Kris and David are guestless as we discuss the week-plus that was October 21-31, 1987. Topics of discussion include: The Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission coming down hard on pro wrestling, especially the WWF. Strike Force winning the WWF Tag Team Titles from the Hart Foundation. The debut of the Glamour Girls in that gimmick. Hacksaw Jim Duggan and King Harley Race kicking off their feud. Riki Choshu’s return to NJPW TV not reaping the ratings rewards that NJPW and TV Asahi were hoping for...
Oct 28, 2024•5 hr 52 min
Kris and David are joined by Dr. Keith Lipinski ( @KeithLipinski ) to discuss the week that was October 16-22, 2007, an episode requested on our Patreon page by "Terry Taylor,” who dropped $25 to pick this week. Topics of discussion include: An in-depth look at the failed fan convention that became known as the "Cow Palace Disaster,” featuring some insane stories from both the newsletters and Dr. Keith himself, as he was part of the festivities. This is a MUST-LISTEN segment!!! A totally crazy e...
Oct 21, 2024•5 hr 35 min
Kris and David are guestless as we discuss the week that was October 9-15, 1994. Topics of discussion include: The real reasons why WCW was trying to "retire" Ric Flair at Halloween Havoc 94. WCW’s Hulk Hogan vs. Ric Flair house show tour, with Dave Meltzer attending the show in Oakland and giving a detailed rundown of the show and the issues the tour had drawing. The Hogan/Flair feud and why Dave Sullivan being so heavily involved was a negative. Chris Candido's only tour of All Japan. The awes...
Oct 14, 2024•6 hr 5 min
Kris and David are guestless as we discuss the week that was October 2-8, 1992. Topics of discussion include: The curious story of WWF Montreal promoter Louis Acocella (Gino Brito Sr.) being arrested in Montreal over his involvement in a loan shark operation and how it came a few months before Dino Bravo’s murder relating to other mob activity. The weekly cable TV wrestling shows hitting all-time lows in the Nielsen ratings and why that might be happening. Just who was the creative force behind ...
Oct 07, 2024•4 hr 56 min
Kris Zellner is joined by Rob Naylor and Our Good Buddy Charles to discuss the state of the NWA during the Summer of 1989. We pick up where we left off at the end of the Great American Bash PPV and we talk about the road to Clash of the Champions VIII: Fall Brawl. We talk about Ric Flair & Terry Funk's feud progressing even with Funk going through major injuries and fatigue, the departure of Ricky Steamboat, major issues with TBS and their production of the TV, Tom Zenk coming into the promo...
Oct 02, 2024•3 hr 9 min
Kris and David are joined by Kaia McKenna ( @KaiaMcK ) to discuss the week that was September 25-October 1, 2006. Topics of discussion include: Vince Russo making one of his many returns to TNA creative the same weekend that Kurt Angle made his surprise debut. Dixie Carter giving a crazy interview about TNA's drug policy in stemming from concerns about Angle coming in. Buff Bagwell and Lex Luger showing up on Impact to support their buddy Sting. Lots of questions about Antonio Pena's health popp...
Sep 30, 2024•6 hr 12 min
Kris and David are guestless as we discuss the week that was September 18-24, 1989. Topics of discussion include: Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, and The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers all give notice to the WWF amidst rumors of the company having some cashflow issues. Earthquake Evans makes his dark match debut at the WWF TV tapings. Randy Savage joins the Cincinnati Reds radio booth, which pisses off owner Marge Schott. The story of the Dusty Rhodes/"Big Daddy" lawsuit in Florida. THE ULTIMATE GIANT...
Sep 23, 2024•3 hr 40 min
Kris and David are guestless as we discuss the week that was September 11-17, 2003. Topics of discussion include: Hulk Hogan being courted by both the Jarretts and Masahiro Chono to return to the ring. Dutch Mantell entering the TNA creative scene and what that meant for Vince Russo and Glenn Gilberti. After the infamous Shane Douglas vs. Raven hair vs. hair match, the Sinister Minister shaves Raven's head and causes some major issues with how he did it. NOAH puts on a tremendous Budokan show wi...
Sep 16, 2024•6 hr
Kris and David are joined by Al Getz ( @AlGetzWrestling ) to discuss the week that was September 4-10, 1986. Topics of discussion include: Details on Jim Crockett's plans for taking over the Central States territory. Changes in the TBS weekend shows and why they are happening. Some really great promos from JCP TV, including TWO separate ones from the dynamic duo of Sam Houston and Todd Champion that you don't want to miss. Bruiser Brody settling his differences with New Japan, as they announce h...
Sep 09, 2024•6 hr 28 min
In this episode of Center Stage Chronicles, Kris Zellner is joined by Rob Naylor and Our Good Buddy Charles to discuss the state of the NWA/WCW from mid-June through late July of 1989. We go over the backlash from the Clash of the Champions in Fort Bragg all the way to the Great American Bash PPV, which includes Lex Luger being an amazing heel, Terry Funk battling injury issues, the fans' love for The Great Muta & Sid Vicious, the Great American Bash tour, the birth of the Power Hour, Gordon...
Sep 06, 2024•2 hr 53 min
Kris and David are guestless as we discuss the week that was August 26-September 3, 2000, a Patreon request from Ted Bell, who dropped the $25 for us to cover this week. Topics of discussion include: Changes coming for the WWF creative staff, which comes at an interesting time because.... Raw and Smackdown focusing on Triple H and Chyna interacting on TV for the first time in almost a year, which angers their onscreen significant others, Stephanie McMahon and Eddie Guerrero. We talk about how in...
Sep 02, 2024•6 hr 22 min
Kris Zellner is joined by Rob Naylor ( @NINaylor ) to discuss wrestling life and times of the awesome Sid Vicious. We go over his entire wrestling career in a way that only we can, as we were both HUGE fans of Sid. We hope that this love letter to Sid's career will make everyone realize what an amazing performer he was. RIP "Ruler of the World." --- To support the show and get access to exclusive rewards like special members-only monthly themed shows, go to our Patreon page at Patreon.com/Betwee...
Aug 30, 2024•2 hr 32 min
Kris and David are joined by Tom Green ( @NotThatTomGreen ) to discuss the week that was August 21-27, 1996. Topics of discussion include: A wild Monday Nitro featuring the most heated nWo beatdown to date, plus the WCW debuts of Juventud Guerrera, Chris Jericho, and Ted DiBiase, memorably terrible post-match promos from Juvi and Jericho, and much more. Lots of other WCW drama, which is, as always, to be expected. Rumors of Nobuhiko Takada joining AJPW in 1997. Jushin Liger's successful brain su...
Aug 26, 2024•4 hr 40 min
Kris and David are guestless as we discuss the week that was August 11-17, 1991, a Patreon request from William Lanham, who dropped the $25 to pick this week. Topics of discussion include: An ominous blurb in Matwatch about the Ultimate Warrior and his contract demands to the WWF weeks before SummerSlam. Dave Meltzer getting praise from a mainstream sports media newsletter for his coverage of the Zahorian trial and steroids in general. Randy Savage's bachelor party on Prime Time Wrestling, which...
Aug 19, 2024•5 hr 45 min
Kris and David are guestless as we discuss the week that was August 7-13, 1998. Topics of discussion include: WCW Road Wild featuring Jay Leno teaming up with Diamond Dallas Page against Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff, including all of the insanity surrounding that match, plus the rest of that show, which was one of the worst PPV's of all time. Running through Nitro and Thunder, which were filled with wackiness as you would expect. Rick Martel officially retires from wrestling due to an injury suf...
Aug 12, 2024•5 hr 50 min
Kris Zellner is joined by Rob Naylor and our good buddy Charles (a.k.a. Loss from Pro Wrestling Only) as we present another great episode of the Center Stage Chronicles.On this episode, we pick up where we left off last month, at Music City Showdown in Nashville, with Terry Funk subsequently running wild on NWA TV while Ric Flair is "injured," plus we also look at Lex Luger getting his U.S. Title back from Michael Hayes and the NWA World Tag TItles Tourrnament taking place, which all leads up to...
Aug 08, 2024•3 hr 27 min
Kris and David are guestless as we discuss the week that was July 31-August 6, 1997, a Patreon pick from Christian de la Cruz, who dropped the $25 for us to do the show. Topics of discussion include: SummerSlam ’97 at the Meadowlands featuring Owen Hart injuring "Stone Cold" Steve Austin with a seated tombstone piledriver, Mankind and Hunter Hearst Helmsley doing battle in a steel cage match, Bret Hart winning the WWF Championship from The Undertaker with Shawn Michaels as the special referee, a...
Aug 05, 2024•5 hr 36 min
Kris and David are joined by Beau James ( @kingofkingsport ) to discuss the week that was July 24-30, 1995. Topics of discussion includes: WCW trying to bring in top flight in-ring workers to fill out their roster before the first episode of Nitro and why it isn't working out like they hoped. Hulk Hogan giving one of the strangest interviews of his career on WCW Saturday Night. The real story behind the Col. Parker/Sister Sherri angle. Mitsuharu Misawa going over Toshiaki Kawada again for the Tr...
Jul 29, 2024•6 hr
Kris and David are guestless as we discuss the partial week that was July 17-21,1999, a Patreon request via William Lanham who threw down the $25 pledge to pick this week. Topics of discussion include: UPN President Dean Valentine answering tough questions about putting SmackDown on his network considering the WWF's content at that time. The WWF trying to tone down their content as Jeff Jarrett won't let Debra “show off the puppies" anymore. Shane McMahon trying and failing to get Stephanie to d...
Jul 22, 2024•6 hr 8 min
Kris and David are guestless as we discuss the week that was July 10-16, 2003. Topics of discussion includes: TNA settling their lawsuits with Jay Hassman and Len Sabal and all that entailed. A.J. Styles publicly expressing his preference of working ROH over NWA-TNA while being the NWA World Heavyweight Champion. Scott D'Amore gaining power behind the scenes. Lots of Japanese news and results including WORLD JAPAN. A wild show in Tijuana featuring lots of masked dudes getting their heads shaved....
Jul 15, 2024•5 hr 51 min
After trying for weeks to figure out when to do this, we found the time and here it is: David Bixenspan is joined by Joe Lanza of The Flagship Wrestling Podcast to talk about...well...everything that's been frustrating about the wrestling media landscape of late, some of which came to a head again this past week. Topics of discussion include: WWE feeding AEW weekend "fast national" ratings to various people in wrestling media, most recently with the fake data point that the July 6 episode of Col...
Jul 13, 2024•3 hr 16 min
Kris Zellner is joined by Rob Naylor and Our Good Buddy Charles (Loss from Pro Wrestling Only) on Episode #2 of "The Center Stage Chronicles" where we cover March 1989 to WrestleWar ‘89: Music City Showdown on May 7th, 1989. We talk about all the major changes and happenings that went on in the NWA in that time period, featuring the end of George Scott's reign of terror as the booker, as well as Clash VI in New Orleans and of course WrestleWar in Nashville featuring the amazing Ric Flair/Terry F...
Jul 10, 2024•3 hr 10 min
Kris and David are joined by Daniel Makabe ( @danielmakabe ) for the first half of the show as we discuss the week that was July 3-9, 1999. Topics of discussion include: A crazy episode of WCW Monday Nitro at the Georgia Dome featuring Bret Hart's return to TV after the tragic death of Owen Hart, Bill Goldberg's surprise return after Megadeth’s live performance, The West Texas Rednecks having a concert of their own, Randy Savage assaulting women, and A LOT more. Sting giving a very candid interv...
Jul 08, 2024•6 hr 45 min
Kris and David are guestless as we discuss the week that was June 26-July 2, 1993. Topics of discussion include: The WWF announcing its intent to fight back in the world of public relations against the previous year's Titangate accusers — including Tom Cole and Rita Chatterton! — by using their house organ, WWF Magazine. Linda McMahon speaking very candidly to Mike Mooneyham about various lawsuit-related topics, particularly Tom Cole’s, and how Tom responded. Hulk Hogan's big run in the WWF endi...
Jul 01, 2024•6 hr 14 min
Kris and David are joined by Mark Coale ( @black_bile ) as we discuss the week that was June 19-25, 2014, which Mark requested on our Patreon by dropping the $50 to sit in for a segment of the show. Topics of discussion include: TNA heading to New York to tape lots of TV while trying to save their TV deal with Spike. An update on Global Force Wrestling in its early stages. NJPW's Dominion PPV featuring Bad Luck Fale winning the IWGP Intercontinental Title from Shinsuke Nakamura in the main event...
Jun 24, 2024•6 hr 16 min
Kris and David are joined by Joe Gagne ( @joegagne ) to discuss the week that was June 12-18, 1994. Topics of discussion include: Vince McMahon getting surgery to repair a herniated disc in his neck and how that would affect the WWF both on and off camera. Linda McMahon sending out a memo to WWF employees about losing the Jesse Ventura videotape royalties lawsuit. The WWF's on-air handling of Hulk Hogan's debut in WCW with the launch of the New Generation marketing campaign. Highlights from the ...
Jun 17, 2024•6 hr 38 min
Kris and David are guestless as we discuss the week that was June 5-11, 1990. Topics of discussion include: Dave Meltzer's trip to Japan, featuring reports on the AJPW show at Budokan on 6/8 featuring the epic Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Jumbo Tsuruta main event. plus the Universal Lucha Libre show on 6/7 at Korakuen Hall, which featured some of top luchadores of the era showing off their style to the "smart" Korakuen fans. Other news and views from Dave and his awesome trip. Ole Anderson wielding his ...
Jun 10, 2024•5 hr 21 min
Kris Zellner is joined by Rob Naylor and Our Good Buddy Charles (Loss from Pro Wrestling Only) as we venture into a new podcast series about the NWA/WCW, Center Stage Chronicles. We start off covering the months of January and February 1989, a moment of major change as the NWA evolves from the ashes of Jim Crockett Promotions with new leadership, and new wrestlers coming in by the week. Not to mention the first Clash of the Champions special and pay-per-view event (Chi-Town Rumble) under the lea...
Jun 05, 2024•2 hr 14 min
Kris and David are joined by Robert O'Connor ( @ghostofquinones ) to discuss the week-plus that was May 29-June 5, 1988. Topics of discussion include: Dave Meltzer attending the marathon WWF Superstars of Wrestling TV taping in Oakland and gives a full itemized rundown of all 29 matches. WWF expanding their house show schedule to running up to FOUR crews a night. Big tag title matches in AJPW and NJPW. Chigusa Nagayo's upcoming "retirement" in AJW. What really happened in the Brian Pillman/Brick...
Jun 03, 2024•5 hr 47 min
Kris and David are guestless as we discuss the week that was May 22-28, 2005. Topics of discussion include: The remake of "The Longest Yard" opening up at the theatres and how the wrestlers that were involved in the film were perceived and the future of wrestlers in films including The Rock and the filming of "Gridiron Gang." TNA's TV deal with Fox Sports Net expiring as we talk about the last episode of Impact on there, plus an update on their negotiations with WGN. Skype crapping out and not r...
May 27, 2024•4 hr 36 min
