When It Was Cool Wrestling and Retro Pop Culture by DragonKingKarl

Ultimo Dragon was one of my favorite pro wrestlers, so this show was a lot of fun to put together. Ultimo Dragon was a standout Japanese junior heavyweight wrestler who also had influence in Mexico and the United States as well. He was important to the WCW Cruiserweight division, and an innovator inside the ring. This is the story of the highflying Ultimo Dragon. 

Tiger Mask revolutionized pro wrestling. The style he developed in the 1980s, along with Dynamite Kid, is a style of wrestling that still has influence today. Join pro wrestling historian Karl Stern (DragonKingKarl) as he looks back at revolutionary wrestler Tiger Mask (Satoru Sayama) and the various Tiger Mask characters which came afterward. Support WhenItWasCool.com on Patreon.

He was the last great truly dangerous feeling wrestler. Scott Steiner was a loose cannon on the mic and in the ring in WCW. Following a stellar tag team career with his brother Rick Steiner, Scott forged a new path as the Superstar Billy Graham look-a-like with a foul mouth and jakked to the gills in WCW and later TNA. He was the last pro wrestler to legitimately feel dangerous in and out of the ring. Unhinged craziness at it's best and, apparently, math wiz.

This is an audio documentary about the wrestling career of "Hustler" Rip Rogers.  Rogers worked all over the world in the 1970s-80s including most of the major U.S. territories, Japan, a memorable feud with Adrian Street and Austin Idol in Alabama, Stampede in Canada, and much more.

We close out the 1800s at New York's Madison Square Garden by look at the only pro wrestling show held there in 1898 and then there appears to have been none in 1899 and resumes again in 1900. Ernest Rober has returned and we find out that he is the hand picked champion for William Muldoon. We also discover clues as to why the original Strangler, Evan Lewis, never wrestled at MSG. We then discuss one of the best early heavyweights, Tom Jenkins, with this look at pro wrestling history with DragonKingKarl (Karl Stern).

This week on the DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Audio Show, host Karl Stern from WhenItWasCool.com takes a look back at the Queensbury Athletic Club which set the foundation for pro wrestling in Toronto, Canada and eventually gave rise to pro wrestling at the Maple Leaf Gardens. In the 1930s the Queensbury Athletic Club launch what would become one of the most influential wrestling territories in the world and set the stage for one of pro wrestling's most famous venues.

Another new pro wrestling biography for you as I take a look at the lucha libre character Pentagon. Originally created by AAA in Mexico as the evil rival of Octagon, Pentagon went through a number of changes over the years including different people playing the role. His rivalry with Octagon also lasted many years. Now, here in the current era of pro wrestling a new Pentagon has emerged - Pentagon, Jr. and he and his brother have taken the wrestling world by storm including Impact wrestling, AEW, Lucha Underground, and many more. Let's explore the story of Pentagon!

I will be looking back at the territorial era monster One Man Gang who later had his gimmick changed to the regrettable Akeem. Starting out with the outlaw promotions then Poffo's ICW, he ended up getting huge pushes in Florida, World Class, Mid-South UWF, and ultimately WWF where he had a run against Hulk Hogan before settling into a tag team with Big Boss Man. Before he retired he also had a couple of runs in WCW and Japan. Let's talk about the One Man Gang.

Today I take a look back at a classic tag team of the territorial era - The Nightmares. The Nightmares (Ken Wayne and Danny Davis) were never a big nationally known team. They never worked WWF, worked only briefly for the NWA and, even then, under a different name, but fans of Memphis and Continental saw them a lot as they were a top tag team in those territories peaking in a great feud with Tommy and Johnny Rich and again with Jerry Stubbs and Dirty White Boy.

On this DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Biography podcast, host Karl Stern takes a look at the career of one of the most famous lucha libre stars in history- Mil Mascaras. Mil Mascaras was a huge star, not only in Mexico, but the United States and Japan as well. In addition to that, he was one of the major lucha libre action movie stars, featured in multiple lucha movies. Known to be very difficult about doing jobs and even selling, we take a look at the fact and the fiction behind legendary lucha star Mil Mascaras.