Episode 48: The Atomic Drop In Episode 48 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Looks at June 1983 in the Mid South Wrestling Association. Talks about the final turn of early 1983 as Butch Reed has decided he has had enough of friendship. Considers what word JYD called Reed before the big split. Discusses the National Title situation in Georgia as Mr. Wrestling II shows up with a belt he has not won yet. Finds a new favorite Boyd-ism in, "how big is big, how tough is tough." Explores th...
May 15, 2024•1 hr 11 min
Episode 47: Double Main Go! In Episode 47 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Explains his favorite new/old-time wrestling term, the Double Main Go. Finishes looking at the McGuirk/Watts/Crockett Championship Wrestling Extravaganzas at the New Orleans Superdome. Reviews the lowest drawing Superdome shows. Source: http://www.prowrestlinghistory.com/supercards/usa/misc/midsouth/cards.html Runs the numbers of the shows pre-Junkyard Dog, during the Junkyard Dog era and post-JYD. Notes the...
Apr 30, 2024•1 hr 3 min
Episode 46: Walkin' Tall In Episode 46 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Looks at the May 1983 in the Mid South Wrestling Association. Remarks how over Hacksaw Duggan is as a new babyface and how hated his counterpart Ted DiBiase still is, a year after turning heel. Gives a nod to the early success for King Kong Bundy and his five-count gimmick, leading to speculation as to how Bundy "dumbs himself out of position." Laments the arrival of Boris Zhukov as it pertains to the Mid South...
Apr 15, 2024•1 hr 3 min•Season 2Ep. 46
Episode 45: Issue No. 1 In Episode 45 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Looks at the Mid South Wrestling Association's first program. Talks about the backstory of Cowboy Bill Watts' 1970s pathway to becoming a wrestling promoter and why he split with Leroy McGuirk. Remarks on how Mr. Wrestling II's popularity in 1982 and 1983, isn't out of nowhere. Discovers the storytelling behind the North American title and the new tag team titles at the start of MSWA. Dives in and backs out of t...
Mar 31, 2024•1 hr 2 min•Season 2Ep. 45
Episode 44: Turn, Turn, Turn In Episode 44 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Looks at the Mid South Wrestling Association's TV for April 1983. Wonders how MSWA got away with the Duggan hates Akbar angle and then guesses why the lapse in logic did not matter to Duggan's babyface turn. Says goodbye to Matt Borne and Tiger Conway Jr. Talks about how and why Mr. Wrestling II is getting a lot of the babyface shine that spring. Flags an interesting quote from Cowboy Bill Watts that speak ...
Mar 15, 2024•1 hr 25 min•Season 2Ep. 44
Episode 43: The 1950s Texas Wrestling War In Episode 43 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Pays his respects to Ole Anderson, wrestling's favorite grumpy Uncle. Goes deep into the 1950s Texas Wrestling War, with more than 25 newspaper articles gathered from newspapers.com. Explores what Jim and Brian got right and what they got wrong from their Guess the Program segments on Cornette's show. Points out the first attempt by Dallas to gain booking control from Houston and how it led to ...
Feb 27, 2024•1 hr 22 min•Season 2Ep. 43
Episode 42: To Every Season ... In Episode 42 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Looks at Mid South Wrestling Association TV for March 1983. Talks about the long-term episodic booking going on with a six-month Mr. Wrestling II vs Mr. Olympia build-up and the recent tease of Hacksaw Duggan turning face. Laments the missed moves and short MSWA run of Tiger Conway Jr. Follows Ted DiBiase's March schedule to figure out what he gets an "unpaid vacation" in the middle or the Rat Pack's run...
Feb 15, 2024•1 hr 4 min•Season 2Ep. 42
Episode 41: The Super Bowl of Wrestling In Episode 41 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Looks at the Super Bowl of Wrestling, or as many Super Bowl of Wrestling cards as he could find. The journey apparently begins in 1972 in Cleveland, with a show deemed a dud. However, over the next decade promoters ran Super Bowl of Wrestling shows in cities large (Chicago, Nashville, Memphis, Irving, Texas, Miami) and smaller (Paduca and Bowling Green, Kentucky, El Paso and Abilene, Texas, Knoxv...
Feb 01, 2024•1 hr 6 min•Season 2Ep. 41
Episode 40: A Giant Slam In Episode 40 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Goes back to Mid South in 1983, this time Feburary, for one of the final visits to MSWA from Andre the Giant. Wonders again about 1983 MSWA booking and the limited wrestling schedule for Ernie Ladd that year. Looks at three great tag team matches/angles, as the tag team champs, Ted DiBiase and Matt Borne, take on Mr. Wrestling II & the Junkyard Dog and Tony Atlas & Andre and then JYD & II again. Cel...
Jan 16, 2024•1 hr 17 min•Season 2Ep. 40
Episode 39: Christmas Gifts In Episode 39 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Gives Gene Petit aka Tom Steele his Reunion Arena Star Wars due. Researches the Parade of Champions show and traces it back to Buffalo in 1939. Looks at the various, sometimes changing, figures for the Buffalo super shows found in a bunch of clips from the Buffalo Evening News. Pulls out a Christmas edition out of his Houston Wrestling program collection, from Dec. 22, 1972, with a triple main event, a speci...
Dec 24, 2023•1 hr 2 min
Episode 38: Did You See What Boesch Saw? In Episode 38 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Moves into 1983 with his viewing of his beloved Mid South Wrestling Association. Explores the odd conversation of Paul Boesch and Boyd Pierce as they discuss Mr. Wrestling II beating Tully Blanchard down to a bloody mess. Talks about how Bill Watts is continuing to position the Southwest stars as lesser than the MSWA talent and how this is a crucial time in the brewing war between San Antonio an...
Dec 15, 2023•1 hr 5 min
Episode 37: The Summer of '69, Part Two In Episode 37 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Looks at a Houston Wrestling program from Sept. 19, 1969. Revisits the Wrestling Observer HOF Class of 2023 and outlines a strategy going forward to work for Morris Sigel and Sylvester Ritter to make the HOF. Follows up on the Tracy Smothers-Adrian Street alleged incident mentioned in Tracy's book, "If You Don't Buy This Book Everybody Dies." Talks about the Houston program's two weeks of main ev...
Nov 30, 2023•1 hr 10 min•Season 2Ep. 37
Episode 36: Snowflakes & Superheroes In Episode 36 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Looks at a Houston Wrestling program from Oct. 24, 1975. Talks about the upcoming Halloween 1975 show the program advertises. Predicts the Wrestling Observer HOF Class of 2023. Looks at how WON HOF ballots track differently than MLB HOF ballots. Explains why he is now confidant Sylvester Ritter will get into the WON HOF and why how and why the Morris Sigel for HOF work will continue. Tears into ...
Nov 15, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Season 2Ep. 36
Episode 35: Boyd's No Snitch In Episode 34 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Looks at December 1982 in the Mid South Wrestling Association, including three tapings in one and a year in review. Talks about Boyd Pierce's refusal to testify in the case of DiBiase vs. Lee. Picks a MSWA wrestler and match of the year. Looks at Mr. Olympia's first MSWA run and his 90 days away. Laments how little we got to see of the Legion of Masked Superfriends. Comments on a Houston Wrestling match whe...
Nov 02, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Season 2Ep. 35
Episode 34: Morris P. Sigel for the WON HOF In Episode 34 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Does some investigating into two questions that have been floating around the podcast lately: 1) Did Sylvester Ritter work at Wal-Mart at the end of his life? 2) Did Tracy Smothers get the better of Adrian Street during a fight in Alabama in 1987 or 1988? Rants a little more about the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame and its exclusion of the Junkyard Dog. Promotes the candidacy of H...
Oct 16, 2023•1 hr 10 min•Season 2Ep. 34
Episode 33: The Ballad of Stagger Lee In Episode 33 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Looks at MSWA TV for November 1982, including the "newcomer" Stagger Lee. Explores the cultural and musical background of the character and how it relates to the babyface under a mask gimmick. Talks about Tony Atlas in his prime and Hacksaw Duggan's move to headlining singles. Considers Kamala's new taste for masks and Mr. Wrestling II's suddenly flawed masks. Finds the passage from Tracy Smothers'...
Oct 02, 2023•1 hr 4 min
Episode 32: The Farm Accident Heard Round the World, Part 2 In Episode 32 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Revisits the most popular episode of the podcast so far, looking at two new perspectives on the missed Dory Funk Jr. vs Jack Brisco NWA title match in Houston on March 2, 1973. Looks at Brisco, the autobiography by Jack Brisco from Crowbar Press and explores Brisco's complex feelings about the Funk family. Talks about how Brisco had to be rebuilt as a championship contender af...
Sep 15, 2023•1 hr 13 min•Season 2Ep. 32
Episode 31: The Unbelievable Finish In Episode 31 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Looks at October 1982 in the Mid South Wrestling Association, as one of the biggest angles in territory history takes place. Talks about the success of Hacksaw Duggan's spear as it becomes his finishing move and is figured into two big title changes. Welcomes Tony Atlas to MSWA. Wonders why U.S. crowds never got "the Great Marcus." Shares some information he came across about James "Irish" McNeel and...
Sep 01, 2023•52 min•Season 2Ep. 31
Episode 30: The Adrian Street Tribute In Episode 30 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Pays tribute to his trainer, Exotic Adrian Street, after learning of Adrian's death. Looks at Adrian's early career and the influence he had on Glam Rockers and UK history. Talks about Adrian's days in the territories, from 1981 in L.A. to Alabama in the late 1980s. Reiterates how many skills and talents Adrian Street had in and out of the ring, including as a famous shooter. Remembers the best mem...
Aug 16, 2023•1 hr 20 min•Season 2Ep. 30
Episode 29: The Summer of '69 In Episode 29 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Takes a trip way down south to Harlingen, Texas, to look at matches at the Wrestlethon Auditorium in June and August of 1969. Headliners include "Dirty" Dusty Rhodes, Wahoo McDaniel, Johnny Valentine, Thunderbolt Patterson and Jose Lothario. Talks about other things happening in the summer of 1969, such as the decline in attendance in New York. Looks at wrestling in Milwaukee in 1969, courtesy of Wrestling...
Aug 01, 2023•58 min•Season 2Ep. 29
Episode 28: Mr. II In Episode 28 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Gives a post-script to the Johnny Rich's Ring story by talking about WrestleMania XI. Talks about the Dark Side of the Ring episode reaction, including rebutting a couple of things said by famous commentators. Talks about the minor controversy involving George Culkin and his true feelings for Junkyard Dog. Looks at September 1982 in the Mid South Wrestling Association, including the temper of Mr. Wrestling II, the co...
Jul 15, 2023•1 hr 4 min
Episode 27: The Dark Side of the Junkyard Dog In Episode 27 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Reviews the Dark Side of the Ring episode about the Junkyard Dog, aka Sylvester Ritter. Talks about producers for various shows and movies contacting him for JYD information and how it helped DSOTR get some of its key interviews. Reflects on the rumor that Bill Watts called Ritter the n-word before JYD jumped to the WWF in 1984. Says a heartfelt f-you to Jake Roberts for talking trash about...
Jun 30, 2023•1 hr 9 min•Season 2Ep. 27
Episode 26: Shepard's Episode In Episode 26 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: In memorial of his younger (step) brother, Greg talks about their shared memories watching wrestling and the days of trying rasslin' moves on your little brother. Looks at Mid South Wrestling from August of 1982. Wonders why Dick Murdock wasn't turned heel in 1982, instead of Ted DiBiase. Laughs at Bill Watts explaining the term, "no pain, no gain." Discusses Iron Mike Sharp's summer push in MSW(A). Welcom...
Jun 15, 2023•56 min
Episode 25: Road to Huertgen, Forest in Hell In Episode 25 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Takes an in-depth look at Paul Boesch's World War II book, "Road to Huertgen, Forest in Hell." Talks about the role Boesch played in the war, where, and how he was decorated. Looks at the two battles from 1944, Boesch describes in the book, including the massive battle in Huertgen Forest. Thinks about the comparison between 32-year-old Paul Boesch leading men at war and older Paul Boesch dea...
May 29, 2023•1 hr 11 min•Season 2Ep. 25
Episode 24: Johnny Rich's Ring In Episode 24 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Talks about 1995 and the summer he had Johnny Rich's ring in his front yard of his house, which was on state Highway 14W, just outside of Prattville, Ala. Reflects about the luckiest break he ever had in the business, which turned out to be an ankle, and how that led to acquiring the wrestling ring. Talks about working for Donny Martin, aka the Rocking Rebel (Southern version), and the TV squash matches h...
May 15, 2023•1 hr 24 min•Season 1Ep. 24
Episode 23: Two Programs from Houston In Episode 23 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Looks at two of his oldest programs from Houston Wrestling, one each from its two legendary promoters: Friday, Aug. 1, 1958, from the City Auditorium, promoter Morris P. Sigel promoted a main event of Dickie Steinborn defending the Texas Championship against Pepper Gomez. Friday, Feb. 17, 1967, the new Gulf Athletic Club and promoter Paul Boesch presented a main event at the Downtown Recreation Cen...
May 01, 2023•54 min•Season 1Ep. 23
Episode 22: 1976: A Funker of a Year In Episode 22 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Talks about the career of Terry Funk, the West Texas legend. Looks at Funk's NWA title reign from his Dec. 1975 win over Jack Brisco to his Feb. 1977 loss to Harley Race. Focuses on Funk's title defenses in Houston, including against Peter Maivia, Rocky Johnson and Jose Lothario. Considers how much longer Funk would be a force in wrestling and what a cultural icon he became. Greg Klein's Old School ...
Apr 17, 2023•59 min•Season 1Ep. 22
Episode 21: The Wrath of Khan In Episode 21 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Talks about the career of Masashi Ozawa, a Japanese wrestler better known as the Mongolia Killer Khan. Looks at Khan's career-making feud with Andre the Giant and how it was an accident. Talks about the PWI match of the year in 1981. Looks at Mid South Wrestling Association's TV shows from July 1982. Mocks Buck Robley's dirty arm pad and wonders how loading it could be such a good finisher if it never conn...
Apr 01, 2023•1 hr 10 min•Season 1Ep. 21
Episode 20: The Bill and Buddy Show In Episode 20 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Dips his toes into Memphis Wrestling for the first time, talking about the Bill and Buddy Show from winter 1986. Looks at four Memphis cards in 1985-86 and plays guess the attendance. Talks about the six weeks Bill Dundee and Buddy Landel headlined the Mid-South Coliseum against Jerry Lawler and Dutch Mantell. Talks about the 1992 Fire on the Mountain I Quit match between Landel and Tim Horner and de...
Mar 14, 2023•1 hr 10 min•Season 1Ep. 20
Episode 19: A very expensive book, brudda In Episode 19 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Discovers a copy of the autobiography of "Playboy" Gary Hart and is fascinated with the manager/booker's life story. Answers his question from a previous episode about why Dusty Rhodes did not get to defend the NWA title in his home state of Texas in 1981. Listens to a 1976 interview from Houston Wrestling with Paul Boesch, Gary Hart, The Sheik and a giant boa constrictor. Talks about Hart's co...
Feb 28, 2023•1 hr 9 min•Season 1Ep. 19
