CFTV

With the ability to block mature programming from kids would the WWE produce some content that is aimed at adults now that they are launching the network? Lets say the WWE and Austin do a deal to pick up his podcast or have him host a talk show on the network would the WWE produce a show that they would rate mature that features Austin and his guest swearing that parents can childproof from their kids? I'd produce commercials on how to childproof the network. If I was the WWE I'd also produce commercials for the network that show younger people showing older people how to get the WWE Network since it is important for the network's success to get older people who aren't as tech savvy as younger fans.

I discovered pro graps as a 9 year in the Summer of 1985. I got the PWI Year in Review issue above in my stocking on Christmas Morning 1985. It was the first wrestling magazine I ever read and spurred my interest in learning more about the business outside of what was shown on TV. The next year my mom procured 4 tix to the SNME at JLA that set up WM3.

I loved VPW 1 and 2. The engine was perfect. I remember playing VPW 1 at my buddies college apartment that was an absolute shithole over during summer session at the University of Dayton where we had a series of matches between Misawa/Kobashi vs. Kawada/Taue that would go between 45 and 55 minutes regularly. It was insane how intensely into it we would get because of all the head drops and almost near falls. It would be an emotional rush when you won and a drain when you would lose. I'd love to have an N64 again just to play those game again! Did anyone else think Tecmo Wrestling for the original Nintendo was underrated? I also remember my jaw dropping the first time I saw Main Event Wrestling at the arcade. And I remember playing a fooball sim game at my same buddies parents house called Front Page Football that we would kill hours on weekends playing.

The years kinda mesh together but somewhere between 85-87 Detroit got International from Montreal on Saturday in the early afternoon time slot on CBET Channel 9 which was Windsor's CBC station. Also we got Crybaby Cannon's wrestling which was from Detroit/Indiana/Ohio that had Chris Carter as the lead wrestler & a young Robert Rechsteiner that came on either Channel 38 or 62. I don't remember seeing any syndicated shows from Florida, Memphis, World Class, or Salvodi in that same time frame in the Detroit TV market.

Thanks for setting me straight with the actual stats. I stand corrected, Bam Bam was featured quite a bit during his stint with the Fed on the syndicated shows.

I think he's talking about Bigelow's first stint in '87. Indeed I was talking about Bam Bam's first run in the fed in 87 to 88.

Will and Naylor did a really fun retrospective podcast on Bam Bam's career that I just listened to this weekend and really enjoyed! http://archive.org/download/GoodwillWrestl...mBamBigelow.mp3 I'll go to YouTube to check out some of the Memphis footage. I really was stoked about him coming into the Fed after reading about him in the magazines and thought the hoopla to build him up with the managers vying for contract was fun but once he got there he never really made a splash. I don't blame him and mostly just blame the times that he just got caught up in the shuffle. If he came in looking the same way and Vince pushed guys on TV the way he does now compared to then Bammer would have been a much bigger star. During his stint I'd love to know how often Bigelow was featured on the syndicated shows. In my memory I don't remember him being featured all that much on Superstars, Spotlight, and Challenge. I didn't have cable all the time as a kid so maybe Bigelow featured was on the USA shows on Sunday Afternoon and Monday Nights. Of course if I"m wrong, this would be the place to set me in my place!

I didn't see much Memphis till they were going down the tubes around 95-97 so I missed most of Embry's run and he has become my favorite guy from the past to go on YouTube and watch clips of when I'm in the mood to watch some pro graps. I wonder how many other people like me that never paid much mind to Embry have discovered his fucking greatness over the past couple of years as more fans go back and watch old footage of his and others with the advent of YouTube.

In the Dark The best Lights Out In The Arena Matches Europe 72 The best matches that took place in Europe in 1972

I really enjoyed the podcast and look forward to more Yearbook In Review shows from the panel in the future!!!!!

I don't think Dave has pimped his Grantland column on any of his audio shows that I have listened to. Has he said anything about it in his daily update? I don't understand why he doesn't pimp where his work that can be found on sites other than the Observer or what shows he is going to be interviewed on during the day or mp3s of the interviews that he does from the that day or the day before that are already done? I would think most people that are subscribers to the site would want to know where else outside of the Observer where Dave's work can be found because they enjoy reading him or listening to him. It would be easy to put at the bottom of the news links to where interviews he has done w/various media outlets can be found. I'm sure the websites and radio stations would love to send Dave a link that he can put on his sites so those sites get a little bit of traffic. Has anyone noticed that on some days Dave's pimp job of the Observer includes the list of most popular issues is sometimes after the news instead of before it? Was that Josh Nason's doing as I know it's been referenced that he has been helping out in the formatting of the site recently? I do like the tabs on the front page for the news, audio, and video. Dave is really missing out on totally maximizing his profile as the go to reporter covering MMA & Pro Graps. BTW Dave is going to do interview w/the Sports-Catsters Podcast that I follow on Twitter. They mentioned that they got interview w/Frank Deford next month and I suggested that they try to get Dave to do an interview since Deford said in an column that Dave is one of the best beat reporters in Sports. The guy who does the interviews thought it was a great idea and Dave agreed to do the podcast later this week which is pretty cool.

I haven't seen Dave's byline on any sites outside of WON/F4W since the last piece he did on Yahoo back in January. Grantland could use an MMA writer where Dave's long form pieces would fit with the other pieces posted on that site. Grantland does have David Shoemaker covering pro graps currently and I think he does a really good job. Dave if brought on the Grantland staff could also provide podcasts w/Bryan's equipment as Simmons seems really gun-ho in terms of having audio on his site along with with well written pieces. Since Sporty has been a reader of the Observer over the years he knows what kind of work Dave does. I don't remember Dave bringing up that he is no longer providing content to Yahoo on any of the shows he does on the Observer site and I listen to just about all the pods he does.

They never aired. Missy put them on her pay site at one point but WWE might have gotten them pulled. Some have shown up on Dailymotion and maybe YouTube. Try using alternate characters like $ signs for the S-es. EDIT: Here's one http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xamv1t_mi...vage_shortfilms Thanks Bix! It's no wonder why the videos never made TV as Missy couldn't talk w/o tripping over her words.

Not the most hyped event thing in the history of the WWF but what about Missy's Manor? I remember WWF Magazine having a write up on a Missy Hyatt interview show that came out in the Spring to Summer of 1987. I don't remember seeing her interview segment on any of the syndicated TV shows. Did the segments air on All American or on Prime Time Wrestling? Doing a quick youtube search I don't see anything coming up under the name Missy's Manor.

Boxing Historian Bert Sugar passed away today a the age of 74 of cancer. Sugar penned w/Captain Lou Albano an Idiots Guide to Pro Wrestling book at the tale end of the wrestling boom in the early 00s. How into pro graps was Sugar as I always thought about him as Mr. Boxing Scribe? When I close my eyes and think about what a boxing writer would look and sound like Sugar's image comes to my mind because of his trademark cigar, fedora hat, raspy voice, and great tales. Sugar was always one of the best sports radio interviews when there was a big fight on the horizon. He'll definitely be missed as there aren't many real life characters like Bert anymore.

I bought 3 tapes that featured 2 different ECW Cards for 20 bucks a pop from Ian Rotten at an Insane Championship Wrestling Card in Detroit in like 1996 which was around the time ECW got on PASS which was the regional sports network in Detroit before Fox Sports Detroit took over. I too remember those free Skytel hotlines. Wasn't there a guy who called himself Lord and Icon? Also someone named Sushi X who did one too?

Anyone else listen to MSL's interview on the MLW page with Maunakea Mossman? I had never heard him talk before so it was cool to hear his take on his career and his time in All Japan. They go about an hour. http://tinyurl.com/7datemt

It's no wonder why Detroit popped so huge for WWF when they came to town after looking at how crummy the WWA cards looked. I remember watching WWA in like 85-86 when I first got into wrestling and thinking it was pretty crappy compared to WWF and the Crockett stuff I was seeing. George Crybaby Cannon was the lead announcer with the Great Wojo and Chris Carter feuding with each other on top. The only thing good that came out of their TV was a green Scott Rechsteiner.

How could you forget this classic Monday Night Raw moment involving the Jackyl? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lk9j-lDP6_Q

I love this phooney phone call by Sal and Richard from the Stern show to a pro wrestling radio show from a few years ago!

My Top 10 Bobby Heenan Jim Cornette Captain Lou Albano Jimmy Hart Sherri Martel Freddie Blassie Paul E. Dangerously JJ Dillion Sir Oliver Humperdink the Jackyl Just missing out The Wizard Elizabeth Gary Hart Mr. Fuji Slick Skandor Akbar Adnan Al-Kaissie Joel Gertner Bill Alfonso Sunny Eddie Creatchmen I'm in the camp that misses managers and stables which of course was a byproduct of when I started watching wrestling when they were a huge part of the product.

I honestly didn't think he did as bad as I thought going in. I'm not that big of a fan of Bryan as I find his "personality" to be grating and he comes off really obnoxious since he lives in the wrestling bubble which doesn't work when breaking down MMA. That said there was only a couple of times where he came off embarrassing. He was asked about a fighter who was fighting on the show and he went on about how he had no idea who the guy was. Shouldn't Bryan have maybe done some research and looked to see if there was any footage on youtube of the guy fighting or read a bit up on the guys who are fighting so he can form an opinion when he knew he was going to be on a preview show where he is supposed to be an expert for an audience of hardcores? It's not like Bryan has to work a normal job where he can't put a couple of hours of research so he could has an educated opinion on all 20-26 fighters fighting on the card. I didn't think Tristen Critchfield who joined Jack, Breen, and Bryan on the roundtable offered much of anything to the show as his connection was really weak as he wasn't that audible when he spoke. He pretty much let the aforementioned 3 carry the show as the 3 of them can talk and talk and talk and sounded like they were on much better equipment to do the show. Am I the only one that would like Dave to do some solo interviews on the site w/Bryan just producing? Bryan is on so much and can be really grating that it would it be nice to hear Dave just rap with an interview subject w/o Bryan constantly chiming in especially if they're from the MMA World or are older wrestlers who competed before Bryan started being a fan. I'm sure there are people that subscribe because of Bryan's work but Dave is the draw.

I have to think that since Alvarez didn't start following wrestling until after Tito was finished as an IC title contender and he was doing the El Matador gimmick is the reason why he rates Storm over Tito. The Tito/Valentine feud during the Summer of 85 was a huge reason why I got so into pro graps along with the Bundy/Studd beat down of Andre, and the US Express/Dream Team feud.

I'm really pumped for the Diaz/Condit fight tonight after watching the 3 UFC Prime Times building up their fight. It was pretty funny that when Nick was asked who he thought would win the Super Bowl as part of the pre interview screening he had no clue who was playing in the game. Nick vs. GSP will be awesome if Nick can get past Carlos tonight. GSP's interview last week talking about how badly he wanted to fight Nick and how he will go to a really dark place to beat him was the best GSP to date. There should be some fireworks from this UFC show after what a dud of a show last weekends Fox main card was.

I listened to Lance Storm's bi monthly spot w/Bryan Alvarez and he compared his career to Tito Santana when Bryan asked him about his chances to get into the WWE HOF. Alvarez said he ranked Storm higher than Tito because of the time Storm held 3 belts at one time in WCW and being apart of the opposing group at the start of the Invasion Angle. Maybe since I started watching in the 80s I rate Tito's feuds with Valentine, Savage, Muraco, and his tag team run in Strike Force to what Storm did in his career. I like Storm a lot but Tito emotionally pulled me into his issues a lot better than what Storm did in his career.