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It's twelve pages every week packed with my TV reports, along with exclusive features such as my cover story on the top story of the week, our pay per view roundtable reviews from the Torch staff, exclusive feature length columns from Greg Parks, Rich Fan, Sean Radikin, Alan Coonahan and Zach Hadorn, Torch Talk transcripts, the latest news and more. PW torch dot com slash paper Copy. Take a break from screen time and settle in every week with the
megadosup wrestling news and analysis. With a Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletter paper Copy edition. In the year twenty twenty two, you can get a full year of home delivery for just ninety nine dollars, or try us for an eight week trial subscription. PW torch dot Com Slash paper Copy.
Now PW Torch and Spreaker bring you the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Podcast. It's time for this week's Interview Classic, where Wade Keller interviews one of Pro Wrestling's newsmakers.
Five years ago.
This week on the Wade Keller Progressing Podcast, we brought you a triple header of three distinct segments on our Interview Friday episode, beginning with Triple H's media press conference after the NXT debut on USA Network. Then we jump back a couple months to July twenty six, twenty nineteen, at the Trego Stays Progressing Hall of Fame weekend in Waterloo, Iowa at the five Sullivan Brothers Convention Center, where Bruce Mitchell and I interviewed Nick dinsmore known as Eugene in person.
He was a trainer of John Cena, brock Lesner, Batista and The Rock and told some great stories about that and more. And then after that a panel discussion from the next day including Beth Phoenix, Bob rup Baron, Von
Rashki Thuttererbow Patterson, and Gerald Briscoe. I summarize it more coming up here in the original introduction to this episode, which dropped originally on September twentieth, twenty nineteen, and it is Today's Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Podcast Interview Classic for Friday, September twentieth, twenty twenty four on Today's wad Keller Pro Wrestling Podcast Interview Friday. It's a special triple header with
three different distinct segments. First, we go to the Triple H Media conference Call, where for about twenty five minutes, he answered media questions after NXT's debut on USA Network
this past Wednesday night. He talks about the thought process that went into planning what would be featured as a first impression for new viewers on USA Network, Vincent Man's involvement, and if he had heard any reaction from him yet, whether the full sale venue is sufficient in the long run for a national cable show, setting the involvement of the cruiser Weights, the show was structured differently because of the split between USA and WWE Network, Whether NXT is
still considered a developmental territory now that it's on national cable and earning tens of millions of dollars a year for the company, and utilizing Cruiserweights on the show, along with some other topics, so that comes first. Thanks to Kelly Wells of pw torch dot com. He covers NXTTV for pw torch dot Com. Also is the host of the PWT Talks NXT edition of the PW Torch Daily cast. He asked a question on this call and also did
record it for all of us. Second Up is an ever before heard interview from a couple months ago, late July actually with Nick Dinsmore, who wrestled in WWE. As Eugene Bruce Mitchell and I conducted this interview. This took place right before the interview we featured earlier with Sergeant Slaughter, the mega awesome interview with Sergeant Slaughter that I'm super proud of and has gotten such good feedback, that was
conducted right after this. In fact, as you listen to Nick Dinsmore talk, you'll hear Sergeant Slaughter enter the room and get around of applause and sit down and interject himself a little bit during this. So this is the never before heard warm up ACKed in a sense, and it's worth listening to. Nick Dinsmore talks about training at
the very beginning of their careers. Are very earlier in their careers, the rock Batista, brock Lesner, and John Cena, what a class of future megastars, and he shares some anecdotes about what they were like early on.
Was brock Lezra a nice guy?
Was he Adiva?
Did he see greatness in John Cena early on what was He Like the Rock?
He has a funny line.
About how he felt when he would just gaze toward Dwayne Johnson and look at him, and also Batista. So he also talks about whether those four stood out above any above everybody else, and in what separates somebody with that eventual success from those who maybe are driven but don't get successful, or maybe are less driven, par equally talented and don't end up as successful. So he kind
of gets into the details on that. He also talks about the Eugene character and some of the controversy with it and maybe some awkwardness doing media interviews at the beginning. In character, he also talks about a rib used to play on Matt Stryker repeatedly and more so again another twenty some minutes with Nick, Eugene Dinsmore, Bruce Mitchell, and I conducting the interview in front of a live audience at the five Sullivan Brothers Convention Center at the annual
George Fragol's Lutha's Progressing Hall of Fame. I hope if you're in driving distance or flying distance with the orth flying out for this event, that she'll be there next year. It's a really fun time. The Impact Pro Wrestling Independent Group runs a star studded event on Friday with a raucous crowd of regular fans and people in town for the convention. And then there's a Hall of Fame ceremony that involves MMA and amateur along with professional inductees at
the five Cultland Brothers Convention Center. There's panel disguys and access to the Dan Gable Wrestling Museum, the National Wrestling Museum in Waterloo, Iowa, which features extensive amateur a setup and also some cool stuff from the pro wrestling realm. Actually, Bruce Mitchell, Jason Powell and I were among those who got to wander around in the storage basement and see all the pro wrestling memorabilia that wasn't on display on
the top floor. But they'll be apparently rotating and expanding the pro wrestling section for next year's convention. So what we'll tell you more about that, but you can always look up National Wrestling Hall of Fame or George Trago's Luthe's Progressing Hall of Fame on Google and find the home site and keep.
Up on details.
Then we wrap up with another section around twenty Minutes, which features Beth Phoenix, who is the color commentator on NXT on USA Network, And this was part of a panel discussion that included Bob rup Baron von Rashke, Thunderbil Patterson, in Gerald Brisco.
Beth got most of the.
Questions and did most of the talking, and I caught most of that with my recorder, and she talks about a variety of really cool topics, including her thoughts on the transition from the Diva's era to what it is now and what that means to her and her frank blunt thoughts about the Divas era that she was part of. Also who she thinks are top emerging stars today, male
and female outside of WWE. I think people will be interested and their ears a per cup when they heard the name she picked out as future stars, and in particular her hope that when kids watch pro wrestling, they see a slice of themselves in at least one or two of the characters on television, no matter what their background, orientation,
anything having to do with what they identify as. She wants pro wrestling rosters to be diversified enough to be represented and at the very end, Baron von Rashki chimes in with a joke about his imaginary sister, Big Bertha.
Who he used to dress bas.
In the AWA. So in case you're wondering who that was and what that's all about, that is that's what comes in at the end. Actually, at the beginning, Jerald Brisco talks about teaming with his brother and feuding with a Funks and Jay young Blood and Rick Steamboat and some other topics about the tag teams that helped define.
His career as a tag team wrestler.
So real diverse mix. I've kind of been sitting on these two sections with with Beth Phoenix and Gerald and also Gene for a couple months just because there's been so many other shows on Interview Friday that I've wanted to put up, or we've just had a ton of mail bag mailbank questions to get to, or we've had pay per views in major events to preview, and we kind of mix it up on Fridays with those formats, so we kind of get to exhale this week a little bit with a lighter weekend, as far as that
goes without a Summer Slam or a Class of Champions or an aw event or a super busy mail bag On the flagship Thursday edition. Yesterday, Johnny Fairplay joined me and we covered some current events and also answered mail bay questions on a variety of topics. So if you miss that, check that out. The daily schedule of this Blue Brand, the Weight, Color Prossing Podcast might change a
little bit as we get into October. So just if you're in a pattern of listening to us and hit refresh on certain days, just be aware you might want to check more often and there might be a day you expect to show that it doesn't appear as we kind of adjust to the new schedule because it used to be Monday and Tuesdays we're really busy, and sometimes
Sundays and then it would lighten up. Now we've got the Monday, Wednesday Friday pattern coming up, and so I'm still kind of working out how we're going to fit everything in now that we're adding the Wednesday post show and moving the Tuesday Postmacdown show of course to Fridays. So with that primer that setup out of the way, let's begin with Triple H talking with the wrestling media immediately following the NXT debut on USA Network this past Wednesday,
We're about to go to a commercial break. Why listen to commercial breaks when you can go VIP and experience our shows with the ads and plugs removed. Pw torch dot com slash go VIP. That's PW torch dot com slash go vip for full details, or go to Patreon Patreon dot com slash PW Torch. VIP rate start as low as four dollars in ninety nine cents to remove the ads and plugs through Patreon. Full VIP membership starts
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Thank you Paul for being here.
You know, first first night of this first kickoff, it's I just stood in front of talent and said hard to follow up what they just accomplished without saying anything that doesn't really sound right other than to say how proud I am of all of this. It's taken a long time to get here, but this was the star starting line, not the finish line, and we went out there tonight on the number one network on cable television USA.
Amazing partners for us for years and put on what I feel was an epic hour of programming on USA number one trend US number one in the world the entire time, number four in the world the entire time. Tough to say much more than that. I thought it was a hell of a night, and I thought it was an epic performance on everybody's part. I'm proud of his team, from behind the scenes to in front of it. I want to thank our partners here at Full Sale
University because without them this doesn't happen. You know, they're the best partners we have and everything that they have here is top shelf and could be better partners for us. Great, great night. The beautiful part is we get to do it again next Wednesday and the Wednesday after that and going forward. So I'm I'm excited, and I'll open it up too.
Questions from all of you, Hi, guys are going to start in the room.
So guys, so let's go for Scott Fishman t the Insider, So talk about what goes into You know, you can only make.
One first impression, so so many tonight are getting their first opportunity to see the NXT brand.
We went into the thought process of deciding what matches you're going to do, what you were.
Going to feature on tonight's show.
There's a lot of thought process, you know, you you mil through it a million different options and ways and and and opportunities. What's the first thing you want them to see. What's the most exciting thing they can see coming out to shoot? How do you balance a show an hour show of action as much as possible, but yet still knowing this is the first shot at this
big audience. How do you get them to give you the character development and that sort of storyline movement, but yet bigger than that is the characters and the and the personalities of these performers. That's really what you need to get across in these first episodes. But by also
making this as action packed as possible. So it's a ton of going back and forth and what do we want to get to And then once you make a commitment to it, now you know what's within the show, and now you get now you have to figure out how to format it all. The biggest thing I was concerned with tonight for me was the pacing of it. Given that I know Bell to Bell, we can do what we do and I feel like we do that as well or better than anybody on the planet, but
how do you paste that out now? Differently with commercials and those commercial timings, those are things that we have don't have control over in a lot of ways that you know, the length of times of commercials and how many commercials you need to have in a show. So working all that together, I felt like we did a really good job at the pacing and making things feel right, and it didn't feel like it lagged at any points or you know, got bogged down. So I was really
happy with that. That will be the consistent EBB and flowed For me, I'm confident in the talent. We'll do what the talent do here, and I'm confident in the team here from a tech standpoint of how we do it. So for me, it's it's more the forethought of the pacing and how you run this than it is anything else.
Thank you, feel like the next couple of weeks more like a trial run because it's sort of got a one hour show called by a one hour show as opposed to a full flowing two hours that give you a couple of different opportunities in terms of formatic.
It does.
You know, there's a little bit more freedom with our network to not have to do some of the commercial things and everything else and hit all of those exactly right, but we still have to, like you know, there's there's no leeway at at the at the nine o'clock hour, we had to hit that that out and that that's
that is the tricky part. Look, that's the tricky part for Rockster, the tricky part for SmackDown's a tricky part for anybody that's doing live television in that manner where at a particular time you are off the air, whether you're ready for it or not ready for it, and you can't go off earlier. You're going off when you're going off, So you know that that's that's.
The tricky part. The beautiful thing about.
This team here is a lot of experience. A lot of people know they're doing people in years of it and uh, and we can roll with these punches and get them done. It's not our first gig, it's not our first day on the job, so we had a lot of experience with it. Doesn't mean mistakes won't happen, but but we we have them handled and tonight as things went through, you know, we were able to go where we needed to go, and I thought we had
an epic first shot. It's it is a little nice, though I think that the first couple of weeks are are also you know, I'm happy that if you're if you're watching USA and you're new to the product, like the fans that have been with us since the beginning, they know, the ones that don't, this is new to them. So giving them that that first taste and giving that first taste in the little dose and letting them have
it for a couple of weeks. I sound like I'm making breaking bad or something, but but but you give them that little taste of it and then leave them wanting more. And we'll give that to them over these coming weeks now as they get into these characters more.
When we hit that first two weeks, that first two hour stride on ten two, we're gonna knock this thing out of the park and we're gonna We're going to make sure that people are engaged, because by the first two weeks you're done, they're wanting more of it, and that that's the goal of this. It's it's kind of a blessing in disguise, a little bit for me.
I like it.
Okay, the format two matches before the live and then also Shaun Lula will use on the live show. So is that something going forward He's going to do two matches for it goes the TV and sometimes maybe use other tight wrestlers and the superstars or anything like that.
Yeah, although it's you know, I mean, look, I don't necessarily think when NXT is going to change.
And Sean Muluta.
Has been a fairly regular performer for us here. You know, he works with Evolve and he's I like Sean a lot, and uh, you know, we used him in the Cruiserweight Classic, and you know, he's grown so much as a performer, and I really I'm happy that he gets the opportunity to come here and even in the moments that he had tonight, just just having that opportunity, that's that's a rep and that's an opportunity to put himself in front
of the world. Then these to me are important things and I think you're going to see a lot of that. There's a massive amount of opportunity here for people within our system, for people that are trying to get in within within that system, for the talent that are working with groups that work with us, like a ball and things like that to be able to connect them into what we do. I want to keep this fresh. I want to keep it moving. You know, you saw Imperium
here tonight from the UK. You saw Cruiserweight matches with Leo Rush coming back and and you know, a slightly different take with the Cruiserweight, So you know, I think all those things are ways to keep this constantly fresh and evolving, constantly moving forward and giving fans something different in a lot of ways at all times. As far as the dark matches earlier in the in the night, I think having a few matches prior to us get going allows us to settle into a groove that allows
us to make sure everything is working right. And those will also be great content for for whatever we decide to use them for, whether that's a you know, part of a show, part of a network show, part of something in a tape format. I'm not We're not we're figuring that part out right now. I'm concerned about two hours of live every single week, but that is definitely something that will.
Be a part of this going.
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Okay, we'll go to the phones.
One question for Al.
Thank you. We'll hear from Mike Johnson with PW insider dot com.
Please go ahead, Hey, Paul, how am I doing?
I'm great?
Thank you?
You're pretty happy.
I'm good.
I'm guessing you're pretty happy right now.
I'm I'm I'm very happy. You know.
It's it's it's very rare for me at.
NXT when we do something big or.
Live that I don't walk away happy from it. You know, is this a work in progress? Are there things that I want to do better? Absolutely?
You know.
I want to be my own worst critic and I want to analyze this and I want to make it better every single time.
But I'm really happy.
So my question is the the show is format. It's pretty much be all. No promos really on the show other than the videos, very little on the vignettes.
Talk a little bit.
About the decision to put action first and let the personality stand out in the ring foremost, as opposed to giving someone like Cameron Grimes a chance to do a promo.
To establish who we is.
Talk a little bit about the decision to not have promos, and a lot of mic work on the show tonight.
So I think we'll approach things differently at all times. But I do think we did spend If you go back and you broke this apart into that first USA hour and you broke that apart, there's a lot of character development that actually happened within those segments. It has
to be quick and it's got to be hits. You don't have, you know, you don't have a whole segment to have somebody go out there and cut a promo and build a character in that manner, you know, for me, Cameron Grimes, yeah, I could have had him go out there and talk. I think I built more intrigue in him tonight with what we did, and now I am interested to hear more about him.
You know.
I think though when we get into the two hours, there's going to be those opportunities to build storylines.
You have to do that stuff.
You have to give me information, not just in the ring and not just physical, but how do you get to those matches? How do you build those characters and those character arcs and those storyline arcs to get to where the matches themselves mean the most they can mean. You have to do that stuff, but the way that you do it you constantly just have to me, my opinion is you constantly have to be giving me fresh, new something information, something I got to learn, something new.
I feel like that people short attention span theater is if it's the same thing they've seen, if you're giving me a new piece of information, if you're giving it to me in a different way, if it's a new look, if it's something more, I'm intrigued by that and I want to stay and watch it. So those are things we'll work on as we move forward. Tonight was clearly a particular type of show for a particular reason. Going forward, they'll all be particular types of shows for particular reasons.
They'll just be different.
All right, Well, thanks for the time, Thank you, till you're next.
From Jason Powell with Pro Wrestling dot Net, please go ahead.
Yeah, hey, Paul, Hey, how different would the second hour have looked and been booked had it actually aired on USA Network?
And if you had competition running against you? Did you kind of take a little bit of a lighter approach with some of that by featuring some of the more I guess. I guess everyone's developmental to a point, but it did seem like you had some talent on there that maybe wouldn't make the cut other weeks or am I mistaken?
No, Look to your point of the developmental. I believe in this business you're developmental till the day you stop getting in the ring. You learn every single time you're in there.
The day that you.
Stop learning about what's next in this business and what's coming up and what's new and stop growing, you should stop because you're done. So everyone as developmental, as far as the people in the show. Yeah, Look, how would it have been different? Well, one, it would have had commercial breaks too. We would have to go right to the exact moment of going off the air. You know, we went off the earlier as our network and we can we can tweak some things around and change some things.
Would that hour have been different Yes, Would it have been massively different? Nope. You know, here's the thing. You have two hours. Not everything in there can be you know, poorn, gas and the fire. You have to have moments and times. You know, it's a funny thing in the world when people watch a Game of Thrones or something like that, there have to be some episodes or at least some moments within those shows where they're building to something bigger.
If everything is just you know, a massive explosion. Then it's just it's all the same. It doesn't mean anything. So you have to have that ebb and flow and you have to have that stuff. I want to debut new characters. I want to get new performers out there. I want to give opportunity to people, one that are returning or that they haven't seen in a while, or two that they they've never seen, and and give it
to them in that manner. But to do that, you have to you have to do things differently, shake things up and you and you have to have those moments where you know you're you're gonna rely on fans to go like, hey, this is somebody new, but you know what I want, I want to give them a shot. Right, I'm not gonna I'm not gonna to leave because I've
never seen this person before. I'm gonna leave because I'm gonna not leave because I'm interested in finding out more about them, because we've done a good enough job before you see them the first time of building some hype around it that you're interested in. And that's really what I want to do is just keep people interested.
All right, Thank you very much, Thank you well.
Here next from Connorcasey with Comic book dot Com.
Please go ahead, you much appreciate it.
I think a lot of players are really surprised to see Leo Rush back in the fold tonight with his returns, and that was playing out ahead of time or was this a fairly in recent development.
No, it's something we've been talking about for a while.
But look the this whole thing of an XT in USA. While we've been talking about doing it for a year and a half, two years, then when it finally happens, it's a recent development because when it until it actually happens, you know, it hasn't happened. So until we knew what was going on, there was a bit of a of
a lag there. And uh, you know, I'm I'm just really excited Leo Rush one of the He just a phenomenal energetic and uh and money performer to me, and and I'm thrilled that we can put him in this show and have him showcase what he does. He was spectacular tonight he and on he both tore up and and uh, you know that that's what.
This is about.
One way that you can help us sustain our schedule of putting out podcasts throughout the week is by giving us a star rating on Apple Podcasts. Just go to Apple Podcasts and look for our Weight Keller Prosing podcast and Weight Keller Processing Post show and give us a five star rating. We hope you think we've earned that score with our fast turnaround times and our quantity and
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We next, Paul, thank you so much for time.
Hey you so.
Chompa released this video.
Earlier today, very cool video where it looked like he was ready to get back into action.
What's the latest one with chomp?
Has he been cleared to return?
He is getting very close. You know, when you when you come down to the end. Unfortunately, I've been through a lot of when you come down to the end, there's this point in time where you are just chomping at the bit, You're ready to go, You feel like you can move the world, and yet the doctors are still like just giving a bit more like just take
it slow. That last couple of percent to getting to one hundred percent is the most frustrating part for an athlete because you feel like you're ready to take on the world and you just can't quite yet. And he's ready, He's as close as you know he can get. But when they give him the green light, he is the racehorse right now, stomping and pushing against that gate, and when that doctor tells him go, he's gonna come flying out of there.
Cool.
Hey, Paul, thanks so much.
Congratulations on a great show tonight.
Thank you very much, and we'll hear.
Next from Kelly Wells with tw toorch dot com.
Please go ahead, ni cool, thanks for a show. How are you doing? Thanks for a show full of surprise tonight.
So thank you very much.
Using the raw and the Manhattan Center an example, other live shows have originally emanated from the same arena week after week, but is NXT unique and that the decision to stay at full sale for the foreseeaful future allows talents to remain grounded at the performance center. And what role did the crowd play given that we know that this crowd will react positively, not only to the existing talent, but the addition of the cruiserweights.
So I think that the decision to stay here was many, you know, there was many the thoughts and different components that went into it business wise, our partnership here.
But for me also too.
You know, when we say we are NXT this, that's a part of it. This crowd that's here, a lot of them have been coming to this since day one, and they come to the shows and they support the s shows you know, around Florida, and they're a part of this. And we have people travel in from all over the place kind of and come to Florida on their vacations or whatever. And part of the what they do while they're here, they're looking for an NXT event to go to and that's a really cool thing. And
they've been such an integral part of that. When I say we are NXT, I mean them, we all of us, the talent, the crew, the everybody. They're a part of this team that made this thing work and they are as well. So there's there's a part of it for me like emotionally that I go, yeah, I don't want to do this anywhere else. I want to do it right here, and I want these people that are here
every single you know, show that we've done. I want them to be able to stand up on the USA Network, the number one network on cable television, and to be able to stand up and let their voices be heard and show who they are and how proud they are of it. They got it to where it is as much as we did, the talent did, the crew did, the everybody else did, but they were there for it.
And and this is the thank you, right, this is the this is the moment in time they get to come on the ride with us and they get to experience this as well and and be a part of this live. So you know, when when this building here at at Full Sale University, the Full Sale Live, which you know might as well be called the n x T Arena. When when they're live and something is good, there is no more energetic environment than here. It's it's a crazy vibe here and and you know, I love it.
And to me, this is the thank you. Thank you for for helping us get to where we are, and thank you for coming along in the ride and continue to come along with us because we're just getting started.
You know, yes, absolutely, thanks for a great show.
Thank you.
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And we'll hear next from Bryan for.
Hey Ryan, a Paul Paul Killer show tonight. Thank you so for the people who are watching at home. And I don't even know if you know this yet because were obviously very busy tonight, but there were massive issues with the WWE network tonight where people were trying to log in and they couldn't. There was all these password issues. Do you have any ideas there have been any word brought back to you yet on what might have caused that.
You know, so I heard about it.
I don't believe from my understanding, just from what I've heard so far, I don't believe it was a massive, widespread thing, you know, like bad news travels fast. But I don't believe it was as big as it was kind of put out.
There to be.
I think there was a select grouping of people that couldn't log in or something. To my understanding. The great thing is with the WW network, once the issue was addressed and fixed, they could log right in and you can go back and watch it right now on demand, and you can watch it whenever you want. So it's sitting right there. You know, with the platform, comes comes little glitches and issues. I know we're they're in the process of figuring it all out and hopefully that's something
that ever happen again. And you know, for our for our fan base that was was there watching it, then go back and watch.
It right now.
Cool.
Cool.
I'll thank you, thank you, and.
We'll take our last question from Sean Ross staff with Fightful Please go ahead.
Hey sew, Hey Paul, thanks for taking the time. Of course, one of the big discussions is how much would Vincent Man, if at all, have any hand in this show.
Did you get any input.
From him before, during, or immediately after this show? Maybe any any tips, anything of that nature.
I received a bunch of texts from him throughout the day, Uh, you know, excited and excited to see it and uh, you know, wishing us a lot, especially as they got close. You know, he was sending me a little text counting me down to twenty minutes, you know, which I thought was great because you know, it's it was just fun. But and then he sent me a few text rash he watched the entire thing. I'm sure he's at the office, probably in a meeting while he was doing it. But
he enjoyed it. He loved it, and uh thought talented a hell of a job. Thought they knocked it out of the park. You know, he was excited. He sent me a massive congratulations after it was over, and was thrilled with the product. You know, it's it's a funny thing because you know, people don't give him the credit.
He embraces the difference. He embraces the difference. The products should be different, and he embraces that difference and is all into that difference and can see the difference and and you know, it's like liking different types of music and one thing might be somebody's cup of tea, something else might be the other. But you can appreciate all of it. And I think that's the you know, the best way of saying it. He absolutely appreciates it and
thought it was great. So you know, he sent me a congrats to us, to the crew and to the.
All the talent. Thanks, Paul, thank you.
I'm sorry what you're saying. One more was that was okay? Well, you know, I thought we had a spectacular night. And I appreciate everybody's support on this and wanting to be involved, and I you appreciate all the conversation around it. You know, obviously you'd be doing this every week. I don't know that doing every single thing every week is the best way to do it. But I want to keep these
doors open. I want to keep these conversations going and and let you guys help be a part of this and make it the best show that we can make it that my goal is as good as everybody feels it was tonight. There are some things I want to do better and We're going to make this the best show on television. That's that's the goal. So you know, I was thrilled. My hat's off to everybody, and I thank you all for the for the support tonight. Thank you very much.
Thanks everybody, Every good night.
You don't have to wait for the way Keller Pro Wrestling post show to find out what I thought of Monday Night Raw and SmackDown. Each week, you can check out my reports that are updated live throughout Raw and SmackDown at pwtorch dot com. My written report will tell you what's happening in detail in case you missed the show, and it will also analyze key segments and give my random thoughts quips on what I am watching as it airs. So check it out every Monday night and Tuesday night
at pwtorch dot com. That also applies to wwepayperviews. I cover those live at pw torch dot com with a detailed written report with star ratings, and of course you can find other TV reports from other contributors to PW
torch such as nxt roh, Impact Wrestling and more. Check it out pwtorch dot com your first stop for TV and pay per view written reports, and now we moved to the interview Bruce Mitchell and I conducted at the five Sullivan Brothers Convention Center in front of a live audience at the George Tragels Luthez Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame Weekend Happenings. This interview took place on Friday, July twenty sixth.
Our guest Nick Dinsmore. No one in WWE as Eugene.
I will at the Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame luthas George, George, George Tregos Luthez, and it's the highlight of every summer. It's really cool to do this, and we've been a little more free for him. We've got the famed Eugene frame, Nick din Dinwe all kinds of things in professional wrestling.
And in the Chris tradition of wrestling promoters.
We have a packed house tonight.
Out to the raptors, not an empty scene in the house. Were turned away at the door the Raptors.
So I'm wad Keller, pros and coach editor, hosts of the Wake Color Prosing podcast. Bruce Mitchell is the senior columnist nineteen ninety with Pro Wrestling Torch and also the star of the Bruce Mitchelladio Show, the second longest running weekly podcast on any subject anywhere since two thousand.
And four, before the word podcast existed.
And we have Nick Dinsmore Eugene as our first guest. And so if you guys have questions or want to interject at any point as we're talking, just.
Wave and let me know.
And then when we kind of get to a break point, we'll we'll go to you first.
Can we spec to you, mister Dinsmore?
Sure I know you are training wrestlers now, talk about what you're doing now in the business and where and how it's all working.
Since twenty fifteen, My wife and I live in Sue Fall, South Dakota.
She's from Sioux Falls. I'm from Louisville, Kentucky.
We now live in Swuit Falls and we're in Midwest All Pro Wrestling now have just about thirty students. We're on two monthly events plus other events. We tour around and try to take live pro wrestling entertainment around the Midwest, all ages, family friendly, Eugene style live entertainment and train wrestlers in the art and professional wrestling guys that want to either wrestle just to try it, or guys that want to wrestle for w you try.
To tcd art.
How's that experience been. How's teaching compared to you know, looking out for yourself and managing your own career. Well, teaching is something I've always done.
When I was in Louisville at OBEW when the big flock of developmental guys came, I was kind of like a player coach at the time, and I was doing some teaching but wrestling a lot of the guys that were there when Batista was there and Brock and Seen in Victoria. You know, it's been a long time. And then I was also a coach at the Formance Center for a couple of years. So the teaching something that
I've always enjoyed. And I've always known that I wanted to start my own wrestling company Territory, you know, just because I find it interesting. And stoot Falls had zero wrestling at the time, and you know, we've had a monthly event for the past three years and kind of given that section of the world, you know, their own pro wrestling. So it's Midwest All Pro Wrestling m AP where we're putting pre wrestling on the map. Yeah, I guess wrestled Jonathan Coachman on the twelfth.
We had a sup Fall street fight. We went and took it in the street.
We rumbled up and down Lane Avenue there and we were trying to create awareness for organ donation. Coach's father recently received a life saving cart transplant, and he was trying to encourage people to mark on their license to become an organ donor, because you can save up to eight lives with one donor, but then one donor can also contribute something like seven seven thousand different donations.
From from one body. I don't understand the stats, but that's what I've sold regardless.
We had big event in Sioux Falls and coach came down and his dad was there, and it was it was a good time, sold out, packed to the rafters, turned away at the door.
There are how'd that come about bringing a Coachman in?
In terms of the logistics of that, it would seem like getting him to South Dakota. It's for a good cause, But as an Indian promoter trying to bring somebody to that part of the country, that seems like a good achievements.
He's from the Kansas City so it wasn't too far away, and his dad, I guess lived his sitting and they drove up and then he flew out to h the pay per views on on.
That Saturday, the Extreme Rules pay per view, whatever it was, it was, it was his idea.
He wanted to do it.
You know, he's trying to contribute to his Saint Luke's foundation because that was the for some people that let's say someone in the family needs a heart transplant, the family can't afford it, there's a foundation to try to allegate some of the cost of it, and we're trying to raise money for that. But as well as awareness of the people become an organed downer.
Good that's a very good cause. There's a lot of places we can go, because you've been a lot of places.
But talk about some of the people that you have worked with training who have gone on to become big, big names that people know about. Like give us some insight and some fun stories on a couple of people early on who went on to be successful.
I can't tell all of them, but yeah, you know, like I said, when I was in Louisville, I had about three or four his experience when they sent John Cena there and Baptista and brock Lesner and a lot.
Of those guys came in with zero experience.
They Randy came in It had a few matches, but he didn't know anybody, and he was he was kind of in a particular shy, but not real shy, but know anybody. And the first thing I did would just start messing with him. In our first show, he was going out his first match OVW and I kicked his back leg and he tripped going through the curtain. But it was like that the fact that I just joked with him, that he and I became really good friends, and the scene and I used to ride together, who
became real good buddies. That The only story I can tell you is we were in Knoxville one night. We bought a bunch of fireworks and I was hanging out the car shooting bottle rockets down the street when you really got arrested, but the champ champ talked to got to calling the police owners.
So that's just an amazing classic wrestlers at that time period, and everybody went on to do great things. When you saw when you see somebody like John Cena are there like eight other guys who were as that you run into, who are as determined and dedicated to becoming successful like he has, who just don't make it. Or was there something about Sena that even then you could see stood out as this guy's got that something that's gonna make him successful.
He leaves in bounds above everybody else. Like if you look at him, there.
Might be other guys that look similar bodyboater, good, look athletic, all right, But then when you would just promo is his emotion? The stuff that he did, we used to have like a kind of a drill, not a drill, but like I would interview you and say, okay, you've got a match tonight with so and so go, And somebody tried to get him on like a you've got a Super Mario Kart match against the Pillsbury Double Boy.
You know, all these fictitious characters, and he cut a promo on each one of them and just didn't miss a beat. He can make you laugh, he can make it you cry. And I think his his on screen character as wholesome John cena is Is is great, but it's it's also you know, not his full range, because he's very talented.
And then how about brock Lesser.
Brock was always nice. He was a you know, Midwestern guy, and I don't I don't know that he liked a lot of the crowd, like at least people coming up to him. I'm not really sure. Yeah, but I remember he met my wife and my wife's in the Midwest, and they immediately connected on Midwestern living and whatnot. And then when I saw him the wrestling in thirty right before the wrestle undertake, as a person asked me, you're still with the girl from Laverne. Yeah, yeah, we got married.
So he was always super nice and me he was the first one to be at the arena. He'd drive the ring, set up the ring, take down the ring, the last guy there, and I'm just super super nice.
I'm Kelly Wells, host of the seven Star podcast, the new Ongoing Torch show covering the world of New Japan pro wrestling. We'll drop new episodes as major shows and noteworthy events dictate.
And I'm Chris Lansdowe.
Join us as we covered the ever changing landscape of New Japan as they navigate an era with no lack of talent.
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And when you did you think there was something about that he was also special like John Cena where or did you see some of the trepidation to be that kind of public figure where you thought maybe this won't work up.
No, I didn't think it wouldn't work out because he was a national champion amateur wrestler, and just something about him is just magnetism. But you see people like like that walk in the airport or down the street, it's just immediately like I don't know who this is, but something about me is attractive. Team the Rock is like that a million fold. I mean, I mean a little bit with him that made my career, and it was like, you know, just something about you know, I'm not attracted, man,
but that goddamn guy's attracted. Just about him is like, you know, just I just want to look at him. I don't know, It's just something that's unexplainable.
And it was pretty cool about Da Batista.
He was in that class of people who when Brock left, he took off and kind of got the push that that that opening that when Brock left was left open and went on to have a great career. Where was he relative to Brock and Sena athletically in terms of his his enthusiasm and attitude and all of that, Yeah, we need it working.
Dave was really cool, but he uh, he didn't he didn't have a wide range of offense, which was fine because what.
He did worked. But I remember at a certain point.
When he was Leviath and his wife then started to get over and people started and Louisville started like Leviath, and so I would take him down and put him in a hole and wait for the people get behind him. And then he get upset because he's suposed to heal, and he's like, you can turn me, baby face. He
can panic and fluster. And I just laughed, you know, But like, uh, there's so many big guys that came through, Like Nathan Jones came through there, Yeah, and just he wasn't reckless, but he was just so big and so powerful. And I was, you know, two hundred and twenty pounds and I'm supposed to be leading him and he's thrown me around the ring. All those guys were there was a big group that got hired at the same time.
But those guys seeing up Rock Randy Bautista were just something that was much more appealing about them because there was you know, threefold that many guys that they were there.
But back then, would you have picked out one or two others who you thought would have equally good chance of those four or didn't for when you look back stand out as I could have.
Told you then these are the four are gonna make it?
Yeah, I think so.
Yeah, you can tell early sometimes.
I mean sometimes sometimes you can.
Then there were guys that you might thought they could have used, but maybe just one thing happened, you know, in their life that you know.
What's what's one of the keys for young wrestlers who want who want to make it on a in a big scale. Obviously, if you don't have that, in fact that you talked about Rock having, you can't invent that.
But what what's something.
In terms of attitude, in terms of approach to the business that is in someone's control that you just wish you could gift Everybody who has that desire.
Just have to immerse themselves in it completely.
I mean, it's difficult to have other responsibilities in life and then try to make it to the top level.
It's it's very difficult to and I see some guys try and it's it's very it's spread their time back and forth with the guys that can really just jump in with both feet and if they have to relocate and go somewhere and move somewhere, or just you know, hey, I'm gonna go get out of the country and just just go wherever it takes me and just try to immerse themselves fully in it and then try to nine people that have credibility, have done things, have been places
to draw off of and create connections with people that have connections and try to keep in.
Touch with those there. Are there more opportunities now or less? Or is the market opening up or not?
Or I don't know.
Can of the business you think?
You know, years ago it was difficult to get in, but once you got in, there's a lot of places to work and if you were halfway decent, you know, other promoters could send you around.
But now it's it's not so much like that. It's easy to get in, but there's no money.
It's it's like there's a base level of INDI's and then there's a big step if you can get over overseas.
Or get starting to change or it's still common.
But I mean with with with with the AW expanding and I mean times they're changing.
You know, it could be.
It just seems like w W has more wrestlers on their contract and the aw's getting wrestlers on the contract.
Course we look like we got three shows with the next team and that they had whatever the relationship is with Evolver, you know, and just the more they keep adding and you know, with the network, they're probably gonna have shows about people that just come into the performance center and in that situation in a reality style, and then once they start having matches, then the next tier of guys at the performance center, and then the NXT show or whatever it is, and then they have the
ability to have I pitched a music video show with wrestling videos, with all the videos they've ever made.
Music video show didn't bite on it.
Can you talk about talking about the developmental system training wrestlers back in the WW days and now you got your in school and then of course an XT, like the difference is now how that's really become more of an industry.
I don't know.
Krang was the first developmental guy, but he was when they sent him to Memphis, and there were other guys at the time, but basically what that was then was independent companies training w's future talent.
And this is what I've.
Heard when Tah went from just on screen talent and more in the office, NC sent him around to every department in b and just get a feel for it and think for two weeks and then come back and report on me. So he went to marketing and pay per views and whatever it is, and then he went down to FCW and it wasn't knock on FCW, but FCW is an indie company training w W talent and hunters like that's not that's not the w W class, you know, level of excellence, and so Vince goes, okay,
well then you'll be in charge of that. That's when he went to the New York Giants training Center and kind of said, okay, the best athletes in the in the world, what what what?
What do they work with?
And that's what he kind of looked around, said Okay, this is what we need, and that Performance Centers is a beautiful building, like there's there's no reason that somebody that goes down there should not succeed.
Do you when you have students that you're training, do you have your eye on like I can recommend them to Hunter, to WWE and and kind of what is your criteria for wanting to put your reputation on the line to make that phone call or send that email saying hey, here's somebody you should look at it.
It's a lot of things.
You know.
It's because WW has always been a big man business, but a someone that's an entertainer can also get in there. So if someone has that one little thing that's very popular or very entertaining or very attractive, you know, they might have what it takes.
Yeah, but you gotta be careful. How many guys you recommend? Absolutely?
Yeah.
Talk about your own career. You worked with everybody like you worked with the top guys on the top and.
Been ring with the rock Ben, ring with Colvin Pain, Vince McMahon, that know what I mean, Like the best day of my life was a damn.
That my life.
Hey, you talked a little about you get hurt.
I had to drag her down.
He talked a little about about working with brock Lester, about about how charismatic he was and how it helped your career talked about him, or you worked with didn't work, you worked a shame man.
And I wrestled Vincent Chain does Sioux City and they poured green paint on my head and I sat there for three hours with green paint standing in my head and they put my head in a toilet.
Toilet.
Yeah, what's it like working for that level of I mean we all have that. You know the boss and then there's the boss and when they come we've had those experiences. Is like, that's but but that just seems like ituld be a completely different dimension of I.
Can't remember what were you do?
Was in the ring with Vince something and there's a promo in the ring live on TV and for some reason, I just write him kissed him on the cheek and no reason.
I had no idea why, and I didn't know him that well.
When when when he got when he got injured at the one Row rumble, when he heard both his knees, he was in Birmingham.
That's the same time I had Mandred. I was in Birmingham and I didn't.
Tell him, but I snuck into his hospital room and just like peecked my head in there and he was like it wasn't clean shaven. I could tell you started getting nervous and just say, hey, I'm in town. If you need anything, tell somebody, get a hold of me. And I was too nervous, And I wish I would have sat there because he wasn't gonna go to go anywhere with both his knees prepared and just talked to him. But it's probably the biggest regret I have that I just didn't sit there and just poke at him.
And you can talk. I was nervous, yeah, shying, but having that.
Spotlight and then doing the things the way they wanted to have done and the way you wanted them done too. I mean that's and and and getting through that. That's when you team with Flair too, right, Yes, on a paper view, Yes, so just some experiences with him.
Flair wanted to do a bit where he introduced Hugene to maybe some Ladies of.
The Ninth or whatnot.
And I can only see the camera off.
I can almost see like like the big bed and the Flair and the girls and Eugene and.
Like the pipe.
But I would have like the pipe of blows the bubbles, you know, but that get shot down.
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Let's talk about the character of Eugene. I know you talk to us a couple of years ago here in Waterloo about the whole that there was a whole plan for Eugene, or at least I've heard this that there was a whole plan for Eugene. It went beyond just the character that some things are going to be revealed in the end.
But can it's that or did I hear that from I don't remember I couldn't think I don't know, yah me.
Talk about the origination and the progression you could take it.
I was trained by not Mary Danny Davison ovw but also Hustle Rip Rogers, Rip Rogers. Soon his autism, so ripped him to me one day and said, I've got an idea for a character.
That, you know, kind of like rain Man.
You can't you know, not very social and can't tie his booze, can't put a square paint in a square hole, but the minute the bell rings, he can do wrestling flawlessly. Because at that point I was mister Wrestling Nick Dinsmore, and I could wrestle an hour Broadway and not use the same multiwise whatever. The wrestling was easy, and I was getting to a point where I was not getting frustrated,
but just I wasn't challenged. So I was doing comedy in my match, just to entertain myself and entertain the fans. And I pitched that to all the agents for like RN and Fit and Dean, and they're like, well, wrestling's kind of gonna beyond that. We don't do that anymore. This is probably two thousand and four, two thousand and three.
Thousand and four.
Okay, so then all the writers come down pitched all them. I don't think we would do that, So I told somebody this earlier. I would see the guys that would not complain, but the squeaky will gets the oil. So I'd see some of the talent that might voice their opinions, and all of a sudden they'd end up on TV.
And I was never one to complain or squawk. But then I said, I told Doug Bashem, I said, I think I'm gonna quit and try to go Japan, which I wasn't going to because I was living at home in my home, top dog in the territory, working four hours a day wrestling, so I wasn't but I wanted to see what would happened.
Doug Bashom told dem Malinko Dean told Johnny eight.
Next thing I know, I'm sitting in a meeting with Vince mcman and Stephanie was there, and Vince.
Goes, I want to get back to character based wrestling.
So I just thought, this idea, what about this character raymonn blah blahlah blah blah.
Great, we'll start on Monday. I had no idea that, but I didn't know who the character was. I just it was just an idea.
Steve Aouston walks in and uh, Steve Boston worked with Danny Davis and a Global and this was especial seen the kid wrestled no so with Danny and his training, and Steve goes.
Well, you're probably one of the best.
And it was just that photo confidence, like not seeing me wrestles like wow. And they filmed some vignettes for Eugene, but they really didn't like it, so they just it was Houston.
I remember the day.
It's sometime in May in two thousand and four, and then I just kept catching on and kept doing well. It was something different at that time. I felt like it was post nWo, post Steve Boston, but everybody still want to be cool, strong, heel and not sell and I wanted.
To do complete opposite.
I wanted to be sympathetic, comedy, babyface to a midget high spots.
The only kid's character was Hurricane, but he was gonna smack down.
So I knew that there was one one demographic that wasn't being filled and Brian Gerwitz could write for it, and and that's what took it off right there. The movie The Big Show did. Is that we're talking about The Big Show movie. No what what I heard and I was trying to remember it. It may have done.
Nothing to it, but it was that at the end of your character are that it'd be revealed that you were actually an evil genius.
I think I think we went too far, but then we went too long.
I think if it would have at the peak have been over if they would have done it then, but then I don't know that it would have been as good as as they would. I had to put me at the top heel and it probably would have been done and I would have been It couldn't be halfway.
Yeah, you're right, Yeah, there's you have like a story. I can think, well, this would be the reveal and then I'll shift into.
That long term.
But the initial character worked so well, yeah, that you just rolled with it, and then it also became too late.
Yeah, I think so. Yeah, I don't know. I mean that that was like early on. I think some people thought that, but again I don't I don't think it would have been good.
How was a fan interaction when you were playing that role, when you're outside the ring, people coming up to you, how did they react to you, and how did they react to the character, and did they differentiate when you would interact with people outside and just the public.
No, everybody that I spoke to, everybody that I met, everybody that I that I shook hands with, joint yes, please, yeah, yeah.
You're still doing your sure there, sit here.
In the middle, okay, all right, so sit down till you say at ease.
Yeah, that's your words.
Had the interaction so everybody that nobody had uh, everybody loved Eugene. And so often I would get like, my brother has special needs and you playing Eugene gave him so much inspiration. I can't tell you how many people came to me with like positive affirmation that what I was doing was right. I think when they first started doing the character, some big radio stations kind of didn't.
Know which way the he was gonna go with the character.
But once it became an underdog story of somebody trying to achieve it was it was everybody loved him.
Once once the first time I had a match and I won, That was it the interest of the story.
But if they would have made fun of Eugene and not really let him do anything, it wouldn't have worked, but the writers that wrote it beautifully awesome.
Does anyone have a question for Nick before?
Yeah?
But do you have any memorable rib stories?
Oh?
None that are too good?
I don't know.
I used to take a Matt striker.
I would always lock his bag in a locker or lock his bag to a locker, so you get mad and then you have to go find the janitor whatever, be run and get the pictures where And he'd come back and I were taking it off.
You go back?
Can you come back?
And you back on?
You know, but he was kind of kind of green, so he didn't want to complain. He didn't know who was doing it. And I'd just sit back and watch him the whole time and take him off, take him on.
Good.
Yeah.
I'm a little curious if you mentioned Danny Davis and there was a real brain trust the v W. As you teach, what do you reflect back on the lessons as you are learning that you feel are the most important to convey to your students.
I don't feel like like like Danny tell us a lot safety and basics and you know, being able to
I don't have to be strong. I have to look strong, but I don't have to be strong, but I have to position my body correctly so I take care of myself and the guy that I'm working with, and just sound fundamental basics and being able to do just enough restling that you can wrestle with anybody and you don't have to do a whole lot of stuff if you can this great, but being able to do the sound basics and I hurt yourself and that trip over your
own feet, have enough cardio, enough core, strength of balance, strength, and then getting into being aware of where the ropes are, where the referee is, where the manager is, where the partners are, how much time we got left with the king, you know, and everything else. Yes, Mulla, this character from that young man. The name I pitched the idea for the character. But there was a young man in Pittsburgh and I was might to love. His name was Eugene,
and he wud come to the matches. I've been him a handful of times.
Father was a brock forree put up the rings and uh. He always brought Eugene into the matches and he just loved everybody, and everybody loved to him.
And I see so much in that in the character that you portrayed.
I know we had another hand up.
Yeah, talkings loves against as we don't.
Have Mike's talk about team with Rob Conway as.
Lords of the Ring and Ober.
Yeah, we we both started wrestling about the same time in nineteen ninety six when OBW was just the Danny Davis School wrestling, and then when the developmental system came in and when I started writing the TV. So he carried us on and I don't know, it just would be attacked for a long time, and uh, he's probably
you know, and i'd have a in the ring. I didn't have a I don't know what the word is, but we knew what each other was thinking, whether we were partners or opponents or I can always step one way, and I knew he would be there as like I didn't really have that with with anybody else, but like if we were tag team partners or opponents, always on the same page about anything, and it was like a real easy to be able to just work with one another,
you know, like probably the best partner or opponent I've ever had. But then Doug Bashelm, I think I probably have my best matches with Doug Bashelm.
But Conway was always a heel, and he never wanted to.
Be a baby face. And I was always a baby face. I beginning out of trouble being the heel. But he just wanted to punch Kicken stomps. That's what Lawler and Dundee Didville.
Yes, question for both the talents. Who owns the names of your characters?
Do you own your own names?
Okay?
I signed, I signed away my likeness rights. Do you do you have to lease it?
Then?
It really hasn't been an issue. I just I just kn'd you know, just if they sent me.
Okay, thank you, Pasbro. Anybody that wants to mark than me the right to use my name, okay, but it was it was a hard time, yeah, eighty eighty four for me to have to own that name.
But Buro I am today.
So any other final questions for Nick before we kind of shift focus to Sarge.
All right, cool, quick one?
Oh sure?
Yeah?
Any memories of about Rico Constantino or Rico is awesome, Like he was one of the first developmental guys to come to Louisville. And I think he got signed at like thirty nine years old maybe or forty, but he had walked onto the American Gladiators and won. He'd been a cop, been a paramedic, been shot, been stabbed, was a bodyguard for Kiss, bodyguard.
For Benny Hens, the faith healer, legit bad dude.
After nine to eleven, he was almost asked to be a US Marshall I think, but he supposedly he wrestled a little bit in Las Vegas and then he sent a tape in w Back when WCW's around, they're like, somebody calls, you know, w CW's get ready to signed Rico Constantino. You gotta decide now are you gonna signing or not? You're gonna sign him, it's supposed to They signed him right away off that. I don't know if that's true. But Rico's athletic and good.
And then he got injured.
He towards Botella, and he really had to change his style of wrestling, and he could change it so well like and then he played the recal character on TV was awesome.
But Rico's a good dude.
So well, let's get broad of a clause for Nick.
Longing for some nostalgia or maybe you want to learn some wrestling history, don't miss the nineties pass cast every Friday on the PW Torch Daly Cast Feed. Alex and Patrick will transport you thirty years into the past by you taking you through the Torch issue from that very weak follow news from the WWF and WCW and all.
The happenings from across the wrestling industry in real time as The Torch reported it thirty years ago. That's the nineties pass cast every Friday on the PW Torch Daily Cast Feed.
Now we move next to the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Museum. The next afternoon, a panel discussion that featured Beth Phoenix, Gerald Briscoe, Bob Rup, Thunderbolt Patterson, and Baron von Rashki. This snippet features Gerald Briscoe talking about legendary take teams he wrestled at helped define the career of him and his brother Jack, and then extensive comments from Beth Phoenix about the transition from the Deva era to today, her thoughts on some rising stars men and women and more.
So, here we go, but you, of course, you.
Know if you're I think we're kind of stamped with two different teams that you know that that we exceled with, and I think that's of course, the Funk.
Brothers and the pres Kale brothers with two.
Texas Cowboys against two Oklahoma and in you know, and all four these and athletes and all four you know, ready to rock and roll at the bat at the bow of the Westwood would go and give, give the give, give everybody setting out there what they paid to see action for sixty minutes.
And uh and it's suspense.
And a good story along the line.
And we're fortunately when the Funks we got to go all over the world and work with those.
Two guys, and and.
I think that that kind of defined their career. And then you know, of course at the end of the career, we decided to turn and turn the hills. But the funny thing about it, when the Bunks would come to Florida or the South, you know, they were the hills, but you put the brist Hills out into Texas was with the Pumps and us being from Oklahoma, we were the guys.
So with our Ben kind of used to used to that.
But when we went to Carolina, it was the end.
Of our career and we both decided it's very hard in our career that we weren't going to team up we were going to be in several places so we could take advantage of the.
System, learned the system. So he went to Florida and I went to Carolina.
He was successful in Florida, course, and through the help of this man there.
I was fairly successful.
And the Carolina.
So when they had that big show, they break Jack into Carolina. When they have big showed in Florida, they break me down there and and you know, we had the best of two worlds.
But probably at the end of it, that was the beginning of the career where we said we're not really gonna be tag team. We're not going to be known as the tag.
Team in the beginning.
So we ended up being because of Pompton.
And then at the end of the career were Florida Jackets.
Really wanted to retire, he said, So he said, you.
Know, why don't we turn hill and go to Carolina.
Doc both Jay Youngblud had just come off of this gigantic program with Sergeants Solder and Don to the little sergeants here the night and being honored and rightfully so. So when they finished up that so Ricky and Jay they were so hot. I mean, you give you just walk bile and do you kill the uh the hot key coming off of them.
So we we worked at them where we really didn't.
Change a whole lot.
We just became more resting, more more uh more to the point where we wouldn't break the rules so much, and we'd just been them until they couldn't have been anymore.
And and the people him routing Ricky and.
Day to to uh to outstanding them and babyfaces like a good guys. We automatically, because we were the venner and who were the older guy, we automatically became became.
The bad guys. And we had a very successful rotten with those guys. So I hate to hate to say one team over another, but I like those two team brought there conn at the.
Mine of the fact, I have another question to me that as a as a wrestler who came in.
An era where the women weren't necessarily all being taken as seriously as they are today.
I'm curious what emotions and.
Like, what were you feelings as the whole The hashtag give you Little Chance started.
Taking hold in just.
The last few years, as we've seen.
WWE and other companies start to position the women in the main events. We just saw the women native in WrestleMania that you were also on, So just kind of give.
Me what was going on in your headspace through that period.
Sure, you know, I think that we have to be transparent about where we were at one point in order to kind of acknowledge where we are now today. So I know that it's hard to kind of talk about some of the stuff that was a part of our business for a while. But again, like we were talking about earlier, that's what put what's in seats at the time, that was our brand.
It was very sexualized.
I was a part of that.
You know, I did d this photo shoots and bikinis and that.
But we always myself, I can only speak on my own feelings, and I'm sure a lot of the girls felt this way too. If I had to do a bikini shoot to get an opportunity to have a wrestling match down the line or wrestle on a pay per view and create a storyliner and angles surrounding a Playboy magazine, then I felt like I would be contributing to the
change somehow. Even if and I know Trisha and I had had this top trist Stratus and I had this talk too, so tonight and we would have this top with that finley if that would say like tonight, you have match and it's going to be a gradeable match.
You're going to be wrestling in mud.
And he's like, Fus, that doesn't mean it has to be He's like, we can make this entertaining. This is what we're given, and we can also make them want to see.
More from the women.
And the thing is, if you care about that products, it's going to read and.
They're going to want to see more. And the bottom line.
Is we were entertainers, so we were there to entertain in whatever job we were given. And I think the mentality for all the women was sure, I would much.
Rather be having a thirty minute, you know, hell.
At us cell match, or I would much rather be featured in an I quit match, you know, a main.
Event on a pay per view. But this is what I had and I'm still going to bring my best.
So fast forward to today, I think you started getting more and more girls that we're wanting to take those risks and show that they had more. Plus cultures change and it's been helping. You know, I feel like there's a shift in culture where we're seeing more women rise up as leaders, as stars and superheroes. You know, you have Captain Marvel and Wonder Woman, and people are flocking to see these movies.
And like I said earlier, it's not just the women saying like we want.
To see this, it's dad's brothers, sons, you know, males are also ready for the change to see women featured more. And I got to do to be a part of WrestleMania and step back in the ring this year, and for me, having had two children and being the age that I am, I'm thirty eight years old.
To have the opportunity to step back in the ring and perform with the women that that sort of wasn't.
Available before having kids and being able to perform, and like, roles are changing, the world is changing, and I just love seeing that now little girls are going to have female superstars to grow up dreaming about, you know, and their action figures and video games.
Which there was but not as prevalent as it is now.
And all this is really really relevant to me because I have two little girls, so I've invested interest in making sure that the next generation doesn't see it as like, you know, men are in a certain echelon, and women are in a certain echelon.
I just want them to see like superstars.
And I love that they've done away with separating calling it divas and I respect that, but I just love that it's superstars across the board. It really gives the product of sense of equality, and we're just seeing that not only in WWE.
You know, we're seeing that an impact wrestling. We're seeing it. You know, I'm sure AW is.
Going to be making some some changes in statements to represent women positively. And I just I love seeing that happen across the board because what it means is for my little girls is they're not going.
To feel a glass seal like previous generations. And I'm very, very very proud to have been a part of that.
I do time for one more questions. Is anybody that has a question go ahead that I.
Haven't heard it?
Or when I do know that the previous two man classics were really successful and everybody was very very happy with it, I wouldn't be surprised to see it come back. I just haven't heard any I haven't heard any rumblings about when that might be, but I would I would expect.
It to happen.
You know, we had wonderful feedback and.
What I wouldn't have given as an indie wrestler to have had an opportunity to wrestle on the WWE platform Like this is such a cool time and I was so happy to see girls that have been working their butts off for decades get that chance to be featured in WWE.
So I would expect to see it again.
It's a short question, so.
We'll do one more. One more.
This is it.
Helping powers?
Really picks up your.
Eye right now?
Like male or female, anybody.
I mean, I think we're all talking about from the male side, We're all talking about will Asprey. I think he just brings something so different to the table. He's such a classy, humble guy. I think he's I think he can do anything he wants you for the rest of his life as far as career goes. And I know I know she's currently signed an Impact, but I really love Jordan Grace. I feel like she's she's really special.
She has an amazing work ethic. But I also like the positive self image that she gives up.
I think we need more female role models like that.
They're representative of diverse shape, side eth ethnicity. I want to see a culture where little kids watching him see a little bit of themselves in somebody on.
The US, you know.
And I appreciate that about Jordan, and I look forward to seeing where her crew goes.
All right, well, I want to thank you make incredible panel for joining me this afternoon, and I want to thank all.
Of you for joining us here.
I do know that West Frisco. Thank you know, he's getting ready to start his podcast.
I believe over by.
The last I knew it was over near the wrestling ring, So I encourage you all to go check that out.
But let's give r out of a positive channel when I.
Have been doing this podcast.
So I'm well, we're.
Gonna be over everybody.
Don't drop on.
Just say you know it's saying word of doing mail on my global podcasts.
Just drop by. I'm just saying, tell him how much you're enjoying this weekend. Thank you very much, and I'm just sorry that my sister how couldn't be here.
It was top being a leading manager.
That's how you want to know.
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