Ricky Jackson Posted May 17, 2023 Report Share Posted May 17, 2023 The life and times of Vince Jr is the subject of a 6 part deep dive featured on a pretty popular podcast. I'm not a regular listener but my wife is. Thought I'd give it a shot, mostly so I could compare notes with her. I listened to the first half hour last night. The host, Robert Evans, is not a wrestling fan (and he pronounces wrestling as "resselling" in that non-fan way that annoys the shit out of me) but he's clearly put in a lot of research here. I'm at the part where Evans and his guests are discussing George Hackenschmidt and the early days of wrestling. Good stuff so far, including info on the origins of working dating to 1830s France that I dont think I've heard before. Interested in what others think about this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricky Jackson Posted May 17, 2023 Author Report Share Posted May 17, 2023 Very funny stuff (the bit speculating on the origin of the dropkick was hilarious) but the amount of inaccuracies in Evans' early history of wrestling at MSG had this former history of wrestling at MSG podcast host nearly screaming at my phone. Also, in strange pronunciation watch, "Muchnick" in Sam Muchnick is pronounced "Mooch-nick" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricky Jackson Posted May 17, 2023 Author Report Share Posted May 17, 2023 First episode is basically just a primer on pro wrestling/wrestling sleaze, with a lengthy discussion at the end on the Von Erich tragedy we've all heard a million times (but they were apparently unaware of the death of the first son, Jack). Going forward this is going to be an interesting listen, but if the first episode is any indication, the timeline for various events is likely to be pretty misleading, like a Hollywood biopic (for example, it was implied that Brody died shortly after David Von Erich, when it was more than 4 years later) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Sorrow Posted May 17, 2023 Report Share Posted May 17, 2023 I loved it. I'm a huge BTB fan, and I always enjoy when people from outside the bubble cover wrestling even if they get a few things wrong because that's not the point. Crime In Sports' wrestling episodes are hilarious and only one of the guys is/ was a fan. And BTB is also a funny show. The four part series on Mengele was fascinating and funny, that's a fucking tightrope to walk. To put this series in perspective, the only other six parter was on Kissinger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricky Jackson Posted May 18, 2023 Author Report Share Posted May 18, 2023 Part 2 The story of the 1957 MSG riot is recounted as a work turned shoot, which it wasn't. (Other than the riot part) At least Evans' guests push back on this version, and yeah, since it's Jerry Graham's account, of course it's kayfabe bs But, yeah, I know the point of this is mostly comedy not historical accuracy. Anyway, strange pronunciation watch continues with "sheik" being pronounced as "shake". Is this a common regional inflection or something? I love to think that Bob Orton Jr's long arm cast gimmick may have came from Vinnie proudly wearing an arm cast as a badge of honor for several months as a teenager Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Sorrow Posted May 18, 2023 Report Share Posted May 18, 2023 I believe " shake" is actually the correct pronunciation. How funny was the discussion about the Playboy interview? I was laughing all the way to work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricky Jackson Posted May 23, 2023 Author Report Share Posted May 23, 2023 Part 3 Basically Vince from the 60s to when he bought the WWF from his father. Lots of talk on the Snake Canyon flop and the Ali-Inoki fiasco (a lot of inaccuracies there). Not as funny as the previous episodes. Really taking their time, already halfway done and just getting to Rock n Wrestling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricky Jackson Posted May 25, 2023 Author Report Share Posted May 25, 2023 Part 4 The 80s. Rita Chatterton, Snuka, Andre stories, Ventura trying to start a union, etc. Funny stuff but maybe a bit too many non-Vince tangents (a common problem the last two eps) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricky Jackson Posted May 30, 2023 Author Report Share Posted May 30, 2023 Part 5 More 80s. Hogan choking out Belzer, Dr. D smacking Stossel, the fight to deregulate wrestling in various states. Maybe I'm just an uber cynical, uber in the bubble wrestling fan, but they haven't really made Vince seem that horrible over the first 5 parts. I guess time to bring out the really shitty stuff for the finale, which I'm assuming will mostly be about the steroid trial, Owen and Benoit, before fast forwarding to the hush money scandal at the end Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricky Jackson Posted June 1, 2023 Author Report Share Posted June 1, 2023 Part 6 The timeline and account of the early 90s scandals is all over the place and misses basic important points. I've enjoyed this series and it's been quite funny, but to me the last three episodes have been basically three dudes who were briefly fans in the 90s talking about random sleaze they've encountered online in the last 20 years about that wrestling thing that was popular when they were kids and how horrible all these people were; the dreaded "casual smart" type of fan that is a pet peeve of mine. But only history geeks like me care about shit like this. Anyway, the last show builds to a climax with a long talk about wrestler deaths from the last 25+ years, finishing with Owen and rightfully condemning Vince for all his reprehensible bullshit surrounding that tragedy. The hush money scandal isnt even mentioned. The mustache is, though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Sorrow Posted June 2, 2023 Report Share Posted June 2, 2023 Kelly, I know you must have been as happy as I was when the guest Tom finally couldn't help himself and started correcting Robert on things during the Attitude Era and Owen stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricky Jackson Posted June 2, 2023 Author Report Share Posted June 2, 2023 I almost thought they were going to accidently rewrite history and call it the Calgary Screwjob at one point Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Posted June 4, 2023 Report Share Posted June 4, 2023 I listened to the first episode and it’s a lot like other “history” podcasts I’ve heard. You think you’re getting in depth discussion of a topic of interest but you’re really getting 3-4 comedians skimming a Wikipedia article. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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