shoe Posted September 1, 2014 Report Share Posted September 1, 2014 https://soundcloud.com/jerryvonkramer/titans-xtra-interview-with-michael-elliott On this episode of Titans Xtra Pete and Johnny take over Titans Studio for an interview with Micheal Elliott , the creative force behind wrestling documentaries like the JCP Glory days and the Rock n Roll Express: Rock and Roll Will Never Die. He joins us to discuss his upcoming Ivan Koloff film and how YOU, the Titans fans, can help it get made. That and so much more on this episode of Titans Xtra. And you can be a part of getting this made by going to kickstarter.com, searching for Ivan Koloff and donating a couple of bucks. Don't be a creep, listen to the show and help get this film made. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1244526869/ivan-koloff-the-russian-bear Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryvonKramer Posted September 11, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 11, 2014 Titans Xtra - Lawler and Dundee: A New Hope https://soundcloud.com/jerryvonkramer/titans-xtra-lawler-and-dundee-a-new-hope Johnny and Pete look at the Star Wars of the Jerry Lawler / Bill Dundee trilogy. We look at the build and the epic first match. Discussion includes: the greatness of Lance Russell, Dundee as a headliner, Lawler's greatness as a headliner and promo. Buckle up and enjoy the ride. Footage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nndnrlQjZvs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveJRogers Posted September 13, 2014 Report Share Posted September 13, 2014 Re: Phoenix, AZ's MSG back in the 1963 Look Back in Episode 1 (long story to why I haven't gotten to it until now) MSG's second most prominent historic location, for sports, entertainment and political and social events anyway, was the building between 49th & 50th along 8th Avenue in NYC from 1925 through 1968 (replaced by the current MSG down between 31st & 33rd and 7th & 8th Ave). When it replaced the previous building, which was literally next to Madison Square Park, the new owner and developer had envisioned creating MSGs throughout the country, in fact The Boston Garden itself was part of this plan, hence The Garden in Beantown's fabled arena. I'd have to look further into it, but I'd imagine that is what this MSG in Phoenix was a part of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveJRogers Posted September 13, 2014 Report Share Posted September 13, 2014 A little history from a PDF document trying to save the original from demolition in the last decade: http://www.azhistory.net/doc/pmsg/pmsg072005.pdf It does mention it being constructed in 1929, which puts it in line with the first, well really third, MSG and the original Boston Garden, but I don't see any mention of Tex Richard, MSG's owner and developer being a driving force behind it, but there is this on page 8: No record was located as to why the building was named Phoenix Madison Square Garden. The original design identifies it only as “stadium” and “Home to the Arizona Athletic Association.” However, the moniker was not unusual at the time. As early as 1893, there was a Chicago Madison Square Garden, which hosted musical acts. Boston Garden was originally named Boston Madison Square Garden by its builder, Tex Rickard, who was president of Madison Square Garden in New York. Shortly after it opened in 1928, the “Madison Square” reference was removed leaving the name Boston Garden. Phoenix Madison Square Garden was probably named after New York’s famous boxing and wrestling venue, which was originally built in 1879. Also, it would appear that it was too small for anything other than boxing, wrestling or concerts, so it did not become the original home of the basketball Phoenix Suns when they joined the NBA in the very late 1960s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricky Jackson Posted September 13, 2014 Report Share Posted September 13, 2014 Great research Steve! I never knew the story of the MSG "brand" being used in other cities Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robertsilva Posted September 16, 2014 Report Share Posted September 16, 2014 Dylan had me laughing in tears when he mentioned if LA had the hall of fame pitcher Walter Johnson instead of the wrestler they would have a great draw. Just priceless Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryvonKramer Posted October 29, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 29, 2014 https://soundcloud.com/jerryvonkramer/titans-xtra-world-of-sport Parv and Kelly welcome Steven Graham (Pro Wrestling Super Show) to take a look at some matches from Britain in the 1970s, as shown on World of Sport. Mick McManus vs. Kung-FuJim Breaks vs. Adrian StreetThe Royals vs. The Saints Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grimmas Posted October 29, 2014 Report Share Posted October 29, 2014 Everybody can see how much better a guest I am than a host. Also, my heel turn! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricky Jackson Posted October 29, 2014 Report Share Posted October 29, 2014 Here's the awesome BBC doc on WoS I mentioned on the show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soup23 Posted October 29, 2014 Report Share Posted October 29, 2014 This latest show had a big classy air to it that fit nicely with the WOS footage. It really felt appropriate having Parv oversee this along with the gentlemen Canadian duo. I did seek out that Street vs. Breaks match after Parv raved on it and I enjoyed it a ton. I thought Steven's point was astute in that this match was pretty without feeling like an exhibition. They really found the right tone between working together and trying to attain a victory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohtani's jacket Posted October 29, 2014 Report Share Posted October 29, 2014 I listened to the opening 15 minutes or so. A couple of things: * The matches when they originally aired on World of Sport were usually joined in progress. The Wrestling Channel was sent the master tapes from ITV so when you're watching that footage you're generally seeing a longer version of the match than would have aired on TV. A lot of that footage begins with the MC introductions before Walton even starts talking. The reason the bouts went long at the tapings (and in the halls) is because there were only half a dozen or less matches on each show so they had to fill out the cards. * Myself and others rather lazily refer to all of the wrestling on ITV as Joint Promotions when it fact most of the television was from Dale Martin. If you're really interested you can usually see the name of the promoter on the turnbuckle. The reason for the business model Parv is talking about is because you not only had the Joint Promotions group but a bunch of independent promoters as well. Joint Promotions ran multiple shows in multiple towns on the same day and you also had a bunch of other promotions crammed into the same territory so to speak. * It's not that difficult to follow the different weight classes. Wrestlers moved up and down the classes but Walton was always on hand to explain. Each division basically consisted of a World, European and British champion although some of the World and European titles weren't defended in Britain. The World champion was obviously positioned as the top wrestler in their weight class with the European and British champions being the next tier down. The titles were important particularly in getting workers over in the magazines and the programs (which were a huge part of the business), but you can't really follow the title picture by watching random matches on YouTube. What would usually happen is that there would be a series of three matches where the challenger would win the first match, have a rematch where if they won they earned a title shot and then a third match where they got their shot at the belt. Sometimes these matches aired on television, sometimes they didn't.* The matches didn't always have rounds. Often they would have no rounds time limit bouts. One fall bouts were also common. Tag matches always had a time limit.* There were numerous heels. Heel vs. face matches is one of the most common staples of WoS. It wasn't all "another pure contest for the grapple fans" fare. A card would be made up of all sorts of bouts. There are ref bumps, weapon use, blood, angles, guys coming to ringside and distracting a rival and just about any other pro-wrestling trope you can think of. Not as much as in US wrestling because that was heathen all-in wrestling, but the halls had gimmick matches all the time such as chain matches etc. There wasn't a huge amount of continuity to the TV as it was mostly a taped houseshow, but there were ongoing storylines, feuds and rivalries and the TV built to the money matches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohtani's jacket Posted October 30, 2014 Report Share Posted October 30, 2014 A few more points: * I don't know if Admiral-Lord Mountevans was in on the work, but the driving force behind the rules was promoter Norman Morrell. The rules, which you can read here -- http://www.scribd.com/doc/90279549/1946-The-Rules-Governing-Professional-Wrestling-All-the-Techniques-to-go-Along-With-Them -- were drawn up so that promoters could continue to get licenses from local councils and that the ban in London and Glasgow would be lifted. It was a weird legit thing like the Comisión de Box y Lucha in its heyday or the athletic state commissions in the States. * I believe McManus was a heel from the 40s onwards, but he was such a celebrity that he became "The Man We Love To Hate" and hobnobbed with the rich and famous. After he retired he became this elder statesman figure who would commentate on the matches or make guest appearances as a ref. McManus admonishing a heel and dishing out public warnings is a sight to behold. A got a kick out of Walton calling him out on his past wrestling life during a Murphy/Kilby bout he reffed. * The funniest thing about Kung Fu was that he was a Irishman from Belfast which is a far cry from Hong Kong and Bruce Lee. I'm going to assume that Parv was never big on the 70s Kung Fu boom (Bruce Lee, wuxia, Master of Kung Fu, etc.) I once took a look at a bunch of his bouts against different rudos which I called Kung Fu vs. The Five Deadly Rudos, and the McManus bout blew away what anybody else did with him. That was why I listed it because it was a hugely impressive bout to me in that context. * There's around 25 McManus bouts available on tape. The stuff we have of him from '74-76 would represent the peak of his work on tape. * While I agree that Breaks was hard, that Street match isn't a very good representation of his typical performance. He did work slightly different in the early 70s as he was still fleshing out his act, but in that particular match I think there was definitely a subtext of Breaks treating Street like a "queer." * Street always did a Gorgeous George style gimmick in the UK. The glam rock stuff was just make-up he added to it. There are three WoS bouts available and two sets of clips from the halls. Street left Joint Promotions in 1974 around the same time that Jackie Pallo did. He worked for the independents until around '81 when he left for the States.* Breaks wasn't the top guy in his weight class. Saint was the perennial World Champ. * There are some long time British fans who were skeptical of whether the Royals were actually brothers, but I believe they were. They were like the Beatles of British Pro-Wrestling in the 60s. Faulkner came across as a smart arse at times, but he had a range of performance styles including fired up babyface. * The weights were kayfabed to a large degree but the Royals were in the welterweight-middleweight range while the Saints were light-heavyweight-heavyweight range. The match you watched was a face vs. face, brothers vs. brothers, sons of former wrestlers tag match spectacular. The nearfalls at the end aren't uncommon. WoS matches sometimes have hot finishes with numerous nearfall attempts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricky Jackson Posted October 30, 2014 Report Share Posted October 30, 2014 Thanks for the supplemental info OJ. Extremely informative, as always. Hope we did some justice to WoS with the show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohtani's jacket Posted October 30, 2014 Report Share Posted October 30, 2014 I enjoyed it a lot. In the future, you should check out Brian Maxine for sure. And Sid Cooper. Tally Ho Kaye might be fun too as far as gimmicks go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohtani's jacket Posted October 30, 2014 Report Share Posted October 30, 2014 One more thing, the MC in the first match was former wrestler Charlie Fisher. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRMD Posted October 30, 2014 Report Share Posted October 30, 2014 Excellent Show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohtani's jacket Posted October 30, 2014 Report Share Posted October 30, 2014 I keep remembering random points. * Joint Promotions didn't have any tag team championships, but in the early 80s they did this weird thing where they ran an annual tournament for the tag team championship where the winners were awarded belts they never defended. From memory, Murphy and Finlay won it the first year and then Jones and Myers the next. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryvonKramer Posted December 20, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 20, 2014 DJ Parv feat. Larry Zybyszko - Nobody Cares About Dominic https://soundcloud.com/jerryvonkramer/nobody-cares-about-dominic "Nobody cares about what you and Dominic have to say Bruno" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricky Jackson Posted January 3, 2015 Report Share Posted January 3, 2015 https://soundcloud.com/jerryvonkramer/titans-xtra-the-legend-of-bruno-sammartino The last bit from A Very Bruno Christmas is here just as you get ready to take down the tree and drink one last glass of Eggnog. Enjoy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Sorrow Posted January 3, 2015 Report Share Posted January 3, 2015 Tune into the Bruno Xtra. It's better than everything else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricky Jackson Posted February 17, 2015 Report Share Posted February 17, 2015 Tag Teams Back Again http://placetobenation.com/titans-xtra-tag-teams-back-again/ Join Kelly and Marty Sleeze as they begin an ongoing exploration of classic tag team wrestling, commencing with 1985 WWF.Matches discussed on the show:The US Express vs The Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff 5/20/85 MSGThe US Express and George Steele vs Adrian Adonis, "Big" John Studd and Bobby "the Brain" Heenan 6/21/85 MSGGreg Valentine and Brutus Beefcake (the Dream Team) vs Tito Santana and Ricky Steamboat 4/21/85 MLGThe Dream Team vs The US Express 8/24/85 SpectrumThe Dream Team vs Tito Santana and Pedro Morales11/25/85 MSGThe Dream Team vs the Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff12/17/85 Poughkeepsie, NY*Apologies for the echoing audio during the middle portion* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoo Enthusiast Posted February 17, 2015 Report Share Posted February 17, 2015 Shit, awesome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Sorrow Posted February 17, 2015 Report Share Posted February 17, 2015 Marty, Lord Al was right. A smart wrestler would know that there's a nefarious guy at ringside with a cane who has used it in the past. Any wrestler who "expects this to be a straight wrestling match" against two evil foreigners and their evil manager is a dope. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soup23 Posted February 17, 2015 Report Share Posted February 17, 2015 I loved this show. Marty sounding like the voice of God with the echo. Some good backstory history. Marty getting quizzed. IRS shitting. Top notch stuff all around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superstar Sleeze Posted February 17, 2015 Report Share Posted February 17, 2015 I hate listening to my own voice, but I may just need to listen to the middle now. We just scratched the surface of Rotundo is the shits, just wait until we get to the New US Express with Spivey, most boring tag team ever and rightfully forgotten. Thanks Chad for the praise. Johnny or you can look at it like Lord Al being a holier than thou heel because victim-blaming is always heelish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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