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ARN PODCAST: ASK ARN ANYTHING 05/26/20
Arn feels that the sky is the limit for Brodie Lee. He said he has all the tools. He is smart, durable, has a head for the business and can have a match with anybody. Arn said that the Undertaker is the most respected man that has ever been in the business. He does not feel the WrestleMania streak should have ever come to an end because it was more special than who is winning the world title. He said this is especially true because Brock Lesner did not need the win to elevate him. Arn did not want to take the Doomsday from the Road Warriors as he felt he had no control over his fall, especially after seeing J.J. Dillon broken arm taking the move in the War Games. When the deal for Arn and Tully Blanchard fell through to come back to WCW because Tully failed a drug test, Arn had to take a pay cut from WCW's original offer. He said he would not have gone back to WWF when this happened because WWE could have done whatever they wanted and it could have ruined his career. He does not believe Ric Flair would have got the Spartacus gimmick over Jim Herd suggested, even if Ric tried. Arn's Mount Rushmore for wrestling towns are Chicago, Manchester, Greensboro and Atlanta.
CHASING GLORY: JTG 05/26/20
JTG and Shad Gaspard texted each other every day. When Shad's wife texted JTG that Shad drowned, he thought it was a prank. When JTG was 19 years old, he went to OVW. He took the Greyhound Bus from New York to Louisville, which was an 18 hour trip every weekend. He was working at AMC at Times Square at this time. The buses started breaking down in the winter time. OVW told him he needs to move down to Louisville. When he moved there, he lived in a hotel. Shad, who was moving out of his apartment, told JTG to move in there. They became good friends at that point as they had very similar backgrounds. When JTG was one a one year old, he got third degree burns on his back from hot water. He said he soiled his diaper and the babysitter gave him a bath and didn't realize the water was too hot. He spent 6 months in the hospital because of this incident. He never took his shirt off for as he was self-conscience of his burns. He questioned whether he wanted to get into the wrestling business because he knew he would have to take his shirt off in public, which he didn't do until going to OVW. Shad told him on the day of TV that he was not going out with him until he takes his shirt off. Finally, he did and they told him and nobody noticed. When JTG was in the amateur class in OVW, he was one of the top students. In promo class, he said I am JTG, Just Too Good. When he went to WWE, they asked him what JTG stood for. He knew there were unspoken rules to be humble and saying Just Too Good may get him in the doghouse. He told them it stood for Just Too Gangsta, so they kept the JTG name.
TWO MAN POWER TRIP OF WRESTLING: TONY GAREA 05/26/20
Tony Garea said Jay Strongbow did not do much in the ring but got an amazing reaction because he was such a great seller. When Strongbow made his comeback, the people exploded. In 1973, Ray Stevens and Nick Bockwinkle were supposed to come in to fight Toru Tanaka and Mr. Fuji for the WWWF Tag Team Titles. Stevens and Bockwinkle cancelled. Vince Sr put Garea and Haystacks Calhoun together as a replacement team and they won the tag team titles. Tanaka and Fuji couldn’t do anything with Calhoun, so Garea worked most of the match selling and eventually making the hot tag to Calhoun. Tony Garea spent his career as a babyface. He doesn't feel he would have made a good heel because he said was not good using heel psychology in the ring. His favorite tag team partner was Rick Martel. When Garea retired from the ring, he became an agent. He said there was a primary and secondary agent. The primary agent at the time was Jay Strongbow, whom he learned under. Garea started as a secondary agent that reported the box office numbers. Garea, between working as a wrestler and an agent, worked for the WWE from 1977-2014.
GRILLING JR TALKS ABOUT RAW 05/23/05: 05/28/20
Ross said Muhammad Hassan had a great potential, had a good look, was a smart guy but was saddled with the wrong character at the wrong time. He mentioned that Shelton Benjamin was the best pure athlete that he had signed during his entire WWE tenure. He thought Benjamin's promos were good because he was himself but needed a manager to convey that message better. Tyson Tomko got stuck in the secondary role, was a nice guy, but didn't have the charisma. Chris Masters had a lot of potential, but did not improve his ring skills, so the gimmick ran its course. At this time, John Laurinaitis replaced Jim Ross as head of talent relations. Ross said John wanted his own team, even though John was part of the team Ross created. Ross had 5 minutes to tell the roster, who had already been assembled over the years by John, to tell them John now has the job. Ross said there was no reason after signing all these talents and working his ass off, to give the job to "smiling John". Ross asked how many talents did John sign that was trained and raised in the WWE system. He said John signed CM Punk, but Punk was already a big star before he got there. John said he had a completely different management style. Ross said that he had a more hands and talent friendly than John. Writer John Gerwitz was burned out at this time. Gerwitz was the writer for Raw, in particular for The Rock, whom he still works with to this day. Ross feels Gerwitz was a very good writer, understood the business, and was able to get close to Vince McMahon, which was a good thing. Ross heard wrestlers tell him that Viscera would take Viagra in his hotel room and watch porn. Ross like the announce desk being at ringside as opposed to further away.
SCHOOL OF MORTON: RICKY STARKS 05/28/20
Ricky Morton said he and his son, Kerry, has been operating their wrestling school. They make sure everybody is in good health. After they are done wrestling, the use Lysol and different sprays to wipe down the ropes and the mats. They clean the showers and make sure they do everything they can do remain healthy. Today's guest was Ricky Starks. Starks has been wanting to wrestle since the age of 7. Mr. Mexico #2 trained him. Starks's contract with NWA ended this past April. They ended their relationship amicably and has nothing but great things to say about the NWA and enjoyed his time there.
AEW UNRESTRICTED: DARBY ALLIN 05/28/20
When Allin turned 18 years old, he was only 120 pounds. He dropped out of film school. He wanted to make documentaries based on Craig List fetishes. His goal was to interview these people who had strange fetishes and why they were seeking these out. It never came to fruition as the other person he was going to work with, his neighbor, went to jail. Allin lived in his car for 3 years, stating he didn't want to buy anything he couldn't afford, and wanted to stay focused on his goal of making it big in wrestling. He described having a girlfriend while homeless was weird. They would go for a ride or to a concert, come back, and sleep in the car. Allin was offered a tryout at the WWE Performance Center but turned it down. He said the people that asked him to come already knew about him and seen his work, so they should either want him or not. He did not want to play the game of trying out, then sent to 205 Live never to be heard from again. He came up with the name Darby Allin using the first name Darby from Darby Crash and Allin from GG Allin, both of which are punk rock singers who are both dead. Even though they both died of drug overdoses, he said they were both captivating personalities. Darby Allin is straight edge. Allin's next goal is to main event a Pay Per View.
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