Ricky Jackson

First five fans who call into the show knowing the name of one of Al's two championship tag team partners from 1974 Vancouver will win a shirt! (no Googling!)

I'm going to get one made. Maybe with a head shot of Al on it if possible

Episode #13 https://soundcloud.com/prowrestlingonly/world-cast-13 May 15, 1982 (WCCW 21) Join Pete, Kelly and Johnny for a huge historical moment as they review FRITZ VON ERICH'S FIRST MATCH!!! (not really the first, but maybe the first on tape). A bunch of other stuff happens, like a match with "one of the greatest criminal minds in the world today", Capt. Frank Dusek, the debut of the man from MA-COW, Magic Dragon, an action packed 43 seconds between Bill Irwin and Rick Harris, and Bundy and Bugsy continue their rampage. World Cast: the sexiest podcast of 2017!

https://soundcloud.com/prowrestlingonly/mount-olympus-fall-2017-wwe-unreleased-part-2 After a bit of a delay, Kelly and the legendary Richard Land are back to finish their exploration of the WWE Unreleased DVD. They are looking at matches from the New Generation era, or what some consider the Dark Ages of wrestling. As they review the footage, Kelly and Landy simultaneously chart the slow, steady decline of the WWF during this period. Both have strong emotional ties to the time, so this discussion goes deeper than just reviewing matches. Along the way marvel at the aborted revival of Piper's Pit, strange tag team combinations, the lame end of Hulkamania, former partners going to war, and the one and only TOXIC TURTLES!!! Mount Olympus: Shamelessly jumping on the 90's nostalgia craze!

No, the point is the quality of pro wrestling journalism isn't exactly that high

Episode #12 https://soundcloud.com/prowrestlingonly/world-cast-12 May 8, 1982 (WCCW 20) Pete, Kelly, and Johnny get together to discuss a really fun episode of WCCW TV, climaxing with an awesome match between Kevin Von Erich and the Great Kabuki that is crazy heated and features wild outside the ring action. In addition, we have Tom Shaft and Ken Mantell squashed like the worthless bugs they are by Bundy and Bugsy, Good Ol' Al with another ** humdinger, and Gary Hart promising brutal things to be delivered by the man from MA-COW. All this and more on World Cast!

Well, sometimes wrestling is about more than great matches. I know, heresy

I don't think this needed to be spoiler tagged, it's all over the place. Making me have to Google shit...

The story is they wanted to, Savage pushed for it, but Vince shot it down

Yeah, that was cool

Episode #11 https://soundcloud.com/prowrestlingonly/world-cast-11 April 27, 1982 (WCCW 19) The boys are back and on this episode they look at: -Tom "Boogaloo" Shaft: Continuing to advance his (increasingly) strong case for Worst Wrestler of All Time -Ken Mantell: The scientific wrestler extraordinaire nobody asked for -Mike Vaughn... er, Bond: Some guy -And a big main event with Bundy and Bugsy vs Good Ol' Al and the Spoiler! World Cast: Catch the Fever!

Meltzer covered the last Cow Palace show. Can't remember if he attended it live. I want to say he did

Yeah, but they never hold a show in a building that can hold more than 400, and they charge super high prices for tickets that sell out in minutes practically every time. It's got a hip buzz and has celebrity regulars AFAIK. It's not exactly a typical local indy

The responses to that tweet are a pretty depressing read

Episode #10 https://soundcloud.com/prowrestlingonly/world-cast-10 April 24, 1982 (WCCW 18) It only took ten episodes but we have an actual top to bottom GOOD SHOW folks! (the WCCW ep, not the pod, which is always great, right?). Ok, maybe not top, but definitely middle to bottom. We have a crazed Kerry Von Erich promo, the underrated Richard Blood (according to Kelly at least), Kerry vs. Black Gordman, Bill Irwin again and again, and a slugfest between King Kong Bundy and the Spoiler in the main event. Join Pete, Kelly and Johnny for another fun time on World Cast! *Apologies for the echo-y audio at times. What do you think this is, one of them fancy wrestling podcasts?

Never mind. I see the full match in better quality is already available for those in the know in Village Green

This popped up on my Facebook. Hulk Hogan vs Dusty Rhodes from Japan 1980. First I've seen of this match up. Is this rare stuff? https://www.facebook.com/JapaneseWrestlingClassics/videos/1880493778642549/

Episode #9 https://soundcloud.com/prowrestlingonly/world-cast-9 April 17, 1982 (WCCW 17) It now SOUNDS like the World Class we know and love. It now LOOKS like the World Class we know and love. But...it's...just...not...there...yet. Pete, Kelly, and Johnny are present for the dawn of a new era, but the old era still has some fight left in it, led by good ol' Al (Madril) and his 70s All-Star Band. Plus we have an even stranger time warp as GORGEOUS GEORGE (Grant) and the NATURE BOY (not Rogers or Flair) are live and in black and white from the 1950s! You never know what to expect from World Cast!

They actually announced that Hogan vs. Flair was going to be the Main Event of WM8. Like on TV, and everything. I remember it very clearly. Then they changed it. Why would they announce it and promote it if it was never really the plan? That sounds like more than a fanboy fantasy to me. It was part of the angle to make Sid pissed off that he was passed over for Hogan and give him more reason to turn on him

I talked about this with my pal Landy on a pod recently, and both of us agreed that Flair vs Hogan at Mania was never the plan and has only ever existed as fanboy fantasy. Most accounts from those in the know say that Hogan vs Sid was practically set in stone the day after Mania 7. Flair fell onto Vince's lap in the summer and they ran with the program vs Hogan in the fall. I really believe it was meant to just be a house show run, as crazy as it might sound to hardcore fans. But remember, house show $ was still a huge part of the company income (still is today I guess but what draws fans to the shows is different). Landy also made a good point that at the time, the Mania main event was always a fresh match that hadn't already made the rounds on the circuit, which points to Hogan vs Sid not vs Flair

Isn't it boring to have everything figured out before the match even happens?

Old gimmicks never die, they just get added to PPV main events at the last second

Really, ECW ruined it for everybody. Well, that and banal early-90s cartoon WWF and WCW booking

There is actually a fair bit of Portland out there in decent quality from the early 80s. The late 70s is mostly the Rose footage, but it's not all in poor quality. I would say Portland's main handicaps are it wasn't a well publicized territory during the peak of the mags and thus not seen as important by many, and the idea of a successful territory built around Buddy Rose, who many only know from his late jobbery period, likely doesn't give it prestige in a lot of fans eyes

Reigns is the most over wrestler they have based on reactions. Babyfaces and heels don't exist anymore in the traditional sense. Most of the top stars are like a successful sports franchise, they are both loved and hated simutaniously