Wrestling Podcasts - 2023

[Stefanie Sparkleface]

1 minute ago, Elsalvajeloco said:

I have been watching Ernie Ladd in 1984 Mid South over the last few weeks. He just turned 46, and he cannot move. You can tell this is his last year as a wrestler. Granted, you have to take into account he played pro football and being his height at that time is like being nine feet tall now. However, I am worried every time he has to do anything physical. And the shows were all taped 40 years ago.

He wasn't exactly spry a couple of years prior when he was trying to feud with the Samoans, but he had that wonderful jacket that said "Promises Promises" on the back, so really, I didn't need him to run the ropes.

[Elsalvajeloco]

10 minutes ago, Sparkleface said:

He wasn't exactly spry a couple of years prior when he was trying to feud with the Samoans, but he had that wonderful jacket that said "Promises Promises" on the back, so really, I didn't need him to run the ropes.

You know what? I actually saw some of the feud with the Samoans. 

Ladd is proof that if you're charismatic and your promo game is on point, you don't have to do much in the ring if anything at all.

[Godfrey]

54 minutes ago, Elsalvajeloco said:

Also, I dunno if you been watching what Sting has been doing in AEW but yeah safety ain't exactly been his priority. Now Jeff Jarrett who has been wrestling the same way for closing in on 40 years would be that, but Jarrett is also a case of being scrutinized cause you been wrestling the same way with very little variance over 40 years. It's a damned if do and damned if you don't. 

Jeff's a better comparison, but Sting's also 22 years older than Bryan so he may be more in a position to go for broke. I think Jarrett's tried a few things during his career (remember MMA Jarrett?), but weren't people here into him when he returned and was doing classic Kabong Jarrett? I could be wrong on that

I don't expect Danielson's retirement to last though, he'll be going through tables in his older years too. And I don't expect anyone to convince him to slow down either, I mean more for the future generations. You're right, Bryan made his decision a long time ago and I'm in no position to question it, but if there's a kid coming up right now and they can learn to moderate I think they'll go far. MJF is a good example, Full Gear match notwithstanding. I was once said (I think on this board) his style meant he could wrestle into his 60s or 70s, I still believe that

And I guess there's no limits on 'old timer', I would just apply it more to people who are older as opposed to early 40s which seems to be just over the median age for main event stars these days. The window has shifted for me

[Elsalvajeloco]

17 minutes ago, Godfrey said:

Jeff's a better comparison, but Sting's also 22 years older than Bryan so he may be more in a position to go for broke. I think Jarrett's tried a few things during his career (remember MMA Jarrett?), but weren't people here into him when he returned and was doing classic Kabong Jarrett? I could be wrong on that

I don't expect Danielson's retirement to last though, he'll be going through tables in his older years too. And I don't expect anyone to convince him to slow down either, I mean more for the future generations. You're right, Bryan made his decision a long time ago and I'm in no position to question it, but if there's a kid coming up right now and they can learn to moderate I think they'll go far. MJF is a good example, Full Gear match notwithstanding. I was once said (I think on this board) his style meant he could wrestle into his 60s or 70s, I still believe that

And I guess there's no limits on 'old timer', I would just apply it more to people who are older as opposed to early 40s which seems to be just over the median age for main event stars these days. The window has shifted for me

IMO when it comes to old timers, there were always old timers in the locker room in a decent clip (maybe three to a half dozen or more). With Sting being in his mid 60s, that's a hard marker to set cause there ain't a whole bunch of people working in their mid 60s in WWE or AEW. I think the most realistic expectation is everyone 40 and over with the end of the range being folks like Christian, Copeland, Gunn, and Jarrett. Moreover, let's be real, if you're worker of a certain age (i.e. late 20 to mid 30s), who are you going to for advice most likely? Danielson has to be up there given he's likely the reason half of these guys are trying to be Mr. Workrate anyway.

It's gotten to the point where time has been blurred so bad that we don't realize half of the guys (and gals) we consider to be stars of the "modern" era are way older than stars of the era we grew up with as kids. That's kinda the inherent flaw with some of these arguments. Roman Reigns is the exact same age as already considered to be probably over the hill Randy Savage in 1990 who Vince already wanted to retire, and no one is like, "damn, Roman gotta hang it up." 

I think the argument (even though I do concede some things about overall safety) is instead of "extending" a career that's already two decades in, you should know when to start winding it down and preparing for the next stage in life. At age 45 and over, these folks should be honestly watching their children growing up or going to graduations of some sort every other week or taking extending vacations and not trying to do pro wrestling.

[Godfrey]

1 hour ago, Elsalvajeloco said:

I think the argument (even though I do concede some things about overall safety) is instead of "extending" a career that's already two decades in, you should know when to start winding it down and preparing for the next stage in life. At age 45 and over, these folks should be honestly watching their children growing up or going to graduations of some sort every other week or taking extending vacations and not trying to do pro wrestling.

I'm not going to decide what wrestlers should do with their lives, if they have the money to retire from the ring at 45 then great and either way wrestling safer and not destroying your body is a better move all around. If there isn't anyone in the locker room to get advice from then hit the internet, old timers of every description are putting every thought they've ever had on how to get over into books and on podcasts and most would return a text if you have half a name

At any rate, we clearly come at this from different directions. Always happy to get your take on things

[Eivion]

On 12/15/2023 at 9:38 PM, Elsalvajeloco said:

The folks that are on the shelf are just using recent examples like Charlotte, Omega, Danielson are all 40 and over and have worked for a fairly long time nd in the case of the two gentlemen, a LONG ASS time (a combined 47 years of pro wrestling experience). Some of the other stuff is some crazy, act of God type shit.

Charlotte is 37. Her injury was more bad luck than anything else with Asuka slipping and pulling her off the top rope.

[Elsalvajeloco]

55 minutes ago, Eivion said:

Charlotte is 37. Her injury was more bad luck than anything else with Asuka slipping and pulling her off the top rope.

See. If you just work safer, then this wouldn't have happened! 

[odessasteps]

How old was she when she started? Mid 20s? Presumably her bump card has more life on it than someone who started as a teenager.

[Elsalvajeloco]

30 minutes ago, odessasteps said:

How old was she when she started? Mid 20s? Presumably her bump card has more life on it than someone who started as a teenager.

I mean if you depend a lot of agility and leaping ability, lower extremity injuries can be a bit tougher to come back from in terms of what you're use to be. This goes especially if you're a hop-skip-jump from 40.  Bumping should be fine unless you're not taking care of nagging injuries. 

[odessasteps]

I wonder what kind of injuries she had from her volleyball career. I’d presume shoulder, maybe knees.  I know we have folks here now into the college volleyball scene. 
 

saying that, was the beach volleyball tour still a thing when Ashley finished college? I could envision her being a Gabrielle Reese kind of star, given her backstory and appealing demographics to marketers. 

[Cobra Commander]

Next week on Between the Sheets, they’re going back to 1985

Spoiler

Also it’ll be Beau and O’Connor again, Merry Christmas Odessasteps! Also I recall that O’Connor is a little better behaved on the call with Beau

And with Christmas being on a Monday this year, I won’t be listening to BTS on the usual schedule but will probably get to it on Monday Night or Tuesday depending on how long the episode is and if I can knock it out before Travel Zone on WFMU.

[odessasteps]

What a waste of Beau. 

[Cobra Commander]

also Kris has a little bit of a cough this week which was apparently caused by him driving past a fire or something where smoke inhalation messed him up, but he was able to table part of a Patreon special despite that

[odessasteps]

The way he described it was odd. I think he said he “swallowed” the smoke, I guess instead of breathing it, which was part of the problem. 
 

I could really do without a 1997 episode on the show for a while, esp after 3 straight Patreons about Montreal last year. 
 

also, Beau may be on our pod next week. We’re trying to figure out a date and topic.might be Iron Claw related.

[Cobra Commander]

20 minutes ago, odessasteps said:

I could really do without a 1997 episode on the show

although it was surprising it took this long to do the Memphis/Little Rock shows out of all the late 1997 episodes

[Ziggy]

On 12/17/2023 at 6:07 PM, Elsalvajeloco said:

See. If you just work safer, then this wouldn't have happened! 

I enjoy watching Charlotte but she's never been safe or smooth in the ring. With her being the pushed at the forefront of  "Women's Evolution" she was able to get away with being unrefined. She's safe in Comparison to Nia Jaxx. Some of her being rough around the edges is apart of her appeal to me in a weird way

[BrianS81177]

On 12/16/2023 at 4:39 PM, Elsalvajeloco said:

Also, I dunno if you been watching what Sting has been doing in AEW but yeah safety ain't exactly been his priority.  

Doesn't Sting also wear padding underneath his shirt and pants? He's still batshit insane for jumping off balconies ans whatnot but at least he's taking some type of precaution it seems

[Elsalvajeloco]

5 minutes ago, BrianS81177 said:

Doesn't Sting also wear padding underneath his shirt and pants? He's still batshit insane for jumping off balconies ans whatnot but at least he's taking some type of precaution it seems

Oh, I can definitely believe that he's not out there doing stuff like a Super Dave Osborne skit. That and it would look bad for AEW if an old man was there trying to murder himself every month. I think the point he's out there doing stuff that might be ill advised for someone in their 20s let alone their 60s. Then again, he's the same dude who was repelling from the top of arenas for a year when he could have been having relatively safe matches with Ric Flair or Hulk Hogan or Macho Man.

[Ziggy]

Mase and Mansoor on Rene Dupree's podcast is probably the best episode he's had so far maybe 

[odessasteps]

They announced Dutch’s podcast should be back next Friday, discussing his health issues and news from last month.