Grilling JR

[Ricky Jackson]

43 minutes ago, Petey said:

Nothing stands out in particular but anything non-NWA/WCW is usually pretty good because Tony's particularly engaged and Conrad can't fall back on "LOLWCW so stupid!" or "mid-80's Crockett ain't for me".

I've never listened to a Tony/Conrad pod. I know he's a WWF fanboy at heart, but Conrad really doesn't like 80s Crockett? 

[Petey]

On 1/13/2020 at 7:31 PM, Ricky Jackson said:

I've never listened to a Tony/Conrad pod. I know he's a WWF fanboy at heart, but Conrad really doesn't like 80s Crockett? 

I think it's one of those where he feels like it just didn't age well. IIRC, Conrad said he first got into wrestling after watching the WrestleMania 4 tape and watched both WWF and NWA/WCW but ultimately was a huge Hulkamaniac as a kid.

I'm a little younger than Conrad and didn't have any real exposure to Crockett until Classics on Demand. I loved watching the TBS show from that era but different strokes for different folks, I guess.

[The Thread Killer]

I'm listening to the Royal Rumble 2005 episode which debuted today, and it's pretty hilarious but a bit in a sad way at the same time.  JR admits early on that he's drinking screwdrivers while they record.  By the time they get to reviewing the matches, it sounds like JR is maybe a bit toasted.  When they're discussing the Flair/Guerrero backstage segment, JR goes off on some totally out of left field rant about the developmental system and how you can't teach having "it" (which is true) but it seems like he's angry and having an argument, even though nobody is disagreeing with him.  Then while they're discussing the Undertaker/Heidenreich match, JR goes off into another tangent and ends up complaining about Donald Trump and media coverage of the Impeachment Trial(?!) Poor Conrad is having trouble keeping him on topic.  There's still around an hour to go, and I feel for Conrad trying to keep this thing on track.
 

Also, one thing that seems weird to me is that it feels like JR's show has more ads than Bischoff or Arn?  Either that, or it's just not as noticeable on those other shows as it is on this one.

[SomethingSavage]

I don't know, but I do know I never need to hear JR say the word "boner" during an an read ever again.

That Rumble 05 episode sounds like a glorious train wreck. I've got a chest day (best day) in the gym tomorrow, so this bad boy sounds ideal to have on tap for that. Looking forward to hearing him go off the rails and argue with the ether some more.

[SomethingSavage]

Oof. That Rumble 05 episode was not great. Riddled with rants and ad reads from start to finish, it just felt like it had no real flow. And they actually jumped right into the topic for a change, but that didn't help much.

I never got the sense JR was drunk, but he was as salty as ever and got sidetracked onto some strange tirades.

The Trump impeachment talk came way out of left field, and I could sort of sense Conrad's awkwardness in the moment. He quickly shifted gears and just basically began to read a beat by beat breakdown of the action for a fucking Hiedenreich match, just to drown out JR's political nonsense. Just bizarre.

Even the novelty of JR essentially arguing with himself can wear a little thin when you hear it four or five times within a two-hour show, I guess.

[BruiserBrody]

Jim Ross dropping the big reveal that he paid for an abortion in 1990 and then going into a Jim Barnett impression over telling the news to the WCW office was....was...something....

[The Thread Killer]

8 hours ago, BruiserBrody said:

Jim Ross dropping the big reveal that he paid for an abortion in 1990 and then going into a Jim Barnett impression over telling the news to the WCW office was....was...something....

Yeah, that was just plain uncomfortable.  I really don't know why JR felt the need to unburden himself about something like that on his podcast of all fucking places.  For a guy who is so hypersensitive to criticism about his age and sharpness, he sure does a lot of stuff that pretty much guarantees people are going to question his mental state.  Old Conrad couldn't get off that topic fast enough.

Knowing Conrad, I'm a bit surprised he didn't use it as a segue into an add read... 

"Speaking of getting pregnant, you know what helps with that, JR?  Blue Chew!  Especially if you use it and then take the women to bed on a Purple Mattress! And if the woman does get knocked up, and you have to drive her to the clinic, make sure and get your car checked at Rock Auto first!"

[Ricky Jackson]

Jesus Christ, JR. WTF. That was rough 

[cactus]

As much as I still enjoy J.R's insights on his PPV reviews, his rant on drug addicts during the Wrestlemania 2000 episode is something else. His grumpy outbursts can be entertaining, but he just comes as an ignorant piece of work. 

[BruiserBrody]

I gave the Vickie episode 30 mins or so and it didn't hook me.  Anyone want to sell me on finishing it? 

[Ricky Jackson]

On 4/16/2020 at 7:13 AM, BruiserBrody said:

I gave the Vickie episode 30 mins or so and it didn't hook me.  Anyone want to sell me on finishing it? 

It's not a must listen episode or anything, but things do get fun around the 80 minute mark when JR finally snaps on the creative bankruptcy of 2009-2010 WWE after so many of the angles Conrad brings up keep repeating themselves and getting less and less logical. Good 5 minute plus tirade  

[El-P]

I tried my hand at Sable, it's a pretty good listen all things considered. She's actually a pretty fascinating case-study of what "over" means, in relation to context/talent and her trajectory is quite amazing and unique, in two years she basically, without any former experience of anything, became the N°2 draw in the company (really, she was just behind Austin in 1998). Also, it's quite a story that the Playboy spread (the first one) would be her eventual downfall since she believed her own hype after that point. It strikes me that we really don't know anything about who Rena is/was, really, because she wasn't a talent before, had no history of working and after that second stint (which also speaks loudly of the way Vince likes to embarrass people who attacked him before) basically went back to being a mom and housewife. Probably a loner kind of character (her couple with Lesnar makes all the sense in the world from that perspective) who got pushed into the limelight and became a huge star doing basically nothing (now, let's be real), which really can fuck with your head, not to mention the jealousy in the locker room. Anyway, good listen.

[The Thread Killer]

I'm a member of "Ad Free Shows" so I heard an advance episode of this week's show on Brian Adams.  Quite honestly, it was a pretty unremarkable episode.  I find JR's podcast pretty hit and miss, and the Brian Adams episode is a miss in my opinion. There really isn't enough compelling content there to justify an entire show about Crush.  The main talking point seems to be that Adams was extremely popular backstage with everybody, as he sounded like a legitimately nice guy with the right friends with political pull (namely The Undertaker and Randy Savage.)  That, combined with Adams size and look, afforded him a number of chances that other smaller, less connected guys would not have had.  That talking point gets pretty much beat into the ground. So listen at your own risk.

[El-P]

I expected no less and had not much intention of listening to it. I mean, Crush ? Yeah, I guess one interesting point is how a guy with so little talent got hired and got chances again, again and again. I heard he was really funny before.

But the Sable one ? Winner.

[The Thread Killer]

2 hours ago, El-P said:

I guess one interesting point is how a guy with so little talent got hired and got chances again, again and again.

Yeah your first instinct was correct lol. As I said, they answered that very question very early in the episode, and go back to it repeatedly.

”Yes, that gimmick/angle/match was pretty bad, but Vince really liked his size and look, plus he was a nice guy and really good friends with Taker, so...”

Repeat x 1000

This was one of those episodes where I kept waiting for it to get to an interesting part, but it never did.  The frustrating part was that Brian Adams’ arrest in the early 90’s is only briefly touched on, and JR is unable to provide any insight about it all, not by choice but simply because he just doesn’t have any. 

One of my biggest pet peeves with the Conrad Thompson podcasts is when he covers a subject that he clearly isn’t all that well informed about, so they just kind of skim over those parts. A good example would be the episode they did about Dr. Death Steve Williams, and it is very clear that not only does Conrad know nothing about AJPW, but he never get anybody who did know about it to do any research for him or provide any questions. I’d be willing to bet based on that episode that Conrad has never seen one of Williams matches from Japan.

 As far as this episode, if I hadn’t been stuck in a waiting room for hours with nothing else to do, I probably would’ve given up on it. It was either that podcast, or read a 15 year old issue of People magazine.

In retrospect, I may have made the wrong choice.

 

 

 

[El-P]

58 minutes ago, The Thread Killer said:

This was one of those episodes where I kept waiting for it to get to an interesting part, but it never did.  The frustrating part was that Brian Adams’ arrest in the early 90’s is only briefly touched on, and JR is unable to provide any insight about it all, not by choice but simply because he just doesn’t have any. 

Well, that was one thing that would have been interesting indeed so... no such luck apparently.

58 minutes ago, The Thread Killer said:

One of my biggest pet peeves with the Conrad Thompson podcasts is when he covers a subject that he clearly isn’t all that well informed about, so they just kind of skim over those parts. A good example would be the episode they did about Dr. Death Steve Williams, and it is very clear that not only does Conrad know nothing about AJPW, but he never get anybody who did know about it to do any research for him or provide any questions. I’d be willing to bet based on that episode that Conrad has never seen one of Williams matches from Japan.

Yeah, that really comes through on many occasions. I mean, when the subject of FMW comes up in some Bruce Prichard episode, Brucie is like "FMW was some garbage drizzling shit, a smaller crappier version of ECW" and Conrad doesn't say jackshit. And, really now ? Onita was drawing 50.000 people at the Kawasaki Stadium *without TV* when Brucie's band could not sell out a medium sized arena for Mania the same year. Conrad's ignorance of anything not-WWE (or basically mainstream US mid-90's) is really stricking, which is why he's doing 2010's WWE show with Arn instead of Crockett/early WCW stuff.

[Petey]

On 8/14/2020 at 10:53 AM, El-P said:

Well, that was one thing that would have been interesting indeed so... no such luck apparently.

Yeah, that really comes through on many occasions. I mean, when the subject of FMW comes up in some Bruce Prichard episode, Brucie is like "FMW was some garbage drizzling shit, a smaller crappier version of ECW" and Conrad doesn't say jackshit. And, really now ? Onita was drawing 50.000 people at the Kawasaki Stadium *without TV* when Brucie's band could not sell out a medium sized arena for Mania the same year. Conrad's ignorance of anything not-WWE (or basically mainstream US mid-90's) is really stricking, which is why he's doing 2010's WWE show with Arn instead of Crockett/early WCW stuff.

I'll add to this. I feel like as time has gone on and ol' Connie's been producing more and more shows, his half of the shows have decreased in quality. He's been pretty open that he first became a fan as a kid in the late 80's, drifted away business went south in the early-mid 90's, came back just after the formation of the nWo and saw his interest dwindle again around the turn of the century (he's shockingly very down on 2000 WWF). He's also a big ECW fan but it seems like he didn't start following them until some time in 1997.

It's pretty clear he has very little knowledge of any of the territories and he's always bitching whenever he has to do a watchalong of Crockett TV. Conrad's older than I am, so I can't fault him for not being some territory expert since I didn't grow up with them either but at the same time, just because you weren't around for the French Revolution doesn't mean you're unable to learn what happened. I just don't think that Conrad has the time between 5 podcasts and his mortgage business to all of a sudden start researching Mid-South, Crockett, Japan, etc. and actually have something to offer. Instead, it's easier to just rely upon whatever was reported in the newsletters and base everything around that. It's formulaic and when he's doing a show with a host who seems to be dedicated to just tearing down the "dirt sheets", it's a bad formula.

I haven't listened to the Arn Show yet but I agree with people who say that Grilling JR is hit or miss. I'd also say that I strongly prefer Grilling JR over the Bischoff or Prichard podcasts just because it's nice to hear a show where half of it isn't just someone's jimmie's getting rustled by Meltz.

[bussinrounds]

On 1/15/2020 at 12:57 AM, Petey said:

I think it's one of those where he feels like it just didn't age well. IIRC, Conrad said he first got into wrestling after watching the WrestleMania 4 tape

Jesus.  Wish they had an actual NWA fan doing these pods....and someone who's a bit older too.  I nominate Johnny Sorrow, now that WC is done and Kelly & Pete are hanging it up.

[Ricky Jackson]

Maybe Johnny can coax Boogie Woogie into a territory retrospective pod 

[Petey]

On 8/18/2020 at 12:57 PM, bussinrounds said:

Jesus.  Wish they had an actual NWA fan doing these pods....and someone who's a bit older too.  I nominate Johnny Sorrow, now that WC is done and Kelly & Pete are hanging it up.

Yeah someone who actually enjoyed that time period/territory would be great.

[Migs]

On 8/18/2020 at 6:43 AM, Petey said:

It's pretty clear he has very little knowledge of any of the territories and he's always bitching whenever he has to do a watchalong of Crockett TV. 

Admittedly, watchalongs are a terrible format for talking about these 80s territory shows, where there's a ton of promos (no, I don't need Conrad's impersonations) and you can't really enjoy them without knowing where you are in the continuity of things. But even on the early 90s TV, which is a little easier to enjoy out of context, Conrad seems like he has no interest.

[The Thread Killer]

Next week's episode of Grilling JR is about Jim Cornette.  I got the advance release today. I'm only about a third of the way into the episode and they've already gotten the facts wrong about something, due to Conrad's lousy research.  Conrad asks why Cornette and the Midnights left Mid South for World Class at the end of the 1984, and JR says he doesn't know.  Conrad asks if it is because Cornette and the Midnights were tired of the schedule or upset about the pay, and JR agreed that it was probably one of those reasons. Which is a great theory...except it isn't true. 

When they came to Mid South from Memphis, Cornette and The Midnight Express had been told they would be working in Mid South for one year, basically all of 1984 and then they would be moved out.  During their year they had worked with Magnum TA & Mr. Wrestling II, The Fantastics, Bill Watts and JYD, and they had of course worked an extended program with the Rock and Roll Express, twice.  By the end of the year, they had basically done everything they could possibly do in Mid South, and Dennis Condrey really wanted to work for JCP, so Jim Cornette spoke with Jim Crockett and Dusty Rhodes, and they verbally agreed to a deal where they would finish 1984 in Mid South, take the Christmas Holidays off, and start with JCP in the New Year. 

Bill Watts is the one who asked Cornette and the Midnight Express to go to World Class, because he had made a working agreement with Fritz Von Erich. Watts told them that they could make decent money in World Class, and after a few months he would bring them back into Mid South, especially for the big shows. They didn't really want to do it, but out of loyalty to Watts they called Crockett and reneged on their verbal agreement.  Crockett was apparently more upset with Bill Watts than he was with Cornette and The Midnights, and told them the door was always open for them to come in later (which of course they did.)

Cornette and the Midnight Express took some solace in the fact that although the money wasn't great in World Class, the travel would be somewhat easier (always a big issue for Cornette) and besides World Class was super hot in 1984 thanks to the Von Erichs vs. Freebirds feud. The only problem was, The Midnight Express never got anywhere near the Von Erichs (which is insane when you think about it, imagine how great a Midnight Express vs. Kerry & Kevin feud could have been) because the Von Erichs were feuding exclusively with Chris Adams and Gino Hernandez.  Finally, the deal with Watts and Von Erich fell apart, leaving The Midnight Express free to go to JCP.

The thing that annoys me is that this information is all out there.  I assume Meltzer knows all this, since he and Cornette were close at one point.  Not to mention, Cornette has discussed their brief tenure in World Class several times on his podcast, and Conrad listens to Cornette's podcast...he admits that during this episode.  Cornette did one of his famous "Deep Dives" on this very topic, and it's on YouTube, very easy to find. I like Conrad Thompson, but he really needs to get somebody better to do his research for him.  So far, this episode has been a wasted opportunity.

[BruiserBrody]

I finally got smart and realized downloading the youtube version of Conrad's pods almost works the same as "ad free".

Anyway....I adore JR, but he had another moment this week where he got lost on the timeframe of a story and Conrad did not toss him a life preserver or correct him.

Conrad asked about Robert Gibson leaving JCP over payoffs, leaving Ricky to team with....Nikita Koloff.    JR jumps all over the place, mentioning the York Foundation and such, then says Nikita was "fresh".  So fresh that he was about to leave the territory for 3 years.  

[SomethingSavage]

JR's shows have felt like a slog the last few times I've checked in, but I gotta admit - there's something immensely enjoyable about hearing him cut scathing promos on technology and Twitter every now & then.

[PeteF3]

And Ricky mostly teamed with Ivan Koloff, who, God love 'im, was like the platonic opposite of "fresh" in 1988.