Ep. 359: WWF's Royal Rumble 1988 (Part 2)

And we are so very much back. I'm pleased to say. It's the
lapsed fan wrestling podcast, and it's a traditional deep dive into your peacock archive.
Enjoy it while it lasts. It's the nineteen eighty eight WWF Royal Rumble,
the first one to be televised. The Revolution was televised. Your co
chairman stand in pole position. Indeed, deal. Huh how'd this show make
you feel? Oh? Great? Oh my god? Like this was just
I again, like I said during part one, this was there was I
got enjoyment out of every aspect of this show. Yes, there was never
a part where I was like, Okay, let's move it along, let's
keep on going. This was just glorious from head to toe. And uh.
And it's not even like it's a great show. It's not a great
show. That's what's key about the it used to be better. Yeah philosophy
is that it doesn't mean that side by side the matches and the shows were
better. It means the general on wi of being a wrestling fan was better,
right right, I mean it's just the idea that And again I wasn't
watching at this time. This stuff isn't isn't aren't storylines that I think back
on fondly. This is stuff that you don't have been aware of, right,
I wasn't. I wasn't aware of at all. It's just that that's
that's how I noticed to be better because shows I never watched as a kid
are still, you know, on a different level in terms of how engaged
you can get, how lost you can get, how few times you're taken
out of it. Yeah, because like to me, this this had the
same vibe, the same feeling that I got. Remember remember when we did
when we did World Class, Yes, And the first thing I said was
I felt like I was nostalgic for this and I've never seen it before.
Absolutely, And it's that kind of feeling that I have. Well, look
at these kids walking around. We're in late nineties clothes. They weren't.
They weren't a lot even the late nineties. Their children of the two thousands,
I know, I know. So it's it's it's always asked backwards to
me, like most people are nostalgic for times they did not live in Yes,
when they will I get down to it, not not for their childhood,
but for times they wish they would have been children in writ in a
lot of ways right, and here were rumble nineteen eighty eight perhaps exhibit a
minor correction. I had mentioned in part one that there was a royal rumble
in the cow Palace in San Francisco that Ted DIBIASI won according to history of
WWF, that was advertised as a bunkhouse battle royal and didn't have the staggered
rumble entry. And those were the ones that were sort of um, you
know, everywhere ubiquitous in early nineteen eighty eight up to Russelmania four, most
of them listed as bunkhouse battle royals. There was one we mentioned that check
the Snake Roberts one that was expressly a royal rumble, and there was also
one one by Rick Rude that according to results was a royal rumble per se
whatever one in nineteen eighty seven. That's so crazy still, uh, I
mean, still more than more than I do. You got to put gang
ye dB at the Gang Roberts and Ruden there, yep. I'm sure here
waiting for you to acknowledge it. I acknowledge it. No, not you,
I mean the general you out there, and and and Owen too for
that matter. You know what you're right. I didn't look past eighty eight
just for purposes of this episode. But if you're telling me there were the
rumbles, and I do faintly remember what you're talking about, we've got to
grapple with that. Yes, I've seen it. I've seen the tape.
I've seen the the you know, the handycam footage, ye of it.
I didn't watch the whole thing, but I've watched you know enough of it,
and I watched owen Win mentioned Peacock. What's a nice treat here,
bosses, we're watching season one, episode one of the Royal Rumble that I
mean what I can't wait for a season one episode two and the first thing
you hear were such lively festivity. Invin's voice, they just open live on
the building they do. There's there's no there's no pomp, no circumstance.
But here here's here's the opening Olcome mind the world put literaction, but ynolity
of the hamlet that I'm tea lest that does day Royal Rumball scutuled here tonight
live we'll see the officials signing of one is unfused me the most wrongful way
in the rematching the history of the World Trustling Literaction Pub and I'm going the
time affect me putting the jid handcut Port Patner for the rematch to take place
February five, and then from there a time team hunt of Night Jump Yes,
the Jumping bomb Angels from Japan. The Challengers has put off against the
Raiding Champions Jimmy Hawks, Lamber Girl and a two out of three ball there
and there Dan Sino promo to Praction World Pitch tust Bark of over seven hundred
and five times right here one night. And then Bobby the rain Eden's Islanders
and you have another time team atch the Young Stallion and of course we're long
the Brother twenty man o the same It's not twenty from the same time,
Pal, It's not twenty men at the same time, Pal, it's it's
twenty men. It's it's staggered. Entry. That'll tell you how not dialed
in Vince really was. I'll say, I mean, it's like twenty men
at the same time. That's a battle Royal. You've fucking dumbass. Yeah,
he can't wrap his head around that. It's not what it's gonna understand
what we mean? I staggered, What does that mean, like as if
I staggered in home drunk. Is that what you mean? Stagger staggered?
What now I listen, I just need to know what what? What we're
watching here? What am I? What am I? What am I doing?
You know, it's so tempting to call a micro manager, but what
the micro machines? But then you hear stuff like this, it's like he
he definitely wasn't micro managing. In nineteen eighty eight, he went on the
air alive not even knowing what the fucking rumble was. Still, I think
I think he micromanaging. I think it's selective micromanaging, got it. I
think when it's something that he cares about, kill micromanage it to death.
I think it when it's something that he doesn't really give a shit about.
There's nothing, no point in micromanaging because he doesn't care something whereof he wins,
he can picture it actually aggrieving somebody that he doesn't like, then he's
motivated. Then he's dialed in. But if no one suffers that he dislikes
in the process, then not of much interest to him. You know,
his nickname was Caesar backstage, right, I have heard that, where did
I hear that first, Well, I don't. Pritcher talks about it all
the time, but it was kind of well known even before he had a
podcast, But there was nothing. I remember seeing that the first time.
Somewhere I think, you know what, I think I know. I think
it was I heard. I think it was Paul Roma. I heard Paul
Roma say that Paul Roman was talking about mister Fuji, saying Matt Yes,
calling him Caesar. That's where I heard it the first time. Unbelievable.
So there it is great open. Yeah, I'm dialed in. I mean,
I don't need more than yep, that's it. Although sure, but
I would prefer to have the rundown of who's in the royal rumble. Yeah,
thats not to take nothing away from the brilliance of that. My point
is that's enough. What we just heard. Yea a trusted voice, you
know, in his sports style, telling us what's up tonight and who knows
where we're going. But this is the guy that's going to help take us
on that ride, and he's orienting us to things. It's not Yes,
he's not outsourcing that work to a production truck that has you know, four
thousand pells and whistles at its disposal. Now I'll take it jazzy show tunes
music. That of course, Rick Rude's entrance is he isn't going already for
the open podcast. He wasn't the ring. Yeah, so let's see Vince
and Jesse Um welcome us to Ontario, Canada. Inventor is fired up,
he is, he's ready. Well, he has his rumbling clothes on.
I do. I always have my rumbling clothes on, you know, I
you know sometimes when I'm going to bed and carries in the ray and the
ring. Brother what brother, dude? I told you, Terry, I'm
not talking about you. It is pretty outrageous that his wife's name is Terry.
I know. I think he had her change your name. I think,
yeah, for sure, just to piss off Hogan. I'm here,
Jess says. The Royal rumbles here and I'm pumped up. And this is
a pretty vincent on the no holds barred set. He does Howard Finkel on
the call. Light blue banners hanging from the rafters with that yellow WWF logo
that we need, and it's a beautifully listen listen banners in the corner.
I don't want CGI. I want a banner in the corner. I want
to hanging from the rafters right. I want to know where I'm at,
what I'm watching, set a scene, dress the set, but do it
an understated way, you fucking guls. No one cares about your stupid ass,
fucking little toys. I hated when I I was so bummed when they
stopped doing that. I loved, I always love the flags. The flag
were great, so necessary. I can we just find a way to make
them cgi but look exactly the same. So can I feel like it's worth
it because it's COMPUTERI and you know he can. He can create a constant
breeze, so it can go in the constant digital breeze, fluttering away.
Yes. So from Robins Sale, Minnesota in the ring with no entrance is
rick Rude and uh over into the next entrance music. It's obviously dubbed over
on Peacock because at this point Ricky was coming down to sirious by the Allen's
Parson the Allen Parsons project, because it didn't used to be better by the
way, slapping hands on the way down. It's Rickie steamboat versus rick Rude.
To kick us off here tied aisleway, tie aisleway. Yes, very
fans are talking wrestlers. The security's got to really fight to keep their hands
off the guys. Hey, did you know something that ravishing Rick Rude is
the winner, was the winner of the Jesse the body Award. That's what
he said. That's what I said. That was at the slammis. I
think doesn't matter where he's the winner with a plain blue apron chicken dinner.
I want them what what are you going to say? Loser, loser,
chicken boozer, so stupid? Any of those on roster me? Red white
and blue ropes, blue buckling. Yes, but yeah, I think the
I like the purple. The purple rumble is the only is it? That's
it? Just come on, it's an absolute must. You don't prefer the
new generation one? Excuse me, the new generation royal rumble logo, the
ninety six one. Yeah, no, no, of course not. I
didn't dislike it as much as a subsequently, I hate I hated them all
that. None of them have been good. They all suck. Yeah since
uh since since since ninety five? How did they land on the perfect esthetic?
Like fifteen years before they had all the modern technology tools at their disposal
and had like big departments designing things. Well, I know, and that's
the thing, like, you know, you look at the way that the
that the letters you know, floated in for the Royal Rumble member, guess
it was. It's just brilliant stuff and they really were. It was kind
of it was cutting edge, you know. Yeah. So yeah, bear
witness to a plain blue apron Royal Rumble as Vince's dragon could very well be
breathing fire here tonight. Brother, he's gonna have to get fired and come
back before that happens. Yeah, that's true. Good point, Jesse says,
Vince, you'd love to win the Jesse the Body Award. Looking at
your body, we could tell why you wouldn't he the uh oh no,
no, no, no, that's well maybe I think I might have this
this been the two of them, Rick Rude winning the Jesse the Body Award
or a victory over the Dragon. Well, I think they're both in their
own way, just as big for ravishing Rick Rude. I mean, being
the first winner of the Jesse the Body Award is phenomenal. Is you'd love
to win? Then again, looking at your body, we can tell a
lot of you wouldn't. But then again, wrestling is the bottom line,
Wrestling and being a wrestler, which is what ravishing Rick Rude is first and
foremost. So I'd have to say beating the Dragon will definitely be a feather
and roots cap if you can do it. Wrestling is the bottom line.
Can we fax this guy his release papers? Please? Wrestling is the bottom
line, God McMahon, he's needling Vince. Vince is getting so hot into
the collar that he's resolving to take steroids to get hell Cogan to teach him
how to do it. You see, you can't do it, so you
can't win the Jesse the Body Award. Huh McMahon, fucking shut up,
Jesse, shut up. I want you watch you know what. I don't
have to shut up. You know why, because I have the First Amendment's
freedom of speech. Yes, Scott, you don't. You don't have a
freewis speech on my fucking TV show? Oh yeah, well, why don't
you talk to my lawyer, Barry Bloom Oh Trump card crowds so excitable as
the bell sounds. Earl Hebner presiding, Vince says, Ricky Steamboat as a
wrestler who alies on tremendous agility and great speed, notwithstanding his extraordinary stamina as
long ass. Notwithstanding his stamina, always a master of the tail of the
tape was Vince McMahon. What what does withstand his stamina as a question,
I think we want to see that. Yeah. Bonnie Richard said under the
pod that they were looking for a good match to set the pace for the
night here in matching Ruden Steamboat. But relations were already quite strained between Ricky
Steamboat and the w WF. He was not happy in the company. There
was tension um basically the notion that he wanted time off with when his son
was born, you know. And that's kind of the lore of it.
And he said that. But when we dug into it on the Rickie the
Dragon Steamboat Colosseum home video, there's also it was basically money. It was
it was about merchandise. Run always money, it's always money. We should
have we should have we should have paid for another cameo and asked him that
no ship, we would have gotten a four percent of it about that a
second a second tour through his fucking dungeon. Imagine that, just like spam
him with ten cameos with ten different names, so we could do the same
video ten times in a row. Yep, yep, yep. But like
Bonnie, Steamboats talked about it, like you know, they started to agitate
about like how they were calculating the merchandise numbers, because this is where they
those huge first checks went out for LJN and in coliseum and then they adjusted
the formulas and all of a sudden checks went down, and you know,
you can't really get that much money, exactly, exactly clearlymer that goes on
my pocket. Look, we we we we saw it, and we um
you know, we understand, and I'm not I'm not I'm not trying taking
anything away from you and what you deserve. I'm simply saying that that was
a calculation error on our end, right that you know, quite frankly,
and that notwithstanding, you don't deserve that much money. And look, you
know we understand it's our mistakes. So we're not going to look to claw
back any of your ill gotten gains. We're just going forward, going to
ourselves, right and listen, you keep what you already you know deposited.
You go ahead, Ricky, don't, don't you worry. You go ahead,
you go ahead, and that's totally you know, listen, this that
was our mistake. But in the future, I can guarantee you this that
that that money that you received there that will be going into my pocket.
That's correct, And then you know what I might do, Ricky, I
was talking to the CFO about this. I think what we'll do is we'll
send you a check under the old formula and then we'll make your wife write
me a check for what I shouldn't have given. That's that's kind of what
we're gonna do, and you'll see you'll see the percentage differential from that.
I think that's exactly fucking correct. And of course George Scott's gone, so
Rickie Steamboat doesn't wanted him to do with the promotion of George Scott. His
daddy isn't there. You imagine like all of a sudden, and all of
a sudden he just like withers the way he's like he's a robot or you
know, and it's like you take him away from his Paris power sources.
Pretty much, Yeah, it's pretty much. Ye all known as well that
Crockett was making overtures, and of course the Steamboat will return to the NWA
to have that legendary nineteen eighty nine run in short order. Um Pritcher described
this as basically like a house show match, where they were working it like
it was a live event as opposed to a television event. And this is
before they really had a notion to drill in a wrestler's heads of how to
work differently for live television, because it was such a rare thing that they
produced it, and watching this back, it struck Pritchard that this was basically
the match they would done, you know, would have done in the garden,
as opposed to a match that was mindful of the fact that we're trying
to hold a television audience's attention without the benefit of post production and tightening things
up, which I guess they were more accustomed to doing when matches played out
like this on a television taping, slower pace, a lot of time put
in selling on the mat. I think it was a good match, but
it does it does seem like kind of like a you know, a single
cam shot style match. It's not like a big production right, No,
no, no, it's not. It definitely feels like it feels like the
opener of a house show. Yeah, yeah, it does not feel like
the opener of a of a of a special, or a pay per view,
or a even a premium live event for that matter. At the lock
up, Roots slugs away and Vince calls out the clenched fist, and Ricky
Steamboat starts firing off chops and overhead tomahawks and Rude with the rank of the
eye to stop that rally Vince, as I thought we were going to see
a scientific wrestling match. Jess with a great skin of the backdrops Root out
of the ring, Recruits, Bat catches the apron on the way down,
and Jesse Ventura is quick to call that out. You can see a lot
of yellow in the crowd, and that is a proliferation of Hogan foam fingers.
Thank you very much. The merchandise section of WW magazine, the catalog
is already quite robust by this point. Oh for sure, for sure.
What was the Hogan shirt at the time. I should look at the question.
I don't have it at my dispose. I'll find it. I'll find
it. I got I got a bunch of the magazines excellent, and Rude
takes a powder after being backdropped, it gets back in. I think he
stored in some powder too. For that matter, well, I didn't feel
like that was support pointing out rud complains a bit of those tights being pulled
and steamboats like I did not, and Jesse says, how do you know
he didn't do that? You didn't see it. Instant replay is the very
logical wiki steaboat may have had tights in there, ors. I think we
should have instant replay within the wrestling ranks exactly. You know, ranks is
the word to use there. Look at that build on rude. Vin says,
not bad, not bad at all. No, no, I say
not bad. Is indeed when I introduce you to somebody that I must find,
I must find this woman. Yes, because I guess it didn't occurred
to w WF that when you let somebody into a live television with a Jimmy
Hart microphone and they're sitting in the front row hard camera side, they might
be a bit of a distraction. This was amazing because at first you start
to hear this noise and you're liquid a bit it. Jimmy Hart isn't ring
side, but you can tell it's coming through a megaphone. Yeah, they're
saying things like shut up and just typical wrestling cat calls back when people showed
up and actually expressed passion instead of appreciation. And oh my god, this
woman was a fucking scourge the show over with her fucking little gimmick in the
front row she did. I mean, I wonder what happened when, because
obviously she stopped after a while. It must have taken it from a stop.
You know, the truck hit. You can't ignore it. It's like
she has full control over the narrative. Whatever she decides to blurt out,
everyone can hear. The wrestlers can't pretend they don't hear it, although they
try. It's amazing, it really was. It was so it was so
special. It's been a while since I've looked at the fine print of a
w w E ticket. But I don't remember no lasers, right and all
that. But I don't remember seeing no megaphones. No, no, I
don't know if megaphones yeah, um, but this woman. Um, if
there is a prohibition on it, it's thanks to this woman in Hamilton,
Ontario who just must have a memory of this and still must be alive.
And I just would love to get the story, but they've got the catalog.
But you know what, it's very very It's not it's not big yet.
Oh really it's thin. It's very very seeing it, seeing it,
flipping through and figuring it was robust enough. What what makes two pages?
I'm looking at it right now, it's only two pages. Two pages.
That can't be right? Then? What was the month that you had just
shirts? Really? And in a hulk Hogan, We'll get the American made
T shirts. There's a superstar Billy Graham shirt for Fox's sake. Yeah,
I had that come back in eighty seven, real American. There are Hulka
sized shirts. Brother, they had a WrestleMania three uh T shirt cap and
headband. There was a real fan in your lives right there was a Hulka
sized painters cap and headbands. I remember the painter's caps for sure. The
key tags um a license plate holder, Ricky Steamboat has a shirt and it's
a killer. Bees had a fucking shirt. J Y D had a shirt,
Tito had a shirt. Billy, Jack, Haynes and Morocco all had
shirts. Hogan had a license plate holder. He also had a marijuana holder.
Yes he did mix holder, and a fanny pack holder, a rig
holder, a juice holder. Most people call it a cup holder, but
it was a juice holder for shirt, juice holder for shirt. Absolutely,
So they go to the knuckle lock Steamboat trying to get Rude to play his
game, his style, they say, and take it to his advantage test
a strength in the center of the ring. Steamboat. Um not really cut
anymore at this point. He's kind of soft, right he got Yeah,
actually compared to how he came in at eighty five fraternity leave, is that
what it is? Yeah? Absolutely, is eating ice stream and stuff,
you know, eat whatever he can while while little while a little boat smoke
is doing the thing there to his knees go steamboat venturistists. That shows rudes
muscles aren't cosmetic, that's for sure. And I'm like, uh, what
do you mean, like you can't you can't look like that classic surgery on
right on your ribs. Maybe. Oh man, all they did back there
in commentary was comment on physiques. Of course, That's what I'm going to
go back and watch shows from this era. It's always so stark to me.
It makes a much more sense why they would prosecute vince in retrospect,
because it's like, you can't watch these shows as a kid and come away
with any other message than you are a punk bitch unless you look like this
right, with no conception of what you know illegal substances you need to ingest
and what kind of abuse you have to put your body through to achieve those
supernatural proportions. But oh my god, it's just all that. It's like
they equate the physiques with toughness to a degree that I didn't even recall,
And every time I hear it, it's so stunning because we know, we
know how easily you can beat the shit out of someone who's that gast up,
sure, sure, out of breath in fifteen seconds. It's just amazing.
Um so a steamboat with a knee to the risk during the during the
test of strength. I love the fans standing up and they're pointing at rude
and yelling at them. Oh yeah, well, this is not a crowd
that's at all cognizant of the fact that they could make a television moment doesn't
cross their mind for a second nowadays. Nope, that's table steaks. That's
the reason you buy a ticket. I'm gonna see if I can. Hey,
I'm not fee if I can take over the show and it shows I've
got I've got a plan. I've got a plan for some things, and
I'm telling you right now I can. I can do this. I've got
I've got from some ideas, I got ring I've been faving for two years
to get ring fide feet. I have them, and I have I have,
I have a plan. I'm going to take over raw In say this
this is the night. I might even hop the barrier and tackle something.
Might I might, you know, I might just do that because I know
I can take from Remember when you attack heels because they were heels supposed to
try to make something right right and trying to get more followers the wrestling equivalent
of a streaker. I really want to get more followers to my Instagram and
my and and my tich talk. And I think that if I do this,
and I have what I'm gonna do, if I'm gonna hop a barrier
and I'm gonna have my phone taped with duct taped to my head so I
can film the whole thing and do it like oh, I at least I
don't think you're a psychopath running out and looking like that a live thream,
and what I'm gonna do with I'm gonna hop a barrier. I'm gonna get
right in the fifth wrong faith. I'm gonna go well, yeah, that'll
go viral. The hooga booga guy, I'll call him. Yeah, let
me ask you get this big plan. What are you gonna see him?
In your face to face with the wrestler? Go ahead, what are you
gonna say now when you see him? What are you gonna say? I'm
gonna jump out there. Yeah, no, But when you're face to face
with him, that's the moment. Okay, that's a way to get security
to take you away gingerly, right, But the palm of the hand on
the small of your back, not tackling you. This child, this child
clearly has escaped, you know. Also the way to be you know,
to get taken in a in a sleeveless jacket for sure, Yeah, straight
jacket, kind of fan jf with her a drink in his face. It's
a steamboat with a need of the wrist of rude to break the double knuckle
lock. Dropped down and comes up with a wrist lock take down into an
armbar. Because that's a pretty clever fucking strategy. I'll give him that.
Yes, you're not going to find someone that gets into and out of holds
any better than Ricky Steamboat, Ladies and jes sure, for sure, Rod
loves the baby faced technical ability on display. That's all you needed to do,
was was wind clean right? Was Trump the bad guy cleanly? And
the fans loved you. Um, And there she is with a megaphone.
She's front row next to a kid with one of those WWF painter's hats,
and she has spectacular she's springing into action. She's a hero. She's a
hero. Yeah, she absolutely is. I mean just I never even considered
what would happen if you brought a megaphone to a wrestling show, and how
you could just like run shit until they take it away. Um, steamboat,
wrench in the arm, Jesse and Toresa is wrestling a smart match?
Here a steamboat as he cranks does he does give credit to uh to steamboat
here right now, I'll give your credit the dragon. Steamboat is winning the
match. But this is a profession, it's not on any You don't get
two points for a takedown. You don't get one point for an estake,
that's who wins at the end. Rudy, Rudy, Rudy. Oh yeah,
here are some of the band or about ringside. Looks like a fan
out there's got one of them custom Jimmy Hart megaphones out shout the mouth of
us out. Okay fans. Yeah he's a huh guy. Yeah for sure.
You know they're practicing their freedom of speech out there. Those breath at
the end. Yeah, well, I will say, enjoy the expressions,
the freedom of expression and freedom of speech that the fans have. Well,
what about my freedom of speech? Huh, Jesse, Um, I your
your your freedom of speech has been redacted under under copyright law. It's funny
you say that, jes because but while I'm talking here, I got something
that I want to bring up. What is this Jack Tunny thing coming out
with a referendum or memorandum or whatever you want to talk it? Call it
saying that I can't talk about the offense that happened. He's not singling you.
I don't think we all want to talk about what happened last fight.
But if Jack Punny, I think we have to respect his wishes. Wait
a minute, one, we live in a democracy. We live in a
place that has something that's called the First Amendment. That's correct, it's called
freedom of speech. What gives this guy the right to take away my freedom
of speech? Listen, Jesse, I'm saying, I don't care what he
says. I'm gonna talk about Friday night now. I'm gonna talk about it
right now. You know what what is this? Hey? I put it's
going on here. Listen, the world Rolston Federation Centers are right there.
What do you want for Mack? This is censorship, man, I don't
have to put up with this. There's unions, there's everything, and I'm
going to everybody. Tuney has no right to try to stop Jesse Ventura.
So I'm telling the people like it iss not trime to single your on Jesse
again. I don't love to be able to talk about it. And you
know we were speaking of it earlier. It's just that we can't speak of
it in a public forum. We're gonna wrote guy, So do you know
what that was? No? What is that besides exactly what you were just
saying? In somebody right. At one point he screams, there's unions.
He says that, yes, they had to lay down commentary. What about
freedom of unions? Right? I think they're just fine, Jess in terms
of freedom at least, but they had to lay commentary tracks down for I
think it was Canadian syndication before the main event had finished on NBC, but
it was going to air after the main event, so not knowing exactly what
would end up happening in NBC, but having to lay down a track for
a show that would air after that, they came up with this idea where
you know, the reason we're not talking about it fans is because Jack Tunney
has told us not to, and so that's their way around it. Wow,
yes, kind of and Vince makes reference to elsewhere in the show.
We were able to talk about it because that's post production, after the main
event was over and after the commentary track was laid down, they could insert
it afterwards. But I guess they couldn't corral these two into a studio after
indianapolish to talk about Hogan and Andre on the the match commentary track, but
that was just a Jesse and first amendment over, I don't understand this happened
before the main event. No, that's not from this show. Oh,
Oh, I don't know. You would have you would have grabbed that bite
in a heartbeat. I know, well right, well, I wasn't sure
that, Okay, I think it's the weekend. It's a Superstars the weekend
after um the main event or the day after Saturday. I see. And
for some reason, I'm associating it with just the Canadian Um syndication show,
like the Maple Leaf Wrestling show. I see. Yeah, there you have
it. So wow, that's funny. Definitely on his first Amendment ship back
then, was was Jesse crowd still lit a little too darkly for my taste.
That's one thing I don't think they had down yet, was lighting the
crowd. Matt to me that that doesn't really happened till nineteen ninety. Would
they light them? To my favor? That ye gotta do it, guys,
gotta do it. I don't care. I know a lot of people
have experimented with dark houses. It's always a bad idea. I hate it.
I can't stand it. To me, it just feels so like,
what are you doing? So there's a shot Ricky steamboat ducking baseball slide.
Of course you got a clap before you arm drag when you're Rickie to dragon
and he does yes. Front row cra clapping rather like crazy at the execution,
bouncing in their seats and excitement that Ricky steambove to titt an arm drag
okay, woman says hit him in the head with it over her megaphone,
like it is, I don't know he is cock? What again the ruddy
ruddy chance you heard? I guess that's supposed to tease rick Rude and I
get ventured us. The whole thing about this is professional wrestling. There's no
points. You don't get three points for a takedown like you keep channing Rudy
and you know, all of a sudden, sean Asston's going to come down
or Rudy poop candy ass. That's true too, then says again, we
hear some of the banter about ringside. Yes, she has an awful hat
on for what it's worth, a woman with the megaphone, um and yeah,
so how like ballsy she was? Look, we we we've heard,
we've gotten shit from people that have sat around us at wrestling shows. You
and I, I mean, we even put it on Patreon one time at
the New Japan show at UM But I don't ever want to hear anyone complain
again. We never considered taking a fucking megaphone to a show. So no,
no, never, hardly the world. Now I will, now,
what is her story? I would love to know? Ontario Mama four.
You know, yes, she makes good flapjacks maple syrup, like absolutely.
She loves going to uh the fucking sugar shack, sugar sat just outside of
just you know, outside of outside of uh uh you know they make when
they make trips to Montreal, they always go to the sugar Shack and eat
the uh eat a deep fried lard. Tim Horton's just about every day,
yep, you know, to get her day started. Nice hot kappa,
always steaming um. And her brothers. The thing is, when she grew
up, it's like she basically lated the ice ring because all of her brothers
played hockey. She had six brothers. She was the only girl. I
said fifteen. Sure. So rick Rud slugs free and Steamboat starts nailing them
with some chops. Irish whip is reversed. They do a dosy dough and
then Steamboat drops him with a double chop at an arm drag. Then tourss
those chops are excellent, but very very close to the throat McMahon. He's
always trying to find fault. Yes, he says, Heavener needs to keep
a close look at where those chops are landing. As Steamboat is working the
reverse food you are armbar in the canvas. He gets a near fall and
then Steamboat's mouth is wide open like WHOA, I almost got him there.
WHOA? Brother Rude then grabs a Steamboat haror and the megaphone lady calls it
out. That's another problem with having someone with a megaphone. They're gonna referee
can't pretend to nod hear when they're calling out injustice. You know, I
don't believe in her freedom of speech, McMahon. You know you would think
that we would abuse the privilege if we were allowed into a wrestling show with
a megaphone like that. But I'm gonna let you know that I would be
clever about it. You don't. The only time I would use it would
be boss, when as soon as the wrestlers hit the floor, I would
begin loudly counting yes, yes, yes, yes, yeah. I mean,
if the referee is not going to keep the cadence of the count.
Then fine. You know, if I have to take matters into my own
hands, I will or or you know what I would do too, If
if the referee was distracted and there was and there was a visual pinfall happening,
I would I would use it then to yell the referee how annoyed the
wrestlers would be that they get rushed into the ring. Legit ten count,
it'd be amazing. Back up, Rude kicks the gut and throw some right
hands and takes over whip at back elbow, puts down Ricky the Dragon steamboat,
Vince says with a no, Vince comes when they come on, ref
get in there, Yes, and vinceys all Rude knows is punching, or
at least that's all he's showing. In Ventorus is maybe that's his game plan.
Rough House smatch, rough house stampede, a run house McMahon. Vince
called his version, Oh Dust Dust a runk house. So how about a
runk house. Your fucking fat pitch means about as much as bunk house.
Bal Yeah, fucked your bunk house. I got a runk house, that's
right, or a rump house. Some of that ass house. Dut Dusty,
I want to thank you for coming in for the meeting. We're very
excited to have you in the WWF and and to really really take the legend
of Dusty Roads to the next level. Before we talk business and talk about
the final points of this contract. Here though, Dusty, I would just
like you to take a look at the monitor here in my own my desk.
Let me turn this thing around for you. This is a live remote
feed M, a static camera trained on your childhood home. I know you.
I know you look upon it very fondly and warmly, and I know
it means awful lot to you in your family, despite it having been you
know, vacant for the past twenty thirty years. I believe I want you
to watch now, Dusty, as the wrecking ball enters the frame. Dust
just thanks for thanks for I appreciate you coming here, all right, baby
Daddy, I'm happy to be here, baby great. Um, you know
we are, we are pleased. Uh listen, um we are. Please
put that an event silhouette. Um. Yeah, So I wanted to talk
about character and uh sure kind of what you know where you're you know what
we want to do with you, uh in the w W e here Baby
maybe coming in the American Dream duff her Road, Daddy, Well, listen,
I know this what you've been doing, and that's been great, all
right, very very entertaining. But we kind of haven't, you know,
we want to kind of tweak it a little bit to kind of you know,
maybe uh adhere more to the the the the WWE fan base we have,
you know, what they expect from from from our our w W superstars,
because now you know you're not You're not just a Southern wrestler anymore.
You are a WWE superstar. It's a big difference. There's a big difference
because we're not wrestling here, we're entertaining, all right. So what I
want to do I have this is tell me what you think about this name?
All right? So instead of the American Dream, Dusty Rhodes, what
I want to call you is Rump House Roads. What the fucking talk?
What do we mean? The rump half road with baby and maybe no goddamn
fifth Daddy White mean rump half Roads. Well, I'm just thinking, you
know you, because you know, I want to keep some some of the
uh the you know, some continuity from what you were doing. Uh down
down South. You know when you did the the the rump house stampedeler or
something. Right, what the fuck you talking about? Baby? What I
mean? I'm talking about your your your your rumpass rumpass roads? Right,
don't know what the fuck you doing? Daddy? All right? Fine?
Right? What fang mcfrost like, it's not too far away? How about
how about this? How about this? How about how about how about um
asshole roads? How about win roads? How about about how about Dusty?
I own your ass roads? Right? How about Dusty? You're gonna go
from decrying my product as the end of rustling because we know it one year
to working for me the next. How about how about this? Bear with
me? He rump House, Dusty McMahon, Dusty? How how attached are
you the last name Rhodes? Anyway? Okay, all right, wait,
hold on, stuff, I gonna stop. You want you to picture WWF
taping in nineteen eighty nine, you know, with the stage the gene stands
on ye and it's it's Dusty's first night in Titan and Gene gets up there.
Now, ladies and gentlemen, if I may expose your leg momentarily,
I want to welcome now to the stage for the first time in the Royal
Wrestling Federation. The American Dream Dusty McMahon. Picture Dusty's face and picture him
being named Dusty McMahon. Fad bad daddy, am can dream deaf hit Mcmahonny
a baby, we're doing the thing, daddy. I'm hitting fake things up
the way that only a McMahon cane, if you know what I'm saying,
Daddy. I didn't know Vince Senior was a plumber. My brother vfacmah don't
commentary over, hi, baby, I thought your brother was Rod and my
other brother Rod down down and take fift anywhere where we all belong. Baby.
Wow, wow, Look I expected a lot of things out of the
nineteen eighty eight Royal Rumble Show. But Dusty McMahon and he looks exactly the
same. There's no you know what I mean, He looks exactly stupid.
Top hat, the whole thing, the whole thing, nothing changes. Hey,
we're top hat ones. Oh I thought you try to say cowboy hat,
no top hat you we're a top hat one time? Oh my god.
And then I think the woman with the megaphone says, drop kick him
right in the chops, and someone and then she looks to the person next
door like they're gonna laugh, and they don't. Eventually it's like, all
right, lady, all right, sect it was funny the first two ties.
Yeah, all right this. I think she's got a problem. I
think she's got a real problem. Like she's just small. Stop. We
gotta we gotta get her out of here. Can we give her a free
T shirt or something? Can we call security? Please? Can we fucking
tie her up and get her the fun the shift like like Carwin Sylphies grabs
her by the collar and throws her out the back door. The cops call
us, mom, Mom, that lady, Hey, lady touched me funny
with her with her megaphone? Brother, do you know that if you went
to a Celtics game this in this era, it was basically the Boston Cops
Coliseum. Um so I did go to a game around this time period,
so I remember that that old godden smelling like old gods. That's right,
an ass and Jimmy O'Connell, Jimmy O'Connell and Billy Sullivan, which one Bobby's
brother, Steve's father, Henry's cousin, Which one are you talking about?
So many Sullivans show little too, which which one is the Boston cop Sullivan,
Sullivan, Donovan, Donovan. They're all so, they're all Sullies too
for them. You know, if your name is if your last name is
Sullivan, your nickname is Sully. There's not a single high school graduation around
here where at one point someone doesn't say I'm the audience to the stage as
the diploma is passed, solely just letting you know. Okay, Oh god,
So steamboat with a baseball slide underneath ric Rude's legs in an arm drag
and it dives, It drives a knee into the shoulder, working the shoulder
on the canvas. I would I would respect the woman, by the way,
if she said in her megaphone instead of like drop kick his face,
if she just said fuck me, fuck my pussy, Ricky steamboat, fuck
my pussy, that would be great. Hi, Ricky, Hi, Hricky,
Hricky. Look at my trot. It sounds exactly like that. Hurkay,
my pussies worn't for you, Ricky. Look at my debt. I'm
putting my deal on my white pussy du so hot, Oh my god,
just for you or you can or you can hand it next to the imagining
it's your dragon going my pussy, Ricky. And nine seconds delay wouldn't be
enough. Oh my god, did you see I get a dildo with my
pussy? Did you say? It's like it's not even it's nothing, it's
not even creative. It's just like I think, she said, I have
a dildo in my wet pussy. She said, wet do we cleansy?
Why are you mad at us for doing this? It's not our fault at
this is funny. Oh god, she's got the case. Think about think
about the physics. Here. Why my hand has got a hole megaphone,
the other has got like has to pull her pants down. Someone turned the
ac on and here it's January. What's that worrying? Oh, Ricky?
Oh yeah, rookie's working at working an armbar. All of a sudden,
Rookie, I think of you what I said on the dryer, Oh,
Ricky, you dragons inside me right now? Ocky. And she doesn't what's
key, And she doesn't change her face. Her face is contorted none at
all. She's just like straight laced saying these things. You're gonna have a
little thing, a little inconglud like this, do you I feeling, Ricky?
Oh god, good luck in the drive through with that one solar system.
Do not operate heavy machinery or listening to our call of Ricky steamboat boss
Rick Rude from Royal Rumble nineteen eighty eight, all right, thank you?
Oh so steamboat whispers something to Rude as a reversal, Ricky goes right now,
and sure enough, right now back elbow lands and drops him. Um,
she can shoot into that. She can shout that microphone all she wants,
but she can't be louder than some of these spot calls those come through.
The problem is that because she's so loud, they had to call him
a little bit louder. Yeah, exactly. Rick Root has to sell his
arm as too hurt to pose. Oh my god. Back when people subtly
appreciated that, they they subtly appreciated it. They thought it was, you
know, campy that he was selling. They didn't reward the guy in their
mind for selling and checking the box Rickie throwing. No one said good psychology
there, rick right with some chops whipped reverse drop down. They did two
drop downs and then dragon hits the ropes stern him first. I'm not sure
what he was going for there. There was kind of a miscue. Rude
barely taps him and transit with the need of the kidney, and Ventura says
he saw a break and the action, saw a break in his pace and
saw steamboat going into the ropes a bit out of control. Jesse fucking saves
it every time. Yep, he does. Does it makes sense if these
guys are in there trying to execute, sometimes it's not gonna work and it's
gonna look sloppy. Steamboat pardon me, m yeah, steamboat is ailing on
the floor now is. Rude drives him into the corner and slams him out
of the blue mats on the outside of the ring. Yes, keep that
in mind for a future reference on this deep dive. There are blue mats
surrounding the ring. Just remember that. Yep. Back in, Rude swivels
his hips a bit, that elbow lands, and then you get the red
live and the top left of the screen up to the apron. Rude comes
into bring the hard way off a vertical suplex that gets to the crowd.
Pops that he kicked out Steamboat. That is, Rud applies a camel clutch,
and this was before tapouts. So Steamboat slaps them that furiously, very
clearly, tapping out over and over again, with no call from the red
hands covering the face, and Ventura says that Ricky Steamboat might be trying to
quit, but we can't hear him because Steamboat ruts hands are across his face.
Rude then sits down on the back of Steamboat and recranks Vince McMahon talking
about cutting off the air being illegal in this match, and he says,
you can see that all the way back here. Jesse says to Vince,
you can see he's cutting off his air all the way back here, McMahon.
The hand drops twice and then a third time. Oh then Hebner does
it again. I miss that. Steamers holds his hand up at this point,
and Ventor says, why doesn't the match and da Ventura pounces. Of
course, Vince has to be silent because sometimes Jesse makes a totally valid point.
Well, mud By, see what McMahon, not even you would stick
your finger up somebody's nostrils, he says at one point, don't ask me
why. He says that Rude counters. Let's see Steamboat counter stands up an
electric chair drop on Rick Rude to counter the camel clutch, and Steamboat goes
up and goes for a splash, but lands across the knees of Rick Rude.
Ventura says, Steamboat was using aerial tactics when his opponent isn't hurt enough
to catch it, to catch him, Yeah, and Rude with an atomic
drop. Thence calls it another sensational maneuver that gets to back to the camel
clutch, and Steamboat slaps one hand after the other to try to get to
the ropes, and Ventura says, Ricky Steamboat has a horrible rhythm on that
the way he's trying to get the crowd behind him. And then he cuffs
the ankles of Rick Rude and kind of bucks forward and this sends Root into
the corner to break the camel clutch. Kind of counter. I like it.
I like it a lot. Now he sends his head into the buckling
ten consecutive times to Steamboat and tour a protesting that he's holding him by the
hair. And if Rick Rude held Steamboat by the hair, McMahon, you've
been complaining all night long. No response from Vince as a steamboat hits a
snap mare a chop to the face for two. Rude cuts him off though
headlock takedown head sister to the top rope. Um Rick Rude goes to Rick
Rude, Well that cuts two. I don't know, sorry he missed that
up. Oh this is that Sorry? He doesn't go to the top rope.
He spins to the top. This is where they you know, exchange
one two one two one two yes, including a schoolboy roll up brother?
What that's right? Because a steamboat does the bridge backslide one two back up
boyd quiet brother, Terry, I just called it a steam boy roll up
brother. I felt it, dude. That's that's just megaphone, Lady,
Terry, don't wrote somebody's trying to roll about their brother. Somebody tried to
roll up. Shut listen, Terry, listen, listen. What what what
brother? Schoolboy plever steamboy with the school boy roll up for two steamboy.
I'm gonna keep saying that I should have been that should be his son's a
gimmick, wasn't he? In teen Titans? Steam boy steep single lake jack
knef cradle by steamboat gets to back up inside cradle. No, Rude ends
up on top as they reverse it one two, No steamboat on top.
One two backup. Rude brakes the eyes, whip left arm. Larry at
nails. Steamboat hits them hard. We're talking Larry at city one two not
enough love. How intentional those covers were, too, man, They really
thought they were gonna win. Yep. Rude tries a soup play. It's
blocked, and steamboat elevates and dumps route to the canvas to Jubilasian. Both
spent on the canvas. Steamboat points skyward, climbs the ropes. Hebner gets
himself in position to take the bump. Steamboat goes soaring into Hebner, who
takes the flatback bump. So a referee is down and now steamboat, of
course, trying to pin rick Rude. Ventura says that Ricky steamboat um has
to check on Hebner. Rude comes up from behind, grabs him, hits
the shoulder over the shoulder, backbreaker on Ricky Steamboat, hanging him out to
dry earl. Hebner comes up clutching his gut and signals for the bell.
Yeah, that's this week. It was the backbreaker he didn't not the shoulder
breaker, so he's like the Bruno thing he was, Yeah, right,
the Canadian backbreaker exactly. And uh, it wasn't clear if Hebner signaled for
the bell because he got a signal that Ricky Steamboat submitted in the hold,
or if rick Rud's being disqualified um, or if someone's being disqualified for uh
Hebner hitting the deck. I think it is what it was, right,
didn't Rude pull Hebner in front? Yeah? Weak, it's weak. Whatever
it is, it's weak. Yeah, it's it's hardly a clearly intentional um.
So yeah, um, they speculated maybe he's calling for the bell for
a submission, even though Hebner didn't even look at Ricky Steamboat before signaling for
the belt. Right. Uh. So Rud's music hits. I think it's
a dubbed over version the version they used to use. Yeah, it's a
little bit different. It is different. It's actually very close to um a
copyrighted song called the Stripper by David Rose. Right, that's the one that's
the one he used to use kind of a riff on their on the the
Stripper, yep. And so Rude bounces up the aisle with his hand raised
like he won the match. Fink takes over and says the winner as a
result of a disqualification Ricky the Dragon's steamboat, and Rude turns up the aisle
like what And this seems to take a long time. Patterson comes out,
you see him for a brief second to catch him and I did not.
Yeah, he comes up out the curtain to sort of block Rick Rude from
going any further to the bag. And I just thought it was, you
know, just the angle. But Pritchard kind of made it seem like Patterson
went out there because things had to be moved along, like it was taking
too long for Rude to get the signal and to turn around and for Finkle
to make the announcement. Um, so I don't really interesting to that dark
grad wwfs suit. Yeah, Pritchard sing on this podcast, you can see
pat tell Rude to go to the back to go back to the ring.
Rather it should have happened a lot faster with the referee getting up and everything,
and Howard assuming that Rick Rude was actually the winner. He says,
you know afterwards, it was weird. It was very weird. It was,
yeah, it was. It was actually what it seemed to be was
a big delay in getting word to Finkel as to who actually was supposed to
be declared the victor. To hear Bruce Prichard tell it, this was an
important show for the production side of WWF in that they sat down and discussed
this one at length about what they could do better. And one of the
things they determined after this show and because of this match, according to Pritchard,
is that Finkel needs to know the finish before the match. We can't
just wait for Finkel to see the finish wow, which I guess was protocol
before that bitch to get it through a quicker on television, And so Rude
marches to the ring to protest his disqualification. We take a break, and
that's the end of that. Well a little bitch. Indeed, on Peacock
they cut this out, but on the live version as it aired back then,
they show a WrestleMania four graphic and oh yeah, it just comes into
the screens, goes there's no matches or anything, no wrestler pictures. It's
just a logo and I think it says Trump Plaza whatever it says, or
maybe just as Atlantic City. Um coming March twenty seventh. When we come
back, Gene Okerland is on the screen and he says, tonight, ladies
and gentlemen, with Jesse Ventura on stage with a bunch of dumbells and a
weightlifting bench. There, Jean says, one of Canada's own will endeavor to
establish a new world record in the bench press, and assisting me with the
description of the action tonight is Jesse the body of Ventura and Jesse, of
course your name is synonymous with power itself, and Ventura says, it's obvious
why Dino didn't ask you to be the spot or out here and explained who
what the spotter is, and as Zoobaz pants I know says I'm gonna lift
the bar from my friend Bravo. I'm there exactly for my friend Dino' Bravo.
Ronically, this segment hardly raised the bar in any way. Ah well,
record seven hundred and five pounds is attempted to be broken here by Dino
Bravo, and you know I can't. So I understand you can't go right
for it. You have to do kind of warm up weight. But I
felt like one of two things just I mean again, listen. I'm not
a powerlifter, I don't I don't know shit, but I feel like he
did too many, too many weights. Yeah, I feel like he should
have jumped up a little higher at the times, like well, or I
started too low or something. I don't know. I don't think it would
have made a difference. You know why because Richard says that it was kfeve
weights, like you can, oh, all right, there were real weights
on there, but it wasn't as much weight as they were saying. I
could basically take what they said it was and cut it in half because the
fake weights on there too. But even then, that's what the funny thing
about this is is even with the fake weights, Bravo couldn't make it.
Fucking sucks, right. He couldn't lift half the weight they said he did,
right, But you know, he was the strongest guy in the locker
room, and if there was someone in WWF roster that could be credibly presented
as achieving this, it would be him. And he was able to,
according to Pritchard, do this in the locker room, or at least at
some point prior to the rumble, so they had confidence that they couldn't put
him out there in live television and he could do the lift, but when
push came to shove, he couldn't do it. Must have been all those
fans he was telling to be quiet, I guess, getting in his head.
So yeah, Zoobaz and snakeskin boots for Jesse Ventura just in case you
forgot what decade. The show took place in York Dumbbells for You, accompanied
by Frenchie Martin from Montreal. So they don't love him in Hamilton, Ontario,
that's for sure. He dapts up Jesse and Majestic. On that mini
stage were wrestlers man that little stage. So the ring in the background so
simple, yea, yep. And it made you feel like the arena was
like a million miles long. Yeah right, there's like these hidden compartments of
the arena that you couldn't even discern when you were watching the matches. And
still it looked like there were people everywhere, and then all of a sudden,
there's this other whole area. I mean, you know, of course,
if you see it in person, it doesn't look as impressive, but
they knew how to shoot man to make it look like they had miles of
people totally. No one was coming to the show. So Jean says,
big stakes ahead, here your thoughts, and Bravo says, it's a big
challenge, but I feel I can do it, and that's why I'm here
tonight. Great stuff. Do you know? Thank you? They asked Frenchie
for comments and he says a bunch of things in a French Canadian or whatever,
kebaqua and there's booze speckled in and Jean gives him a mercy boku it
says, I thank you, and Vince laughs. The fact that Jean got
absolutely nothing out of Frenchie, who could speak good English, and that was
kind of the point of putting him with Dino, who wasn't. But I
guess Frenchie decided the way to go here is just pretend he was above speaking
English, and they could have used him, because this thing dies a slow
death. This whole segment. Oh, it's so awful. In a lot
of way, it's so awful. It's just brutal. Ventura puts the powder
on his hand, slip. It's important to hold that bar and have a
good grip. He says, yeah, fifteen pounds to get started, some
warm up weight. They call it. I have a grip. Yep.
Dono gloves up and says, this requires total concentration, So I demand that
you don't make a sound while I do this. You know what that means?
The cloud and the crowd kind of doesn't even they're still authargic. They
don't even bother to like really scream at him. They don't. I mean,
it's so it's this is absolute death this segment, Gene has to help
him out, throw him a lifeline. He reiterates, he is asking for
your total silence, so please, and then they kind of erupt. So
Dina lays down to the bench and Ventor is hovering over, and Dino pumps
hard off his chest rapid fire style to really show that he can throw around
four hundred pounds no problem, Gene Oka lynds and pressed. They ask for
an additional ninety pounds. It takes forever for them to load these weights on.
I mean, it's like again, it's such death. It's such death.
To five or five they go. Gene asks how much are you adding
to the ball are and thinking, Geane, they should be asking you that
not even there Yeah, he he at the airport bar, Gene reminds them
that he's asked for total silence, trying to get that reaction again and uh,
diner with the weights and pumps it fast again with a little problem,
so he keeps climbing. Um, Folcus is boring TV. Also working with
a spotter earlier, Rick Rude five fifty five pounds now Jane boo boo boo.
Actually you know what? And coming up in the next match, a
couple of spotters working with the glamour girls. Oh you better, Yeah,
I'm Mizaki. I mean you know you talk about top rope um missile drop
kicks indeed. Um, so yeah. They do a crowd cutaway as Jean
tries to get him worked up again at the idea of total silence. As
Brown lays down um and gets up and waves his arms because the booze are
too much for him. He can't he can't concentrate. Jesse grabs the mic.
Whether you like the guy or not, at least give him a chance.
Whether you like the guy or not, at least give him the chance.
Fair request. Absolutely, and it's it's you know kind of um,
Civilly stated as well. From you to the body, Yeah, yeah,
um, you can see Vincent lamplight right at Dino's feet, that the announcing
table, the announced position, which was not ringside but where it belongs up
near the aisleway, was right next to where this was taking place on the
interview stage. And it seems like Dino is kind of, if you watch
his facial expressions, kind of preoccupied with the fact that the post yes staring
at him the whole time and judging the fact that this isn't going so well.
So Dino does the fast pumps and can you graduate who is more weight?
This thing sucks? God damn it. Of course this is not.
This is not the only weight Dino Bravo would graduate to holding Bravo asks for
less noise. Again, this takes forever stop, but in a way that
feels like it is really what these guys would do if they really couldn't care
less if people were watching them. Sure, and I guess there's some appreciation
to that. I just I just don't care about this whole fucking thing.
I guess on paper, like the guy setting the world bench press record and
building to it slowly, it's kind of the same principle as the Rebel countdown.
It seems like good television. It was not ninety five now, because
you know, wrestling fans don't really care if you can lift heavy weights.
I know you think they do, but they don't give a phone and they're
they're really do lifting fans. No, they're not any they're not bodybuilding fans,
not even close. Just look at him, for Christ's sakes, like
it's just awful. So he sits down, pops up to booze. He's
not going to do it again. He's stomping his feet. They're not really
making that much noise though. Dino's overreacting, and Frenchie with more French,
Jean says, these people speak English. Dino goes back, and Jane says,
the crowd continues to be quite vocipherous. Yeah, if you say so.
You know, Gene, he's always sarcastic as fuck. If he's out
there saying something's happening, he's probably actually remarking on the fact that it isn't
happening and trying to pop the truck. So three pumps from Dino at five
ninety five, and then Jean says, Frenchie, your man seems to be
holding up quite well, and Jean says, please, I'm sorry, Frenchie
Martin, I know, well you can speak English. Enough is enough in
other words, like I'm kind of putting the mic in your face to save
this segment here, right, and if you're not gonna say anything, you're
you're definitely not health care. He does not care, right, He's like
Abdulah the butcher. He doesn't know how to read unless it's a menu.
Yes, six fifty five now. He used to love how Jesse was always
ready to assist the heels, even if he didn't have a formal alliance with
the heel. You know, It's like he had an every heel and the
roster had an ally in the booth, like yep, yep, someone who
saw things their way. It was like a tribe, almost an unspoken kind
of alliance. Jesse barks, can't you do something about that? This guy's
going for the world record and you're over here holding up your hands in the
air. Vince, you can see why are you letting them be a bitch?
You're letting the fans be a bitch again. Vince tries to do something
off camera, gesture off camera, I'm what I listen, I'm I well,
I mean, there are elements of of of s in which I you
may assume that I am involved, but I am simply a spectator enjoying the
experience of of of watching the attempts of one Dino Bravo, unquestionably one of
the strongest men in the w W E attempt to to take on the challenge
of the world. Right, what the hell does that mean? McMahon,
your fucking asshole. I think with this worse than guerrilla Monsoon waving his arms
trying to get the crowd animated. I think that's a god damn it.
Come on, fucking piece of shit. Ah, yes, Jean says.
Jesse has pointed an accusing finger towards Vince McMahon, saying he trying to get
this crowd riled up, which, of course he probably was. Gene announcing
it quietly now like a golf announcer. As Dino goes up and manages just
one pump, Jeane says, Jesse, you have lifted a lot of weight.
This is phenomenal. Jesse says, I had never been depressed what I
saw done right there. And Jean says, Dino Bravo, what weight lift
is? Are we at now? Um? And Dino speaks in French,
and Jean says, I need English translation. Jane asking how much is being
added, and um, it's it's like shrouded his mystery, and on and
on and on. That's unofficial because the bar will have to be weighed later.
They make it clear. But right now, right you got you gotta
taking consideration the bar. Yes, the bar counter is part of the weight
record. You got you gotta taking consideration the bar and the tab. Jesse
meanwhile passed the bar um as the locker room lawyer. Right now, we're
told seven fifteen is next. We're looking at a new bench press record.
If Dino Bravo can pull this off. Jean reemphasizes the Dino Bravo and Frenchie
Martin and Jesse. Ventura wants silence from you good people, and then Jesse
says, pardon me. Jean says, for no reason, live going for
the record, Frenchie calling him Gino. Gino says in private workouts, he's
heard Dino doing you know about this weight, so it's going to happen.
It's possible. Bravo gets up and storms off, pissed off that the fans
are booing. He leaves the stage like he's not even going to attempt.
Yeah, Jesse says, it's just, you know, what's the matter with
you? You people don't want to see a new world record. Give the
guy a chance to make the attempt, whether you like it or not.
Jean says, Dino Bravo could be a little more patient with the thousands and
thousands here and and he's the millions watching on USA here tonight. Dino finally
comes back to the stage, gets down a position, and he can't do
it. He cannot lift the weight bar with off his chest. And I
think he was supposed to. I don't think this was a heel thing.
I don't. It doesn't right. I think he fucked up. I think
I think he's too tired again. I feel like it was a wasted thing.
They fucking did too many. They didn't do it fast enough. Jesse
is forced to basically from his spotting position, pull the weight bar all the
way up from like an inch above Dino's chest to the rack. And they
say he did it, and it's like I didn't. I didn't touch the
bar. I can tell you right now, I didn't touch the bar.
He didn't raise it either. I didn't raise the bar. I didn't touch
the bar. I shouldn't plea eat a candy bar. So French. He
hugs Dino, they celebrate like he did it, and Vinceo's, ah,
like you did it. I think Jesse helped him out. I'll be right
back, and the bullshit what happened? How long this took? With Ventura
barking in the background, I didn't have the bar locked out. Seven hundred
and fifteen pounds is more than I can do. And Vince's if it's just
talking over the whole thing. They're still doing more stick as they have to
rush to a commercial break. It is just nasty stuff. It's just so
it's still I mean, honestly, that was like a waste of fifteen minutes.
There's Pritchard on the whole deal. Ah huh. During this time,
Dino Bravo was probably the strongest guy in the boys. Being boys, they
go to the gym every day and they're always working out, so they're always
comparing. It's a competition. Hey yo, bro, how much you press?
You know, what do you betch? Oh my god. Dino Bravo
aunllegedly was pressing over six hundred pounds during this time and a lot of the
guys. Everybody pretty much knew that Dino Bravo was the strongest guy there.
Six hundred pound bench press is a tremendous feat. He got up and I
think he did close to seven hundred pounds one time. I don't think he
ever did over seven hundred, but he did, like in the in the
six sixty or six seventy. Extremely impressive and one of the strongest human beings
in the world. And that's great to do that in the gym when you're
in there working out and everything. But Vince's well, hell, you know,
he's a strong guy. What if we set a new, you know,
quote bench press record and it was let's do seven seven hundred pounds.
What's the record? I think it was something like seven hundred and five pounds.
Well, then we'll do seven fifteen the problem and I've done I've done
these a few different ways, and we learned a lesson when I did it
with Superstar Billy Graham or a bigger pardon, Tony Atlas and Gino Hernandez in
Houston, Texas. We put a bench press in the ring and we had
the weights. Well, the ring gives it's a wooden base and it gives.
So when you're lifting weights, it's not a good idea to be on
any kind of base that is not solid concrete. Have a solid foundation underneath
it. You don't want any gift, you don't want any wiggle room.
And when you do that, it adds weight. So if you're bench pressing
two hundred pounds, it's going to feel like you're doing about two fifty.
This was paying full to watch because Dino's not a good promo. His manager
Frenchie Martin, who is actually a pretty good promo. For some reason,
I was just doing the French gimmick and maybe that kind of case can say.
And Dina wasn't over, Frenchie was over, and the weightlifting was a
fart in church. So there you go. That's how you feel, Okay,
all right, well, I guess. He says that Kevin Dunn was
on the floor, queueing between Vince and Gene of who to speak when,
and Jeans trying to keep the whole thing moving, and Bruce says, thank
God for Jesse because he was able to at least get the crowd going as
Vince was riling people up where he was sitting as best he could so there's
confirmation of that. And Pritchard goes on to say that did you know was
supposed to lift He was supposed to set the record, but when he got
there, he couldn't do it set the record in KFE because as he said,
uh, you basically can subtract about one hundred eighty to two hundred pounds
from whatever weight they said on the ear as to how much that actually was.
There were big dummy weights that they spray painted, right, And Vince
is actually quite picky about the spray paint because he fancied himself an actual weightlifter
and feels like if he notices something that looks fake, everybody else, well,
the fans are all gonna know that that. Okay, those are fake
weights. I mean, listen, we're all they're all bodybuilders, they're all
they're all gym rats. All right, you gotta you gotta please, for
the love of Christ, you gotta you gotta fucking you gotta cover that up.
This platform had give to what McMahon who put this show together? What
what you didn't use union rigging? You should have went down that Which union?
Hey McMahon, which union did you call in to put this put this
ship together, right, but less less I yatsy and more yatsy. As
far as I can tell, You're a dumbash and short. Um. Pritchard
also says in his podcast that, for whatever reason, on Peacock they cut
out Vince laughing maniacally when Dino Bravo failed to actually set the record. I
don't know what he's thinking, but he's wrong about that. Thanks to you,
we have a copy tape director of television, and Vince McMahon does not
laugh at that moment at all, so I don't know what he's talking about.
He does cackle when Frenchie Martin gives Gene nothing, and that that that
survives on the version we watched. We just made a note of it,
but I'm not sure. So, because I know you haven't quite had enough
of this segment, Boss, I've sent to you coverage in WWF Magazine of
this is story, Oh my god attempt by Dino Bravo. How can the
wordsmiths at WWF Magazine find a way to spend this complete fart in church into
readable interesting copy for the WWF fans. Let's really see how good they are.
I'm guessing they can't. That's what I'm guessing. All right, I'm
bringing it up. Now here we go. Oh my god. Dino Bravo's
new strategy, Strength Rules by Luji and Friedo Dino Bravo has shocked the sports
world. Bodybuilders are envious, powerlifters amazed, and a lot of his potential
opponents in the world rustling entertainment are worried. Bravo, during January's WWE televised
special, originating from the Hamilton, Ontario Cops Coliseum and aired over the USA
Network, defied the odds by breaking the world bench press records of seven hundred
and five pounds. The Burley Canadian heaved a total of seven hundred and fifteen
pounds off his muscular chests. Bravo's achievement, which was not without controversy,
has made him more arrogant and dangerous than ever. His tactics, always rough
house and seldom clean, now rely totally on overpowering opponents by share strength and
brutality. I will roll thewa with my strength, says Bravo through a translator
he refuses to speak English, only French. That he is immensely strong.
There is no doubt but how strong as he prepared for his record breaking lift.
Bravo began warming up with four hundred and fifty five pounds, which only
a few decades ago was in the world record class. After banging out a
few repetitions, he worked up in weight. WWE commentator Jesse the Body Ventura,
no stranger to pumping iron, spotted Bravo as a safety measure and also
to give him encouragement moving forward moving toward his unprecedented target. Bravo seemed totally
intent on his goal. Ventura added more forty five pound plates to the bar,
coaching Bravo and psycing him up for each of a set of repetitions.
Finally, after pumping six hundred and thirty pounds to the bar rest, Bravo
faced his moment of truth. Seven hundred and fifteen pounds rested on the bar.
The arena crowd, few of them fans of Bravo, cooted and booed.
Bravo and manager Frenchie Martin roared in French for them to be silent.
Jesse added his voice to theirs, quiet, just pipe down, and if
you morons want to see a world record, give the guy a break.
At least he's trying blocking out the booze. Bravo braced for the lift.
Intense intensity showed in his face. Hands chucked, He lay on the bench
on his back and grasped the bar. He eased the weight off the bar
rest and slowly dropped it, holding it just inches above his chest. As
he pressed up, his huge arms and chest umbled from the strain. Bravo
put every ounce of energy and strength he had to offer into the effort,
Reaching for inner reserves, he struggled his way higher than began to falter.
Jesse, standing in the spot position, hands just oh under the bar,
gripped it and appeared to help Bravo attain the last few inches of the lift.
Was it a legitimate spot or unfair assistance? Those questions, while they
were asked, are immaterial. Bravo has the record. After the grueling lift,
Bravo was confirmed. Now I mean if he did assist that, no,
he doesn't have the record, you could always turn to the pages of
WWF magazine for a verifiable fact. After the grueling lift, Bravo was smug.
I know how long I could do it. I proved to everybody that
I had the strength to or coming the upon it. Emmy, because when
You're as strong as me. You're the best russer. No one can beat
you. Bravo has always been noted for his power. Now, however,
with Martin's guidance, he is making the best of it. Always brutal,
he is concentrating on dirty tactics that take advantage of his strength. His style
is suited to it. It's all contact. Bravo's ring technique depends heavily on
choking, punching, and kicking an opponent until he is groggy. Then Bravo
mixes it up scientifically, only to go back to the dirty stuff. Bravo
makes no secret that he likes to batter people. I'll do anything to get
to the top. I'll lay a trial of bitten bobbies from Florida the Montreal.
I'm gonna do what they do best, kick butts. As for Ego,
Bravo Bravos is as puffed up as his muscles, Proclaiming himself Canada's strongest
man. He feels he is superior to all Canadian athletes and far above anything
the United States can produce. His arrogant attitude has earned him even more detractors,
including fellow French Canadians. The Rougeo brothers Jacques and Raimon sure has got
half of him. Very powerful. He's anxious to lay up against every but
there are plenty of other great athletes in Canada and the US. The way
he acts so arrogant, he discrapes his quebec. Isn't that right? Ray?
Yes? Is Raymond emphatically. He is a good wrestler, as my
brother said, but he's not as good, not a good person. He
treats people as if they are below him. We speak both French and English,
depending on who we're talking to. If you can talk to a person's
language, why not use it? Thanks? Ray Bravo and Frenchie were asked
about the Rougeo's comments. Punks snorts Frenchie. I should deal on middow ourselves
to speaking English. If you commos down what we say, we learn French
if you're smart enough, says Bravo. At least one fellow Canadian in the
w w E, however, admires Bravo. He is Bret Hart of the
Bread of the Heart, of the Bret Hart Foundation. Can I talk to
you about Dino Bravo real quick? Oh? Yeah? Gino Bravo is a
credit to sports look at the record. I'm honored to know the man.
He's my kind of wrestler, not afraid to do what he has to do
when he needs it. What I need is a wweight title. When you're
strong, you take what you want, and I want a title. Anyone
who stands in my way, he's gonna find out what it is like to
mess with a man who set the bunch press record ah, one of Luji
and Frieda's finest pieces. If you ask me, definitely, you know,
definitely under the ghost tutelage of Vince McMahon, didn't we see a big John
stud world weightlifting record angle on one of the Colisseum tapes we might have,
I don't remember. Um. The observer said that part of the idea here
was that, you know, obviously word was out that they were gonna do
the road Warrior's weightlifting angle to bench press angle, and they were going to
use legit weights. So the thought was, if we beat him with the
punch here on Rumble and use fake weights there, uh, no matter how
much they lift, it'll be a complete disaster. It looked like punks by
comparison, which is again pretty much ninety percent of the reason Vince did anything
in this time period? Did they did? They did the Road Warriors do
the bench press thing? They kind of did, but it turned into an
angle and so there was no focus on how much they managed to lift or
not, because we'll talk about it when we get to the bunk House Stampede.
All right, break, we come back. Women's tag titles on the
line. It's the Jump Bob Angels, Lanikai. Now we're talking. I
this is, this is. I remember watching this with you. Do you
remember watching this? I do when we when we when we watched it,
and we just went fucking bonkers. Well, there were such a novelty the
bomb Angels yep, yep. And and you know what, I think it's
as good as it was when I when I watched it back then. I
think they're still an excellent match. Um when everything of jumping bomb Angels,
I think of like I think it's Mario two where you can pick up a
bomb and it goes point and you throw and close. But um yeah,
best two are the three Falls Jimmy Hard of course, managing Judy Martin and
Lanikai, the Glimmer Girls and the Golden Sequin Tucks and man, they look
like a couple of eighties teenagers who smoked two packs a day, don't they
They are people that are like in their twenties. Okay, fucking I mean
that's this. I mean they look like they look like cousins of my family
and Drake. It's all right, that fucking just sit at the bar drinking,
drinking fucking light beer and smoking cigarettes, ladies, red leather strap tag
belts, chugging them chugging. Yes, down, they looked like Marge's sisters
from Simpsons. Yes, yes, by the way, somebody call under Blaze
please, Yes, that's an old one, right, all right, let's
talk. Let's talk about that reintroduced the bounds tag titles and act like they've
never existed before, about you know, six years ago now. And she
argued with me on Twitter on Twitter about well they weren't the WWE tag,
ju Chip, It's like, how fucking christ so when they're the same goddamn
belt okay please? Right? Yeah, So I guess hul Cogan was never
a w W w W champion, right, well he was actually, I'll
shut the fuck up. I guess uh okay, let's think here. I
guess was never w W you know, you know what, Orte was never
w champion that one. You can say because he doesn't win the belt that
he never wins it. He does not rock does Yeah, I can't say
him, that's right. Um. So they totally dubbed over the jumping bomb
angle bomb as that's a whole different thing. Yeah, that was part of
tnh um jumping bombed angle, I think it was. But they dubbed the
music over, which was do not stand in the shadows by Billy Billy idol
as they can okay um out in kimonos. And I don't know. Something
tells me when I see Joshi put her sue in the eighties that a top
rope seated missiled drop kick is in order. I don't believable or less.
There's no such thing as a great women's match without a top rope seated missile
drop kick at some point, for sure, And that's on order. Here
as the Jumping Bomb Angels challenged the champions the Glamour Girls here at the nineteen
eighty eight Royal Rubble, they had had some matches already. They were working
the circuit a lot of house shows. They weren't wrestled each other in the
Garden in a match that was televised on Primetime wrestling in other forums, So
you know, the these two testing each other was kind of a running theme
at the time. But here we see, of course, the bomb Angels
taking the championship. There's a lot to say about this because this is basically
the jumping bomb Angels working this program with with Lonnie Kai and Judy Martin is
kind of symbolic as we learn of the breaking of the iron grip that fabulous
Mulla had on the WWF Women's division. Oh yep, in terms of basically
dictating who got pushed, who got paid, who was in favor, who
was out, basically being like the intermediary through which Vince and his father of
course booked women wrestlers, and the Lonni Kai of course had a bitter falling
out with Mula and put that whole arrangement to the test, took it to
the mat like Wendy Richter kind of tried to do and succeeded by sort of
lighting a different path that didn't have to involve Mullah Monny Kai. Of course,
as we've talked about before on the Colisseum collection where they show the Wendy
Richter match with the Lonny Kai from WrestleMania One. Long fretted about the fact
that she didn't actually really know what the payoffs she was getting from WWF in
those early years of her Yeah, because the money would go to Mula and
then it would pass on to her and Mula would take her fee and whatever
other expenses she should conjure up as being owed. But here this jumping bomb
Angels is entirely Lonni Kai's idea. She's sourcing the talent and recommending the talent.
She's going to Japan. She wants to get a working relationship going where
a WWF women can go to Japan and wow and learn, you know,
that sort of revolutionary working style that women like the Crush Gals and Matsumoto and
others were innovating over there and really creating a culture sensation where women's wrestling was,
you know, packed with screaming teenage girls and a demographic that pro wrestling
is really never managed to draw anywhere else in the world quite like the eighties
women Japanese boom. And here's a Lunyki in a shooting interview with RF video
kind of talking about how this all came together and how this match at the
nineteen eighty eight World Rumble is kind of symbolic of something more broadly that she
was trying to do. And I'll give you a guess if she ends up
winning over Mullah or not. He quit, He left the room and come
back. It was a Hershey TV and he said, girls, Vince loved
the idea, and we're gonna do it. And he's gonna give you a
thousand dollars a piece, no cottage to Mullah. Mullah's out, We're not
gonna use a mula for a while. We're gonna do this. It's gonna
work. And I was like in shock. And he gave us like a
check each for a thousand dollars for our outfits and what we needed. And
then we hit pat with the Japanese girls. I told myself, I've been
in Japan so many times, and I just think there's a tag team over
there that we can use to come over here and be a different culture.
It'd be different. It would be a fresh look, breath of fresh air,
you know, for the viewers and for the audience. And and he
said, okay, let's let's hear it. So we told him about it,
and the next thing I knew, he'd come back in the room again.
He said, Okay, we're gonna do it. So how could we
get this started? So Judy was more or lest the leader of our teams
most of the time, and she told him about the bomb Angels and that
we'd like to bring them over. And I said, she said, we
you'd probably see a different, different style, and it would just be something
different because everything to stay the same all the time. Be at More's school
and training there, the work was always the same, and I wanted something
different because I'd already learned the Mexican Japanese always a very highly technical wrestler,
and Judy was vicious, so we made a good tag team. She was
strong and strong minded, and so pat passed said okay, we're going to
do this. That's a good idea. And the next thing I know is
he said, okay, we're going to sing you both to Japan and you
can go there and figure out how what girls we can use and what ideas
you have and contact them and let them contact us and we'll think of what
we can do. So we go over there, and we thought that the
bomb Angels were finimon enough to come over, and they were easy enough to
work, and they were singers, and they were really good athletes, and
I could have worked really good, good matches either one of them. I
knew they'd be real easy, so Vince brought him over. I know.
Vince took care of their transportation. If we had to get a car,
he took care of that. I took care of their motel. And they
believe he paid him like a thousand dollars a week, so it was good
for them because he didn't really make that much. I made five hundred dollars
a week when I went over there. That's according to Mullah. When I
finally broke away from Mula, I made a thousand dollars a week. I
don't know how that come about, but I was given her. We were
all given her like twenty five percent out of five hundred dollars every week,
and we worked every night. And I busted my ass. I had busted
my ass for two months of a time. I went over there like forty
six times. In Japan, I trained as hard as I could, and
but we got the bomb Angels to come over and then we did our debut.
I think I don't remember what TV it was, but we did our
debut on TV. We went and had everything done that one day, and
then Vince said, it give us a day to get everything done, our
hair done, our outfits. We're done, and we come out of the
room and we both looked totally different. Our makeup was done. Someone had
done our makeup. We just looked totally different then what we had looked before,
and he was real impressed with it. Then I remember that Jimmy and
both of us did a short interview and we had our first match. It
seems like it might have been in New Jersey and New work I don't know
the name of the building, but we had our first match there and the
fans were standing on the top of the chairs. It was really one of
the best matches we'd ever had. And the girls didn't speak English, but
we could always understand one another with just just nods or scratches or touch We
just we just fell into place. And Judy was using the power bomb at
the time. We had just learned it over there. It was just something
new to come out and she used a power bomb for a little while and
then I think the office told her not to use it no more. They
wanted to give it to Sid Vicious. I believe I doubt that, but
what pow. That's years later. But anyway, Junie Martin does fucking rip
a power mom off and this one doesn't she she does, and she falls
back with it yep, yep, fucking yep the Alley power bomb. So
that's the whole story about how because it's so curious, like why did the
jumping bond angels come in? Like? What the fuck? It was random
women taking a random good. It's great, So TAC titles on the line.
Here at the rumble, Joey Morella hoisting both championships. Fince calls the
Dino thing. We just saw, Travis, I got that here. You
can speak up championship for that, Travis thy we just saw. What are
you talking about? Or you're not saying Dino Bravos a champion. You're not
saying he actually lifted that lake. He gets seven hundred and fifteen. That's
an official They got away the bar later, but that's seven hundred and fifteen
pounds. Whoa, whoa, whoa? Did you not reach down and help
him with that weight? Right? Did you not know? I was just
spotting him close. I did not close my hands around that bar. They're
space in between the Bravo pushed it up on his own. Are you questioning,
Maya Tanguity McMahon Listen, I'm only telling you the way it looked.
It looked as though you helped him a bit. First of all, a
person of your stature knows nothing about weightlifting nothing, so therefore you do not
know what constitutes a legal lift in the first place. Well, I know
that when you put your hands around the bar. I did not touch the
bar. You what. I did not touch the bar until it was extended,
then I grabbed it put it back at it right. He's pretty.
He's good man, he is so good. Like I actually sat there and
I'm like, wait, is there something I don't understand about spotting where he's
actually making a valid point here? Yep, amazing. So I didn't touch
the bar, McMahon. My hand would never touch the bar. Bar,
you got it. So it's Norio Titano. I am a proud Minnesotan.
We don't touch the bar depends who you are. And it's Suki Yamazaki.
Yamazaki's in the red potatoes in the pink and yes, yes. Eventually,
at one point in the match, Vince calls one the Pink Bomb Angel and
the Ready Angel. Yes, it's pretty it's pretty bad. It's pretty bad.
Here's a match. The bombs rush him out of the gate and Little
and Kind with the bell out of the corner, tosses her around, whips
her into Judy Martin with a knee from the apron. She's tagged in a
deep body slam and a matrix bridge. They're doing the Trish Radis matrix bridge
in eighty eight. Ye fucking Christ absolutely Vince trying to keep pace here,
school will roll up one two. Yamasaki comes into an Irish whip and pooh
yesh does a front flip into a clothesline like Conan used to do. U.
This bomb Angel, she's referred to asses. Oh my god. Yeah,
so bad. Zukisaki with a pile driver. This is all right,
We'll wait a little bit, so you got a little a little more before
Okay, they actually have that discussion. It's had a weird pile driver from
Yamazaki. She just like dumps her off to the side instead of spikes her
on her head. Well, right, because okay, so she she picks
her up in a pile driver clutch and then she stalls and then kind of
then then gives her a gut wrench suplex. Yeah, I think that way
what happened. It might have been. Yeah, I mean it was still
you know, that's what it was. That only gets one. Ventura says,
what's the name of the two bomb Angels? Yeah, here we go,
listen to this mc man, I've gone a question for you. What's
what's the names of the two bomb Angels? Unfortunately I can't stick Japanese all
that well, I say, I mean, I might want to take later
tonight and I might want to approach one of these girls. What do I
call him a bomb Angel? Oh, let's call the one in the ring
pink, and the one out on the apron, let's call her a red.
I guess, Oh that's real clever. Well, what else you're gonna
know? Oh? I don't know. I know their names. Learn their
names, like fucking write them down, your dumb ass. Letso know how
Gorilla, if he did the show as planned, would have handled it.
He had done jumping bomb Angel's matches all ready. So hey, Gorilla,
you know the names of these are These are women the bomb angels. Oh,
jess, it's a not a big deal. Norino Tetano and it's Uki
Yamasaki height all right, I'm gonna ask Yamazaki on a date. It's fine.
So if you you can ask her on a date, because that's still
a lot of Japanese words you don't know. I'll say, Yamazaki, can
I take you out for dinner? And she'll say yes, and then eventually
we'll uh, we'll go back to the hotel and I'll lead her pushy,
She'll take me out for dinner. All right, Look, Jesse Ventura and
it's Suki Yamasaki, all right. In cooitus, deal with the thought.
Tanno hits the ropes and tries a cross body, but Judy Martin dumps her
and missus an elbow drop. These ladies are out there by my technique.
I've got very good technique with the pushy limps exactly right, been working that.
Lanikai is tagged in, Daniel pounces on her with the high knee,
drops her. Yamasaki comes in with a flying forearm and a running seat a
drop kick. She gets ping ponged around in the corner. Does Lanikai Ventura
says he's never seen anyone better in women's wrestling than the bomb Angels, so
he is putting him over. He knows talent when he sees it. Yes,
this is and I'll tell you this is comparable to the standard set by
today's women. Yeah, for sure. That was one thing that came through
loud and clear to me. It's like, wow, this whole like myth
that never in a WWE ring where women allowed to get over on the merits
of their inn ring or given a you know, a requisite amount of time
on television. That's such bullshit. That's so like forgetting these women who busted
their ass, it felt like there's a low profile. This is a fucking
royal rumble. This is the most watched show ever in cable, fucking you
know, Wendy Richter on the most watched cable specials and MTV and WrestleMania one
fuck out of here. Ye. I mean, what what's amazing too is
that it does not feel like what a women's match would feel like normally.
That I you know that I remember like this was this was like this was
real wrestling. This was like real full contact. They were they were working
as hard as the men easily. So the reason it's the best match on
the fucking card. It's so wild because you get like Becky and others and
her generation saying, you know that tradition and Leada and Victoria and others like
inspired them. But where the where's the generation of women who were inspired by
Lalani Kaig and Wind Victor and the bomb Angels. You don't. You don't
see any idwhere. I'm sure they existed. I'm sure Medusa was sort of
hiped to them and stuff. But it's it's pretty it's pretty amazing how there
wasn't a generation inspired by these women because they were on shows that were watched
by like ten times more eyeballs, way more, way more. Um,
I don't know, maybe the audience just skewed that much more heavily mail at
the time, but whatever the case, um, there they are tender with
an ox. Maybe they weren't, maybe they weren't even alive yet. Maybe
that's why that's might pa who wasn't alive like Becky Lynch. May well,
no, I mean clearly, but I mean, like, where's the Becky
Lynch that was inspired by women of this generation? I know, I know,
you know what because you know what, they probably never fucking rented these
tapes and tapes. You know, that's just that they you know, they
didn't want to go that far back. They weren't. They weren't that curious
about wrestling. Did they ever put out any women lj ns? That's a
good question. I don't know. I feel like there wasn't Mula one,
but that might have been more of a manager figure. There definitely wasn't a
Rector one because she was gone before they started running those off. Like this,
this idea of like a male champion and a women champion being at the
top of WrestleMania and being sort of like the public face of the w WF
for publicity and stuff. That's an old idea that goes back to Hogan and
Wendy Richter. That's not sure, you know something that just like this current
modern crop of women forced to happen and no women. No, I don't
think serious serious three is the big one. Uh No, Terry's four also
a big one. I definitely feel like if they existed, I'd be able
to picture them. Elizabeth but not. Yep, that's one a wrestler,
but that's not She wasn't like in a wrestler. She was manager. Um
like Tyson Monison count either not know you're right my Tyson Doson count Warlord um
Man No, No, just Liz, just Liz. Interesting. They're very
interesting. So, uh, the ladies right here, Bumping Kai gets tagged
into Tanna, pounces with a high knee, drops her like I said,
flying forearm and seed a drop kick by Yamasaki. Kai gets ping ponged around
to Tina with an octopus stretch, and then Judy Martin comes in but accidentally
kicks her partner. Yamasaki comes in. There's stereo figure fours by the Bomb
Angels to a pot. Jimmy Hart is an ringside breaking out. Jimmy Hart
tried so hard to getting this over like he good. Yeah, yeah,
he put as much into being ringside for the Glamor Girls as he did any
of his male wrestlers, including like custom outfits and everything. So I give
him a lot of props for that. They release the hold, but Yamazaki
still holds her for a minute. Then they release and um, they kind
of get They kind of dropped the heels on their crotch like like Kofi Kingston
style, and then Jimmy Hart with a megaphone. It Ringside reminds me that
they have, yes, since taken it away from that woman in the front
row. We yes. I kind of didn't realize we haven't heard from her
until this juncture when Jimmy Hart has one Yamazaki steamboats. Keep that in mind,
Right, Yamazaki tries to that kofe thing, but I realized what she's
trying to do his wishbone the legs not drop her heels onto the crotch of
her opponent. Right, D'tano comes in. Jesse says he's never seen that
before. And I know, if I haven't you ainked and Vince's haven't Jess
Jesse says, this is cable. I can speech. That's that freedom of
speech mcmah. Essentially I can say ain't on cable and Vince's that's the second
time, and you've offended the youth of America. Okay, Vince Christ Vince
such a fucking cornball that then he really is, I mean, honest to
god, but this fucking like like goody two shoes in oh like trying to
be like this back when he was still trying to tell people he had like
a Harvard NBA. You know right, and would say, keister oh Dtano
has the legs grape bind up for a surfboard. Kind of goes nowhere though
Yamasaki jumps in doing that kind of like no mercy, push into a leg
grape vine with the shoulder where you drop down and just like oh yeah,
yeah, I don't understand what the fuck that is grinding your shoulder into a
shin bone. I guess um. And then Judy Martin comes in and tries
to grab, and someone tries to come and to grab Judy Martin and they
yankor and break free, and then uh, Kai, I don't keep on
of color. Dakota Kai Lani Kai goes flying forward like she was holding a
bungee cord or something. Yeah, u Kai is so close with their arm
extended, but it's not illegal tag. Vince shouts, you gotta have your
feet on the mat. They explain, right, because she's standing on the
ropes. Is this new No, it's always been the case. You can't
leave. You can't fucking stand on the ropes and lean over and take get
a tag. You have to your feet have to be on the apron.
Wow. I feel like every hot tag I've ever seen they're standing on the
bottom rope. No, they're they're leaning over for sure, but they're not
standing. I'm not. They can't stand on the bottom rope. Amazing.
I never realized that was a rule. Never. You're kind of blowing my
mind right now. Wow, you know these things happen, Yeah, I
know. Seriously, Jimmy hard is saying, get the circulation back in your
hands. Fucking funny. And of the corner they going, Wow, Judy
Markin yanks Yamasaki out of the corner like a power bomb, hard to the
canvas. Judy Markin looking like she just smoked the cart and the cigarettes in
a place in the jukebox. Fucking great, Like seriously, like just imagine
her, like she's she's a you know, like wearing fucking geane and like
a denim cut off button down shirt. Yep, you know, and just
like you know, sitting on the bar, sitting on the bar, just
fucking chugging down cigarettes. Just she had two as as a wild one in
the sack. I bet, I bet I've talked about going on the Judy
Martin Experience. Okay, I bet that. I bet. I bet.
Like you know, after a show, they're at the bar. She'll just
walk up to some some guy and she'll just fucking grab him by the collar
exactly and drag him out of the fucking place and say, sit down,
shut up, and let me go to work. It's exactly right, right
exactly. Her favorite word in bet is harder, come on exactly. So,
um, what what are you gonna say? Ahead? Oh? Then
then Vince calls Judy Martin large, which triggers Jesse, like nobody's business,
Judy Martin the largest. I'll the women in this patch up. I don't
know. It's not a compliment calling one of them the largest. Well,
I would picket on this particular occasion, would they? And if I were
you, I'd be careful mcmah because Judy Martin I put money on her,
she could rip you. The question is whether or not the Glammer Girls can
retain the title and defeating the JUMPI Bob Angels. I love There's nothing there's
nothing better than than when Vince does not know how to respond, the pause
and then the move on exactly, the complete burial of what just happened.
Yes exactly, I fucking love that so much. In other news, while
something burns behind him right right, so they whip the Amazakis and Kai throws
a knee from the apron blindside to hit the Yamazaki and the kidneys, and
then a fall all away power bomb by Judy Martin. This fucking, this
fucking alley you power bomb. We're not ready for this in nineteen eighty eight,
especially in Wrestler, not at all, not one two three. That's
the first fall to the Golden Yeah, no shit, girls, unbelievable,
fucking christ Jimmy Hart jumps in, celebrating obnoxiously. They go to a break,
They come back for the bell for the second fall. The participants in
the last fall must begin the second fall, we're told Judy Martin starts with
their boot on Yamasaki's throat whip. Martin hits a flying forearm part part of
me. It was a Lulani Kai that gets to matrix bridge out by one
of the mom angels. What a bridge, Vince says, Wow, what
would Japanese wrestling be without neck bridges? Right? Um? So then kay
missus a splash Tatano gets tagged in those a dropkicks, seated running clothes line,
and now Vince somehow got his hands on her last name at least someone's
passing a note and and well, you know, Vince fucks up, fucks
up to Tino's name and Jesse, Jesse, well this happens. What's her
name? If I'm correctly, it's Loreno Lorenookie in their office, Norino.
That sounds Italian. Well, Jesse, I don't go, don't look Italian.
Wait a minute, what a fucking asshole this guy knows Vince can't do
ship and stay in his character. I know it's you don't look Italian.
Vince is saying her first name or what we would call her first Arno or
yo no Nario, Narino. That sounds Italians. It was almost better when
he just didn't even try. I know, right, call them red and
pink, you fucking racist. Fuck you gonna call him one of them Pepperoni
and the other one fucking presute. Well, Jesse, we have we have
we have roni, roni and cheese, and we have tell me more,
Vince, I haven't had lone. On the other side, we have supersetta
superta like a new age like top rope move do you know? Tell me,
wow, tell me what kind of bread do you have that on?
Have you got the good old fashioned Italian bread. Uh well, uh,
can I get oil, vinegar and mayonnaise on that hot uh? Manna's jesse?
Sure about that? Pal? Did you know that? Um that will
whole Cogan used the big boot, Bruno Sam Martino used the big pursuit.
Shout out to whoever on Twitter pointed that out fucking awesome, so funny.
I never thought about that, did Uh? Did Bruno whoever do an RF
purshute video? You better believe that that was a precondition to get him to
do the shoot interview. First, you gotta get him a fucking big spread,
fucking leg, a fucking preshoot leg. All right, So yeah,
Narino, the pink angel with chats that clothesline gets to crossbody off the ropes
gets too and to ressess what's her name? Yeah? Okay, uh yeah,
and then um yeah, the whole Italian thing, and Vince throws up
his hands as you just heard, corner to corner and the whip it's reversed
in. The bombs crash into each other, sidestep on the charge and now
the glamour girls run into each other to a big pop Irish whip and somehow
Lalani Kai just kind of runs over. Yamasaki goes from a power bomb,
but no, she drops down, loses her just a bit, but reaches
and pulls her down into a sunset flip. She kind of overshoots. Yeah,
that's the bomb Angel like gets one, two, three, So now
it's one fall apiece. We take a break. We come back with the
big ass WAF logo or the Royal rumble logo for you. There's a square
in the corner of the screen with Hogan and Andre to promote the signing still
to Come. That was the extent of their graphics, just a still image
in the corner. Double bombs the bomb Angels with a double knee lift on
Lelani Hine in a double clothesline covered by Yamasaki. No count though, back
up whip and it's stopped by Judy Martin who comes into the ring and a
whip from Jamasaki. Her foot gets caught. She does the insaguri and Jesse
Ventour remarks at times that these women are more vicious than some of the male
wrestlers. That's right here, Yeah, that's what he says right here.
You know, I'll tell you in a lot of instances with the lady wrestlers.
At times, McMahon can seem even more vicious than some of the man
wrest thanks. Jessa d'tano tries a suplex, but she's dead weighted by Judy
Martin, who comes in on the attack to the corner. They go into
Tanno with a backslide, but no, Martin rolls her and picks the ankle
and basically puts her in the guard and Tatando lifts her shoulder. Then there's
a catapult and Datando eats the canvas. She goes flying, not into the
buckling like you usually do on a catapult, but just lands on her face.
Yes, and the Glamour girls corner. Kai comes in with the next
snap like Kurt Heading almost and puts the boots to her. Judy Martin holding
the tag rope m judiciously or I should say studiously. Vince mcmansays, come
on, reff out a yank of the hair. Loni Kai with a double
arm underhook Fisherman suplex driver for two. Thank you very much. Just keep
on doing this shit, Jesus Christ. No, this shit is imported from
Tokyo Okay. Kai is biting um something. I don't know what I was
supposed to write here what I think was whatever she's biting. Marilla does nothing
about it, and Ventura says, I couldn't tell. As Vince points it
out. Your eyes have gotten really good, Vince McMahon, in the last
few weeks, you're seeing stuff. I'm not down there where Tamasaki, she's
fueled by Judy Martin right away Lonni Kai with a choke from the apron.
As the heels takeover, Kay says, back into the turnbuckle, here we
go. You can hear her say that wow, but she says that they
in fact pull her back, and then Ventura says that the fortunate thing is
we have a situation where it only takes a three count to win, because
I don't think Joey Morella could make it to four that once for you Gino
bo stat Mari to cover one by Kai and again no whip and an amazing
double axe handle from the jumping bomb Angels, and then we get um.
She blocks the Yamazaki blocks the double axe handle. I should say, she's
ducking wild rights and then lifts her up and puts the Lonnie Ki down on
her seat. She basically does like an atomic drop without the knee right.
I don't know how I like it, but she doesn't. Yeah, it's
kind of weird. Um and again she's gonna need laser spine. By the
time this one's over, Yamazaki yanks and Judy Martin and tags Tetano, who
comes in with a slam and a need of the gut. One two on
the cover. No to Tanne with a slam and another cover. Again,
she's going for it. She's dogged in the pursuit. How about double underhooks?
And then she drops a bridge? All right, she drops her in
a bridge. The arms are down. Morrella has no idea that this is
a pin cover, and then he goes for it. One two, um,
Yamazaki, it's a flying four. Marella is so lost at this night's
not a quip. I don't know. I don't understand. Why what are
they doing? Are they wrestling? Are they what's going on? This is
ballet slammed by Amazaki. She climbs to the second rope and misses that flying
seated the back senton splash, sent on backsplash A man that must have been
a tough landing on that old WWF would imagine must have been brutal. She
lands hard covered by Martin. It only gets too Yamazaki comes up, picks
the ankle, tags Entatano, who does a close line off the mint of
rope that gets too is Lonikie breaks at that pin attempt up and it breaks
down. The Jumping Bomb Angels climb adjacent corners at the same time. And
isn't this a thing of beauty? Man, this double drop kick, the
way it lands, Ah, it is like unbelievably beautiful because what they do
is they catch Martin on both shoulders at the same time with two dropkicks,
and she goes ding ding back and forth like a pinball. Yes, between
the like it is a brilliant, brilliant they achieve here and you better believe,
like I said, it's about top rope seated missile dropkicks because it's Joshi
and that means it's good for the one, the two, and of the
three winning two out of three falls. WWF Ladies Tag Team Champions here at
the nineteen eighty eight Royal Rumble. Are the Jumping bomb Angels you're talking about
Josie, I'm talking about on Josie and the Pussycats. Baby, there we
go about this boss. This was spectacular, great finished, people on their
feet, okay it like. That's the thing too, is that everyone was
excited. They like, this should have ushered in a brand new era for
women's wrestlings. Correct, and it did not. It didn't. These woman
couldn't speak a word of English. Their promos were nothing. There was absolutely
nothing that would make people connect with them in the typical WWF you know,
get a person over playbook, and yet here they are one of the biggest
pops of the entire first Rumble on television. Jesse loves it. People are
so happy, clapping like crazy because you know, Japanese can't get over in
North America, especially back in my day. Of course, not so.
The titles are hoisted as they take the ropes in celebration New World Ladies Champs.
They show ladies in the graphic that's south. They refer to the titles.
Ventura says, when you see a replay, you'll see she hooked,
she hooked. No, she hooked the arm. Oh the arm. Okay,
she hooked the arm YEP, that's what happened. She hooked the arm
In new shows, yeah, she did, ye. Jesse mails at as
they showed the replace she did hook the arm in properly and actually got the
shoulder off the mat Vin says it was down. He's just not gonna Oh,
it's all erate this just I'm telling you what I saw was it was
down. That's the way it crumbles. Oh, your eyesight all of a
sudden got a lot better, didn't it. Maybe? Yeah? Right,
So this is a novelty to say the least. And it's like a moment
in time, and it's like it's a trip to go back and watch it
because of how small a window these women actually had to make an impression.
But the magazine was on the case you better believe it. And uh well,
if we're going to be paying tribute to the bomb Angels and what Kay
and Martin did, we might as well let let the listeners, right boss
know? Uh oh they didn't. They didn't. They'd had the thing in
there. Oh yeah, check it out in your mail. Wow, here
we go, here we go, all right, Yeah, maybe let's see
what we got here, Wow the Angels. When women's tag title Glamour Girls
Vow Revenge. The scene was Cops Colosseum in Hamilton, Ontario, January twenty
fourth, before a jammed house the Jumping Bomb Angels from Japan faced off against
the Glamor Girls, reigning World Wrestling Entertainment Tag Team champions. The match was
slated for two out of three falls. When it was over, the Angels
celebrated a victory vow celebrated a victory that gave them the title, and the
Glamour Girls, with their manager, Mouth of the South, Jimmy Hart,
were defeated and deflated, but still vowing revenge. The Angels are Ittsuki Yamasaki
and Norio Tatano, a falcon fast tandem with moves so quick and dazzling they
are often hard for the eye to follow. Obviously outclassed and the size of
apartment by the Glamor Girls alone Kai and Judy Martin, the Angels left no
doubt they far surpassed their second After the bell they s far surpassed their second
brother. After the bell rang, the Angels raced across the ring and dropped
kicked both of their opponents, shocking them and putting fear into their hearts.
The Glamor Girls, however, are tough veteran competitors, so they quickly recovered.
Moments later, Martin was slucking it out with Noreo using weight and power
to overwhelm the smaller woman Martin than Irish whipped Noreo it to the ropes,
but the Japanese recovered and leap frogged with fury. Their lightning moves frazzled their
opponents. Frustration showed on the faces of the Glamor Girls, who had hoped
for a quick second pin. Then it was at Suki and Kai tearing into
one another. Kai shoulder blocked at Suki to the mat, then lifted her
for a backbreaker. It looked as if the glas girls superior strength would pay
off, but suddenly Itsuki counted with quickness, rolling down Kai's back, bringing
her to the mat and cradling her for the pin. So exciting, Oh,
I see I made a mistake here this it went down here, I
missed some stuff. But whatever, the match was tied up, but the
momentum was obviously in the Angel's favor. The Glamour Girls fought with desperation,
using every dirty trick they knew, but the Angels kept coming at them.
The end came after Itsuki executed a flying clothesline on Martin while Norio held her
by the hair. Martin collapsed to the mat. Kai entered the ring to
protest and began arguing with the referee it was a mistake. While the referee
was occupied with Kai, the Angels each mounted a turnbuckle in opposite corners.
Martin, struggling to her feet, was smashed with a drop kick from each
side. She crumpled. Nio quickly covered her. Kai, realizing what had
happened, tried to interfere, but Atsuki went airborne again and rocked the Lonnie
with a drop kick. The referee, by now was back in on the
action. Seeing Maria with the cover counted to three. Elated, the Angels
brandished their new belts while the crowd roared approvingly. They had taken the title.
After the match, Manager Hard and his Glamour Girls cried foul and demanded
a rematch, which they will get well all arrested it them, said Hart,
referring to the Angels. Gonna take that Hard baby and wipe them.
The CD will be fash with the phone and just well send about in Japan.
I've been a rose. Hart's threat cannot be taken lightly by the Angels.
Although they were devastating against the Glamour Girls and the victory, Kai and
Martin came close at times to turning the tide. If they get off to
a fast head start in a rematch, their greater size and strength could tire
the Angels, slowing them down and curbing their aerial tactics. Heart's obvious strategy
in a rematch would be to use that size and strength, probably double teaming
one Angel or another as much as possible. Significantly smaller than their opponents,
the Angels may not be able to withstand the pounding. Very likely, Hert
is hoping his larger team will be able to hurt an Angel, so she
would not be able to function as efficiently as usual. One factor in Heart's
favor is that Kai and Martin now know lots more about the Angel's explosive style
than before. As seasoned veterans. They can use this knowledge to counter many
of the Angel's tactics. The Angels, on the other hand, are so
quick that Kai and Martin may not be able to cover to corner them sufficiently
to bring their power and bulk to bear. Obviously, the Angels are in
magnificent shape in their match march to victory. They never stop moving and never
seemed tired at any point, even at the end of the match, and
although smaller, they have proved they can use their speed to strike with damaging
impact, so they are capable of putting an opponent out of commission at any
time. It all boils down to what could be a tremendous rematch, with
the winners hard to predict. One thing is sure, despite their great abilities,
the Angels must take the Glamour girls vow of vengeance with deadly seriousness.
Sounds like they're all in on the woman's tag division to me, yeah,
well nope, not to be sorry, Palms went well, you know what,
I just you know, the thing is, the fans just weren't into
it right. Well, you're forgetting one important thing though, us Mula is
not taking this one lying down. Oh boy. In the RF shoot interview,
Lanika would go on to say that, you know, they pretty much
never skipped a beat with the bomb Angels, never had to talk about what
they were going to do before they went out there. They traveled sometimes together,
but actually the bomb Angels will travel with the Bulldogs, mostly in their
car and get food for free. I choose to believe that dynamite smashed both
of them. Mula was mad, though she's not happy, Patterson said to
Lulanikai. According to Kai, you know, I respect Lillian, but but
Kai wanted to get her own check and still didn't know what she made for
Wrestlemani one. She wanted the check directly. Didn't want to use Mula,
she said of the WWF. When they were doing the Glamour Girls, they
said they would still pay her a good check still to use them, but
when it came to actually paying them for the night's performance, they wanted to
hand their money directly to the talent or the Survivor Series major TVs. And
then Patterson comes up and says, we're gonna send you to Japan. Okay,
we want you. According to Lani Kai, she's told to go to
Japan and come up with a special match against the bomb Angels, a good
match that you've worked on and perfected. And they had the belts at the
time, so this must have been subsequent to the Royal Rumble in nineteen eighty
eight, and almost certainly was. And pat said, you know, we'll
pay you when you're over there, but want you to practice hard in the
match, and when you come back, we're gonna put you over a bit
and make the best match we can for WrestleMania. So they were supposed to
basically go over there and do a dry run of a Killer Women's title match
at WrestleMania four and consider that and they want to have them on Mayni to
switch the belts back to the Glamor Girls. That was the plan. So
the rumble happens, the title switch, and it just doesn't. There snakes
are in the grass. Okay, big thing here is you got you women,
go over there, you do a series of matches, but no one's
going to switch the belts over there. The belts are going to stay as
they are in the Bomb Angel so that you can win them back when we
get back to of course States, that's the big, the big idea.
But fabulous Mullah senses an opportunity, according to Lalani Kai to come up the
works a bit. Here's Kai in the same our a video shoot interview commenting
on the movie mad Boy Fulous one. Um. But we had our match
together about four days, so um, we didn't work each other that much
over there. But about three days before we were leaving, Mulla calls the
hotel and Judy answers the phone and melissaid, uh, the office told me
to tell you that you need to drop the belts. Um, on the
last night you're here, you need to drop the belts. And Judy,
Um, Judy said, it doesn't make any sense. You know, why
would we drop the belts when we're coming back, you know, to drop
them. They're gonna drop them in the in the United States, you know,
back home. And she says, well, they called me and told
me to tell you to drop the belts. You need to drop the belts
there. You need to bring the belts back to me. And so it
was, Um, it was really hard. We went back and told them
we're going to drop the belt. They won't drop the belts, and we
were all confused. The Japanese people take pride and they're wrestling over there.
They're very serious. They had everything planned out. This is gonna be a
big deal for them. The bosses were coming, their crew was coming.
There was probably gonna be sixty people coming from over there for this big event.
It was gonna be a big deal. It's gonna really push the Japanese
girls to come over here so we could switch out to make women's wrestling the
biggest it can be. It might have been different, but they were going
to make it as best they can make it, and it was. It
was the biggest thing for the Japanese people to come over here, the Japanese
girls to be able to work over here with us and try to switch out.
There would have been a lot better for the American women to go there
and work there. We had lots to work and I call that paving the
way. It was paving the way for something different, and we had everything
together and then we had to try to switch it out and the match wasn't
really not that good. We were all confused. I was not happy with
it because I just it was just hard. And probably after the TV the
next day, I believe it might have been Pat Patterson had called. Somebody
called from the office and said, you girls just screwed up. And JT
said why and they said, because you know, how can you just go
over our heads and switched the belts like that and you just messed everything up
for your WrestleMania and there's nothing we could do about it now. And we
try to tell them about Mula and it was just like they didn't hear it,
didn't care. They were just mad because we switched the Belts in Japan
and it just messed up everything for Ustlemania, so the Bomb Angels didn't get
to come back. So she cost you a big payday, she cost me
a big pay day, and she costs it for a lot of girls.
Wow. So never try to have Fox a Fox in there, and we
know better than that. Ultimately, on June eight, nineteen eighty eight,
the Glammer Girls beat the Angels to recapture the women's tag titles and then the
Belts pretty much disappear after that, but they're supposed to be on wrestle Media.
Back to the show, Vince and Jesse on at the booth and headsets.
Vince says, I would like take us back to WRESTLEMANI at three and
any three thousand fans on hand, largest indoor crowd for any event of any
kind in the world. He says. There was some controversy. Jesse says
more than some as they replay the match with Hogan and Andre and how he
tried to slam Andre Andre Phill on top of him one two three, They
played that up to the hilt and touristy. You did not see Morella's arm
hit three times there, and Vince says, did he simply place his hand
on the mat to a position himself or was that in fact the first slap
of the of the count. That's what Vince is trying to deduce, and
that does happen. Sometimes the rev hits the mat and it sounds like the
one, but it's not sure one. Yeah, Jesse says, that must
have taken a year for you. I think of a bad one there.
The only question in my mind as whether or not ak him down for a
three count to simply place his hands on the mat to left himself off and
say only two, or whether or not that was indeed a third count.
How must have taken you a year to think that one up? Noel,
tremendous. Yes. Indeed, they do a replay with DBAs saying he's gonna
buy the WWF title on television. Yeah, yeah, I got it.
I got that for you. I'm going to buy the World Wrestling Federation Heavyweight
Championship. That's right, baby, that's gonna be born. But I'm stuck
in barrel. That's something I told you. I told everybody i'd make an
announcement next week. I'm making a public announcement next week. Man in the
decision I make the figures. He quoted the decision I make, whatever it
is, it'll be one that I won't regret on. Behalf of all the
little holsters and myself. I'm gonna have to tell a million dollar man,
hell no, how is it the big hell? No? Big hell?
First? Hell no on w television, that's right, and uh that's the
big angle. Sending into WrestleMania four, Ted says, you've got a price.
I get what I want, and I want the w f Heavyweight title.
I will buy the World Wrestling Federation Heavyweight title. Vinces Hulk Cogan does
not have a price for the million dollar man. Some have had a price,
such as Andre the Giant. Jesse says, have you he stated,
you would have what anyway? Jesse says, Hulk Coogan is very wealthy and
he could have gone on to retirement if he took Dbasse's money. He would
have gotten so much money from Teddbasse that he wouldn't have to worry about his
mother. Even I don't know, I was gonna say exactly taken the money,
Although Vince thinks the payoff to do this um on Saturday Nights made event.
Um was shameful of. Vince looks all pissed, and he says,
this is Andre grabbing Hope by the heron that they show Andre grabbing Hope by
the hair after he wrestled a King hung Bundy on that Saturday night's main event.
It's like curiosity. They do a lot of recaps during this whole they
do what were the what were the fans doing? I don't just fuckingting on
their asses? I guess because they're not watching this. They couldn't see this.
They didn't have a monitor for them to see. It's a big time
reminder that in Vince's mind this chiefly served as an advertisement for the February fifth
main event show. It's really what he saw as the upside of this live
special. And they show Andre, you know, grabbing Hulk from behind and
headbutting his head in pretty a famous image of the time, and Jesse says
Hogan, Um could have been a millionaire many times over. Instead, he
chose that to be choked. He might not even show up tonight. I
know I'd have second thoughts. And Hogan's an idiot then says he does not
have a price. That's the point and Jessevenentore cackles and his head starts shaking
at the suggestion. Now, Teddy Biassi's asking Andre, will you deliver me
the title? Andre mircil de BIASI I will one thing. I will deliver
bat there wall wall blot, and I will choke hold hold. Here comes
DBAs, Andre and Virgil through the aisle. The table is in the ring.
It's time for the contract signing. We'd take a break. We come
back and I don't know, some guy has his kid in an upside down
Bruno back blaker in the crowd. I know, like, dude, I
don't know if you should be doing you know, doing that with a camera
on it careful. Although I have to say one of my most visceral memories
of Monday, Nitro was some show at the red Hot period where some guy
in the front row put his his friend. There's like two teenage guys or
like two twenties something. He put his front in the torture rack in the
front row, in the hard camera side and he was just runching him.
It's hilarious that they ring the bell for this contract signing and Gene Okerland is
there. He says the moment. Millions have been waiting for the official signing
for the bout February fifth and Friday, Indianapolis for the World Wrestling Federation Championship.
You have WWF President Jack Toney on hand in the corner of the ring,
produces Hult Cogan to music and Hogan fucking PTSD. When I hear that
shit, this capacitic crowd on their feet, Vince says. And he's out
there in nineteen eighty eight, Tastic blue Cloud pants his rip styled attire exactly
from the New Holes Bart. It would be the year the movie was filmed,
and the title on his shoulder. Of course, the winged Eagle belt
had yet to debut at debuts on it does a debuts on the main event.
Got the white Weather weight lifting belt on as well does Hulk Cogan and
his cowboy boots. And on his way down the aisle, he gets pissed
because someone grabs him and he yanks him to the side and he gives him,
what are you doing? Brother? Very concerning uh? Got the chain
with a cross on the shirt whist tape this man taped his wrists for a
contract signing. I would and Vince puts over the side of his arms,
of course, de biasi, gesturing that the belt is coming to him by
you know, pointing to his waist. Hogan comes the years and they go
absolutely nuts here in Hamilton, Vince screaming less a Jesse lesson to him.
Jesse says that that's the song real American and wearing Canada. These people aren't
Americans. What are they yelling about? Why are they cheering for Hulk Hogan?
A real American should come down to a new theme song, real Canadian
Canadian? Yeah, they never I am all real Conadian works for me,
man. I wish I could come up with the fall of a fight for
the rights. I don't know how. I'd probably something offensive. So h
Vince comes back with Hulk Cogan's a real American and a real champion the whole
world over. I know, you know, well, you know Jesse is
a real North American as well. That would be the is to just add
North to the song. Go ahead singing, I am a real North America
like you use it in Mexico too. It's fucking great. Uh. Jesse
says He's the champion until February fifth, then we'll find out and the way
he said that, I'm just sold. I'm watching this match. Jimmy in
produces Andre. Andre's in there in his green blaze or rocking back and forth
against the Blake care less. He's got a great He's got a great like
bitch resting face totally. Just like so like I've seen this whole Hogan thing.
I'm just like so bored at him doing his whole thing. Mentor says
he's never looked better. Um, Andre, I'm thinking, are so Hogan
is going to do a a hurricane runner to you on the table? Are
you prepared? H Well, it's a maneuver in which you are gonna be
on the h Well, it's gonna be a super hurricane rana, of course
it is, or what you're gonna be on the top rope and Hogan is
going to do it basically, jump in the air, wrap his legs around
your head, and he's gonna pull you over into the ring and you're gonna
you're gonna land in it on a table head first and break it. What
well, all the stuff? Why do I have to do that? But
well, I mean unquestionably because I said you had to, That's why.
And so the table's positioned, Andrea takes a minute and a half, but
he's perched on the top. Keep in mind that's gonna Andre in his suit
everything, you know, like dressed like and keeps getting no business. I'm
born to. And then Hogan goes up snaps off a perfect scott Steiner like
Perrikan RNA because right, of course he does. Yeah, but here's the
thing. Yes, Hogan snaps it off, but Andre doesn't move. You
know. Basically, Hogan hits the mat like you would if someone held the
top rope and block the super Frankensteiner, but Andre didn't block it. Hogan
hits the mat and then begins the fourteen second process of Andre leaning himself just
enough over the ropes that it just falls out of the table on whoa hold
on? Hold on? I mean, I know the guy's talking there,
but I've never heard someone prepared a front flips sell the RNA four seconds after
it hit by going hold on, I'm coming, and he just collapses like
a sack of shit. What what? Oh? Oh? Get his face
scirrowing, get his face or tricle I think her bared by triacle? Oh
no oh oh, carry get a pincrole right now, get pet right,
now do it? Do it? Do it? Brother? Don't have to
ask him twice or once? Brother? Why? Wow? Why? Look?
I know that if I was Andrea and I had challenges with English,
and I was trying to send an SS for my injury, I would say
my clavicle car your fifth? Oh why on the on the USA network he's
writhing in the ring. Why Andrea's mystique goes right down the dram before eight
point two million people or whatever? Why he said? Ok? What did?
Why did Hogan get a super run that is almost funnier like pictured his
big legs like wrapping him around. Why is he getting up there anyway?
How's he jumping up there? For fuck's sake? He leaps, he snaps
it off, he hits the mat with the thud, and then Andrea comes
timbering over like a tree in the forth. All shit, It's like the
move is over, Like what what? What gravitational force is exerting itself on
Andre? Now? Like why didn't he just stay there? And he's just
like it's this slow tip and then he like flips when he like wait because
like waiting until his weight takes over on the pole. You know, thet
takes over like slowly. It's like Okin is like on the fucking ground,
and like Andre's like slowly leaning over until okay, hold on in a blazer
hold on name the is a jeopardy question, name the first pro wrestler the
screen hold on before executing a cell job. Oh fuck, like Hovian's already
in the cab and Andrea still hasn't taken off selling fucking royal rumble's happening around.
Guys, we need you to work around the table. It's waiting for
Andrea to following. You're still going I'm sorry, but it'll happen. Tremendous,
tremendous stuff I mean, in other words, you know, Andre looks
normal. Virgil is introduced as well as DBAs Is has his hands gripping his
lapels, and Jess says Andre has the look of a champion. Hogan has
the look of a challenger. Despite Oh, it's being reversed, Jane introduces
these team president that distinguished Jack Tonning. It's a big mixed reaction. Even
though the family is Ontario through and through, no one, no one fucking
likes Jack Tonny. Oh, I know if he can't get a cheer in
Ontario. Forget about it. Here he goes und studying early contractual material.
Let's get with it and sit down. Jack Tunney a fine orator. Let's
get with it, okay, gentlemen, I who he is? Such an
old man. He's such a stereotypical old man way like, thank you even
back then, gentlemen, I m h. Henry Holmes, look at this
contract, dude, do you have the um? What's gene? Thank you
much? Going on very much, Thank you very much, Howard, Thank
you, Howard, Thank you Howard. Somebody next, I know it really
is. The next match is for the World Wrestling and Entertainment Championship. May
the best man win. Thank you, Howard. Ah Ventura is not sure
if the table is big enough for both men. Vin says he's not sure
a twenty twenty square foot table would be big enough. Vince, h Well,
you didn't know. They're right there. The ring is twenty by twenty,
so Vince blurts out. Look at Hulk is he put together three hundred
and thirty pounds? You know it's funny looking at Andre sitting in this chair,
like he looks like a fucking dufus ye sitting him at smile. It's
like Will Farrell and elf Right, you know, just fucking sitting there,
sitting on sitting on a Bob Newhart's lap, his hands in his pockets.
Hogan seated on a tiny folding chair while Andrea rocks back and forth on the
ropes, back and forth. He can't sit in that chair. Who are
we kidding? And says this is ridiculous. Who does the Giant think he
is? And he's conferring with Dibias over who owns the rights to Andre,
we're told, and he's talking to Marvel about who owns the right stone.
Well, Ventura asks, what do you think the price was that Bobby Heenan
got for Andre? The Giant selling to a million dollar man. Andre steps
to the table, rubs his hands together. Vince says he's going doing the
squeezing routine as they changed Hogan, Hogan and Hogan, of course, looking
from left to right. Vince mcmansays, I don't think I've ever seen a
look of concern on the Holtzer's face quite like we've seen tonight. Well,
there you go, look of concern. Yes, you don't say. Andrea
sits down like a teacher sitting in an animal elementary school kids chair, just
like you said on Parents' night. You know he should have said it backwards.
Oh that'd have been perfect, Yeah, amazing. He would have never
gotten up from the fucking chair if that was the case. Deber scrabs the
mic. Sign it. What are you waiting for? Thinking? Maybe you
should have signed that generous offer I made? Hulk hung Oh, Hogan has
the papers and you know me all I care about and wrestling is one thing.
When they have kfape contracts on screen, what is actually printed on the
page? I know? I need that. It just grabs something that had
writing on it. Did they print it themselves? Did they have fun with
it? I need to know. Dibiassi says, you're trying to prove halk
Comania's pride and integrity means more than money. So why are you hesitating to
sign? You're getting cold feet? Are you thinking that's a career ending contract?
Looks like Hogan is holding a stapled wrestling observer for what it's worth.
Maybe it is, Dibiassi says, a year ago WrestleMania three, he beat
you, and Hogan does a huff and shakes his head, and Biassi says,
so you just signed your career away as Hulk signs and a huff and
February fifth, this man has all the money in the bank, and that
title will be bought, and it'll be around my waist and you will be
history. And Andre looking like he just sat down at a bistro in Montreal.
Oh yes, wait, And I also I love that he's literally saying
that he's going to buy the belt from under the giant Jack Tunny not doing
a damn thing about it, exactly. I have something to say about that.
And a Paralti's powerless to see that consummated. Yeah, Andre, leafing
through the contract there to make sure Johnny did and pulling no small print in
Shenanigans. And yeah, Jesse, Jesse comments on that. Look at Andre,
he's taking no chances either. He's leafing through there to make sure Jack
Tunney didn't pull noball print, pull no small print there, McMahon. Well,
Jesse know about leafing through a contract looking for it. I'm all about
that. You know what. People have tried to pull one over on me
all the time. I'm always finding the small print. It ever worked at
the bottom, never happened. No people have pulled that. But they know
what they tried, but they never succeeded. Exactly right. I always gets
government, by the way, including the United States government, including the Navy
seals. I always get the upper Handbas says, just a little why you
know why? Because I think a third party mentality clearly not an arm's length
mentality, absolutely not. Says, that's just a little extra incent of money.
Andre, you know me. So Ted's payment terms to Andre is in
the belt agreement with Hulk. Why would you why would Ted to beasse disclose
how much he's paying to Andrea in about agreement between Hulk, Hogan and under
the Giant anyway? Right? I mean, also, wouldn't that have been
in concern like with Hogan? And obviously he didn't read the script. I'm
read the reading contract read the script either, Yeah, then says Hulk has
more of a look of concern. He has a look of downright worry brother
Hogan snarlingly and no holds barred when his brother gets killed, or or Andrea
flipping through over the shoulder shot of Andrea's blazer and Hogan boiling watching him do
this. Andre's really effective, taking his sweet ass time going through this contract.
He really Yeah, he's great at that. Yeah, Ted screams,
he can take all the time he wants. He waited almost a year for
this opportunity, and he is savoring the moment. He knows how to savor
under the giants. He's all about savory and Tera says, if you were
to sit down and buy some rat trap house, you'd read that mortgage real
close, wouldn't give Vince That's all Andre's doing here, Vin says. Toney
said they already had they already read the contract before this, so this is
clearly unnecessary inventors. That's like getting a guarantee from Alie North. Okay,
right right, Oliver North from the Iran contra fare Jesse and his fucking CIA
operations in the Baja or the fuck Jesse. We're working, you know,
we're working. Uh, we're working some some black ops in Baja California.
Jesse coffee shop called Black Ops, Black Ops, No Cream. If every
other military adjacent YouTuber can start a coffee brand, why can't Jesse. That's
right, Nicaragua Contra Rebels. I'll tell you one thing about my coffee.
It has a full body flavor. I haven't met him. My coffee hostages
and lemon On how many the Boland Agreement limited immunity, working with real Mexican
beams, got it right. The best in our government lie to us about
the Iran Kantra affair. Just absolutely absolutely. I have the real one where
our government was involved in illegal weapons sales to a hostile the Nation Party.
I have the paperwork to prove it. I've got any but you know what,
I'm not going to give it to Congress because you know what, they're
going to burn the papers. I'll keep them in my filing cabinet. That's
like taking a guarantee from Ali North. I'm gonna use that one in twenty
twenty three. So what kind of looks again in the street, Jesse see
like walking down the street saying, man, somebody. Of course he was
convicted of nothing, Ali North, but that was before that was a nineteen
ninety one, so Jesse wouldn't know that yet. Hogan shook and quiet and
motionless, and Jean says, there's nothing here that will stop it. Tony
says, I certainly helpe not. There's no idea what's in the contract.
I certainly hope not. Howard and Vince says, let's progress with the matches.
Oh god, Andre signing now, Jean says, for the big one.
So good. When he says that for the Big One, DBAs tells
him to put his official stamp of approval in the contract. Rises from his
chair does under the giant, and Hogan does too. When they face off,
Hogan lunges for Dbac. Andre grabs him and smashes Hogan's head down on
the table and turns it over on top of the hulkster. It's a big,
heavy table as a solid solid oak that would Vince says, solid oak.
He says, it's a solid oak table, and Torrot puts over how
easily Andre turned over this table? Man, did they know how to put
the immobile Giant over as a deadly I mean, this guy can't do anything.
And by the time the segments over, you think he can kill Hogan
with his bare hands. Yep, you didn't even move. It's simple shit,
man, It's amazing. Andre pounces up the aisle as Hogan sells woozily
in the canvas and yet solid oak table. Like he said, Hogan,
such a scared, sad pup. Yeah, this whole angle and they go
to the break. They come back and we're ready to begin the rumble,
and here we go. Here is a I got think here laying out the
rules for the first time. That's huge laity for gentlemen. It is now
time for the Royal room Ball. Earlier the same thing. Each of the
twenty participants show the number from one to twenty in a random drawing. Participants
number one and two are currently in the ring, and when the bell sounds,
they will come in the Royal Rumball. Every two minutes thereafter, another
wrestler will enter the battle according to the number he pulled. This process continues
until all twenty wrestlers have made their entrance. This Royal Rumble elimination the curse
what a wrestler is thrown over the top rope at any time, and the
one rustler up in the room at the rubble's conclusion will be the glare of
the litter. There. It is big stakes here. Vince and Jess and
the call they talk about the participants in Condino and Jake and Hillbilly and Bretton
Andel. It's so weird to me, the idea that nobody knew the rules.
I know because I remember I remember, like the build up to the
ninety two rumble and kind of just it's just feeling like I already like I
knew them already, Yes you know, Oh yeah, I mean they've done
enough dry runs that they knew what points to hit without raising further questions.
But you heard Gorilla and Bobby struggle on Prime Time to explain it. Yep,
it's so so verbose. The the explanation of it takes like ten minutes.
They explained, the process of elimination is over the topic. You feel
like, I feel like think might be smarter than both of them. I
think so. Yeah, he was definitely a brainiac. Jesse says, it
doesn't matter where your feet hit. If you go over the top, you're
gone. So they don't emphasize two feet in the floor as much. No,
because it only happened in ninety five. That's where it fucking happened before.
Before then, it was about going over the top rope and just hitting
the floor. Don't tell two feet bullshit. I hate it, I hate
it, I hate it. I know what Ricochet is going to do this
year, probably can the fuck out of me do some stupid shit that nobody
cares about. Guess what the Royal Rumble is not a place to do high
flying moves and be a fucking acrobat. So one night of the year,
you can just keep that shit off my television. So um, they get
the hidden right away. The lot of this is luck at the draw.
They start to emphasize that big time. They talk about the drab being held
earlier. If you number twenty, you don't have to go to the ring
until last. They hit that really hard, and they talk about how you
can bet a lot of people will be eliminated before number twenty comes out,
So they're planning some good seeds. They say two minute intervals, as we
discussed earlier, that doesn't ultimately end up consummating. So there was never a
period of time really where they were faithful to it, except what nineteen ninety
or whatever it was, I guess. So um, so it's amazing that,
you know, I remember the rumbles of my childhood having great fidelity to
the two minute interval on pay per view, but felt the first one wasn't
at all right. That's how it felt to me. So they said the
lottery was held earlier in person, Number twenty is going to be really lucky
in there and could end up with all twenty in the same ring at some
point perhaps as well. They have yet to do that. All the rumbles,
they have yet to do that. They have never done that. They
have never had all of the men in the ring. I don't think it
would be a good idea either. I think you got to do it just
to do it, Yeah, I think so. I just feel like it's
that's that's rough. I mean, that's that's like a whole snow room for
anybody. That's true. When no eliminations, that's true, When no eliminations,
to me, that seems like that's a lot that's gonna that's a that's
a ballsy move. Yep, for sure. Send it to the fink and
like he just played, he explains everything, and uh and that's that.
They show a kid in the Hulkster banner concentrated on the instructions very closely.
This crowd was like enthralled by Howard explaining how this thing's gonna work. Don't
know because no one knows what it is exactly. Oh, it could a
hell of a pop though when they when they announced it, ye think controduces
to my right brought Hart to a mild pop mostly thumbs down, but of
course they are in king, Come on, he should get Yeah, he's
he's your he's your brethren and from to Cool Mexico Tag team champion at the
time, Strike Force member Tito Santana a rebound and says, uh the sprief
word before this match, the hulkster Um is under care and uh, we're
gonna get an update from him later. There's a sign or Royal Rumble um
cut out with cutout letters from the w B magazine. Yes Um, then
says Um during a commercial, I don't think I've seen anyone as angry as
Hulk was, and Ventura says that anger didn't come out until he was sure
Andre was gone. Isn't that convenient? It's time moss for the first for
all intents and purposes, Royal Rumble, first televised Royal Rumble rings. Brett
and Tito circle and lock up. Bret backs him to the ropes and hammers
away so tight the way they lean in on the Hogan call during the downtime
in the matchmen, they are just selling their ass off for the main event.
Tito blocks the corner and sends Brett in fires away. Ventura says that
Brett and Chico starting the rumble um is appropriate and ironic in a way because
there's no love loss between these two. They had history anyway, on opposite
sides of a tag feud. Leap frogs true. What's that that's true?
Is what WrestleMania three right when they did the because three yeah three with the
six man tag where the Hearts and Danny Davis took on the Bulldogs and and
Tito excellent leap leap frog and Brett with Tito knocks him down with the right
hand and mounted punches. Now Tito gestures to try to hit Brett with an
inverted time I drop, but Brett comes off the middle rope and rings down
an elbow and vinces. Both guys have to hope that the next entrant is
a friend. Such a novelty, this idea that like I know who's coming
through is gonna shape the direction of the match. And then we see it
for the first time the yellow numbered clock in the left corner of the screen.
Yes, must not have shown to the crowd at this point because there's
no crowd countdown. You don't hear the people count along. Right, Brett
is trying to dump Tito, and it's the natural Butch read and trim.
There we go. We're in some like Harley Race looking gear. Indeed,
they say this is bad for Chico because he's a heel, and we'll team
up on on Tito Santana. Tito hits a a flying forearm and Butch stomps
Tito. Butch tries to dump Santana. Vince says, Santana's going to go
over. He says, no, hey, I don't think so. It
means to be seen double naga knocker on Butch and Brett is Tito throw some
offense out there, and Toura says, you know, I like this.
It allows double teaming that you can complain about as Butch hits a double axe
handle and a held open Tito Santana and a double whipon a double back elbow
from the heels. Another one which three just wants a double double, a
double double, and another one's out no clock this time they didn't show the
countdown clock. Frenser four. Its must be total chaos. Back theres.
They feel their way through this thing. Who's nick? Who's next? I
don't understand? Freaking out? Somebody please I need an undertaker, please,
I is somebody? God, damn it. Who the fuck is next?
It's the anvil And in fact it seems like the fans see him before the
clock. Ye, so picture and picture. Butch misses a knee and hits
Brett Hart by mistake and uh Brett hangs on the top rope. Big reaction
to the first like tease him an elimination of a heel? Yes, yes,
just so wild to see these firsts, after these firsts, after these
firsts, nightmare first antennas, Brett grabs a front face lock and they all
lay into him, three on one, beat down on homes crazy and play
here. Yep, she really is. Uh Ventura says Chico never did have
much luck. I remember him back when he lived in Tijuana. Okay,
Brett comes off the middle rope with a sledgehammer like the demolition finisher almost across
it. And what about that? Yeah, it's like a it's weird.
It's it's a it's a it's like a really sloppy three way decapitator. Yes,
and and Red just fucking just sucks. Mass A question. Does Jesse
talk about food Mexican food? Yeah, I certainly do. I talked to
Enchilados. I mean, it's all there I guess enchilados are very good.
I mean, come on, man, I can't eat chocolate anymore. Holy
shit, I guess enchilados are very good. When something's very good, I
don't think you say I guess they're very good. It happens over and over
again on lapsed like I feel like we create this stuff out of thin air
and run with it. And sure enough, like you go and listen back
and it actually comes from a place of He was talking about enchiladas all the
time. Yes, I guess enchiladas are very good. I can't eat chocolate
anymore. Is that your only detriment to Mexico? Yes, I can't eat
chocolate anymore. That's the way it is, health reasons, my only detriment
to Mexico. And I guess enchiladas are very good. He said on the
call here. He bought some rotten enchiladas from Tito when he was down there
in the navy. Yes, it's like a Jesse Ventura mad libs, he
says it all. It's so fucking funny. They hold Tito open an attack
him. Vincent, you know, when I was in the navy, I
bought rotten enchiladas from Tito Santana rotten, and a lot of anyone don't know
what a rotten go. Stale but rotten. I guess bad, bad meat.
Yeah, I guess that's what he means here. I guess if you
get sucking old chicken or old beef. It was on. You know,
the enchilados were on the trees too long. Those are the plaintains, Jess.
Huh, so they hold Tito opened an attack him in Vince's Wait a
minute, Wait a minute, wait a minute. Was it chocolate? No?
Oh, because you know I can't eat chocolate anymore. About that,
I can't eat chocolate anymore. How about enciladas, Jess, I guess enchilados
are very good? What about chocolate for dessert? I can't eat chocolate anymore.
Well, I was in Mexico, off the grid anymore, not even
necessarily a Jess. I went back. Those balls are as smooth as sucks.
Wrestling fans have been tricked again. Go down one two, Trinoli.
I guess enchilados are very good. I can't eat chocolate anymore. I went
back. I was in Mexico, off the good. It's fake, it's
fake. Fuck you fucking smooth. It's over Jenny, it's over. Fuck
you fucking thing sucks. That's sling fans and Trigged doing live, no doubt.
One two Trignoli fomolate at the rock. You cloom at the rock.
I can't eat chocolate anymore. I guess enchilados are very good. No,
no, really, music there it goes. I guess enchiladas are pretty good
over the song and you fucking hell due, No dude, no, no,
you never. That's the thing about that whole thing is you never know
which one is going to be perfect right right, right, God, that's
a brilliant thing. It's our version of a royal rumble. It is Hello
God, Vince's butchered. Will double cross the others in a second if you
thinks it'll get him an advantage. And Jesse says it better to have two
al lies in there than just one. And they clock him now is Tito
is seriously hanging by a thread over the top rope, then says those idiots,
if they just back off and let one guy throw a guy over,
it would work. So they're they're becoming acquainted with the psychology of the thing.
Number four is Jake the Snake Roberts. Number five number five, Thank
you was Jake the Snake Roberts. Yeah, he's on the hop to a
big pop. This is like the first like Save the Day rumble entrance.
It is, it is. I mean actually I was actually surprised they went
as far as they did with having three heels against one baby face. I
was like, whoa, that's crazy, Like I was expecting a baby face
to come in a nighthearts position. Yeah, that sounds work in psychology right
here exactly. It's yeah, yeah, yeah, totally. Jake picks the
ankle and tosses read out of the ring ladies and gentlemen. The first televised
rumble Ye eliminated talents but read butch read absolutely wild. What a lame What
a lame one. It was a lame one. But I mean the crowd
is like, this is so cool, Like that's what it looks like when
they get eliminated. I want him to get thrown out now him. Yep.
You can kind of here the gears turning almost in the way they're reacting.
So Jake cooking with right hands on the hearts. Crowd so happy as
Jake slam's Brett. They're channing DDT Hearts whipped into each other in the center
of the ring. Jake signals for the DDT, but Jim Night Heart to
get the fucking kills him. Heart's about the business number. Um wait,
the ten count starts on our screen. Next out Harley Race, Harley Race.
He comes out before the before it reaches zero anyway, and he doesn't
race from Yes, got on King Harley with a big elbow drop on Jake.
The snake roberts right into the camera, which is position of the ring
apron, and Jesse asks if there's, uh, if he thinks they're any
cheating going on in the back, any possibility in the back of someone cheating
and getting out of the suit. I had the times class, I've got
it much. Well, if it's Jack Tommy, he can be bought.
Stop it so awesome, Jack Tunney, what a bitch? I wonder.
Jesse loves this match so much. It's just like a canvas he can paint
on his mind, can go in a million ways of scheming. Absolutely,
yep, you know what I mean. Disingenuity Uh. Jake and Brett teetering
on the brink of elimination, and Toura says, you know what a concept
this match. Is this is really interesting? He's he's he's falling in love
with the match. Yeah, on live as we're watching it. Right up
Jesse's alley here because it has so many justified heel activities, Like even the
baby Faces can't be blamed for heels. Yep, yep, they're gonna cheat.
He loves that and turn on each other too. Yeah. Next dout
is Jim Brunzel from The Killer Bees. He comes flying out. Do you
think how much it Vince revel in the fact that he did eventually get Harley
race Oh that's a sweet what is it? Yeah? And he got to
dress him up in a fucking purple robe, dye his hair that oh I
guess his hair was already, but what plays his natural hair color the brown
or the brown or the blonde, and then like shave off his fucking facial
hair looking like an absolute idiot, looks like a total fucking fool in ww
yep, yep, a complete cartoon bozo moron. Yeah, the King Harley
Racey, Harley, you know, I just want you to know we have
a lot of respect for what you've done in the business now and uh,
you know you you you've been the king. You know you legitimately have been
the king. I mean, you're you're, you're, you're world champion seven
times over. You know you or you are the king? And so they
got me thinking professional attainment. I was like, maybe we could use that.
You know, what if we actually made you the king? What if
you were the king, Harley Race? What if? And there's really not
any way of getting around us. This is what's going to happen. We
dress you up like a fucking king, dress you up like Grimace, like
a fucking idiot. All right? What if we make you the king of
professional wrestling? A fucking idiot? What if we make you the king of
taking I dick down your throat after you pretended that you could stop my fucking
conquest? What if this? What if we make you the king of sticking
your face in between my butt cheeks? Exactly? Huh. Gonna shoot on
in the bathroom, now, pal, you can shoot on me, Pal
in the bathroom, and I'm gonna shoot on you, all right. I
have no problem dropping feces on your face. Harley. You're a proud man,
family man. Are going to call your wife and tell her that you
did whatever it took to get my New York money when you actually you know
what I want to do right now. I want you to grab the phone
right now, Grab the phone right now. I want you to call your
wife, call home, call your wife, have your kids on the fucking
phone, and I want you to say to them, say Hi, Hi,
kids, Hi honey. I just want you to know that I'm a
worthless bitch. Ye say it. Say it to your fucking family money,
say it. You want it, you want it, You want to earn
a real living instead of being a dumb ass like you've been in the last
fucking twenty years of your life. You fucking worth for such shit. I
want you to call your wife up and say, honey, Vince is gonna
dress me up like a burger king. I want you to say, Vince
McMahon is my god, and I will do whatever he asks. I'm not
going to do this. I'm not going to follow through, but I am
going to require that you call your wife and tell her that you are demanding
that she sleep with me. And then I want you to I want you
to do two things right now, all right, this is a demand.
I want you to. When you're on the phone with her, you say
you know what, honey, Vince McMahon's gonna shoot on my face and I'm
proud of that. And I need you to sleep with him because that's what
I want as your husband. I want you to tell her that I need
you to bring this home for our family. I would like you, honey,
please blow Vince McMahon say, I want some of that Kansas City barb
you ready for me at the house, and then I want some exclusive alone
time with your wife in your bed. Say say say to missus race,
but I want Vince McMahon's come on your face. You got that. Look
all we're doing this lay history here, all right, Fine, don't have
to twist his arm. Geez, honey, how much we're talking about here.
It's the whole fucking ballgame, Honney. I want you to get comed
on by Benda man. Okay, it's so awful. Well, hey,
do you want me to say, there it is? Here we go.
Well, I want to thank you, thank you. I cannot wait to
get lay normal guy thing to say at that juncture. So bread Zel comes
out, live Brett and they go insane at the prospect of Brett being eliminated.
It's already a big deal that Brett's bet in there that long. Brett,
ever the contortion, is trying to stay in the ring and Jake is
cranking on his leg. Brett lands on the apron and we realized, Wow,
guys can go over the top but still not get eliminated. Yes,
they stress, he did not go over. They feel really compelled to point
that out over and over. That's very true. He would not go over
for a long time. Jake pulls down an animal's goateee. Jesse notes that
Breton Chico have been in there since the start, and Vince says they'll be
ironed men if they could make it through. So the first observation of that
type getting a rumble match. Brunzel has a hardy race on his shoulders and
a fireman's carried trying to dump him out of the ring. Brett with the
side backbreaker on Tito Santana still sprying there as the hitman as out. Next
comes Sam Houston with the bandana on his neck. Brother of Jake the Snake,
roberts, Yeah, and I believe married to baby Doll, who is
still in Crockett at the time, about to do the angle is since the
mystery photograph from Dusty Rhodes's past that never gets revealed. Houston comes in throwing
on all the heels, kind of saves Zel from Race for a moment there,
and the Hearts the Heart Foundation both tossed Tito Santana, so he's out.
Not really any friend versus friend action. They didn't really do that,
not yet. Next year demolition. What a great start, ye, what
a great idea that was. Mhm um, so I still remember that?
So good. Ventura points out the fortitude of Brett Hart and Vince says,
just like Tito Santana. But Jesse says, yeah, but uh he's back
selling rotten tacos. Oh my god, he says it again. Very good.
Danny Davis is out next in the zebra stripe pants. Where do I
sign up? Dover New Hampshire's own. I heard Daniel Davis bases outfit on
beetlejuice and Vince goes, oh no, not this guy. Yeah, me
too. Yeah. He mixes it up with Sam Houston a bit Harley Race
doing his terry funk Teeter totter spot in the ropes is Jake Lan's right hands
funk trying to hand a like insert work rate into this thing, you know,
Harley Race just for some reason, he just seems so trashy he is,
you know, I mean, I know he probably, I know he
is, but like for some reason with the blonde hair and no facial hair
and and this stupid purple tights, he just seems so fucking trashy. Kind
of looks like a yeah, like a white trash grandma. M h you
take the facial hair away and die in blonde. He kind of looks like
he really a little bit, he does. He looks like a grandma.
Yeah, that's right. Jake Lanning right hands on him, Jake with a
back suplex and Danny Davis and they start channing DDT again. He hooks it,
but Davis drops to his knees to counter. Next out Boris Zukoff hits
the ring. Yeah. Man, we're just so exciting here. Uh.
Jesse celebrates Bret's longevity in the in the Royal Rumble. You know what's amazing.
Still, that's amazing that started the Royal Rumblers. Still in there,
you don't find out amazing? Yes that he is. Um, he's so
not wanting to go there. I know he does not want to celebrate Brett
hard that's his plan. And if you know, Bruce Pritchard says is true
that it was actually a lark that Brett hadn't been eliminated, they didn't plan
on making that a thing, then you can see why Vince perhaps isn't leaning
into it. Pretty impressive that they managed to completely avoid commercial breaks on the
Live USA network. I know during the rumble that because it didn't seem like
they were forcing like a lot of breaks before this to where you're like,
oh, okay, this is that's the reason there's three times more commercials.
So Vince shouts out Sam Houston for hooking his foot on the top rope to
prevent elimination. A little bit of craft there. Ventura notices the King working
over Boris Zukov, and that's in every Man for Himself moment, because that's
two heels. I guess that is true. That is true, And Toura
puts over Brett is amazing, like you just said, and then he and
then he teases he might be number twenty. Yeah, union never know,
Vince, I might, that's so Jesse eighty eight eighty nine, Yes it
is. I might be number twenty. I might run down nobody's that's a
that's a Jerry Lawler spot there isn't it? Yes, it is, absolutely
so he's laying that groundwork as well. Next up, um, Don Morocco
right the rock and Nikolai Volclough too. What's going on here? Weird Morocco
Morocco hits him the floor. I don't know, and I think I don't
know what this if this was a mistake or what. Yeah, but but
Nikolai, yeah, I don't know. They started battling and but it then
then Morocco gets shoved into the ring. So I guess he is the technical
legal next participant and uh, this whole time, I want you to uh
here Vincetickman called Morocco the rock three times. You're if you smell Don Morocco
the first coming of Dwayne Johns. Oh my god, isn't that the truth?
Well, Nikolay is being held back on the floor by officials. I
know, Jake Robertson Brunzell trying to force Zukoff over the top, and then
Nikola has to wait. Apparently he jumped the gun, Vince says, and
Jesse says he doesn't totally understand English. Brenzel gets his big drop kicking on
Brett or the match. He doesn't totally understand English McMahon, and he says
he can't blame him. I'm tired of your barbs tonight. Oh yep here
and that leads into the least is the Barry Bloom reference. Here we go.
You know, McMahon, tired of your barbs tonight and I'm tired of
you down on me. And if you don't knock it off, you're getting
here from Barry Blue. Oh you know who has heard it? I don't.
He has stand here that's trying to play it out. Yea, oh
god. Especially imagine how annoyed he must be had Jesse for bringing this ship
up to strangle this motherfucker, because think about it, all this is,
this is, this is all after Predator and Running Man, the showdowns we've
talked about. Yep, all that shit happened before this. So Barry Bloom
is a real thorn in Vince nick Mann's side. Yeah, He's like the
coming of the new way of doing business that Vince does not want to be
a part of, where he doesn't have complete say so over where the cattle
go next? And for Edna, what price shut up, by the way
to Stephen Dame, who pointed out, Um that Jesse Ventura first Amendment rant
that we played a bit earlier. Um that got me. Um, you
know, just the Barry Bloom talk of me thinking about that. Um.
Next up, Nikolai. Now he's unleashed. What a more? What more?
I don't really what a duke? What a goofball? Runs really tossed
out of the ring. Don Morocco with a big right hand, and Race
goes head over heels and he's gone. Harley. Race takes the ass over
tea kettle. Bump for the business, because Harley didn't just come here to
just be in the rum. Hit her to take the bond. Gone,
give me the fucking bumping the Morocco bought me. You stupid send me,
send me, don send me out, you stupid Hawaiian fu butt me.
Do it. You're fucking me. He's a shit. Why must you bump,
Harley? I'm bumped to make the business. I bumped the cell tickets.
I bumped to draw the crowd. I bump because that's the only thing
I know how to do. We landed on truth. It took a while,
but we got there. There he goes he's out eliminated as King Harley
Race inventor us is obviously the King ain't happy whether Vince says, stop with
the double negatives, Well, he's not happy. You understood what I meant,
didn't you. I've got a degree in things, and right, Frank
Lean, unquestionably, I cannot. I cannot abide by your lack of English
appreciation. And from there, if I could expostulate momentarily, I'm gonna say
that a lot, I think going forward on a lot, and let me
tell you, I'm gonna let me tell you, I'm gonna expostulate all over
fucking Harley Race's wife. Awesome. Jack robertson peril, they're trying to eliminate
him, and his brother makes to save Race and shoving refs and wants back
in the match. Hilarious, And here we go. The next entrance is
the winner, Jim Duggan. Jim Duggan number thirteen, which would be around
I would say, number like twenty two ish, something like that if it
were a thirty So, if it were a thirty man, yep, about
to clean halfway through. Yeah, with the board on the march, there's
kind of a red carpet right at the entrance, but he walks through the
people for some reason. He comes to Harley Race and they get into a
shoving match. Of course, Harley Race and Jim Dugget had had a big
brawl all over the place deal at the Slammy Awards where they fought like in
the kitchen and all over Caesar's Palace, Convention Center wherever they did that show,
So that's continuing here. Hobolly slaps him. Duggan picks up a board
and pursues him, then stops and does the hoe and Vince does the ha
at. Jim Duggan gets on the apron and salutes and jumps in, throwing
big hands on the anvil, then tours back to putting over Brett Hart for
still being in there, and in what is definitely less than two minutes,
Ron Bass makes his way out. Next yep, Jake tries another ddity on
Danny Davis and again Danny squirms out. So they're building that. I believe
Vince calls Ron Bass a brawler, yes, and kirrect me if I'm wrong.
I believe he also calls him a stumper stomper. I missed that,
like Archie Gouldy, a brawler and a stomper. Vinceys Davis is not quite
over yep, and that'll never be the same. After this match, Nikolai
lifts and dumbs bruns Ol. He's out, Thank god. Barrocco decides,
you know what we need, we need to half star here. He does
the Seawan Michaels inside out bump in the corner. He does fucking working his
ass off, and he's like, he's like fucking killing it. It's a
tree of woe over here, and it's the nineteen eighty eight Royal Rumble.
It's like, you know, I, I don't. I don't know what
the story was where where Morocco turned face, but he is an exceptional baby
face. Ye, it's crazy, it is. Brian Blair is out.
Next. He nails Brett with a body shot, throwing hands and Brett collapses.
You can tell he hit him either of the balls or the liver.
Oh. Of course, she goes after the guy who's been in there the
longest, of course. Real real profile encourages b Bran. Come on,
Hillsburgo, Hillsboro County, stat give me a break. He couldn't be elected.
Break, Come on, I'm I'll be the mayor of Brooklyn Park before
he does anything. Oh sick burns. So I was hoping a god that
Brett or Blair said something about in their book, but they don't. It's
very clear that Blair knocks the wind clean out of Brett when he gets in
their throwing like a madman with you know, the surprise Bret remembers everything.
Yeah, I know, so everyone starts avoiding Blair. Sorry you say Blair
has a book. Yeah, he just came out with him. It's pretty
good, is it. Yeah? Does anyone care than he has a book?
Um? I do, but I can't speak for any of about anybody
else. Yeah, he's actually lived a very colorful life in wrestling. He
has been around a lot. You know, you think about being a key
witness in this orient trial too. Hule Cogan's a really good friend for years
and years, and he's open about it. And he's a politician, so
he kind of he's he he's comfortable leaning into controversial subjects and kind of like
he'd rather his name be in the news than risk, you know, than
worry about scandal or saying something scandalous. I think it's great. Uh,
he began the Cauliflower Alley President, so we became mister you know, protect
the boys and mister h so um yeah, I would recommend the book.
So he's the rowing like crazy and Brett takes a shot. If someone can
ask Brian Blair, I'd love a recollection to this because it's it's a very
uh um, conspicuous moment in the rumble. Brett then gets recovered a bit
and digs in his blairs, trying toss anvil dug and throwing heavy shots.
They call him one of the biggest, baddest brawlers in the w B.
If that's what Vince says. Out next is Hillbilly Jim and boy is he
tan? Oh yeah? And he's getting some eliminations backdrops any out there,
if you're gonna be if you're gonna be a friend of mine, dude on
TV, you gotta be Tan, brother, got that money? Should be
Tan, dude. All right, we're not fucking around here, brother.
Oh yeah, all right, Hillbilly, you gotta be fucking tan. Fuck
who's ever sold a ticket without a son Tan? Give me a break,
brother, I'm telling you, dude, none of these guys out there.
You can't You can't get in the ring, brother, expect sell a ticket,
draw a house, dude, If you're not Tan, right, I
trust people who are Tam brother andres dude, Andre is not Tan. I
can't trust him, brother, right, and so I don't and so I
don't. Dude. So hill Billy gets in backdrops anvil out of the ring.
Mom, Dude, my mom's not Tan, brother, good question.
I don't trust my mom. I know she'd try to roll me up from
behind. She's that fucking sniveling weasel. I've been talking to Ruth brother.
Wait, did you, Jim? Are you too? Are you talking?
Are you saying that Peter saying that my mom? Brother? Are you saying
that Ruth Balia has a steakhouse? Dude? That I don't know about,
brother, that I'm going to inherit when she dies. It's what you're saying.
Are you coming at me wide open right now? Brother? Why are
you saying these things about my mom? Right? That's the question, right,
And I'm saying thing about your mom? Brother, you just did right
now. Dude, it's really weird that you're denying it. You're denying things
that didn't happen. Exactly. Good one. I think he threw his bag
out during a hoof saw that interviewer did with the THEO van right where he's
like, I watch. I watched part of it and I was like,
that guy just keeps delivering. It's so awesome. I mean, we don't
you have to do anything. Sit back and let the real hulk take it
away. So yeah, Hill Billy Jim's going nuts. They're going nuts.
He googles Davis to the top rope Cox's fist. He milts it and then
hits him and then lets him down to his feet instead of eliminating Danny Davis.
Yes, that's what he does, stupid toss him. After he does
that, Ventura says, uh, Hill Billy Jim is the sixteenth entrant and
Bret the Hitman is number one. He's still in that ring, so much
noise as everyone's throwing punches and stomping him. It's rather glorious. It is,
it really is. That's the key. The bomb's going off one after
the other in a cacaphony unfamiliar in the standard match. That's what's setting apart
of the Royal Rumble. I think at this point the sounds of the thing,
I mean, when you play the soundclips of Jesse and Vince talking you
can't even hear anything that people going nuts in the ring and rattling like crazy
with all this ye beef in there. Do you know Bravo comes out next
him too, are claiming he's the strongest man in the world. Sam Houston,
with the bandana still in his neck, is piggybacking on the shoulders of
Ron Bass, and Bass peels him off and Houston goes splat over the top
to the floor. Thence puts them over, says I hope Houston's gonna be
all right, And the announcers couldn't even tell whose shoulders Houston was on when
he hit the floor. So now, remember when I said earlier, keep
in mind that they're indeed mats on the floor. Yes, lest someone try
to take credit for taking a bump in the rumble without mats back in my
day, here's Sam Houston speaking to a podcast called Pancakes and Power Slams Work.
How was it working with Vincent's man or WWF for the time, Yeah,
wow, how was it? Well, you don't really realize how big
you get badly you're getting screwed until you get away from there. For a
long time, you know. He never well, yeah, I mean you
get faced with the lies and everything in this business is part of it.
Would ever worked for me again, I don't think so. I mean I
might do a Royal Rumble return. I would like to do that because since
I was in the very first one, you know, and and oh gosh,
and when they inducted dug In into the Hall of Fame, which I
thought that was the greatest second the world, they played a clip of him
going to the ring and it was good because in that clip, I was
in the ring doing really good for about two and a half seconds, and
then I was flying through, yeah, for about a second, and then
that loud splat as my body hit the concrete. Because that was before they
started putting padding down. I mean, we used to land on concrete,
not you know, not a pillow comfort that is he high Sam. There
were mats on the floor, buddy, Yeah, there are mats on the
floor. Maybe it's one of me. Maybe he's thinking of one of the
other Royal Rumbles. I don't think so. Maybe maybe maybe thinking of a
of any other battle royal that possibly happened anywhere in the country, and any
promotion it is very distressing to me that the wrestlers did so many battle royals
back then that they really didn't care to differentiate between the ones that were royal
rumbles. And it really bothers me that I that that I remember so much
shit that happens in wrestling and they don't. Yeah, man, that is
one of like the hardest truths, because you're talking about the generation we're in
love with is a generation of guys who, for the most part, did
not grow up marks. They did not grow up like with encyclopedic knowledge of
wrestling like today, like most of today's people do. And this in the
newer crop can can cite chapter in verse. They know history. They they
geeked out watching videotape, they read the Observer or whatever, the Internet,
whatever the case might be. They have like this working knowledge of what came
before them, and they have a mind towards like kind of documenting what's happening
and identifying the big moments and the identifying what would be you know, having
the ability to identify what's going to be the key beats in their career as
it's happening. These guys no clue it was just about stringing together pay days,
and when you worked for New York, the pay days were that much
bigger and the only thing you cared about was how big is the house tonight.
You didn't care about whether this is going to go down as a big
moment in your particular career, because that just wasn't. That wasn't how the
business was structured to reward you for, you know, leaning in on one
night over the other. Right, it was longevity, was it was staying
not her, It was staying over. It was selling merch when that became
a thing, and you know, it was having a good match. It
was that was important, but it wasn't important in a way of like I'm
having a good match so that I'm remembered as a guy who can have good
matches. It's no, I'm having a good match that they have a reason
to book me on the next show. And I can put that exactly exactly,
and it's six huge cities and six nights. It's like if there's a
rumble in there, fucking how how can you blame me for not remembering it,
especially when you get pilled up to fall asleep on the plane anywhere.
Of course, Sam Houston, it's about being pilled up, Jimmy Hart saying
help help Brett, and he does. Someone helps Brett um out next Ultimate
Warrior, You got that right, rumble Yellow and Red, no less brother
and does an awful barrage of chops on ron Bass. This is still very
much the Dingo Warrior. Oh yeah, like the dumbass Warrior. Rocco grabs
Brett and sends him out of nowhere. Brett Hart is tossed by the rock,
Brett Hart eliminated, and Jesse goes in Joshi the did you have the
twenty six minute mark? Um? The twenty six minute mark? What do
you mean? Yeah? That's that's it was twenty six minutes in there,
I believe so as wild. Jesse says, well, I'll tell you what.
You gotta give Brett Hart credit. He was number one and he stayed
in there till the eighteenth Man got in first record and his book, Brett
Right Survivors series had been an overwhelming success, so Linz decided to go for
a third pay per view a year, dreaming up The Royal Rumble to take
place either January. It would be like a Battle Royal, except that it
would start with two wrestlers in the ring, and then someone else would come
out to join them. Every two minutes. The wind would be the last
man's standing. The first one was time to air the Sunday before the Super
Bowl, when the NFL was off. I was chosen to be the first
guy into the ring, and I wrestled for thirty six minutes. He says
thirty six here. But you know how his book goes with numbers, right,
and an all out effort to get Vince's attention with the hope of landing
a decent spot for WrestleMania four. It didn't work. All I was offered
was a spot in the thirty man Battle Royal. So to hear Brett Telltt
he had hopes and dreams. This kind of conflicts with Bruce's story that Brett
was never really intended to be going that long and to be a story of
the match like this. But right, that's still out there trying to make
an impression. Always yes, indeed, um, you know what I didn't
count Actually I meant to count this and I forgot to do that. What
the what the most people? What the how many people were in the ring?
Like the most the most amount of people in the ring at the same
time same time. Yeah, that's a good stat I meant to do that,
and I forgot. They have gone so and overdrive in recent years with
like statistician videos. They must have said that at some point, but I
always liked that, like, you know, because the record, the record
to me was always for a long time was ninety one record they had there
was eleven eleven guys, so a third of the of the the roster was
in the ring over the third and then in ninety four it broke. That
was I think the I think at one point there was thirteen guys in the
ring um and then normally it's like eighty eight is kind of the average of
having guys in the ring. Wow, very interesting. I love that stuff
about the rumble the facts of figures, don't. I don't bok or roll
my eyes at it at all. It's it's fun when they do that.
Ye. So again, Pritchard was telling the story about apparently Brett Hart thinking
it was Rick Martell all these years, and so I guess if I was
to read some quotes from his podcast about this, we should just insert Brett's
name from Martell if if I'm hearing this correctly. But he says, first
rumble we did. We forgot to get Rick out. We sent someone in
to get him out because he thought he was going to win it. Sometimes
it's not a perfect world, that ain't ballet, and things are going to
happen, so you make the best of it and you adapt. The very
first Royal rumble we ever did, Pat Patterson laid it out and we forgot
to get Rick Martell out. He knew he wasn't winning, but he just
stayed in because he didn't have anybody to eliminate him. He was still in
the ring for a long time, and we're looking at it and going,
who's getting Martell out? We gotta get Martel out of there. So the
next guy we sent down, we said, go in and tell Martell,
just eliminate Martell, get him out of there. So I can see that
being Don Morocco kind of yeah, does he shoot? He throws Brett out
shortly after entering, and perhaps was sent down with the explicit instructions to get
Brett out of there because he's still not supposed to be hanging tough. Although
not wait a minute, not really, he's there for a while. Doncco
Morocco is in it. Number eleven, and then Brett isn't tossed till number
eighteen. Oh wow, who tossed Brett? He tossed Brett, right,
Morocco, Morocco. I just felt like it was abrupt. Yes, maybe
he didn't toss Brett like you know, when they eliminate a guy who's been
in since number one, they make it a deal. Yeah, yeah,
it's true. I mean, although they do, um you know, I
mean, it's not uncommon for a guy to get eliminated as soon as a
new guy comes in. True, but does happen? And they were,
you know, it was still new, they didn't necessarily have the timing down.
Perhaps what's being suggested there is Don Morocco was to be the guy to
throw out Brett. But whoever comes in right when Brett was eliminated as the
person that gave the instruction to Don, I would I would understand. I
would believe a warrior fucking Gaves gives the gives the instruction, fascinating Brett protesting,
of course, but that that conflicts with the Brett says in his book
that he was out there with the explicit attempt to make an impression. If
he really didn't think he was going to have his long duration in the match,
then how would that have been a reasonable expectation of his Well, I'll
tell you what, maybe Bruce Pritchard just wasn't in on it. It's it's
it's really tricky, really tricky to piece this together all these years later.
Um. But when he goes out there and says like Vince was laughing and
he just wasn't laughing on the dena Bravo thing, It's like, where does
this? He's just making shit up? It's possible, but what much more
likely is he remembers something that didn't happen at the rumble but kind of remembers
it happening at the room. What if I mean maybe maybe maybe, uh
what if what if he's what if he's confusing the eighty eight rumble with the
night one rumble. I think he clearly is in that. He's that's why
he thinks of Rick Martell in long duration. But maybe what if what if
that's the case? What if Martell in the ninety one rumble? Because I'll
tell you what, Martell going that long is weird to go long. I
mean, like the fact that he gets the longevity record for that year is
so weird to me because it's not like they did anything with him. It's
really weird, you know. I think for some reason, Bruce remembers this
story, and it's possible both are true. By the way, it's possible
they forgot to tell Brett to get out, and they told forgot to tell
Brick to get out, and he's conflating the two. It's both could have
happened. They could have made that mistake twice. But it seems like he's
so said on the idea that it was part of the lessons learned of the
first rumble, that it had to be that match where they failed to get
word out. And I'm telling you, like he tells the story when they
do like a show on Rick Martell, and then you know, a month
later they do the eighty eight Rumble him and Conrad, and he like has
this like epiphany in the middle of the thing where he goes, oh,
actually, I've been saying Martella and told the story hundred times, and now
I realized it was Brett hard I was talking about Brett was the guy.
And is he just saying that because he realizes he was wrong saying it was
the first Rumble and just decides it must have been Brett I was thinking about
because I see here he's the only guy that lasted really long. Idiot,
that's also very possible. I'm going with a idiot. I just wish,
oh man, I just wish, you know, the foggy details or whatever.
I just wish now that we have the footage, you know, we
have everything. We have every word printed in the newsletters, we have every
minute of footage preserved and on demand. Just these little details like I just
wish they were right. But we got to play decoder all the time in
wrestling, because what matters more is the story, not the details. You
know, the thrust of the story is what surved, not the details of
the story. And to me, I'm like, I wish he was the
opposite. I wish the details were the things everyone remembered instead of the takeaway.
So Brett is protesting, Ventura says Danny Davis could be a surprise winner.
There's a mischievous suggestion. They've been working like hell to get him out
of the ring. One man Gang is out. Next, the winner of
the technical first ever Royal Rumble is here. Yeah, number nineteen here Lumbering
down the aisle. He's the first guy. I think that asks us to
consider the ramifications of being really fat in the Royal rumble that it's true,
you know, and that is true? Then says why they picking on Jake
because he's a snake? Ventori answers. Warrior tries to jump on One Man
Gang's back and somehow fall fails to do so. One Man Gang, yeah,
somehow tosses Brian Blair like it's nothing. Does the one Man Gang they
missed who threw him out? They just saw Blair sailing out of the ring.
Jack robertson peril now and one Man Gang knees him out of the ring.
Gang is in control. He's throwing big stars out. Yes he is
ultimate Warrior gooseles Davis, but Nikolai Volkov stops him from eliminating Davis. And
now we're down to the last man. And Ventura goes, it ain't you,
is it? McMahon, No, it's not. It's the junkyard dog,
the jyd like he grabbed a few cakes on the way to the ring.
Ten men in there. Now we got ten men to close the year?
Are you good? Ten? Okay? All right, that's pretty good.
I don't know if that's the max at any given point in this match,
but probably I would imagine so half the half the crowd. I forgot
that I did a little half the group, so um, Jesse says,
pick your winner. McMahon. Vince goes with the Junkyard Dog or the One
Man Gang as Doug and backdrops Nicolai Volclough out of the ring. Jesse agrees
that the One Man Gang is gonna be tough to get out. As the
gang backdrops hill Billy Jim out of the ring. Ventura says, you gotta
figure this is gang style of match. He comes from the streets of Chicago.
He's probably born and raised rumbling and street fighting just like this. You
know, I just was I'm surprised they didn't go with Jyd to be the
first winner. I could see it, you know, he just like I
don't know, I mean, especially when we were talking about with Doug,
I just don't understand Duggan being the winner, Like what does that? It's
like, I don't know. I mean, I guess Duggan was popkin.
I just can't see to meet Duggan's way more important and is way less important
than like Jyd or even Hillbilly Jim for Fox, say, well, he's
less important than Jyd and eighty five and Jim in eighty six. But you
gotta remember Jim, you know, tore both of his knees out and was
basically lost all of his momentum by the time he came back. He was
never anywhere near the top of the card. Dog was just a complete liability
by this point, just a total drug addict, just a ticking time pomp
and certainly not somebody that showed up with the kind of force of charisma.
Yeah, they thought they were hiring when they basically put him next to Hogan
as the one B baby face. And again they hired Duggan away from Mid
South with a full plan of making him the number two baby face in the
company. Bigelow kind of as well. I think Bigelow wasn't hurt. He
probably would have been slotted to win this one. It almost seemed like they
got to the rumble and they were like, Okay, it's not like we
created this match with the idea of making somebody, but since we have the
match, let's look at who on the baby face side could use the oomph
And actually, you know, not just be a dut not just be a
guy who will get nothing out of it. And Doug and if you look
at the field in terms of who they actually could have used to headline shows
with, he's pretty much the only baby face in there, then it makes
sense to put over when you consider, you know, just how how far
Dog had fallen from Grace, and we know it's only a matter of months
before he's out of the company. So it's uh, yeah, I guess
it's pretty much that. I think if Bammers was around, he probably would
have gotten it, you know, over the objections of Andre. But there
it is. President put Savage in it. Yeah, I know, I
think they. I think they were, you know, as prosaic as it
sounds, also worried about drawing in that Nova Scotia town as well, and
they cared as much about filling buildings as they did about making this one television
special a bigger than everything else going on that weekend and that loop, And
they had plans for Savage. I mean, it's pretty clear that the plans
we're already in place to put Savage over a Wrestlania. Yeah. So yeah,
you would think Rumble would be a nice little but you know, this
is still like a self contained trophy. It's not right. Something they're telling
themselves is going to have a booking ramifications down the road. It's just like
a one night bragging, right kind of thing, so kind of like being
the sole survivor. You don't get anything for it. Let's see gang Stella
match. Yes, Vin says, you really can't call this. It's too
much action all over and he's making mental notes on how to adjust for that
in the future. Duggan with a great three point stance and knocking Danny Davis
out of the ring, and that is a big pop because just the sight
of Danny Davis being in there is aggravating. Yes it is. And Ventour
says, you've got to give him credit as well. No I don't,
No, we don't, but we do have to turn to Danny Davis's book
written in concert Kenny Casanova, because it's probably the only time it makes any
sense. A little sketch on where Danny Davis found himself in his career and
getting a bit of spotlight here in the Rumble. I wrestled in the first
match of the first ever Survivor series, teaming with Honky Tong hercules, Ron
Bass, and Harley Race. We took on Randy Savage, now a fan
favorite, Jake Robert Steamboat beefcake dugging because the chorus of booze that I was
still receiving from fans, they had to be the third man eliminated after a
DDT from Jake's there it is there. That's the psychology, the DDT that
spills into the rumble match. I had thought staying in that long was a
good sign from the office. Yeah, he's a mark for staying long.
Yeah, I figured they probably thought good things about my future. Following up
her Survivors series match, I met up with Jake again in singles competition in
prime time. This, however, was a means to an end for our
feud. Jake beat me quickly, then finally gave the people what they wanted.
He threw Damien on me and left the ring. Soon after that,
the writing was on the wall. My days in the ring is a good
competitive wrest that we're winding down. I began to drop down the lower portion
of the card, losing more and more. It's pretty much mister X again,
this time just without the mask, losing to everyone, starting to look
like I no longer really was even a threat into a feud with Sam Houston.
Now, I think there was a little period of eighty seven where he
thought he was going to get a push. All right, Houston defeated me
right off the bat. Did my best to stay relevant. I worked into
my storyline my own agenda, arguing my foot was in the ropes referee should
not have counted. This argument caught on a little and led to the content
needed for a series of angry promotional interviews with Craig to George that kept me
going a little longer to some degree, But I knew the idea was to
end my wrestling ref gimmick at some point. I don't want it to happen.
I amped up my promos even more and made some good noise in an
effort to save my spot. Incidentally, Houston and I had a series of
very good matches in my opinion program lasted longer than anyone had expected. We
both took turns winning to look good. Note about Sam, it must have
been tough being the brother of huge name like Jake Blah Blah Blah Leslie Smith.
Yep, Sam was a good work or the fans were still behind hating
me. The loud years I heard when entering the ring proved that I still
had tons of heat sometimes as a wrestler. However, that didn't equate to
what you'd be able to hope for from the writers. Early in nineteen eighty
eight, they came up early out in nineteen eighty eight, they came up
with the Royal Rumble concept, a different wrestler entering the ring every two minutes
and battle royal contest. After my appearance in this match, I felt like
it could have been a mistake to end my run to early with money still
on the table. No, there's no money, Dan, there's no money.
The fans seemed to still be a very against me. Right after the
Rumble, I felt confident that I needed to continue on in this role.
I asked some of the agents if they thought i'd be written off TV soon,
but they all said they didn't think so. One agent actually went so
far as to say that I received the loudest response of all the heels in
that match. I felt great. He also said, in the end,
you received one of the loudest pops of the whole show when you were finally
thrown out of the ring and eliminated from the match. The same thing could
have also been said for my appearance in the twenty Men Battle Royal that took
place at WrestleMania four, where I was eventually tossed over the top rope by
Paul Roma. After that, it was dribs and drabs, but I couldn't
complain. I knew it was coming to an end, but I had gone
so far. My moment in the spotlight was just about over. But I
had made a major impact and was proud of my work. That was something
that nobody could take away from me. So yeah, as we see Danny
Davis tossed from the rumble, we see his career prospects being tossed as well.
It turns out that's what I expect. So little a note on that,
and then Vince says, wait a minute, the warriors over. Vince
says, they kept Davis in there just to beat on him. That's why
he lasted so long. There's nice of passing on there we go. Ventura
said that Bruno Sammartino wasn't in there. Yess. He brings this up.
This is this is funny, um and I hear I got this one.
I'm talking about Bruno. You know what I feel bad about gold Bruno ain't
come off. I'd love to see that old man take a few months.
Bruno and I have a great opportunity. Okay, we would have a great
opportunity. Makes Vince Ron Ron bastosses the junkyard dog. Suddenly there's like a
hush silence from the crowd. Yeah, that one. Then Morocco taps Don
Morocco taps ron Bass, and Bass makes a beat line and just jumps over
the ropes. Yep. Jesse says, you can tell the guys are tiring
out right now because they're getting elmitated pretty quickly. Plus one hundred for that
logic. I love the idea that the longer the match goes, the easier
it is to eliminate people because they just don't have a totally totally yep,
they don't and they don't um, you know, they don't really play that
up now. They don't. When there's a ton of like quick eliminations.
The longer battle Royal goes, you start thinking, oh, they've got to
get they're trying to hit their time keyes as opposed to like it makes psychological
sense that guys are more easily eliminated right now, dugging his whip to the
corner and does a bar it takes a barge from the One Man Gang.
Morocco then tumbles to get away, flipping around the ring. Don Morocco,
he's doing front flips and shit, I don't know what this is. He's
nuts, he's nuts. He's throwing in on Dino and One Man Gang.
A dropkick on One Man Gang from Don Morocco and Frenchie Martin's on the apron
and Morocco nails him to Dino starts stomping on him. Do you know Bravo
holds Morocco open, gang charges and clips him and Morocco up and over.
That spot can actually backfire for once, it actually worked, Jesus, Everyone
realizes now it's just dugging. He's the only baby face hope as Morocco is
eliminated and they start channing ho as he stands up to Dono, Bravo and
One Man Gang, and he ludges at the gang and starts throwing on both
in succession, spinning around and firing whip. Dug and dropped with a double
lariat Duggan and One Man Gang and had a hell of a series of brawls
in mid South u WF coming into this. There's a lot of kids.
Yeah, I forget that. I forget that Gang was from down there too.
Oh yeah, yeah, he came through Texas as well. World class
he was, he was in there and some of the limental tragedy stuff we
looked at. That's right, that's right, totally forget that. Ye Jesse
notes that all three came late in the match, so it shows just how
very important the luck of the draw is a Dino Bravo, Hoos, doug
and open and this time the backfires. Duggan didn't really dugging, didn't really
come in late. He came in like more of it closer to the halfway
mark. He's probably still just trained on the the notion of Brett lasting.
So this time it backfires. Gang smashes into Dino and Dinos out of the
ring. French he dives on Dino Bravo, but it's too late to do
anything about it. Hacksod and one man Gang or your last two Duggin' fires
with big jag jabs and hooks on the big Man Irish whip and gang clubs
him and Touris says Howard does he get the gang over the top, He's
four hundred and fifty to five bounce. Jesse just tremendous in this match.
I mean he yes, he lays the boiler plate down for rumble calls.
Yeah, he establishes all the things you can say and for every rumble going
forward. And he's doing it off the top of his head because you know,
no plan on this. I mean the thing, you know, it's
all brand new. He's just noticing things, defining all these tropes one after
the other. So Jesse says, if he can find the two buy fourge
Duggan, he can do it. That would be the only equalizer he can
see. But Duggan, despite being worn down and slouched against the ropes,
has the wherewithal as one man Gang hits the ropes to charge at him to
drop down to lowbridge, pull down the top rope. Gang sails over the
top of where Duggan was standing, dumps himself and hits the floor, and
Duggan wins to a huge pop, the winner of the nineteen eighty eight Royal
Rumble, the inaugural on television. His hack saw Jim Duggan all smiles.
Earl Hebner raises his hands and Ventura says, with the brainpowered Duggan's got I
bet he tripped and fell and Gang just toppled over. I would wouldn't doubt
it. We did it, boss. That's the rumble. It is there,
It is in the books. There's a bit more to say about the
show, but that is the thrust of things. Yep, right there.
Up next, the Holster is on the screen with a wide shot of the
ring. They take a break to come back and it's Vincent Jesse at the
announced position discussing how Andrea dropped the table on Hogan and Jesse says it wasn't
despicable, it was the giant, sending a message to Hogan that he made
the mistake of his life. They replay the angle. Uh interviewer Craig to
George Craig Minervini is there with a Hogan on the stage. Now Hogan with
a yellow shirt with the title on his waist. That's right, what are
you think getting one? And here it is Last Wicks Final Agent Heavyweight Chip
Hogan. All right, Hogston, we all know the official date is coming
one week from this Friday night, February fifth, That the official date with
Aubrey the Giant will challenge you for your heavyweight championship belt for the first time
to dress from Adi at three and I think can I appeared to many me
and he was trying to send a message tonight, mister Dasi the Giant.
Good thoughts from that. Yeah, he was sending to me a message,
all right. You know, but these guys are getting their wires cross man.
Every time they pull a cheap shot or trying to pull a stunt on
me, it's like a dagger in my ribs, man, and it's just
adding more fuel to the fire man. You know, when I think about
you, Hondred the Giant, when I think about WrestleMania three, Brother,
when I think about pressing his fifteen hundred pound carcass over my head and beating
him for the one two for Anolie, Dude, I've been waiting just as
long as you have Andre for this encounter again, Brother, and the fact
that he's aligned himself with Ted DBIASI man, to these hulkamaniacs. They don't
have a price for him, man, None of these Hulkamaniacs will sell out.
And I own either, Brother and Honored the Giant. On February fifth.
Just like you couldn't break me with that table, dude, you break
any of my hulkamaniacs because they believe in me. Brother, And at the
end of the day, to beat me, to beat me, honor the
You're gonna beat every one of these Hulkamaniacs in here, and you can't do
it. Dude. Suddenly you've learned the past few weeks that you cannot trust
the Giant. He choked you a few weeks ago. Isn't happening tonight.
Yeah, he choked me. Brother, had a cheap shot out here,
dude. And when it's fuel to the fire, like I said, I'm
ready, I'm psyched, I'm physically ready to destroy him. And all they're
doing is building my confidence. Brother. And like I said, hundred the
giant to beat me and to beat hulkamania you gotta beat every Hulkamaniac in here,
and you can't do it. I was inspired. I like that quite
a bit. Your interview with Craig to George. There it is. He's
in full Billy Graham mode with those cloud pants. Oh totally, Oh my
god, I mean it's all there, it's all there. So that's Hulk
and he's seeking vengeance and I'm gonna watch the main event. I don't know
about you. They play real American as he poses for the people on stage
with those beautiful starburst lights. Mhmm, I love it, tam event if
you will show closer two or three falls the Young Stallions versus the Islanders,
um Hawku and Tama, like this should have happened after the fucking attack,
then the rumble, then the Hogan interviewers totally and it's twenty six minutes left
on this fucking show. Yep. Yeah, it's like they want to get
the rumble in and have something to go after it in case it rapped quick.
But this match could have easily been asked if the rumble went longer.
But fucking Jim Powers it wasn't Heenan, says Bobby Vince says Bobby Heenan is
missing the manager of the Islanders, but he had been responsible for the ill
health recently of Matilda. Let's not forget the Islanders cat kidnapped the Bridge Bulldogs
dog. It's good stuff. It's great stuff, isn't it. Hawku?
We know where he is. Meng Tama is Samuel Larry and Owahaifa too formerly
known as the Tonga Kid and h and Omagua's brother. As a matter of
fact, Oh really that I didn't know he was a brother. She's a
twin brother. Yaminga eat uh so Vince, you know he pushes the contract
signing in the excitement of the evening except for one one thing here and then
the signing of what, unquestionably is the most important rematch I think of maybe
a decade ANDREI a giant and hope Jogan I would go farther than that.
I would say it's the most important rematch signing in the history of professional wrestling,
the only thing tonight I think, thus Bart, it's been absolutely dull
and almost went to sleep during the attempted bitch press record of Tino problem.
I thought you guys were boring where all that I would yeah, I would
expect that from you, big man, a little twinkie like Oo who's never
done anything athletic in his life. If we'd have been up there reading prose
or poetry, you would have been ecstatic about that. But being its physical
competition and strength, you know nothing about that. They're going right at it.
They know nothing about that. His pist It was boring yep, and
Jesse feels it his duty to defend it, and yeah, you know,
this is kind of a drag that this match comes on after the rumble that
fell at the point, but we do have Paul Roma to save us.
This does give us a chance to talk about the Young Stallions. That's not
nothing. That's not nothing. As Roma powers out in their sequence with the
red jackets and hilarious music looking for some reaction. Have rock and roll play
and I'm a radio station. I don't know what else there. Song says,
it sounds like Jimmy Hart sang it. Actually, I'm gonna give you
three guesses. Who is supposed to manage the Young Stallions? Originally I have
no clue. Let's take three guesses. Take three guesses, Okay, um,
Tom Zank, who else? Mike Tyson? Who else? Seth Row?
Originally I heard that mister T was supposed to energy guys. Yeah,
that's very true. Well he just never showed, huh. I heard he
was notorious for not keeping appointments. And I think we're in Chicago and we're
suppos adm walks out that the ring, you know, the jack off never
shows, which changed our career. Career big time, right, you know,
and then I change it later on down the road. Mister t Wow,
I mean, what the fuck? I love the idea that he calls
him a jack off. Oh he's he's so good about that. Man,
he calls everyone a dipshit. That's something that I'll tell you that they actually
had plans for these times. So Powers and Tamma start the match. Powers
leap frogs over and slams Tamma. Ventura says Heenan is in Barbados watching this
via satellite courtesy of the Million Dollar Man and vinceys. As far as he's
concerned, he can stay in Barbados. Take that very good with love,
Vince McMahon, Yeah, right, tam offering a handshake on his knees.
Us daumal matches here. It's such a it's such a fucking drag. Gives
them a chance to plug shamelessly the significance of anything else that happened on the
night besides what's happening in the ring. I guess that's your rets. Where
I came in with the pushing of the cont that the stuff that I just
played. Vince goes in on Ventura. I thought you guys were boring,
like you played that was great reversed whip and Power takes takes the corner Sternham.
First, Hawku comes in, Roma comes in. They're exchanging arm ringers
and Hawku and Roma are tackling and dropping down and leap frog and it's fucking
weird because, like you know, then then he Roma tries a hip toss.
Yeah. I don't know what happens here, but like it looks like
maybe Hako was supposed to reverse it or something, but they just fucking fall
on top of each other. It comes like a Judo throw in motion idiots.
Yeah, just a complete joke. Roma off on a cross body lands
but kind of crooked for the two. Jesse says, you being an IVY
League or Vince, I shouldn't be surprised. How funny that Finnce pretended to
be IVY League for a little while. Of course, I think he got
called on at one time. I'm sure Tim has one of the those devastating
leaps in the w WF we're told as he misses a high elbow drop,
Jesse says, what's what's a devastating leap? I couldn't tell you. I
guess he jumps high all right, Jesse says, you need guys that contradict
each other and that leads to success in a tag team. Yeah here,
I got I got that whole thing right here for you. I think in
wrestling you need two guys but in a way to contradict each other, and
that lives to success. Where you look at the case of the young Stallions
roll my Empowers, I mean looked at him. There's they think they're Sylvester
Stallone lookalikes or something. I don't know about that. And there's a beautiful
over the shoulder shot of Vincent Jess calling the match with the ring in the
background. Love that love those shots. Took him forever to pull that one
out in this broadcast, but it's there Islanders double teaming headbuts. Jesse says
he doesn't think the Stallions are championship caliber yet, but he thinks the Islanders
are colder. Corner Whip who runs into a poorly time knee by Jim Powers
and intour puts over the Hakoo kick that he can't wait to see later,
Jesse points out the two out of three falls environment allows you to make a
mistake. It said, if you see those toes that man can hang upside
down from the top row. Weird, fucking like, what the fuck is
he talking about here? This is just so, this is weird. Did
you see those feet? Did you see those toothes? What about him?
Top man could hang upside down from the top road. Wait a minute,
quick, man, I find that a bit of a racist remark. Definitely
not. I'm slapper Man's coach coming in right now. Who should be fresh
air? Rum at Paul Roma going nowhere? But I under comma, I'm
getting back to it. If Jimmy that Greek can be replaced? So can
you you remember that? Right next thing, you're gonna tell me it's because
of breathing. I mean, I mean, I don't even know, Like,
I don't know what Vince was going for with the toes. He's trying
to say that he can you know, he's more dangerous hanging upside down because
you know, basically the the influence that Jesse is picking up on is that
he's calling him a monkey. These people could hang by their feet. Yeah,
right, Like it's again, I don't know what the fuck you're subscribing
the man's toes. Pal, No, he's not totally fucking jump on vance
Man. Oh my god, I mean so great. That's a bit of
a racist remark, wouldn't you say, McMahon. Do you know what the
Jimmy the Greek reference was. No, I don't know that. The Greek
was like a TV commentator on sports, and he had made a comment around
this time. It was just like a week before Rumble where he said that
African Americans were naturally superior athletes because they had been bred to produce stronger offspring
during slavery. So that was WHOA considered a distasteful to say the least in
Jimmy the Greek was of the conversation. But that's and so you can see
Jesse with his USA today reading him. Yes, I'm maybe I'm just reading
the newspaper right now during the broadcast, and I think we can get rid
of you. That's right. Oh my god, he senses an option.
Jesse says, the next thing, you know, you're gonna tell me it's
ue to breeding. Yes, Rumma was a drop kick on Tamma Backdrop's lugs
Huck Who and another for Hako over Haku. But it breaks it up pretty
sure. You can hear Roma saying Jesus Christ at one point in the Crossfire
here is clearly pissed off that something is not going as expected, perhaps related
to that hiptop spot you mentioned, and it's probably more than anything reflective of
the general frustration that Paul Roma carried with Jim Powers throughout the h the course
of his tag team Powers. According to Roma had a reputation for showing up
drunk or showing up not really ready to carry his world in a ring.
Remember him being a mess, right, isn't He's a kind of a mess,
kind of a mess. Yeah. And Roma's in the position as someone
who doesn't drink, who played it pretty straight of having carry matches and you
know, do do so much of the work and just use Powers for the
hot tag. He said. One point, Berry Horwitz came up to them
and said, you know what, I I can't work with Jim like I
can't. I can't trust my body to the guy. And so all that
hands Roma had to do all the ring work. Wow. Yeah, he
almost exudes this frustration in this match in the Rumble. So first time I've
seen a match with these two where it's like, oh, this is what
he's talking about, you know, where he feels like he's out there by
himself almost And here's Roman that same RF video shoot interview highly recommended by the
way, where he talks about this dynamic with Jim powers that may very well
be on display here. At the eighty eight rumble, they put us together.
Can Am connection was out, so they brought the young Stallions in.
We're gonna give you a push. This was a big break for us,
and he was not punctual getting to the arena. Our biggest, biggest blow
out. And I think what really broke the camel's back was he changed.
He loved to change his flights, and I was real stickler about not changing
my fight because we got to get there. Once we get there, who
cares what you do. So we flew into La and we always stay at
the same hotel. I checked in. I got there early, checked in.
He said he's taking a later fight, no problem. So I waited,
way to wait. It kept going down the front desk every time I
saw a shuttle come in, you know, it was at the desk.
No, he's not checked in, No, he's not checked in. So
I end up believing the hotel and I said, I gotta get the hell
out of here because you're you're in LA so you know you have that window.
After that, you know you're gonna be late. So I take off
and as I'm leaving the park, a lot of shuttle bus comes in.
I turn around, come back. He's not on it. So I head
down, you know, the the boulevard, and I see another shuttle coming
down. So I'm like, damn man, you know I'm gonna be Solly
and we get so screwed. But fuck it, I can't leave him.
I gotta come back because he won't have a car. So I go back
again. He's not on it. I said, you know, fuck it,
I gotta go, so I take off. It was an outdoor event,
Orange County wherever it was, and I come in and I said,
you know, to Gorilla Monsoon. I said, you know, girl,
I'm so sorry. I'm late. You know, I said, I was
waiting for Jimmy and you know, but he goes, what are you talking
about? Jimmy's been here for over hour, and am Mike what? He
goes, and You're fined. I think seven hundred he hit me with or
something like that, and now I've lost my fucking mind. So he was
in the other trailer so I leave mine, I go over there, and
so like, hey, hey, man, what's going on? I said,
you fucking kidding me? What's going on? Dude? I just got
fine number one? And then you know, I go through the whole.
You know, shebang with them. He goes, yeah, I changed my
fight. I just picked up a car and came here. So I was
like, you know what, fuck this, man, I don't need this
bullshit in my life. Coming to the ring drunk all the time, and
I was pulling double duty because no wanted to work with them. So I'm
in there. If it's a twenty minute match, I'm in there, man,
you know. And then tag him in so you know, and again
nobody they didn't want to work with him. So I said, fuck this.
I got a wife, I got a kid, maybe two at the
time, and you know, a house. He lives in an apartment.
He's got a girlfriend. That's it. So I went to Pat Patterson and
told him I'm done. I can't do this anymore. He asked me,
begged me, please give it more time. I said no, Pat,
I said, I'm not doing it, and I know he was. He
dug Jimmy, I mean, you know, Jimmy was his candy ass,
and I don't mean nothing against Jimmy, you know, and they knew I
don't let that guy suck my dick, so that wasn't happening, you know.
And I'm not saying they sucked Jimmy's dick, but you know, they
had a better shot at it. I mean, look, what do you
want to say? Wow, he goes in there. I mean, look,
we talked about this when Pat passed away. It's like I I was
looking to suck dicks, you know, like, yeah, why can't we
Why do we have to pretend that that isn't something that al Perez says that
he says it. Barrio talked about it, like, come on, guys,
he wanted he wanted that stuff. Well, at least it seemed to
be that, you know, becaucause they always say, well, you know,
people who couldn't make it or people who didn't, you know, rise
to the top in WWF all end up making this allegation. And it's like,
yeah, oh man, there's a lot of smoke there to be no
fire. I mean, listen, stranger things have happened, absolutely, Okay,
you know, he saw these fucking strapping bucks and he wanted he wanted
them in his mouth. Yea, no, I um, I think that
they wanted us to learn. They put us in all the small shows,
you know, you guys learn how to work together. I took a big
pay cut because where I was working as a single, even though I wasn't
on top, I was making a hell of a lot more than when they
put me with him and these little shitty house shows. So and I had
said that to him too, you know, because he came in complaining one
night and I said, you know, you need to shut the fuck up.
Yeah, because I'm taking a big cut. Man, I'm making this
now, making this so you know, get your shit together, you know.
And again that's really what it comes down to, is you know this
fucking crying. But we were getting a push. Yeah. Rumor had it
that he was propositioned and he opened his mouth complained about it, thinking he's
going to get further and he got less. So I don't know how true
it is. He would have to tell you better than me, but that's
it. Oh, I don't know. Wow, Sure, it's just better
sour grapes. Of course. That's so this juncture, Roma's toss a violently
out of the ring and takes a really bad fall, like totally unprotected,
flailing out of the ring. It shortly after, he says, Jesus Christ,
you can tell he's in a bad mood already. Yeah, he sells
the left knee, and it's like, what are they doing here? D
he really hurt his knee? Are they trying to do an angle? They
just do this knee injury. I don't know what it's about, I know,
and it gets so fucking weird, so weird. If Marella was capable
of counting to ten, he's counting, but thirty seconds has gone by Mixing
mcman says, you've always got an excuse when your favorites are involved. He
says, McMahon, you always have an excuse when your favorites are involved.
So Marella finally does count him out and Roma selling the left leg like crazy
like the quad. No one's coming out to check on him, but Powers
is hovering over. After a brief word from your local cable systems, um
and Vince says, hopefully Roma comes back for the second fall, and will
he I don't know, because they're showing the contract signing angle again, right
right, we come back when we get more contract signing. Did he really
get hurt? Look at the fun? Does he say? Oh he did?
He wasn't really hurt. Okay, what the fuck that? I have
no idea. I think they're just a total mess trying to fit stuff in.
And it's like, so I don't have this match right or make it
one fall and like because now and then we get the fun. We get
Craig to George again with the with the fucking megabox. Yeah, yeah,
they got all this other business to attend to George in Virgil on the stage
des a Nick Morritt. I wasn't going to make more than a statement.
We painted a picture, showed you a look into the future, We showed
you whole coke, and as you will see him on February fifth flat on
his back, but it won't be a solid oak table covering him. There's
that solid by the way. By the way, Andre's eyes completely bloodshot,
Oh my god, high as fuck, early, so drunk, so sleep
deprived. Can you imagine the thing? Just imagine Andre's needs, his carnal
desires. I mean, like, what the fuck do you do to satisfy
this fucking behemoth? You don't oh, come on, come there with me,
or as you put it, and I quote, what do you have
to do to satisfy this fucking behemoth? Let's go boss. Oh yeah,
that's the thing. Like, it's not like Pat tried to get people to
suck his dick. We just wanted to suit horse. I mean, you
wanted to blow people. Yeah, close your eyes, just imagine something exactly
so you know. It's not a lot to ask for a bush, you
know, right, apparently right, um, but Dbasi says, it won't
be solid oak table covering Hogan, It'll be this man right here and these
zooming on the Benjamin's in Virgil's hands, and the wrestlers, the tag wrestlers
are still in the ring. I don't know what the fun here here is.
It is warped. It's so fucking BIZARREBS says, I told you people
ever since I came here. You all have a price, you Hogan.
You say you've got to beat all the Hokomaniacs. Well that's what we're going
to do. And Andre standing there motionless and brushing list the whole time,
as Dbasi says, Hogan, I always get what I want, and I
want that title belt around my waist and they do the menacing pans to Andrea's
hands and such, and Andre, it just like I said before whole Coogan
many times, I'm undefeated, and I'm still undefeated. I still undefeated,
never defeated me free. I can't wait for you to counter three again.
Andrea sounds like great TV. On Fabruary fifth, we will make her story
when I say, why as myself, my DBAs and Virgil and mister Hulcogan
the way, I gotta make history because I'm going to destroy hulkamania ha ha
ha ha. And then Craig to George, probably fling the pressure of live
TV, pulls the microphone back and I swear to god, Andre slugs him
right in the gut. He gives him a back elbow. I missed that.
Oh yeah, and this apparently was something he did. Now, this
is an interview that Craig to George did with the two Man Power Trip of
Wrestling podcast. And while he talks about this taking place on a show at
the Philadelphia Spectrum, I'm pretty sure he's actually referring to this interview on the
Royal Rumble, unless Andre did it several times, which is very possible.
Did one with Andrea once just to the left of the ring. And Andrea
had a way of pausing and I'm holding the mic up and I'm waiting.
I thought he was done, and he wasn't done. Actually in my right
arm, I remember, and he because he put my right arm thing like
that, and then he said, I'm not finished dogging. You grabbed the
mic back in boom, elbow right to the gut. You ever gotten an
elbow from Andre in the Giant? No? Yeah, I was like,
but yeah, it was one of those. I actually lost my breath for
a second. But it made for a good TV. But it wasn't planning,
I can tell you that was he legitimate pis you're just messing with you.
You know, like we said earlier, John, everybody's on and if
if it TV, Hod shot here wants to take the mic away from Andrea
the Giant, He's gonna pay the price because that's what you know, that's
what Andrea the Giant would do. So you know it was Look, it's
just it's it's there's acting, there's storylines, there's characters, and I think
it was in the nature of who Andrea the Giant was that he would not
just be politely say, mister Craig, did Georgia, I'm not you know
that was you know that's what he would do. No, it was just
a reaction. There you have it, okay, and he does. He
pulls the mic back and Andre slugs him and says, don't you ever stop
me? And you know what, hul Cogan, we destroy Houkamania, giant
Mania will be born. Mumble mumble, we will have a new world champion.
I will deliver the world championship out to mister d Bassi. Hogan.
Uh his eyes are wide and you know that, says, can you see
it? Hogan? Here it is did George says in fath Andre versus ull
Cogan. Wow, Islanders sold the ring? I can't I cannot handle this
at this is this is such fucking this is so goddamn annoying. This like
like what are you You're killing these guys? Yeah, you're absolutely killing these
guys, all four of them. Like, not only does this come after
three much hotter things, you know, the contract signing, rumble Hogan interview,
but then you stop midmatch to deliver that fucking second and like this is
just you might It's almost like they didn't trust Roma, not Roma. These
tag teams to go short enough to make sure they could fit in the live
interview. I mean that's maybe, maybe that's a case. So now we
see Roma being brought back out limping with Jim Powers holding him up and another
brief word from your local cable system. And in the second fall, Roma's
legas tape the crowd's quiet. Roma can barely get in the ring. Loser
in one of the falls must start the next fall, of course, so
they point that out and you can see an empty chair starting to appear on
the hard camera side, and of course Tama goes totally nuts on to Paul
Roma's leg and tries to exploit the injury. Jesse says, don't worry,
um did he The referee has the discretion to stop it, which of course
he's indeed. Uh yeah, he talks. Jesse goes, he talks about
Hogan being the moral majority and goes on a wacky fucking tangent here Logan gimaniah
God is Giantlemania, Giantmania, Ginamania. Are all the real people out there
are caught up in this fantasy Haulkamania. It's the real list o there.
Powers with a cover too, and I can't click anning or maybe a better
way to put it. You know, Hogan stands for the moral what's called
the moral majority? You think so, Giant Maaby, I would say,
with another gobb moral minority, that sounds like moral your speed? Yeah,
all right, I'm from the am moral minority, and I know our life
from her by Jim Powers, who has really been asserting himself the popt a
pen here on the part of Jim Powers. I guess the difference of me
this. If you look at Hulkomania, you're gonna find people like Jerry Folwell,
if you look at Giant Mabia, you'll find people like Abby Hoffman.
Abby Hoffman, he's why he rose. Yeah, what the fuck are they
talking about? No fucking idea, it's so weird. Can you get the
black and white Giant Tomania shirt ready in the Hulkamania type face? Please?
Yeah? Yep? Maybe even put a singlet strap on it or something,
yep, because that's fucking money. Giant to Mania. Whoever said that?
I mean, seriously, there's all kinds of one twos in here. We
have to go through it all. Abby Hoffman was a big Flower Power activist
type that you know, you know Jesse nineteen sixty eight, DNC Democratic National
Convention, con Space Rights Act, Chicago sevens and aunt and he was a
big anti Vietnam War activists of Jesse was obviously in love with the guy.
Um. And then de Vince comes back and says, Jim and Tammy in
there do and he says, no, they be hulkamaniacs. That's a reference
to Jim and Tammy Baker, the American televangelists. So I think you're still
in the air all these years later, Um, but they were. They
were kind of prominent names at the time and controversial. Ventor says, they
be hulkamaniacs for the good of mankind. Vince says, just like you are
supplied for the good of mankinds. I don't know what that was, sorry.
Jesse says, I never advocate for that. Vince says, you you're
for one thing, and that's Jesse. They're really digging into each other,
they really are, um. And then Jesse says, can you think of
anything else for me to before? Yes, a lot, but that's a
different discussion, Vince says, So we're basically hearing a little bit of the
negotiation back and forth. Powers in peril here Jim Powers whipping inside cradle by
Powers gets two. Ventour says, what's unique about February fifth, as I
believe this colossal rematch is going to make some people in INDI forget about that
go card race. They got there a coup with the side backbreaker for two.
Ven shouts over him cover shouting over Jesse, that is, and then
he says they're hardly go cards. Jesse, so he's defending the Indie five
hundred is Vince McMahan Tamba with a whip and flying back elbow on Jim Powers.
Come on, Sucker, get up, he says, and Vince says,
come on, Sucker, Is that what he said? He said,
Well, there, I guess so. Absolutely. Jesse talks about the psychout
advantage. It's it's there in boxing and football and wrestling. If you can
get your opponent to think about what you're saying to them, obviously they're not
going to react to what you're doing in the heat of battle. Another perfect
response from Jesse. Vince just sits there and like, fuck, can I
get something off here? Hawku comes in with anix standing drop kick on Jim
Powers that gets too Howka, with a gut rent Suplex gets to Vince says,
yes, can I please get off here? Please? It is yeah,
there's an over till it's over, and Jesse says that's an original quote
Vince, and Toura says it's close to over right now. While I've been
waiting. Powers comes into an abdominal stretch, struggling in it now he muscles
out with a hip toss and Howkou stays on him though body slam. Howko
leaps forward with a splash, but no one home. Tima, the Polynesian
fighting machine they call him, gets in their whip and Powers kicks Hawkou and
takes a bump after he kicks him. Umpowers some kind of shape here he
is. He is a fucking man flailing about big chops, and Toura calls
him Toma Wow. Vince is saying things about unsavory and unspeakable. I'm not
sure what he's talking about. Um Powers is whipped in and somehow manages to
duck a drop kick and get hit by it at the same time. Water
mess Powers tags Roma to no response. Poor Roma throwing on the bad wheel.
How Ku kicks out the leg tack to Tama. He comes off the
top of the splash across Roma's damaged leg. Roma screams like a madman,
trying to make us care. Howko puts a half crab on and that's it.
As Roma flails and powers watches him, the bell sounds and uh,
that's that. What an absolute disaster, I'll say, I mean, this
is embarrassing. I was so hoping he would have a story about this match
because it seems so uniquely bad. But to hear him talk about the whole
run, it's like this every other night. Ah. So people start filing
out big time. They had the flashing camera bulbs effect going, and they
replay Tima coming down with the knees on the thighs of Roma, which is
kind of a really bad landing for Roma. Breake come back, building's empty.
We got Jess and Vince reflecting on things. Um. He says it
was an experience for me, Jesse to see the rumble was very interesting.
Math is key to the umble. It's the luck of the draw, no
question of that. And Vince's Douggan is proving his superiority, notwithstanding already coming
in riding high in terms of the Luck of the draw with Lady Luck on
his shoulders, and let's talk about her claim of the world record. It
seems to be Dano Bravos having a little difficulty, oh boy, as they
show a guy waving a Canadian flag and says he just barely got that up,
and Jesse says, I did not help on that lift, and Vince's
did you see the six hundred eighty five eighty five pound lift on the right
shoulder bar. It was dipping down on the right side there. Obviously Danah
had more power on the left and almost head back to back on the rack,
and Jesse said, yeah, but he did it at six eighty five,
and they go back and forth, and I know this is just nons
why this is necessary. I don't now, just let the match go until
you're fucking off the air, I know exactly. Yeah, that's the thing
about the nineteen eighty eight Royal Rumble. As much Mormon fuzzies as might be
involved, you need to stop watching it. After Duggan wins. Seriously,
well, the Hogan interviews, Fine, it's good it belonged earlier in the
show. Agreed, very skippable at the end of the day, but it
is worth seeing. Yep. So Vince is still hammering him about the legal
lift and whether he was locked out. They have a telephone on the desk
to communicate. Remember, the idea of Gorilla is kind of a new idea
at this point. It's not something ye they really have, and Vince certainly
didn't have a Gorilla position set up yet at this point. Yeah, of
course he's announcing, but even when he's not, then says it will remain
I'm sure an unoffen, an unofficial bench press mark we heard from the Hogster.
Jesse says he thinks Hogan is scared. They show They just show a
tight shot of a w WF turnbuckle, which I thought was kind of nice
with the banner behind it. Yeah. Sure, Jesse says in front of
the world he was forced into signing Hull. Cogan was and he's stuck now,
and they replay Andre slamming Hogan's head into the table. It's jes a
Ventura says he can't wait until February fifth at eight pm. The whole point
of this show to plug that I now, right, Jesse Smirkin as we
look out on an empty Cops coliseum in Hamilton, Ontario can so long from
ringside, and so long from the very first televised royal rumble. There is
a succeeding Brasidi announcement as a t J Descantis production, its contents is intended
for private use only.