All Purpose Podcast/Shoot Interview Thread

[Shoalzie]

In the middle of listening to 'Killing the Town'...Don talks with Kenny. It's partly about the upcoming TSN documentary but it's a bit about him as well. Pretty good so far.

 

[Shoalzie]

Jay White on 'Talk is Jericho' was a nice introduction to him and his background. Only first heard of him during the build up to his debut as Switchblade against Tanahashi. Seems like a pretty good dude but man is he a monster heel right now.

 

[Big Poppa Puck]

White was boring and generic in ROH. The Switchblade character is great though.

 

[Engebretson]

I'm listening to an older "Something to Wrestle with Bruce Prichard" podcast right now and the topic is the Invasion of WCW and ECW...

I've said before that I like the Prichard podcasts better than the Bischoff podcasts because Prichard has a tendency to get less defensive about stupid decisions, but Bruce was making his best Bischoff impression in this podcast. Conrad even called him "Bischoff" at one point to because he was getting so frustrated with his answers. Specifically, the subtopic of DDP and his character introduction to WWE as the psychopath that was stalking Undertaker's wife.

Prichard vehemently defends this decision stating that people were bored of the DDP character in WCW and kept bringing up the fact that WCW went out of business as support for that theory. First of all, I must have missed that episode of the Monday Night Wars on the WWE Network where they go over how bored WCW fans got with guys like DDP. It wasn't due to the crappy angles that were booked, Eric Bischoff and Vince Russo respectively thinking they were the smartest guys on the planet or general irresponsibility in running the company, no, it was because the DDP character got played out. So, you changed him to a heel that is obsessed with the Undertaker's wife and buried the living crap out of him by August making sure that character would be worthless going forward. Prichard even acknowledged that was a bad decision but still defended the decision over bringing DDP in with the character he had in WCW. Conrad said it sounds like "someone didn't get" the DDP character and he and Bruce just kept going around in circles until they both gave up.

There's just a lot of times where Conrad asks them why they didn't do something different with the WCW guys and Prichard usually says something like "the fans didn't like it", or "the fans didn't want it". It sounds more to me like Vince didn't like it or Vince didn't want it and that sums up the one main gripe I have with the Prichard podcasts... he'll either talk about Vince's opinions like they're irrefutable facts or he'll just say "that's what Vince wanted to do" and kind of lay the blame for bad decisions at Vince's feet. I get more frustrated with the former as we've all seen so many times how Vince's opinions on some booking decisions are completely bananas and probably based on the indigestion that Vince had from breakfast that morning. I've said before though, the Bischoff podcasts get frustrating because you expect an honest autopsy of a stupid angle/show but get ridiculous defenses instead and that's what you're going to also get here with the Invasion angle.

Interesting to hear Prichard's side on some decisions, but it's also a but frustrating at times.

 

[JackSlater]

It's the 100th episode of Greetings From Allentown, looking at the RAW from June 1, 1998!

- The peak of the Mr. McMahon character trading jabs with his top stars
- A Nation vs DX six man tag all-star game!
- The Undertaker begins his evolution by dressing poorly
- Taka Michinoku and Bradshaw: like a 1960s TV comedy pairing
- Shamrock and Severn: division killers?
- How and why Val Venis could only exist from 1998-2000
- Admiring the outfit of newcomer Jacqueline
- The unselfish Terry Funk risks major injury against Mark Henry
- Double J contradicts everything he said months earlier

Plus:
- A tongue in cheek promo for the charitable Mr. McMahon
- What do you do when “Godwinns’ Law” goes bad
- Revealing the top 5 from my PTBN GWWE tag team ballot
- A method of remaining calm when your team is in a tense playoff game
- Sports moments of 2000: Rams/Titans, Pedro/Roger, an ugly incident in Vancouver, the “HC of the NYJ”,
- Hatching a diabolical plan to go to WrestleMania in New Jersey

This is my Lance Storm-esque "congratulations on 100 episodes".

I'm listening to an older "Something to Wrestle with Bruce Prichard" podcast right now and the topic is the Invasion of WCW and ECW...

I've said before that I like the Prichard podcasts better than the Bischoff podcasts because Prichard has a tendency to get less defensive about stupid decisions, but Bruce was making his best Bischoff impression in this podcast. Conrad even called him "Bischoff" at one point to because he was getting so frustrated with his answers. Specifically, the subtopic of DDP and his character introduction to WWE as the psychopath that was stalking Undertaker's wife.

Prichard vehemently defends this decision stating that people were bored of the DDP character in WCW and kept bringing up the fact that WCW went out of business as support for that theory. First of all, I must have missed that episode of the Monday Night Wars on the WWE Network where they go over how bored WCW fans got with guys like DDP. It wasn't due to the crappy angles that were booked, Eric Bischoff and Vince Russo respectively thinking they were the smartest guys on the planet or general irresponsibility in running the company, no, it was because the DDP character got played out. So, you changed him to a heel that is obsessed with the Undertaker's wife and buried the living crap out of him by August making sure that character would be worthless going forward. Prichard even acknowledged that was a bad decision but still defended the decision over bringing DDP in with the character he had in WCW. Conrad said it sounds like "someone didn't get" the DDP character and he and Bruce just kept going around in circles until they both gave up.

There's just a lot of times where Conrad asks them why they didn't do something different with the WCW guys and Prichard usually says something like "the fans didn't like it", or "the fans didn't want it". It sounds more to me like Vince didn't like it or Vince didn't want it and that sums up the one main gripe I have with the Prichard podcasts... he'll either talk about Vince's opinions like they're irrefutable facts or he'll just say "that's what Vince wanted to do" and kind of lay the blame for bad decisions at Vince's feet. I get more frustrated with the former as we've all seen so many times how Vince's opinions on some booking decisions are completely bananas and probably based on the indigestion that Vince had from breakfast that morning. I've said before though, the Bischoff podcasts get frustrating because you expect an honest autopsy of a stupid angle/show but get ridiculous defenses instead and that's what you're going to also get here with the Invasion angle.

Interesting to hear Prichard's side on some decisions, but it's also a but frustrating at times.

Yeah you pretty much nailed it in regard to Prichard. Bischoff, or whom I am a fan as a wrestling talent, seems desperate to revise things. He spins everything into a positive light even though a lot of it either can't possibly be true or contradicts contemporary statements, even his own in some cases. Prichard just tries to justify every decision as if anyone who recognizes how bad some of those decisions were is an idiot who doesn't have the full picture, but then he rarely adds any extra context or the context he adds is nonsense. My sense is that Bischoff actually believes a lot of what he is saying while Prichard is hoping to keep things positive with WWE and especially the top guys. Both guys have a lot of interesting stuff to say but it's tedious to deal with their constant spin and agendas.

 

[Dr Pepper]

Watched this over the weekend, I think Bischoff did a great job being.....Eric Bischoff. The man we all know and hate.

 

[Engebretson]

My sense is that Bischoff actually believes a lot of what he is saying while Prichard is hoping to keep things positive with WWE and especially the top guys. Both guys have a lot of interesting stuff to say but it's tedious to deal with their constant spin and agendas.

Funny you mention this. I just listened to the episode where they go over Triple H/Stephanie and their real and kayfabe lives. Prichard doesn't have anything negative to say about either Triple H or Stephanie and says that it sucked for Chyna but raved about what a great couple came out of it with Trips and Steph. In a previous episode on Shawn Michaels, Conrad tries to goad Bruce into saying something negative about Triple H and Bruce still refuses. The episodes they do (previously or eventually) on the "Reign of Terror" should be entertaining.

 

[JackSlater]

Funny you mention this. I just listened to the episode where they go over Triple H/Stephanie and their real and kayfabe lives. Prichard doesn't have anything negative to say about either Triple H or Stephanie and says that it sucked for Chyna but raved about what a great couple came out of it with Trips and Steph. In a previous episode on Shawn Michaels, Conrad tries to goad Bruce into saying something negative about Triple H and Bruce still refuses. The episodes they do (previously or eventually) on the "Reign of Terror" should be entertaining.

I think it's pretty transparent. I get where he's coming from, and considering that this is a guy who worked in and around the wrestling business since he was a kid it isn't surprising that he would be essentially working people with his podcast. I know that Cornette and Meltzer have commented on him basically playing a character with his podcast. I do wonder if WWE will be willing to use him as a stooge in the future when it comes time to further revise wrestling history.

If he has little negative to say about HHH during his reign of terror when he drove so many fans away then there's nothing to do but laugh.

 

[GarbageGoal]

Funny you mention this. I just listened to the episode where they go over Triple H/Stephanie and their real and kayfabe lives. Prichard doesn't have anything negative to say about either Triple H or Stephanie and says that it sucked for Chyna but raved about what a great couple came out of it with Trips and Steph. In a previous episode on Shawn Michaels, Conrad tries to goad Bruce into saying something negative about Triple H and Bruce still refuses. The episodes they do (previously or eventually) on the "Reign of Terror" should be entertaining.

It's a long running joke on the show that Bruce will never say a bad thing about Trips. Or really Stephanie either. Listen to the "Why Bruce Got Fired" episode. I think it was about two years ago now. Even then he explains away Stephanie's difficulty to work with by blaming himself and remaining very neutral as to who he thinks ratted him out as to supposedly "pulling a gun" on a writer.

Part of me still thinks he would go back there in a second if he could.

 

[Engebretson]

It's a long running joke on the show that Bruce will never say a bad thing about Trips. Or really Stephanie either. Listen to the "Why Bruce Got Fired" episode. I think it was about two years ago now. Even then he explains away Stephanie's difficulty to work with by blaming himself and remaining very neutral as to who he thinks ratted him out as to supposedly "pulling a gun" on a writer.

Part of me still thinks he would go back there in a second if he could.

I just listened to the "Why Bruce Got Fired" episode, and yeah, he does his best to make sure that he tells his side of the story while keeping the blame completely off Stephanie. He even says that what happened was "100%" his fault and that he could have handled things better. I mean, we can all handle things better in situations like that, but it's also quite clear that he was not completely to blame. You can tell there's more to the story that he doesn't want to admit because he knows he'd get the McMahon grudge. The part about the gun was really just laughed off by Prichard and mostly turned into a joke by the end of the episode. Even Conrad has a monologue toward the end of the episode defending Stephanie where he says he's met her and he doesn't know where she gets the reputation she has.

On a scale of Bischoff to 10, that was episode was closer to Bischoff as far as satisfaction...

 

[bruins309]

Greetings From Allentown episode 103 out now!
With some regrets it is back to January 1984 for a look at some AWA TV aimed at the St. Louis market!
- Trying to stay sane watching this very AWA show
- A comparison for Ken Resnick trying to replace Gene Okerlund, who they couldn’t edit out of the show
- The hilarity of two white dudes dressing up like Arab sheiks
- Why a Billy Robinson wouldn’t be a pro wrestler in the modern era
- World champ Nick Bockwinkel: not quite so gangsta
- Talking about anything but the sad downfall of Superstar Billy Graham
- Pondering trying Jesse Ventura as a top babyface
- Tom Stone carries Baron Von Raschke to the match of the night(!)

Plus:
- The many many many MANY issues with the AWA’s t-shirt
- A brief history of channel 30 KDNL-TV in St. Louis
- The importance of having characters in your everyday life
- More Karate Kid 2 talk!
- Referees who just aren’t trying or giving a crap
- Sports moments of 2003: what Bartman should have done, a personal anecdote on the River City Relay, confessions about game 7 of the ALCS, and “Off the floor, on the board”

 

[Engebretson]

Ok, I'm going through these Prichard podcasts like wildfire right now and I stumbled upon the WrestleMania 19 episode.

Conrad and Bruce are talking about the HHH/Booker T angle leading up to the match and Bruce is adamant that HHH should have gone over. Conrad is calling him out on all the racist BS that happened in the build and Bruce is saying that it was taken out of context and that if you look at the whole build it was 100% about WCW vs. WWF. Now, I was not watching during this time, but I have the DVD of this event and I've seen the promo on this build about 50 times. The build felt like it was about how HHH thought he was better than Booker T and Booker T wasn't good enough to beat HHH. There was some references to WCW in there but there was probably more racist garbage in there about Booker's looks, how Booker was nothing but a criminal and how he's just there to make HHH laugh. If they were going for a WCW vs. WWF angle there then they crapped their pants completely because that was not the picture that got painted. Bruce is defending the crap out of this too saying the babyface shouldn't always win (even though they used that formula at Mania for years before HHH became a main eventer) and that Vince wanted Brock winning the title to be the main focus. Conrad is saying, like every other fan who criticized this build and match, that given how Booker T was being portrayed by HHH in this angle that the babyface should have won.

The defense of this booking is eyeroll inducing and feels like Bruce is just trying to not say that HHH or Vince were wrong in how this went down. Again, I really want to listen to an episode where they go over HHH in 2002-2003 so that Conrad can roast him on HHH some more.

 

[M.C.G. 31]

Bruce is a shill who wants to stay on HHH’s good side out of hope of landing a lucrative position in WWE soon, that’s the only thing I can think of. He can’t be that dense.

 

[Engebretson]

Bruce is a shill who wants to stay on HHH’s good side out of hope of landing a lucrative position in WWE soon, that’s the only thing I can think of. He can’t be that dense.

You can tell he's way more careful in regard to what he says about HHH and Stephanie. Even more so than what he says about Vince.

 

[JackSlater]

Booker already got the rubbbbbbuhhhh from being in the ring with The Gameeeeeuhhhhhh the star of the attitude era and hero of WWE. Can't have Tri risking his richly deserved spot for someone like that. Next you'll say that Booker T should have kicked out of the pedigreeuhhhhhh after Tri nailed it and crawled over to him approximately two weeks later for the pin. The fact of the matter isuhhhh that The Game was That.Damn.Good.

 

[GKJ]

Hilarious rant by Bryan Alvarez to Lance Storm about heels and faces today.

 

[bruins309]

For episode 104 of Greetings From Allentown, it's back to 1985 for a look at WWF Saturday Night’s Main Event from October 5, 1985!

- Uncle Elmer gets married and gets his balls busted by Jesse Ventura
- The concept of following Golden Era WWF through only Saturday Night’s Main Event
- Political differences between faces and heels on the issue of free speech
- Acceptance of non-finishes just to see Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff fight
- Weird attire to wear to a wedding
- Greg Valentine takes on a new project and gets the tag team title as retainer
- The Body Shop as a B-show talk segment

Plus:
- The many feelings of attending a wedding in a Catholic church
- Righteous anger about the guy with the airhorn
- Poor Jerry Valiant: from Oprah to Uncle Elmer in ‘85
- A fun fact about one the NBC TV executives
- The importance of the 1985 Geneva summit between Reagan and Gorbachev
- Sports moments of 2004: the first time Dave Roberts helped the Red Sox win a playoff game, Damon slays the Yankees, Bill Walton is sad, Gelinas wins it, and incredible prognostications!

 

[JackSlater]

Prichard showing that he is a next level worker. It helps to keep kayfabe brother.

 

[M.C.G. 31]

I dunno why I'm just listening to Randy's podcast interview on E&C from 2017 now, but in the first 2 minutes he was talking about dieting and how he has to try hard to keep shape now and he drops "and we all know how trying hard goes for me, I don't like to try too hard at anything" and Edge just burst out laughing lol

 

[bruins309]

Greetings From Allentown #107 is out now with a look at the January 17, 1987 episode of UWF TV!

- The Freebirds run roughshod over everything and also evoke a comparison to a memorable movie trio
- Positive aspects of how Bill Watts would run his TV shows
- A better use of Eddie Gilbert for 1987: Roddy Piper's "vice president"
- The One Man Gang shows creative use of a table
- Enjoying the fired up babyface version of Ted DiBiase
- Young Sting uses his head
- Making excuses for the lovely Missy Hyatt
- Matches get sidetracked and why that didn't matter this time
- The obscurity of the then-TV champion of the UWF

Plus:
- The weirdness of how/why/when this video came from
- Trying to get comfortable while podcasting
- An explanation of an angle from the 1989 Royal Rumble
- A few "original" commercials
- Sports moments of 2007: Patrik Stefan, Schilling loses a no no, Devin Hester dazzles, Randy Moss amazes, and driving from Los Angeles to Las Vegas after a hockey game!
- YouTube Comment Theater!

 

[bruins309]

Episode 108 of Greetings is out now on World Class TV from 10-16-1982! Michael Hayes arrives as the 1st Freebird, reactions to him (making this one a great place to start watching WCCW), Ric Flair is calm under pressure, Jay Saldi on color can't wait to tell you meaningless stuff, a visit from a NFL legend, and parenting in the early 80s and how that relates to Bugsy McGraw's character at the time!

 

[bruins309]

As we head toward WrestleMania 35, Greetings From Allentown goes back in time for a look at the final edition of WWF Championship Wrestling prior to the first WrestleMania, from March 30, 1985!

- Mr. T and Hulk Hogan get ready for the WrestleMania main event the only way they know how: with a Rocky-esque training montage video!
- An update segment on the Junkyard Dog devolves into an examination of Lord Al Hayes’ TV manner, Vince McMahon fetishes, and wondering if it’s hypocritical to discuss
- The last minute steps taken to clear up confusion about WrestleMania and the busy week in the company
- King Kong Bundy’s strange decision on his attire
- The first ever Savage-Steamboat match* in the WWF!
- Another controversial incident involving fruit in Piper’s Pit
- The great Buddy Rose is relegated to enhancement work but finds a way to shine
- Trying to figure out why Bruno Sammartino took over play by play for nearly a minute

Plus:
- Using non-“Born in the USA” Bruce Springsteen songs for other WWF talents over the years
- An update on the late King Kong Bundy’s cats
- Solving the puzzle of the modern day equivalent of Mr. T
- A new song celebrating everything 1985 in the WWF!
- One man and his “boring” chant
- Sports moments of 2009: A steal of home interrupts a thought, a championship comeback, the Habs get swept, excitable Spanish broadcasts, and more!

 

[bruins309]

Been forgetting to plug Greetings From Allentown over here for the last five episodes 110-114.

110: WWF Wrestling Challenge from 03-31-1991, this was the post-WM7 show and has the Slaughter locker room attack on Hogan, Sherri joins Ted officially, and Heenan/Gorilla banter
111: Memphis Wrestling July 14, 1984, Randy Savage and his brother Lanny Poffo are joined, and the Macho Man makes history by piledriving Ricky Morton thru a table
112: NWA Worldwide 10-26-1985: Magnum TA gets handsy with Baby Doll, build to Starrcade 85, pondering Arn Anderson as President of the United States
113: WWF Superstars 09-30-1989: The coronation of the Macho King as all the heels stand around and watch
114: AWA TV 01-06-1990: the Team Challenge Series, broken promises, and Larry Z the tree hugger; plus former Dallas Stars PBP man Ralph Strangis is on the call and I look at this appearance on the game show Press Your Luck from 1984

 

[Shoalzie]

Moxley on TIJ...say no more. He put a bow on everything. Happy for the guy to be able to be himself again.

Favorite part was the ending talking about how he filmed the prison break trailer for Twitter. He didn't mention it but I imagine they had to have shot the Time's Up promo for Juice and the U.S. title because they were on a set with a prison yard and a bar. I'm trying to think when they started airing that during the New Japan shows...if those timelines lined up.

 

[M.C.G. 31]

Went back to watch the Best of the Indies Moxley interview from all those years ago and completely forgot about Jon getting choked up when he was talking about making amends with his mom and mellowing out from addiction when he took a year off wrestling and his childhood shit. Now I think back to Austin’s podcast where he kept poking at his personal life and was getting angry that he was getting no answer lol.