Episode 3 - California Rockabilly

in , , ,

Johnny Legend and friends from his mid-1980s Rock ‘n’ Roll Wrestling VHS tape.

We welcome Kurt Brown back to the show to discuss the life and times of Johnny Legend, who passed away recently at the age of 77.

Not only was Kurt a long-time of Johnny, but he also wrestled for his Incredibly Strange Wrestling in the 1990s. Just what where those shows like, which featured such characters as Cletus the Fetus, the Abortionist, Ku Klux Klown and manager Harley Racist and Stacey Domina (Synn in Ohio Valley Wrestling).

This leads to a discussion of alternative/punk/meta wrestling companies, including Chikara, Inter Species Wrestling, Kaiju Big Battel and the precursor to them all, Argentina’s Titanes el en Ring.

We also talk about some of Johnny’s other wrestling other projects: the 1980s Rock ‘n’ Roll Wrestling VHS tape (chock full of Memphis music videos), writing the classic novelty song Pencil Neck Geek and helping create My Breakfast with Blassie, starring Fred Blassie and Andy Kaufman.

There’s plenty of other topics, including Johnny and Kurt’s mutual friend Eric Caiden from Hollywood Book and Poster (you can hear Kurt eulogize Eric way back in Winter Palace episode seven in 2015), going to see lucha in Tiajuana back in the day, the success of former Odessa Steps Magazine cover star Hechicero, Los Hernandez Brothers and lucha in Love and Rockets (see our article about that on the website, including a chat with Xaime Hernandez) and more.

It’s been a while since Kurt has been on the show, but we hope to have him again soon for more stories.

1 out 1 Sorcerers Prefer Odessa Steps Magazine. Hechiero shows off Odessa Steps Magazine in 2016.

Episode 2 - The Autumn Wind

Steve Williams, in Oklahoma uniform, prepares to launch himself at Jim Duggan.

A podcast years in the making finally gets recorded, albeit minus one of the proposed participants.

I’m joined by Mike Sempervive to discuss football-playing wrestlers and who had the most success in combining a collegiate and/or professional football with their exploits inside the ring. Some oustanding football players could not bring that sucess to the squared circle. Some football players became all-time grappling greats. But who was the best at combing the two.

Some caveats: This chat only is concerned with the territory era of the sport, so excludes early pioneers like Bronco Nagurski and post 1980s stars like The Rock, Bill Goldberg and competitors from the modern scene.

A sampling of the almost 100 names on the list for discussion include Ernie Ladd, Wahoo McDaniel, Dick the Bruiser, Wilbur Snyder, Angelo Mosca, Steve Williams, Jim Duggan, Lex Luger, Ron Simmons, JBL, Russ Francis and the 11 alumni from West Texas State, from Dory and Terry Funk to Ted DiBiase, Tully Blanchard and Tito Santana. Some of the names on the list may surprise you, since their football past was never part of their wrestling gimmick.

Which wrestlers’ football exploits were real and which were just works to enhance their reputation for toughness? Which football players could have been exceptional wrestlers had they given up the gridiron for the ring? These topics and more are in this episode.

NB: Hopefully this is the first of two shows on the topic and we can schedule our absent third man in the booth for a follow-up show.