Episode 257: Top Ten Wrestlers of 1983

This week on STICK TO WRESTLING we are once again joined by the most charming man in Charm City, John Fell! We each give our own rundown of the Top Ten Wrestlers of 1983. We talk Nick Bockwinkel, Bob Backlund, Harley Race, Ric Flair, Jimmy Snuka, The Von Erichs, Ricky Steamboat, Roddy Piper, Greg Valentine, Magnificent Muraco, Iron Sheik, Dusty Rhodes, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Sgt. Slaughter, The Freebirds, Hulk Hogan, Ted Dibiase, Jerry Lawler, and more!

Plus Johnny Mac has another one of his baseball to wrestling comparisons, , so what are you waiting for? Download and listen to this wicked good podcast today!

STICK TO WRESTLING…give us sixty minutes and perhaps indeed, we’ll give you a rawbone wrestling podcast.

Produced by Lou Kipilman

Stick To Wrestling with John McAdam is a production of the Arcadian Vanguard Podcast Network

Episode 256: Wrestling Awards, Part 2

This week on STICK TO WRESTLING John and Steve are once again joined by the King of Baltimore himself, John Fell! This is the first of three episodes where we honor the best (and worst) wrestlers, promotions, and moments of 1983! We talk Ric Flair, Sgt. Slaughter, Nick Bockwinkel, Adrian Adonis, George Steele, Bob Orton Jr, Arn Anderson, Michael Hayes, Roddy Piper, Bruiser Brody, Bobby Heenan, Jimmy Snuka and more.

Plus John Fell continues to roll over the Grand Wizard, so what are you waiting for? Download and listen to this wicked good podcast today!

STICK TO WRESTLING…give us sixty minutes and perhaps indeed, we’ll give you a rawbone wrestling podcast.

Produced by Lou Kipilman

Stick To Wrestling with John McAdam is a production of the Arcadian Vanguard Podcast Network

Episode 255: 1983 Wrestling Awards, Part 1

This week on STICK TO WRESTLING John and Steve are joined by the King of Baltimore himself, John Fell! This is the first of three episodes where we honor the best (and worst) wrestlers, promotions, and moments of 1983! We talk Jake Roberts, Bob Backlund, Kevin Sullivan, Curt Hennig, Adrian Adonis, Hulk Hogan, Bobby Jaggers, Ted Dibiase, Sgt. Slaughter, Angelo Mosca Jr, Roddy Piper, Paul Ellering, Bruiser Brody, Buddy Roberts, Ole Anderson, George Steele, Brett Sawyer, and more! Download and listen to this WICKED GOOD podcast!

Plus there’s a special “Extra Innings” segment with Thomas Bane where we discuss the NFL Draft, so what are you waiting for? Download and listen to this wicked good podcast today!

STICK TO WRESTLING…give us sixty minutes and perhaps indeed, we’ll give you a rawbone wrestling podcast.

Produced by Lou Kipilman

Stick To Wrestling with John McAdam is a production of the Arcadian Vanguard Podcast Network

Episode 254: Handing Over The Wheel

This week STICK TO WRESTLING is joined once again by Brian Solomon, the man behind the “Shut Up And Wrestle” podcast! When asked by Brian what the show was going to be about, Johnny Mac told him he could do whatever he wanted and this is the finished product. On this week’s docket.

–Brian was in the room during many creative meetings at WWE, and he tells us about it.
–Related…politics in wrestling? Say it ain’t so!
–The WWF’s puzzling decision regarding the main event at Summeslam ’93.
–Steve Austin’s sudden departure from the WWF in 2002.
–More discussion of the Bruno Sammartino vs Larry Zybysko feud.
–Pro wrestling’s transition from a business model based on ticket sales to what it has become today.

Plus we share personal anecdotes about meeting the legendary Lou Thesz, so what are you waiting for? Download and listen to this wicked good podcast today!

STICK TO WRESTLING…give us sixty minutes and perhaps indeed, we’ll give you a rawbone wrestling podcast.

Produced by Lou Kipilman

Stick To Wrestling with John McAdam is a production of the Arcadian Vanguard Podcast Network

Episode 253: Please Don’t Shout

This week on STICK TO WRESTLING we talk 1983 AWA Wrestling with lots of rare audio! Discussions on this week’s episode include:

–Greg Gagne had been a wrestler for ten years and grew up in a wrestling family, yet John and Steve have to explain to him that babyfaces aren’t supposed to be whiny.
–We finally figure out who should have replaced Hulk Hogan as the AWA’s top babyface.
–The AWA may not have done a lot of long term planning, but they had big plans for Jerry Blackwell. We tell you about them.
–Mad Dog Vachon, the AWA’s neighborhood bully.
–A pro wrestling television broadcast; the perfect place to have Verne Gagne recommend a local to raise one of your horses.
–Vince McMahon ALLEGEDLY had a mole in the AWA’s locker room. We tell you it allegedly was.

It’s a longer than usual episode, so what are you waiting for? Download and listen to this wicked good podcast today!

STICK TO WRESTLING…give us sixty minutes and perhaps indeed, we’ll give you a rawbone wrestling podcast.

Produced by Lou Kipilman

Stick To Wrestling with John McAdam is a production of the Arcadian Vanguard Podcast Network

Episode 252: Fifty Years Ago In The Sunshine State

This week on STICK TO WRESTLING we take a look at a fifty year old episode of Championship Wrestling from Florida, hosted by the great Gorson Solie! It’s a look at a time long gone by as we focus on the talent, the promotion, and the general wrestling scene in 1973. We discuss the following:
–Stan Hansen wrestling Tosh Togo just a few months into his pro wrestling career.
–Why having regional wrestling companies was fun and will always be missed.
–Rubberman Johnny Walker seems to be near the end of his career, but that turnes out not to be the case.
–Mike Graham was a lot better than the IWC makes him out to be.
–Jack Brisco absolutely had the look and vibe of a future NWA champion, and we wouldn’t have to wait much longer to see it.
–Wrestling may have moved a bit slower in 1973, but everything just meant more.
Plus we ask and answer the “what were they trying to acomplish with this episode” question, so what are you waiting for? Download and listen to this wicked good podcast today!
STICK TO WRESTLING…give us sixty minutes and perhaps indeed, we’ll give you a rawbone wrestling podcast!

Produced by Lou Kipilman

Stick To Wrestling with John McAdam is a production of the Arcadian Vanguard Podcast Network

Episode 251: Dusty Bashing Season

This week on STICK TO WRESTLING we take a look at the NWA during the Spring of 1988! Lot’s to discuss here with the first Clash of the Champions special, the Crockett Cup tournament, Lex Luger’s recent turn, the Midnight Rider, and there were only three members of the Four Horsemen…until Barry Windham’s turn. On the discussion table:

–We took questions from the Stick To Wrestling Universe, and most of the questions were about Dusty Rhodes’ role as the booker of the company. What should have been done with Dusty?
–Nikita Koloff returns! Or was it Nikita’s much smaller younger brother?
–Al Perez and Gary Hart invade the NWA. Why did we expect more from them?
–The NWA had the mother of all angles just sitting there waiting for them, and they blew it. We’ll tell you which one it was.
–Why did Sting get the main event at the Clash of the Champions instead of Lex Luger?
–Can the NWA of this timeframe be discussed without a long talk about the Midnight Rider?

Plus Johnny Mac provides two big, diverse answers to the “who should have replaced Dusty Rhodes as the NWA’s booker” question, so what are you waiting for? Download and listen to this wicked good podcast today!

STICK TO WRESTLING…give us sixty minutes and perhaps indeed, we’ll give you a rawbone wrestling podcast!

Produced by Lou Kipilman

Stick To Wrestling with John McAdam is a production of the Arcadian Vanguard Podcast Network

Episode 250: One Hundred Years Of Brian Last

We celebrate the 250th edition of STICK TO WRESTLING by being joined by Arcadian Vanguard’s founder – The Great Brian Last! It’s a lively and fun conversation as we discuss, among other things:

–Would Sgt. Slaughter have made a good opponent for Hulk Hogan at Wrestlemania 2?
–What should have been done with Bob Backlund after the left the WWF?
–We share our Mount Rushmore of bad announcers.
–What WWF tag teams would we have liked to have seen in a Crockett Cup tournament?
–Should Eric Embry have been a bigger star?
–What’s the angriest pro wrestling has ever made us?

Plus Johnny Mac shares a really disgusting story about attending a Cincinnati Reds game, so what are you waiting for? Download and listen to this wicked good podcast today!

STICK TO WRESTLING…give us sixty minutes and perhaps indeed, we’ll give you a rawbone wrestling podcast!

Produced by Lou Kipilman

Stick To Wrestling with John McAdam is a production of the Arcadian Vanguard Podcast Network

Episode 249: He Can Read

This week STICK TO WRESTLING is joined by Gregg Savarese, and we celebrate the 25th Anniversary of Wrestlemania 14! Discussed on this week’s episode:

–A pre-show public workout that drew a sea of people and got a huge amount of local coverage.
–The WWF gIves the Road Warriors one last chance to reclaim their 80’s stardom.
–Gennifer Flowers was on two segments on the show. When was the last time her name crossed your mind?
–Why juNior heavyweights / cruiserweights never get over in the United States.
–The type of storyline for the Undertaker vs Kane feud was like something we’d never seen before. Did we love it or hate it?
–Shawn Michaels was FURIOUS after the show. We tell you why.

Gregg attended the show live and has some great anecdotes from that night and we have an Extra Innings segment where we discuss the greatest omission of the Baseball Hall of Fame, so what are you waiting for? Download and listen to this wicked good podcast today!

STICK TO WRESTLING…give us sixty minutes and perhaps indeed, we’ll give you a rawbone wrestling podcast!

Produced by Lou Kipilman

Stick To Wrestling with John McAdam is a production of the Arcadian Vanguard Podcast Network

Episode 248: Randy Savage Punched Him

This week STICK TO WRESTLING is joined by new guest Mike Fahey as we celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of Wrestlemania 9! On the discussion table this week:

–Randy Savage may not have been a good color commentator, but he had a sweet right hook. Just ask Hulk Hogan.
–Jim Ross makes his television debut with the WWF. Ross would become synonymous with the WWF but he felt out of place on this day.
–Hulk Hogan was Hulk Hogan and where he went, the spotlight followed. We discuss how difficult it is to book around that.
–Bobby Heenan has some jokes about Jim Ross being from Oklahoma…enough of them to make the jokes the entire focus of his afternoon.
–We tell you who Shawn Michaels was supposed to wrestle on this day.
–How Vince McMahon seeing a particular movie ended up as a huge break for an indy wrestler named Chris Chavis.

It’s a historic Wrestlemania for Johnny Mac and he’ll tell you why, so what are you waiting for? Download and listen to this wicked good podcast today!

STICK TO WRESTLING…give us sixty minutes and perhaps indeed, we’ll give you a rawbone wrestling podcast!

Produced by Lou Kipilman

Stick To Wrestling with John McAdam is a production of the Arcadian Vanguard Podcast Network