10 Bell Pod

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On this solo, offseason, episode of 10 Bell Pod, Nick goes way back.

Long before AEW Dynamite, WrestleMania and before wrestling was ever called sports entertainment, there was the sport of grappling.

This is the story of where professional wrestling actually came from.

Starting in the coal towns of northern England, Nick traces the roots of modern wrestling back to the brutal catch-as-catch-can grappling matches fought by miners and laborers for money, pride, and survival.

From there, the story travels across the Atlantic to the American carnival circuit, where wrestlers challenged locals using devastating submission holds and carefully staged drama to build one of the greatest illusions in sports.

Along the way, the episode explores the birth of kayfabe, the rise of early superstars like Frank Gotch and George Hackenschmidt, and the moment when promoters realized that pure competition wasn't enough to keep crowds engaged.

That realization led to one of the most important turning points in wrestling history: the arrival of The Gold Dust Trio, the group that reorganized the industry and turned wrestling from a legitimate sport into the carefully structured spectacle we recognize today.

Wrestling didn't start in a ring under bright lights, it started in pubs, fields, and traveling tents.

IMPORTANT LINKS:

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On the season 5 finale we wrap up our coverage on the great Terry Funk.

Terry Funk didn't just wrestle across generations, he evolved, understood and embraced.

Today we continue to prove that the Funker became the connective tissue of professional wrestling history: a performer who thrived in the territory era, reinvented himself in the chaos of hardcore wrestling and still found ways to shape the Attitude Era and beyond.

From helping launch ECW to influencing legends like Mick Foley & Brian Pillman, to working with our very own Man Scout Jake Manning, Funk's career reveals something deeper than longevity. He grasped the core truth of wrestling: that the business is about emotion, risk and evolution.

IMPORTANT LINKS:

Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/10bellpod⁠⁠⁠

Reddit: ⁠⁠https://www.reddit.com/r/10BellPod⁠⁠

Patreon: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/10BellPod⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Terry Funk wasn't just a great wrestler, he was one of the most influential figures the industry has ever seen.

He helped connect multiple eras of professional wrestling: from the territorial days of the NWA, to the violent innovation of ECW, to the mainstream boom of the Attitude Era. Along the way he inspired generations of wrestlers, including Mick Foley, Tommy Dreamer, and countless others.

For many fans and wrestlers alike, Terry Funk belongs on any serious Mount Rushmore of professional wrestling.

What We Cover In This Episode

• Terry Funk's role in the early days of ECW

• His brutal FMW and IWA Japan death matches

• The infamous King of the Death Match tournament with Mick Foley

• Helping elevate stars like Sabu, Shane Douglas, and Raven

• The chaotic ECW chair throwing riot

• Funk's WWF Attitude Era run as Chainsaw Charlie

• His feud with the New Age Outlaws

• Behind the scenes influence on wrestling personalities like Brian Pillman's Loose Cannon gimmick

• Late career appearances across WCW, ROH, TNA, and the independent scene

• Personal stories about meeting Terry Funk and why he was beloved across the wrestling world

Welcome to the season 5 MAIN EVENT - Part 1.

What is greatness in pro wrestling?

Is it money? Is it belts? Is it star ratings? Influence, risk, reinvention?

Because by any metric, it's Terry Funk.

This episode isn't about Chainsaw Charlie. It's not about the crazy old man swinging chairs in ECW. It's about the through line of professional wrestling itself, and the man who quietly bled through every era of it.

Before the barbed wire. Before the empty arena. Before the "forever" retirement. 

There was a kid who grew up inside the business, learned it from the source, and then spent five decades reshaping it without ever chasing credit.

From territorial greatness to All Japan's rise, from NWA world champion to Hollywood detours, from classic wrestling to controlled chaos, Terry Funk wasn't just present, he was connective tissue. 

When wrestling changed, he changed with it. When it stagnated, he shocked it awake.

This is the story of a magician. A madman. A craftsman.

Before hardcore was a genre, before nostalgia was a marketing strategy, before the industry fractured and rebranded itself a dozen times over there was Terry Funk.

IMPORTANT LINKS:

Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/10bellpod⁠⁠⁠

Reddit: ⁠⁠https://www.reddit.com/r/10BellPod⁠⁠

Patreon: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/10BellPod⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Terry Funk (Part 1): The World Champion Who Refused to Stay Retired

This episode reframes Terry Funk not as ECW's grandpa, but as one of the last true through lines in pro wrestling history/.

From Amarillo to NWA World Champion, from All Japan legend to WWF villain, this is about adaptability, ego control, and creative violence. 

Funk isn't just a Hall of Famer. He's connective tissue between wrestling's past and everything that followed.

He was born into wrestling's foundation. Trained by Dory Funk Sr., raised inside a territory, and molded in an era where protecting the business was survival, Terry understood wrestling as both fight and theater from childhood.

His NWA title reign proved range. 

Technical in Missouri, stiff in Japan, brawling in Florida, adaptable everywhere. He made local heroes look credible without diluting the belt.

Japan made him immortal. 

The Funk Brothers vs. The Sheik and Abdullah the Butcher wasn't just a feud. It was generational business that funded his first "retirement."

The empty arena match changed television wrestling. 

What failed as a ticket selling angle became a blueprint for controlled chaos and performance intensity.

He understood timing. 

He left when it made sense. He returned when it mattered. From WrestleMania 2 to the 1989 Flair feud, Funk repeatedly turned "one more run" into something essential.

What usually gets missed

Before the barbed wire and blood, Terry Funk was already one of the accomplished, most complete wrestlers in the world. 

And then, he kept evolving.

Part two of our Road Warriors series is less about wins and losses and more about what happens as the roar fades.

After reaching one of the highest peaks in pro wrestling, LOD goes through tough times, weird times and weirder times.

This is what happens when legends collide with addiction, corporate politics, ego, changing eras, and their own mortality.

This episode is about legacy. About partnership. About how hard it is to separate the unit from the individuals. And about how two men who once felt larger than life were still human underneath the paint.

IMPORTANT LINKS:

Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/10bellpod⁠⁠⁠

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WELCOME TO THE C0-MAIN EVENT

This week on 10 Bell Pod, we're not just talking about a tag team, we're talking about a force: The Road Warriors.

Hawk and Animal were 2 bar room bouncers from Minnesota who didn't "play" tough guys on television.

The spikes and war paint and made characters, but they were as real as it gets.

The fact is, Hawk and Animal were drawing at Hulk Hogan level without needing Hogan. That they were selling out arenas in Georgia, Minnesota, Japan, and the Carolinas while Vince was still figuring out what to call "sports entertainment."

We dig into what made them different.
The legitimacy.
The look.
The Doomsday Device.
The promos.

They weren't just another hot act. They reshaped pro wrestling.

IMPORTANT LINKS:

Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/10bellpod⁠⁠⁠

Reddit: ⁠⁠https://www.reddit.com/r/10BellPod⁠⁠

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Discord: ⁠https://discord.gg/64GdAqEG⁠

In this episode of 10 Bell Pod, we tell the full story of Jay Briscoe.

This is not just the matches, not just the titles, but the man, the contradictions, the love, the mistakes, the growth, and the legacy that refuses to stay quiet.

From a chicken farm in rural Delaware to blood soaked Ring of Honor main events. From backyard VHS tapes to Japan, CZW, and two decades as the backbone of indie wrestling.

We talk about what made the Briscoes different.

Why they weren't just a great tag team, but the standard.

Why every era, every promotion, every hot new team had to go through them to be taken seriously. Why Ring of Honor does not exist in any recognizable form without Jay Briscoe.

We confront the tweet. The fallout. The punishment.

The growth.

The way a single moment haunted a man for the rest of his career, and how he chose empathy, accountability, and change instead of bitterness or doubling down.

This is about how people fail and what it looks like when someone actually tries to be better.

And then we get to the ending.

The crash. The loss. The sadness.

This episode is grief.
It's gratitude.
It's anger.
It's love.

It's about a man who never needed a bigger stage to be legendary.

Reach for the sky.

IMPORTANT LINKS:

Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/10bellpod⁠⁠⁠

Reddit: ⁠⁠https://www.reddit.com/r/10BellPod⁠⁠

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Discord: ⁠https://discord.gg/64GdAqEG⁠

EPISODE NOTES

Jay Briscoe:

Jay Briscoe was a worker who embodied what independent wrestling actually was before it became a pipeline.

Through Jay's life and career, the episode examines wrestling as labor, the value of authenticity over polish, and how entire scenes survive on people willing to give everything without guarantees.

• The Briscoes were infrastructure, not talent experiments. For over two decades, Jay and Mark were the backbone of Ring of Honor and the East Coast indies, consistently elevating opponents, legitimizing new acts, and holding promotions together when money, visibility, and stability were scarce.

• Indie wrestling used to be faith-based labor. Jay worked dangerous matches, drove brutal hours, and held real jobs because the work mattered, not because there was a promised next step. There was no safety net, no TV deal waiting.

• Jay was trusted because he made things feel real. Whether tagging, wrestling singles, or leading a locker room, he brought credibility, emotional weight, and violence that never felt performative.

• The tweet mattered, but so did what followed. Jay said something harmful, faced real consequences, apologized repeatedly, changed his behavior, and spent the rest of his life proving growth through actions, not branding.

• Great wrestling creates community, not content. Jay's work helped define why people cared deeply about Ring of Honor, AEW's spiritual roots, and wrestling as something worth believing in.

Just wanted to share some upcoming news and updates.

Sorry other platforms, this is a video on Spotify. I didn't think it would load everywhere. Find it on YouTube and Patreon if you want to watch it.

Patreon: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/10BellPod⁠⁠⁠⁠

On this episode of 10 Bell Pod, Nickohlessa, Tyler Wood, and The Man Scout Jake Manning dig into the life, career, and tragic end of Mike Awesome.

From his rise as a foundational monster in Japan's FMW, where his size, speed, and brutality made him a legend, to his turbulent runs through ECW, WCW, WWE, we talk about how timing, injuries, politics, and bad creative repeatedly undercut a generational talent.

It's a full scope look at a wrestler who redefined what a "big man" could be, helped reshape modern wrestling's pace and spectacle, and whose story ends with a sobering reminder about mental health, CTE, and the quiet struggles even the strongest people carry.

IMPORTANT LINKS:

Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/10bellpod⁠⁠⁠

Reddit: ⁠⁠https://www.reddit.com/r/10BellPod⁠⁠

Patreon: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/10BellPod⁠⁠⁠⁠

ProWrestling Tees: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.prowrestlingtees.com/related/10bellpod.html⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Discord: ⁠https://discord.gg/64GdAqEG⁠

EPISODE NOTES

Mike Awesome: Timing, Violence, and the Cost of Being Built for the Wrong System

Framing
This episode exists to explain Mike Awesome as more than a highlight reel or a cautionary tale.

From the Florida indie grind to FMW superstardom, to ECW chaos to WCW and WWE misfires, the episode treats Awesome as a wrestler whose body and instincts were perfectly suited for one ecosystem and fundamentally incompatible with the others.

It's a story about timing, labor, and what happens when an industry can't translate excellence across borders.

Core Takeaways

• Japan made Mike Awesome a legend: His FMW run as The Gladiator wasn't a side chapter. It was the peak of his career, built on trust, pay, and a style that rewarded risk.

• Highlight reels hid the cost: Awesome thrived in clips and car-crash matches, but the same fearlessness that made him spectacular accelerated injuries, heat, and long term damage.

• American systems failed to adapt him: ECW, WCW, and WWE all wanted the spectacle without the infrastructure, protection, or commitment that made him work in Japan.

• Money promises broke careers: ECW's contracts and WCW's chaotic politics turned momentum into resentment, pushing Awesome into survival mode instead of stability.

• Violence without a safety net ends badly: Years of deathmatches, untreated mental health issues, and career instability formed a pressure cooker with no release valve.

What Usually Gets Missed
Mike Awesome didn't "fail" in the U.S., the American wrestling system failed to understand what kind of worker he actually was.

This episode frames Mike Awesome as a generational outlier: a big man ahead of his time, trapped between promotions that wanted his body but never learned how to protect his future.

On this episode of  10 Bell Pod, Nick, Tyler, and The Man Scout Jake Manning take a rare deep dive into the life and career of Nicole Bass.

Nicole was a bodybuilder, actor, Howard Stern regular, and one of the most physically imposing figures to ever step into a wrestling ring.

We discuss her elite bodybuilding career, mainstream fame, and chaotic run through ECW & the WWF at the height of the Attitude Era.

It's a look at missed potential, industry failure, media spectacle, and the complicated reality of a woman who briefly broke wrestling's mold.

IMPORTANT LINKS:

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Reddit: ⁠https://www.reddit.com/r/10BellPod⁠

Patreon: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/10BellPod⁠⁠⁠

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Discord: https://discord.gg/64GdAqEG

EPISODE NOTES

Nicole Bass: Strength, Spectacle, and the Cost of Being Early

Framing
This episode exists to explain why Nicole Bass is remembered far more than her in ring résumé should allow. Using her life as a case study, we look at what happens when elite athleticism collides with late-90s wrestling culture, shock radio, and an industry that didn't yet know what to do with women who didn't fit the mold.

This isn't a nostalgia trip or a hit piece. It's about timing, labor, exploitation, and how spectacle often replaces development.

Core Takeaways

• Elite athlete, wrong system: Bass was a legitimately world-class bodybuilder, but entered pro wrestling at a time when training was minimal, women's wrestling was an afterthought, and "monster" roles replaced long-term development.

• Visibility without protection: Howard Stern gave Bass massive exposure, but that visibility came without structural support, setting a pattern that followed her into wrestling.

• Wrestling's 90s shortcut culture: She was thrown into ECW, WWF, and even WrestleMania-level spots before the industry had modern developmental pipelines, especially for women.

• The Chyna match that never happened: Wrestling routinely books "big man vs big man," yet balked at giving Bass a meaningful counterpart, opting instead for novelty and humiliation angles.

• Labor without leverage: Her WWE tenure ends not with a creative reset, but a lawsuit, highlighting how little power performers had when crossing management or locker room norms.

What Usually Gets Missed
Nicole Bass wasn't a failed wrestler. She was an elite athlete who arrived too early, in an industry more interested in using her than building her.

If this episode does its job, you don't walk away thinking "what a sideshow," but instead wondering how many careers wrestling burned through before it figured itself out.

On this episode of 10 Bell Pod Nick, Tyler, and The Man Scout Jake Manning unpack the strange, messy, and oddly endearing career of Wrestling Superstar Virgil.

We discuss everything from Virgil's bodybuilding start to his early territory days to becoming the Million Dollar Man's long suffering bodyguard, a surprise mega babyface, a nWo foot soldier, and eventually a late career internet folk hero.

We will dig into the contradictions, the kayfabe mysteries, the highs, the long stretches of "what now?", and why Virgil somehow became more memorable after wrestling than during it.

It's a funny, affectionate, and honest look at a guy who spent decades orbiting wrestling's biggest stars, hustled his way into cult status, and left behind a legacy that's impossible to neatly categorize.

IMPORTANT LINKS:

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PayPal Donation - ⁠⁠9BHDW7Y2KMBTY⁠⁠

Discord: ⁠https://discord.gg/64GdAqEG⁠

EPISODE NOTES

This episode exists to explain why Virgil's career makes more sense when viewed as labor history instead of a punchline.

Rather than treating him as a meme or a cautionary tale, the episode tracks how wrestling's economic structure, naming politics, and carny incentives shaped a career defined less by wins and losses than by proximity to power. Virgil isn't the story of a star who failed. He's the story of a worker who stayed employed by any means necessary.

Core Takeaways

• Proximity over push: Virgil's real value wasn't championships, but placement. He was consistently positioned next to top money acts, which kept him visible even when creative stalled.

• The servant gimmick wasn't accidental: Pairing Virgil with Ted DiBiase wasn't subtle symbolism or long term storytelling.

  It was heat first booking rooted in 1980s wrestling's comfort with racial and class caricature.

• The pop that didn't pay off: Virgil's 1991 babyface turn produced one of the biggest crowd reactions of the era, but the company lacked either the patience or belief to convert that moment into sustained elevation.

• From employee to independent operator: Post WWF and WCW, Virgil leaned fully into wrestling's gray economy: signings, merch tables, and self-promotion while treating notoriety as inventory.

• The meme era misunderstood the man: "Lonely Virgil" reads differently when you understand that showing up uninvited was less delusion than survival.

What Usually Gets Missed
Virgil wasn't confused about who he was in wrestling.

Fans were confused about how the business actually works.

This episode isn't about laughing at Virgil. It's about recognizing him as a clear-eyed participant in a system that rewards persistence more than dignity.