KrisZ Posted April 14, 2015 Report Share Posted April 14, 2015 Kris is joined by Rob Naylor and WES HATCH!!!!! to discuss the rebirth of the US independent wrestling scene of the early 2000’s. We wax poetic about all of the greats of the era such as Ric Blade, Xavier, Rockin’ Rebel, The Messiah, Mr. Ooh La La and other scrubs like Low-Ki, American Dragon, & Homicide. Listen to us mark out over a coked up Juventud Guerrera and the greatness of Eric Garguilo & John House!!! http://placetobenation.com/exile-on-badstreet-3-the-rebirth-of-the-indies/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigBadMick Posted April 14, 2015 Report Share Posted April 14, 2015 ok..... not necessarily what I'd expect in this series, but a good topic! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillThompson Posted April 14, 2015 Report Share Posted April 14, 2015 Looking forward to it. And you jest, but I genuinely liked Messiah as a performer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted April 14, 2015 Report Share Posted April 14, 2015 The best part of this is just how personal it all is. Obviously there was an element of that to the Freebirds episode as well, but your experiences as a youth are different than your ones as an adult and it makes for a different sort of recollection. More "from the trenches." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrisZ Posted April 14, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 14, 2015 The best part of this is just how personal it all is. Obviously there was an element of that to the Freebirds episode as well, but your experiences as a youth are different than your ones as an adult and it makes for a different sort of recollection. More "from the trenches." Matt you were around back then this was an important time in the wrestling business as so many new stars were born that are headlining today. It was an escape to what WWE was offering back then and being 21-24 it was just a fun time to be a wrestling fan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylan Waco Posted April 14, 2015 Report Share Posted April 14, 2015 Been looking forward to this. The return of Wes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted April 14, 2015 Report Share Posted April 14, 2015 The best part of this is just how personal it all is. Obviously there was an element of that to the Freebirds episode as well, but your experiences as a youth are different than your ones as an adult and it makes for a different sort of recollection. More "from the trenches." Matt you were around back then this was an important time in the wrestling business as so many new stars were born that are headlining today. It was an escape to what WWE was offering back then and being 21-24 it was just a fun time to be a wrestling fan. Absolutely. It was an amazing time. I think, in a lot of ways, this was the most important match of a 5-7 year stretch for our community. I think that's the one. I remember everyone going nuts over it at DVDVR at the time. Just nuts and it sort of felt like it changed everything, like nothing would be the same afterwards. And then when ROH started coming to MA (I was 20 going on 21 when Honor Invades Boston hit), it was the difference between going to a show to see Brutus Beefcake and maybe some guy who had clocked in at #405 on the DVDVR 500 (like Luis Ortiz) and going to a show to see Daniels and Low Ki and Styles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrisZ Posted April 14, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 14, 2015 There is also this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soup23 Posted April 14, 2015 Report Share Posted April 14, 2015 I know some grumpy people (Parv!) get upset about modern product but 2001 indy boom was the last time I really felt invigorated by an alternative until currently with being able to watch New Japan shows live. Even with that today its not as much of being exposed to new guys in New Japan, its the increased accessibility that made it fun. I have no idea how I got in contact with Wes and purchased my first set of 3 Weside Connection tapes whether it was DVDVR, CZWFANS, or crazymax, I just know that it really fulfilled a void that was really waning with the butchering of the attitude angle and the state of WCW closing up shop. I really want to revisit all of that stuff at some point but kind of shutter to think about the match quality. In some ways, it feels like my ECW in a "time and place" atmosphere. It was an intoxicating time that I was super excited to live through and that you see residues of today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrisZ Posted April 14, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 14, 2015 I will tell you this....a lot of it ages better than ECW or almost all the late 90s did. One of the main reasons I think is most of the guys had short runs and were gone so we didn't see them get old Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted April 14, 2015 Report Share Posted April 14, 2015 I think the best way to look at it is this: For years, we, as fans, weren't given what we were wanted. There was an undercurrent counterculture against what we were offering. It wasn't even an alternative. ECW was an alternative. WCW and WWF were on some level alternatives from one another. Japan was or Memphis or older tapes or Mexico or Puerto Rico. It's not about being an alternative. It's about being a targeted, focused, product. An alternative is just some other promoter's vision. This was in response to an audience that wanted a specific product and catering to that audience in a way that it'd never been catered to before. Thanks to video and the internet to get the word out and for distribution, finally there was an audience that could come together and that would spend money and marketing to this newly bolstered community became worthwhile. I don't think alternative is the right word. EDIT1: I'm glad you guys talked about Eddy a bit. I got to see him from ten feet away wrestling against The Student "Timothy McNeany" and someone else I can't remember. I need to find the picture in the ring with him. EDIT 2: I'm going to have to watch that Xavier vs Low Ki match now. I'm not sure I ever did. EDIT 3: I definitely was more in tune with some things than others. I didn't really leave New England (so it was a lot of Chaotic and NECW for me, with some WWA New england, which is where the Eddy match was), and I'd catch stuff that showed up as real media files. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaneduder Posted April 14, 2015 Report Share Posted April 14, 2015 I'm only 40 min in but I love this fucking show. It will sound cheesy but I keep catching myself smiling. So many hilarious and awesome CZW memories right off the bat. As someone who was in the middle of his teens when all this stuff hit, Indys were what kept my love for wrestling going when I lost interest in WWF and WCW/ECW went under. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpchicago23 Posted April 14, 2015 Report Share Posted April 14, 2015 You're killing it with the show topics damn it. Keep it up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Exposer Posted April 15, 2015 Report Share Posted April 15, 2015 I have yet to listen, but this is a topic that's close to my heart as well. It's a bit different from everyone else though. I started watching wrestling in very early 2000. WCW and ECW were up to their heads in the ground. They were dead a year later. My alternative to WWE was a small southern independent promotion in East Ridge, TN called Ultimate Extreme Wrestling (UEW). I saw a bunch of NWA Wildside and Anarchy guys there all the time. Even some IWA Mid-South guys. Iceberg, Tank Norton, David Young, Sonny Siaki, etc. I saw possibly Terry Gordy's last match there. One of the Moondogs (can't remember which one) worked there a ton. I have some great memories from growing up in that stingy, smoke filled warehouse on a Saturday night. It was pretty different from the super indie explosion that was going on as far as style and presentation goes, but dammit it was just as good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylan Waco Posted April 15, 2015 Report Share Posted April 15, 2015 This is one of the best shows I've ever heard. Great combination of analysis, laughs, and just marking the fuck out. One thing you didn't talk about much was Michaels TWA which totally hooked me in. Believe it or not that was the first promotion I can remember where I purchased everything in its existence and worse the tapes out watching them. Devon you will love the show. They cover Wildside and several of your favorites get mentioned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bierschwale Posted April 15, 2015 Report Share Posted April 15, 2015 ...and the greatness of Eric Garguilo & John House!!! More than words... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrisZ Posted April 15, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 15, 2015 There will be at least one more of these shows down the road where we talk about the workers because there quite a bit we didn't talk about because of time restrictions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bix Posted April 15, 2015 Report Share Posted April 15, 2015 There will be at least one more of these shows down the road where we talk about the workers because there quite a bit we didn't talk about because of time restrictions. Looking forward to it. This was awesome, but that'll be a nice way to cover more. For example, like I mentioned on Twitter last night, you didn't really get to talk about Paul London, what he meant to ROH early on, etc. Especially since he was a guy who seemingly came out of nowhere to become ROH's top babyface and first homegrown star. For a good year or so (maybe longer, I don't remember him doing much else that made super besides the 2003 Super 8), the only way you could see him was to get ROH tapes. Nobody (including RF) was selling the Texas stuff, if he was working anywhere with TV nobody was taping/trading it, etc. So stuff like his 60 minute match with Osamu Nishimura for Dory Funk Jr's BANG! Wrestling promotion became a holy grail; if it aired on TV (by the time I found a BANG! source, all I could get was a music video w/ clips of the match) nobody recorded it off TV, and Dory refused to sell tapes. Why? "They'd get bootlegged." I guess it's better to sell none? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert S Posted April 15, 2015 Report Share Posted April 15, 2015 Did I miss it or did you, when talking about Low Ki vs. American Dragon in 2001, skip talking about the ECWA match with Steamboat as guest referee (7/21)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timbo Slice Posted April 15, 2015 Report Share Posted April 15, 2015 This has been fantastic to listen to. Top notch stuff all around. And Wes is the man for loving the Young Bucks. They might be the act I love most in wrestling right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WesHatch Posted April 15, 2015 Report Share Posted April 15, 2015 What's up everyone? I just wanted to say I'm really glad you all have enjoyed the show and thank you for the kind words. I saw how well received Kris' first two shows were so I was nervous going into it but Kris and Rob are so good and the conversation and memories just flowed. It was a lot of fun to look back at that time period. What I was hoping for and has happened is a lot of you would have the same reverence for it that we did. Like Kris mentioned I'm sure we'll end up doing a follow up show down the road on this because there was so much that we could talk about. I couldn't believe when I looked at my clock and it was about 45 minutes in and we were still on CZW. Time really flew by. As Rob said on the show we really could have done a 12 hour pod haha. As for the Ki-Dragon match with Steamboat as ref.. no we didn't get to that one. I think we went with the Super 8 match due to it being their first meeting and the King of the Indies match due to that show being the precursor to Ring of Honor. And yeah thanks Timbo, I cant say enough great things about the Bucks. Any team who has a motto of the more you hate us the more flips we're going to do is alright in my book Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrisZ Posted April 15, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 15, 2015 Again so much stuff went uncovered that we will try and take care of later but most important is that WES ON THE BOARD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpchicago23 Posted April 15, 2015 Report Share Posted April 15, 2015 I echo Dylan's sentiments about it being one of the best podcasts I've ever heard. I got off early today and took a 2 and a half hour detour from my normal route home to listen to this. I went from Tampa to Lakeland to Bradenton and back to Tampa and it was such a good drive listening to this show. Rob and Wes were great guests and Kris brought it as usual. I have so much to seek out after listening to this show. Will the next show delve into the mid 00s or stay around this general period? Either way I can't wait Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bradhindsight Posted April 16, 2015 Report Share Posted April 16, 2015 I was going to ask you how we could get Wes on the board, Kris - and here we are. Wes - I thought you were great on the show, thanks for doing it. Looking forward to more on the topic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoe Posted April 16, 2015 Report Share Posted April 16, 2015 Guys I'm loving this show. It brings up so many great memories. All the names being mentioned. When I saw KOTI I was blown away by Dragon and Low-Ki and went and tried to get all their matchups. From the stuff from ROH, to ECWA with Steamboat as ref. Now you guys are talking about Wildside I'm going nuts. Jason Cross was a guy who easily could have been a huge star. His athleticism was off the charts. Wilside was so great. JC Bailey was the greatest manager of late 90's, 2000's. That whole roster was fabulous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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