Ricky Jackson

I see it more like Kevin Spacey in The Usual Suspects. Backlund exits the arena after beating Moondog Rex, starts walking more confidently, lights up a cigarette, peddles some dope to the marks, and then leaves in a car driven by Freddie Blassie.

That's the story I'm going to start pushing on Titans! I now have an image of Bob pushing dope outside the arena in Allentown between matches. Hilarious.

I remember this coming up before. Basically Meltzer gave the match a low rating because he thought the crowd didn't buy the whole Owen trying to convince his parents to throw in the towel aspect, or something like that.

I think that was in 1983, Bob's last year as champ, where he became one of Dave and his readers favorite whipping boys. Many things contributed to it, but basically Bob and WWF in general were looked at as stale and "lame" compared to the more exciting territories of the time, like Mid Atlantic and World Class and wrestlers like Flair, the Japanese stars, etc. 83 was also when Bob became noticeably smaller due to a change in workout routine and adopted the buzz cut and later singlet, making him look pretty uncool, especially compared to someone like Flair. Also, the booking of Bob in 83 was uninspired, with several repeat challengers, like Ivan Koloff, Slaughter, the Samoans, George Steele, Muraco, etc., which did him no favors, and I think Dave also started to push the whole "the crowds turned on Bob and he stopped drawing" talking point at this time. I think a lot of hardcore fans were also clamoring for Snuka as champ, or at least someone different, as Bob had been on top for 5 years. Someone with access to the 83 Observers would be able to explain it better.

Well, Johnny fantasy booked him losing to the Baron during the show. So there was that. Actually, the whole "died in the ring" talk came and went so quick I barely had time to think of anyone. One that could have been mentioned on the show because of the Titans connection was Chick Garibaldi, who died in the ring during a match with a young Bruno Sammartino on February 18, 1961.

PWO hasn't jumped the shark until my Baron Scicluna thread drops.

I didn't buy this only because I'm more of a Weekly World News guy.

Funny, because Ox was a bit of a badass himself, killing two wrestlers with his Heart Punch.

Fuck it, they should bring back this bad boy:

Something in the works...

Sneak preview of Titans #25: Khan was born and raised in Japan.

And Parv

"Exit Mr. Olympia...enter Jerry Stubbs"

One thing bugging me amidst all the positive glow (only saw the last 1 1/2 hrs of Mania, but it was really memorable, and Raw was awesome) is this: Did they actually book Punk vs HHH for Mania at one point before Punk left and plans changed, and if so, what the fuck were they thinking? Bryan vs HHH was the obvious conclusion to the story they started at Summerslam. Otherwise, everything is right in the world in 2014. Also, I posted this on Facebook, but may as well share it here too: This Mania has really struck a chord with people. Two straight days of Mania talk at work for me with people coming out of the closet as wrestling fans left and right. One guy who has worked in the store the whole 2+ years I have worked there revealed himself to be a smart fan and even compared the Taker loss to Bruno losing to Ivan at MSG in 71. Crazy. I told him about the podcast. Another guy told me "Taker wasn't supposed to lose", legit serious. I smartened him up quickly.

My first thought was Sting challenges Taker to a match at Mania 31.

http://placetobenation.com/titans-of-wrestling-24-wwf-at-philadelphia-spectrum-december-1980/ In this very special episode, Pete, Johnny and Kelly pay tribute to two icons of wrestling… JerryvonKramer, aka “Parv”, aka The President of the I Hate Bob Backlund Club , aka “Spanky” and Kal Rudman: Everyone’s favorite drunk, pervy, wrestling commentator (pictured second from left, likely high as hell) On the docket: 12-13 Dominic DeNucci vs. Sgt. Slaughter 12-13 Larry Zbyszko vs. Tony Atlas 12-13 Rick Martel & Tony Garea vs. the Samoans Best 2 out of 3 Falls 12-13 Pedro Morales vs. Ernie Ladd 12-13 Bruno Sammartino vs. Ken Patera Also on tonight’s show: -Philadelphia: America’s #1 sports town in 1980! -Fantasy Booking #1: Super 8 (possibly Bob Crane in disguise) films Tony Atlas being walked on by a woman while Kal watches, smoking a cigarette, at the Holiday Inn across from the Spectrum -Fantasy Booking #2: Kal goes to Memphis and meets the Fabulous Ones -Visit Izzy Bernstein’s House of Blue Tights (with red trim)! -Extended discussion on everybody from Sgt Slaughter, DeNucci, Pete Rose, and Ernie Ladd, to Bill Watts, Greg “the Bull” Luzinski, and The Living Legend

Look out for it this week. Kalamania will be running wild!!!

Philly was late 77 September 17 to be exact

Snuka first did the cage leap in a match with Backlund at MSG (he missed), over a year before Snuka-Muraco.

Couldn't resist.

http://placetobenation.com/titans-of-wrestling-23-continental-wrestling/ Big thanks to Martin for once again joining us on the show. Join the Titans of Rasslin’ as they head to the Heart of Dixie for a look at 1980s Continental wrestling from Alabama! Parv is busy in Ireland, so Kelly assumes the hosting seat again, joined by Pete, Johnny and, making his triumphant return to the show, The Fifth Teen Titan Superstar Marty Sleeze (otherwise known as Martin), for a look at wild and bloody action from one of the more underrated territories of wrestling’s eclectic past. Listeners at home or on the road, follow along by watching the Continental playlist, exclusively found on the Anti-Network, Titans TV! On the docket: 1986 The Bullet vs The Nature Boy Ric Flair 1986 The Fuller’s vs The New Guinea Headhunters Cage Match 1987 The Return of Mr Olympia Saga 1988 The Dirty White Boy vs Dr Tom Prichard Feud Also on this episode: -A brief look at the history of pro wrestling in Alabama, 1950s-1980s -Gordon Solie utters the GLOAT (Greatest Line Of All Time) -Halloween Havoc 2012: He-Man vs The Banana--Dance Floor Death Match -Ron Fuller: the human tripod -Ranking the 80s Superbabes -A look at one of the most shocking and memorable angles of all time: “I’d like to talk to Tom”