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Episode 96: The Lost Episode
51 Plays6 years ago
This week we uncovered a lost episode we recorded All Out weekend in our hotel room before GCW's 2 Cups Stuffed. A lot of White Claws were consumed in the recording of this podcast. Also we are joined by our friend Neal who tells us about attending a historic pay per view alone when he was 12!
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Transcript
Introduction and Condolences
00:00:00
Speaker
Hey everybody, welcome to another episode of Predetermined. I'm your host, Garrett Callender. Unfortunately, Derek Halpin can't be here today. His grandmother passed away, so I want to send my deepest condolences to Derek and his family. And if you're on social media, please, Derek's at Halloween Halpin. Send him your love. He needs it right now. Though, I do know that he was tuned into AEW tonight, and he said that opening match did bring a smile to his face.
00:00:30
Speaker
but I think you'd like to hear some love from you.
Unaired Episode Introduction
00:00:33
Speaker
But let's see, I'm here by myself and I am not doing a Bill Burr style podcast. I don't have that in me and the idea of that is so anxiety inducing. And we just talked about that last week, don't wanna bring that back. So what I'm gonna do is we actually have an unaired episode. We unearthed this, I found it, unearthed it from the hard drive.
00:00:56
Speaker
We recorded this when we were in Chicago or Hoffman Estates for All Out. And this would have been right before we went to Two Cups Stuffed. So this is deep in a time that we're talking about white claws and Hobbs and Shaw. But also, we're interviewing our good buddy Neil. And this is, damn, I couldn't remember what we had listened or talked about on this. I just went back and listened.
00:01:23
Speaker
This is a good fucking episode, so don't sleep on this one. You should check this one out. Don't be like, oh man, this isn't gonna be fresh. There's good stories. There's things that, you know, aren't about right now and what's happening, which I hear there's another Saudi Arabia show. Jesus Christ, what the fuck's going on with Tessa Blanchard? But you know what? We'll discuss that at a later date, because I'm not gonna sit here and ramble.
00:01:47
Speaker
Well, I might. I've already done it for a couple minutes. But hey, enjoy this. We will be back next week, or at least I'll be back. I'll find a guest. And business as usual, but for real. Derek, send my love to you. Hope you feel better, brother. And enjoy the episode.
Guest Neil and Podcast Planning
00:02:07
Speaker
Hey everybody, welcome to another episode of Predetermined Pro Wrestling Hangout. I'm Macho Man Randy Savage, and today we've got a little bit of a special episode. What do you want me to fucking say, Garrett? I'm not actually fucking Macho Man. I did the best I could for as long as I could. Yeah, this seems like something you probably should have planned that out a little more, but I didn't give you the opportunity. You fucking, yeah, no, not really. You know, I'm jumping in immediately to say that I had, I'm fully responsible for that.
00:02:34
Speaker
Yeah. We have a very special guest with us, a listener, a loyal listener of the podcast today. We're going to be conducting something of an interview to get a story from when he was a youngling. Garrett, will you introduce our guest today, please? Do you want your last name said? Also, I've never heard your last name pronounced or said it myself. That was his very subtle way of getting it around, fucking that up.
00:03:00
Speaker
Yeah, that's me saying like, I know your last name starts with a V, but I don't think you've ever said it out loud to me. That's kind of like how West Coast correspondent John, I said his name, we've known each other for many years at this point. He texts me and is like, just so you know, that's not how you say my last name. Hey, this is, how about good brother Neil? This is good brother Neil. You want your last name said?
00:03:25
Speaker
It is Virchek. Virchek. Virchek. That makes sense. That seems like the exact way it would be pronounced from reading it. But I thought Veron seemed like the way that you would pronounce it. John told me how to pronounce his last name. I don't remember.
Chicago Plans and Wrestling Events
00:03:40
Speaker
Virchek. It's pronounced Virchek. Neil. Virchek. See, we're running into the ground. It's like if anybody wants to stalk him.
00:03:49
Speaker
I told you it's the worst chair ever in human history. We're coming live from the Hilton Garden Inn in Hoffman Estates, Chicago, Illinois. What? It's a suburb within a city with the shittiest fucking desk chair. Garrett, what are we here today for and what are we doing? Because we are moments away. Moments. Mere moments. Seconds.
00:04:16
Speaker
hours. A lot of seconds. A lot of seconds.
Friendship Through Wrestling
00:04:19
Speaker
One hour. It's not a lie. Minutes. Yeah. 60 of them. About 60 of them. We're making a decision. We're going to GCW's two cups stuffed but we are here for all out which is tomorrow night and we're just kind of recording this weekend. We uh Neil, I'm not gonna lie. I don't know when this is coming out. We're gonna record a bunch of stuff and at some point, this episode is just going to appear and you're gonna be on it and I can give you a heads up if you want or it can just be a surprise.
00:04:46
Speaker
awesome yeah let me know yeah you will know the exact moment but as far as i can tell you are not actually bouncing at all on the fucking thing when you talk so like right here oh there we go there we go there we go thanks for catching that i like to pay attention hello everyone yeah where did we meet i'm trying to remember how exactly we met we met at dojo pro shit you're right we met at dojo pro on my birthday
00:05:13
Speaker
Yes. Was that that special show that Bailey was at? It was. It was. Goddamn, I am here for the Deets. Because she was dating one of the... Wheeler Yuda? No, it was... Alex is in the corner shaking his head no, like, Bailey would never fuck Wheeler Yuda. No one fucks Wheeler Yuda. Aaron Solo. That's who it was. Country singer Aaron Neville.
00:05:40
Speaker
Aaron Solo. Adrian Neville. Are they still, are they still together? As far as I know, they are. I like that I look, we brought Neil on for all of the Bayley relationship information. But no, we met at that. And then I think we met up again in New Orleans for mania 34. And that's where the friendship just blossomed. You know, when you share a progress show for the first time, that's the first thing we saw together. I mean, other than Dojo Pro.
00:06:10
Speaker
We spent many hours at the Pontchartrain Center that weekend until the wee hours of the morning. Let me for a moment step in here because this is because we were looking at each other's eyes and you were getting ignored. I'm sorry. I actually want to put your friendship over because if I may for a minute, we had this conversation earlier today. You can share a room.
00:06:31
Speaker
full of pro wrestling fans and you're all like, yeah, we all have something in common, but not every single one of those people is somebody that you want to hang out with when you're not at the show, right? Are you telling me that not all wrestling fans are created equal in the hang?
00:06:48
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, there's a few of those. I'm just letting you know that the fact that you were friends with Neil beyond the show, that's a good thing. That makes it special. Hey, let's bump mics. Gingerly touched you. Now I'm a little jealous.
White Claws and Wrestling Culture
00:07:05
Speaker
Now I've actually reverted back to being a little jealous. You and I have never had the opportunity to touch mics. Oh, but we will tonight, little buddy. Oh, just so everyone knows, we do have one. Two queens and a king.
00:07:17
Speaker
It depends on if we can get Effie to get over here. Yeah, I would love to get Effie in this bed and interview him. God, that'd be gold. If we're just both shirtless, hey, Neil, I'm going to be completely honest with you about something that happened in this hotel room a little earlier, because I had a few white claws in me.
00:07:33
Speaker
okay i did do a nude photo shoot in here modeling the white claws where they are covering my penis like the title is covering sean michael's uh penis and the playgirl the infamous playgirl yeah okay we did my own little playgirl shooting here and uh i'm thinking about starting a patreon and people can get these photos if
00:07:57
Speaker
I honestly wasn't sure if this was real or not but I am now being showed the photo evidence here. This is 100% legit, people. Describe what you see.
00:08:09
Speaker
I see a wonderfully hairy man. Perfect with man boobs. Yup. Fat rolls. Yup. It's right up there with the creation of a white claw. It is not a flattering photo. I disagree. Own it. Own it, baby. Own it. Can we make that the background of Alex's phone?
00:08:33
Speaker
That's gonna be your screen. That's his punishment. I sent those photos to my wife and then she said, why is it when you're with your friends you're always disgusting? And what did Derek say to you from across the room? Or to her technically. I mouthed the words, well you married it.
00:08:59
Speaker
She'll never listen to this, so I'm not worried. Wait, okay, Alex, you're making a real face over here. You just had a sip of that white claw. You had a black cherry, which is traditionally everyone's favorite flavor, and you're being a real dick about it, so let's go ahead and just get a little review there. I think I'd rather drink gasoline. That's a lie. That is a lie. That's not true. Talk to my Uncle Jeff. If you were gonna eat that, if you were gonna be a sourpuss about it, you might as well have grabbed a ruby red grapefruit or whatever the fuck it is, because... Yeah, if you're gonna waste them, then you drink the shitty ones.
00:09:35
Speaker
Only five percent third sip there. Yeah, I think he's warming up to it. Watch this. He is making a show right now. By the end of this podcast, I'm going to have him listening to Carly Rae Jepsen. We are a very specific demographic of the pro wrestling fan base where we're pushing White Claw and Carly Rae.
00:09:57
Speaker
Yeah, this is probably the least relatable wrestling podcast to most listeners. That should be our new fucking tagline. You won't relate to it, but you might like it. We're pushing a Jason Statham movie that's like 20 years old.
00:10:14
Speaker
What do I like this week and what wrestling did I watch? Anyways, Neil's here. Yeah. And I remember you told me a story and I think I remembered it completely incorrectly. In my head, you ran away from home and this was a very rogue tale, but I think it still is.
Neil's Early Wrestling Adventures
00:10:32
Speaker
Since Neil is our guest, I think he needs to do something that we would be really good hosts to let him do, which is to allow him to, you know,
00:10:44
Speaker
Hit our goddamn music.
00:11:20
Speaker
And we're back. Yeah, that one went almost 10 minutes without an intro. I just wanted to. Good catch. Hey, this is. I do think that's the thing we should let our guests do. We do it all the time. I think we're numb to it. That kind of power. Some people don't want to say it. I don't. Really? Who are some people? I bet Stone Cold Steve. He would say it. He would definitely. He would not be on this, though. He would definitely not have a white claw. Yes, he would. Yeah. Are you telling? Hey, Steve would drink a white claw.
00:11:49
Speaker
Stone cold would not drink a pussy ass white cloth. Although, did you see that Buzzfeed thing where he just hit it three times? There's nothing else to drink in this damn house. There is Coors. That was a choice. That was a definite choice. Coors ain't much better either. I don't give a shit. Yeah, so you chose something that tasted like cherries instead of mountain breeze. You know how they fill up Coors cans? They sit them next to the urinal and have people pissing them. That is not true and it would be super inefficient.
00:12:21
Speaker
He just gave you a scientific argument. How many cans could you fill on a production line? Am I drank enough? Neil! You were 12 years old. I was 12.
00:12:36
Speaker
what happened you have a you have a story of an adventure that relates Derek is describing once again i feel like i'm trying to grab the steering wheel to get us back on track because Neil is here to tell us a tale we just want to talk about fucking pussy ass alcoholic beverages
00:12:56
Speaker
Well, we're still in the first 10 minutes of the show, though, and that's where we do this. It is a running tradition lately to just talk about White Claws. I understand, but this is special. We have a guest, and I want to hear this story, because I haven't heard the story. You have Neil as a young man. Just fucking let him do it. Neil!
00:13:18
Speaker
Yes. I can say it! All right. I was 12 years old and No Mercy 99 was coming to the Gundarina in Cleveland, Ohio. I knew damn well that my parents was not going to let me go to that because pay-per-views run on Sundays and Monday is a school day.
00:13:35
Speaker
I know, tell me about it. But I had a grand scheme plan and this is what it was. I am going to tell my parents that I am staying at one of my friend's house, Kyle. Shout out to you if you listen to this, we probably don't, but I use you for this.
00:13:52
Speaker
What does Kyle do now? Does Kyle like wrestling? I honestly have no idea. He did like wrestling then, but who knows now? Probably been about 19 years now. Fuck you Kyle. Fuck you for not staying in contact with me. Thought we were better than that. Anyways, I'm gonna grab the steering wheel and bring this back now.
00:14:17
Speaker
Told my parents I'm staying at Kyle's house and decided to hop on the RTA right down to the Gund Arena, buy a ticket right on spot, and sit right there on the lower level for the first ever ladder match between Edge and Christian and the Hardy Boys. That's nuts. Also, it's crazy that you were able to just walk up to the box office and be like, hello, one child, please.
00:14:45
Speaker
Still have the ticket stub to this day as well. I love that Honestly, that's one that would be like a dream to get signed like that Oh, yeah that shit to star cast and like gotten some some Dudley and some edging Chris Well shit Christian was supposed to be there last year and then being somebody couldn't go I don't know if he canceled or what the deal was but Yeah, you canceled the first year like we did the third day. We're saying so you can't fire us. We quit. Yeah Neil
00:15:14
Speaker
You got your fucking, what, kids ticket? Whatever? Yep. It's not a- I mean it's a regular ticket, I- But he did it as a- How old? I did it. I was 12 years old. That is outrageous! You weren't even a team! Oh, I know. Were there scary people on the bus? I probably would have been afraid, like in the movie Big. Oh yeah, but I was one track mind. I was- there was nothing stopping me from going to the show. You're brave. Did you never have a moment where you were like, oh man, maybe I'm in over my head?
00:15:40
Speaker
I'm sure at that time I felt that. I was a supple little boy. I would have been crying for good now. I was not missing Edge and Christian versus the Hardys in the first Everlander match. And what's crazy though is you had, were they advertising that like this was built up to be a big deal at the time or was? I remember like the raw leading up to this. We were doing this. It was the
00:16:05
Speaker
What was the T.I.T., the Terry Invitational Tournament? They named him Matt. So this is what was on the line here. They had a bag of money hanging from- I remember this. And whoever got that bag of money won Terry's services as a manager. Terry Reynolds was a tit. So we knew who was going to be facing each other as of that raw prior to No Mercy. Okay.
00:16:33
Speaker
Okay, it's just crazy. Did WWE frequently do ladder matches up till that point, but just not to that level?
00:16:41
Speaker
I don't remember it being done very often. So everyone talks about the start of it being Razor Ramon versus Shawn Michaels, but that was something that Brett had apparently pushed for for a while. Brett Hart, sorry, I talked about him like I fucking knew him. He had been pushing to do one of those for a while and eventually they did it with Scott and Shawn and they fucking tore the house down and they did a rematch at SummerSlam.
00:17:06
Speaker
Apparently, a lot of people were impacted by that, but they didn't do much with it for years, really. It really wasn't like a thing for like another what, like another almost decade before they started doing that on the reg. I mean, the attitude era was a different era altogether because they started breaking up gimmick matches basically every fucking night. But the latter match was one I do not remember seeing very often, though.
00:17:29
Speaker
The only reason I mention it is because I remember listening to Bruce Pritchard's podcast where he was talking about how frequently after they started letting the Hardys, the Dudley's, and Ej and Christian do that, they started relying on that. Like every other paper, you're like, yeah, guys, just go out there and fucking ruin your bodies. Because it's an easy fucking pop. And it was, but they never had a bad match.
00:17:52
Speaker
thing is that that formula of go out there and kill yourselves still works. I mean it is the main it might be the main event tomorrow. I'm pretty sure that was GCW's original **** foundation, right? Yeah. I mean we're seeing a **** ladder match tonight.
00:18:09
Speaker
It's a we're actually seeing a DLC match. Oh the doors ladders doors ladders shares. Okay cheaper And I think we got uh, fuck and I think this is the one with like alex zane and blake christian So we're gonna see some like real flippy shit in this one. It's gonna be gross We don't know when this episode is gonna drop. So this time relevant shit to the show that we're seeing tonight really doesn't always on fight tv Always buying it you can watch it anytime
00:18:33
Speaker
What's the name of the show Garrett two cups stuffed? Yeah, you can maybe see us. We'll be front row That's how I draw attention back to you Neil I can't fucking because I can't remember how fucking old I was when I went to my first show I was a
00:18:53
Speaker
I want to say, is this your first show? Oh, no. OK. Oh, no, I'd already been going to ECW shows and everything. What? Oh, yeah. This is where we really have some stuff to talk about. I don't know if I've ever met if I know anyone personally until now that was an ECW guy or like a regular at the arena.
00:19:14
Speaker
This is a whole fucking psychological wormhole I want to go down. A rabbit hole. Does starting with ECW as a kid kind of skew what you expect out of pro wrestling a little bit? Well, it wasn't what I started with, but once I found it, I knew that was my jam.
00:19:34
Speaker
Like who is your guy at that point? And also what age are you? I mean, if you're 12 at no mercy, what, how old are you at ECW watching wrestling? And who was taking you? I love Shane Douglas. I love the triple threat. Really? Bam, bam. Chris Candido. Hell yeah. Yeah.
00:19:51
Speaker
God damn, I remember the summer of 1999, not too long after you, Garrett, my friend. That same summer that Woodstock 99 happened and went biscuit ruined everything? Yeah. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. You had your appendix removed before me, and then a few months later. A few minutes, apparently, because I'm a little slurred. A little poser. You just wanted to copy me and get yours taken out, too.
00:20:19
Speaker
It was the thing to do in the summer of 99. Get that appendix out, baby. Also, I don't think I've ever told this, but I remember the night I got my appendix taken out, Monday night, I was furious. I was furious that they were putting me under for this because it was the night the ministry joined the corporation. Also, we have people under us. You can't stop. I don't give a shit about those people. They're not coming up here.
00:20:44
Speaker
Oh, you act like, oh no. He has ECW. No, I want to talk about because here was my first experience. You know how I first became aware of ECW? Had nothing to do with the fucking wrestling.
00:20:57
Speaker
My stepdad, Bruce, to make me feel better for being in the hospital, for getting my appendix removed, brought me a stack, a fat fucking stack of pro wrestling magazines. And I was introduced to a woman called Francine. And there was a pictorial in there that fucking took me through puberty in about 13 seconds. I met Francine, still have an autographed
00:21:26
Speaker
Just so you know, Derek just moved to sit closer to Neil, like, and his legs spread apart a little bit, groin pointing at him like a... The legs spreading had nothing to do with Neil. He means business. It had everything to do with Francine. 12 year old Neil met her. That was how I was like, where the fuck is Francine? I have not seen her in WCW or WWF.
00:21:49
Speaker
Oh, extreme championship wrestling. What the fuck is that? That was my introduction to ECW. And then they had a game on the Dreamcast. That was the next time I heard ECW. I just always found it interesting. I never get to have the conversation with somebody who watched ECW regularly. So we'll get back into your no mercy thing. But I just like interesting question. Is it weird?
00:22:17
Speaker
getting introduced to that much violence before you're even a fucking teen?
00:22:24
Speaker
I mean, no, because we were already watching UFC regularly and the attitude era was pretty much for us. Yeah. So at that point, it was really just maybe just another step further from what we were already seeing on WWF television and WCW at that time. And, you know, again, with the watching UFC and MMA at that time as well, we we we were no stranger to the to the violence, actually.
00:22:52
Speaker
My best friend at the at the time, his mother was dating a cop and he would confiscate illegal cable boxes and he'd bring them back to the place that they were staying. So we would get all the pay per views. We'd get all the WCW, all the WWF, all the UFC and ECW once that became a thing.
00:23:13
Speaker
So we were just all in on wrestling. See, I never got we had the hook up until they came to video and I got to run them at the video store. And it was like, what, at that point, like five months ago. So we were watching Nitros that were up to date, but you were watching pay peruse from five months ago. Yes. You didn't even try the scrambled deal. We didn't have different things. Yes. We didn't even. Hey, I would do that with wrestling, too. Once Joe moved away, I had no choice.
00:23:45
Speaker
So ECW Arena, like what is the vibe in there like? Have you been able to go somewhere that matches that again or? I have never been to ECW Arena. I would only catch it when they come to Cleveland. OK, OK, OK. I actually don't know that I knew that ECW was touring. I thought they did. They did. But they but they played obviously like play like they're a band. They went to smaller venues in the cities like they like they basically did what GCW is kind of do it now. They would pick out like a smaller
00:24:14
Speaker
concert venues, like I, they played, they would go to the Agora in Cleveland, which is 2,000 people. Okay, okay, I can't really go to Chicago, but it wasn't like someplace downtown or anything. I mean, I have to imagine though, there's still a vibe at an ECW show where if it's that time period and that is your favorite thing and you know enough about it that you're traveling, you're going to a place to see it, you're probably pretty wild. Yeah.
00:24:40
Speaker
do you have any like memories from that like just matches that you're like this is one of the best things I remember from this so I don't really remember many matches I only went to two events back then but
00:24:54
Speaker
I've got a pretty interesting story about Bubba Ray Dudley. Oh shit. Alex is clapping like he knows this one. So after one of these shows, some of the guys were out back where we were parked and I'm walking by and I notice, oh my god, that's Bubba Ray Dudley. And I went up and I was like, hey man, nice to meet you. I'm a big fan. And he told me to fuck off, kid. Fair enough, sir. I'll be on my way.
00:25:24
Speaker
See, a man told a 12-year-old boy to fuck off, and you remembered that forever. Oh, yeah. At the time, were you like hurt a little bit, or were you like, no, he wasn't hurt. No. If an adult tells you as a kid to fuck off. I was a huge pussy, though. I probably would have cried.
00:25:47
Speaker
Also, he's huge. I mean, I was a little upset that he wasn't like, you know, thanks or whatever. Didn't want to sign me an autograph or whatever. But it still is pretty cool that Bubba Ray Dudley was like, fuck off, kid. Like you got heal Bubba that night. Oh, yeah. Well, that was that was who he was. Oh, man. I've seen Heatwave 99 that promo. Yes. I'll tell you the truth. I called him out on Twitter last year and I was scared shitless when I did it.
00:26:14
Speaker
Is he the first person you've been afraid on the other side of the keyboard? Yeah, I said tweet. I'm like I'm probably guess what bitch your computer has a virus now Neil go back to your story. So you fucking Took a bus to go see the very was the first was ladder It was the first ladder match between edge and Christian and the hardy boys. Oh
00:26:41
Speaker
And you were 12 and you were sitting there by yourself? Yes, went by myself.
00:26:47
Speaker
Where were were you sitting in lower level, you said? I was sitting lower level. Where did the fuck did you get money for a lower level ticket during the peak of the fucking attitude era to see that? Like what what what were you doing? OK, so my grandpa lived next door to me and I would always cut his lawn and he would take care of me very well. Hell yeah. So I always had money to go to little concerts or wrestling events. And yeah, what was your first concert?
00:27:25
Speaker
I told my, this is another funny one, I told my parents it was a skateboarding competition that they were dropping me off. You weren't 100% wrong. Just left out about, what, 90% of it. But I didn't lie at all. Fans makes the shoes that skateboarders wear. Steve Cavalera was doing the half pipe there. So there was skateboarding. There just was a whole bunch of other shit happening too.
00:27:39
Speaker
Warped Tour 98.
00:27:47
Speaker
Have you had any other experiences where like meeting a hero didn't go well or like have you met other heroes and they were what you wanted them to be? Nothing's really ringing a bell to be completely honest. Nick Gage was cool. Nick Gage was as sweet as pie. I know he doesn't want me to say that on this podcast, but he's sweet.
00:28:10
Speaker
day on Twitter I see people that are at starcast today posting I went and met Nick Gage and the dudes the sweetest fucking guy I had to make the comment so you guys have never been a Logan Square auditorium before it's I think it's supposed to be like a like a ballroom right it's a yeah originally a ball so there's a balcony and during the show all of the boys and I put that in air quotes air quotes
00:28:33
Speaker
they hang out up there in the balcony watching the show. We notice about two matches in that Nick Gage is suddenly at AAW and he's watching the show and I lean over to Garrett and I'm like, I love this venue, but here's kind of my one problem with the venue. I get more interested in seeing how they react to everything in the ring and I got so fascinated with what Nick Gage cared about that was happening during matches where he'd be like,
00:29:02
Speaker
Yeah, and he would like nod his head or fucking like raise a drink or like, it was just like, you're right, he probably is like a fucking really nice, in the meantime, he's also scary as shit and that's kind of his gimmick, right? Where you put him up against somebody like, oh, that guy is gonna die. You have to go talk to him tonight.
00:29:21
Speaker
I don't have to do anything. I want you to go over and be like, this is insane. Like even I know you like you've seen some Nick Gage matches. Tell him about the time you saw him here and just tell him that you enjoyed it. His face will light up and he is such a nice fucking dude. And we'll just check your goal. If I get the opportunity, I'll do it. He'll be by a merch stand at some point tonight. Like he's I don't know. He's just one of the weirdest ones to meet to me because he is the exact he's the exact opposite of how he looks.
00:29:47
Speaker
he genuinely seems like he's appreciative of his fans. Absolutely. Absolutely. Like even after working in wrestling for a long he's still a fan. Like you do you get the vibe that like it still blows his mind that people give a shit. Like I think yes. Like I think he he truly appreciates that you enjoyed something he's done. That's cool. And that's and enjoyed it enough to come over and tell him about it. And he does kind of have
00:30:14
Speaker
Can you name another person, like he's kind of cornered the market on people that you're still a little bit scared of, like shoot scared of? Like Bruiser Brody used to have the fucking corner on that market. That's true. Where he would enter the fucking stands and people would fucking run. Well that one of the most enjoyable things about GCW being in Japan over the weekend was seeing all the pictures of little kids in schlack.
00:30:38
Speaker
like him holding little japanese kids on his shoulders and they just fucking loved him over there and he's just covered in tattoos missing his teeth like to me schlack looks scary as shit but the fact that marcus cranes willing to take that needle to the face makes me more afraid of him but made me scream it does apparently have a lower volume because you don't know how to do the master volume on our fucking episode i i know how it's just i didn't
00:31:01
Speaker
Neil, what do you remember from sitting in your seat watching this fucking ladder match? Answer that for me, please. And then was there a moment in the next two years where you're like, oh shit, that thing that I saw was really special, especially when they did that, what, WrestleMania 16? It was a triple threat then, wasn't it?
00:31:25
Speaker
But they did a match at WrestleMania 17, but they also did one at 16 in Anaheim that I think was just a straight up ladder match that also involved tables? What do you remember from the show and what did it ultimately mean to you later in the next couple of years? I remember watching that match and just every spot was just one was better than the next. I mean, it just kept getting better and better.
00:31:55
Speaker
It did kind of hit me right then when I was watching like this is this is not like the rest of the stuff that's on this card. Yeah, this is this is going to be huge. This is a stunt show. This is this is new. This is different. And this is this is next. You could probably tell in the crowd. Yeah. Absolutely. I had to have been nuts. It was everybody was popping for everything. And you can tell everybody was on the edge of their seat.
00:32:19
Speaker
I think everybody pretty much knew right then and there, like, this is special. Does that overshadow the rest of the show? I mean, that's the one that everybody remembers. Absolutely. And this is the same show that China beat Jeff Jarrett for the Intercontinental Championship. Jesus. No shit. Yes, this was Jeff Jarrett's last match in WWF at the time. Do you remember the main event from that night? I believe. That's a very good question.
00:32:46
Speaker
Because if you can't, then you fucking know what sold the show. I think it was Mankind versus Triple H. I think. That's a big match still. I mean, but it's Hunter. But it's it's still a Triple H match going on after a fucking ladder match. Oh, yeah. There's no amount of Mick Foley that can make him. More exciting. No, I don't. He's I like Triple H. But so what what point in what age did you raise? Oh, shit, I was there for the beginning.
00:33:16
Speaker
it probably didn't hit me until another maybe 10 years afterwards when even well after 17 and everything oh yeah once the nostalgia from that era started to kind of pop back up it was like wow I was at that match that was the first one that kind of started everything
00:33:34
Speaker
I think that you and I have had this conversation a couple times where we've talked about like if you were going to grab somebody who is not familiar with professional wrestling or doesn't like give a shit and you wanted to entertain them with one or two matches, which one would you start with? And you and I have both consistently said that like the mania 17 TLC match is one you feel like you can suck people in with. It's pretty cool that you got to be there for essentially what was the tune up.
00:34:02
Speaker
the warm up to what all that shit ended up mean for like two years. Do you is that the best of your favorite match you've seen live or do you have a I mean, you've seen a shit ton of wrestling over the years since, obviously. There's two that really stand out. That's one of them. The other one would be Chris Jericho versus Shawn Michaels in the Unsanctioned match that came at Unforgiven 08. Damn.
00:34:27
Speaker
They Michael. I don't think I've ever seen that man. Michael's and Jericho used to had a had several ones. Yeah. That'd be a good one for you guys to do a watch along. Yes, we can do that. I'll leave a review. I'll make sure to leave a review. So you're recommending to all the 12 year olds out there to take a little take a little trip. Actually, you left the first review ever. Did I really show?
00:34:54
Speaker
We should give a very special thank you to Neil. We're getting your name tattooed. And Derek's getting the Kota Abushi haircut. We're getting the Kota Abushi haircut now. God damn. We're going to get his name tattooed on us, but like a tenacious D has the band. Why does your ass say n? Why does yours say ow? It's for our friend Neil.
00:35:19
Speaker
who left the first review on our podcast. I'm going to get Alex's right on my penis. I'm going to tell people that it was yours from our, our just ferocious love affair. And how much you guys enjoyed sharing white claws together. There were always claws present. Claws law. Is it empty?
00:35:41
Speaker
Do you want another? Finish it. Finish it. Do you want more? Want lime? Want to try the lime? No, the grapefruit sucks. A grapefruit kind of sucks. Yeah. Neil, thanks for coming on the podcast telling your story. Thanks for having me. Thanks for the review.
00:36:01
Speaker
What the fuck were we doing when we were 12? We certainly weren't hopping on buses and going to shows. Okay so you actually lived in Cleveland. I did. Like within 10 minutes of downtown. See we grew the closest city for us to travel to do anything like that's two hours. We didn't have the opportunity. There wasn't even a bus we could get on to get there. We would have to get somebody to drive us to like
00:36:24
Speaker
I probably Springfield, Illinois. Well, the thing is, they did run house shows out of Springfield, so we fucking missed out on that. My my parents didn't want to like if it weren't on a weekend, it wasn't going to happen. And even like that's bullshit, too, because your dad took you to Thunder. That's true. Thursday in the middle of the week on a Tuesday. Appreciate that, Dad, Tuesday.
00:36:47
Speaker
Wait, those were, that was Thursday Night Thunder. It was, it aired on Thursday, but it was taped on a Tuesday. You are right, I remember that, holy shit.
00:37:00
Speaker
Derek licked his hand and crotch chopped. Did you actually lick the hand? I did. You sick fuck. I washed my hands before I did it. Before we wrap up, what are you most looking forward to this weekend? Do you have a match this weekend? I know this is going to be old news by the time this is out, but I don't care. This is for me. Mans Warner versus Jerry Lawler.
00:37:21
Speaker
I'm looking forward to that too just because I just saw Jerry Lawler get taken out by fucking Bray Wyatt a couple weeks ago. All of a sudden he got demoted to GCW in theory. Is this going to be your first Jerry Lawler match? Or have you seen Lawler before?
00:37:38
Speaker
I think it is my first, it's not my first Jerry Lawler experience, but it's my first Jerry Lawler match. I was in St. Louis in 2011 in the build to whatever fucking WrestleMania the Rock came back at as a host. And there was a segment in St. Louis where Brian Hebner, not Brian Hebner,
00:37:59
Speaker
Or no, not even Earl. Whatever. Whoever whoever the fuck was. There's a third Hebner, the third Ebner next episode. Who was Jerry Lawler's son? Brian Christopher. Thank you. He was grand master sex.
00:38:15
Speaker
There was a whole angle where he came out on Raw and ran down Jerry, blaming him for his drug addiction and the fucking downfall of his life in St. Louis. And I thought, wow, this is really fucked up and unnecessary for a wrestling storyline. That was the only experience live I've ever had with Jerry Lawler. Fast forward to tonight. He's going up against the eye poke. God. God damn. He's going to go against the guy who's probably going to fucking do some fucked up shit.
00:38:45
Speaker
I don't see a world where Jerry Lawler is gonna blade tonight. Do you? Is Jerry still there? Is Jerry willing to do it that much? Is Jerry still there? I don't know what to expect from this match. The only time I saw him wrestle was in New Orleans. I saw him wrestle Joey Ryan, but it was mostly just a match where he shot him in the dick with a fireball. Oh, that video got a lot of hits.
00:39:09
Speaker
It did. That was a good video for us. I'll ask you this question too because we don't know when we're going to release this. Neil, what are your predictions for AEW? Like in the next year. The reason I asked this because Garrett and I were talking about this earlier, WWE has responded by going head to head with them with whether Vince realizes it or not, their strongest brand.
AEW Future and Wrestling Industry Impact
00:39:31
Speaker
on Wednesday. That's the funny part. He may have just been throwing some shit at them. He doesn't realize that he threw like their best brand at them. What do you think the next year holds for AEW? Wow. Is that hard to predict? It really is. I think it's too early to tell.
00:39:50
Speaker
For some reason, Alex is jacking off the fucking white claw to that question. You know why? Because he's a little buzzed now. Look, his face is a little red. You got a little white claw buzz and you realize hot girl summer's a lot better than you thought. He was looking at the claw like, how did you do this to me? And you're like, God damn it, it tasted... It was fine. No, the thing is, you get one down, the next four tastes so good.
00:40:15
Speaker
It's like any, that's any alcoholic drink. I know. Once you get past the barrier. What kind of can, if they, okay, what, okay, let, hear me out. Why are we suddenly promoting White Claw like they're giving us a fucking sponsorship? I want to, but I have to ask you a question. We will, but you fucking made a scene. You did. You took the jerk off. You threw attention to yourself. Neil should have an issue with you now, because you upstaged him.
00:40:38
Speaker
Okay, let's say it tastes the exact same, but it is presented to you in a black can, no words, just a pentagram. Will you drink that beverage? Yeah, he would. And it's called battle as fuck. Satan's come. Satan's come.
00:41:00
Speaker
You're going man, what if you like you finally meet Satan and you're like, holy shit Satan I've heard so much music about you. I love you so much Have a drink to and then he's he's like, yeah, come sit down with me Alex Let's chat about your favorite tunes and you're so excited to talk to Satan and then he's like, here you go And he hands you a white cloth
00:41:19
Speaker
The grapefruit one. The grapefruit one. And he said, this is my favorite drink. He cracks two open and slides one over to you. As you drink that with Satan, are you able to drink that without making the faces that you did to me? Are you going to jerk off the can at him the same way you just did to Neil? Would you really say that to Satan? You wouldn't just sit there and drink the white claw and talk about Slayer?
00:41:43
Speaker
Be like, Jesus, Satan didn't know you were such a pussy. Yeah. Are you going to say that? The only thing worse would have been if you had a cooler's life. That actually, honestly, he'd be like, and that's why you're here. Neil, Neil, you get to close out this episode however you want. This is your episode. What does that mean? I don't know. Alex jerked off a white claw. We got sidetracked.
00:42:11
Speaker
Usually we end this show by talking about something not wrestling related. We start the show that way, too. Holy shit. Also, I think we have to mention that the four of us are seeing Hobbs and Shaw in the morning. Oh, yeah. Is this your fourth time? This will be my fourth. This will be my first. Oh, my God. Wait a minute. You've seen this fucking movie four times? Not yet. I will. I'm sorry for all the shit I just talked on. Thank you for having the most rational response in the room.
00:42:38
Speaker
To a movie that in three years... I've never seen a movie in theaters more than once. Well, I can't... I mean, I've definitely gone beyond that, but... I've seen Casablanca in theaters like three times. That movie's not even out. Is there anyone in this room that thinks Hobbs and Shaw will not be in the 396 DVD bin at Walmart in three years? Nobody disagrees including the guy who's the biggest proponent.
00:43:04
Speaker
No, this movie is never going below $4.99 on iTunes. On iTunes? No, this movie, it's already, you know how I said it probably wasn't gonna make its money back? It's about to hit $600 million. Oh, baby. That means we're getting more of these shits. And we're throwing some of our money at that tomorrow morning. Oh, yeah. Are you Candyman at the movies? No, I'm a diabetic, so I can't. I feel like I...
00:43:32
Speaker
Well, you owe him an apology. I told him you said that he could end it however he wanted. And then I was like, do you want to talk about a thing you can't have? Neil, is there anything you would like to plug at the end of this episode? Something that's important to your heart as as Alex takes a piss and finally abides by the rule of keeping the door open. It's because it's a number one this time. Didn't stop. I heard all the.
00:43:59
Speaker
I just heard a little bit of white claw go back into the room. Anything you'd like to say to cap off this wonderful episode?
00:44:06
Speaker
Keep listening to Predetermined, a pro wrestling hangout, guys. Neil, we love you. We love you, too. All right. Thanks for the story. Check us out on social media at Predetermined Podcast on Instagram at Wrestle Hangout on Twitter and Facebook. Predetermined Podcast at gmail.com if you want to send us fanfic, erotic fanfiction. Just a nice email, something cool, if you want to send us some music. I don't know. Hit our goddamn music.