TLF Live in Philly: Ray Gootz on How It All Came Together

Now what I say, let's forget all the rules of this great country we
live in. I will go back to that war with the three of you
is just me. There is a word crumb, creep, coward you can't
take you know, don't You won't stand up to them. Estab is standing
up. We're not here to fight. We're here to get some answers to
some question. That's what I want to fight you. Why is that?
Because you're a crumb, creep, lush coward. You don't even know me,
Maynor. You are a lush. I can tell by looking at you.
I was a cop all my life, and I know a lush when
I see one, and you're a lush. You're gonna have the hall of
a story on that. Pheely So, I say, Philly, so Phily,
so Phily, so phely So, feel a suck Bozo's biceps and bullshit.
By now you've heard the news, the lapsed fan takes the stage.
April seventh, Sunday, WrestleMania Weekend. The venue punchline Philly and Philadelphia,
PA. High noon for the bozos, biceps and bullshit brunch, making sure
boss that WrestleMania Weekend goes off as it should, well well as it needs
to be. I think that's been a stabling needs to go off. Yeah,
and again, as I've said before, this is the only premium line
of live event that really matters wrestling near weekend. It's definitely the one whose
absence will be most acutely felt. So we're not gonna let that happen.
And not only are we coming, we're coming strong and we're coming hard.
And you know the situation, you know, to go over to the Punchline
Philly website and to search laps in the calendar section, and to get your
tickets early and often, because of course we have premium seating for those who
want to make sure that they're front row for the co chairs and general admission
seating as well. Of course, the premium seating is limited, so there
really is no excuse to delay. If you're going to be in Philly and
you happen to have Sunday afternoon available, and why wouldn't you between both nights
of WrestleMania Exactly, there's only one recap and preview get together that you need
to worry about, get some food, have some laughs. Of course,
our friends from the stand up comedy world will be with us, not the
least of which is our guest today. Ray Goots, who if you don't
recall from last year, fell out of the sky as always happens to us
here at the lapsed fan yes and said, hey, Bat signals up,
I need help. We need a and you to get filled Wrestlemingia weekend with
fans who matter and fans who were willing to vote with their wallet. And
that's our category. Ray, welcome back. Hey guys, how's it going?
Oh, doing tremendously. The goose makes it happen again. And last
year we couldn't talk enough about the logistical complications of getting to North Hollywood after
two nights of Maye all the traffic were what about this and that? And
you know how people in La are nothing's gonna traffic is always going to be
a horrible nothing's ever going to work. And it was fine. It was
beautiful. Yeah, this year, last year, we haven't really talked too
much about last year at least us together. Last year came off better than
I thought it was going to come off. It was it was last year
was was amazing, like it was really it was really great. I thought
it came off. It was ald magical. How well it came off last
year? God damn right, Yeah, that's kind of what happens when we
step in the room and here we are again. I mean, for no
small no small reason, is exactly what you're saying. How there was a
spring in our step after the show last year and it's like, Okay,
we need to do this again and talk to the folks about doing this in
Philly, because unlike La or New York, it's not necessarily a stand up
town with a ton of venues and a bunch of you know, Chicago,
a bunch of people looking to get work, looking to get reps in,
so there's a ton of clubs that can support that. This was a little
bit more of a challenge, but we landed in a venue befitting the occasion.
I gather, Yeah, this was actually this is gonna sound shocking.
This was actually harder to put together than the last year, which I didn't
expect because I thought we had proof of success. We had, you know,
evidence that we packed out the Comedy Chateau, So of course venues in
Philly are going to be like, oh my god, this sounds amazing,
right, But I actually found a lot of roadblocks. The first roadblock I
found was I did get I did get a club, and I was told
by somebody that the club was a lock. And I don't know if you
remember I told you in July we had a place, right, remember that?
Yes? And I think close listeners of the cast boss remember that's when
a strange whisper started on the air. Indeed. Yeah, So I thought
I had the place and then I called you and I'm like, well,
we have to figure out the logistics. I called the guy like, listen,
I need to solidify the logistics because my plan was to have you announced
this in October and then we build all month and we build. Away goes,
oh yeah, just email you know, the guy in charge of the
place. So I emailed the guy and the guy goes back to me,
what is this. I don't even know what you're talking about. Here we
go, you know it's coming, boss, what's coming? Take a guess
Before he says it, I'm gonna say, you know, we're just we're
just not into that, that whole wrestling thing. So that's a no go.
I was told he didn't say this. He said, let's revisit it.
Maybe we can do it after WrestleMania, and I said, we can't
do it after WrestleMania. No, this only happens every twenty five years if
WWE follows, because I remember the last one was in fifteen. WWE follows
a pat of me my seventies, and I don't think I'm gonna want to
do this in my seventies. I hope so the Republic, God, we're
still stuck doing this in our seventies. But I was like, no,
it has to be this weekend. And then I got a call from the
original guy being like, yeah, he just doesn't he doesn't think anyone cares
about wrestling. That's right, that's right. See, yeah, yeah,
I'm sure. I'm sure that's going to be the messaging from WWPR when they're
on the ground promoting this. Yeah, yeah, nobody cares about I said,
well they this is actor that this was act. Also the opening day
where they sold all those tickets, I said, well did you see that
they sold all those He doesn't care to him, that's not even reality What
a what a what a reality check? That is ray? I mean,
that's you know, we got so much of that off last year at Comedy
Chateau you know, everyone coming together laughing at this, and some of some
of the folks in stand up that you brought to the table who were terrific
to work with, they all understood what we're talking about. Is that right,
Larry weigh In? I mean, what's that been like, you know,
over two years now trying to put Wrestleman the adjacent shows together. And
even for that, I mean, there's always going to be somebody that's just
like what what? Yeah? And you know I kind of I thought I
didn't really get that in La. In La, like we had the comedy
Store and and they would have gave it if they had an event, but
there was was like, yeah, if you want to do a different day,
Like La was like a far more like yeah, we get it,
people are here for WrestleMania. But Philly, I mean people were just like,
yeah, no one cares about this shit, no one. And all
you hear about is what a wrestling town Philly is? Yeah? Yeah,
But do you think too that? Do you think too that with La?
Like at least La is a show biz town where they really they really get
it and like they they know that any any kind of showbiz thing can be
it can can sell whereas I mean, Philly not really known as as much
of a show biz town. It's certainly got a lot of show biz elements
to it, but I mean, indeed, you know you're talking about Philly
diehards, but it is I wonder if that came into play with with this
guy, where it's like, you know, it's just a fucking you know,
maybe you think it's ec w coming into town, maybe you think WrestleMania.
I think he just considers it a clown show. I think it's like
saying, like coming to town, I want to have a podcast with the
monster truck drivers, and they're like, what are you? What are you
talking about? Hey, you know he's not wrong. Actually, let me
correct you, sir. It's not a show with the drivers. It's a
show with two guys who do a podcast about the drivers, right, exactly
exactly. There's an impression of the drivers and the owner sets. The owner
of these drivers actually is involved in a different kind of traffic than most drivers
are. You were saying, Ray, you don't want to be doing this
in your seventies. Well, let me tell you something. In this business,
you're only just starting in the seventies. Apparently, that's true. That's
that's what I really ramped. That's when you started pulling out the dildos.
So we got the appropriate So we got the appropriate pushback, We got the
appropriate you know, bring them down to earth. These are wrestling fans,
these are sub humans. They're probably not exactly they don't they're not really worthy,
they're missing a chromosome. Er two. Yes, I'm not going to
sell a single plate of buffalo wings to these motherfuckers. So so what happens
then, Well, so when you met me a year ago, I didn't
know how to drive. I never learned how to drive another your fire life.
Yeah I could, I can't. I couldn't drive. I got my
license in September, and the first thing I did was drive to Philly to
meet these different venues. So the first time I go on the highway,
let me tell you something, this is I you know, this is how
much of a listener I believe in you guys. The first time I ever
got on the highway I'm forty two years old, was to drive to that
venue to talk to them to I performed there, but also to talk to
them about listen. No people do care about wrestle Mania and they care about
this podcast, can you? But I'm literally like, on the highway it
started raining. I've never been on the highway before. I'm like, how
the fuck does anyone do that? Yeah, it was very nerve wracking,
Like I went down there because the one place, the one that we didn't
get is kind of like in the middle of Philly and I and this and
I went down the one way street by accident and they got I'm like,
I'm sorry, and like, what's wrong with Yeah? People, by the
way, people in Philly are not That's the other thing too. If you're
like traveling to Philly, people are not nice. They don't want to give
you direction. They actually know what they feel like. They feel like you
know, when you when you're watch a movie from the eighties and New Yorker's
all rude, like some character comes to New York. You all doing a
parody of that character. And still, you know, like I asked one
guy, I'm like, hey, can I park here? He goes,
is it sorry? And I'm like, you miss your sort, you know,
take take it up with the county. Yeah, yeah, exactly.
That's how they are over it. So I went to that one club and
they still were like unimpressed, and I even though they still were like yes
the comic God, like yeah, there is gonna be people here, and
they were trying to tell like the staff like no, the people are actually
gonna be here for this thing, like it's not we're not making this up,
and they're like yeah, okay whatever. But then we later friends Puline
and they actually they actually saw the vision. They understood and and they said,
you know, hit us up in a few months. And I hit
them up and they said, yes, we got punchline and that is a
that is a feather in our cap. It's a beautiful venue. It really
is. So we really we kicked ass. Say more about it. Say
more about the venue. Okay, yeah, it's it's this gorgeous venue.
It's historic, it fits three hundred people. They have great food. It's
right in the like kind of the middle of town. It's only fifteen minutes
from the stadium, which is awesome. It's like it's right next to a
pretty famous venue. I think it's the Fillmore, I'm not sure, but
it's next to that. It's like this little little like area where people hang
out. There's different little bars and stuff and there's free parking at the casino.
They so you can park at the casino and it's all good, and
then later on if you want to lose all your money at the casino right
there. But it's a great venue and we were I can't look, there's
not a lot of comedy clubs or venues like this in Philly. There really
isn't. Like I did the research, there's hardly anything. And the fact
that we got this is massive because this is probably the best comedy venue in
Philly and there's only like two or three. So to to get this venue,
I think really really says a lot about the podcast about me, because
I'm awesome and I sold it, and you know, I really, I
really want if you're a fan of the lap Span podcast and you can make
it to this venue, you've got to make it to this venue because they
really put a lot of faith in trust in us giving us this place.
That's great. Separate. Yeah, it's a great point. We're already hearing
from folks just like last year, who were flying in not because they're going
to go to WrestleMania, but because we're setting up our tent. Folks from
as far away as Australia from what we understand, making plans to be with
us. Are there people coming from? Are there people coming back? Went
to the LA Show coming to this one? Absolutely? Okay, let me
give a message. Okay, if you went to the LA Show, all
right, that's that's the Sportatorium. This is Rustlemania three h Wow. Yeah,
that's the difference between the venues. Wow. Well, uh, we
we've got some. We've got some catacombs to explore in the darkness boss,
some leaking roofs, some love it, I have a float on water.
It is TLFAX ten years of that cast, completely dominating and making people pretend
they don't know who we are, which is the most satisfying. Oh yes
of all reactions. So we're excited to hit the stage now. We're coming
with heavy artillery we mentioned already on the main show and for those listening in
very special offer which couldn't be more philly, more easy dub when you think
about it. For those who buy tickets ahead of time and who email us
proof of purchase to the lapsed fan at gmail dot com, as many have
already, you're going to be able to enter a raffle to win an authentic
Terry Funk branding iron, which we obtained through Terry Funk's estate stale as part
of the Lapsed Funk series that we just concluded here on the show. And
one general admission ticket will get you one entry into the raffle. One preferred
seating ticket will get you two entries into the raffle, and just keep going
as hard as you can, sending us to handle that. Can you fucking
handle that shit? It's hard to handle because it's on fire. The branding
iron is charred, can confirm, and there's a picture of it on our
x account, so I mean, I've seen it still images that indicate that
the this is the branding iron Terry Funk used in ECW and he was feuding
with mc foley. It looks exactly the same. I'm sure he's been through
a couple over the course of his life and times. But it was it
was hidden in a lot in the estate sale. Hidden in that there were
like a whole lot of other odds and ends in that lot that didn't really
call out the branding irons anything special, And that's funny. That's where we
swoop in. That's where we take advantage, Like I just I love how
all this shit was just thrown together, like as if the family had no
fucking idea. Well, I think he had a lot more shit in there
that was high value, that was probably privately unloaded when you see the pictures,
like from the real estate listings of the house, he had a ton
more in there. No, I know, and I get that, but
I mean but still, like you'd think the branding iron would have kind of
been on its own mess, you would. I'm surprised they had the estate
sales so fast because I remember my dad died it took months. Yeah.
Yeah for me, he must have already had everything in order. He must
have known, like, yes, you know the end is coming. Here's
well here, I paid for all my instructions to be followed. Heuri.
Yeah, it definitely wasn't a sudden That's a great point, right, It
definitely wasn't a sudden death than in terms of you know, logistical preparations.
Because when you said you like Terry Funk stuff, I thought maybe like you
like jumped them at the funeral home or something. If you jump Terry Funk,
you're not coming away with anything but bruises and a damaged reputation, but
now we're really excited to be able to offer this one of a kind item.
It's just, you know, we went hunting because we wanted materials like
books and tapes to illustrate the journey, and we ended up with a piece
of hardware that like it. Just it makes all the sense in the world.
We're not too far from the ECW arena. This seems to be the
exact one he was using in there. So if for nothing else, you
know, if you want a one of a kind keepsake and you're going to
be in the Philly area Wrestlmania weekend, even if you're not going to the
matches, please join us and put your name in the hat. We guarantee
it's going to be You're going to hear wrestling talked about in ways you've never
heard before, and that that's yeah, that's an excellent proposition. And we're
also going to be welcoming a new crop of some of our friends in the
stand up comedy world, the Goots providing the connect tell them all about who's
going to be joined us to review and preview WrestleMania at Punchline Philly. Well,
I'm still working on a few others, But we have Lamar Lee,
who is one of the biggest comics in Philly right now. Coming out of
Philly, I think he's gonna be the next big thing. He recently moved
to Texas. He's coming back just for a WrestleMania wow. Yeah, just
for this show. And so he could be he could be disappointed by a
Shooty made event with the Rock. So he's coming back. Yeah. And
he also is the opener for Shane Gillis, who I don't know if you
guys saw, but recently Shane Gillis, he was well, he was fired
five years ago from SNL for his podcast and then he's now slated to host
in a few weeks and it's a big news and people are gonna watch SNEL.
Then what have you guys ever heard of Shane Gillis? Yeah, very
familiar with this work. He's brilliant period. Yeah. So Lamar Lee is
kind of like under his wing right now. And I get the sense that
like you're you're gonna be able to say when you say, like, hey,
we have Lamar Lee in our podcast in a few years, that's gonna
be like saying Pete Davison or Bill Burr was on the podcast with us.
He's not just on the cast, I mean joining us on stage to front
stage in the cap. I want to see this guy live. Then.
The other person I have confirmed is Scott Chaplin, who hosts the Russell Roast
podcast which is on a free shows. But he's been doing comedy in New
York for years. He's been on Comedy Central, h he's been all over
TV. He's helped write stuff for guys like Dan Soder. He's worked with
Mike Lawrence, who, as you know, did the last show last year.
He's really great. More people should know who he is. But he's
going to add a lot. And then there's some other people I'm working on,
might be working on some rustling adjacent people more so than stand up and
I'm still working on all that. But you know, as of right now,
we still have time. We don't have to rush, We don't have
to rush to promote five guys like I want to have the five perfect guys
to join you. Oh sorry, one more person David from last year,
David Pkowski David p Comedy, who is the whose brother runs Ringside Collectibles.
He will be there on stage, you guys and he's great. He's really
fun. I mean he's he's been doing big things in comedy in New York
City right now. So we got a mix of Philly guys, New York
guys, New Jersey guys. Probably look a little bit more Philly guys,
and maybe even get somewhere from the wrestling world. Maybe Janelle Grant can come
by read the laws there. I mean, someone may read it, but
it's not going to be her boss. What does uh, what does Ray
Goots have in common with the Big Show? Uh uh, He's he's got
him self defeat. They're both currently working on five Guys. I was close.
I was close. I was close. Wow, what a lineup that's
tremendous. And Lamar Lee is great, folks. If you if you're in
the sound of our voice and you don't know him, check out his stuff
on on Instagram and all the other things right that comics have to do.
Ray right, Oh my god, I look at all that stuff. I
feel so awful for for because I certainly fall I follow all the guys who
were on the show last year, obviously you and stuff, and I'm like,
oh my god, like the fact that you have to keep on posting
all this stuff all the time. It stresses me out when I when I
hang up, I have to caption a video. I have to like sit
there and capture a video like I worked for the post captioning channel now,
Like it's just the amount of bulks that you have to now know, just
to do comedy. It's just it's it's insane, It's really insane. That
was another thing. Other goes we don't think podcasts with no video have an
audience anymore, And I'm like, they do. They literally do. I
just drew a hundred people like no, it doesn't have a video, And
I mean that's that's the world where rapidly falling into yep, what a sad
state of affairs, you know, a tragic state of affairs. I mean.
The great thing about podcasts, because I do I've had podcasts on the
side, is you just grab a microphone and you talk into it. Now
you need to set you need like a background, like you're like, what
am I fucking sports center? I just want to talk about Survivor series ninety
two? What the fuck? And people just want to listen to that now,
I know. I mean, you have to be like very unemployed to
be able to watch video podcasts very you know what I mean, very sort
of not because it's for the in between time. We all know this.
We all know it's a way to make mowing the lawn go by faster,
commuting to work faster. And if you like insist on video that means like
you're like ten ninety nine to the max. And I think we've proven enough
fucking wrong with that. Absolutely not. I don't say it derogatorily, but
I am saying it's not necessarily a base that's going to pay to support the
show over time. I mean, look, of course there's video podcasts that
are phenomenal. They're basically television now. It's you know, you look at
ESPN. They're outsourcing things to basically the podcast world. They're just putting podcasts
on their linear television network and just calling it today. They don't have to
do anything, So I get that, but it's just it's amazing how you
know, they think the people who watch video podcasts are are are worth cater
too as opposed to the people who only listen. And that's where the value
is, that's where the that's where the warm, engaging, right lasting relationship
comes. Such that like, because obviously nobody who listens to fucking radio anymore
do they? I know, I guess I don't understand that logic because the
reason why I got to know you guys so well is I go to the
gym and listen to you guys. That's why I got the idea because I
was listening to the WrestleMania twenty twenty two pre show and a guy said,
you should do something in LA But like, if you guys had a video
podcast, I don't think I could sit on my couch and watch you guys
talk about world class for seven hours. You know. I also think a
lot of the magic would be lost. We always talk about this, how
a lot of the magic would be lost in terms of the voices, in
terms of the recollections and stuff like that. I don't think it'd be very
I think it would lose a lot of the imagination. I mean also,
I guess maybe that's where it is too, is that you know what you
have to work a little bit to kind of let your imagination flow with these,
with the scenarios we come up with. Yeahs own vision in their own
head of what right the setting? You know, I think it was a
Carlin line. It was like, if you went to a Wendy's and your
friend tells you he works at a different Wendy's, do you just picture the
Wendy's you know and him working in it? Or do you try to actually
picture a different Wendy's. You picture the Wendy's you know, right, the
Wendays you know is differently the one I know. And that's half the fun.
I mean, I'm explaining sort of like in a well, you know,
holding in a patronizing way, that the value of audio. But I
just, you know, it's exhausting to be on video. It's exhausting,
it's a performance, and it's false. I mean, take it from someone
who's come from the news business. Like when you see a television reporter on
scene of a breaking news story versus an audio reporter or just a print reporter,
it's like it's ten percent getting the information and doing something that matters and
stands the test of time, versus preening, posturing, worrying about tech,
doing all the things that have nothing to do with saying shit that anyone's going
to give a fuck about in two years. Hashtag shelf life, hashtag I
only want to deal with people who like audio. Yep, yeah, I'm
sorry, and yeah, no, I just think it's a better form I
did. I did this comedians podcast this summer and it had a video and
I walk in and it's a studio. It has three cameras, it has
a producer, it has a person. It's like it has like a Kevin
Dunn. It has all this stuff. And then like I'm sitting there and
I know I'm constantly on camera. So if they tell a joke, I
laughed, even if I didn't think it's funny, because I'm like camera exactly.
And this shit, because this shit wasn't landing for me, Like it's
gonna look bad because I'm friends with all these guys and I so I have
to pretend to last and just it's not as if, as if everything isn't
enough already, we've got to introduce phony elements. Yeah, and like,
you know, the great thing about comedy, and I think the great thing
about this podcast is like it feels very punk rock, it feels very DIY.
And then when you put studio and cameras and camera cuts, they hand
me a script, I'm like, what is this is this? This is
then to say nothing of every other word you say. People just can't take
their eyes off of judging whether your face reminds them of someone in their lives
who's pissed them off before, right right, God forbid, you look like
someone they have a problem with. Then it doesn't matter what you say.
We don't give you that option. You're gonna have to grapple with the material
or you're gonna have to fuck off. And if you fuck off, good
riddance as far as we're concerned, because the proof of concept is in.
The people who are left behind after that weeding out has happened are the people
that can actually support a podcast at last ten years bitch right. So that's
what's up, and that's why we're hitting the stage now. These guys don't
I'm sorry, I mean to drop that. That's fine, go ahead,
please no, And I think that's that's the great thing about this show is
that you guys have been doing it for ten years. You guys have cultivated
a very passionate fan base, a very nice fan base. I met a
bunch of them last year. They were fucking awesome. Yeah, and me
the fact that you that you got this venue, that you got this is
one of the most prestigious venues in Philly to host this, I don't.
And it's not just about you know what, fuck WrestleMania, fuck that company,
fuck vin like Man, fuck all that. Let's it's more of a
celebration of what you guys did for ten years. So if you are,
if you're listening to this and you've been enjoying these guys for ten years,
you gotta come out to this because you gotta let everyone know. Listen.
You don't have to sit in the studio and pretend you're fucking Pat McCaffrey,
even though you're a twenty nine year old virgin in Brooklyn who his parents are
bring old fucking bad to make it to get a place like this. You
could just be a regular fucking guy talking about wrestling, talking about figures,
and people will come and I think you what you guys built over ten years
that should be more celebrated. The fact that you like got Terry Funk's branding,
I or you got Terry Funk's merch to do a podcast, whereas other
wrestling podcasts probably talk about him for twenty minutes. I'm like, well,
I don't know, I don't I don't watch anything up before nineteen ninety.
So anyway, I think it's bullshit. Cody ros is gonna meant a bit
Wistlemania, Like, you guys spent twenty hours on this guy. That should
be celebrated, not WrestleMania. You guys should be celebrated that day. And
if you want to and if you're a fan, you gotta make it there.
You got to bring people. You know, I've called this out already
on the main show, but it's a great rapper from filling in Dyas and
he said one time on our freestyle, he said, you know, had
to get aggressive because being humble wasn't working. And that's TLFX, all right,
it's TLFX. So this this is going to be a great just the
vibes are just tremendous, boss. I mean, I can't describe the high.
After the show's over it everyone's mingling that that's really in a lot of
ways, what it's about. I mean, you know, to me,
it's about that, It's about the getting together, but also it's also what
I love to the thing that I always that I fucking love from from last
year and to me, the biggest compliment that we got was after the show
and the guy that the owner of the club comes up and he says,
you know, this is the dead spot because we were on at eleven whatever
it was, Sunday nine, eleven o'clock. It's the dead spot. And
and nobody shows up to begin with, and even then every Sunday, half
the people are gone before the show ends. And nobody left everybody and me.
And it wasn't just our people too. There were people there who who
who didn't know us, but had heard about us through whatever promotion they had
heard, and they fucking stayed. So you know that they wanted to do
something after WrestleMania. There was nothing going on, heard about this league game,
yep, yeah, yeah. And it's you know that afternoon, that
Sunday afternoon is kind of a dead spot too. There's a ton of folks
doing a ton of worthy stuff on Thursday and Friday ahead of the show,
and then there's like, you know that sort of like that almost subdued morning
afternoon before night one where people are just dialed into Mania. But that spot
where you can react to what happened and look ahead to what happened. I
mean, we're taking full advantage of the two night nature of WrestleMania here by
wedging ourselves at a time, that's reasonable for everybody. Yeah, so many
fans on the East Coast that can make the drive, which is just great
that we're not asking people actually buy flight tickets and a lot of cases.
So this is this is going to be a one of a kind gathering and
one that you're gonna find a lot of like minded people. Yes who actually
you can you know, you can deal with for more than five minutes at
a time. Yeah, And if you're going to WrestleMania, it's a sixteen
minute drive from the venue to WrestleMania. If after the show, because I
think we have to end at like one thirty two o'clock, they're gonna let
us know exactly because they might have something else after us. But you know,
like it's good if you want to get to the parking lot earlier.
That's what I did when I went to thirty five. It's gonna be a
quick drive. You're gonna be right there your day set. You can eat.
They have great food. I've had the food there, it's fantastic.
So you can eat, you can fuel up, you can go to WrestleMania
and you'll be good for the day. You won't be like starving, or
you won't have to pay like ninety seven dollars for a cheeseburger at the stadium.
You know you'll be able to fuel up and get ready for us.
So if you are going to WrestleMania, So if you if you have a
friends who are going to WrestleMania but they haven't heard the show, bring them
to this thing first. We'll turn them on, give them the world class
episodes and tell them you got to come see these guys live. Absolutely,
I mean they really want to hear about what happened with the van Erics and
not that fucking movie. Well, just ask the guy who plays Fritz truth
Lies. That's right. Particular podcast, there is a particular podcast, Halt.
It's called The Lapsed Fan and it's Bozo's Biceps and bullshit Raight. You
remember from the WrestleMania Journey, they used to do the bacon, biceps and
bagels brunch for the fans on WrestleMania Weekend. This is when it was a
one night event, so it was kind of like a Saturday thing, or
perhaps it was a Sunday afternoon thing. I think it was a Sunday afternoon
before the show. Yeah, I think you're right about the Sunday. It
was the Sunday morning, Yeah, but it was a similar like, you
know, let's weed down the multitudes that are coming just to like the people
that really care about wrestling and really want to be around people care about wrestling,
and it's what we're trying to keep that spirit alive because they don't they
don't really do that anymore. And not to say if they were doing it,
we wouldn't still, you know, stand on business in Philly. But
you know, it's it's it has history, this idea of a brunch before
WrestleMania. Yes, it does. Well, Greig, I'm going to give
you an exclusive scoop. The New Day tried to bring it back when they
were when the Rustumani was in New Jersey, and I think they were going
to do a pancake brunch at Carolines that Sunday morning, a rally for Kofee,
and they said, no, I mean, fuck him ro that's why.
Yeah, you're it's already knew what he was going to do to co.
Come on, No, you're not, you're not You're not You're not
really going to be champion. You're just going to have a little run and
then I'm going to job at a brock in about two maybe three seconds.
How do you feel about the fact that I'm going to tell you I'm going
to do it and you're just going to do it like there's there's no there's
no way that me telling you I'm gonna do it. What it's going to
stop you? You could? You know, if you don't want this to
happen, if you don't want to have a title run, then you can
you I'm perfectly willing to kill you right now in my presence. I've done
it before and I'll do it again. That's the problem. I know what
you're thinking. Ray, Be careful. Think of the lawsuits. Yeah,
okay, does he know about that yet? Who would he be? Jack?
Jack? Jack? Does Jack know that detail yet? How cool?
Yes? Yes he does? Okay. The dildos, okay, brother,
I'm a fan of dildos. You know, I haven't really talked to you
about this way. You were in the audience, we were on the stage
in LA last year, so it was hard to gauge. And again,
this is something that we made very rare. You have not You're not going
to find complete audio of last year's LA show anywhere. We take very seriously
preserving the premium that you get for being with us in person, and you
know, like every other pod that's out there, we try to maybe go
some places that are too hot for TV right, try to push that boundary
a little bit. When when it's not memory X, who knows, but
you're sitting there and lapsed, Vince has the last word as is only appropriate,
and everyone's sitting there listening and hanging on his reword. What was that?
What was the general sense you've got is Vince laid down a prophecy that
the morning after ww's for sale and he's on CNBC with Ari Emmanuel and he's
telling everyone on Sunday night, you will all wish me well in my future
endeavor. I mean, it felt it felt very It felt like destiny because
I woke up the next morning and that he sold to endeavor. It felt
it felt really special watching you do the Vince speech and then everything going down
the next day. And I think we're gonna have that same feeling in Philly
because I think a lot more is gonna go down between now and Philly,
and I feel like something's gonna go down that weekend too. And I'm not
talking like Cody's gonna be in the Rock and the Belt. I'm talking like
Vince might be led away in handcuffs, you know. And I kind of
feel like you are gonna have so much material to draw from that you're gonna
do another prediction like that, and it's gonna come true. Or maybe it'll
be handcuffs. It'll be triple A to Stephanie will be led away in handcuffs
and he'll be may be named the CEO again, who knows, you know.
Yeah, they'll be go away a handcuffs and he'll be the jur the
judge when they get to the courthouse sitting on a rood, no problem.
Uh yeah. And that's that's it, you know, because you're gonna need
that. That's the thing you're going to need. The perspective that others will
be a little gun shy about bringing in a time, whether they're there at
WrestleMania to sort of be part of it and to cover it frankly, you
know, fair, to be fair, to cover it. But they're not
out there with no holes barred. No no one can come with the no
sacred Cow's mentality that we do. Let me tell you something. Let me
tell saying the listeners there's a reason, and I'm not and I don't.
I like, you know, this is me guessing, but I believe there's
a reason why suddenly all these wrestlers are stopping their podcasts. Heaven Nash,
I don't know. If you saw his new episode is kind of being wishy
washed. You're like, maybe they're just bribing him. There's a something's going
down that affects a lot of people, and people are not gonna be honest
about this situ euation. They're not gonna they're not they'd rather you know,
I still someone on Twitter, why is someone still going about Cody not the
sex drafting, because the Cody thing is comforting. It's a blanket that's wrestling
to be. They don't want to face the I want I want three black
eyes to fuck you, or I'm gonna use a buildo based off a brock
lessener and then he's gonna watch you Pete. They don't want to they don't
want to face that. They don't want to face. But the LAPS fan
fans, they face that reality. That's correct. That's that's those sacred cows.
Listen, we pull no punches. We tell you the way that.
Not only we don't always tell you what you we always tell you what you
need, we also tell you what the truth is. Yeah, I don't
away from the truth. What we have a beat on is the internal monologue
of these players as opposed to what they say externally, which is important to
record and to observe and to consider. But I think it's been proven over
time that we've got the beat on what makes folks in this unique industry tick,
and the temptations that they tend to fall victim to, and the shortcuts
that they just can't leave on the table, and the reality of a business
where lying all the time gets you to the top, where you know,
putting the first order of businesses undercutting the next guy as opposed to elevating yourself.
That's why the Lapsed Funk proved to be such a revelation, was because
here's a guy who managed to not do that. Find somebody, you know,
I mean short of like recluses like Bill Watts. Find somebody who would
undercut Terry Funk as somebody who didn't come to the table and give more than
he took, and he ended up not making probably anywhere near as much money
as he deserved to over the course of his career because he took that stand,
because he couldn't really live with himself if he just chased the funds.
He spent those years in WCW there in two thousand, got a taste of
what that environment was like, where you really just show up to cash the
check and make as much as you can before they shut the place down.
And he couldn't. He couldn't stand it. He couldn't stand that environment.
Not to say that he could stand it the phone would have rung, but
certainly there he was in the attitude era, participating, even though it was
a short lived time at WWF as their ratings turned around. He was in
the mixes, part of the renaissance and those kind of characters, that kind
of character. Perhaps we should say it's so rare in the wrestling business because
the way to make the most money is to be a complete sociopath, a
complete like a sociopath on the order that no one's ever seen. Even federal
prosecutors couldn't deal with the level of sociopathy when they tried to put Vince away
in ninety four, and they're about to they're about to not be able to
deal with it in twenty twenty four. So I think they nailed it.
And as Vince said last year, we've got some difficult days ahead for you,
but we're going to make it to the mountaintop. But I the great
thing about you guys, and the great thing about this show is that I,
you know, used to the level of sociopathy. I feel that from
so many, like wrestling podcasts, I feel that from so many, like
you know, journalists, I just feel like they secretly want to host the
pre show like they're they're doing, like their podcast. They're critical of AW,
they're critical of the but there's this underlying sense of I want either Tony
Kahan or or Endeavor to hire me to host a pre show. And so
there's always this sheene of insincerity from everything, and it's becoming more and the
fans are becoming part of the work more so than just being fans because they
think there's an opportunity to work for them because they've and I think WW was
smart to bring people like some of these reporters on the pre show stuff from
different places. You guys, aren't about that, and that's what makes it
so special. You guys don't want to fucking host a pre show. You
don't want to host anything. We want that. It's a primrose path.
It's just like getting It's just like getting involved with the mob. You know.
It's like ye, you think that you're being anointed but all but but
you're just on the hook. And we're learning now, we're learning when the
light turns on and all the rats have to scatter, the sacrifices you have
to make to keep up appearances and to keep up alliances, we're not gonna
get. We've had too much life orients before this took off to fall for
that. And so we stand on business and we stand in our ability to
Yeah, and I think the fact that you guys stand on business is going
to become rarer and rare in the days and months ahead. Well, Punchline
Philly is the venue bozos, biceps and bullshit. I don't know are you're
bringing the biceps? Boss? I don't know who's bringing the biceps. No,
I think I think, uh no, I'm definitely bringing the bullshit.
Yeah, So my I mean there's gonna be some bozos there for I don't
know. Ray, you got Bible ops coming and they're bringing the bozos.
Say, you go to the gym, right, you work out, you're
gonna brings. I did pitch that. I did pitch going on stage.
You guys someone who has very big biceps. They have to get back to
me. But they they did tell me they know who you were. They
they did say this was the line. We don't listen to a lot of
wrestling podcasts, but people know what the laps fairness. I mean, yeah,
I agree. I'll take private admissions uh and put them on on on
on par with any public admission. Thank you very much. That's what we
do it for. We know you're listening, and we know you want to
be there, so why don't you just swallow your pride and buy the ticket.
We'll see April seventh, noontime punchline. Philly the fucking lapsed fan takes
that stage one more time. Right, Thanks for all your help, looking
forward to big time success and that high in the air April seventh, and
Philly, we'll be announcing more names soon, thank you so much. Yeah,
keep a locked to the x account and the other platforms for all the
details as they unfurl as we pack up yet another TLF Live experience to make
sure that your WrestleMania weekend has a heavy dose of truth injected amidst all the
falsity. See you next time.