Greetings From Allentown

It’s Saturday night in Motown for the highest rated edition of NBC’s Saturday Night’s Main Event, from March 14, 1987! - The 20 Man Battle Royal: the confrontation of Andre and Hogan, and the extremely unlikely final four in the match - George Steele meets Randy Savage yet again and prompts thoughts of human trafficking - Mean Gene gets caught checking out Elizabeth by Jesse Ventura - Vince McMahon’s amazing summary of the issues between Andre The Giant and Hulk Hogan - The timeline of Jake Roberts becoming a babyface - A tribute to Roddy Piper and Ventura’s cheeky remark about Piper going to Hollywood - The Hart Foundation defend their titles against a make-shift team - Strange backgrounds being used for interviews Plus: - Andre The Giant: channeling musical artists? - Dangerous Danny Davis as a Peanuts character - Partially going around the NHL for the evening of March 14 and pondering WrestleMania 3’s impact on the ’87 Detroit Pistons - Annoying political theater at the Lowell Folk Festival - The WWF w

The final part of a series looking at one specific weekend takes a trip to Texas for a look at USWA Challenge from July 8, 1990 (or so it was labelled!) - How the USWA in Texas is a slice of both Memphis and shades of the future ECW - The feud that put Steve Austin on the map against Chris Adams, and the ladies get physically involved - Hollywood John Tatum goes over the top in trying to make amends for past behavior - Bill Dundee’s valet Tessa: You can’t spell ‘Tessa” with an A, S, and another S - The brilliantly named Percival Pringle III takes one for the team after he makes light of the Von Erich tragedies - The goofy charm of Craig Johnson - Commercial music theme songs! Plus: - Coming to grips with the possibility that this may not be the July 8 show - Original commercials: Tetris, 7-Up, The Sporting News, and for Milk - Sporting events of the day: a 9-time Wimbledon winner and a massive crash at Daytona - A single comment of YouTube Comment Theater! Email: Greetingsfromallentown@gmail.com Twitter: w

The second part of a series looking at one specific weekend takes a look at NWA World Championship Wrestling from July 7, 1990 - The build for Sting vs Flair at the Great American Bash ’90 with its odd psychology and what could have been done differently - Ole Anderson as the annoying kid from high school and as a faded former all-star - Stan Hansen’s what-if acting career - The confusion created by the Big Van Vader video - A brutally dull tag team match designed to apparently kill time - The amazing part about Doug Furnas’ weightlifting career - One thing El Gigante was good at - The Rock and Roll Express in 1990: emblematic of the end of the JCP era? Plus: - A delicious and healthy pizza topping - Why a certain beach town in Massachusetts beings to mind Dealey Plaza in Dallas - How the Braves fared against the Mets after this show aired on TBS - YouTube Comment Theater! Email: Greetingsfromallentown@gmail.com Twitter: www.twitter.com/GFAllentownPod Facebook.com/GreetingsFromAllentown

The first part of a series on one specific weekend takes a look at WWF Superstars of Wrestling from July 7, 1990! - Randy Savage and Jim Brunzell face off in one of the all-time great enhancement matches, with additional background - Examining the sudden Demolition heel turn - Commentary on other wrestlers discussing Hulk Hogan’s pending decision on his future - A delightful rematch from the original WrestleMania - Bad News Brown flashes a rare smile! - Paths not chosen in the aftermath of Brutus Beefcake’s facial injury - Pondering the Honky Tonk Man in the same ring as Terry Gordy and Dr. Death - Sniffing out Ted DiBiase’s schemes in Cobb County, Georgia - Nikolai Volkoff talking world peace; what Bush and Gorbachev were up to at the time Plus: - Background on shellfish allergies - Speculating on the alleged friendship between Hacksaw Jim Duggan and President George H.W. Bush - Queen Sensational Sherri invents new hair accessories - The cost of travelling to Fiji - Vince McMahon’s 15 second effort at pump

It is a long awaited trip to the Pacific Northwest for a look at Portland Wrestling from October 11, 1980! - An extended appreciation of Playboy Buddy Rose, the king of PNW - A quick rundown of the Portland territory, how they were unique and the stars they produced - Why the play by play guy would have died watching 1996 WCW - Jonathan Boyd’s motivations for facing Buddy Rose - Why a Jay Youngblood promo telegraphs what will happen on the next big show - The thankfully brief run of Mike Popovitch Email: Greetingsfromallentown@gmail.com Twitter: www.twitter.com/GFAllentownPod Facebook.com/GreetingsFromAllentown

Things get Extreme at Wrestlepalooza 97 on this edition of ECW Hardcore TV from June 12, 1997! - The final battle between Raven and Tommy Dreamer, culminating a two and a half year war - Jerry Lawler invades the ECW Arena, talks some trash, directs traffic - How I saw Taz for the first time and why it explains why I love the character - Deciphering if a Sabu botch is an actual botch - Finding common ground with the woman who was Chastity - Rick Rude the color man: the uncool kid who made up stories in high school - Trying to figure out the motivations of Shane Douglas’ “Franchise” character - Paul Heyman’s broken promise (one of them!) Plus: - Why the counters to the “Van Terminator” spot don’t work as well as you would think - Worrying about the state of Jake Roberts watching the Raven-Dreamer match as his legendary finisher gets spammed to hell - Making a retroactive choice between the ECW Arena show and the local team in the Stanley Cup Final on TV - Uncensored audio with copious amounts of cursing - Lif

It’s a special one match edition of NWA Worldwide from October 3, 1987 as Ron Garvin challenges Ric Flair for the NWA World title in Detroit! - A brief history of how this incarnation of the Flair-Garvin rivalry came to be - Where Garvin ranks among Ric Flair’s greatest opponents - Ranking the best possible contenders for the world title in this spot - Can David Crockett be trusted to call a 30+ minute Ron Garvin match alone? - Callback spots in Ric Flair title matches - The NWA’s battle for the city of Detroit: too little, too late? - Tony Schiavone haunts the match Plus: - Peter visits London, England: thoughts on the national anthem, Abbey Road, the British Museum, the Prime Meridian, Westminster Abbey's bathroom, and punking a Yankees fan - YouTube Comment Theater! Email: Greetingsfromallentown@gmail.com Twitter: www.twitter.com/GFAllentownPod Facebook.com/GreetingsFromAllentown Prowestlingonly.com

The very fate of the wrestling business is at stake on this edition of WCW Worldwide from February 26, 1994! - Terra Ryzing (Triple H) faces Brian Armstrong (Road Dogg) sowing some seeds - Newly hired Bobby Heenan as a comedy machine - Sting as a longer term “draw” - Figuring out the timeline for Missy Hyatt’s departure from WCW - Determining a course of action for Ray Traylor to make him like the Big Bossman and still not infringe on WWF trademarks - Modern day Steve Austin and his reversion to his WCW gimmick - Why the Nasty Boys are like a chain restaurant - Rick Rude goes bland while Marcus Bagwell gives 100% - Johnny B. Badd’s odd choice for a new trainer Plus: - The Heenan/Okerlund ’93 All American Reunion working in product placements - An update on the host and his future endeavors - Deciding on the best Cranberries song - Gary Cappetta lets fly with a regional accent - Wondering where Brian Armstrong got his jacket Email: Greetingsfromallentown@gmail.com Twitter: www.twitter.com/GFAllentownPod Fac

The heat is on approaching SummerSlam 89 with a look at WWF Wrestling Challenge from August 27, 1989! - Breaking down the Rick Rude confrontation with Roddy Piper from Prime Time Wrestling - Tito Santana’s forgotten shining moment of 1989 - A mild defense of the Brain Busters vs Hart Foundation booking at SummerSlam 89 - Explaining the motive for every illogical Ted DiBiase money decision - The Rougeaus Theme Song Challenge - SummerSlam main eventers play one upsmanship with nutty promos - The Garvin-Valentine feud: salvation for both - What makes for a good promo from Zeus? - Theorizing reasons for the real origin of the Ultimate Warrior/Rick Rude feud - Correct usage of "The" Plus: - A heavily redacted reaction to game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final - The trouble with “performance” golf shirts - Rick Rude possibly reveals his sexual proclivities? - Comparing Dusty Rhodes with an 80s TV icon - Original commercials, Right Guard and their cursed athlete endorsers, and so many ads for trucking companies Email:

We’re walking in Memphis again this week with look at the April 18, 1981 edition of Memphis Wrestling! - Amidst a tense atmosphere, Jerry Lawler takes on Terry Funk in an empty Mid-South Coliseum - Jimmy Hart takes to the ring to beat up little peiople - Dutch Mantel stands up for his country - The Dream Machine: a different kind of Akeem - David Oswald’s biggest claim to fame in Memphis Wrestling - Kevin Sullivan’s Boston accent as a necessary ingredient to this podcast Plus: - A word now considered a slur casually dropped in a promo - How bad is traffic in Memphis? - A brief history of the construction of I-40 in the Memphis area - YouTube Comment Theater! - Sports moments of 2019 (so far): The Saints get robbed, an incredible catch and double play, and Tiger’s return to glory Email: Greetingsfromallentown@gmail.com Twitter: @GFAllentownPod Facebook.com/GreetingsFromAllentown Prowestlingonly.com

In the year 2000….there was a leftover episode of WWF Sunday Night HeAT from 1999 airing January 2, 2000! - Having issues with remembering 1999 WWF storylines, and having the memory jogged with a “best of” montage - Gushing with praise for D’Lo Brown, doing double duty - A tag team match fit for Canadian television - Taking umbrage with wrestlers doing things that make no sense - Grandmaster Sexay and Mosh battle to settle the debate of hip hop versus heavy metal - Reviews from the place that the Godfather may have gotten his “ho’s” - Viscera: big men never go out of style - What Gangrel demands of the blood he uses Plus: - A Triple H appearance in a toy ad leads to more confusion - The problem with eating at a branded place like WWF New York - Billy Gunn’s use of the DX catchphrase - The return of YouTube Comment Theater! - Sports moments of 2018: Vladdy Junior, Tuukka loses a blade, a very long baseball game, JR Smith forgets the score, and the Philly Special Email: Greetingsfromallentown@gmail.com T

After a six month hiatus, The Adams Division podcast is back! Steve Bennett (The Sports-Casters) and Peter Winson (Greetings From Allentown) reunite to discuss their 10 favorite single season sports teams of all time! Part one will cover numbers 6-10 on their respective lists. Included are teams that won it all, lost in heartbreaking fashion, and the friends that were made along the way! Subscribe to the Place To Be Nation Wrestling feed, new home of The Adams Division Podcast: http://placetobe.podbean.com/feed/ Playlist of prior Adams Division Podcast episodes: https://soundcloud.com/greetingsfromallentown/sets/the-adams-division

It ain’t Allentown, but Hamburg, Pennsylvania will have to do as this week features a look at WWF All Star Wrestling from May 17, 1980! - Bob Backlund vs El Olympico in a bizarre “exhibition of wrestling holds” as VINCE MCMAHON delights in scientific wrestling - The future problem Larry Z would have coming out of the Bruno feud - Ken Patera as a God among men in 1980 even beyond the WWF - Hulk Hogan being better in ’80 than remembered even as the promotion would prefer people forget his main feud that year - Lots of Bruno Sammartino commentary: on Mexican wrestling, arrogant heels, fat people, Larry Z and more! - Tor Kamata and his comical real name - Steve King and the same name game - 1980 Wrestler kneepad watch Plus: - One wiseacre in Hamburg has some advice for Backlund and Olympico - Autograph seekers at the TV tapings and their fascination with job guys - Sitcoms that did exactly 117 episodes - Hulk Hogan: golfer? - Sports moments of 2017: A first in Major League Baseball, 10 home runs in one game,

For episode 116 it is back to Jim Crockett Promotions for a look at how “hot” the territory was for NWA Pro from February 21, 1987! - How literally everybody won because Jim Cornette threw a fireball at Ronnie Garvin - Jimmy Garvin’s face turn being perfectly timed and executed - The Midnight Express as a championship hockey team - Dick Murdoch colludes with the Russians - Johnny Weaver waxes incoherent on commentary, while Nikita Koloff is somehow eloquent - The Horsemen come up with funny things to call their “associate” Lex Luger - JCP’s attempt to run shows in Canada in February 1987 Plus: - Comparing and contrasting the crowd at a Judas Priest concert in 2019 with that of a wrestling show - The importance of local promos - How they covered the Cornette/Garvin angle and the old Saturday Night Live skit it brings to mind - The return of YouTube Comment Theater! - Sports moments of 2016: Britton never gets in the game, a Korean folk hero, the Cubbies as the anti-Orioles, an obese man hits a home run, and

In the 2nd show of the “Beer-treon” series, GFA goes back to 1986 for a look at the WWF D-Show Superstars of Wrestling from May 31! - Spring 1986 WWF TV: Experimenting by throwing crap at walls - Paul Christy is out of his mind on TNT: a complete breakdown in more ways than one - The Rotunda/Spivey U.S. Express: the magic is lost with a new “Aunt Viv” - Judy Martin: way ahead of her time - Discovering teased angles in watching classic weekly TV - Coming up with more dream matches for Ricky Steamboat - The differences in the early version of Hercules - Harley Race’s 1st match in his WWF run is a bizarre duel with SD Jones Plus: - Original 1986 commercials: Stetson cologne can get you laid?, Price is Right night edition, amusement parks, WWF thumb wrestlers, amusement parks, and more! - Speculating on Bruce Springsteen’s wrestling preferences - Mean Gene helps himself to potato chips - What is going on with Magnificent Muraco’s voice? - Sports moments of 2015: A blunder costs the alma mater, a nutty 7th inni

In a test of the human spirit, this week’s episode features a look at AWA TV from January 6, 1990! - A mild defense of the Team Challenge Series concept from the perspective of a 10 year old, and specific circumstances where it might have worked - AWA play by play man Ralph Sturgis: From “Press Your Luck” to the Stanley Cup - Waiting in vain for Kokina Maximus, the proto-Yokozuna - The peculiar post-wrestling political career of Johnnie Stewart - On an all new “According To Larry”, protagonist Larry Zbyszko decries the destruction of national forests - The AWA’s spin on the “crooked referee” angle - Get fired up for charismatic babyface Masa Saito! Plus: - Proposing a theme song for Yukon John Nord - The motto of the AWA locker room when things got bad - Retroactively deciding on a “comparable substitute” - Internet browser issues and smoking a pork shoulder - Sports moments of 2014: A Cup winning OT goal, the Patriots flop in KC, Peyton in the Super Bowl, and the greatest non-Ripken moment in Camden Yards

Settle in for the coronation of a new Macho King as we look at WWF Superstars of Wrestling from September 30, 1989! - A complete breakdown of everything that went on that the coronation ceremony for the Macho King and Queen Sherri - Dusty Rhodes has a new look for the Battle of the Dustys - The greatness of the Roddy Piper/Rick Rude feud playing out on Prime Time Wrestling - Why Boris Zhukov was paired with Jimmy Snuka for multiple TV matches - Comparing the “team hug” of the Rougeau Brothers with the Midnight Express - Looking out for language in Hulk Hogan’s promo - Defining what Bad News Brown means by the term “beer-bellied sharecropper” - Vince McMahon puts over the sights of Portland, Maine Plus: - A 40th birthday celebration and lessons on the danger of special edibles - More evidence of the close friendship of Randy Savage and Ted DiBiase in kayfabe - Promos for the September 30, 1989 Madison Square Garden show - Brother Love fails his audience by using the wrong name for his guest - The last great

It’s back to look at the leadup to Starrcade ’85 with a look at NWA Worldwide from October 26, 1985! - Magnum TA gets inappropriate and channels his inner Joe Namath with Baby Doll - Pondering the notion of Arn Anderson as President of the United States - Trying to survive another Superstar Billy Graham match - With Dusty Rhodes at the doctor, a look at the real life reviews for that physician - Tales of a man named Stoney - A comparison of two styles of squash matches - Jimmy Valiant and Froot Loops - The Rock and Roll Express face their inferior mirror heel version - A complaint about an odd example of show layout Plus: - A jobber name leads to a recollection of the mixed fates of the Singing Senators - Checking again on the promo time ratio between Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson - Crazy hot crowds for Jim Crockett Promotions - Thoughts about the protocol behind buying allergy medication and beer taproom stool etiquette - Sports moments of 2012: becoming an Orioles fan, a game 7 OT goal that was BS, boner

Put on my blue suede shoes because we are walking in Memphis this week for some CWA Wrestling action from July 14, 1984! - The Macho Man makes history by piledriving Ricky Morton through a table at the Mid-South Coliseum - Lanny Poffo at his finest, and regales the audience with sound advice - The Memphis SuperFriends of Lawler and the Fabulous Ones join forces for a six man tag - Homoeroticism and unintentional comedy of the New Generation’s vignette - Tojo Yamamoto returns to Memphis: You understand what I mean? - Tommy Rich is back and lets the ladies know he is open for business - Great Itos in history: Masao, Lance, and Midori - The origin of "Manias" Plus: - Encountering a U.S. Express fan at Fenway Park on a wonderful Saturday afternoon - Kicking off a different kind of podcast support program: Beertreon! - A theory of why the Memphis Grizzlies kept that name after moving from Vancouver - Differences in Rick Rude’s Memphis moustache from the one in WWF and WCW - Sports moments of 2011: feeling bad fo

In the wake of WrestleMania 35, we go back 28 years to the aftermath of the uber-patriotic WrestleMania 7 with a look at WWF Wrestling Challenge from March 31, 1991! - Recaps of WrestleMania 7 including Sgt. Slaughter getting his heat back in the most literal way possible - Explaining the new DiBiase/Sherri team to those in the audience at the taping prior to WM7 and how Randy Savage is tied in - Introducing Col. Mustafa with a nod to his prior history and pondering the reasons why he would be signed - Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart joins the commentary team and tries to fit in with the Gorilla/Brain dynamic - The Big Bossman needs some shirts that fit his skinnier frame - Mr. Perfect and Bobby Heenan use scatological humor in a promo - Thoughts on the goofiness of the Warlord leads to a story of why Peter started drinking hot coffee - The interesting matches on the taping in Biloxi, Mississippi Plus: - The meaning behind Gorilla Monsoon calling the women around Bobby Heenan “barracudas” - Weird pronunciations by