Three Guys Around a Table and The Best Of…
Three buddies sitting around a table debating the best of everything and discussing what is on their minds
Three Guys Around a Table and The Best Of…
The Best Of...Wrestling Rivalries
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Strap in for a body-slamming trip down memory lane with your favorite tag team of podcast hosts, Mark, Chris, and Greg! We're throwing it back to the golden age of wrestling, where the slams were hard, and the rivalries were even harder. Get ready for a nostalgic smackdown as we recount the legendary battles that had us all on the edge of our seats. From the explosive dissolution of the Mega Powers to Ric Flair's unparalleled mic skills, we leave no turnbuckle unturned in this epic walk through wrestling history.
Nostalgia hits you with the force of a Stone Cold Stunner as we relive the days of sporting Austin 3:16 shirts and cheering at Monday Night Raw. Our wrestling reverie takes a dramatic turn as we contrast The Rock's box-office smackdowns with Hulk Hogan's less memorable movie moments, and give a shoutout to Randy Savage's scene-stealing cameo in 'Spider-Man.' As we count down to the final bell, we tease an anecdote from Lima, Ohio - not Peru - guaranteed to pin you down for our next episode. Don't tap out; the main event is just getting started.
the beer brothers proudly present the best of a podcast about the best of everything, from the mundane to the ridiculous. Just three buddies sitting around the car table talking about things that absolutely matter to no one we are going old school today.
Speaker 2boys, we have been asked begged requested by our listeners to do a little bit more best of, to go back to do a best of, and so we are going to do one tonight. It's a very exciting one.
Speaker 3We got to do what the fans want, I kind of miss the best of I really do.
Speaker 2Yeah, and these always bring about good arguments, conversations amongst us, so that'll be good. I'm Mark. I'm Chris. I'm Greg and the best of tonight is such a fascinating topic. We could be talking about the NHL playoffs right now.
Speaker 1So before we get started, with it it looks like there's a fair amount of fans sitting outside in like lawn chairs. I assume there's a big screen out there.
Speaker 2That is called lightning alley, sitting outside in like lawn chairs I assume there's a big screen out there that is called lightning alley.
Speaker 2I'm a huge tampa bay lightning fan, as you boys know if our listeners didn't know that, so we are watching the lightning who are down to zero to the florida panthers, and outside of amelie arena there's a great uh outside area. It's called thunder alley. My favorite place in the world is thunder alley and and Amelie Arena, so hopefully they can pull one out tonight and make it a series again. But I'll tell you this Florida's good. I have no harsh words to say about them. They're a good hockey team.
Speaker 3It's the best of what. The best of tonight is no, no, no, I'm talking about the hockey series.
Speaker 1Oh, best of seven, best of seven? I asked that question, okay, no, no, I'm talking about the hockey series.
Speaker 3Oh, best of seven, best of seven. I asked that question. Okay, I was going to say so, two more, we're good.
Speaker 2All right, yeah, so Florida has home ice advantage. So they played. The first two games at home been very close games. The Lightning could have won either one. The last one went to overtime and Florida won in overtime on a goal scored by a former Lightning member Carter lightning uh member carter verhege. So verhege, he's the man, he's good. Uh, we're sitting and getting rid of him, we. We could be talking about all kinds of things. The nfl draft begins tonight, one of my favorite events of the year does everybody hate the number one?
Speaker 2pick always everybody hates it absolutely, are you caleb williams.
Speaker 1Yeah, everybody hates it him.
Speaker 2But we have a very exciting topic tonight and it is wrestling rivalries.
Speaker 3Now let me reiterate Of the three of us, I'm the one that knows the least about wrestling.
Speaker 1I don't know why we limit it to that topic.
Speaker 2That's exactly right.
Speaker 3I only watched wrestling for I don't know two years when I lived in the fraternity house, when Beavis and Butthead was not on, we would watch wrestling. So the Attitude Era is the only thing I really know, right.
Speaker 2We were going to. Yeah, we're going to bounce around a little bit. We're going to talk about some classic wrestling rivalries, probably some Attitude Era as well, but, chris, since you claim to know the least of us about wrestling, it's a good thing there's an internet.
Speaker 1Yes, exactly.
Speaker 2Wesoing Wivoys. So let's begin what?
Speaker 3do we got, so I've got to go. I'm going to throw you guys for a loop. It's not going to involve Degeneration X. It's not going to involve anything from the Attitude Era. I thought that was all you knew about. When it comes to wrestling, however, I am a little bit Versed In the Randy Poffo, terry Bollea Rivalry AKA Randy Macho man.
Speaker 1Savage Terry Bollea.
Speaker 2He's pretty good. He's the one that had the leg drop, that's.
Speaker 3Hulk Hogan. The greatest finishing move ever, hulk Hogan.
Speaker 1He's pretty good, he's pretty good, he's the one that had the leg drop. That's Hulk Hogan. He had the leg drop.
Speaker 3The greatest finishing move ever, 100%. Okay, We'll get into finishing moves with those two guys in a minute. I'm not sure which was worse, the flying elbow or the leg drop, but you know Hulk Hogan was on top of the thing he was doing. His American made he's rolling thing. You know Randy Poffo leaves minor league baseball.
Speaker 1He really wasn't a baseball player.
Speaker 2Yeah, he was a baseball player. He was a catcher right, but you have to understand that he comes from a wrestling family. His brother Lanny Poffo. I'll go even further and his father, angelo Poffo. All wrestlers right, so anyhow.
Speaker 3Macho man decides to leave baseball, comes into the WWF and automatically he wants to be somebody, so he starts pushing Hulk Hogan, who's on top of the game. They have this huge rivalry.
Speaker 1The game, not the game. I am the game A little bit different.
Speaker 3So along the way Randy Poffo marries Frankfort, kentucky's own Elizabeth Hewlett, miss Elizabeth, who becomes his manager right, or his valet, his valet. And somehow he and Hulk I think someone attacked Randy in the ring and Hulk comes out and kind of saves him and they become buddies. Right, the superpowers right.
Speaker 1Megapowers, sorry, the mega powers.
Speaker 3Mega powers.
Speaker 3And so they're buddies for a while. They're a tag team and everything's great. Everybody loves everybody. But in real life Randy Poffo aka Macho man, randy Savage, is very jealous of Miss Elizabeth and WWF capitalizes on this angle and Miss Elizabeth gets in the middle of it because she's also Hulk Hogan's valet. They become close even in the singles matches and, long story short, they have a falling out and WWF pushes it and Randy Poffo, randy Macho man, savage and Hulk Hogan get back into this humongous rivalry that didn't really end until Macho man was even out of wrestling, after he'd already left and gone and disappeared to what WCW and Hulk had gone to WCW, and then you know it was just a bad situation. So you know it was a great rivalry and they actually played off of the realistic things with Miss Elizabeth, which again was from Franklin County.
Speaker 2High School, and Miss Elizabeth, by the way if we were going to do a best, of which we should do at some point, the best of wrestling managers.
Speaker 1She's up there. She's the best woman manager, for sure.
Speaker 2And by far, I think if you're talking about the classiest just a classical beauty.
Speaker 1She's not sensational cherry. She's a classical beauty, she's not. You're correct.
Speaker 2Yeah, just a great, great lady.
Speaker 3Would you think she'd be the most world-renowned graduate of Franklin County?
Speaker 1Absolutely 100%.
Speaker 2I think that you know, when you look at Hulk Hogan and all of the different rivalries that he's been a part of A thousand. Yeah, you know I understand wanting to go with the Macho man and it was a good one. I'm definitely not debating that.
Speaker 1Right, I think we're going to have a special guest here in just a second too.
Speaker 2Oh, we are.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 2Who's showing up? Hold up, hold on.
Speaker 3Oh yeah.
Speaker 2Freak out, listen, brother. I want to talk about the man, yeah, that they call Hulk Hogan, yeah.
Speaker 1Let me tell you something, hulkster.
Speaker 2You had your moment with the macho man Randy Savage, and you failed. Brother, dig it, man that was fast.
Speaker 1That was a pretty good take. He was in and out of here.
Speaker 3That's a hot take. Wow, Wait a minute though. Is there somebody else?
Speaker 2I don't think so I haven't seen anybody else?
Speaker 3except Gunther.
Speaker 2Is there anybody else here? Gunther was very shocked by seeing. I think someone else may show up later.
Speaker 1Oh, okay. I was curious about that. That was crazy Dang weird man goodness.
Speaker 2Poets got a million rivalries and to me his greatest rival and a lot of people say Andre the Giant, it was, you know, for that time there was a really good rivalry there for a little bit. But I got to go older and say the one guy that didn't, you know, take the, take the pin, in other words, do the job for Hulk Hogan. Yeah, and it's the one guy that you know they never really had a clean finish was Rowdy Roddy Piper. Oh yeah.
Speaker 3Piper, everybody hated Rowdy Roddy.
Speaker 2Piper, though I mean, come on, everybody was his nemesis Piper and Hogan man, that was really the beginning that led to WrestleMania. I and you know that created it all and it was real heat between those guys. But yeah, I that that's a good one.
Speaker 1I think hulkster could be. What about you, greg? Uh, I will go more chris's era, okay, you know, because, uh, just for a classic one. Oh, you didn't know. No, not that part, oh sorry, uh, the the, the classic one in the attitude era, I think has to be the Rock and Stone Cold. Steve Austin yeah, you were one or the other. You were a fan of one or the other. Yeah, I was a Rock man. I mean, he lost more to Stone Cold than Stone Cold lost to him, but I always liked the Rock better.
Speaker 2Yeah.
Speaker 1I thought his promos were better and you chose one or the other. I mean, you were a fan of the rock, you were a fan of stone cold. Um, which was your choice.
Speaker 3You know, the problem is I like them both and that's weird to say that, but they were both. It's like they were trying to make a heel out of one or the other and everybody liked them both.
Speaker 1You know they were not so good in their characters. They both come up in different characters and they were both terrible in their other characters, but when they got switched to these, then everybody enjoyed it, but has there ever been anybody better on the mic with promos than the Rock?
Classic Wrestling Rivalries and Legends
Speaker 2Nobody, I mean ever Ric Flair maybe?
Speaker 1Well, I was going to ask Chris, but a complete different era.
Speaker 2Do you think that Ric Flair was better on the mic?
Speaker 3It doesn't different era, do you?
Speaker 1think. Do you think that rick flair was better on the mic? I can't help it, I knew it was coming.
Speaker 3I knew it was coming. I can't help it. I mean, I mean, the rocks was really good and you know all that was if you're watching that, all that was ad-libbed. The guy was just a genius on the microphone.
Speaker 1My favorite ones were when he says and as they start chanting the Rock's name, and then he holds the microphone down and everybody starts screaming Rocky and all that kind of stuff.
Speaker 3I mean he could make a whole arena, but nobody could drive a Zamboni or a concrete truck to fill up Vince McMahon's Corvette.
Speaker 3I mean, it was really unique stuff that they did and they they can't do it today no, definitely not I mean it was, it was edgy, uh, but you know it was and that's when you know people like me, who weren't wrestling fans, really got enamored by it because yeah yeah, it was a soap opera, but you know the things that they would allow those guys to get with. You know get by with like you're. You're saying you can't do it today, but who was your favorite mark?
Speaker 2you're more of a rock or a stone cold guy well, um, I, I would have to say the rock, just uh, the way he worked the microphone, he was ridiculous now I will tell I do own to this day and it's in a pristine condition. I have an Austin 316 shirt with a smoking skull.
Speaker 3I absolutely do T-shirt. Saw them for Monday Night Raw and it was everything you'd expect it to be. Now, the Rock was not there, though.
Speaker 1Now they headlined against each other Two or three maybe, wrestlemanias.
Speaker 2I think so.
Speaker 1I know it was two, I didn't know that. The first one. They headlined together Stone Cold, steve Austin won. The Rock won the second one. It was kind of Stone Cold's farewell match that the Rock beat him in WrestleMania.
Speaker 3Let's go one step further. How great is the Rock? Beat him in WrestleMania. Let's go one step further. How great is the Rock as an actor? Have you guys ever seen any of his movies? He's good. Yeah, I mean, I've seen his movies. He's good, he's really good. And again.
Speaker 1I think that goes back to.
Speaker 2Jumanji, yeah, jumanji. He's very great in Jumanji.
Speaker 1Yeah, he's great in that, the Gridiron Gang is.
Speaker 3Tooth Fairy is great, moana, all these movies, and that's a funny thing. Think about all the actors. We go back to my guy, hulk Hogan. What's the one movie you can remember with Hulk Hogan? Rocky III.
Speaker 2Awful.
Speaker 3No holds barred.
Speaker 1Rocky.
Speaker 2III is terrible.
Speaker 1He's Thunder Lips, the ultimate male, awful.
Speaker 2And that was before he was even in the WWF at the time.
Speaker 3Oh really.
Speaker 2I didn't know that. Yeah, yeah, that was he had been. Yeah, he had been in the AWA.
Speaker 3Oh, I didn't know that.
Speaker 2Yeah, and he filmed that and yeah, so he actually filmed that before he became big.
Speaker 3So we do, we have a fun fact, can either of you name a movie that Randy Macho man Savage?
Speaker 2appeared in oh yeah. I can name one. Okay, spider-man, hey, freak Show, I got you for three minutes.
Speaker 3Hey, Freak Show, You're not going anywhere. That's great. It's such a good movie man.
Speaker 1I love it.
Speaker 3Such a good movie. That's good. That's good, all right. Well, that's a good one, greg. So who was your favorite? Were you a rock or a stone?
Speaker 1cold guy, I was a rock guy.
Speaker 3Yeah, no question, see I love Stone Cold because he was all about anti-establishment.
Speaker 1Yeah, I was a rock man. Yeah, it was great. Yeah, that was a good time in wrestling, though Now let's go back to an early to mid 1980s in the state of Texas.
Speaker 2World-class championship wrestling. I know it wasn't the WWE, it wasn't the WCW slash NWA, but in world-class championship wrestling, which you're learning more about now if you have seen the movie the Iron Claw, which I still have not, seen? I have not seen it, I have not, but I knew the story pretty well. It's the von eric's, the von eric's versus the fabulous free birds, one of the bloodiest, harshest, greatest rivalries in wrestling history. I mean, the fabulous free birds were everything that the von eric's weren't, the Von Eriks were wholesome.
Speaker 1You know this image of this family and the Fabulous Freebirds, and they all died basically, except one.
Speaker 2Yeah, were from.
Speaker 1Badge Street.
Speaker 2USA from Atlanta GA.
Speaker 3Who was?
Speaker 2the.
Speaker 1Fabulous Freebirds, the Freebirds. I remember the Freebirds. Who was?
Speaker 3in that.
Speaker 2Michael PSA, terry Bam Bam, gordy and Buddy Roberts. Yeah, michael PSA's Terry Bam.
Speaker 1Bam Gordy and Buddy Roberts. I remember this. I got nothing.
Speaker 2And Michael Hayes later on became a road agent and a backstage guy for the WWE. Terry Bam Bam Gordy was the most talented wrestler of all of them, but he died very early, at a young age. Buddy Roberts was a wrestling technician, and those three guys, by the way, you mentioned movies. Yeah, all right. Yep, the Fabulous Freebirds were in a movie. At the very beginning of the movie, it had nothing to do with wrestling.
Speaker 3DC.
Speaker 2Cab. No, oh, it was a movie. I'll just give you a quote and see if we can get it. And, by the way, this qualifies as a fun fact. In the end there can be only one. I love that movie Highlander. Highlander At the very beginning, when he's at the wrestling matches. That's the fabulous Freebirds taking on Greg Gagné and his tag team partners Jim Brunzel.
Speaker 3Best line by Kurgan in the whole movie it's better to burn out than fade away.
Speaker 2Exactly, the Kurgan is a great character. And another fun fact yes, who did the soundtrack for the movie Highlander? Here, we are born to be kings.
Speaker 3We're the princes of the universe, that would be Queen, queen. You got it. Where's the cricket button at? Oh, the best song from that one, though. Who Wants to Live Forever?
Speaker 2Great song, All of them Queen, you know. Did the soundtrack for Flash Gordon and for Highlander Too fantastic? Anyway, I digress. That would be my old school wrestling rivalry. So was it hardcore?
Speaker 3You said bloody and all that, was it hardcore?
Speaker 2Were they cutting or was it like hardcore?
Speaker 1no, it was just vicious um, watch some of the matches on youtube. Any, any truth, or I got a. I got a vicious rivalry for you. Okay, hang on, hang on.
Speaker 3Oh, I do hang on, hang on was there anything that was not scripted, that was going on behind the scenes that caused this anger and rivalry, or was it all know what?
Speaker 2you mean by scripted? There was a really good. What's the show on? Behind the yeah? Dark Side of the Ring Dark Side of the Ring. There's a really good Dark Side of the Ring episode that talks about the Von Eriks and the Freebirds.
Speaker 3I've got to watch that. I don't know anything about these guys.
Speaker 2There was always a lot of heat with the Von Eriks behind the scenes, because you know it was a they got. They got the push because their name and a lot of the other wrestlers did not really appreciate that, and the free birds were in real life, the exact opposite of what the Von Eriks were. So, yeah, there was, there was some heat there. But when David Von Eriks, the first Von Eriks, died, uh, he he'd been in Japan and and um died over there. You can watch the interview with Michael PSA's. He comes out and he's visibly shaken by the whole thing. And it was one of those things where what do they call it? Kayfabe or whatever, when wrestling becomes real, and you could tell he was just like you know, he wanted to come out and continue the rivalry, but he was just, he was shaken.
Speaker 1So yeah, really good, really good. What about you, Greg? You had one, I've got an old, but he was just he was shaking, so yeah, really good, really good.
Speaker 2What about you, greg?
Speaker 1you, you had one I've got an old school one that's vicious I can't wait to hear uh and this may be too old school for you bruiser brody, uh-huh, and abdullah the butcher, oh juicy violent yes, you want to talk about violent oh, bruiser brody was violent.
Speaker 2He was a bad man.
Speaker 1I mean everybody was scared of him, the crowd was scared of him. I mean he would go into the crowd all the time.
Speaker 2Every other wrestler. No one wanted to fight him because he wrestled. You know what they called stiff, very like he didn't try to protect anyone, he tried to beat the heck out of everyone.
Speaker 3Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1I have never heard of abdullah the butcher. Are you serious? Abdullah the butcher's awesome. Okay, never heard of him uh, I am lost here.
Speaker 2We're gonna have to add a video element to this podcast was he was about.
Speaker 1I mean, he was about, like big john stud says all right, I know you and he had crazy hair.
Speaker 2That was like oh I know that feeling huge, yeah, just like yours, yeah, and abdullah the butcher oh my god, he looks like george the animal steel, but with what's on his head?
Speaker 1okay, that's scars from where he used to, he would take a fork. Abdullah the butcher would take a fork and go in his own head in his head, that's him in his own head In his head, that's him.
Speaker 3In his own head.
Speaker 2Yep.
Speaker 3On purpose.
Speaker 2There he is. Look at that.
Speaker 3What is? Is that not awesome? That is strange. That's old school. That is very strange.
Speaker 2That looks like you can buy an Abdul the Butcher 8x10.
Speaker 3Look at that.
Speaker 2Look at it.
Speaker 3Is he eating a piece of liver? Yes, raw. What's that beside the liver? That's so strange.
Speaker 1This is not making for a good podcast. No, it's not.
Speaker 2No, but it's so enjoyable for us Listen to our listeners.
Speaker 3Google Abdullah the Butcher. Wow, that's not what I expected the guy to look like.
Speaker 1Yeah, he looks like the dude who owns Rendezvous.
Speaker 3Not Rendezvous. I'm sorry. What? Her dreamland barbecue? That's big daddy john bishop. What are you talking about, actually? And there's bruiser brody.
Speaker 1Right there, bruiser brody was the man he would come out and he would swing a big chain around too, I mean and there, as you can see every look how bloody that is every match they had. Yeah, it was someone that is, um Every match. They had someone bled.
Speaker 2That is Usually both of them, like in this one, that is.
Speaker 3Okay, that's absurd, but anyhow.
Speaker 1You got another one, chris, and look at Abdullah's physique oh, he's very fit.
Speaker 3He is very fit. I don't know what that is under his arm, between his arm and his chest, but it's very unique. Yeah, do I have another one.
Speaker 1I mean, there's one we haven't talked about that has to be mentioned yeah, it is rick flair, dusty roads has to be mentioned, I agree.
Speaker 2I mean, I mean to tell you if we could only interview both of those guys, if they were just you know in the same room where we could talk with both of them. It would be amazing, like what, what kind of questions would you ask of? Of a rick flair and a dusty roads?
Speaker 3I would have to ask rick flair. Are those really crocodile shoes?
Speaker 1you know really is it a real Rolex?
Speaker 3Is he really jet flying?
Speaker 1Oh, he's wheeling dealing.
Speaker 2Is he?
Speaker 3wheeling dealing Well.
Speaker 1I would ask Dusty Rhodes right now If he was here right now. I would ask him if he was proud of his son.
Speaker 3Well, you know what? That's fantastic, because, guess what? You will never believe this. What? We have the board out the little thingy took us to it, and Dusty Rhodes is now here.
Speaker 2Let me tell you something. It's really interesting that you're talking about one of my rivals, if you will, a rival in so many ways, rickey Flair. Let me tell you something. Rickey Flair, you may have been a jet riding, limousine riding guy, whatever it is you say, but I'll tell you something, brother, you don't have a son who's the new heavyweight champion. If you will, I couldn't be more proud of my boy, cody. It kind of makes up for Goldust.
Speaker 1Well, that's what I was going to say.
Speaker 3What about your other side? We don't talk about the other side.
Speaker 2But I must end this by saying Rick and Flare, I will get fucking like a monkey all over your candy ass.
Speaker 3Can I make a statement real quick about how I'm so glad again this pop filter is in front of me Did you notice how both Ric Flair and. Dusty Rhodes. Both have a speech impediment.
Speaker 2You know, it's kind of interesting.
Speaker 1They need to go see Janie. It's a shame they didn't have a speech therapist, they got a little.
Speaker 2I think you call it a lisp or something A little something.
Speaker 1So I have another one for us. Are you ready for another one?
Speaker 3You're going to blow my mind now.
Speaker 1Mark, do you have another one?
Speaker 3I feel like you're trying to take over. No, no, I want to hear this one's kind of humorous the oddities versus D-Generation X.
Wrestling Discussions and Lima Anecdotes
Speaker 1No, the oddities versus D-Generation X no, nobody cares about that, daggone it. The Golden Lines versus Beaches and Cream oh Solid. A little reference to our friends. A little OVW reference, an OVW.
Speaker 3Love a little OVW, which we should be doing right now.
Speaker 2I might add yeah, that's true, but we're watching the lightning Already down 1-0.
Speaker 3So what about Be beaches and cream and the golden lions. So I'm all about the golden lions. I'm more into the uh uh, the uh um, oh, daggone it, the chop shop and the uh and maho rahabashi yeah, whatever his name, mahabala shira yeah shira, that's it, yeah.
Speaker 2well, I really thought we were gonna go dudley boys versus Mae Young. That was pretty simple that was over pretty quick.
Speaker 3How about Stone Cold versus the corporation? And then how everybody turned You're Stone Cold man, I was a Stone Cold guy.
Speaker 1So does that mean you like Shotgun Tony Gun? I hate Shotgun Tony Gun? They're basically the same thing, but you know he's a. Am I wrong?
Speaker 3He's a knockoff. He's a clown Knock-off, rip-off. He's a knock-off.
Speaker 1I like mammoth Tuscan James.
Speaker 2This is going down the way.
Speaker 3I'd say 24 minutes in we're good, that's good, but we could tell the Lima story real quick Thanks for listening.
Speaker 2Let's go ahead and start.
Speaker 3Basically, it all starts out there, but we could tell a Lima story real quick. Why?
Speaker 1don't we? Let's go ahead and start. You can start the Lima story. So basically, it all starts out there In Lima. Right, so we were in Lima, right and, by the way, lima and Ohio.
Speaker 2We're not talking about Lima or Peru.
Speaker 3Right.
Speaker 1That's right, and it's Lima. Have a great day everyone. Exactly, it's Lima and Ohio, and.