've got to be somewhere in the public eye.

Jesus, we got people in this country running people over in the streets with goddamn minivans.

You know, it's a good week to hold up the office.

Boy, howdy,

a good week to hold up the office.

It's a good week to say fuck you to the office.

But in any, in any capacity, do you want to go there and be, much less be on the crew?

Do you want to be part of the fucking show?

Like, I was nervous enough when I was in the cage hung in Barton Coliseum in Little Rock with a potential guy who wanted to shoot DB Assi out there with a gun.

Much less, they might want to fucking blow up the whole goddamn city I'm in.

And again, what's it really all about?

It's really all about tourism.

It's about boosting tourism, the Saudi Arabia, and getting Saudi Arabia more recognized on the global stage.

Well, they are.

They're recognized on the global stage right now.

They're right in the middle of a fucking shit sandwich.

I keep seeing commercials, Saudi Arabia for Dubai, for Qatar.

Like

Why would anyone travel there now?

What the fuck?

But yeah, if I was a wrestler, I'd hold up the office this week.

Listen, because it's reasonable.

There's no way I'm fucking flying over there.

Unless you give me a bunch of money.

I lost my mind.

That's again, that's a thing.

Accidents happen and shit takes place and the skies are crowded and oops.

And then again, on the ground with whatever domestic issues they have over there.

I think we've seen that actually over the last decade a few times.

I want to say it was Russia where Russia shot down planes like in the middle of nowhere because their systems thought it was something else or from another country.

They fucked up, shot down a plane full of civilians because they thought it was, you know, something from Ukraine.

It wasn't even Ukraine.

I think it was another country.

Accidents happen.

You know, and regardless, again, of whose side you're on or what you think, I thought it was ridiculous for people to say, oh,

calm down.

It'll be fine.

You know, that's so, it's a thousand miles away.

When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, from what I understand, it made people in Missouri nervous too.

And, you know, again, you got to get there and you got to do this show and you got to get out.

We're going to SA via Omaha.

What?

I don't want to be anywhere in that part of the fucking world.

Remember, that was one of the two things that made me and the Midnight Express give our notice in Dallas, our Texas stadium payoff, and they were talking about, let's go to Israel.

Let's go to fucking North Carolina.

I'm sorry, go ahead.

Well, perhaps all these things happening could be fixed if Kevin von Erich would make a trip over there right now.

Jim, speaking of Saudi Arabia, an event still scheduled to transpire as we are recording.

Night of Champions.

I have the card here.

Hopefully, it will, instead of expire,

it will transpire.

WWE Night of Champions.

Saturday, June 28th, 1 p.m.

Eastern Time.

Great way to ruin your afternoon, but let's go to this card here, Jim.

Sammy Zane,

who will be like a pig in shit versus Carrion Cross.

Who will just be will provide the shit?

I guess the big story here is the fact this match is happening.

It came off something that just happened on Raw where Sammy hit Carrion Cross.

But I think it's really about the groundswell behind Karrion Cross from the fans.

They are starting to use him better.

And when he appeared on the screen last night, the fans popped.

So something's starting to work.

I don't know.

I might have to pay a little more attention because I haven't actually had as much of a groundswell as just a swelling in general over him.

But

I will say that I have liked the interaction that they've led up to with Sami Zayn and Punk and Cody and

I'm sorry, not punk, but Zane and Orton

and Cody and Uso sounds like a goddamn 60s romantic fucking comedy.

Because even though they're baby faces, they've been true to their individual selves.

They've all talked about finishing their story.

They've all got a point.

Nobody yet has.

gone off the beam.

They did a wonderful promo the other night.

I like what they've done there.

I think it's a step back for Sami Zayn

with Carrie and Cross.

We'll see what happens.

Again, I just, I haven't seen

what the fuck the deal was with Cross here lately, but maybe I've just tuned him out because he was so bad for so long.

Like I said, the fans are reacting, so that's usually a good sign.

Well, sometimes they they begin by setting things on fire, but, you know.

In a street fight,

Rhea Ripley versus Raquel Rodriguez.

I'm interested in this.

Our girl, Rochelle Rochelle, they've changed her gimmick and her look a number of times over the years.

She's battled illness and injury, but.

Rhea is a tremendous worker.

We've said that enough times that I'm sure it's registered on everybody.

I think Rhea's great.

She, this will be an equivalent in size.

I don't think that Raquel's work is on the level of Rhea's, but I think Rhea, if they concentrate on things that Raquel is strong at,

it can get a wonderful match out of this and hopefully elevate Raquel if she's,

you know, if they're trying to give her a renewed

oomph behind her somehow as a single.

She's been in groups and stooges, both as a babyface and a heel.

Well, I think Rhea doesn't need to lose anymore, but also, like you said, they are trying to reestablish Raquel.

They had did a thing on Raw where,

you know, Liv Morgan out of action.

Now, Raquel and Roxanne Perez are kind of starting to get along.

So there's something.

Well, yeah, and you know, I don't know that, and again, I didn't even address the finish.

Under normal circumstances, I would not want Rhea to lose lose to Raquel.

But if they're going to give Raquel a push and this is a start of

something that will continue with Rhea, then I think, you know,

she might have to win one to get some credibility.

But let's see where they're going.

For the United States Championship, the champion Jacob Fatu

versus Solo Sokoa.

You know,

again, this came out of nowhere, didn't it?

Where he just jerked him down off the ladder and said, fuck it, boom.

I didn't, I don't mean came out of nowhere.

They've obviously teased it, but

it seems like we missed a step or two between angry words exchanged and I'm just beating the fuck out of you and I hate you solo.

This has to be Jacob winning.

I'm just trying to

figure out any other way they might, and with J.C.

Mateo around, he might interfere.

But I don't think Hicculeo, Jacob needs to say again, Hicculeo.

They just trademarked, what is it, Talatonga?

Oh,

that's, I forgot.

I thought that was a 60s Hawaiian beach party comedy.

Hicculeo.

I think Jacob needs to get a win, then they get some heat afterwards

if they're going to continue the thing.

But

then again,

you know, it just Jacob seems like on a different level than the other guys.

Jim, in the final of the Queen of the Ring tournament,

Asuka versus Jade Cargill.

Okay, I wonder who we should bet on there, Brian.

Is there any way to call this one?

Should we just flip a coin?

Good lord.

In a matchup, who will be wearing the most clothes on the card?

Asuka versus Jade Cargill.

They'll probably just put both of them in hazmat outfits.

Jade has to win this, does she not?

Asuka just returned.

Well, but goddamn, are they going to beat Jade Cargill in a single match

on a big high-profile event with somebody who she hasn't even been programmed with with all these other things that have gone on?

It's the finals of the tournament.

I don't know.

What happens in Saudi Arabia kind of stays there for the most.

I mean, Gunther lost the Cody there and everyone forgot about it the next day.

Well,

some things are happening over there in Saudi Arabia that are leaving Saudi Arabia.

I think they ain't going to beat it.

I think also because I don't know if Jade is a good enough worker yet to get beat in a high-profile single match like that.

All right, Jim.

Well, speaking of tournament finals, the king of the ring final, Cody Rhodes versus Randy Orton.

Cody Rhodes, Cody Rhodes.

You know, the way that, again, that I said before, the way that they have done this with top baby faces, and

maybe was it to show them in AEW how to do it, where instead of each guy comes up with his own dramatic reading that has nothing to do with anything else, they've all kind of stuck to themselves on this, that they've been true to who they would be.

And nobody has been a backstabber,

but everybody's made their opinions known.

But at some point, I'm wondering,

we don't know what's going on with Cena, because now we'll get to it in a minute with his pipe bomb business.

More people are cheering him now that he's a heel than were cheering him when he used to be a babyface.

This goddamn

psychology that goes on these days with these people.

But

I think at some point, unless Cody is going to come back fairly

quickly and

conquer Cena and then Cena switches babyface before the end of the year,

if that's the case, and Cody needs to get after Cena sooner than later at this point, but is Orton finally going to snap and stab Cody in the back and deprive him of that opportunity

so that Cody wins it back from Cena later,

but Orton is ready standing by to be the

fucking money match.

What's happening here?

Does Cody have to win it back from Cena in your eyes?

Boy, it would help.

I mean, I don't.

How does he

I mean, how does he ever get even?

And even if something was to happen where somebody came and kidnapped cena's family and he switched babyface in the hunt to get him back

does he just go up to cody and say i apologize now let's go find my kids or what i mean yeah we're running out of time for the babyface turn you expect

and

i think it's already happening

And it just ain't going to really be official.

And he's just going to ride off in the sunset as whatever the fuck it is he's been doing all year.

So I think that that then they might need to stretch it out till the end of the year.

But

at some point, I think Cody needs to get the belt back from Cena

or elsewhere it damages Cody.

But if Orton

beats Cody before Cody beats Cena, then Orton would be ready for Cody right afterwards, along with

a bunch of these other, you know, baby faces that are in

various stages of flux and or the heels they got

because punk wouldn't have a problem turning around and wrestling Cody again I'm not talking

I'm not talking about the person the person I'm talking about in gimmick they they could easily manufacture something of that nature so

but anyway the point being for this match

I think Orton might fucking fuck with him some kind of way if they're going to do that.

And if not, then Cody needs to win.

And finally, Jim, the main event for the undisputed WWE Championship, John Cena versus CM Punk.

This match, let's predict this match, and then we'll back up and talk about the promo.

Boy, howdy, it's going to be.

It's going to be a test because Punk is a professional professional and he can make some devastating shit look

devastating, but it actually doesn't hurt you or physically incapacitate you or whatever.

But the way that people have been handling Cena, like he's, goddamn, on the verge of being one of those fucking cheap toys of plastic that just breaks apart.

They're barely touching him.

And he's not

on offense.

John is not setting the world on fire.

He's psychologically in the match to build it, to make it make sense,

to register things, get the most out of things.

It's refreshing to see, but

I guess what I'm trying to say is,

can Punk have a goddamn match of his standards with John's matches of his standards these days?

What do you think?

Again, Saudi Arabia, we'll see what kind of energy the crowd has.

It's not the same as working in Chicago, as I brought up in the past, or really any major show here.

I've not liked seeing his work in the ring, so I don't have any high expectations for this.

I think Punk needs the right opponent.

I don't expect much from this match, and hopefully, that means I'll really like it because

it won't meet my low expectations.

But I mean, the end of the night, even with it, put it in John's matches.

It's just, it's,

there's no contact there.

People are, and I'm not talking about being dangerous or reckless or putting people through multiple furniture.

I'm talking about the old Mid-South wrestling smack of the meat in the flesh when you kind of get into the thing, a fight.

You know,

I don't think we're going to see Punk and Drew McIntyre here.

Obviously, if Punk wins the

belt, that would screw screw up a lot of shit.

So I don't think that's going to happen.

And,

you know, like you said, depending on,

well, the atmosphere in Saudi Arabia, because Cena is a huge star and has been for so long, maybe they're going to be pro him and Punk can heal and have some fun.

Or

maybe they're just going to kind of be blase because it ain't Chicago and the matches, yeah, and then it's going to be a struggle.

We don't know how they're going to react or what that equation is going to be like, but

I'm thinking it's going to be

an okay match at best.

And Cena's, you know, is going to win.

And I just hope that it doesn't damage punk any more than that fucking promo the other night on television did already.

But

I don't see any shocking.

I mean, I don't see any shocking happening here as far as the result.

Somebody could run out or somebody could attack somebody.

It could be a shock, but we're not going to see it upset.

Well, we will find out, night of champions, coming up this weekend in the afternoon.

Coming up this weekend in the afternoon.

But do you want to talk for a second about the pipe bomb that everybody was in love with?

From WWE SmackDown, the end of the show was the segment that everyone was talking about.

And when I first got on Twitter the next morning or whatever, and I, oh, wait till Cornette hears this, sees this, talks about this, or just everybody was the pipe bomb.

He did a pipe bomb.

And I thought, okay, I've got something to be, you know,

halfway look forward to about this show.

And now that,

you know, that gives me a feeling of hope for the weekend, which were dashed on the rocks, all those hopes when I saw the thing.

And

I couldn't,

it was like watching a world-renowned world-renowned opera singer singing the best aria of their life, standing in the middle of a fucking field of shit.

And all I could think of, instead of listening to the music, was why are they standing there in that field full of shit?

Cena's promo was incredible.

And again, he had more life as a heel.

And that's why I turned him babyface.

He was more enjoyable.

He didn't drone on too much, but he had great material.

He did stuff for the inside fans.

He had a great delivery.

And after he'd had a match,

even though he was sitting on the turnbuckles,

the promo itself was incredible.

But Brian, do you know why I hated it?

How that was laid out?

The visual.

What the fuck were they thinking?

CM Punk Layer.

It was ridiculous.

They, the, the, the, the way that it was set up was that Punk ran out, boom, boom, boom.

They have a fight.

Cena ends up putting him through a table.

And then he lays there while Cena gets the microphone, sits on the turnbuckles,

and does that promo for 10 minutes.

And the camera shot is Punk laying there,

alternately grimacing to the left, then grimacing to the right

immobile

in the in the table for 10

minutes

and

again that you not only could you not unsee it you couldn't stop thinking about it but they wouldn't stop showing it to you

and the thought that anybody would have is my god either

If he can't get up, then somebody needs to call a goddamn ambulance.

Don't they?

One way or another,

if a guy's guy's been thrown through a piece of furniture

and he's laying there and he's not moving, somebody's got to check on him.

You can't just talk for 10 minutes.

And if he ain't up by then, here's another problem: the sins that have been committed against the business.

People see children,

child-sized adults.

thrown through tables every week on every show and get up to win the fucking match.

Here is one of the five biggest stars in the biggest wrestling promotion in the world.

He goes through a table and he lays there for 10 minutes.

And this is the guy that's challenging for the fucking title at the big show.

I don't know whose stupid idea that was

or how they talked punk into it.

Could they have put some propofol in his fucking water tank?

You don't think it it was his idea?

I don't think so.

What

I don't think so.

I don't know what, but I don't know how that got past more than one person.

Because all they had to do, he puts him through the table, boom.

He's not getting up.

Everybody runs to check on him.

They carry him out.

Cena gets the microphone.

I've got something to say to him.

Well,

if I can't say it to him, I'll say it to him on tape and he can watch it when he wakes up and do the same goddamn promo.

It created an interesting dynamic, almost like the person in a coma, like in the hospital room while people are having a conversation about them and they can't move.

Punk's laying there and it was so long that even if you thought like he may have been hurt, after a while, you're like, he's just laying there.

That's the only thought you can have.

And Cita's doing the all-time promo against him.

Yes.

And he can't sell it.

He can't move.

He just has to speak.

He just can't speak.

He can't even shake his head like, oh, no, that's not true.

He just has to take it.

He just lay there.

That's what it devalued their main event.

It devalued one of their talents.

It was a preposterous visual and disappointing for, you know, the fucking cataclysmic confrontation of Titans and the main event that it's supposed to be.

And I don't know what ignorant, head-up is ass son of a bitch.

could have approved it unless was

was Cena supposed to talk for 45 seconds instead of 10 minutes?

And maybe we could have another conversation.

It was the pipe bomb.

The fact that he would think.

The fact that it was what it was, there's no way you do that and it doesn't go a little while.

So maybe that was the pipe bomb part.

He was always supposed to say, hey, kiss my ass, see you Saturday, and boom, and gone, but he did 10 minutes and he had to lay there.

Yeah, it'd be funny if Punk didn't know he was going to do that.

And Punk's laying there and he just started doing the pipe bomb promo.

And then

six minutes later, Punk's thinking, my God, how do I get out of here?

Guys, in the old days, I mean,

there are contracts and attorneys and reasons now why one might think twice, there's not a motherfucker in the wrestling business before 1985 that wouldn't have stood up about two minutes in and started trying to make a comeback.

I'm just telling you.

So like I said,

it was, again, it's the pipe bomb.

It's a playoff the famous promo Punk did, you know, 10 plus years ago.

But the fact that it happened, the fact that the fans turned with Cena,

and the fact that he pointed out every single thing you could about Punk being an asshole, whatever you want to say.

Yeah.

I mean, it was effective maybe in all the wrong ways.

I don't know.

What do you think?

Well, I mean, again, it was a choice of things to say.

It was, again,

very heavily inside, but those are the people that we,

them's the ones that remain now.

But at the same time, he didn't, he said it in an obnoxious and heelish manner, but he

there was an element of credibility to the things he was saying, and the people started getting more with it.

And by the time that it was over with, he even acknowledged it.

He said, as you see, some of these attitudes are beginning to change.

It was, it was almost like that was, I'm going to,

I'm going to be a babyface again.

I'll just trash this fucking beloved guy that you like.

So it was just, it was odd that,

you know, again, that anybody would have approved of that all the way through without raising the flag.

Well, number one, even if we,

if we don't care, they're going to cheer John or boo John or whatever they want to do.

They're all paying.

The element of just having the challenger.

lay there and have to be brow beaten like that while allegedly unconscious when there's literally people hit by cars and on on fucking video on ring and gotten up and scurried away in quicker time than this happened it just it was very odd and then punk's not going to win at the pay-per-view or at the night of champions well

no not unless he's the one that doesn't show up then he'll be the winner

but if he goes he ain't winning

That would just throw a wrench into everything that would logically proceed from there.

So you didn't like it, but it wasn't because, or it was only partly because of what Cena was saying.

It was more because of the presentation and the way.

Yeah, it wasn't even.

Again, I thought it was a brilliant piece of cunning linguistism, very of the verbal masterpiece.

Even if it did get people to cheer him, he's a fucking superstar, blah, blah, blah.

And Punk can handle himself verbally.

So I wasn't upset about that.

The promo was fantastic.

And he had more oomph than he has since he's become a heel.

It was the just the ridiculous visual of Punk.

It made Punk look bad.

It made the angle look bad.

It distracted from Cena's promo because the more you're thinking he's got to get up sooner or later because it was so preposterously long.

So I thought it devalued one of the guys in the match.

It devalued the match and it just, it was, it looked stupid on television.

If they'd had Punk out of there,

go to it.

Eat him up.

But they're probably really happy with the reaction off television.

Everyone on social media, the clip going around, how many people viewed it.

I mean, that's really what you want if you're WWE right now.

But there it is.

I wonder how happy Punk was

when he watched it back.

He's like, oh, there, I twitched my left eye.

When I brought up that someone should hold up the office this week, I meant him.

I meant him.

Yeah, exactly.

But that was SmackDown.

And Jim, any, did you watch any Raw?

Did you see any Raw?

I know I referenced it a few times.

You know what?

It's Stacey's mother's birthday today, and we've had a few plans to make.

So I have not, if there's, if anybody

was incapacitated somehow, I'll report it on the next program.

Well, the one thing I want you to check out, because it goes along with this whole idea of the heels all of a sudden getting baby face reactions, Gunther's promo by Goldberg.

That may be something you mentioned that to me, and that's the last time that I've thought about it is when you mentioned it to me first.

But I'll check that out.

Jim, let's move on here with the show.

We have a lot of show to get to as we move on here.

Let's go to the real world news before we get back to wrestling.

Jim, did you see that Diddy is not going to testify at his own trial?

Wait a minute.

Now, wait a minute.

First of all, we got to go back to Diddy.

And secondly, you mean to tell me

that a daddy as outspoken as Diddy,

who has been accused of diddying and dallying,

is not going to now do his duty to come out and testify.

in his own defense.

Diddy won't defend his own diddling.

That's right.

I think he's getting bad advice.

I think him on the stand would clear up this whole mess pretty quickly.

Well, I don't know.

The only thing that would make a victim faster is if he plays music to the jury.

But we'll stay on top of the Diddy trial.

I know people have been following along with us here on the show.

Yeah,

you've been following it a lot more than everybody else has.

It is fascinating.

You just want that fucking lube and Astro Glide at half price in the bankruptcy auction.

I believe Astro Glide would be lube.

Well,

there's also generic lube.

It just says lube.

Oh, I don't know.

See, but the Astroglide, that was reserved for

the good stuff.

Well, Jim, while we're talking about things in the news, I have something here related to you.

One of your friends is in the news.

Oh, boy.

This is from the New York Post.

Although apparently it's going viral now.

Cobra Kai star Alicia Hannah Kim accuses Martin Cove of assaulting and biting her

at fan convention.

Now, of course, Martin Cove, better known as Al Haft to wrestling fans, I guess you can say.

Yes, yes.

The Queen of the Ring movie here this year that was that escaped all over the land.

And he played quite an integral part, as did I.

And we sat next to each other for a lot of filming.

Very, very nice, friendly old gentleman.

Famously played Sensei John Creese in the Karate Kid films and cobra kai looks like martin cove may have taken his character john crees's motto a little too far the cobra kai actor 78

what wow was reportedly kicked out of the washington state fan convention after being accused of assaulting his co-star Alicia Hannah Kim over the weekend.

Well, now, first of all, if he's 78 years old and he was getting around in a fine fashion and he's got 15 years on me.

That surprises me right there.

At least I've got hope to be able to be ambulatory at that point.

But how would he assault this poor young lady?

He's a fine gentleman that wears an ascot.

Hannah Kim told an officer working in the fan event that Cove allegedly bit her arm.

And when she yelled out in pain, he began kissing the area.

According to an informational police report obtained by people,

Hannah Kim claimed the alleged attack happened when she tapped Cove on the shoulder to greet him at their cast booth.

Oh, well, she must have snuck up behind him with one of these ridge key things where he couldn't hear her jingle.

And when he was startled, he thought he was being attacked.

And he went into his Cobra Kai fucking self-defense techniques.

Ah!

And he bit the fucking offender and the attacker on the arm.

I don't know about that.

Here's a quote.

Martin Cove suddenly grabbed her arm and bit her upper arm so hard it nearly drew blood, and she yelled at him in pain.

Once Martin Cove finished biting her arm, he grabbed her arm again and began kissing it where he had bit her.

It says here she was,

he was trying to make up for it.

She was in season five and six of the Netflix series Cobra Kai.

She claimed her husband, Sebastian Rocher,

if that's how you pronounce that, was there and witnessed the alleged attack.

When the pair confronted the actor, he reportedly exploded on them.

That's a quote.

That's a quote.

That's a quote.

Did you bite me?

Yeah.

He came on them with God's wrath.

Well, again, let me go back to the sentence.

When the pair confronted the actor, he reportedly, and there's a quote, exploded on them while insisting he did not do anything wrong.

She found an on-site officer officer who noted that she had very noticeable bite marks on her arm that were already turning blue and bruising.

The law enforcement officer also stated that when he questioned the actor about the incident, Cove admitted to biting her, but claimed, here's a quote, he did it out of jest.

He thought he was being funny.

The report stated.

And they play fight all the time on the set of Cobra Kai, and he did not think it was a big deal.

When the officer informed Cove that his alleged assault was illegal and would not be tolerated in the future, the actor responded that he was just messing around and did not mean for it to be perceived as illegal.

Despite the ordeal, she decided not to.

He just doesn't know the strength of his own jaws.

She declined to press charges, but she requested the report be taken in case this continues.

Martin Cove was then escorted out of SummerCon.

The post has reached out to his reps for comment.

Is that the first time that any guest has ever been taken out for biting?

No one expects that.

Like when you tap someone on the shoulder, hey, it's me.

Oh, it says here, he's been training with Ace Steele.

Now, hey!

But no, he seemed like such a nice, kindly gentleman.

I, there was no wanting on the set of Queen of the Ring, he didn't want to eat you.

Well, he didn't say he didn't say he was chewing and swallowing, just biting, so he wasn't eating.

It's not a high-calorie fucking offense, but she's with her husband.

That's hey, look, there's Marty.

Let's go say hello.

Did you bite my wife?

I was just, I was doing it out of jest.

That's not how jest works.

The jesting of it.

I was, he was in

He was

doing like a ingest.

I was trying to ingest her.

Well, we'll see what happens.

This may affect, obviously, casting a Queen of the Ring, too, but we'll stay on top of this story.

Coming to a fucking slideshow at an elementary school near you.

Usually it's like a fan incident.

It's like a fan was pushing the boundaries and the star had enough and just punched him or pushed him or threw their camera.

It's never like your co-star says hello.

So you bite them.

And again, I've been to a lot of comic cons and various things.

I've never seen any hustle and bustle.

Oh, they're taking him out for biting.

He's 78.

Did he like lean in?

I mean, he said upper arm.

So, I mean, did he like bow a little bit and like, like, did she have time to like, what is he doing?

Well, no, no, but I, I, now, if he's at a convention, he's 78 also.

He's probably seated.

She came up from behind him like a thief in a night she bent down and tapped him on the shoulder he turned around and there's an arm right next to him and he just goes to town just a chomping and a chewing a chewing and a chomping

i'd do the same thing if somebody tried to attack me from behind put me in a rear naked they didn't say she tried to attack him they said that they were co-stars that she went over to say hello so he bit well you can't be too careful so he bitter whatever person gets behind you the next thing you know you've been choked out you wake up in a ravine somewhere with no clothes and animals chewing on your ankle well i don't know about all that you're in a hell of a pickle we will stay on top of this pickle the uh martin cove and ran your kidney it your kidney would be gone one of them at least

you'd be packed in ice once again we will stay on top of all this diddy news and the martin cove uh story a lot of things breaking all around us it's uh at least you know at least diddy never bit anybody did he did he

uh i can't say for sure but we haven't seen pictures of bite marks i guess that's the big thing you know they can identify people by their teeth marks

if they somebody take a plaster cast of that woman's arm

snoring ruining your sleep or someone else's mute by rhinomed is the simple science-backed solution just insert adjust and breathe mute is a discrete nasal device proven to increase airflow and reduce snoring.

No batteries, no noise, just better sleep.

Find Mute at Amazon and Walgreens.

Try it risk-free and sleep soundly tonight.

Learn more at mutesnoring.com.

That's mutesnoring.com.

All right.

Well, Jim, let's go from

Cynthia Plastercaster.

That's actually not who we're talking about at all, but let's go from that segment.

Yes.

All the way over to this segment on.

Saudi Arabia.

No, it's my Omaha.

Why don't we

pick this up?

Why don't we do a little from the files, part two of something we talked about last week?

Paul Heyman.

I have the giant file here from the Wrestling News Archive.

This is a compilation of everything that was a part of Pro Wrestling Enterprises.

And Paul Heyman, for a few years, was a big part of it.

You said it was the fattest file.

It is gigantic.

You know, the other interesting thing.

It's plain big.

The other interesting thing here, too, is in a lot of ways, it's a document of what was happening on the indie scene in the Northeast in 84, 85, 86, 87.

There's stuff here that Paul Heyman sent in himself, although he would say, like, credit this person.

Yes.

Like, when he was working for like Windy City Wrestling, or even when he was.

We were that big, that big staff at what was it, Wrestling Press International?

Wrestling Press International.

I just found the actual invitation for the Bam Bam Bigelow debut match, a professionally done invitation from Studio 54.

And I have here a letter.

But the problem was when they licked the envelopes for to send them out, everybody died.

This is from, and there's not a date on it.

Paul Heyman did not date these, but this is from the end of 83.

Dear Mr.

Keitzer,

enclosed, please find several photographs and an article pertaining to the recent death of the Grand Wizard.

I was a very close personal friend of his for many years, and as a matter of fact, it was he who broke me into the business, hooking me up with Vince McMahon Sr.

and Jr.

I ran a bulletin for four years, Wrestling Time, later renamed the Wrestling Times,

and also ran fan clubs for Ivan Putsky, Louis Albano, and Freddie Blassey.

Besides this, I also ran, at his request, the Wizards Fan Club for the last two years of his life.

Ernie himself asked me to run run it as a personal favor to him.

I recently spoke with a man with whom I believe you are familiar, Frank Amato,

who told me that your publication usually doesn't print long obituaries.

Thinking that letting a man like the wizard die without proper tributes, I've decided to enclose the aforementioned article.

Please look it over and get back to me at your convenience.

If necessary, you can call me collect

at nine one four, There's a phone number here.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Very truly yours, Paul Heyman.

P.S.

Proper postage and a large envelope is enclosed in case you cannot use the material.

So let's stop there for a second because we're going to now the origin story of Paul Heyman.

Well, yeah, also.

It's funny because when he says a motto said, you don't print it,

Norman would print most things that if people would write them and send them, he would print them.

I mean, it's not like if Bruno Samartino had died, he wouldn't have printed a big story on him or whatever.

But yes, Paul was

closer to the wizard than he was anybody else, and

you know, was kind of felt that he was a disciple of his.

But I love the many years that Paul was what is this, 1980?

What was it?

End of 83.

End of 83.

Paul's 19.

it's many years i've been

i met him when i was three well the other thing too is paul always had a deep not necessarily deep but he didn't always sound like a kid he sounded like someone older and he knew how to project his voice so if you got him on the phone you didn't actually know you may not know he's a kid i mean he's putting out a whole act here about wrestling press international and all this And he had some gravitas the way he worded things also

in letters.

But

yes, that

that is true.

You know, that was because he was a New York kid, so he loved the New York managers, Albano, Blassey, Wizard, especially Wizard.

That was who he

grew up watching, like we all did in our various places.

I have the article here, but here's Norm Keitzer's response, December 2nd, 1983.

Dear Paul.

I received your article on the Grand Wizard, and thank you so much for sending it and thinking of us.

It would be the type of article I might publish, and you indicated that Frank Amato had suggested you send it to me.

I don't know if Frankie told you this, but the situation here is that we have gone through quite a reorganization.

He's

starting to let him down easy about getting any money whatsoever, right?

And I don't at present have any money in the budget to purchase outside material from.

The only outside material we are using in our magazine at this time is that which we get in trade in return for free advertisements and free copies of our publications.

And since you didn't indicate that was the basis in which you were submitting this or what you would want in return, what I'm going to do is hold on to this, making sure you are aware of our situation here.

And then, when you can get back to me, and tell me either to return the material to you or we can make some arrangement to use it it on that basis if you are interested.

Thank you again for thinking of us.

Hope to hear from you again soon.

Sincerely yours, Norman Keitzer.

Like you said, lowering the boom right there.

Here's what we can actually do.

We can send you some beans and corn from our garden.

The Grand Wizard passes away at age 57 by Paul Heyman.

The Grand Wizard, known the world over as the manager of champions, passed away in his sleep on October 13th.

The cause of death was listed as heart failure.

Born Erwin J., and then in parentheses, Ernie, Roth, on August 30th, 1926, in Campton, Ohio, he attended Brown University, graduating at the top of his class.

Getting involved in radio, he worked as a disc jockey all over Ohio and Michigan.

One of his fans was the controversial grappler Buddy Rogers, who introduced him to pro wrestling.

His first job was as a ring announcer, but he quickly went on to become a blow-by-blow commentator on television.

First, let me stop there.

I didn't know that.

Did Buddy Rogers discover the Grand Wizard?

I never knew that.

It would have been.

I mean, it's entirely possible.

I have not read any biography on him to either confirm or deny it.

But Ernie Roth started again as not only a DJ, but also he was an announcer and he was a television commentator.

And this was

the Owl Haft era late 50s.

So, you know, it's entirely possible that it was Rogers that may have done a radio spot and

said, oh, you got to, you know, you got to come over here and meet the boys or whatever the case.

But for several years before he became the first incarnation of a manager, was what the first thing he did was Mr.

Clean, right?

With the bald head.

Well, let me go back to this.

It comes up here.

Well, and it probably will because this is his life.

But yeah,

that was the way he started.

In 1957,

Ray Stevens, who had been impressed by Ernie's knowledge of the sport, asked him to become his manager.

Accepting Stevens's offer, but wanting to protect his private life, he took the name Jay Wellington Radcliffe.

That's right.

That was the first one.

Once Stevens had moved on, the now successful manager went south under the alias Armstrong K.

It was during this time.

And that's when he had the long cigarette holder and he was wearing the Capri pants like Laura Petri on

fucking Dick Mann.

Like Laura Petri.

That's right.

Yeah.

And well, and the thing is, as I guess people, everybody knows now, I'm not, you know, say anything out of school, but Ernie Roth was gay and at a period when that was frowned on in a variety of places, in and out of wrestling.

But he got by with some of these

early gimmicks, the Armstrong K's and things of the, of that nature.

Gay and Jewish.

I mean, that couldn't have been an easy combination in various places.

But let me go back to this.

It was during this time that he met Johnny Berend and Magnificent Maurice.

The three of them went to Indiana with the manager using the name Mr.

Clean,

and the tag team won the title in record time.

While in Indiana, he was sought out by the Sheik, who was looking for a manager and was aware that Roth was multilingual.

The Sheik asked him to handle his career.

Accepting the new role, he took on the name Abdullah Farouk and soon rose to national prominence as Sheik won titles from coast to coast.

His eight-year tenure with the Sheikh came to an end and Abdullah Farouk reappeared in New York as the Grand Wizard.

It's crazy just how many different, I didn't realize how many different names he had just by that point.

Yeah, and well, and the reason why he didn't stay as Abdullah Farouk in New York is because

Abdullah Farouk was created specifically to be with the Sheik.

And he may have had interaction with some other heels over that eight-year run or whatever, but he was really just known as the sheik's guy.

And the pictures of him together were in all the magazines and et cetera.

They didn't necessarily want an Arab heel manager in New York, but with the turban, they just made it more generic.

The grand wizard, he had a giant sequined turban.

But he also had those glasses.

Like there was something

wizardly about him.

I don't know what to say.

Like there was like something.

It wasn't just like he's an Arab manager.

It was there's something,

you know, mystical almost about this weird guy.

And the other thing is, other than the clan,

did anyone use the term like grand wizard?

Was that a thing in society beyond the KKK?

Well, yes, because of various of the Moose Lodge.

I mean, I don't know specifically.

There's elks, there's Mooses, there's Meeses, whatever the fuck.

There's all these,

you know,

in the fucking

honeymooners, Grand Poobah of the Moose Lodge, or whatever.

There's some type of grand wizard of

these organizations, but the Klan pretty much doomed it.

I don't know if they do that now, but that was done in the past.

They didn't just make that up, I don't think.

After proving himself in the WWF to be an astute manager by handling such notorious rule breakers as Blackjack Mulligan and Beautiful Bobby, he pulled off the managerial coup of 1972 by convincing young Jimmy Valion to double-cross Chief Jay Strongbow.

This touched off a feud between the Indian and the Wizard, which lasted 13 years.

And it felt like every bit of it to the fans in the Northeast.

On December 1st, 1973, the Wizard led Stan Stasiak to the WWF World Heavyweight Championship when the Master of the Heart Punch defeated Pedro Morales in Philadelphia.

The reign was short, as Bruno San Martino defeated Stasiak only nine days later at Madison Square Garden.

For three and a half years, the wizard looked for someone to overthrow the living legend.

His dream was fulfilled on April 30th, 1977, when superstar Billy Graham defeated Bruno in a controversial match in Baltimore, Maryland.

The validity of Graham's claim to the title was questioned because his feet were on the top rope when he pinned San Martino.

The colorful duo was the toast of the East Coast as Graham tore through all opposition for 10 months until Bob Backlund won the belt in February 1978.

Boy, they really did give him.

I mean, I never thought about the timeline.

He gets to New York.

Right away, he's managing top people.

They give him Stasiak.

Albano had Kohloff a few years earlier.

Blassey was just about to become a manager, I guess.

Yeah, Blassey didn't start till 73 because that's when he had to leave California.

He couldn't get licensed after the age of 55.

Since the day the title left his stable, The Wizard brought in an amazing array of talent to the WWF.

Although he never saw Backlund defeated, he did lead Pat Patterson, Ken Patera, and the magnificent Morocco to the Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship.

At the time of his death, Sergeant Slaughter and the mass superstar were both under his management, and no replacement has been named as of yet.

Though he was roundly booed and jeered, the wizard was without a doubt the most respected manager in the history of professional wrestling.

His wit, eloquence, and showmanship will be remembered fondly by the wrestling community for many years to come.

And there's obviously a very personal write-up of the Grand Wizard by Paul Heyman, who, you know, we always...

So Paul does have a sentimental side.

You know, we always talk about Heyman being around the garden, Albano and Blassey were there, but Wizard really was, for a lot of people, not even just Heyman, Wizard.

Ernie Roth was someone who opened doors and got people involved somehow.

Yeah, well, he was, again,

he was more of a guy that wasn't.

one of the boys per se as much as the manager, the announcer, an office type of guy who was apparently level-headed and had been around for a while, had experience with a variety of talents.

So, you know,

he had people's ear because he had been around so long at a high level and communicated with people.

All right.

I can't speak to the validity of this.

Uh-oh.

Because I have here a few different things.

Is this another one of those contracts that Paul signed in Disappearing Inc.?

Well, no, I have a picture here, a couple of pictures.

And

let me pull this up here.

I have what claims to be a transcript of an interview that Paul Heyman conducted with Richard Belzer,

1985, Wrestling Press International.

But again, I just don't know.

It wouldn't, you know, it wouldn't be like anyone would be surprised if I said Heyman may have made something up.

Could this be like one of those Mike Lano interviews?

Now, there's a picture here of Richard Belzer apparently reading the wrestling news.

You could barely see what magazine it is.

It's almost like someone snuck a camera in it.

It got a photo without Richard Belzer knowing about it.

But there's a couple of things here.

It was either the wrestling news or porn.

Let me go to this.

I have the letter.

Dear Mr.

Keitzer, enclosed, please find two color slides that could be used as cover shots or color supplements or for whatever purpose you may find them.

The first slide.

shows Hulk Hogan and Mr.

T with Richard Belzer on Belzer's cable talk show Hot Properties, which is shown on the Lifetime Network.

I'm sure you're aware of the incident that occurred involving Hogan and Belzer.

The second slide is an exclusive of Richard Belzer reading the wrestling news.

I recently conducted an exclusive interview with Belzer and will be sending you the story and some black and white photos.

that goes along with these slides tomorrow.

I wanted to rush these slides to you in case you can use them.

We'll speak to you soon, Paul Heyman.

And here's the...

I got to hear the interview.

Let's see if we can smell the good, strong smell of bullshit.

All right, first question from Paul Heyman.

First of all, you did ask Coke Hogan to put you in a hold.

Why would you do such a thing?

The answer?

Why did I do it?

Because I had no idea that he would hurt me.

I thought he would just demonstrate the hold in a non-violent way.

It's an an entertainment show, and I thought it would be fun for him to show it to me and not execute any injuries upon me.

I just did it in a very gracious, naive, host-like way.

The next question,

what happened?

He put me in a chin lock, a front chin lock.

It's not a sleeper hold.

It's a different hold from what I found out.

As soon as he put me in the hold, it cut off my oxygen, and I was hurt.

I was in severe pain.

I couldn't breathe.

I passed out.

And then, from looking at the footage, I see that after I passed out, he just took his arms away and let me fall.

And I hit the back of my head on the studio floor and got eight stitches in the back of my head.

Next question: When you hit the floor, were you out?

I was unconscious when I fell.

And then this is all in bold, in caps, and underlined.

I fainted in his arms and then he dropped me.

So let me stop here for a second.

That is clearly what the attorney has told him to emphasize.

It doesn't seem like, I mean, it could be a fake, but it kind of works out so far.

It could be something.

Yeah, I mean, it sounds legitimate.

And again, you know, if you know something about wrestling, you could concoct that, but it doesn't sound like that he's making anything up.

Your eyes start to open and Hogan helps you up.

What's going through your mind?

The question from Paul Heyman.

Well, at that point, I was in shock.

And when I came to, I knew that I couldn't continue.

I knew that something was wrong.

I didn't know I was bleeding, so I figured we better go to commercial.

And then I went backstage and was taken to the hospital.

Here's a question.

Right before Hulk put you in the hold, he said to Mr.

T, and Richard Belzer cuts him off, let me know when you think he's had enough.

And then Paul Heyman's question continues.

He mentioned squealing.

At that point, did you think he was kidding?

From Belzer, I'll tell you, I met Hulk before the show and he was very nice to me.

He had seen my film and said he was a fan of mine.

So I, of course, thought he was kidding.

The farthest thing from my mind was that he would hurt me.

I wouldn't have been out there if I thought he would hurt me.

I think this is legitimate.

And what do you think today?

Asks Paul Heyman of Wrestling Press International.

I think he knew what he was doing, and I'm kind of sickened and shocked by that.

But by studying the tapes and his remarks before he did it and his remarks afterwards and the whole climate around this thing, It appears to me that it wasn't a case of him not knowing his own strength or of it being an accident.

He fully intended to do what he did.

Again, bold, underlined, and opps.

So he hurt you on purpose?

The answer?

Yeah,

I think so.

In my opinion, he did.

Do you have any idea why he would do this?

The answer?

I think it's because him and Mr.

T got caught up in their macho posturing.

You know, they say they don't know their own strength.

I think they don't know their own mental strength is what it is.

I think there might be something wrong with these guys.

Again, bold underlining caps.

I think, I don't know.

I mean, I'm not a psychiatrist or a doctor, but I think these are disturbed people

and they have to visit violence upon to prove that they're a man.

Let me stop there for a little bit.

What do you think of the quotes here from Belzer?

Well, I'm believing this interview more and more because this actually, when you think about it, he obviously either knew he was going to file suit or was in the process of doing so.

And so this is a great defense.

This is a first-hand account of everything that you would say in a deposition on the side of a lawsuit.

So

he was probably giving these interviews everywhere he could.

Yeah, I don't know where else he gave these interviews.

How did Heyman get this interview?

That's the big question, but let's go back to this.

Well,

think about this.

Was this an official interview or did Paul find him hanging around Studio 54 or

the fucking China Club or whatever these goddamn clubs are?

And this was bullshit that, you know, they were bullshitting back and forth.

Oh, it says here, interview conducted in a bathroom stall at La Barbat.

There you go.

No, but let me go back to this.

There you go.

The question, Paul Heyman, pointing to an article which states, at no time did Hogan or Mr.

T offer apologies.

Hulk Hogan has offered no apologies?

And then Richard Belzer says, uh, he apologized right after on the air.

But if you see the tape, I mean, it's, it's, I don't know.

I didn't take the apology seriously.

Here's Heyman.

And in today's paper, Mr.

T called you a jerk.

Belzer says, well, I'm flattered by that.

And then Heyman says, why is that?

And Belzer says, well, because someone who has so little intelligence perceives me as a jerk, that I must be doing something to make them think and evoke feelings from them.

So I'm not disturbed by him.

And once again, bold caps under...

Well, that was kind of an unwieldy comeback, but...

I'm disturbed that he's a hero to children.

That he has an effect on

impressionable people.

That's what I'm disturbed by.

You see, no one could say anything to hurt me.

That's the point.

But just that I was hurt physically.

That's why I'm so insulted by this.

Here's a question.

You say you're disturbed that Mr.

T is a hero to children.

Do you think he's a bad example for children?

The answer?

Yes, very much so, because he's a cheerleader for violence.

He celebrates violence.

He talks about inflicting pain on people.

Once again, this is underlined, in caps, and bold.

He wraps himself in crippled children and God.

And he thinks that by mentioning those things, he can go out and be uncivilized and beat people up or intimidate people.

Wow.

I think, you know, not only is it wrong, it's not even American to be like that.

If he's a hero in this country, we should look at ourselves.

It's the wrong kind of hero, in my point of view.

So, of course, the follow-up question from Heyman, he's a bad example?

Yeah, I think he's a very bad example.

Anybody who celebrates violence and who is looked up to by children is a bad example by definition, in my opinion.

Question, what was your opinion of wrestling before all this happened?

Answer, well, I'll tell you, when I was a kid, I used to go see Dr.

Jerry Graham, Ricky Starr, Antonino Raca, Haystax Calhoun, all these people.

Jesus, he knew everybody.

And I have very fond memories of wrestling from when I was a kid.

Me and my friends used to go to the Knights of Columbus Hall in Bridgeport, Connecticut when wrestling was on Channel Channel 5.

And my mother would say, at least I knew where you were tonight because I saw you in the audience on wrestling.

So wrestling was a very wholesome, fun form of entertainment.

There were real heroes and real villains then, and it was clearly definite.

And the resurgence of wrestling, to me, has kind of a mean-spirited side to it.

This incident with John Stossel and now me?

And as far as the controversy over whether it's fake or real, I don't care if it's fake or real.

I just care that the guys, some of the guys in it, are so insecure about whether it's fake or real that they have to go out and beat people up because they're working out their own mental insecurities.

Damn.

I mean, if people get enjoyment out of it, that's fine.

But when the real violence spills out into the real world, then it's not the wrestling I knew as a kid.

There's a different mentality here, and it's very intimidating.

And it's not entertaining to me that the threat of violence is in the air.

I think that wrestling should be controlled.

There should be warnings with it when a kid watches it on TV, that these men are experts at what they do.

And I don't think there's enough safeguards around wrestling the way it is now.

Because if the people in it are taking it so seriously, and then kids will think it's real.

See?

The adults know it's a put-on.

I know you're not supposed to say that, but the wrestlers know it.

And any intelligent person or semi-intelligent person knows that these guys are great athletes.

He's starting to lose me again.

And they know how to throw each other around.

And it's predetermined who wins and who doesn't, which is fine.

But if children think it's real and they see people like vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro at the wrestling matches and Gloria Steinem and Cindy Lauper, and impressionable people look up to these people and they'll say, well, I wasn't sure about wrestling, but if they're there, I guess it's okay.

Then we have to be careful and qualify it

because it's contributing to a trend of violence in this country that's not healthy.

I really think there should be some controls on wrestling.

Let's stop there.

What are your thoughts now?

Well, my thought is, I bet Norm Kaiser didn't publish this whole thing in its entirety, did he?

I don't know if this got published.

I have to double check that.

Because that's a, I don't remember Norm Keitser ever publishing anything directly admitting that wrestling was a work.

You mentioned John Stossel and the incident with David Schultz on 2020.

Stossel is suing Schultz.

Are you planning a lawsuit against Hogan?

Uh-huh.

We don't know.

My attorneys are

talking about that now.

So I can't really talk about it.

We're definitely considering it.

How many stitches did you get?

Eight.

How come they didn't cut your hair off?

I didn't let them.

I begged the hospital not to.

Well, they cut it, but they wanted to shave it, and I said no.

Belzer adds to a previously asked question.

You see, I think wrestling has lost its innocence.

Either there was some Bolivian marching power in that powder in that bathroom stall, or elsewhere Pauli may have embellished some of that.

Do you think he rattled that stump speech off top of his head in the bathroom at the bar of the bats?

There's a letter here.

That's what's a little weird.

It says, what has the public reaction to all this been?

And Belzer says, actually, I've been very moved by it.

I can read you a typical letter if you want.

And then it has the letter printed here.

But again, did Heyman, well, I guess if he had a tape recorder going, he would.

Dear Richard, My husband and I are both fans of yours and until last night fans of Hulk Hogan and wrestling.

We were aware that wrestling was staged, an act, staged strictly for entertainment, and never took that so-called violence seriously.

We were outraged at the horrible incident that occurred on 2020.

We were so disgusted that we decided to boycott wrestling.

About a week after 2020, we decided that one barbarian like David Schultz,

I believe that was the wrestler's name, didn't make everyone associated with wrestling a barbarian.

We started watching it again, enjoying the ridiculous antics of the wrestlers.

We liked Hulk Hogan, WrestleMania, The Rock and Wrestling Connection, Cindy Lauper, Lou Albano, etc.

But after what happened last night, we are never watching wrestling again.

Never!

We are just sick that such a thing could happen.

Mr.

T was rude to you during the whole show, which was bad enough.

and which we tried to excuse as an act.

But for you to be injured by Mr.

Hogan is just inexcusable and then belzer says anyway that's pretty much the tone of every letter i've gotten

well yeah what are they gonna do they're gonna write him yeah you got what you deserved you son of a bitch i wish you'd have broke your neck um i honestly

lived through that in real time as the kids say and i I remember the kerfluffle about the whole thing and obviously the incident itself and it was reported on news reports everywhere.

And then the resulting lawsuit that did happen and didn't,

he's a, was it him or Stossel

that named a house they bought after their lawsuit that year?

It was a

no, it was Belzer.

It was a villa in the south of France called Shea Hogan.

There you go.

And it's Stossel, the one that said that his lifelong hearing problem cleared up a lot better once that he got his judgment.

But I don't remember there being a groundswell of fan sympathy for poor Richard Belzer that because

not a lot of people knew how bad he was hurt

unless you were the wrestling nerd that delved into it.

When he got the Hogan cranked up on the front facelock, then let him go.

Belzer slipped like a wet rag to the floor, cracked his head on the floor.

got right back up and pitched, we'll be right back, because he didn't know where he was at, and turned around and you could barely see the blood dripping down his jacket at that point.

So most people

thought it was some stunt that happened.

Then the wrestling community

focused in on it when it became a thing.

And, you know, people heard about it otherwise in the gossip column in the newspaper or whatever, but I don't think they were.

They didn't start a charity GoFundMe for Richard Belzer's hospital bills.

People weren't trying to,

you know, set up sniping locations at Hogan for that.

That would come later on in years to come.

Let me go back to the, we're getting to the end here.

Here's a question from Paul Heyman.

You must be bitter.

The answer, well,

um,

you know, I'm starting to get all my senses back after this.

I was in shock for a few days, but the thing that really,

frankly disturbs me of course i'm angry and upset and i feel violated i feel raped i mean the guy came on my show and this is all in caps again and underlined and bold as a guest and smacked my fucking head against the floor

so i am pissed off

but i'm more concerned about children looking up to these guys yes

I mean that makes me focus on it even more.

I've been focused all night.

The fact that I was injured and these guys are heroes.

I mean, that's very unsettling.

So my jury, my personal jury, is still out as to what to do about that.

But I'm concerned about that.

I've been concerned for three days now.

Do you have a warning for children?

asked Paul Heyman.

Yes, I do.

Yeah, I have a warning for parents, not children.

I think it's the obligation of the parents.

If they're into wrestling and their kids are into Mr.

T and the Hulk and all that stuff, then I guess it's up to the parents because obviously the wrestling community is not taking the responsibility.

So it's up to the parents to really set kids straight.

It's like the three stooges.

You know, it's cartoon violence.

In other words, it's not real.

And the children should be told to be very careful and not emulate these guys.

It's weird how like his focus is like this.

It's not even about him.

He's kind of making it a,

you know, look at the bird over here.

Look over here.

It's all about this.

It's about the children.

Richard Bell's.

Well, also,

I think, I think the bird of paradise is float up his nose.

But even more so than that, it's the attitude of Mr.

T and the Hulk about hurting people and inflicting pain and the way they openly talk about it and advocate it.

That to me is sickening.

You know, Mr.

T says, I like to hurt people.

I mean, who likes to hurt people?

Psychopaths like to hurt people.

It's It's okay if they're talking about wrestling in general, but it's another idea saying you're going around the streets and beating people up.

Mr.

T was noted for that in those days.

One night he's on network television on the A-team.

The next day he's out in the street beating people up.

And that everyone's a wimp if they don't weigh 300 pounds.

I mean, what is that?

That's really mindless thug behavior.

So I don't know.

It's sickening.

I never was for the glorification of violence.

Now it's being endorsed by celebrities, which makes it even scarier.

I think these people should wake up.

Celebrities that are kissing wrestlers' asses.

It's not good.

Anyway, what else?

What else?

Is there anything you'd like to add?

I don't know.

Just that this is a trend in our country, that America better wake up, control wrestling, and put it in its place and make sure the children are protected from the indiscriminate use of violence outside the ring.

The children.

I mean, I think that if wrestling has any inner kind of intelligence, they should get their act together and organize and not be controlled by one personality.

But they should have a board and have insurance for the wrestlers and protect the public against this.

Good lord.

It's all over the place.

It seems like it's a trend that all of a sudden exploded on the the scene.

And people are very impressionable and they see celebrities involved in it.

You know, I think wrestling is a chance to really clean up its act and be safe and be a helpful form of entertainment.

But it seems they are going in another direction.

And it's scary to me, frankly.

Richard, thank you very much.

Okay, thank you.

And then it says here, after the interview.

That'll be $100 for that last eight ball.

After the interview, Richard requested that an unofficial poll be taken as to whether or not Hulk Hogan was at fault and what people really feel about this incident and the situation that has arisen with Stossel and now Belzer's own harrowing experience.

Please send all comments to the Wrestling Press International, Scarsdale, New York.

Interview and comments, quotes, copyright 1985 by Paul Heyman and the Wrestling Press International.

Interview conducted in the Lifetime Cable Studios, New York City.

So there we go.

I thought it was in a bathroom at a bar.

There we go.

Paul Heyman,

enterprise.

I mean, that's the thing, I guess, when you look back at all the early stuff with Heyman and everything now.

He's an enterprising guy.

He's a bullshitter,

but he uses his bullshit to get in the door.

And, you know, eventually he had his own thing, but just always

networking, always presenting, always performing.

And it got him here.

So, I mean, obviously, he must be happy with how it worked out, but these early years are pretty interesting.

And that transcript validates what I've always thought about the front face lock incident.

Because remember, I've always said

when Hogan, I believe Hogan cranked up on it to let Richard Belzer know, laha, you know, hey,

type of thing.

But it was three seconds at most, and then Belzer flopped like a goddamn circus seal.

The only way that a hold like that can put you out that instantly is if your heart's beating a million miles an hour.

And I have a feeling Richards Belzer's heart spent a lot of time at that time period of the

80s beating 100 million miles an hour.

That, you know, kind of gives me more evidence.

Well, there it is.

Do you think it's a real interview?

Would you talk to some 20-year-old fucking wrestling press numb nuts for that long if you weren't just having a talkative day?

And again, the photo I have of Richard Belzer reading the wrestling news, if we're going to assume that Paul Heyman took that photo there that day, again, how do you get in?

If this guy's talking to the Times, the Post, the Daily News, Newsday,

all of a sudden the wrestling news.

He said it was conducted at the Lifetime Cable Station.

Somewhere or the other, Paul E.

got in there and convinced him that he was.

Somebody to do with something and got an interview with him.

That's just while he's waiting to shoot some kind of cable show.

Well, there it is from the files.

Paul Heyman, I guess part two of the Paul Heyman files.

I think next week we need to read the Rockford files.

What if instead of,

hypothetically, Bolivian marching powder,

Richard Belzer before the show, or maybe after the show when he was really feeling it, decided to kick back and enjoy a blueberry breeze.

Get on a completely different wavelength, if you understand what I'm saying, from our friends at Cornbread hemp

well in that case if that had happened then richard belzer and hulk hogan would have still been best friends they'd be changing christmas cards every year and and and they'd be just they'd be flying off to south sea islands together for vacations because there would have been no violence brian the violence would have been calmed down and curbed because folks if you're looking for a better way to socialize and sip, then you've got to try Cornbread Hemp's brand new THC seltzers because they're your ticket to hangouts without the hangover.

Because there's no alcohol.

It's just pure clean THC

because relaxation shouldn't come with consequences.

And there's consequences.

Now let's say that you're sitting out in the backyard this summer and you're hanging out with your friends and you drink four beers

and somebody's going to say, well, hey, Cletus, if you climbed up on the roof and jumped off onto that umbrella, I bet you could pole vault all the way to Doris's house.

And you're going to do it.

And then you're going to fracture yourself and you're going to be paralyzed.

You're going to be in a hospital in traction and an iron lung.

But if you were to drink four blueberry breezes from cornbread hemp,

You not only wouldn't be able to get up on that roof, but you wouldn't even remember where you put the ladder.

Let's not say that.

So you would be just fine and you would be free from any kind of injuries.

We agree with that.

You will be just fine and of course,

consume what they suggest.

Don't go buck wild, but enjoy it.

Well, no, that's not one of the flavors.

Buck Wild didn't make it out of the marketing fucking test.

They went with blueberry breeze.

peach iced tea, raspberry limeade, and salted watermelon.

Buck Wild didn't make it.

But it's incredible flavors and no alcohol, no guilt, no regrets.

You drink a couple of these, you commit any heinous act.

You will not.

No, you can't.

What the hell are you saying there?

No, you can't create any heinous.

No.

Don't commit or create.

Don't

commit or create any guilt or regrets.

That's what it says.

It said no guilt.

Well, you're not going to feel bad because you got drunk and messed up somebody's wedding or something because you were falling all over yourself, and then you put your hand in the cake when you leaned on the table by mistake.

You're not going to do that.

You're just going to be sleeping over in the corner after you've, you know, idly had impure thoughts about the bride all to yourself, alone in the corner.

You will be there enjoying the day just as you normally would, except you'll be having that little blueberry breeze cake or whatever flavor you enjoy.

You'll be enjoying it even more than you would normally enjoy it, except if you enjoy it.

And no, only 30 calories, five grams of sugar.

So you're not going to get fat.

You're just going to get buzzy.

You're not going to be couch-locked or paranoid because each can only has five milligrams of THC.

And everybody knows that the standards now with the USDA, you have to have 32 milligrams of THC before you grow into the couch.

like part of the fabric.

Folks, I'm telling you right now, the cornbread hemp seltzers are perfect for unwinding, kicking back, kicking in the front.

Also, drink three or four of these.

You'll kick a son of Bishop to balls, but he gets in your way.

But you'll enjoy the moment without alcohol or a hangover.

And again, perfect for spring and summer.

It's refreshing, relaxing.

You can have a new way to have a great time with friends.

Now get the goddamn friends, and you'll have something.

Seltzers with friends.

It's like

social.

Folks, right now, you can save 30% off of your first order and free shipping on orders over $75, of which you've already saved 30% on.

If you head over to Cornbread Hemp, if you can spell corn and bread and hemp, put all those things together, cornbreadhemp.com slash JCE,

30% off your first order and free shipping on orders over $75.

Get just,

you know, the thing to do in the summertime, Brian.

Get one of the kiddie pools and fill it up with blueberry breezes and then just dive in headfirst and with your mouth open.

And boy, you'll be sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows, waterfalls.

Just one of the small kids' pools, though.

You don't have to go too far.

Not advisable, but what is advisable is to take up this great deal.

Yes.

Now we're good friends at Cornbread Hemp in Louisville.

Jim, one more time, how can the listeners check out these fine seltzers from Cornbread Hemp.

And all the other fine products they have, the gummies and the, they also have hemp if you're wanting to make ropes to climb out of towers.

CornbreadHemp.com.

I just threw that in there for you.

CornbreadHemp.com.

slash JCE, 30% off your first order.

Free shipping on orders over $75 and raw materials to make ropes with which to escape and climb mountains.

Once again, our friends, Cornbread Hemp.

Big color, bigger savings.

It's Sherwin-Williams' biggest super sale.

Get 40% off paints and stains October 17th through the 27th with prices starting at $29.39.

Whether you're refreshing your interior or exterior, we've got the colors to bring your vision to life.

And with delivery, getting everything to your door is easier than ever.

Shop online to have it delivered or visit your neighborhood Sherwin-Williams store.

Click the banner to learn more.

Retail sales only, some exclusions applies e-store for details.

Delivery available on qualifying orders.

Church's new boning wings don't just hit, they slack.

Crunchy, juicy, flavor to the bone.

Get them an original, spicy buffalo or hot honey lemon pepper.

Six wings starting at $5.99.

Churches.

Prices of participation may vary.

Tax extra.

All right, some sloppy sounds to get us to the

final go-around here on the show.

We got a bunch of questions, and uh, doesn't look like anything crazy is happening at the moment, so we can get the questions.

Jim, this was sent in via the Cult According Facebook group by Edward Whipkey.

How true was it that Kerry von Erich was going to replace Sting for Wrestle War 90 since Jim was on the booking committee?

The what?

Now, back up When Sting got hurt leading up to Wrestle War 90, the match would flare that Lex Luger took his place.

He's saying, how true is it that Kerry von Erich was going to replace Sting?

That's news to me.

Where was Kerry then?

Was Kerry still in Texas?

Was Carrie,

was he out of commission?

Did he have, when did he have his wreck?

I don't know.

Point is, all I can tell you is that we were in Corpus Christi the night it happened,

That they had set the whole thing up.

The horseman had become babyface.

Sting was a part of the group so that they could do the deal that they did.

Ole could tell him off.

They could turn on Sting.

And that was going to set up the February pay-per-view.

It was February 25th, was it?

That date sticks out in my mind, 1990.

It was going to be Sting and Flair, and Flair was going to put the belt on Sting.

And

the show closing deal when the horsemen were getting the heat in the cage on, and I think it was other heels.

It was Gary Hart's guys because they had just turned a heel earlier that night.

So the horsemen were beating up the other heels.

And Sting came down, tried to climb in the cage.

And they wanted,

if Sting was going to try to climb in the cage and get the horseman, and then everybody else is trying to pull Sting down.

Don't go in there, and it's going to be mass chaos.

Well, Doug Dellinger

had

never been trained as a worker, reverted back to his goddamn police training and pulled Sting down off the cage for a shoot.

And when he landed, that's when he tore his ACL.

And so we didn't automatically know that it was torn, but since he was hobbling around in the back,

we knew something was up.

And

I had originally,

where the fuck were we the next day?

Somewhere in Texas.

Well, I'll just grab my Midnight Express book and figure out where we were because that was

February 1990, correct?

We were in Corpus Christi for the Clash of Champions.

And that was February the 6th.

And the next day,

we were in Beaumont, Texas.

So, point being, I had been going to

drive to Beaumont that night, but Flair said, no, we got to figure out something.

Everybody just said,

let's stay here.

And because he was going to fly anyway the next morning, and we'll meet at the airport in the morning and we'll figure out what we're going to do.

Because the pay-per-view is the 25th and it was in Greensboro.

I've just seen in my book.

And so I'm thinking, what the fuck, blah, blah, blah.

And

get there the next morning thinking we're going to have this meeting and, you know, concoct all these potential ideas.

And Flair just said,

We're going to switch Luger, put him in there.

And then we just flew to fucking Beaumont.

And

I mean,

did he call Carrie that night from the holiday inn in Corpus Christi and ask him then?

Because the next day he told the rest of his creative team that we were going to switch Luger.

So,

and I'm looking here because

we were

at yes, Beaumont, we did three TV tapes,

and that was, and Luger began his babyface turn

because we were doing TV.

There was no way from one night to the next day

to bring anybody new in, right?

So, that

no, I don't believe there was anything to that.

The rumor had always been that later in the year, they wanted Kerry von Eric to come in, and he decided not to.

And that's when he went to the WWF and had that run where he beat Mr.

Perfect for the Intercontinental title at SummerSlam.

And was it

for a little while?

That is more credible.

Because later on in the year, depending on what time it was, you know, I was not on the creative team.

I heard bubbles of, oh, but, you know, you would think they they would talk to Carrie if Kerry wasn't signed anywhere else and was back, you know, ambulatory after his accident, blah, blah, blah.

But he was never brought up to you in your time on the booking committee as someone to bring in or anything.

I mean, if it in passing, it would have been to the point where I didn't really remember it,

you know, at that point.

And that was from what, October-ish of September, October of 89 through February of 90.

All right.

Well, let's get another one here, Jim.

This one is from the Cult Cult of Cornet Facebook group.

This was sent in by Tony Osio.

I grew up in Wichita, Kansas in the 70s and 80s.

It was part of the Central States territory, aka Poverty Row.

The TV time slot in our market for the studio show was midnight on Saturdays.

on the weakest station in the market at the time, NBC.

It was the last show before the color bars.

And there were times that the Central State studio show would air right after Saturday night's main event.

My question is this.

What are some of the other terrible time slots you remember for studio wrestling shows in the 70s and 80s?

Oh my God.

I mean,

There were rotten time slots in every territory at one point in time in some town.

Smoky Mountain Wrestling, when we got on the air in Chattanooga, it was Friday night at one o'clock

or Saturday morning at one o'clock, however way you wanted to phrase it.

But no,

that's the thing, especially in the smaller markets in the territory days.

You were

you had good points.

You were a popular program.

Wrestling,

except the most low-rent,

you know, weak station, small market, bad territory, whatever, wrestling always did

as good or better ratings than most local programs or even syndicated programs, in a lot of cases, anywhere in the markets.

But at the same time, if you found a station manager that either didn't like wrestling or they were doing just fine, because there were only three stations in the market, they were all network affiliates, then, you know, if you want to be on TV,

it might need to be at 2 o'clock in the morning.

And that's especially in New York.

What was the big time slot in New York on WOR for years?

They had various ones.

I think it may have been midnight.

I think it was midnight, and they still did numbers in the Bruno days with that, where they bragged that like X hundred thousand homes watching Saturdays at midnight for

worldwide wrestling or whatever it was.

Bruiser's show.

For years, Bruiser's TV was on

either Channel 4 or Channel 6.

The Independent was four out of Bloomington and 6 was the,

I'm going to say NBC affiliate in Indianapolis itself in a daytime slot, but it would rerun

Saturday night at, you know, after the late movie at one o'clock in the morning or whatever it was.

That's how I first found wrestling because I couldn't get the Indianapolis stations in the daytime when Channel 3 in Louisville was on the air.

But

I mean, it just, you know,

you couldn't,

you couldn't draw houses with a horrible time slot in the middle of the night,

but you could try to build a fan base where you could at least run spot shows.

or whatever and try to get upgraded to a better time slot.

But no, even in the territory days, you had to have something

in between nine o'clock in the morning and midnight and on a station that somebody watched you know for for you to be able to run that market consistently for house shows but the shows ended up all over the place you know after all the buzz from like just tape traders all of a sudden ecw got on new york tv but it was the msg network on cable at two in the morning yeah and i think it was actually a time buy

and they were lucky to get it because you know it's New York and it was crowded.

And then still,

there was more people watching television in New York.

And I'm not talking about sports channel or some of the cable channels, but just if you could get on broadcast TV in New York in the 70s, there was more people watching TV in New York Saturday morning at 2 o'clock than there was in.

Des Moines on Tuesday night at 8 o'clock.

All right, Jim, Our next question via the Cult of Cornet Facebook group was sent in by Jacob Pika.

Why Haku wasn't pushed to main event status or upper

or event, upper mid-card?

Let me put this in English.

Jim, why was Haku never pushed as a main eventer or even upper mid-card?

Well, I mean,

again,

he was in the territory days

in some of the spots he had as an upper-level heel.

And

Haku himself, go ahead.

I mean, Montreal, he was pushing as King Tonga.

He was kind of big in Montreal at the end of Montreal.

But then he was in the WWF from 86 on.

Also, didn't it?

Was well, now maybe am I thinking of the wrong Samoan

island fellow?

Didn't he ever run before he became Haku in Florida also?

And or

I don't know.

But the point I was going to make is, you know, he was a better top guy for a heel group with a manager in a territory type of spot than a guy that you could push as a main event star on his own because there was a drawback because of the promos.

And

yes, he is a bad son of a gun,

but if you didn't

If you didn't put him with a really top manager that that had heat and credibility and then give him a real concerted push as a guy who didn't do a lot of talking, but just killed people.

And

he wasn't that upper echelon, and he worked great,

you know, in a tag team situation, but he wasn't that upper echelon singles guy that really connected on his own.

Saying that as diplomatically as I can because he could still kill me, but

we like each other.

All right.

Well,

there's a very diplomatic answer to the haku question.

Uh, Jim, we have another question here.

This one was sent via the Culture Cornet Facebook group by Benjamin Erie,

E-Y-R-I-E-Y.

Now, wait, what is that?

Is this a name?

Is this a town?

Is this a spelling bee?

What are you saying here?

Benjamin sent in a question:

Jim, who is the best wrestler you had in OVW that either dropped out or never made it in the business?

There's some competition there.

And

then again, it depends on never made it.

It depends on the level of never made it.

Never made it to TV at all or never made the way they should have made it.

I always mentioned Johnny Jeter.

I just thought he was tremendous and

ex a good-looking kid.

And the girls liked him and great shape and great attitude and his work was tremendous in just a few years and uh

they ran him completely off and back home to san diego

you know the bashams for the potential they had and the talent they had versus what they had to put up with when they got there and it they got buried from the start

um

well we've talked about mark magnus muhammad hassan he made it but you know yeah see that's the question what is made i mean technically to some,

to the person who never gets to the big show, the show, I guess we should say, because there is a big show, the bastions made it.

It may not have been the way it could have been, the way it was, but just being there made it.

Is there anyone who didn't even get there?

You know, when I'm going to be again probably

chastened or, you know, shamed because I've missed the obvious name.

And we had a lot of great potential prospects.

I'm trying to think of somebody that never actually made it to WWEF television because even though

most of them made it and they ruined them there.

Seth Skyfire

and a kid named Matt Johnson.

They were painfully thin and small, but they had fire and enthusiasm to them.

They were a good tag team, but they never looked at them at all.

They were about 190 pounds apiece, maybe or whatever.

And that was just ridiculous in that day and age.

Most of our guys made

some type of television so that they could be basically visually slandered on a fucking national basis and then run off.

All right.

On that upbeat note, let's go to our next question here, Jim.

This was sent via the Cult of Cornet Facebook group by Todd

in Larwell, Indiana.

Oh, Todd?

No, Todd.

What does Todd want?

In the territory days, what did someone actually get when purchasing a territory?

Were there any physical assets?

Or were you just getting the rights to promote the towns?

Also,

does being, and this is a quote, figured in, have anything to do with the ownership of a territory?

Thank you for all you do.

Well, yes, it can.

Second question first.

Being figured in into anything, that can be applied to anything.

Hey, we're going out to eat tonight to the Brazilian steak place after the show.

Figure me in.

Means I'm coming.

But in the term or in the usage that you described it, yes, if you're figured in

in a territory, if you're figured into the office, that means

you either own part of it or you have an office job where you have some type of power, pull, and control.

If you're figured into a territory as a wrestler, that means you're figured in.

You're in a top

other people are going to come and go, but you're going to stay there and they're going to do something with you regardless because you're figured in.

But now the first part of the question was if you buy a territory, what do you get?

A little of column A and column B.

Yes, you get wrestling rings, which you can have built, but you get them.

Or, you know, office supplies or furniture or whatever.

But it's not just the rights to promote in that territory.

The existing

promoter run in the existing territory has contracts with the buildings.

They've got dates set out, months in advance, and regular

dealings with them.

So you get

all the buildings in the territory are still working with championship wrestling from Florida, but now the owner is Jim instead of Brian.

Same thing with the TV stations.

You got contracts with championship wrestling from Oshkosh.

Well, it's just got a new owner.

And

hopefully, if you've spent money for that territory, the other owner

is in good standing with the buildings and the TV stations and the state athletic commission, if there is one in the state where they run.

And

they're not mad at, you know, those people are not mad at the old promoter.

So he can kind of get you in to here's who you talk to.

So, and then

it when a territory is sold think about this brian and in all the times in history when somebody has bought a territory from somebody else all the wrestlers don't just pack up and leave

sometimes the booker stays for a while but you've got to keep running So you're buying the existing infrastructure that's in place and the current talent roster that, has been booked by my booker.

And do you want to replace the booker?

Then he'll probably replace the talent, but nobody's just, it's not just going to be 20 new guys next week.

So you buy all that, you just take over the thing is what you're buying, the thing that's running.

You're buying it, you get to keep running it, hopefully, as well as it's been running, or otherwise you wouldn't want to buy it if it was in the shits.

Does that make sense?

It does.

And again, not a a lot of physical assets.

And certainly over the years, there were many people from the Welch Fuller family or even Al Karasik in Hawaii who tried to sell territories just knowing they would be able to buy it back cheaper than they sold it for.

Yeah,

that's part of it too.

All right, Jim, let's get another question here.

This one

was sent via the Cult of Cornet Facebook group by Matt Winans.

Is there a certain characteristic that makes a wrestler a good tag team wrestler?

People like Bobby Eaton, Arne Anderson, and Ricky Morton had good singles success, but is there a certain trait or ability that makes them such outstanding tag team wrestlers?

You know,

there are guys who are better tag team wrestlers than singles.

Some of it has to do with,

well, you're not like a,

you know, an outstanding singles personality on your own, but you blend well with somebody else's team.

That's from a personality, from a gimmick or standpoint or whatever.

But some guys just understand tag team wrestling better than others.

They just get it better.

But there's no real

one characteristic you can point to otherwise than that guy gets it better.

It's like,

How can you point to a better singer or a better painter?

Well, that guy just, he sees what he wants to do and he replicates it in his from his mind to his

talent

and a lot of guys just you know get the tag team thing better and and

they flow with it um

you know you've you can't want to be

the uh the the the big dog on a tag team you have to share the spotlight

So you can't be too much of an egotist unless your partner is too, and you're being egotistical together

but it a lot of guys

as you mentioned bobby eaton

you know he was a great worker but he wasn't a main event singles guy on his own even with a manager to talk

but as part of a team with someone

you know close to as good as he was nobody was as good and

close the same size and can meld together with the teamwork,

Then they, you know, you wouldn't necessarily buy Bobby Eaton against Animal in a single match, but you bought the Midnight Express against the Road Warriors because we were sneaky and tricky.

So it just sometimes it works out that way.

The guys are better in teams.

What would have happened to you?

What would your career be like today

if when Watts in 83 came and started picking talent?

If he said, I want that guy to manage Dennis Condry and Carl Ferge.

No, Jesus.

Hopefully,

and I love Carl Ferge, cousin Carl, but I think he would agree he probably wasn't going to be a main event wrestler.

I think hopefully me and Dennis would have emerged unscathed somewhere else.

Are there guys that are good at calling tag team matches, but for whatever reason they can't get it down for a singles match?

Probably just because the guys that were really good at calling tag team matches, that was their primary experience, and they had less of it in a featured singles position.

So it may be true, but I don't know which comes first, the chicken or the egg.

Because we talked about the other day, just real quick, a guy that had the opposite problem in that he'd been in a tag, well, that problem, not opposite, but same thing.

He'd been in a tag team, Hernandez and Homicide.

all of his major league career, and then they just threw him out in singles matches.

And he didn't know how to put it together because it was a different thing.

Jim, a few more questions.

We'll get the hell out of here.

This one was sent to corney drive-through at gmail.com from Stephen Kelly.

What's the history of referees ejecting the manager from ringside and wrestling?

I don't remember seeing it much in the 80s and 90s matches because the manager was often integral to the finish.

Was Jim ejected often and sent to the back?

Does it take heat off the manager to eject them from the match?

Thank you.

Okay, it didn't happen a lot in the old days, and it happens quite often in the new days.

And the reason is because,

same as with everything else, it gets a pop, and the kids doing it don't really know how it started to begin with.

If a manager in the old days interfered in any way,

if the referee even caught him in the ring while the match was going on without him touching anyone, just turn around, there guys in the ring, disqualification.

Or if the manager was caught handing a gimmick, or if the manager was caught interfering, or whatever the case.

But every once in a while,

it's one of those creative spots that if you did it,

very sparingly, it gets a pop and it leads into something.

You do a spot where the referee had reason to believe that the fucking manager had done something, but goddamn, he didn't see it.

But the people are screaming, he did, and the fucking manager is denying it.

And he's asking the people, the referee, and he's, and finally, you know, you're out of here like a baseball game.

And right at that point, while the people are up, maybe something happens behind the referee's back while he's trying to do something to make things even for the baby face.

And it's a fuck finish.

Or maybe that's the reason that the heel has an out when the baby face slips up behind him, then and blah, blah, blah.

But it just, but now

you see it all the time

where the referee will

catch somebody interfering, and that's the reason that he kicks them out.

Well, no, that's the reason you disqualify him.

But it

so again,

something sparing that made some kind of sense, that got a pop, that led to something in the finish, has now become something that the people cheer for and they don't know how to set it up.

Does that answer the question?

Jim, our next question via the Cult of Cornet Facebook group was sent in by Don Stanley Halbrooks III.

Oh, for Christ's sake,

our hometown wrestling hero was Ranger Ross.

Could he have had a successful career if he had not had his issues?

Oh, good golly.

First of all, Ranger Ross, I still hear

Heard was fixated on, well, they dropped him into Guatemala.

Where was it?

Where did they drop him into?

He was a paratrooper.

Was it Nicaragua?

I don't know.

Nicaragua.

Was it Nicaragua?

No,

it was somewhere else.

See if you can Google where Ranger Ross was dropped into

out of a helicopter.

But

I thought Ranger Ross was a talented upper middle card baby face kind of guy.

He didn't have an impressive physique, but he was a good athlete in good shape.

He was a nice-looking guy.

He

wasn't abnormally large, but he seemed to take

to the in-ring, you know, more than just your average schlub.

And

what was that in 1989 during that period of time?

Yeah.

WCW was looking for new talent.

He was from,

if he wasn't from Georgia, he's from Florida, but I think he was from Georgia.

Ackworth, Georgia.

There you go, right outside Atlanta.

And,

you know, and they worked at, you know, their early training program before it even became a power plant.

But,

you know, he wasn't going to be a main event guy, even in WCW at that time, much less like for Crockett a few years earlier.

He just,

I don't think he was ever going to get that good, but he was a good performer, had a service record.

And to use him

where they did mostly, which was middle of the card, I didn't think it was, he wasn't that out of place.

But

issues are not, as and

I can't remember what all the goddamn issues were.

Was he the one that robbed the bank?

Yeah, he was the motorcycle bandit

yes

those were the issues

but uh even without that he wasn't we didn't lose a pay-per-view main eventer but he was a nice fellow that i you know when i interacted with him and then later on he became the motorcycle bandit i liked him as a kid because that's when i first started watching the nwa and he kind of looked like stalker from gi joe And he did the combat kick.

And the combat kick was, it looked cool, but also it was just a cool name, the combat kick.

And it seemed like he was getting a little push.

Like for a minute, they did something with him.

Iron Sheik.

And then before you know it, he was like teaming up with Randy Rose and just like nothing.

He never won anything ever again.

But I liked him.

Yeah, well, I think that was, that was either a late George Scott or an early booking committee push.

And,

you know, Flair didn't, didn't dislike him, but at the same time, I think by the time Flair was booking, he just, it was a middle card thing.

He was dealing with the ding-dongs and

he had worked with Norman, the lunatic.

It wasn't like you could say, my God, we need to put Ranger Ross into Horseman.

Jim, our next question sent via the Cult of Cornet Facebook group by David Melendez.

I've heard Brian mention a few times the idea of starting an all-women's promotion to see how it would do.

If you were to start an all-women's promotion and could have access to the talents in both WWE and AEW,

who would be your top babyface and who would be your top heel?

Also, who would be a world champion and tag team champions?

And would promoting an all-women company?

Jesus Christ now.

And would promoting an all-women's wrestling company be any different than promoting regular wrestling?

Yeah.

You know, we did the AEW women's roster.

Hold on.

Can I reach?

Hey.

I got my notes.

We haven't done the WWE yet, and we hadn't forgotten about it, folks.

We're going to get back to these things.

But out of the AEW women's roster,

I'm going to mention names that I believe should be in main events.

Tony Storm.

Well, Camille ain't there anymore.

Maria May ain't there anymore.

Well, technically, Camille is there.

She's under under contract still, isn't she?

Well, but we don't get to see her.

So, you know.

That's AEW.

And point is, yeah.

So,

you know, Rhea Ripley is going to be the champion.

I mean, this is not like it's a goddamn surprise.

The whole thing is going to be built around Rhea Ripley.

As a baby face.

Rhea Ripley.

As whatever the fuck she wants to be, because she's a goddamn movie star.

And I'd have to look at the WWE roster, but I mean, there's a few there

we're going to keep hanging around, but

I can't go deep enough into tag teams and intercontinental champions and my entire plans.

Yes, it would be very different.

You would have to,

I mean, it's still doing a television show and promoting a live event, but you would,

I would think, construct it differently.

And also,

you know, again,

I wouldn't be doing it to begin with.

So we're in the land of supposition all the way up to our elbows to begin with.

If Rhea was your top baby face for your top heel, do you need someone big?

You know, because Rhea is one of the bigger women there, like a Raquel, or can you have like a sneaky Liv Morgan kind of heel as the top heel?

I think it depends on the individual, but I'm not saying that they all need to be, she doesn't need to be going for the fucking female equivalent of Giant Gonzalez.

Liv Morgan has been a personality.

Out of maybe Liv Morgan is part of my heel tag team champions,

because there then size is not

as big of a commodity when you're as part of a team.

Maybe Bianca

is

a heel.

Let's because that skipping and hair twirling gets heat with me.

But she and Rhea could handle the in-ring aspect of that.

So

there's people there, but there there ain't a lot of them.

Jim, our next question from the Culticorna Facebook group was sent in by Blair Regenwetter.

Oh, now, come on now.

There's been a few times where Jim has criticized a wrestler for having happy feet.

Is there a particular match you could point to that best represents this?

Oh, God.

I mean, you mostly see it in

tryout matches or seminars or, you know, matches that are taped for training purposes or sometimes dark matches.

I can't point one out from Raw or SmackDown recently,

except maybe there may have been,

you know, one of the celebrities they've had the past few years on one of the big companies may have had a little happy feet.

But what happy feet are is

when when you have a guy and you shoot him off

and he takes too many steps across the rig or to come back or you're doing some kind of spot and instead of just a

line of motion straight ahead with even strides

the guy's side to side and all over the place looking like he's doing some kind of football drill Those are happy feet.

And you can even, if you're in a headlock and the guy's Craig, but the guy's got his stance perfect, but your feet are moving around instead of putting yourself in the right place.

You got happy feet.

I think

Tom Pritchard, I think, is one person.

He uses the phrase all the time, but also

I believe he's one of the people that would point out, and I've had it pointed out by a few other people.

If a guy's hitting the ropes, if you're just doing a crisscross, right?

If a guy knows how to hit the ropes and with a WWE size ring,

not only is it three steps and turn,

but you will not see the guy's head bob up and down.

If a guy knows what he's doing hitting the ropes, his head is level all the way across, all the way back, all the way across, all the way back,

three steps and turn, three steps and turn, three steps and turn.

It's a rhythm.

And

happy feet is just guys that are green and uncomfortable and

are just nervous.

And

their feet get in the way of you trying to do your shit too.

All right, Jim.

Our final question here today.

This was sent via the Cult of Cornet Facebook group by Sarah Petricelli.

How does one become a wrestling historian?

Well, that was a short question.

Study and learn,

Right?

You got to study and then you'll learn.

Well, no, I don't think Dave's saying that's about being historian.

That's about knowing now.

You have to study and learn to know now.

Well, no, you just have to study and learn to figure out what he's talking about.

But no, how do you become a historian?

Seek out the history, study it, flesh it out, put things together.

You know, like we just, as an example, we had the letter from Eddie Gilbert earlier when he had the decision to go to Atlanta or the WWF.

Well, that's a little anecdote, amusing antidote, as they say, of history.

Maybe somebody will jot that down and it'll be incorporated.

But

how do you be a historian of anything?

You get familiar with the subject.

You start to want to learn more about the people involved or the things that happened, and then

read the books and start, you know, looking for old programs or going into the newspapers or

whatever the fuck you need to do.

I mean,

is there a course in historianing

where you can learn how to be a historian or do you just have to kind of pick up and run with it?

You got to know your stuff about something.

You got to have some sort of...

knowledge about something, whether it's institutional knowledge or just learned knowledge or a combination.

You have to be able to talk chapter and verse about a subject and be able to just stop and think about it and get other thoughts about it.

And you get that by studying past history stuff.

Wrestling is a little tough.

I mean, now there's, if there's not a thousand different wrestling books right now, it has to be close to it.

Oh, that does more than that.

And see, that's the thing is the last 20, even 20 years ago, before all the newspapers.com, you had to actually go to the fucking library, even less than 20 years ago.

I went to the library with john cosper but you had to go to a library in a town

and research that or you had to find old phone books or whatever

so there were no

you know even the books that and notes and things that i had were by no means complete you had to commit a lot of that to memory and no dates or no

where people went or what they did.

And because wrestling was everywhere for so long with so many people involved there was always surprises and you're always like ah i never knew that happened

now with the comprehensive online you can do it's easier than ever to to figure out like the letters we've read from people doing research on the first tv broadcast

it's easier than ever to do the research on what happened

But you still got to have the knowledge of the people involved, the wrestling business in general, to put the pieces together as far as why it happened or what caused it.

And that's where you need to know the subject.

Yeah, you have to also be able to, you know, if you're researching things and you bump into things, you have to be able to recognize what something is and what it could be.

Sometimes you look at old programs.

It's one of the reasons I love old programs.

You'll see what seems like a...

innocent line in there.

But if you kind of know who they're alluding to without saying the person's name, you realize, oh, they're taking a shot at the opposition.

Or this is right after this happened.

So, you know, just one thing builds upon another.

And luckily with wrestling, there have been a lot of really great historians who have gotten a lot of stuff out there.

And there's a lot of research that still isn't out there.

But if you're interested in researching

it, you should.

There's convention.

The conventional wisdom would be that the fabulous Fargoes, when they hit Tennessee in 1957, became the

blazing hot tag team at every market.

They worked like six weeks in Memphis, and Jackie and Don weren't the team in Memphis that was the Fargo's for like three years because they were taken to the other end of the territory because Memphis had just been taken over by Gulis and Welch and Birmingham was a bigger, more successful town.

And then Don

went wherever Don went.

Jackie and Joe Fargo.

Joe, the forgotten Fargo brother, who I think was Louis Tillette with bleached blonde hair,

They made Memphis

before Jackie, and then Jackie and Sonny before he was Roughhouse.

And then they brought Don in a few years later.

And you would never think

that that had happened that way, but it was, if you uncover the lineage, it was odd.

So Memphis was the last town in the Tennessee territory that the Fargo brothers.

appeared regularly and got over in.

Jackie was already a babyface.

And that's it.

That's interesting to seven people.

My favorite heel nickname for a babyface is calling Roughhouse Fargo Nuthouse Fargo.

Yeah.

And that was the deal.

They'd say Jackie Fargo springs that no-good brother of his out of that mental institution down there in North Carolina.

And Jackie would say he doesn't live in that place.

He just sweeps up there.

AKA, he's just a referee there.

Yes, aka he's working for Jim Crockett, but

every summer

roughhouse would take about three weeks off for between 67 and probably 73 or four.

He would take four, five, six weeks maybe off in the summertime and come to Tennessee and they'd draw sellouts.

And then he'd go back and be a fucking referee in the first match for $50 or whatever.

This may be a silly question, but obviously there's not a lot of studio footage that I've seen from that era, if there's any that survives.

Was Roughhouse on TV often when he was there?

Or was it you had to come to the arena to see him?

Earlier on,

the last time that he would have been on TV would have been the 73 and 74 runs where he was in and out more often because they were doing huge business.

Because it was

Lawler and Jim White as a team against Jackie and Roughhouse.

were the ones that set the Coliseum attendance record in 72 and then beat it by 10 people the following week.

And

at that point, they were bringing Roughhouse in more.

They even won the Southern Tag Team title for a while.

So he would every once in a while do a studio thing and just do his crazy shit, but in a smaller area for a shorter period of time.

Well, there it is.

And that's our final question here today.

But let's get a song or two before we get out of here.

They're popular with the listeners.

Jim, you ready for a song or two?

I'm ready.

Play that funky music.

This first one was sent in

by Luke Land.

And this is a song based on something you recently talked about.

Let's go to this.

And one of these son of a bitches has ridden in on my shirt or whatever the fuck and let out it sounded like a smoke detector.

I did it.

I jumped up off the fucking couch and turned around almost because I had to piss anyway because I'd taken my morning pill.

And almost pissed myself.

And I turned around and there's this.

I'm a cicada.

A cat so invader.

When you went outside, who knew you'd see me later?

I'm on your couch now.

I'm making loud sounds.

Bring me some girl bugs.

I'll take them to pound town.

But then I see a sight that fills me with dread.

Handful of tissues, but now I'm dead.

All right.

Well, there's a

ending with deaths.

That is is the greatest thing ever.

Well, thanks.

Fucking cicadas.

A brand new person.

I don't think he has submitted a song in the past.

He was just born last week.

He's brand new.

Thank you, Luke Land.

Send in more as you have it, but let's get one more.

That was relatively short.

Very good, though.

This one

was sent in.

Now we've had songs from him in the past.

Stephan in Auburn, Maine.

I think we we played this one.

I don't know about this one.

Let's give this a shot.

Let's go, see the ship fall.

While it all falls, that's where it plays.

I'll see this as dark.

Replace off in, while I'm off the dog, I have a one, two, three.

It's a windfall, all the way

and me

let me stop it for a moment I'm enjoying it but I haven't understood a word he has said I haven't no I haven't got a word yet but it's it's a very interesting tonal quality

she's deep

and powerful

it goes into a chapter

matches away hey is it fissure if it is shoe I'm for my eyes you'll see

Cause it's all the blue eye blue in my jeans.

Again, stop it.

Have you gotten any?

I have no idea.

No, no, no.

I think we need to call some type of ambulance.

He may be having a stroke.

She's deep, and my heart was away.

Just keep cozy, come

turn out to the wait.

Is it in the shoe, the tissue.

Cause it's not useful,

as you'll see.

It's for the

blue in my cheeks.

All right.

And there's another.

What was the name of that song?

The name of that song is Tiptoe to the Tissues.

I thought I heard the tissues.

I heard that's the one word I did hear, actually.

I'll give him credit.

I did hear that one word.

All right.

Well, we can't end on that, but thank you once again, Stefan.

You You never let us down.

Finally, let's go to this.

We never expect anything.

This one was sent in to corny drivethrough gmail.com by Seth Rock.

I've sent this two other times since December.

I hope this one makes it.

Longtime fan, musician.

Apparently, this is based on my song.

Let's go to this

hello again, friends,

and you are our friends

Pull on up the shim coinette drive-through Pull on up, take a seat and relax

Pull on up the shim cornets drive through your feelings don't need to tell a fact

Pull on up the shim cornets drive through Pull on up Take a seat and relax

Pull on up the shim cornets Cornette's drive-through with your host, the great Brian Lass.

Hello, friends, and you are our friends.

Except for all the cosplay wrestling fans that like to pretend.

Cause to see somebody's children as an intimidating figure, like Mama Cornette would say, you like three sheets to the wind.

Now we ain't cheating the wind, now we ain't into the phony.

I said we call it like we see it, never win in the pony.

Now, sometimes the truth it be pissing people off.

That's better than pissing the bottles like some freaking chagron.

Shout out to Brian Lass, yeah, toast to you for showing the rest how a real co-host should do.

Hawaiian Brian, the podcasting lion, Mr.

Co-host to you.

Oh, um, I'm sorry, Jim, uh, Mr.

Cornette.

Though he ain't get the type of wrestling that we wishing for yet.

I'm sick of triple threat matches, that's just lazy booking.

Give me a triple burger, you want amazing cooking.

Pull on up, it's Jim Cornette Strive through, pull on up.

Take a seat and relax.

Pull on up, it's shim Cornette, strive through.

Your feelings don't meet shit to the facts.

Pull on up, it's Jim Cornette, strive through.

Pull Pull on up.

And grab a sprite zero.

Pull on up.

It's Shimcoin's driving.

Who makes more money by staying home?

Did me roll.

Well, there it is.

Seth Rock has sent that in.

Very good job.

Very nice.

Mary Guy.

Guy, give you a round of applause, Seth Franklin Rockins.

Well, there it is.

And with that,

there it is.

With that, the drive-thru is closed.

Bling.

Very dramatic.

We'll be back in a few days on the Jim Cornette Experience.

I know we promised it today, but we had a bunch of stuff.

Cast media update on the experience.

We're going to look at their monthly operating report and talk about the numbers in there.

And much, much more.

The Jim Cornette experience.

And next week back here on the drive-thru, go through the archive, patreon.com slash cornet.

$5 a month, get you access to the early days of the show, going back to 2013, patreon.com slash cornet.

Of course, the official Jim Cornette YouTube channel.

Just go there and search for Jim Cornette, full episodes, clips of the episodes, omnibus collections, Travis Eckle artwork, George, our great guest artist, his artwork too.

Check it out today.

And of course, you can check on any video for official drive-through t-shirts.

Just go to YouTube or go to arcadianvanguard.com or look for us in the shop app, wherever you find your favorite apps.

Get your favorite t-shirts.

I'm saying something.

The gym at Cornettes Collectibles at gymcornet.com.

Save me.

The gym at Cornette.

Well, Cornettes Collectibles is back in action again.

As I mentioned last week, Hotchkiss Featherbottom appreciates and his whole family appreciated the condolences and the well wishes from everybody.

He's back in action.

Everything ordered through June 20th, I believe was the date, has been signed and handed off to him.

And by the time you hear this, it will be

in the mail to the customers.

Order with impunity now.

We're back at action at jimcornet.com.

That's right, at jimcornet.com.

The drive-through is brought to you by the law office of Steven P.

New, 87750 Steve.

Get even with Stephen.

More about him on the experience this week.

NewlawOffice.com.

And that's it.

Catch up with the wrestling news each and every day from the wrestling news.

But otherwise, until the experience in a few days and next week back here on the drive thru, for Jim Cornette, I'm the great Brian Last.

Tally ho