Hey, this is Brian Alvarez and this is today's edition of the Wrestling Observer Daily podcast on the eight Side Network.
By from San Francisco. I'm a sports byline broadcasting network. You are listening to Wrestling Observer Live with your hosts Brian Alvarez and Mike sempervv.
Right, you're ready, When you're ready, let's get it on.
How's it going to everybody? Brian Alvarez here on or Wrestling Observer Live. We are here every day Monday through Friday, New Pacific three Eastern at Sunday three Pacific six Eastern Saturday Mornings with Jim Valley, Today Pacific one Eastern Sundays with andrews Arian. And it is a Wednesday here on the show. You know that means we got a lot to talk about. As always, last night at XT, a lot of good wrestling on NXT. I couldn't hate the
show yesterday. The booking sucks, but the wrestling itself was very good, particularly the women's main event, which was actually the best match on the show. So we'll talk about that here today. We got Dynamite coming up tonight. We got a full lineup for the show. More added, including some new signees, who, as is always the case in AW, will be debuting to get beat. But that's the way things go. We've also got a ton of notes on
the Netflix, WBD, Netflix, and AW. What's the latest. We'll tell you here today TENA impact ratings from the Thursday AMC debut. We actually have a correction from the end of the show yesterday. Champa is gone from WWE, Shingo is injured, somebody maybe coming to WWE. Got an update on RUSSEV and Nixon, Newell quote which I will read without comment, Moose and plenty more filthy. Tom Lawler is joining us US here today and I believe we have a special guest as well, so uh, we talked about that.
We'll come back from the break. If you want to text us here today. Four two five seven eight zero seven five sixty six is the phone number that is four two five seven eight zero seven five sixty six. Affordable Online at gmail dot com is the email Affordable Online. Also on threads, Instagram and cameo Affordable Online if you haven't gotten a cameo yet, Man, I don't know what you're waiting for.
That.
Bryan Alvarez ex and Blue Sky Back in a moment. Observer Live.
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Are you a fan of paranormal radio? Bigfoot, UFOs, ghosts, Hauntings, Cryptid's True Crime? After Dark Radio with Brian Alvarez, Theer's live on Sports Byline every Wednesday at two pm Pacific five Eastern, talking all manner of the strange and unusual, from the latest news of the weird to interviews with the top names in the field. After Dark is your source for paranormal radio. Check it out two Pacific five Eastern every Wednesday, live on Sports Byeline USA.
You are listening to Wrestling Observer Live with Brian Alvarez and Mike simper Vivi on the Sports Byline Broadcasting Network.
Well, we're back here on the show. We're on top of our game like we always are, right Tom.
We sure are. I mean, there's no departure from the norm.
We have no guests today, but we will have a guest later this week and I can alert you all also next week and the week after what they're coming out of.
The woodwork you didn't even alert me of to appear.
Well, I just found out to appear on this show.
Ha.
People jumping out of the woodwork, and I'm sure there will be more to come. There's an open invite to be a guest on this show. You know, everybody, it's not like we ever got anything to talk about.
The only people that ever really want to come on and talk to us, Brian are people who have something to sell.
Well, of course any times to Indian.
Yeah that's true. But you know, we try to keep it, you know, at least on the academic side, not ruin people's days on the radio. So we have some esteemed guests, or at least on my end, we have.
They're all esteemed.
Tomorrow will be the author of Way of the Blade one and two Oh Wow, including the aw edition, a man who has promoted the Dean shows in the past, and the now upcoming Death Valley Days show taking place next month. Tomorrow we will have Phil Schneider, who I am very excited to speak to.
You know, Yennie pop Pye here says I'm available with my price is high, which reminds me there's someone else you're supposed to be trying to get on this show, Tom do Jordy forget no, I remember, Okay, you just haven't done anything yet.
I'm tempering it.
Okay, listen aw Dynamitis. Tonight we have a full card Key Omega versus Josh Alexander, which Josh Alexander is very excited to have this match. He's it's a dream match of his. It should be great. M j F will appear, Swerve Strickland versus Kevin Knight, which should be great. Mina, Shira Cow and Tony Storm versus Megan Bain and Penelope Ford. We're already kicking off the Death Writers and a don
Kallis family that escalated very quickly from collision. Moxley Wheeler and Daniel Garcia versus Rocky et Cicero and Lance Archer. I thought Echi Sarah was injured, so we'll see what happens. Triangle of Madness will make an appearance. Samo Joe faces Speedball Mike Bailey and it is a It would not be aw if we do not have a brand new debuting team put into a match that they will assuredly lose. Alex Price and Jordan Oliver, newly signed, will be facing FTR.
So that is the lineup for Dynamite tonight, and that brings us to this story that came out yesterday. Hollywood Reporter delved into a five hundred and night teen page SEC document that it came out Tuesday morning, heralded Netflix's all catch adjustment to their offer to acquire the Warner Brothers Studio and other assets from WBD, which would leave
the cable channels behind. In their research, Hollywood Reporter surmised that because AW was not specifically mentioned in document, that after the deal is done, AW programming, including pay per views, are expected to continue streaming and simulcasting on HBO Max to the end of their current contract, which ends in either twenty twenty seven or twenty twenty eight, depending on the option, and they opined that AW would likely join Turner Sports streaming app that would be operated by Global
Linear Networks, the company that would hold all the assets not to being taken by Netflix. This would be if the option is picked up and if they re sign with WBD.
Yeah, who's in charge of Global Linear Networks? Is that just like somebody left over from WBD?
Now app, it's the Turnersports streaming app.
That's what their parent company will.
Be it'll be Global Linear Networks.
Wow, that really rolls off the tongue.
It sure does. They also speculated some kind of non exclusive arrangement could be cut where both HBO Max and Turner Sports are AW events. All of this would be assuming that AW remains with WBDGLN after the current deal is up. The report confirmed, which is something that we have known for a while, that in fact WBD does own a minority stake in AW, which will remain with GLn post Netflix sale. The steak in AW would have to be less than ten percent, or else WBD would
need to disclose that information publicly. AW head Tony Kahan has been asked to confirm this before. While he has never done that, he has also never denied it. So they own less than ten percent, but they do own ownership stake. Report opine and Netflix and HBO Max would probably not fight to keep AW, perhaps due to the unconfirmed non complete non compete clause TKO incorporated in their
Netflix deal quote a relic of the old days. In other words, they believe that when WWE went to Netflix, they had a non compete clause basically stating no other pro wrestling programming, live weekly programming while they're on Netflix. And that's the story there. So really I don't think anything we didn't know, you know, if WBD, if Netflix, you know, wins and ends up purchasing the studio and such.
I mean nothing, There's nothing that's going to change with AW until at least next year, okay, and that is.
With the end of the contract with HBO Max.
Yes, they will stay on HBO Max through this contract period which ends in twenty twenty seven, although there is a one year option that could be picked up to twenty twenty eight, which presumably will be. But there's no guarantee.
I mean, if you are a new sports app like this TT sports app is going to be, I would think that you would want to at least hold on to the properties that have some fans that you have control of. And AW is like the only thing that they currently have in that realm. I mean they have hockey, right, hockey does well, but college basketball.
Also. Yes, yesterday we had the impact number at the end of the show, but that number was in fact incorrect. It was incorrect. Are you saying you were wrong the actual number of viewers? Actually? I mean I don't want to throw the guy under the bus, but we did credit. I wouldn't even I don't want to throw him nder the bus. But anyway, the actual number for the debut on AMC was one hundred and seventy three thousand viewers. I believe the ninety thousand number. The original number that
came out was like ninety thousand, I think. And the reason that number came out is because they had some weird ranking thing, and I think what happened was Impact was ranked ninety, but it was mistakenly thought that that was the actual viewership of the show. So anyway, one hundred and seventy three thousand viewers and a zero point zero four.
So.
They did fewer. If we're gonna make any comparison, this past week's Collision did more viewers. They did two hunred seventy one thousand viewers, but TNA did beat them in the demo. TENA did a point zero four, Collision at a point zero three.
So and with both you also have to imagine there are people watching streaming. I don't know what the percentage is comparatively between the HBO Max streaming network and the AMC streaming You would imagine that HBO has a much larger reach, but that doesn't necessarily mean that more people are watching.
Well.
Yeah, and the other thing is is when it comes to TNA, we actually have them streaming in two different places, so right, no, I don't think I don't think. We have TNA Plus and AMC Plus. So they're on AMC, AMC Plus and TNA Plus. So obviously more people are watching than this. But we're not going to do this. I mean, it's just these are the these are the
numbers everyone. And uh, my guess is that Collision will probably I think Collision and TNA and AMC are the fairest comparison because I think they're going to probably be battling. Although I do think that, you know, it's always the first week that does the best, and especially after that first show. If they do one hundred and seventy thousand and point four this coming Thursday, they should be thanking the good Lord. I did not expect that to happen.
In fact, it could be closer to that ninety thousand and zer point oh three, but we'll see, we shall see.
Yeah. I think TNA used to have a subscription service on YouTube that is no longer there they am confused for sure, but now it is no I am on their YouTube and that is no longer an option. So although you could go watch oh right now, Bully Ray doing a promo with Devon and Jeremy Borash backstage, look at that you know about live all right?
Back in a moment with more news, Well do the NXT report later on. Back in a moment Observer Live.
You are listening to Wrestling Observer Live with Brian Alvarez and Mike simper Vivi on the Sports Byline Broadcasting Network.
In the show, ray Albatz here Wrestling Observer Live. Chop confirmed is WWE departure, He said, in the very near future of my contract with WWE officially comes to an end. Like to thank every single person who contributed the last
ten years of this incredible journey, very special thinking. All the men and women in the locker room would be remissed not to give a special thinking to my Black and Gold family, my wife and daughter spend the first decades of my career traveling world in the independent scene, second decade traveling world with WWE. I have one decade remaining.
I'm unexcited for whatever challenges that lie ahead. I'm an incredibly lucky person, one of the few who has spent his entire adult life living in his childhood dream and it continues to evolve. And he says with that said, for the first time in over ten years, I'm available for all appearances, signings, photo ops, seminars, movies, TV appearance.
It's finish collaboration, sponsorships, and so forth. Funny, so am I in contact him at book Chop at gmail dot com or I'm at f W online at gmail dot com. I should get that guy in cameo. It's another good one. He might be on there for all I know. But anyway, all right, uh, Shingo tokagiy today only now you tell me this?
No, but I think I think that's the way that we should do it.
Okay, Well, let me get through some news real quick, and then we'll talk about NXT and then we'll make a switch here. All right, Shingo Tokagi. We'll be missing some upcoming New Japan events, but he won't be out of action long. He's got Are you ready for this? Damage sustained January nineteenth and twentieth due to his left rib cage and torso.
This is Shingo Takagi. Yeah, did this happen on his honeymoon? I don't know, man, because didn't he just get married married to nets and now now he's injured?
It said this was it did say? Ad?
What did you say? Is Pelvis region?
Bro, we gotta get moving here? Geez? By the way, by the way, Evil Evil might be on his way out of Noo Japan, and it is it is strongly rumored that he is on his way to Wwe Well, which, of course, Tony Khan does like Evil. Remember that, Remember that weird story that came out. I always love weird stories that are so oddly specific. Tony Khan doesn't like Evil. It's like, what do you mean you don't like evil? Like there'll be a mark, Like the guy can work.
He just does those houses, torture manches. You don't have to let him so anyway, Evil.
Evil is one of the best heels in the business. Yeah, without a doubt, There's no doubt in my mind, like top ten heel. You can hate the stick, you can hate what it represents, you can boo it all you want, but he is fantastic at what he does. I love, I absolutely love nothing more than a heel who's not trying to get cheered, and evil is exactly that.
I evil, I will very quickly say with no comments added Nixon. Newell did a long interview with The Wrestling Classic and she believes there was no ill will on either side and that they could be back moose. Guys watching that TNA pay per view with that guy took that backdrop onto the steps and he landed about his perfectly use you can land and it played into the
match and everything. Apparently he screwed his back up, so that was that he did get hurt on that spot, but he didn't make it back in and he did continue the match, and he has had back problems for a long time, but like it worked so perfectly into that match. I thought for sure it was like all by design, and apparently it wasn't. He hurt his back, so I'm sure he was supposed to take the bump
and sell the back for a while. But it's like one of those deals where you know you do an injury an injury spot, and then you actually get injured doing it. What is happening over there? If you weren't going to ask producer for this show while we're at it, just say we're gonna give him a call on the telephone. It wasn't even him, Okay, all right, hopefully it's not Nixon Newell. All right, a couple of notes from the NXT show. We just got to do a quick couple
of notes here. So the booking's terrible. Nothing has changed there. We'll get the negative out of the way first. The booking sucks. The Tony d storyline is death. Literally, his gimmick is like bearded angry mute. He never talks. He just stands there with his beard, looking into the camera with his beady eyes, and he beats everybody up. And
that's all he did on the show. And finally Ava called the cops and he got arrested, and he just kept interfering in all these matches, and I was just like, are we going anywhere with this?
Like?
What are we doing here? This sucks? Am I supposed to like the guy? Dislike the guy? Like why is he employed? I don't get it. And then they're doing the same thing talking about stupid booking. They got that guy what's that guy's name? No, the Carver, Brian he Keanu Carver. Okay, so like Tony D, who is a contracted wrestler, keeps showing up and beating up people, and so Ava has had the guy arrested. The cops came
and arrested him. Okay, Meanwhile, this Keanu Carver is not only basically doing the same thing, but they set him up for an interview and he says, I ain't talking, and so this numbskull interviewer decides asking him a question anyway, he goes to hear me I said, I'm not talking, and he stands up and he leaves. And then they did another one later where like he was asked to do something and he didn't and he just he just stormed out and it was like, why are you employed?
Who is employing you? What are we paying you to do here? So that sucks.
Blake Blake is the guy's Blake Howard. He infuriates me every single time he's on screen.
Oh this guy, he's I've turned the corner on Blake Howard. His absolutely completely useless. That's his gimmick.
Tony d is getting arrested and he decides this is my chance. Yeah, this is my chance to make a shot in this industry. I'm gonna get the Scoop and he runs up. Well, Tony D is getting cuffed and shoved into a cop car and he's badgering him, asking him questions, and I howled. I died because as he's like miffed by what's going on, he's baffled. Otm walks up and they push this nerd. They bush pushed him to the ground and then kind of promo on Dark State. Yes, I loved.
It all right now some good. The opening match was Ethan Page and Eliel Lafleur NXT North American Title. This match was really frickin good and Eliel Lafleur. You can see that like he still does have a way to go with certain things, but he's really good and the fans love him and he's really spectacular, and this was like, this was so NXT in twenty twenty six. They do this match and I just thought, you know what, you just lost at least four big name talents, Like you're
out of talent right now. You've got like Ricky Starkz and Ethan Page on the men's side at least, and it's like, you guys need to make a star like right now. And this Elie Lafleur it was like the perfect day, bring this guy in, have him have an awesome match, beat Ethan Page for the North American title. Anybody want to guess. They beat him, and then later he SLINKs his way to av and just goes, thank you so much for the opportunity, and she goes, don't worry, Ilio,
We'll make sure that you have another appearance someday. I'm like, you made him the biggest nerd in his debut when you could have just made him the champion on the first day and actually made a star. God, I was like, whatever, who cares. Then Shiloh Hill and Josh Briggs they just had like a pro version of a fight.
Oh my god. On commentary Booker T. I could not believe what Booker T said. I think I wrote it down word for word. But like he's wrestling shallow Hill and Booker Steve starts saying, man, this Josh Briggs. If he doesn't gonna win soon, he's gonna get cut from ww You know what happens after WrestleMania people get cut. You're gonna lose his job. And then he lost.
Oh my god. Booker was Wow. Booker was Booker But that was a really good match, and then Sean Legacy and Eli Knight This was also a really good match.
Also Swipe Wright who are now just the Vanity Project? And Chase You I thought was great.
It was actually it wasn't so much that match that was great. But what was great about that match was Kale Yeah, the guy named after.
Like, the Vanity Projects are awesome, come.
They did a good job, but like, this was the best Kale Dixon I've ever seen in my entire life. Like, he looked so good in this match. It was like, Yeah, if this guy looks like this all the time, why is he not on the main roster? I've never seen this guy look this good. He was freaking awesome in this match.
He did one of the best Fosbury flops you've ever seen and then a fantastic the full twist splash. Yeah, well, maybe, you know, maybe he's got some other things that he needs to shore up before he obviously gets the main roster or he's in a singles role. But man, what we saw in this match was beyond promising.
And then after all that, the best match on the show was Kendall and Wren versus Fatal Influence versus Solenzaria. The only problem with this match, which isn't really a problem with this match in particular, is they did so much stuff. It was so ultra choreographed that I watched it and I just thought, you know what, no one's actually learning anything that's gonna help them on the main roster in this match. They're just having this incredible performance
that they practiced. But my god, this match was incredible. And this Kendall, this like Kendall Gray. We had Kendall Red both the d and Fantastic Soul and Zaria, but bro Kendall was the best woman in this match. By miles.
Her and Ren looked like the best team on the roster.
And this Kendall like she did gymnastics when she was like a little girl, but she wasn't like a world class or like she It wasn't like her thing. She did a better moon salt off the post of the floor than any gymnasts that they have on the roster. I'm talking Tiffany, I'm talking uh Klanne. She had the best moon salt. It was absolutely beautiful off the post of the floor. She's not even a freaking gymnast anyway.
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You are listening to Wrestling Observer Live with Brian Alvarez and Mike Sempervivi on the Sports Byline Broadcasting Network.
Good Gun, Almighty, We're back and Yes, Phil Schneider is on the show today. Everybody right now, he's here.
Phil Schneider, the author, Yeah, the author of Way of the Blade, the promoter of Segoon deck Kaya Action. Thank you for being on the show as we had planned today, Phil, no.
Good, I'm glad to do it. This actually day works better for me today than the day I thought I was working. Our second car is in the shop, so I'm just at home reading law school files.
It's sitting around, very very exciting how we made this work.
Phil.
I don't know if you've ever been on the show with me? Have you? Have we ever spoken with them?
I was talking to Tom about this. I think Brian, me and you briefly met at the APW King of the Indies in two thousand and one. I was there, and I think that I used to call the IATE a show occasionally, but outside of that, I think it's been twenty odd years since we've chatted.
Im.
I remember I used to go on Death Valley Driver all the time. I stole all the Dean's gimmicks, and I know your name like the back of my hand. But we've never like done a show here. So very exciting today to talk about all this stuff.
Yeah, but happy to be here, glad to glad to touch Basically obviously I know Tom well, but like I said, this is a first, first chance in many, many decades.
Well, I'll let I'll let Tom ask about the book in a second. But I got asked the one, the one question here, which is, uh, tell us about how the The Dean shows began and and they have now they've been altered? Is that right?
Well? So, uh, the first I kind of wanted its bucket list thing to do was promote a show for a long time. But something I always kind of always was on my you know, long list of things I
wanted to check off. And I got in touch with Matt Griffin, who promotes Action wrestling in Georgia and he was also a death ally driver board guy going back, you know decades, and had the idea of kicked around the idea surely of bringing Yuki Ishikawa and Desuki Akida to America or wressel their match because they've done it in Japan a lot, and did in Germany but never done it in the US. So that was the original idea.
We got somewhere down the farther down the road with those guys ended up they Ishikawa basically said, look, I think my back's two messed up to travel and do this kind of match like I need to sort of pass along to the next generation of guys. So then we kind of shifted to Mania Weekend, shifted to a different you know, card ran the media weekend show that people seem to really enjoy, got a lot of you know,
was a artistic if not a financial success. Then ran you know, got in, I got in touch with Tony Kahan, and we ran D two and D three sort of in relation with a relationship with ROH. And then this one, the next show that we've got coming up in five or a death Valley days. We you know, we did left the D name, put the D name to the side a little bit. I thought we sort of covered it with the first three shows. This one's gonna be more of back up. We're not in a major label anymore.
We're back on Discord Records, doing more of a smaller indie show, but with some really cool ideas, and theoretically might be hook up back with r o H later this year, but you know, that's in the that's in the discussion rather than the date.
Plant and Tony Kahan was a Death Valley Driver troll back in the day, wasn't.
He Yeah, yeah, he was a he coached Tony K. I had obviously no idea, uh.
But yeah, I slapped him around a couple of times on that board.
I don't know.
I was a bigger, much bigger dick had when I was like twenty five than I am now. So probably, but I'll mean here, he didn't hold it. He didn't hold it a grudge. Obviously we're buddies now.
I'll phil this upcoming show, the Death Valley Days show. It's taking place in just outside of Knoxville, Tennessee. Is that Chattanooga. Oh, I'm sorry that Chattanooga is a much better place to be fair, So sorry, Chattanoogan's out there.
Yeah, I've ever been. I've only been to I've been to Nashville is the only part of tendency I've been due before. So I'm looking forward to checking out, uh Chattanoo. Yet the Red Bank Arena, which is where a promotion called twe runs pretty regular.
What do you have on the card so far for that night?
So so far we've got three matches, Uh, well, two matches officially lined up and then a third appearance. I don't think we've officially dropped the opponent, but we've got mad Dog Connolly who had versus Slade and mad Dog Connolly was main evented semi main event of the first show against Demas, which is a match that a lot of people really loved. May evented the second show against Adam Priest and a dog collar matches in the third
show with e w Arena lost his haired Demons. So he's been kind of the guy that's been on the top of most of the shows that we've done. He's wrestling Slay. He was a you know, really great brawler from the East Coast. The guy has been at you know, sort of does the prison gimmick both as a shoot and in real life. He wasn't on the first show because he was locked up.
He's headlined many state penitentiary cards in his.
Day, headlines all of those, and you know, and we had him on he was on part of Dean three and I remember him just kind of being pacing backstage, terrifying back to so it.
Felt like, before you go any further, no swearing on the show or on the radio, Go ahead, I apologize.
Podcast. Now you're doing radio. So Uh, so that's what Then we've got.
Can do it?
Can you do it?
So?
Do we need to cut the interview short?
He could do it? You kidding me? Go ahead, Phil, I apologize.
You know, I'm a father of small children. I should learn to keep by leguage clean and ready for the family consumption. You've got Nathan Mawy is wrestling sort of the returning mister and sanity. Toby Klein was kind of a death King of the Death Match Icon guys, guy
from like the two thousands. And then we've got the return of Carl Malako, who is one of the great shoot style wrestlers of all time, fighting champion Battle Arts Icon, the guy who has not wrestled a professional wrestling match in fifteen years plus, really hasn't wrestled regularly almost twenty and we pulled him out of retirement and he's wrestling
on that show. And that's that's a pretty so I as a guy who was a gigantic, you know, at a large fan, obviously, that was sort of the impetus for the whole idea of the show initially to actually be able to pull that off. That, Yeah, out of all the crazy things that I've done, and I've written two books. I've written for The Ringer and GQ and Yaou Sports and had Blue Panther on two of my shows. And to have to pull Carlmelank out of retires the apex of the My Pro Wrestling Lunacy Journey for sure.
Yeah, there's so many announcements I see in pro wrestling. There's so many cool matches like today just actually Gangrel versus Matt Tremont announced, which is a Matt I never thought I'd want to see. But nothing has got me more excited. Nothing popped me bigger than seeing that video of Carl Malenko training in his backyard like he's Carl Gotch forty years ago on VHS. I got so excited seeing that I cannot wait. I cannot wait to see him in that ring.
Yeah, I'm super amped for it. I mean, like I said, the video if she said, is that video? And he said the only note was could you put stranglehold over the workout? Thing?
That? Like?
Can that? I think I can absolutely do? And it really felt to be like if you guys should watch the video, It really felt to be like something you know Central States would run. They're bringing in an opponent for Bulldog Bob Brower or something like that, which is very much the vibe that you know, we're going for follo of these shows. We want these to be like I want them to feel like a Death Valley Driver
video review as a wrestling card. Right, So we wanted to have a lot of you know, variety, have a lot of different people, introduce you to things that you didn't guys you never heard of, Introduce you to guys that maybe you'd heard of but never seen.
Well, talk about about these books.
We'll tell you about the book. So I've written two books.
The first book trying to get you some money, Phil.
Yeah, Tom needs to buy at least one of them because it got stole.
Right, Yes, I thought, I thought, I'll give you a copy next time I see you, Tom.
I've owed you a look at that.
Tom.
I just hope you said, Phil, you set me the digital copy.
It's fine, I say, that's funny, but yeah, but you've gotta have something. You got to feel the paper in
the Yeah. The first book is Death the Way of the Blade hundreds of the greatest bloody matches in professional wrestling history, and that is sort of an essay about all of these different matches, stuff dating back to the nineteen fifties in France, the lucha, the Japanese wrestling, to you know, Indian wrestling, to you know, WrestleMania matches just sort of a snapshot of the history of pro wrestling through bloody wrestling and a really really incredible illustrations and
that by Chris Bryant, so that his first book and then the second book is sort of sort of a sequel. This is it was a way of the Blade a W editions, and this is talking about the great bloody matches in a W history, similar essays and then the art and then I also did a lot of interviews
for that book. So I talked to you know, John Moxley and Tony Kahn and Eddie Kingston and Ryan Danielson, and they were you know, with you know, the Boni m jan you know, Darby Allen, you know, everybody, almost everybody I wanted to talk to him I was able to talk to. And then they kind of went pretty in depth in the way that they sort of looked and approached the matches that they were in. So I'd
write about you know, Brian Danielson, MJF. Iron Man, match, have a cool art for it, and then you know, long interview excerpts of both those guys about that match. So it's pretty cool that they've been It's been fun to sort of turn writing from a hobby into something that I sent I make some money from, which is something that's happened in the last year three or four years.
Like I said, I was writing a weekly column for The Ringer for a while, and now I'm doing you know a lot of writing for uh Yahoo.
Now are you looking? And we're put together a third book. Is there something in the works.
Yeah, I probably probably just gonna do a more traditional way of the Blade sequel. I got a couple of other ones that are kind of sitting on my hard driving my computer. I'm doing it with a Hybrid Shoe, which is John Stone's publishing company. So I've got one that's probably thirty five percent done, and then another couple that are you know, floating around. And my goal is to try to do it, you know, Michael Connolly style
where you can accept it. Expect to do Bosh book every October on the yeah, and that sort of expect to do Phil Schneider joint every year. Not there yet, but that's my eventual goal with that.
Are you as into progressing as you were twenty years ago?
Probably not like a kids now and I'm married, you know, it's easier to not be it, and I, you know, I So it was interesting for a while when I was writing for the ring, I was doing and I was watching everything, which like I think you guys is similar to what you guys do. Or I was watching you know, raw and this fact Dynamite and you know, right, I was worrying about the Indies two, So I was dating into that in Japan, Mexico. So for a while,
I was like really on my grind. And since I stopped doing that, I'm now started just more into you know, weirder projects, you know what I mean, Like I'll you know, get a I got a wrestling U May Factory handheld from nineteen ninety four, and I'm watching right now for Sigurdicayaena. I'm doing stuff for the book. So I still him into the more obscure stuff. I would say I'm significantly less interested in the modern stuff. Although gets two thousand
and six, I don't the highest interested. I wasn't modern wrestling in two thousand and six. Either, So I don't enough, probably less than I was the nineteen ninety eight Phil.
You've been obviously like a tape trader forever since it existed. Is there like a holy grail that's still out there that you could think of that you would love to get a hold of.
There's so much, right So, there's some things that I know from a friend of mine who went down to Mexico that apparently one of the owners of IWRG just has lucha from Arena knock Upon going back to the nineteen eighties, Like so, you know, has just footage of rookie year Polino and all of these incredible hair mass matches that happened in that arena, and I know that exists.
So that's something that I'm salivating over. Obviously, the stuff that, you know, whatever omni footage they have it in the vault that they haven't released yet. It's unclear about how much stuff they really have there, but obviously they were releasing that any fits and starts, and so there's all kinds of shows that you might guess they might have incomplete.
Well, hold that out right there. When I do a break, we'll talk more lost media after the break. Observer Live.
You were listening to Wrestling Observer Live with Brian Alvarez and Mike simper Vivi on the Sports Byline Broadcasting Network.
Back in the show, Bran Albers here Filthy Tom Phil Schneider is joining us. We got two more pieces of pro wrestling lost media, and then we got some plugs. Phil.
That's good. The other one is the NWA Houston Archives, which there were somebody bought and was releasing on the internet. There's a Terry Fumm Harley m Patricks is one of the best matches of all time. And then the guy sold the NWA to Billy Corgan and then they stopped releasing that stuff. And then I want to get my friend Ayisuki Okada to give me all the food tent. But two of those things I'm working on. I'm working a night of RG.
And FU ten twenty six excellent. Well, tell us about the books and the shows and let's get some plugs out there.
Sounds good. So I've got the two books. They're both available on the Amazon Way, the Blade Way, the Blade the aw Edition. Both of them I think are really cool for you know, hardcore wrestling nerds or even people just you know if you're listening to this, you're a big enough nerd that you'd enjoy both of those books a lot. I think we've got the show coming up February twenty eighth, if you're anywhere around Chattanoogaut, Tennessee. Those tickets are tickets are available to look up action on
x so you can buy them there. But that's going to be a I'm really excited about the show. It should be sick first three First, the D two is on YouTube. D three is on our Oh the roh on our club. DAN one is on IWTV. I've got some articles from Crowned one that I'm working on right now that I'm really proud of and excited about, and some other really cool ones if you want to look at my archives there.
All right, well, Phil, I want to thank you so much. Filberd in the show today. Are totally at a time, Yes, lose again sometime as professionally as we can. Thanks for listening, everybody, Wrestling Observer Live. You have been listening to the Wrestling Observer Daily podcast on the eight Side Network