SteveJRogers

Will was goaded into it after dealing with bloated face Muraco from a 1988 SNME for Dangerous Alliance, and then talking with Pete about the upcoming Titans episode Sunday night.

Big difference is the fan reaction and the idea of the promotion being the number one babyface. Did any of the Memphis crowds (forget the never ending debate of how "smart" to the business they were back in the day) break out in chants of the promotion's intials the way fans would chant E-C-DUB! E-C-DUB! Even at non ECW events!

I'm thinking I GOT THE HORSE RIGHT HERE! HIS NAME IS PAUL REVERE...

Well, at least this summer Johnny won't be in midst of making animatronic Nazi pigeons!

Well, that was the best part of it!

Between that, and the lack of newsletters, I'd reckon this was the shortest WTBBP ever!

As a fan of several comic book re-read and TV show re-watch podcasts, I get a kick whenever the hosts go over the ads in the book or commercials left in whatever format they got the program in, whether they were alive or cognitive enough to recall at the time or not. It always makes for a nice time capsule for the listener, that goes beyond the content of the books (or TV shows for that matter). But I guess that's just me since the overwhelming majority seemed to be anti-ads.

It was Bobby V, who managed him in Japan...and thanks for reminding me! Another Met bust, Kaz Matsui, might be a better Dandy comp since he came in with quite a rep and star appeal. Hell, we moved Jose Reyes off of short for him! Speaking of the Mets, Darryl Strawberry might be a good Bret Hart comp. Career really spiraled downward soon after leaving the Mets via free agency (even though according to Adam Sandler he was traded). Put up some good numbers with the Yankees, but injuries, demons, and cancer cut his career way too short, and far from the HOF track that it seemed to be when he left NY. Also thinking of Steve Austin = Mike Piazza due to Piazza's acrimonious leaving the Dodgers, causing a rift that still exists to this day in fact, then spending about 2 weeks in Florida, the equivalent of Austin's ECW run in between getting fired by WCW in early 1995 and picked up by the WWF very late in 1995, before landing in New York for a great run.

LOL! Yeah, but like every great historical overview (and I'm mostly talking history classes is various grades schools and colleges/universities as well), the bulk is on the older stuff, with the last 20 or so years crammed into the last 30 minutes (or the equivalent for books and classes). Granted Dusty was done in terms of an actual regular on screen presence after his 2000 WCW run, and even then was a primarily a commentator on Da Mothership, WCW Saturday Night and PPVs, for most of the mid-1990s before his heel turn, but still his last 20 years did get the usual short shrift.

Love the idea that "Hard Times" is the Pro Wrestling Promo equivalent of an album cut or Side B track of an artist picking up more notoriety than when it was first released on an album or on the radio thanks to being in an uber popular movie years later. Most likely due to the timelessness of the "hard times" portion of the promo that went beyond getting fans to watch him exact revenge on Flair at Starrcade, and a then, what, 25 year (now almost 30) old promo suddenly feels as relevant as it was back in the fall of 1985.

No clue about career comps, but end of life, Chris Benoit = Marty Bergen https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marty_Bergen_(baseball)

Babe Ruth = Dusty Rhodes Ruth = Hogan seems obvious even without JBL saying it every time Hogan walks out.

Episode 6 is AWA's Midnight Rockers/Rose-Sommers war.

King calling Cole JR is still best announcer flub of the night! Troubling since its been quite some time since that team was together consistently, but funny "uh what?" moment. I loved that he called out JBL for screwing up the team that Joe Namath beat in the super bowl but saying that they beat the Indianapolis Colts. Well at least he was half right The funny thing is, usually flubs like that are the other way around! I.e. you'd say "Peyton Manning led the Baltimore Colts to the Super Bowl."

King calling Cole JR is still best announcer flub of the night! Troubling since its been quite some time since that team was together consistently, but funny "uh what?" moment.

You just asked me to lay out some reasoning as to what has changed over the last 50-40 years! There is no "agreeing to disagree" because I'm trying to show you why all fans in the 1970s were not the markish rubes you are trying to make them seem to be, when I've pointed out the ECW crowd as being very much akin to the old crowds you describe, and very much part of that "smark" revolution.

Better security detail at arenas would probably be a good start in terms of guessing what's changed. How about Bray Wyatt just being that creepy sidewalk preacher that you just glance awkwardly at as you walk away from, as opposed to D-X or the Dudleys who literally would encourage interaction, and insult the fans. Also, when it comes to the WWE product, you are also talking about a more family friendly product, so there probably have been more families going to the events since the 1980s boom. Sure there will always be uncaring pieces of crap in every crowd, but you'd probably be more likely to keep yourself in check when you realize there are families around you. Again, your argument doesn't hold much water when you consider ECW. Then again, it could be THE SAME EXPLANATION! The case can be made that the "mutants" of the ECW arena were there to get themselves over as much as just getting caught up in the moment. So I could say the same for the same 1950s-1970s audiences that you are clinging to the notion that were all markish rubes.

Because this is arguing over factual statements, not opinions. You are making it an opinion, but there is no evidence to suggest riots, or riot like behavior I should say, died down just because of the rise of dirt sheets and the information age. Like any other artist, a heel WILL GET a reaction, done cheaply or not. Like wanting to punch an actor in the face because they give such a brilliant performance as a villain in a play, TV show or a movie.

D-X and the Dudleys incited riots among crowds during a more "enlighted" era. There are still lines that wrestlers still can't cross (goose stepping and Heil gestures in Germany) even today. The right cheap heat gathering heel, pushing just the right buttons, CAN get people riled. ESPECIALLY when alcohol is involved. I'll gladly Google for instances where fans took stage villain performances a bit too far as well, I'd imagine they are out there.

Would Austin-Rock be a good comparision for the Bird-Magic rivalry?

I decided to follow this episode with the most recent episode of a podcast which has an American Males parody as their theme song. That's too much of that theme song to hear back-to-back!

Is that any different than complaining about the direction your favorite fiction based TV show is going?Not really since people stop watching TV shows when they start not liking them. The exception used to be daytime soaps, which pretty much were the same thing as pro wrestling. Hang around fourms or discussion areas on social media for various TV shows. Same people constantly are harping about TV shows. comic books, etc. With the excuse of "its an additiction" or "I hope they turn this shit around" as to why they don't drop off.

That works if Pillman was legit unhinged train wreck and was an attention whore in real life.

IDK, it might seem believable that a lug headed stiff (be it their actual selves or gimmick) would be that lazy and unimaginative when it comes to "dishing out more punishment". I suppose you didn't get a kick out of Brock Lesnar's Suplex City huh?

I'm shocked (not really) that they aren't blaming hackers! Hey it worked to get Spider-Man in the Marvel Movie Universe!