We are incredibly honored to have legend and WWE Hall of Famer, Hacksaw Jim Duggan on our show this week!In this week's episode of The Genius Cast, Duggan opens up about his time playing college and professional football, being discovered by and training under Fritz Von Erich, the Dallas Sportatorium, his time as a heel in Mid-South as part of the Rat Pack, bullies in professional wrestling and his enemy Matt Borne, debuting in WWF at WrestleMania 3, winning the first ever Royal Rumble in 1988, the differences between today's locker room and the past, fans who approach wrestlers during their time off, why he got heel heat at a recent WrestleMania Axxess event, how his drug arrest with Iron Sheik hurt his career, stories of Andre the Giant, Yokozuna, Bruiser Brody, Bill Watts, Haku/Meng bar fights, and so much more!Also in this week's show: Lanny gives an update from Tokyo about how things are going with his new role of commentating for New Japan Pro Wrestling, the downfalls of going to nudist beaches in Australia, and so much more! You don't want to miss this week's show!Pull back the curtain with The Genius Cast with Lanny Poffo and JP Zarka of ProWrestlingStories.com each Monday from 12 p.m. GMT / 7 a.m. ET / 6 a.m. CST / 4 a.m. PST.Got questions for our show? Use the #AskTheGenius hashtag on Twitter!Recommended reading to go along with this week's show:THE SPORTATORIUM – If Those Walls Could TalkAndre the Giant Documentary – 12 Things Learned (And Facts Left Out!)KAYFABE in Professional Wrestling – “You know wrestling is fake, right?”BRUISER BRODY – A Detailed Look at his Murder and Influence on Professional WrestlingFollow us:https://twitter.com/thegeniuscasthttps://www.facebook.com/thegeniuscasthttps://www.instagram.com/thegeniuscast

Hacksaw Jim Duggan

The published poet and limerick writing, motivational speaking brother of WWE Hall of Famer Macho Man Randy Savage, Lanny Poffo, brings back stories of his brother and the glory days of professional wrestling. His wrestling career in the WWE was highlighted by a victory over Hulk Hogan, though nothing highlights anything more in his life than being able to share and recount stories from his past to you, the Genius Cast faithful! Join Lanny and his partner in crime, JP Zarka of ProWrestlingStories.com, as they take you through his time in the NWA territories in the 1970s, becoming a star in his father Angelo Poffo’s promotion, International Championship Wrestling (ICW), joining Randy in the Continental Wrestling Association (CWA), traveling with him again to the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in June 1985 up to today. An excellent storyteller, Lanny breaks down important details of his life while spontaneously breaking into poem or song. Weekly features include the Macho Man Clip of the Week, Poem/Limerick of the Week, and so much more. The podcast featured 20 episodes, including interviews with Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Terry Funk, B Brian Blair, Fred Ottman, Sean Waltman, Jeff Jarrett, Molly Holly, "Eugene" Nick Dinsmore, "Hustler" Rip Rogers, Kevin Kelly, Bill Apter, Outback Jack, Keith Elliot Greenberg, Sean Oliver, Evan Ginzburg, Alicia Atout, and more. The show ended its run on January 21, 2019.

History

Society & Culture

Sports

Wrestling

In the final ever episode of The Genius Cast, we're doing something memorable and special for you all. If we’re going to take a bow here, we’re going to do so with a bang by putting out two versions of this episode that you will never forget!Version one: This is the version of the episode you're listening to right now. In this version of our finale, we go into full detail on why we’re calling it a day, JP plays a song he wrote entitled “Hope For Tomorrow”, Lanny shares one last song and poem, and we give tribute to Roddy Piper with guest Pete Rosen. Lanny was the final ever guest on Roddy’s podcast “Piper’s Pit” so we thought it would only be fitting to have Roddy be the focus of Lanny Poffo’s final ever show.Version two (3 hours, 45 minutes long): The unedited, uncut “Super Genius Cast” version of the show.What’s included in the “Super Genius Cast” finale:– Everything heard in version one of our final episode.– All of our unaired interviews including an interview with Outback Jack where he breaks down crying after singing a nostalgic song, plus he pours out his heart sharing stories of malicious ribbing and the Dynamite Kid that will make your jaws drop. This is not an interview to miss!– A conversation with Jason Mosher where he and Lanny talk wrestling in the Maritimes and the upcoming documentary Lanny is narrating.– Wrestling promotor Jason Gagne out of Winnipeg shares stories of which legends were the best and worst to work with over the years.– Former ICW announcer Tim Eppenstein (also known as Tim Tyler) share stories from his time in the Poffo family’s ICW promotion.– Michael William Braun, the man responsible for creating the amazing robes and ring attire for Randy and many other wrestlers. He also created outfits for Jimi Hendrix! Some really amazing stories here.– Nora Greenwald (aka Molly Holly) in a special interview where she shares her memories of Crash Holly, Eddie Guerrero and how she was one of the last people to see him alive, and more!– Plus, we include extra treats that haven’t been made available until now including the very first recording Lanny and JP had where in this conversation JP makes the pitch to Lanny about doing The Genius Cast. Believe us when we say this, you do not want to miss the “Super Genius Cast” version of our final show!As we’re making this version of the final episode chock-full of surprises, we’re going to make it available in a different way. We have had a lot of people helping us behind the scenes here that we would like to give thanks to in a monetary way as we close the door to this chapter in our lives. To help us with that, browse on over to tinyurl.com/thegeniuscast. This will lead you to a page where for a donation of your choice, a link will be e-mailed to you to hear the uncut version of our final episode.–> tinyurl.com/thegeniuscast <–From the bottom of our hearts, thank you all for coming along with us on this fun journey!– Lanny & JP--------- Lanny can continued to be reached at @LannyPoffo on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram or on his Lanny "The Genius" Poffo Facebook page.JP can be reached on Twitter @JPZarka, his wrestling historical stories can be read on ProWrestlingStories.com or followed on Twitter @pws_official, Facebook or Instagram, or you can hear his music on YouTube at Sterling Avenue or JP Zarka.

Remembering Roddy Piper, and a Fond Farewell to The Genius Cast

In the penultimate episode of The Genius Cast, we honor our very dear, close, personal long-time friend, "Mean" Gene Okerlund.Sadly, Gene passed away on January 2nd, 2019 at the age of 76. It was a loss not only to the fans of professional wrestling, but to those who knew him well. "It was the voice. And not just any voice. It was a loud, yet smooth, tone that many grew up listening to for decades.” Mean Gene was THE voice to a generation of wrestling fans and it is our utmost privilege to pay tribute to him in this week's show.Tune in to hear JP and Lanny talk about Gene's lesser-known music career, what Gene was like as a person on and off camera, his relationship with Randy and of course, his greatest moments on camera and the few times he botched on air. Gene was meant to be a guest on our show back in November. Lanny had driven up to his home to see him and an interview took place, but regrettably, there was a hardware malfunction which caused the contents of the recording not to be saved. Sadly, it wasn't meant to be. At the end of this week's show, Lanny shares details from the conversation he had with Gene.Recommended article mentioned in this week's episode:Survivor Series 1990: WWE’s Memorable Thanksgiving MisfirePull back the curtain with The Genius Cast with Lanny Poffo and JP Zarka of ProWrestlingStories.com each Monday from 12 p.m. GMT / 7 a.m. ET / 6 a.m. CST / 4 a.m. PST.Got questions for our show? Use the #AskTheGenius hashtag or e-mail us at thegeniuscast@prowrestlingstories.com!Missed an episode? No worries! Watch hundreds of clips from The Genius Cast on our YouTube channel! Don't forget to hit subscribe!Follow us: @TheGeniusCast on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram!

Mean Gene Okerlund - A Tribute to a Friend

Welcome to the New Years Eve edition of The Genius Cast! We're very excited to have the stunning and talented, the “Interview Queen” herself, Alicia Atout, on our show this week!Alicia is a personality in the pro wrestling world who’s star is on the rise. You may know her from her website A Music Blog, Yea? (or AMBY for short) where for the past few years, she has had thousands of really great interviews with musicians and wrestlers alike. You may also have seen her as a Backstage TV Host with IMPACT Wrestling or on September 1st’s All In broadcast. In Lanny's catch-up with Alicia, they talk meeting at All In, how she got into the business, she shares never-before-heard stories from her favorite interviews, how she's turned being bullied when young into a positive today, and so much more! Plus, she showcases a talent unbeknownst to some- singing! A fun interview you don't want to miss.Also discussed in this week’s episode: - Lanny and JP look back on meeting for the first time in July and the first 18 weeks of this show- 2019 wishes and resolutions for The Genius Cast- The typical New Years Eve celebration for The Genius and what JP and Lanny will be up to tonight- Thoughts on fans complaining about Vince McMahon pre-taping Raw and SmackDown these past two weeks to allow talent to be with their families over the holidays- What it was like to be on the road away from family so much, particularly during the holidays- Lanny shares stories of his friend, Roddy Piper (his movie career, being the final-ever guest on Piper's podcast, and more)- Was Randy jealous of the Saturday Night Main Event match Lanny had against Hulk Hogan? - Randy’s thoughts about WCW at the end of his run there - Randy always loved working with children for charity work etc. Did he ever want children of his own?- Were there ever consideration (or desire from Lanny and Randy) to acknowledge them as brothers in some form or another in the WWF? - When did Randy start using the Flying elbow off the top as his finisher and did he come up with it himself? - Stories of childhood heroes letting down Lanny and JP- A New Years poem...and more!Pull back the curtain with The Genius Cast with Lanny Poffo and JP Zarka of ProWrestlingStories.com each Monday from 12 p.m. GMT / 7 a.m. ET / 6 a.m. CST / 4 a.m. PST.Got questions for our show? Use the #AskTheGenius hashtag or e-mail us at thegeniuscast@prowrestlingstories.com!Missed an episode? No worries! Watch hundreds of clips from The Genius Cast on our YouTube channel! Don't forget to hit subscribe!Follow us: @TheGeniusCast on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram!Do you want to advertise to thousands of dedicated listeners each week on our show? Reach out to us!

Alicia Atout, Heroes Letting you Down, and New Years Wishes!

We’re coming at you this week with a two-for-one Christmas Eve Genius Cast special with interviews with “Hotshot” Danny Duggan and one of the greatest wrestlers to ever don a pair of tights, Terry Funk!You may have heard about the recent debacle Danny Duggan had where he called out Brutus the Barber Beefcake last month for being unprofessional and skipping dates on the CWE tour up in Canada. This was all over the wrestling news sites and it prompted a hefty response from Beefcake himself. We’re excited to have Danny on our show where he talks openly about what happened in detail. A lot of dirt is dished and you don't want to miss this portion of the show!In our conversation with Terry Funk, he updates us on how he is feeling, who he believes is really behind the booking of WWE (it's not who you think), which prominent McMahon is involved in MMA, memories of his feud with Lanny where he stripped him naked in front of a crowd and tried to make him wrestle a woman, the Poffo/Funk family connection, and so much more!Also discussed in this week’s episode: - Where in the world is Lanny? - Why in the world did Lanny travel from warm Florida to the arctic tundra of Nova Scotia, Canada last weekend?- Turning loss into a positive this Christmas- Lanny's memories of visiting Germany- Thoughts on whether or not Miss Elizabeth's will go into the WWE Hall of Fame- Lanny's dream opponent- Now that the WWE has the performance center, would Lanny consider coaching? And if Randy were still with us, would he have coached? - Was Hulk Hogan and Randy really trying to work things out near the end of his life? Or was Hogan seeking attention?- Memories of Phil Golden's All Star Wrestling in Paducah, Kentucky - Did Angelo and Judy Poffo have family connections in Kentucky leading them to bring the family there in the 1970s?- Randy's relationship with the Ultimate Warrior- Favorite memories of Scott Steiner- How the money worked back in the earlier days of WWF: How did Lanny decide what to save and what to spend?- The over-the-top-rope "Leaping" Lanny Botch against Jake Roberts at Madison Square Garden in 1987...and more!Pull back the curtain with The Genius Cast with Lanny Poffo and JP Zarka of ProWrestlingStories.com each Monday from 12 p.m. GMT / 7 a.m. ET / 6 a.m. CST / 4 a.m. PST.Got questions for our show? Use the #AskTheGenius hashtag or e-mail us at thegeniuscast@prowrestlingstories.com!Missed an episode? No worries! Watch hundreds of clips from The Genius Cast on our YouTube channel! Don't forget to hit subscribe!Follow us: @TheGeniusCast on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram!Do you want to advertise to thousands of dedicated listeners each week on our show? Reach out to us!

Terry Funk and Troubles with Brutus the Barber Beefcake with Danny Duggan

It is our privilege to have Bill Apter on this week’s episode of The Genius Cast! You may know Bill for his editorial work as well as his exceptional photography over the past forty years in “Apter mags” such as Pro Wrestling Illustrated. You may also know him through his highly recommended podcast, The Apter Chat. Lanny and Bill laugh, joke, sing, and discuss a variety of topics in wrestling as well as dive into discussions about music, Broadway, and so much more. This is a fun show that you don’t want to miss!Also in this week’s episode: Lanny remembers “Dynamite Kid” Tom Billington and Larry “The Ax” Hennig, the Calgary Maybelle Rib, and so much more!Pull back the curtain with The Genius Cast with Lanny Poffo and JP Zarka of ProWrestlingStories.com each Monday from 12 p.m. GMT / 7 a.m. ET / 6 a.m. CST / 4 a.m. PST.Got questions for our show? Use the #AskTheGenius hashtag or e-mail us at thegeniuscast@prowrestlingstories.com!Missed an episode? No worries! Watch hundreds of clips from The Genius Cast on our YouTube channel! Don't forget to hit subscribe!Follow us: @TheGeniusCast on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram!

Hacksaw Jim Duggan

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