Not About Wrestling

My guest on the show today is comedian, wrestler, and adopted son of Ireland, Dan Barry. THE Dan Barry.

Dan has wrestled for a slew of different indie promotions including the New York Wrestling Connection, Combat Zone Wrestling, Beyond Wrestling, and the House of Hardcore. He's also the good half of Team Tremendous.

In this interview, Dan and I discuss making jokes at funerals, flat Earthers, people trying to put themselves over in the middle of a tragedy, getting cast on the reality show Holy Foley and training Mick's daughter, and what the WWE did wrong with that show.

Ladies and gentlemen, entering the podcast, hailing from Merrick, New York...this is THE Dan Barry.

My guest on the show today is the self-proclaimed "Queen of the Book Nerds," the incredibly engaging Jamie Hemmings.

Encouraged to watch and write about wrestling by her neighbor and mentor, Bob Leonard, a famous Canadian professional wrestling promoter, photographer, and author, Jamie went to college to earn a degree in Journalism and once dressed up as Ric Flair to give a presentation.

Jamie's love of writing and wrestling led to a position with Slam Wrestling where she's worked since 2005. Her most recent position being the lead Book Editor for the popular wrestling website.

In this interview, Jamie and I discuss her love of wrestling as a kid, her attraction to Miss Elizabeth, how wrestling writing has changed over the last fifteen years, the rise of female wrestlers, and her not-so-secret love of The Honky Tonk Man.

On this episode of Not About Wrestling,  I'm talking to "The Virtuosa" Deonna Purrazzo. 

Deonna Purrazzo made a statement when she signed with IMPACT Wrestling and almost immediately dethroned Jordynne Grace at Slammiversary to become the new Knockouts Champion.

Deonna and I talk about our love for our home state - New Jersey - how she got into the business, how getting grounded was a huge influence on her early fandom, the pressure that comes with having to remember to bring the Knockouts Champion belt everywhere, and dealing with body shamers online. 

PLUS, I'm joined in the opening by my friend and fellow wrestling fan, Stephanie Bowen. Steph and I discuss my affection for championship belts and my early days of creating homemade wrestling belts. 

My guest today is former ECW announcer, commentator, manager, and the "Quintessential Studmuffin,"  Joel Gertner. 

As a rabid ECW fan, I don’t remember the company without Joel Gertner. He joined ECW in 1995 - at the age of 20 - to work as a part-time ring announcer and official timekeeper. Eventually, Gertner transitioned to being the heel announcer and bounced around from performer to performer until finally hooking up with The Dudley Boyz. 

Gertner saw the highs and lows of the hardcore revolution first hand. He was the color commentator when the company signed their TNN television deal and was one of the last employees left when the company folded in 2001.

In this interview, Joel and I discuss his early addictions to TV game shows, why he dropped out of Cornell to join ECW, being an absolute heat magnet on the mic, his filthy limericks, and the night he lost his signature neck brace and voice right in the middle of an introduction. 

Ladies and gentlemen, entering the podcast, hailing from Brooklyn, New York…this is Joel Gertner

Welcome to season two of Not About Wrestling! 

This year kicks off NWA World's Heavyweight Champion, Nick Aldis. 

During this discussion, Aldis and I covered a vast array of topics including bodybuilding and fitness, life on other planets, the NWA world’s heavyweight belt, his HEAT with Planet Fitness, making moments in the wrestling ring, and the future of the business. 

Ladies and gentleman, entering the podcast, hailing from King's Lynn, England…this is Nick Aldis. 

Relive some of the best, funniest, and most inspiring moments of season one of Not About Wrestling. 

This week, I’m talking to Tom Green. No, not that Tom Green. 

This Tom Green is a former wrestling promoter. Green started booking shows at the insanely young age of 18 and he got into the business in an incredibly odd way. 

Green’s friend somehow stumbled upon the home phone number of former New Japan and WCW star, Scott Norton. So they called Norton and asked if he wanted to be on a wrestling show that didn’t exist yet. Norton said yes. Suddenly, the duo were wrestling promoters. 

Fight Sports Midwest lasted only a few shows the cards included incredible talent who dominate professional wrestling cards today. Names like Tyler Black (Seth Rollins), Eddie Kingston, Samoa Joe, Claudio Castagnoli (Cesaro), and Austin Aries to name a few.

In this episode, Green discusses his early love of wrestling, the amount of work that went into booking those Fight Sports Midwest cards, the mistakes he made and the lessons learned, and how getting into the wrestling business is pretty damn easy but surviving in the business is a whole other story. 

Ladies and gentleman, entering the podcast, hailing from Lafayette, Indiana, this is Tom Green. 

The career resurgence of Pierre Carl Ouellet - now christened PCO in Ring of Honor - has been nothing short of remarkable.

Longtime wrestling fans will remember Ouellet from his run in the WWF as one-half of the tag team, The Quebecers. Along with partner Jacques Rougeau, the Quebecers captured the WWF Tag Team Championship on three different occasions.

After a six-year run on the indie circuit, PCO retired from the ring in 2011...or so he thought at the time.

Ouellet gave wrestling one last shot in 2016, being reborn in YouTube videos that caught fire with the online wrestling community.

Pierre Carl Ouellet was dead. PCO - or Perfect Creation One - came to life. 

As PCO prepares for his ROH World Tag Team Title shot with partner Mark Briscoe at Final Battle, the 53-year-old veteran sat down to talk about his early days in the business, losing his vision in a pellet gun accident as a kid, raising a young daughter in the world of wrestling, his various runs with the WWE, squashing his beef with Kevin Nash, and why stealing Bret Hart's jacket is still a great kickoff to a feud.

Ladies and gentlemen, entering the podcast, hailing from St. Catharine, Quebec, this is PCO.

This week on the Not About Wrestling podcast, my guest is Ring of Honor star, Danhausen.

Donovan Danhausen got his start in the Michigan indies, working at a local wrestling school while training. Donovan bounced around to different indie scenes and the character of Danhausen slowly emerged along the way.

This interview is unlike any of the others I’ve done. It’s broken into two parts.

In part one, I talk to Danhausen the performer and we cover incredibly important topics like Cheeto’s Mac and Cheese, bowling, Walmart, his favorite curse words, and the best places to buy teeth.

In part two of the interview, I talk to Donovan Danhausen, the creator of the Danhausen about his evolution in both character and makeup, the origins of the character, thinking up new ideas, and where Donovan sees the character going in the next few years.

Ladies and gentleman, entering the podcast, hailing from someplace far away, this is Danhausen.

This week, I’m talking to prolific writer, former on-air reporter, and admitted “overrated athlete,” Ian Douglass.

Douglass is a journalist and co-author of three wrestling biographies. His first book, The Realest Guy in the Room: The Life and Times of Dan Severn, chronicles the life and career of former UFC and WWE star, Dan "The Beast" Severn.

Douglass released his next two books in 2019. Brute Power chronicles the life and career of former professional wrestler Bugsy McGraw and Life is Short and So Am I, the autobiography of dwarf wrestler and entertainer Dylan "Hornswoggle" Postl.