The Chief

I can't tell if you typed show or slog with autocorrect. It works either way, haha

Samoa Joe felt like he was on a different planet than everyone else tonight, in a good way. Not since the days of Finlay or ECW-Regal has a veteran come across as so salty and mean. I love it.

I actually thought HBK was a very good heel commentator during that stretch.

That's another potential topic, the "interim" guest commentators post-Heenan. They had somebody different each week before settling on.....was it a returning Lawler? I can't remember. I always loved Crush on commentary for all the wrong reasons.

Apparently Borga had some very un-PC tattoos they needed to cover up which is why he wore the longer tights. Tony Halme also released an album which I really need to check out before I die: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mestarit_salilla. Ludvig Borga, renaissance man! My personal favorite Berzerker/John Nord moment was when he showed up in WCW years later. On the front of his t-shirt, it read "If you don't like me... see back" It actually said see back. Then he turned around and the back said "There's something wrong with you!" He was so damn proud of this shirt. This was high comedy he needed to share with the world but only the enlightened got the joke. Tremendous.

Based on his promo tonight, I'm pretty sure AJ Styles listened to this Between the Sheets....

Do they try to make Roman "the guy" again this year? Or does that honor go to somebody else? What does Roman end up doing? Lots of unanswered questions.

That was part of the reason. His wife wanted him off the road to clean up his act, rodeo just happened to be close to home.

Drawing more Doom parallels, wasn't the reason why Simmons was inactive for so long similar to Reed's lost years? I thought he had to "get his shit together" with drugs/alcohol. Outside of a brief Japan tour he does nothing between early 1995 and summer 1996.

Titans, you need to check out the recent episode of 6:05 podcast that played audio of Albano & Blassie on a Philly Radio show in 1983. It's an awesome look on "smark" perspective of Backlund at the time when he was running out of steam. Blassie and Albano are fucking awesome at keeping Kayfabe when callers ask about George Steele's teaching job and Ernie Roth's recent passing. Right down your alley.

One one hand, at least they're trying so I'll give them that. I'd rather them throw a bunch of shit at the wall and see what sticks instead of just giving up on something. On the other hand, does it say how these will be taped? If this is just taking the spot of Superstars/Main Event matches taped before Raw and Smackdown I'd be worried. They already have the Cruiserweight Division on it's own little island, I'm not sure what separating it further would do if it's still in front of the same crowds.

I really don't know what to think of this. The division is obviously struggling, I'd like to see them fix what they have right now instead of just adding more.

Just wrestling talk, no BS, in and out in an hour. I love this show. Thanks for tackling my question! In 1991 I remember the first house show I ever attended had a Brooklyn Brawler vs. Chris Walker match where they both came out to entrance music. Eight year old me had no clue what was happening and began to question reality. You chaps from across the pond wouldn't be familiar with this, but the Red X was all over Canadian WWF TV. I live in New York and we used to get syndicated WWF on CKWS (Canadian) television. The syndicated show we got was months behind. I remember still getting Allied Powers squashes in 1996. Anyways, whenever something violent was happening they would either freeze frame or put up the Red X. They were VERY sensitive about violence. Blood, chairs, and any type of weapon was always censored. My friends would refer to it as wussy wrestling, no offense to you Canadians.

It odd, it's like we always end up back at Virgil and we don't plan it! He's our unofficial LFK mascot. It's funny, I can tell the Virgil drops aren't intentional yet somehow, everything ties back to Virgil. Six degrees of separation: Virgil. Every topic. Ever. EDIT: WWF Magazine request: I apologize because I sold all of my issues so I can't give you the exact month, but there's an issue in the Fall of 1991 that goes extremely in-depth reviewing a Virgil vs. Kato match. I swear to god this thing was at least 3 or 4 pages. Maybe another listener can help pinpoint it?

I want you guys to work Virgil references into every episode the same way Vince Russo worked Jeff Jarrett into every issue of WWF Magazine.

Good call on Bad News. He's similar to Jake in that he's so far outside the box the rules don't apply to him. Bobby Heenan would get his ass kicked if he tried skimming a manager's fee out of his payday. No manager would want this guy. Now if he was Mildly Unpleasant News Brown, they would probably have him in Slick's gang.

Your Heenan talk got me thinking, during the "second golden age" of WWF Managers, when Heenan, Slick, Fuji and Jimmy Hart are all simultaneously running strong, what heels didn't have managers? Not counting guys who's managers were slowly split away over time or guys who debuted solo then were assigned a manager. Ted DiBiase didn't depending on if you want to count Virgil as a manager or not. Even then, they still paired him with Sherri and Jimmy Hart later on. Rick Martel had a fairly long run by himself as The Model but even then, he had Slick at the beginning. Jake Roberts had a year or two run as a solo heel. I have no clue who could even fit with him thematically, maybe Mr. Fuji? Roberts is such a unique heel the rules don't even apply to him. For some reason, Ron Bass never had a manager. No clue why he received special treatment because I can't recall him talking much. Bass has to be the strangest exception to the rule. If you wanna go back even further to the Three Wise Men days, every heel had one, no exceptions. Seems like heel managers were one of those Vince Sr. staples that they stuck with until the managers themselves faded away.

I love that this somehow became the ongoing Virgil thread

Interesting, Smackdown is playing commercials on a split screen while the match is still going on.

I really need to check out some HWA TV from this era. It's got this wacky island of misfit toys vibe to it. Sounds right down my alley.

Am I the only one that was dissapointed that wasn't Scott Steiner coming out to confront Curt Hawkins?

Totally fine with that. Adds gravitas to the situation, something they don't often do outside of main event scenarios.

Don't forget about the debut (return) of Curt Hawkins! What's going on with Becky? Opening with the main event is really odd, does Cena need to make a flight or something? I'm cool with messing with the formula, should be interesting at least. I'm very much looking forward to Swagger vs. Corbin. You C-Show junkies all know how kick ass their matches have been, I really can't wait to see what they do when people are actually watching.

Parv and Alan, love the show so far! It's great to have a WWF podcast that doesn't cover the same old ground. Anyways, my favorite manager is The Coach. Can you give me some background information on just who he was? I remember Bobby Heenan retired from managing and gifted Mr. Perfect's contract to The Coach. Did The Coach get any of Heenan's other guys? Why was he also with the Beverly Brothers? Why did he dissappear so fast? Any info you can give will be greatly appreciated. Keep up the good work!

AUTUMN ANARCHY is just begging for a "doors open at six" tag