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Episode 124: Always The Hardway with Hardway Heeter
56 Plays5 years ago
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Transcript
Introduction and Guest Introduction
00:00:36
Speaker
Hey everybody, welcome to another episode of Predetermined, a Pro Wrestling Hangout. I'm your host, Garrett Callender. We're coming to you from Nashville, Tennessee in my living room. I have a very special guest on the couch with me today. You've seen him on IWTV. He was just on the fucking main page last week. So cool. Hardaway heater. What's up, everyone? You're easily the most badass person to ever walk through my front door.
00:01:03
Speaker
Well, I mean, there was almost that chance that Nick Gage is going to walk through your front door, but. And then I would have been like second.
Discussing Wrestling Legends
00:01:12
Speaker
Oh, yeah, I'm sorry. Nick Gage is always going to be the king. No, I get it. I get it. One hundred percent, because even in my own house, if Nick Gage walked into my house, I would be the second coolest person to ever be in my house.
00:01:29
Speaker
Well, I will say the house was previously owned by somebody named Suzuki. So who knows? Hey, you know what, Monero? We're in your living room right now. If he actually came in here, he might be more badass than Nick Gage?
00:01:48
Speaker
Ooh. That's something I wouldn't want to say to either of their faces. Yeah, that is, listen, as the third coolest person that we've now talked about, I'm not comfortable saying that Manero Suzuki is cooler than Nick Gage, and I'm also not comfortable saying that Nick Gage is cooler than Manero Suzuki. The equal levels of cool? Can we call them equal levels of cool? Yes. Okay. Also, just fucking ass beaters.
00:02:18
Speaker
Oh, yeah, just god two men that just absolutely scare the shit out of me I mean when I went to uh to wrestle kingdom He lost a match against Godo walked right by us and then slammed a chair right right near us almost hit my wife It was like he felt the energy coming off you and you're like, oh god I hope that manira Suzuki doesn't attack me and he was like i'm gonna show him that I could
00:02:47
Speaker
Like right now, would you be ring ready to step in with Minoru Suzuki? Absolutely fucking not. Absolutely. I would have like.
00:02:56
Speaker
My biggest issue would be is that I would be too busy fangirling, be like, oh, Suzuki, will you sign this? And he'd be like, we're wrestling a match. And I was like, yeah, but I also need you to sign this thing that I'm gonna hang in my house forever. Well, you did, actually, just speaking of Suzuki and Nick Gage, you were the one that introduced me to Nick Gage. Yeah. You walked, I said I was too afraid to talk to him. You walked me right over to the man. That motherfucker is,
00:03:27
Speaker
the most solid dude in the entire world. Like, like I had not been in very long when I introduced you to him. And.
00:03:40
Speaker
It never failed to happen, but every time I've ran into him, he goes, Heater, my fucking dude, every single
Recap of Iconic Matches
00:03:50
Speaker
time. He remembers everyone's name. He is just a wholesome, amazing man all the way around, and then goes out and beats the shit out of people.
00:04:06
Speaker
beats the shit out of him. Yeah, the night that you introduced me to him, I don't remember if he was beating the shit out of Marco Stunt or Brett Eisen. Actually, Brett beat...
00:04:17
Speaker
Did Brett beat him at sub for the bone storm? Which is a huge win. Giant win. So it would have been Marco, because the next time Gage was back, it was him and AJ for the title.
00:04:37
Speaker
and AJ beat Gage and then that fucker RSP came out and was like, ugh, I'm like from Ohio or something and fuck Ohio. If you go back, you can look at my face the moment that AJ beaten at Gage and my jaw is touching the ring.
00:04:59
Speaker
All of our jaws were touching the ring. Well, I mean I wasn't Around the ring, but my jaw was on the floor. It was just I didn't have a ring to stop it from it was Sorry, that was it was a humble brag. I was sitting in the front. Yeah Actually, you know what? I haven't done this yet even though Derek isn't here. I
00:05:21
Speaker
I'm not going to stop doing the claws. I mean, they're great.
Heater's Wrestling Journey Begins
00:05:28
Speaker
The greatest invention possibly of the 21st century. Oh, absolutely. Absolutely.
00:05:35
Speaker
Oh, man. So what? So you pretty much when you started wrestling, like really like going in and doing matches, how far was that like right at the beginning of Covid or had you already been going for? So I my first match was September 1st of twenty nineteen. It was at Bizarro against Nick Iggy.
00:06:02
Speaker
I was in the room. Yeah, you were in the room. That was the very, wait, that was your very first. That was my very first match. Very first match.
00:06:09
Speaker
No shit. That makes sense why I traveled to Indianapolis for that then. Well, because you had also went up to, not black label, you'd went up to Freelance. No. Oh, no, that would have been, was that like all out weekend? And I was coming back from- Yes, that's what it was. Okay, yeah. GCW and stuff. Because I was thinking that it was like a show, I knew it was a Chicago show. It was a wrestling weekend. Yeah. And then you guys swung through Indianapolis, watched my match,
00:06:38
Speaker
Who else? Oh, yeah. And that was that show was that was a good show. Crazy good show. I think that that had. I'm pretty sure that Gary J. Warhorse was also on that.
00:06:56
Speaker
I might be wrong about that. I know Gary J was there. I know Mancer was there, Shotzi. I think it was Gary J. Tankman, which was a really great fucking match where they just beat the shit out of each other. That was him versus Tankman that night? I think it was Gary J. Tankman for that crowd. And then Mance, it was Mance.
00:07:22
Speaker
It was Mance, no, you're right. It was Mance Tankman for the Bizarro title. And I just remember how thrilled I was to see Mance that night, because the day before, the day before when we were at All Out,
00:07:39
Speaker
in the parking lot, somebody gave me a pin and I hit the pin a little too hard. And I just remember walking around the Sears Center being horrified of the amount of people and just saying to Derek, I need Mance Warner right now. He'll calm me
Wrestling During the Pandemic
00:07:56
Speaker
down. He'll calm my nerves.
00:07:59
Speaker
bringing that early 90s WCW energy. You just bring you down. You just, okay, okay, okay. That guy knows Sting. We're good. We're good. That guy knows Sting. He knows old man flair. Cool, cool, cool. So that was in September of last of 2019. God damn. And then I worked somewhat through the end of 2019 and then all the way up to
00:08:30
Speaker
Uh, my last match pre pandemic was March 15th at suck. I was in the scramble. Uh, Oh, that was the, yeah, that was like the last show. Like that show happened and bizarro happened that night. And then no wrestling happened for like three months.
00:08:56
Speaker
like there I mean they're like GCW did some like no crowd shows and stuff like right immediately immediately after but for the most part nothing and I went like two to three months without
00:09:12
Speaker
without punching somebody in the face. Punching somebody, elbowing somebody, throwing somebody up in the air, catch them, and then throwing them on the ground. I couldn't do any of that stuff. So I just had to set up my house. That sucks. Yeah, it does. It does, especially when you get very used to throwing motherfuckers up and catching them and throwing them back down.
00:09:31
Speaker
Damn, you really are living like this Mad Max world. Like that's where you have started fighting. Mostly, most of your matches have been pandemic time, right? Yeah. Most of my matches have been pandemic time. So you get to sit at home, be mad that you're stuck inside. Right. Travel and go let that energy out. Yeah, and go let that energy out on other people I'm in the ring with.
First Death Match Experience
00:10:00
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, because it was, I mean, it was one year in one month. And this is just like a little side note, a one year in one month after my first match, I had my first death match.
00:10:16
Speaker
When you told me you were having that death match and who it was against, I was a combination of the most excited I'd have ever been and fucking horrified for you. You tell me who you were up against. It was the Rejects. Yeah, it was the Rejects. Oh, I'm sorry. Let me hit them. Read by God Bentley.
00:10:40
Speaker
John Wayne, Murdock, and the Death Samurai, Akira. When you told me that, I had just watched an Akira match. I had just become familiar with him. And when a dude carries a samurai sword to the ring, you tend to be worried about your friends that are in the ring with him.
Understanding KOBK Group
00:11:03
Speaker
Hey, you know what? Akira's KOBK, so we good. Oh, is he? Oh, yeah. OK, so you is it's KOBK. Is that a gang or is it a friend? Do you call it a friend group? I would I don't know that I'd call it a gang. I would absolutely call every single one of them friends, brothers, even. It's just a group of guys that are building a little bit different.
00:11:32
Speaker
We really don't take shit and we're here to fucking fight. That's what we want to do is fight. So who all is in KOBK? So it is a moniker that Brett Eisen has used for a very long time. So Brett Eisen, obviously. Scares the shit out of me.
00:11:57
Speaker
Like, you know, there's some wrestlers that when they come by, you're excited and want to get a high five from them. I don't know if I'd want a high five from Brett. He looks like he's just too ready to kill when he comes to the ring. Well, here's what I will say is that that that feeling is very founded. So Brett Ison just.
00:12:23
Speaker
You know that I'm a guy, let me, I'm going to sidetrack here for just one moment. You know, I was crux, wrestling training. Kerry offal is my wrestling dad. Kerry offal taught me everything I know in wrestling. He got me ready. He's the one that got me into my matches, got me ready for matches, but Brett Eisen and Jesse Butler, righteous. Jesse are the guys who taught me.
00:12:53
Speaker
how to maneuver wrestling, how to maneuver being on the road.
00:13:04
Speaker
how to go out there and say fuck it. How to go out there and say fuck it. We're doing it. Let's fucking fight, you know. And honestly, from those two, I can believe that, because the very first sub show I went to, those two in a fucking dog collar match. Like, what do you do when the dog collar breaks? Fucking improvise and smash a keyboard over your buddy's head. Yeah. Fucking just just fucking throw a chair so goddamn hard at your friend.
00:13:34
Speaker
that he immediately had a concussion. I mean, I can only assume the way that fucking chair bounced off Jesse's head. That's the only match I've seen Jesse wrestle. So that was kind of... Jesse will still do death matches. Jesse still does death matches.
00:13:58
Speaker
Few were in far between right now because we're in a pandemic. And unlike a bunch of other people, he he takes it a bit more seriously than I'm not. Listen, I'm not shitting on anybody because obviously I haven't been the most like, oh, yeah, the pandemic because it is serious. The pandemic is real, everyone. I had covid shits real. He did walk in the front door wearing a mask.
00:14:23
Speaker
Yeah, walks in the front door wearing a mask. So that shows you where we're at. Yeah. We're six feet apart. We're six feet apart. I'm also getting covid tests because I'm going out in wrestling because if I I have to know because I'm not going to intentionally endanger anyone. But Jesse will still do death matches. In fact,
00:14:47
Speaker
Jesse is one of my best friends. Like I hang out with Jesse outside of wrestling. Like we we have shared interests. We talk a lot about hardcore music, a lot about VHS tapes, a lot about horror movies. But I'm
Balancing Life and Wrestling
00:15:05
Speaker
fucking coming for that ass. And we're going to do a fucking deathmatch. I want a fucking deathmatch with Jesse. So this is me putting out into the universe. I want a deathmatch with Righteous Jesse.
00:15:16
Speaker
because we're going to have some fucking fun because you've hit your family more harder than you hit people you don't know. That's true. Oh, fuck. If I thought the keyboard looked bad. Yeah, wait till there's a glass fucking everywhere. Oh, so so so.
00:15:46
Speaker
We were talking about who else was in- Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. I was very lost for a second. I was like, okay, I called out Jesse. That was definitely something I needed to do. So Brett Eisen, my tag partner, no flinch, Nolan Edward, which I have been seeing a lot lately.
00:16:05
Speaker
I mean he's fucking everywhere he's everywhere he's doing the fucking wrestling he's he's doing the death matches he's doing he's doing it like I'm in the car with him
00:16:20
Speaker
70% of the time. If I'm not driving to a show by myself, it's a guarantee that Nolan is in the car with me. And we're going fucking places. The other day, your wife posted a photo of you and Nolan eating ice cream. Yeah. And I thought it was adorable. Because one thing I'm always I'm always confused by is when I see tough boys.
00:16:43
Speaker
Doing soft things doing the world's softest shit What else were you doing while you were So we were we were being soft voice and we were eating ice cream and I think that we were watching It was either when we were watching
00:17:07
Speaker
King of the Hill, or when we were watching Adam Priest's AEW dark matches.
00:17:16
Speaker
Adam Priest, uh, New South, uh, TWE action. Okay. He's, he's like a, he's fucking great. Like, like he's an asshole. Don't, don't get me wrong. Adam Priest, you're a fucking asshole. If you hear this, you're a fucking prick, but he's great. But he's also a prick. I, you're, you're a fucking prick.
00:17:40
Speaker
What I guess the question I had was what kind of ice cream were you eating? Oh, I was eating some peanut butter chocolate. That's tough. And I think I mean, I would say it was also a keto ice cream because like that's it's soft as fuck. But like if I'm a step off my diet, I'm a step off my diet and then not step completely off my diet like a fucking weirdo.
00:18:05
Speaker
like everybody else like my wife and Nolan went all the way the fuck in and said you know what shitty ice cream let's get like what's what's the worst ice cream that I could get right now and they got like fucking strawberry cheesecake they were fucking around with some strawberry cheesecake ice cream and I was like no I would like some keto ice cream and it tasted like trash but I still ate all of it just
00:18:32
Speaker
Does bread eat ice cream? Have you ever seen- I've never seen bread eat ice cream. I've never seen bread eat ice cream. I don't know that he eats ice cream. I don't think he does either. Yeah, it doesn't feel on brand. No, no, if he ate ice cream, it would be in private. Yeah, with the lights off.
00:18:57
Speaker
Because Brett doesn't even want to watch himself eat ice cream. If anyone out in the wild can capture a photo of Brett Eisen eating ice cream, send that my way.
Exploring Wrestling Dynamics
00:19:10
Speaker
Yeah, he'll pay top dollar. Yeah, we're wrestling TMZ over here.
00:19:16
Speaker
Um, but so Nolan, uh, Nolan is, is the tag partner. He's, he's KOBK, uh, Luther X. Um, Luther X is KOBK. He is a guy that I trained with at crux. He was going to say, isn't he a rival of yours? So me and Luther have our differences. Me and Luther.
00:19:43
Speaker
We fight like family, me and Luther. We know what each other are capable of. And that's what we expect out of each other. And when we're not doing those things, the relationship with Luther has a short fuse. I love him and I will fight for him and I will fight with him. But if I see Luther do some shit.
00:20:08
Speaker
I'll fuck him up, just like he would fuck me up if I did the exact same shit. We keep each other accountable. God damn, I don't have any friendships like this. That is my friendship with fucking Luther. Luther and I have, like Luther was the guy that, when I was at Crux,
00:20:33
Speaker
Wanted to be because he was out hitting the roads. He was out doing the wrestling just being
00:20:43
Speaker
just being a wrestler. And he was like, I was like, I can't wait to be at that position. I can't wait. I can't wait to be there. And then I got there and then me and Luther have had our run ins here and there. And every single time we have run ins, him and I just seem to always come up opposite each other.
00:21:05
Speaker
And I got problems with shit that he does. He's got problems with shit that I do. So we'll just...
00:21:15
Speaker
fucking sorted out in a ring. That's what we'll do. We'll sort it out in a fucking ring and then we'll go back to hugging each other after it's all fucking over. But that's just the nature of me and Lutha's relationship. And we can see you and Lutha on IWTV, right? Was it an action show or? No. So, no, you actually, me and Lutha aren't on
00:21:41
Speaker
I WTV me and Luther had a pre show match at paradigm where Peyton Paulson was in the match too, but him and I had so much aggression towards each other that that
00:21:58
Speaker
we fuck beat the shit out of each other and it was it was great I'd cut up we'd been like talking back and forth on social media and I cut a pro I cut a promo where I told him that
00:22:16
Speaker
that he was the guy I wanted to be and that I was coming at him directly through him to get what I wanted. And then he had some shit about I was sitting down and I didn't put enough respect on his name and blah, blah, blah. So I came in and fucking said his name from the fucking chest and we beat the shit out of each other. And it was.
00:22:42
Speaker
It was fun. It was fun.
Wrestling as Emotional Outlet
00:22:44
Speaker
I think it's what I think it's what our relationship needed. I think our relationship needed us throwing hands at each other. And then I went, Oh, that's my relationship with Luther. My relationship with Luther is that we fight.
00:22:57
Speaker
What else do you need? I mean, I mean, there's the parts where you have meaningful conversations as well. No, I mean, I mean, we'll have a meaningful conversation here and there, but for the most part, we're just going to fight. Like if I'm mad about my day.
00:23:15
Speaker
And even though that's not Luther's fault, and if Luther's mad about his day and that's not my fault, like I can still take out my aggression of my day on Luther. And the same goes for me. I think that you, I think everybody needs that person. Like you need that person that you can just go, Hey, this isn't personal.
00:23:38
Speaker
This is I'm mad at other shit, but you catch the brunt of it just like you're mad at other shit and I'll catch the brunt of it.
00:23:47
Speaker
It works. I don't understand how it works, but it works. Are we ever going to get to that point? I don't. Hey, you don't hit civilians civilians. So then we have. Akira.
00:24:10
Speaker
And we all know about Akira. Akira is the death samurai. He is, I mean, slowly but surely working his way to being a death match legend.
00:24:21
Speaker
god damn I'm trying to remember who I saw him fight on ICW maybe Alex Ocean or somebody they were just whoever or actually no I think it was Akira versus was it Kogart no other Ohio guy oh the toughest one the tough boy who's the tough boy in Ohio
00:24:42
Speaker
Eric Ryan. Eric Ryan. Eric Ryan is the tough boy. He yeah he's what he the king of the death match something and then Atticus is the prince. I mean fuck them all. Fuck. Fuck Ohio. Fuck all of them. Fuck Ohio for real. Get you like we were we were making jokes the other day about Ohio at Ohio's expense and it gets you a girl that looks at you the same way Ohio wrestlers look at Ohio because they for some reason think that place is fucking great.
00:25:12
Speaker
And I've been to Ohio, and Ohio fucking sucks. That's true. That's true. I actually went to Ohio on spring break in college once, because I wanted to see the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Gross. Yeah, I know. I know. Wait, was Drew Carey there, though?
00:25:29
Speaker
What's that? It was Drew Carey there. I ran into Norm McDonald though. Alright, that's cool. That was a highlight. Let's see. It was the only city that's scarier in the day than it was at night.
00:25:43
Speaker
yep well or the only i'm sorry i went to cleveland so cleveland is the only city i can the only other city that i can think of that is like that is detroit because i've been in detroit during the day and you can just see the devastation like at night the lights are off so you can't really see it but when during the daytime detroit felt that same way i was like oh fuck
00:26:06
Speaker
Oh, fuck. So how did you guys meet up with Akira? He's he's a new one to me. Akira was at the ICW shows and Nolan and Brett had been working those ICW shows. But Akira is also a reject.
00:26:23
Speaker
And he is also at places like Paradigm, which tends to be a place a lot of us wrestle. And so we just all kind of met together. And he just shares a similar viewpoint of wrestling, of talk less, do more.
00:26:51
Speaker
So, and like you said, you've seen some of his death matches. You've seen some of the stuff he's done. He is very much a talk less do more guy.
00:27:00
Speaker
He really shows what the human body is capable of. Exactly. How much blood you can lose and keep flying. Yeah, right. Where you go. Yeah, it's the fucking not life of Brian, but. Mighty Python, the search for a holy grail where it's like it's merely a flesh wound. You go, is it though? Yeah, by the end of the match, he's just a head on the ground biting Eric Ryan's ankles. Yep.
00:27:29
Speaker
and so he's just got that similar mindset he he wants he wants this he you know that that is that is the that is one of the things that unites all of us is that we want this
KOBK's Work Ethic
00:27:51
Speaker
Um, Moses, the other one, Moses. I know I commentator. I was gonna say I've heard it. I've heard him on commentary. Um, just out here grinding. That's what that, that is what is going on with KOBK. You're never going to question our work ethic.
00:28:10
Speaker
You might be able to question whether or not we... You can't question whether we're good or not because wrestling is subjective. You might enjoy a match I don't enjoy.
00:28:28
Speaker
or vice versa that's happened. We've talked about wrestling. There have been times I've enjoyed things that you didn't necessarily like. And there are times that you've enjoyed things that I don't necessarily like, but you're never going to question our grind. We were built different. We, I want this. This is what I want to do forever. And I'm not saying that other wrestlers don't want that, but I'm saying that if you surround yourself with people that all want it, you can only get better.
00:28:59
Speaker
That makes sense. So, yeah, that's why we're out. That's we're out here. We're out here fucking fighting. Are we ever going to see like a K.O.B.K. versus four four oh eight? You know, like, you know what? I I I'm down. There's I mean.
00:29:18
Speaker
We're gonna see you guys like to do like or you know, maybe like the other six man tag Maybe even second gear crew, you know, who knows who knows like nothing nothing set in stone we know nothing so far, but if If opportunities present themselves we would
00:29:38
Speaker
I'm not gonna lie, those are some matches I would fucking love to see. Once again, I would be a little afraid. I don't wanna say I would be afraid for you, but it's one of those words like, fuck, I really like Mance Warner and AJ Gray. Who do I root for? Hey, you know what? I really like Mance Warner and AJ Gray. I really like Matt Justice. I really like Effie.
00:30:04
Speaker
I really like Manders. I really like Levi Everett.
00:30:09
Speaker
is Levi Everett, second gear crew. He came out during the big gay brunch and he's been, I mean, he's been running with him for a while. Like he, like, I don't know that it's ever been officially announced, but it seems like he is, you know? You show up to the party enough times. Exactly, exactly. So what I would say is, is that I like all those guys. I like watching them wrestle. I like how hard hitting they are. I enjoy.
00:30:39
Speaker
I enjoy watching their matches, but I'd also get in the ring and mix up with them. If they want it, I'm down. Oh, man. I can't even imagine having that mindset of being like, no, I could fight that guy. Because I'm ice cream all the time. Actually, I'm so soft I can't even have ice cream. I'm lactose intolerant.
00:31:08
Speaker
I mean, listen, listen, little little little window into my world. I'm also lactose intolerant. But that's what happens. That's what happens as you get older. You just go, oh, my body is just rejecting milk now. Cool. Oh, my God. So you. Yeah, you can't have milk and you're you're scarred up from light tubes. Yeah.
00:31:31
Speaker
That's well, yeah, that's that. That that was that's the goal. Continue to not have milk and continue to get more scars from light tubes. Continue to get more scars from going through doors and fuck hairs and what what the fuck ever. Because you know what? I'll tell you this. I can honestly sit here and say I was terrified walking into that deathmatch. Terrified because I had no idea.
00:31:59
Speaker
But Jesse had the greatest line ever to me. And he said, I'm a little bit concerned about you going into this deathmatch. And I said, why? You're like, me too. Because I knew why I was terrified. I didn't know why he was terrified. And he said, because I think if you do this deathmatch, you're going to love it. And he was 1000 percent right.
00:32:29
Speaker
it was it was so much of what so much adrenaline through the whole thing like you don't have time to think about
00:32:48
Speaker
Oh, I've lost a substantial amount of blood out of my head because now I'm just in a fight and it was so much fun. I had a blast doing that deathmatch.
00:33:00
Speaker
did you take any light tubes in preparation for the deathmatch you just the first ones in the ring yep first ones in the ring and the second it hits you does that adrenaline just fucking uh the first one that hit me i was like oh that's different that was my first thought was is oh that's different and then
00:33:23
Speaker
because we just traded light tubes at the beginning. I hit John Wayne Murdock and then John Wayne Murdock hit me. And as soon as he hit me, I was like, it just peaked my adrenaline. Like it was immediately here we go. Like I'm in like, like that first light tube was like, I'm in now.
00:33:48
Speaker
It's interesting how you can be afraid of a lot of things, specifically in wrestling, as far as matches go and like doing certain things in wrestling.
00:34:04
Speaker
And how a death match will change your view on everything where I go, Oh, so I was scared of all of this. Cause this is fun. This is kind of what I've been looking for. Not now, not to say that I'm going to be a thousand death matches, but
00:34:31
Speaker
I'm never going to turn one down. Oh, man, I want to see you and Jesse. Fuck each other. I cannot wait. Well, hey, I put it out in the universe now. So it's got to happen. So now somebody's got to do it. Even if I have to do it myself.
00:34:52
Speaker
I'll just drive over to Jesse's house and fucking throw a light tube into his hand and we'll just go.
Nick Gage's Nashville Story
00:34:58
Speaker
We'll just go. We'll just fucking walk through his house and break shit over each other. Oh. But yeah. Sorry, I just saw a man in purple running through my neighbor's yard. Awesome. He's gone now. Should we go find out what he's doing?
00:35:16
Speaker
It's a fucking wrestler in here, man. Wrong neighborhood. Hey bro, wrong neighborhood. Nick Gage almost stayed here once. I don't know. I don't remember if I told that story on here or if I. I want to say you did. Tell the story on here. It's hard to remember because it's been so long since we've done a show.
00:35:41
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, there's also a very good chance that you haven't. And we just talk enough to where. Long story short, Nick Gage got stranded in Nashville, sent him an Instagram. He said he needed help. I sent him an Instagram message that I
00:35:59
Speaker
live right near the airport and have an open room. He did not respond. And it felt like a grade school all over again. I invited somebody too cool over for a sleepover and got denied.
00:36:15
Speaker
I think that if Nick Gage hadn't figured anything out or if they had whatever, I almost would guarantee that Nick Gage would be like, I appreciate you brother, I'll be over. I would have given him whatever he needed. White claws, marijuana, whatever. If he needed me to go out and find anything else,
00:36:40
Speaker
I would look for whatever he needed. Like he has like some like super weird ice cream. He needs like a very specific color of M&Ms. Yeah. I'm here for him. Yep. Absolutely. I'm here. Absolutely. Oh man.
00:36:58
Speaker
But yeah, uh, it's, it's been, it's been a wild ride. Like, like I don't really sit back and reflect on wrestling, but now that you and I have started talking about it, like I did the podcast.
00:37:16
Speaker
And I wasn't even fully trained yet. You had just started. I had been, yeah, I'd have been training for like maybe, maybe at most six months. Okay. Like at most. And I had started training and kind of came on and talked about how, you know, how training was going, how I got into wrestling, you know, all of that. And now I'm sitting here, you know, almost two years later.
00:37:46
Speaker
Is it weird that I think you've gotten taller? You look like a larger man than you were back then. Hey, you know what? I'm gonna say no. Hey, I have gotten taller. You know, I hit that 35-year-old growth spurt. I've gotten taller. I've gotten wiser. More scars. Yeah, more scars. Hey, yeah, scars will make you taller, I guess. That's the secret. Yeah, it's interesting to think like,
Wrestling Achievements and Motivation
00:38:13
Speaker
Cause I probably, I stopped counting matches. I stopped counting matches. I think after my 13th match, like, and I was like, okay, I'm just going to go out and do this. And my 13th 13th match was my last match of 2019. And I've had.
00:38:45
Speaker
probably I don't know probably 40 to 50 cents and I would say that feels like a lot honestly that feels like a lot but at the same time I was wrestling on a weekly show at one point and I mean you're sitting here with a fucking title yeah I mean are we allowed to talk about the time I mean we can
00:39:09
Speaker
Yeah, I won the heavyweight championship for EWA. And they're not running right now. And that isn't a pandemic problem. So, I mean, it's it was cool that a company put the bell like, like thought thought enough of me to be like, we're gonna give you a title match. I actually won it in a casket match.
00:39:36
Speaker
What the fuck? Yeah, I won it in a casket match. You see so few of those. I can maybe name three. Yep. And they just they they did they did their own Halloween havoc and they were like, hey, casket match. And I was like, cool. Cool. Very into this idea. But yeah, it's been.
00:40:00
Speaker
I mean, I've still got a long way to go, but it's been interesting to see. As long as you stay motivated. You can make shit happen in wrestling, like it's just a matter of getting better, getting reps and showing up at fucking everything by going.
00:40:26
Speaker
Accepting the fact that no weekend is your weekend anymore. Like I'm not just going to fucking set it home when my feet kicked up and be like, Oh, you know what? I think at like noon, I'm going to run to the record store. I don't get to do that anymore, but that's okay. Like I chose this. I've chose wrestling.
00:40:47
Speaker
So technically, I guess it is like me kicking up my feet and being like, oh, I'm a wrestler now. But at the same time, like you never get to kick the feet up. Yeah, I just don't get to kick the feet up unless I'm in like a spacious locker room. And nine times out of ten, those locker rooms are not spacious. I mean, when you're running with like the group of guys that you are, you have to stay motivated, right? Yep. I mean, yep, because
00:41:15
Speaker
If you don't stay motivated, you fall by the wayside. People, specifically in wrestling, people forget very quickly who you are. Because there's always another match. There's always another show. There's always another 20 wrestlers on a different show that want
00:41:44
Speaker
that want that popularity, that everybody wants that popularity. Like regardless of whether you're a guy who wrestles 52 weekends a year, 50, how many weekends? 52 52. I thought that sounded right. Whether you're wrestling 52 weekends a year or you're wrestling
00:42:07
Speaker
16 weekends a year. You, everybody wants that popularity. You want, you want, everybody wants to have the best match on a show. Everybody wants to have that. And have I had the best match on a show yet? I don't know. Because wrestling is subjective.
00:42:33
Speaker
But I haven't felt that for myself yet.
Locker Room Culture and Ethics
00:42:37
Speaker
So I'm going to keep going till I have that feeling till I'm like, okay, I really liked that match because rarely if ever do I feel like.
00:42:54
Speaker
I like the matches that I'm in. Like I'm fuck. I wish I would have done. I wish I would have done this or I wish I would have done that or fuck. I wish I would have, you know. Told. A different story. But. You know, like that comes with time, I guess.
00:43:15
Speaker
You know, it just fucking takes forever. Well, I know with like when I did stand up, you would go to somewhere to do a set and you've got a line of comedians behind you that do not want to see you succeed. Yep. Is wrestling the same way? Or is the locker room a little more welcome in? I would say that I think that is I think that is based upon the people that you surround yourself with.
00:43:45
Speaker
and the locker rooms that you'll put yourself in. Now, I'm not saying that this is the best way to handle this, but I'm saying that this is the way I've chosen to handle this. I don't really want to work for promoters or companies that employ shitbags. If you have a shitbag,
00:44:14
Speaker
in your locker room and you're very okay with that shitbag being there, then I don't want to work for your company. I don't have a, I don't have a lot of time for you. I have, I have the benefit of being 35 years old in wrestling. Like I was a full grown adult before I got into wrestling. So chasing fame.
00:44:42
Speaker
Is it is important but it's not my first priority. My first priority is being able to sleep at night. And. Being willing to work with somebody who.
00:44:58
Speaker
allows shitty things to happen and doesn't call it out. Uh, I don't want to work for your company. I don't want to make you money. I got, I don't want to, I don't want, I don't want your money as much as I don't want if I do become a draw to make you money because you don't deserve it. You get the fuck out. Like, like.
00:45:24
Speaker
stop being shitbags, get the fuck out of wrestling. If you're a shitbag, get the fuck out of wrestling. It's that fucking simple. It's not hard to be a good person. This last couple years in wrestling has made it seem like it is. And I would agree with that. And that's kind of on wrestling. That's kind of on
00:45:54
Speaker
I feel like wrestling has been doing a little better job, though, of weeding that out. Yes, I would agree. I think that I think that we are now in a position where because wrestling never really felt like it was touched by.
00:46:13
Speaker
Movements like this like it would really feel like it was touched by the me to movement Until speaking out but what I would say is that I wish that would have happened Ten years ago because I Mean it's still important ten years later and
00:46:40
Speaker
But if it would have happened 10 years ago, there would have been less, you know, there would have been less in the sense of people being offended upon. It's just like it's not it's not the prettiest part of wrestling, but knowing that I again, I'll put it on me knowing that I can sleep at night by
00:47:07
Speaker
Picking and choosing where I'll work helps me. It helps me. Makes me feel good that.
00:47:25
Speaker
I can try to help companies that give a shit. Like that's why I work for the people that I work for is because I get, I truly do give a shit about the places that I choose to wrestle. I give a shit about, you know, as an example, I give a shit about paradigm. I give a shit about sub. I give a shit about action. I give a shit about TWE. I give a shit about,
00:47:54
Speaker
All these different companies I've worked for. Because. They're also trying to be the change they want to see. You know, they're not being better people, being good to the fans, being exactly being good to the talent like like recognizing that that. And let me I'll say on the record right now.
00:48:20
Speaker
If there are any other wrestlers, any fans listening that are at a show with KOBK members on it, and you have an issue, come to us. Come to us. Because we'll make sure that shit stops. And I think that wrestling needs more of that.
00:48:42
Speaker
You guys are like the enforcers of pro wrestling. Hey, you know what? You said it. I didn't. I want to see more KOBK like team up matches. So that's me. Hey, you know what? Me too.
Future Goals and Wrestling Insights
00:49:02
Speaker
I'd like to see a Survivor Series type match like.
00:49:07
Speaker
Uh, you know, uh, you know, some sort of five on five. That'd be cool. That'd be real cool. That'd be damn cool. KOBK just great for merch too. It's just great for mercy. Yeah. Cause you just fucking it's killer be killed. Like, like it is exactly what it is. We're not going like.
00:49:28
Speaker
We're not going out to the ring. I'm either going out to win or you're going to have to murk me. Like I'm either winning this match or I'm passing out. Like that's it. It's full bore foot on the floor. Like just.
00:49:50
Speaker
Yeah, I can hear that the transmissions broke. Yeah, I can absolutely hear that this transmission's broke. I don't care. I don't care. I'm right until the fucking wheels fall off. Do you have anybody that you're hoping to wrestle this year? What are your goals for 2020? What are your New Year's resolutions, bud? What are my wrestling New Year's resolutions? My resolutions.
00:50:17
Speaker
My resolutions, my resolutions. I've been looking. I mean, I mentioned the one about Jesse, but but other ones are I've been looking at you, O'Shea Edwards. Holy shit. Looking directly at you, O'Shea Edwards. This is me fucking around. I think that I think that you remember that. I think that you remember when I was telling you that I wanted to fuck around to find out.
00:50:45
Speaker
So, O'Shea Edwards. Jeremiah Plunkett is another person that just seems to be talking about me. And I'd love to have a match with that man. Okay. Reed Bentley, I would like to have a death match with you if you're interested. He says with hard eyes. Yeah.
00:51:13
Speaker
Yeah, I mean. I'm trying to think of Carrie. I said something about my trial by fire. He made it a tweet about my trial by fire and and I responded with bring them out. But the people that he mentioned in that were. Derek Neal. Read Bentley. Cabana man Dan.
00:51:44
Speaker
Uh, O'Shea Edwards and possibly thrash justice. So Matt justice, Jesus Christ. Um, which I would absolutely wrestle every single one of them. Let's do it. Let's do it. I, I haven't, I'm brand new enough in wrestling that I, I guess you could say I haven't gotten my ass beat enough. So come beat my ass if you think you can.
00:52:11
Speaker
You're not ready for Suzuki, but you'll fucking try. I would fucking yeah. Suzuki is absolutely going to murk me. But I'm going to flip him off the entire time. If you just got the right shot in. Yeah, yeah, that's right. Wrestling is a game of seconds. One, two, three. That's all I need. That's all I need.
00:52:42
Speaker
You don't need more than three seconds. So if I can catch you on the right three seconds, that's a W for me. Are you still watching wrestling? Do you still get enjoyment out of tuning into anything or is it more game tape?
00:53:09
Speaker
So I would say that the things that I get, the wrestling I get enjoyment out of now are things that are different than what I used to watch.
00:53:26
Speaker
I've never seen, I've got IWTV and so I watch, I watch a lot of Independents, I watch a lot of shows that my friends are on. What shows should we be checking out right now? I know a lot of listeners do have IWTV. So if none of you have been watching Riptide Wrestling,
00:53:46
Speaker
You really, you're doing yourself a disservice by not watching Riptide Wrestling. It is so much fun. There's no commentary, but it's all shot cinematically and it's fucking amazing. Like, like they've, I mean, they've got to have 12 camera angles for every match and it's just.
00:54:12
Speaker
It's such a good show to watch like that. I get enjoyment out of that because that isn't just wrestling. That is also the look of things, the feel of things. So I can just sit back and be a fan of Riptide. Who are some names on there that Cara noir? Pac has been on.
00:54:38
Speaker
trying to think who else uh travet and his fucking asshole friends um i mean there's i mean there it's right now i'm drawing a blank because but i mean they've had like the besties or have been on there uh sue young has been there it they've got some like
00:55:06
Speaker
established riptide talent but they also bring in people and it's it's so much fun just go watch it just go watch riptide wrestling i'll do it tonight i know i want everybody to watch it so i have things to talk about with other people because i watch a lot of riptide wrestling um i watch a lot of riptide i watch
00:55:30
Speaker
i watch most of the icw shows because again that's friends and stuff but i'm also like very much into just watching icw like i'm very much into the pit fighter stuff i'm very much into the no holds barred stuff it's it's different it's different it the pit fighter stuff specifically feels different it just feels like they've essentially said hey these two gentlemen are gonna have a fight
00:55:58
Speaker
And especially when they're in the bloodshed. Like when they're in, like it's just literally a pit. Yeah, it's just a pit. And they're just going, hey, these two gentlemen are going to have a fight. And we'll see what happens. Don't get me wrong. I like when they have a cage in Florida. Yeah, yeah, yeah. However. That bloodshed though. That bloodshed looks like a place I want to travel to. Yeah, absolutely. I would also like to travel to the bloodshed. Both of us for different reasons.
00:56:29
Speaker
I would like to get my ass kicked and kick ass. Yeah, I watch a lot of the ICW stuff.
00:56:42
Speaker
I, I'm trying to think of what, what like the last couple of shows that I've watched. I've been watching, like I watched all that AEW, uh, I've been watching the impact AEW stuff. Cause it's really fun. Like that's something that I can take myself completely out of because I was fans of the guys that are doing that before I was a wrestler. So I can just kind of, okay, I'm slipping back into fan mode. I'm going to watch AEW stuff. Um.
00:57:10
Speaker
I'm
00:57:28
Speaker
That is a lot for
Impact of COVID and Future Opportunities
00:57:29
Speaker
a fucking show. You're absolutely right. And so that that is. And I don't mean this. I don't mean it as like this isn't a fucking hot take. It's hard to stand out right now. Like even in a pandemic. It is difficult to stand out.
00:57:35
Speaker
not
00:57:49
Speaker
I mean, when I can watch these ICW shows on an IW TV, GCW's charging me 13 bucks for a show that is like nine times out of 10 amazing.
00:58:05
Speaker
Speaking of which, are you going to watch Fight Forever? Oh, fuck yeah. I'm going to stay up 24 hours. Hey, same. I've got to. I've got to. That just seems like something that it's too good to not just do it for the sake of doing it and maybe record throughout.
00:58:22
Speaker
Yep, absolutely. Just pop in and out. Hey, this just happened. You got to get on YouTube and check this out. That's amazing that they're doing that. And what I've also learned through that is how many fucking wrestling podcasts there are. When I see all of them that are sponsoring the show. Like, oh my God. I've got to fucking get out there. Yeah.
00:58:43
Speaker
Well, I mean, I yeah, I intend to watch the I intend to watch the fight forever from wherever I am in the world. But but that's I mean, yeah, the fact that they're going out of their way to make sure that the wrestlers are paid the fact that yes, it has
00:59:05
Speaker
It has affected a lot of people's ability. Now, I can honestly say, like, am I a full-time wrestler? Absolutely. Like, if there's a show, I'm going. Like, if there's a show, if somebody's booking me, I'm going. And I would love for it to be my full-time job. That's the goal, like, to live off wrestling.
00:59:31
Speaker
But there are some people that just haven't been able to make as much money because they are full-time wrestlers. Because, I mean, we shut down for three months. I mean, at least. And then the only shows that were really coming back had limited spots. And it was like. Limited crowd, limited crowd, limited everything. Yeah. So so in all that translates to limited money.
00:59:59
Speaker
And and that makes all the sense in the world because we've got to get through this as the world needs to get through this pandemic. This isn't just a wrestling problem. This is a everyone. This is all of it's everybody's in this and.
01:00:22
Speaker
I just, I'm really happy that, that, that they're doing something for those guys that, that didn't, that did miss out on quite a bit of money this year, you know, that, you know, there, there were people that you at the end of 2019, you thought this is their year that the next year is their year. And some of those people didn't work all year because
01:00:52
Speaker
They were on the cusp. They were on the cusp of being wrestling household names.
01:01:02
Speaker
It just didn't happen because this whole next year it was, hey, we should probably stick to the, uh, uh, as TLC would say, stick to the rivers and lakes that we're used to. Is fight forever taking place from one venue or is it?
01:01:23
Speaker
just I'm not terribly sure it seems like a thing that's been broadcast from around right Philly yeah because you don't want to have as they're starting to release information about it kind of seems like the same ideology as the collective like it is several different shows
01:01:42
Speaker
So my assumption would be now I don't know, but my assumption would be that it's going to be from different venues. I mean, for 24 hours of wrestling, it's got to be boom, boom, boom. Yeah, like unless that's too much fucking broken glass for one place unless they've got one venue and they've got.
01:02:04
Speaker
24 rings which would be kind of cool to see but I don't think that's what the situation is I mean that but that would be
01:02:18
Speaker
I think, I hope that that's. I hope that's the case too. Yeah, I have no idea though. And I just, when I see all the different companies that are getting added into it, it's just getting more and more exciting. And honestly, who spends more money on stuff than pro wrestling fans? So it's time for those fucking fans to throw money just straight at the wrestlers. If you're going to fight forever, buy every piece of merch that you've kind of thought about buying. Yeah.
01:02:47
Speaker
If you're like, ah, that's something that I might want. Just buy it. Like like worst case scenario, you don't like it. And then you just you sell it on Mercury. But yeah, it's definitely one of those things like Fight Forever, something I'm very much looking forward to for as as as a fan. I'm looking forward to Fight Forever for that.
01:03:16
Speaker
Trying to think of the other things that I'm looking very much forward to. There's a match coming up action. I don't know when this is going to get released, but on February 12th, we're going to see Mr. No flinch, Nolan Edward verse. Anthony Henry, one half of the workhorsemen. And did I see that was his last independent last independent match because apparently he's got a report to somewhere.
01:03:46
Speaker
And. But but. I think that that I think that that match is. Going to be. Something special, like as a fan, this is something as a fan, OK?
01:04:10
Speaker
So I'm never going to have a completely unbiased opinion. But if I can access the most out of my unbiased opinion, I think that match is going to be something special. I think that that match I think that match is going to be something special for both of them. Because. You know, Anthony's last independent pro wrestling match.
01:04:41
Speaker
and just another match for Nolan Edward.
01:04:47
Speaker
but no one hasn't forgotten that it's Anthony's last match. Man, there's just something in the air there that I cannot wait to see. Honestly, I am excited for the whole KOBK cruise 2021 at this point. It's same. It's fucking same. Yeah, yeah, fucking same. We're fucking out here doing the wrestles.
01:05:14
Speaker
Well, thanks for coming by, man. I saw that we've been going over an hour, like it's probably about time. Hell yeah. Now we can just drink white clothes. Yes. Yes. The part that we've been waiting for all night. Absolutely. Well, seriously, thanks for coming by. I hope you stop by again and we'll do this.
01:05:35
Speaker
Absolutely. We'll drink white clothes, chat wrestling. Maybe maybe we can do like a watch along or something sometime. Sounds great. We can. Hey, you know what? Maybe maybe we could do like we could even do a watch along with one of my matches and then that way we could like I can break it down in real time.
01:05:53
Speaker
Perfect. Let's do that. All right. All right, everybody. Thanks for tuning in. I never do anything with our social medias. Derek was always in charge of that. But if you want to follow us on Twitter, we're at WrestleHangout.
Podcast Wrap-up
01:06:08
Speaker
We're at Predetermined Podcasts on Instagram. I am at Gartet on social media. Do you want to plug anything? Oh, yeah, absolutely. On Twitter, I am at Hard Way Heater.
01:06:19
Speaker
That is H. A. R. D. W. A. Y. H. E. E. T. E. R. I'm on Instagram as hard way heater and you guys can't have my personal accounts because I'm a selfish bitch. That's fine. Get on I. W. TV. Find hard way heater matches.
01:06:44
Speaker
Also, yeah, watch out for content coming through IWTV. I may or may not be on some shows coming up. Who knows? I'm everywhere and nowhere at the same time. New matches being added all the time on IWTV. Not sponsored. It's just promoting a good thing. Promoting a good thing. All right, everybody, thanks for tuning in. Hit our goddamn music.