It’s time for a special edition “Shootin’ The Shiznit” with “Rollin’ Into Mempho.” Brian Tramel is joined by RynoJB to review Championship Wrestling from Memphis for Episode 33 in their quick RT format ! They answer the following questions about the show:
-Hits?
-Misses?
-MVP??
-What do they want to see on next week’s show?
-THUMBS UP or THUMBS DOWN?

They reviewed this episode !
https://youtu.be/ZgJ4HGNfnM8?si=gk-pTmh_P1Vn5YZE

On this episode of Rick Del Santo’s Classic Wrestling Talk Podcast, Rick welcomes Jacques Rougeau, best known to WWF fans as one half of The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers, one half of The Quebecers, and of course, The Mountie. The conversation starts with Jacques’ current passion project, Jacques Rougeau’s Wrestling Academy, a nationwide Canadian competition designed to give young Canadian wrestlers a real shot at the big leagues.

Jacques explains how the competition gives winners cash prizes, exposure, and the chance to spend three months training at the Nightmare Factory in Atlanta with QT Marshall, Billy Gunn, and Cody Rhodes. He talks about why contacts matter in wrestling, how his father taught him that success often comes down to being in the right place at the right time and knowing the right people, and why he wants to be a “trampoline” for the next generation of Canadian talent.

The modern hook of the episode is Wrestling Academy, but the real fun is how naturally the conversation drifts into classic wrestling history. Jacques talks about what made old school wrestling work: character, emotion, pacing, family entertainment, and the ability to make one headlock or one tackle mean something. That philosophy runs through everything he says, whether he’s talking about young Canadian talent or his own years in the WWF.

The Rougeau Brothers material is a major highlight. Jacques talks about how he and Raymond spent years working with the Hart Foundation, the Rockers, and the top tag teams of the WWF boom period, and how they could be moved into the main event spot after Hogan and still wake the crowd back up. He also explains why the “All-American Boys” heel turn was so much fun: after years of fans insulting them for being French-Canadian, the Rougeaus finally got to turn around and mock the audience right back.

Jacques also gets very honest about the WWE Hall of Fame. He says he believes the Rougeau Brothers should already be in, especially considering the teams and opponents they helped elevate, but also connects that absence to his long standing issues with Vince McMahon. Still, he makes it clear that fans around the world already treat the Rougeaus like Hall of Famers, and in Quebec, the Rougeau name is legendary.

The territory talk is excellent, too. Jacques remembers Atlanta, Kansas City, and especially Pensacola under The Fullers as crucial learning stops in his career. He talks about being a young wrestler learning how to work TV, help get other talent over, understand booking, and draw money with angles including a Joe LeDuc feud that had fans lining up to see Jacques get revenge after losing his hair.

For fans of Jacques Rougeau, The Mountie, The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers, The Quebecers, WWF tag team wrestling, territory wrestling, Canadian wrestling, and the next generation of talent coming out of Canada, this is a fun mix of nostalgia, honesty, and wrestling school passion.

Jacques Rougeau doesn’t just remember the old days here.

He explains why they were special and why they still mean so much to so many of us today!

***WATCHALONG WITH BRANDON & GENE HERE***
https://rumble.com/v7e9yvq-rwr-ecw-podcast-ep.-10-6893-welcome-to-the-ecw-arena.html

On Episode #10 of the RWR ECW Podcast, Gene Jackson and Brandon Wheeler hit a major turning point in early Eastern Championship Wrestling. After weeks of Cabrini Fieldhouse TV, the June 8, 1993 episode brings ECW into the ECW Arena, and right away the show feels totally different…different building, different energy, different editing, and a promotion starting to look a little more like the ECW people would eventually remember.

This week’s episode is all about the final push toward Super Summer Sizzler Spectacular. ECW is loading up the TV with bigger names, title matches, angles, challenges, and constant reminders that June 19th is coming. Terry Funk is in the building to hype his Texas Chain Match Massacre with Eddie Gilbert, Road Warrior Hawk shows up, Don Muraco defends the ECW Title against The Sandman in a rematch from last week, and ECW suddenly decides it needs a brand new Pennsylvania State Heavyweight Title because apparently there weren’t already enough belts floating around.

The big story here is momentum. Earlier ECW episodes sometimes felt like the promotion was stretching for time, replaying footage, and trying to make ordinary matches feel important. This one moves quickly. It has Hawk, Funk, Gilbert, Muraco, Sandman, title matches, a new championship, a battle royal, a major tag team angle, and an established card for the next week’s TV. Gene and Brandon both point out that this episode makes you want to tune in again, which is exactly what ECW needed to be doing at this stage.

By the end of the episode, ECW feels like it has switched gears. It’s still rough around the edges, still weird at times, still full of awkward choices, but now there’s motion. The Super Summer Sizzler build is stronger, the ECW Arena gives the show a new atmosphere, and the behind the scenes pieces are starting to become just as interesting as what’s happening on camera.

Episode #10 is where early ECW starts like a fuse being lit….and June 19, 1993 is when the explosion happens…..hopefully.

Growing Up with a Legend: The Son of “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff

On this episode of Get Your Bell Rung Wrestling Podcast, K.G. Landry welcomes Travis Orndorff, the son of WWE Hall of Famer “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff, for a powerful conversation that goes far beyond the usual wrestling interview. Yes, there are stories about Paul Orndorff, WrestleMania, Mid-South, WWF, WCW, the Power Plant, Hulk Hogan, Bobby Heenan, Roddy Piper, and life around the wrestling business but this episode is really about what it was like to grow up in the shadow of a legend.

Travis opens up about his childhood, explaining that Paul Orndorff worked hard to protect his family from the wrestling world, even though the name Orndorff made that almost impossible to hide. He talks about growing up in Fayetteville, living with the strange mix of normal family life and wrestling celebrity, and how “kayfabe” wasn’t just a wrestling word in his house, it became part of how the family survived, presented itself, and buried the hard stuff no one wanted to talk about.

The heart of the episode is Travis explaining that Paul Orndorff was his dad first. Fans saw the robe, the body, the piledriver, the arrogance, and the heat. Travis saw the man who picked him up out of bed after coming home from the road, took him to the gym, loved him deeply, and could be intense one second and laughing the next. That doesn’t make the story simple. But, it certainly makes it more human.

Travis is also very honest about his own life. He talks openly about addiction, chronic pain, mental health struggles, recovery, and how much of that was tied to growing up around chaos that was often covered up instead of dealt with. It’s not a “wrestler’s son tells cool road stories” interview. There are road stories, sure, but there’s also a lot of truth in this one.

By the end, this becomes more than a tribute to “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff. It’s Travis Orndorff telling his own story: a story about grief, recovery, faith, legacy, family pain, and finding a way to honor his father without pretending the hard parts didn’t exist.

For fans of Paul Orndorff, Mid South Wrestling, WrestleMania, old school heels, WCW Power Plant stories, and honest conversations about what wrestling can do to the families behind the performers, this is a special episode.

Because Paul Orndorff was “Mr. Wonderful” to the fans.

But to Travis, he was Dad.

It’s time for a special edition “Shootin’ The Shiznit” with “Rollin’ Into Mempho.” Brian Tramel is joined by RynoJB to review Championship Wrestling from Memphis for Episode 32 in their quick RT format !

They answer the following questions about the show:
-Hits?
-Misses?
-MVP??
-What do they want to see on next week’s show?

-THUMBS UP or THUMBS DOWN?

They reviewed this episode !
https://youtu.be/B48lqAvGCEs?si=cYkyTbaErFIm6uCg

On this episode of Chewin’ The Fat with Chubby Dudley, Bay Ragni sits down with two men who were there at the very beginning of Eastern Championship Wrestling: The Super Destroyers, A.J. Petruzzi and Doug Stahl. Bay opens the show by calling them the guys who “beat my ass and taught my ass a lot about the wrestling business,” and reminds everyone that before ECW became “Extreme,” these two were the longest reigning ECW Tag Team Champions (and are still to this day!)

This is a true early ECW history lesson from two guys who lived it. A.J. and Doug talk about their very different paths into wrestling, how they came together under the masks, working with Hunter Q. Robbins III, winning the original tag title tournament, and being part of those first wild nights before ECW found television, blood, barbed wire, and the identity that would later make it famous.

The best thing about this episode is that it fills in a part of ECW history that doesn’t always get the attention it deserves. Before the Public Enemy, before the Dudleys, before the Eliminators, before the “Extreme” identity took over, The Super Destroyers were the tag team standard in Eastern Championship Wrestling. They were big, masked, rough around the edges, and paired perfectly with Hunter Q. Robbins III as the loudmouth manager fans loved to hate.

A.J. and Doug are also very honest about how quickly things changed once ECW started shifting direction. Eddie Gilbert comes in, Paul E. Dangerously becomes more influential, the Suicide Blondes rise, Hunter is taken away, the masks come off, and suddenly the Super Destroyers are no longer central to the plan. Doug says he powdered out, while A.J. says he could see the writing on the wall.

The conversation also gets into one of the big early ECW questions: did the violence make ECW, or did ECW lose something when the violence became the point? Doug argues that without story, the violence doesn’t mean much, and that fans needed a reason to come back next week beyond blood, chairs, and shock value. A.J. points out that Philadelphia fans wanted violence, but also reminds everyone that the Super Destroyers were doing chairs and tables before it became the whole promotion’s identity.

The Johnny Hotbody story is one of the wildest parts of the episode. A.J. explains how a shot to the back of the head while he was wearing the mask left him seeing stars, and he lost his temper badly enough to rip Hotbody’s earring out. Thirty years later, it’s water under the bridge, but it’s exactly the kind of story that shows how real things could get in those small ECW locker rooms.

For fans of early ECW, Eastern Championship Wrestling, The Super Destroyers, Hunter Q. Robbins III, Johnny Hotbody, Chris Candido, Tony Stetson, Sal Bellomo, Todd Gordon, Eddie Gilbert, Paul E. Dangerously, and the forgotten foundation of what became Extreme Championship Wrestling, this is a must listen.

On Episode #18 of the Retro Wrestling Re-View Power Pro Wrestling Podcast, Gene Jackson is back in the host chair with Robb Helt and the “Jonesboro Superstar” Brian Tramel, after the Texas Bunch held things down the previous week. And after Episode #17 nearly broke Robb’s spirit, Power Pro comes back with a show built around one of the biggest Saturday morning TV stipulations they’ve pulled out so far: Jerry Lawler & Stacey vs. Randy Hales & Billy Joe Travis, with the loser of the fall guaranteed to get their head shaved bald on television.

The whole episode revolves around Randy Hales trying to prove that Power Pro is his company, Jerry Lawler is “just a wrestler,” and the hostile takeover is over. Randy produces the contract with WMC/Raycom, declares himself the owner, founder, and president of Power Pro Wrestling, and announces the “biggest match ever” no time limit, no disqualification, must be a winner, loser gets shaved bald.

The main event is the big reason to watch this one. It’s not a classic wrestling match, but it’s absolutely a Memphis style TV spectacle. Randy Hales spends the whole show making himself the center of the Power Pro universe, and by the end of the episode, well, just check out the show and you’ll see.

The problem, as the guys point out, is that Randy is everywhere. He’s in the control room, he’s on the microphone, he’s firing Brandon Baxter, he’s making announcements, he’s pushing the hair match, and then he’s wrestling in the main event. The payoff is entertaining, but the boys agree the stipulation probably should have been built for another couple of weeks instead of being thrown out and paid off in the same episode.

Episode #18 is messy, loud, overbooked, and very Power Pro. It has a hair match, a firing, a heel turn, a no show, a triple threat, cheap Scream masks, chair shots, sponsor nonsense, and Randy Hales getting shaved bald on Memphis TV.

What more can you ask for? Well, according to the guys…maybe a little more or a little LESS as it were. Check it out and less us know what YOU think.

It’s time for a special edition “Shootin’ The Shiznit” with “Rollin’ Into Mempho.” Brian Tramel is joined by RynoJB to review Championship Wrestling from Memphis for Episode 31 in their quick RT format ! 

They answer the following questions about the show:

-Hits?

-Misses?

-MVP??

-What do they want to see on next week’s show?

-THUMBS UP or THUMBS DOWN?

They reviewed this episode !
https://youtu.be/vAD_bmVZTdo?si=UhezGZ-MFBaVFJbo

On this episode of Huge Pop Wrestling Podcast, Huge Pop and Rico welcome ECW Original C.W. Anderson, “The Enforcer” and master of the spinebuster, for a long, honest, wide-ranging conversation about his career, ECW, baseball, Japan, Paul Heyman, Tommy Dreamer, Bobby Eaton, New Jack, Sabu, Mike Awesome, and what it really means to grind in the wrestling business.

This episode also gets deeply personal. C.W. opens up about a dark time in his life, trying to walk away from wrestling, and nearly ending his life. He explains that stepping away helped him appreciate life again, appreciate wrestling again, and realize how much the road and the wrestling family still meant to him.

For fans of ECW, C.W. Anderson, Paul Heyman, Tommy Dreamer, Steve Corino, Simon Diamond, Bobby Eaton, New Jack, Sabu, Mike Awesome, Masato Tanaka, Raven, Hardcore Homecoming, and honest wrestling conversations that go way beyond the usual highlight reel, this is a tremendous listen.

C.W. Anderson doesn’t just tell stories here.

He tells the truth, even when it isn’t pretty.

Follow Huge Pop Entertainment on Facebook at 

facebook.com/HugepopPodcast 

Subscribe to their YouTube Channel at

www.youtube.com/@HUGEPOPWRESTLING 

The Road to Christmas Night Star Wars 1982

***Check out the video version at this link***
https://rumble.com/v7dur88-rwr-wccw-podcast-ep.-8-getting-to-the-freebirds-vs.-von-erichs.html

On Episode #8 of the Retro Wrestling Re-View WCCW Podcast, Robb Helt and Scottie Wince take a different approach. Instead of grinding through more slow moving early 1982 World Class TV, the Texas Bunch hits the fast forward button and walks listeners through the major angles, title shots, injuries, arrivals, and storyline turns that get WCCW from the Texas Stadium fallout all the way to Christmas Night Star Wars 1982 a.k.a. “getting to the good stuff”.

And that’s where World Class really becomes World Class.

This episode is all about setting the table for the night that changes everything: Kerry Von Erich vs. Ric Flair inside the cage, Michael Hayes as the fan voted special referee, Terry Gordy guarding the cage door, Buddy Roberts supposedly stuck in the snow, and the Freebirds standing side by side with the Von Erichs right before the whole thing explodes.

This is a bridge episode, but it’s an important one. Robb and Scottie are not just skipping ahead because they’re bored. They’re making sure listeners understand why Christmas Night Star Wars 1982 matters before jumping into it. Kerry doesn’t just walk into a cage with Ric Flair in a vacuum. He’s been chasing Flair. Flair has ducked out with the belt. Kabuki has taken the bounty. Kerry has been hurt. And the Freebirds have been positioned as trusted allies, not obvious villains.

That last part is what makes the whole thing work.

The Freebirds don’t arrive in Dallas as enemies. They come in cool, loud, different, and babyface. Michael Hayes is the guy the fans vote into the cage. Terry Gordy is the man trusted with the key. Buddy Roberts is conveniently absent (let’s face it, nobody buys “Buddy Jack” as a babyface). David Von Erich helps the Freebirds earlier in the night. Everything is built to make the audience believe these guys are part of the family before the door slams shut on Kerry’s head.

The Kerry/Flair discussion also gives the episode real weight. Kerry had the look, the aura, and the crowd behind him, but Robb and Scottie are honest about the fact that Kerry needed the right opponent to look like a world class title contender (no pun intended). With Ric Flair, he had that opponent. With Harley Race, same deal. That’s why the August match matters so much. It makes Kerry feel like the uncrowned champion and gives Flair a reason to want him removed from the equation.

By the end of the episode, the whole chessboard is set. Flair is the champion. Kerry is the hometown hero. Kabuki has done the damage. Gary Hart is lurking. The Freebirds are beloved. Michael Hayes is in the cage. Terry Gordy has the key.

And WCCW is about to catch fire!

Episode #8 is the setup.

Christmas Night is the explosion!