Behind the Curtain Behind the Curtain - shoot interviews, podcasts, book stories, urban legends

[Frank23]

 

[Frank23]

 

[Frank23]

 

[TheMaster]

So I've been listening to a bunch of these podcasts by wrestlers based on the recommendations in this thread. It's crazy, I've barely watched rasslin in the last decade but I could listen to guys talking about it all damn day.

Same, haven't watched pro wrasslin' in 20 years, listening to the reminiscing and stories about back then is way more entertaining than the product now, since MMA basically replaced pro wrestling and now with the internet and social media we get the storylines and angles for MMA in real time, the wrestling industry is truly dead outside of the PG-13 market.

Podcasts are killing the shoot interview business.

Shoot interviews were for an era before podcasts.

 

[Halifax]

 

[Halifax]

Yeah and it took those guys years to become more than what they were in w.c.w. Jericho almost got released but they kept him because jarrett left and needed someone to do the chyna angle. Saturn didn't do shit in the w.w.f. Dean was a joke who had that horrible feud with Lita. Eddie, god bless him almost relapsed on drugs because the pressure of being champ got to him. Basically was a mid card his whole wwe career just like in w.c.w.
Benoit? Was only given the belt to give hhh a break. He didn't draw and only headlined vs hhh and then dropped the strap to Orton. He never smelled main event status again. Mid to upper card...just like wcw. Oh lets not forget Jericho who was only the undisputed champ to drop it to hhh. For fucks sake, NOBODY took him serious and even Vince made jokes about him being champion.
Lets not forget the three "world champions" didn't even get the strap until wcw closed abd there was no competition. Oh and none of them drew money. Jericho was always a transitional champion. Listen, I enjoy all there in ring work but they tried acting like they were on the level of Hogan,Nash,sting..etc.

One good idea? Hmm lets see: Signing Hogan, going head to head with raw in which they beat them 83 fucking weeks in a row, crow sting,goldberg,ddp,dennis Rodman(he sucked in the ring damn it drew money), showcasing luchadors and other international stars...

I get it, he made mistakes but Vince made just as many. Also vince doesn't have competition so if he makes mistakes...who cares? Hes the only real game in town. Also when Eric was removed from power in 99 it was a salvageable project but russo ruined it.


The wrestlers who hate Eric tend to praise paul heyman. I mean at least eric got them on national tv and paid them. Paul got them smelly bingo halls and a lost check in the mail.

Bischoff didn't have the presence to control a dressing room, but he made many astute business moves and Rodman was one of them, despite what people say about it now. It was never about him being good in the ring or having a good angle.

He paid a million dollars for Rodman to do a few shows. And got 10 million dollars in advertising and more importantly, mainstream news attention you can't buy as a result of it.

 

[Bubzeh]

JR’s “Best of Studio Sessions” are brilliant. Young guys and girls in the early 90’s sharing their love for pro wrestling. Simpler times than that of today.

 

[Legendary Wrestling]

What podcast is everyone listening to? I mean besides stone colds

Bump to this question.
The podcasts with former and current wrestling talent are fairly well known.
What podcasts from the fans perspective do people listen to?
The Lapsed Fan has been a guilty pleasure of mine for a few years now.
I've tried several other shows but haven't had much luck finding one that scratches the right itch.

I prefer the classic content to new stuff.
What recommendations do people have?

 

[Fluffernutter]

I see that Warlord (Terry Szopinski) has been in a few interviews lately that are on YouTube.

The guy seems very with it.

As a massive guy who is honest about his steroid intake during his career, I can't believe he sounds so well.

One thing that was brought up in his interviews is that he didn't drink (commenters under the interviews stated he didn't take recreational drugs during his career either).

I wonder if this means recreational drugs are more dangerous for the body than roids.

 

[Legendary Wrestling]

I see that Warlord (Terry Szopinski) has been in a few interviews lately that are on YouTube.

The guy seems very with it.

As a massive guy who is honest about his steroid intake during his career, I can't believe he sounds so well.

One thing that was brought up in his interviews is that he didn't drink (commenters under the interviews stated he didn't take recreational drugs during his career either).

I wonder if this means recreational drugs are more dangerous for the body than roids.

He also didn't take a lot of the bumps that many other wrestlers take.
As a big man he didn't have to sell as much as the average wrestler.
That could also be part of it.

 

[Fluffernutter]

He also didn't take a lot of the bumps that many other wrestlers take.
As a big man he didn't have to sell as much as the average wrestler.
That could also be part of it.

Therefore, less painkillers

 

[My Spot]

He also only worked the crazy (at the time) WWF schedule for less than three years. And once Vince started cracking down on steroids (and unfortunately marijuana as well) after 1991 he wrestled less than 60 matches in 1992 and basically retired after that.

 

[MacGregor]

 

[Two Crows]

Billy Jack was recently arrested (not yet charged) in the shooting of his 85 year old wife.

 

[TankAbbott]

 

[TankAbbott]

Warning: This is a Hogan interview where he knows he's on a right wing show, so he's moving his stories to fit this base.

- Hogan claims he was out playing music at clubs as a teen until 3 am and in home room for high school by 8 am. His parents kicked him out of the house at 17.
- The pod host says watching the Vince doc made him like Vince even more than before. (He also makes Kamala McDonalds jokes....so surprise!)
- New Hogan story alert!!!: He talks about the AWA and claims "My crew booked a bunch of east coast dates and we were about to take over" Then Vince called him and offered him the chance to take over the world with him instead.
- Harley Race "was an ex-marine". (Race was a teenage wrestler) He put a gun to my head and set the ring on fire when we ran his town. (Last time I heard the story Race slapped Hogan playfully and they shook hands.
- NEW HOGAN STORY ALERT! - When he worked Terry Funk in South Africa (which happened IRL) he was robbed by the guys driving him, his mother went to the US embassy in Florida and got his payday back .
- "I hated seeing my idol Dusty Rhodes working the 2nd or 3rd match on the card below me..." (Never mind that he was headlining B shows, etc and literally feuded with the last 3 guys Hogan had feuded with - Bossman, Macho Man and Dibiase)
- Hulk finally realized he was mainstream when John Stossel interviewed him in NY for 20/20 and Hulk got mobbed by fans in the street. (Does such a clip exist on that segment? I can't recall)
- The only celebrity he was ever nervous to meet was Jerry Springer
- Hulk was at a party at the Twin Towers w/ Vince when Cher sent a limo to have him picked up for a liaison.
- Madonna did the same thing when Hulk worked MSG the same night Madonna was promoting an "S and M" book in NY.
- "Trump is a quality person when you get to know him"
- Hulk claims he learned how to treat kids at Make a Wish events from seeing Trump dealing with sick kids. (All the lulz)
- Hulk only followed the news in airports showing CNN, so he didn't catch on to FAKE NEWZ until the tabloids came at him. So that proves Trump is right because if he is being attacked there must be a reason they would try to destroy him.
- "I called Vince and told him to buy WCW after the TV rights deal with Eric Bischoff and Time Warner fell through"
- Hogan mixes up his own wrestling story and says he went to TNA after WCW, then after 4 years of dealing with that he finally went back to Vince and set up a match with the Rock.
- I got an offer from Bob Evans at Paramount to do the John Wayne thing, but wrestling is in my blood.
- I was selling merch and playing music in the AWA and Vince wasn't doing any of that when I came back to him in 1983. (All fibs of course)
- I was making more money from merch in the AWA than from wrestling. (Verne and Hogan had a falling out at least in part from Hogan not getting paid for the AWA selling Hogan related shirts....so just the opposite of the truth)
- "Vince was working harder than ever in the 2000s. He'd rip up a RAW script at 6 pm and rewrite it himself by 8pm. Then he'd do meetings until 2 am and come banging on my hotel room door to work out with him.
- "The Greatest day of my life, when my father was on his death bed..." Wonderful out of context quote at 1 hour and 3 mins in. He was excited his dad loved Jesus at the end of his life finally and also told Terry he loved him before he died. "It was a great day!"
- Hogan was hovering over his dad when he died. Hogan felt his Dad's soul leave his body and travel through his. "Like a bolt of electricity"
- Hogan claims this moment made him better as a person. Hogan's racism and affairs were all bumps in the road as long as he returns to Jesus he is fine.
- "I am now moving away from worrying about fame" as he's in the middle of a months long media blitz to promote his brand of beer.
- Hulk wishes he was rich like Trump because then he could help the poor like Trump does. (LOLOLOLOLOLOL)
- "Trump wants to help people. This is a spiritual revolution now." They tried to kill him in July, so after that Hulk inspired to alienate half my fan base to stand up for what's right.
- "I remember the country I grew up in" (*says the N word on sex tape) "was safe and kids played little league and walked home alone"
- "Trump doesn't want things the way they used to be, he wants things the way they SHOULD be"
- 1 hour 14 min mark. First truthful statement "I don't know what I'm talking about" Hulk goes on to bitch about funding Ukraine from Russian aggression.
- Pregnant pause as he's asked if he ever voted. "First time I ever voted was for Trump"
- I noticed how things were changing in 2016.... "I started to do my research on the internet"
- Hogan is not involved in the Ben Affleck Hogan film in production. He jokes he is going to sue them out of business like he did with gawker.
- The host wants a Hogan documentary. The other 30 out there aren't enough I guess. To be fair, Hogan changes his stories enough that it would be all new info.
- Hogan made his beer for under educated white people after Bud Light pushed the Trans agenda.
- Hogan had to be on his best behavior here as the podcaster had a fact checker with google handy to help highlight Hogan's stories.

I definitely prefer when Hogan spends 90 mins talking about slamming filthy wart-infested giants and not about Hogan slobbering on Trump's cock.