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Heeter Takes Japan
74 Plays10 months ago
This week Garrett, Chris and Hardway Heeter all met in Nashville to discuss Heeter's first tour of Japan with Big Japan Pro Wrestling. We're talking Ribera jackets, bribing Swedes, drinking snake juice and more!
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Transcript
Introductions and Casual Start
00:00:34
Speaker
Hey everybody, welcome to another episode of Predetermined at Pro Wrestling Hangout. This week, Garrett Callender, Chris Miggs, Hard Way Heater, all in the same room, sitting on the couches, the way this
Old Couches and Their History
00:00:47
Speaker
show should be. Yeah, yeah this is is this the same couch from the but picture? the Pretty much is.
00:00:53
Speaker
Oh wow, that's actually, that's crazy. I've been listening, talking to you for like six years now and this is the first time I've ever been on this couch. You're on it. I'm on it. You're in Nashville, on the couch. On the couch. And actually, was it you that you brought this up to me earlier that these couches that were sitting on were in my wife's childhood basement. Therefore, my brother-in-law has probably found his way to the basement.
00:01:24
Speaker
No, I'm almost certainly. I'm almost all over these things. Yeah, yeah, yeah. These scutches definitely have been JD'd. Yeah, there's no way not. I mean. Well, because then the danger is like, as well, he's like, you're like, have I? And I'm like, Garrett, I don't need to know that. The joke is made with knowing about your brother. Like, we have the answer here. Leave a little to the imagination.
00:01:54
Speaker
Oh, this is the first time you guys have seen each other's bodies. Yeah. Yeah. In person. Yeah. Yeah. Only only through screen up to this point. What do you think of his legs? Whoever wants the answer. Yeah. Great legs. Yeah. Hey, you know what? You know what? Right back at you. And the torso attached, the head attached to the torso.
00:02:17
Speaker
It's nice to see you in person. it's it's interesting It's interesting to put a real person to the conversations. Yeah. Well, now that we're all here together, we can finally I feel like we've been waiting so long on this
Streaming Service Hack and Filming Memories
00:02:32
Speaker
show. We talked about the build to hardware heater.
00:02:35
Speaker
the streaming service i used to watch heater in japan has been has been hacked and is no longer that's how long it's been it's no longer i can no longer sign up again for nico nico or whatever it was i can't pay my 440 yen to them which actually was never a service and just a japanese pop star after after my matches were on Nico Nico like the the front the facade collapsed and it was just a truck driving away
00:03:07
Speaker
that's what those videoss look like
00:03:11
Speaker
It was legit like they had set up a tripod in the corner and just like Guys guys, do you know what happens in these matches? Like someone's got to be able to turn As a person who was there that's exactly what happened wait Do you think though that Nico Nico was bootlegging a live stream of the show? Like they set up their camera and the big time folks had different cameras but you were on the wrong surface because you don't know. I don't think so. We could sign up for for Big Japan Universe or whatever it is. and
00:03:47
Speaker
Again, as a person over there, I don't remember a single camera person around the ring. There was, I think, only hard cam. Poorly placed only hard cam. Did you make note of it as you walked out where you're like, ah, this is where? Because I don't think you did because I think you wrestled out in the crowd.
00:04:10
Speaker
ah yeah so So I remember I remember paying attention to where the camera was when we were in Sapporo because that was the brightest red light in in the room and so I was like well that has to be the camera and so I turned and did that but then in every other every other show i don't know that i ever knew where the hard cam was but that was also not they like they didn't know like in the meeting before this show they were like hard cams on this side he saw the red light turned was playing to it after the match found out it was actually the robot from rocky four yeah
00:05:00
Speaker
But hey, jokes aside about the hard cam placement, you fucking went to Japan, dude. yeah that That's a big milestone in a professional wrestling career. A thing that I never thought would happen. A thing that like like truly, big I'm just um just a wrestler in Nashville, Tennessee. That's what I am. like I go i go but other places, of course.
00:05:24
Speaker
but But I'm just a wrestler from Nashville, Tennessee that the is just bald enough that blood is like really cool off my head. yeah um And so ah I've told the story once, but if i I think, I don't know, Gary, you even know the story of how the how the whole Japan thing happened.
Madman Pondo's Surprising Offer
00:05:46
Speaker
um The reason I got to go was Madman Pondo. And Madman Pondo,
00:05:53
Speaker
had messaged or had called me on a Friday and I ignored it because I had just gotten booked for a Circle Six show up in Detroit and I knew he was on it. And I'm setting with i'm sitting with Kelly, my wife, on the couch and we're watching Rampage back when I watched Rampage.
00:06:14
Speaker
um religiously and I was like, you know what? I'm not gonna talk to, I'm not gonna talk to, to Pondo right now. I'll call him back tomorrow. I was like, it's date night. We're watching wrestling. It's a date night. And- Beautiful date night, by the way. I think Chris and I might actually both be a little jealous. I don't know how, if I could get my wife to do that. Definitely not Rampage. There's no way. Yeah. Yeah. I guess I guess I guess Saray is on merit. That might she might be like, oh, I remember her from Total Divas. Right. Who's she hanging out with? Who's this weird Australian girl? So I go, I'm not going to answer the phone call. And Kelly goes, what do you think Pondo wants? And I said, he probably needs a ride back from Detroit.
00:07:02
Speaker
And and she goes, well, are you going to answer? No, I'm not. I will call him back tomorrow. I was like, I like I don't I don't want to deal with this right now. Like, I don't like I have already got AJ Gray and Hoodfoot in my car. Like the idea of then throwing. yeah You've reinforced the car already. there's yeah stay You put under to throw Pondo in that car as well. Like just it feels kind of like a nightmare. like And so like I was hoping that, um if I'm being honest, I was hoping that the day of not speaking, he would figure something else out. and My axles can't take these four men. Yeah, yeah it my am my axles or mentals can't take these other three men in this car. um you can't You can't steal, reinforce your brain. Yeah, yeah. i
00:07:58
Speaker
right Exactly. was So, yeah, so ah so Saturday comes, he calls again. I'm in the car with Sean Campbell and Brett Eisen and we're headed to TWE. And I was like, fucking Ponda was calling me again. And I was like, oh, yeah, I was supposed to call him today.
00:08:20
Speaker
And Sean goes, what do you think Pondo's calling you for? And I said, well, we I got booked for that show in Detroit for Circle Six. I was like, I'm sure he's just calling to see if I can give him a ride back.
00:08:31
Speaker
And he was like, well, answer it. And I was like, I'll call him once, so like we get to the venue and like, I can like get my head right. I was like, I'm in the car. And Brett from the front seat goes. Yeah, that he's either calling for a ride or he's trying to take you to Japan. And there was the correct amount of like, of like beat of note, nothing.
00:08:54
Speaker
And then both me and Brett start laughing. and The only reason I know Brett's laughing is because I'm looking directly at him. And I assume Sean's laughing, too. And I was like, there's no way he's calling me about Japan. And so we get to the venue. We start, you know, I start working on the show, whatever. And I'm like, I'll call I'll call him Monday.
00:09:17
Speaker
He doesn't call me on Sunday because he respects the hard way here or doesn't deal with wrestling on Sundays. Right. And the Lord, you know, it's the Lord's Day. Yeah. yeah Yes. You know, devout Christians such as myself. I like to honor the Sabbath. um ah So Monday, I'm at the gym and I get the phone call from him and he or not a phone call. He get a text message and it says, call me right now.
00:09:45
Speaker
And how many days have we ignored Pondo? We are day four, I guess, technically. How many days have you ignored Pondo, Chris? A lot. A lot. A lot more than that, I think. Should have answered the call. I should have answered the call. um And so I get the text that says, call me right now. And and I'm.
00:10:08
Speaker
pre-workout and I'm lifting currently and I read the text message completely fucking wrong and I was like this motherfucker and so I whip out my phone and I was like he wants me to call him I'll call him right now and so I phone rings and and as soon as he picks up and says hello I go what do you need like shitty and he goes Damn brother, I'm trying to book you for Japan. And the quickness of my of my my attitude changed. Sorry, sir, sorry, sir. Oh, I'm so sorry, Mr. Pondo, sir. Was so fast. Because I was just like, this motherfucker, i'm yes, I'll give you a ride back from Detroit. Does he also need a ride back from Detroit? Yeah, yeah, yeah. yeah
00:11:01
Speaker
they Kind of all see the right Yeah, I mean but at that point you don't say no that's a fair trade at that point yeah's bringing something to the table Yeah, yeah you know but like it was like it was very much that like oh Jesus fucking Christ like like how quickly I almost just ruined my chance like But yeah, and it's really that moment in the office when Michael goes down to yell at Daryl and he's like, you idiot. He goes, again. He goes, sir. Yeah, yeah exactly. that That is how I felt when that happened, was is like, oh, I'm the asshole. Like get like this kind man.
00:11:48
Speaker
who carries around skydes and stuff. and Kind man, though, just wants to help you go to Japan with him. Right. But yeah, that's how that's ah that's the story I figured I'd give it to the predetermined audience. You know, it's like like a week and a half there, basically. So I it was 12 days. Yeah. So but about a week and a half. um ah Got there on What would have been? It would have been like the seventh eighth somewhere in there and then came back on like twenty the Came back on 420. You couldn't have done anything about it over there. ah but You would have been the tallest guy in Japanese jail.
00:12:32
Speaker
yeah i would have been the tallest guy in japanese dale i was the tallest guy in most rooms how did that feel i mean you're a pretty tall guy like i feel like a lot of the time you're probably close to the tallest guy in a room it's so the thing that it feels
00:12:50
Speaker
I understand that Japan as a country is not a country built for somebody at six foot three to 220 pounds, specifically and especially every hotel room I was in. Because every hotel room, the shower hit me at about mid chest.
00:13:12
Speaker
Cleaned it. I got the. I got to got the, you know, uh, that's what they say about hardware. He's been paged at one point, had the tightest sits in the game. I got the cleanest sits in the game.
Life at Big Japan Dojo
00:13:34
Speaker
They make you go to like like a Dojo or something when you go like were you just kind of touring to wrestle or was there anything else to it? So we we went um we got to stay we got to stay at the ah Big Japan Dojo for the first two nights and then we like but it wasn't like they They were coming off of a tour already and they were getting ready for this. So it was like rest days. It was this was like the two days that we were there. There was one show, but but this was like their rest period where everybody was staying at home. So it wasn't like a lot of a lot of touring or or dojo work that was going on. But I'm imagining the dojo when you could say I got to stay at the dojo, they were basically like, here's a mat on the floor.
00:14:25
Speaker
so hope okay so ah let me paint a mental picture yeah and okay so you you you you walk up to the big japan dojo and there's two there's one big rollaway door okay like like it's kind of warehouse spacey um And to the left of it is like a human door, like i've a normal human door. um So you walk in and when you first walk in, it's a gym like they have like a weight set up. All of that um directly behind that is a a ring that stays up.
00:15:10
Speaker
the the entire time, I don't know, I truly have no idea how, when the last time that ring has been taken down, because they have a travel ring. Why would they ever take that ring down? um Behind that is shower, and toy showers, no toilet, um and then ah kitchen.
00:15:32
Speaker
kitchen table, TV in there, ah just kind of like common area. And then if you take like about five steps back from the kitchen, you can go up the steepest set of metal stairs that I've ever been on in my entire life um to the, they have like bunks. So it was like, what, two, four, six, eight. There was eight bunks up there.
00:16:01
Speaker
and while i was there there was
00:16:05
Speaker
there was three other ah wrestler stain, like it was, and they were all like from um different places. Like there was a guy from Sweden there, there was a guy from Germany there, there was a there was a Japanese guy there, but I think that he was just kind of like young lion-y type thing for for for big Japan, so. I think the question on both of our minds
00:16:36
Speaker
Did you share a bunk bed with with Necro butcher? I didn't. So I was bottom bunk. Dale above me. Not Pondo. Not not Pondo. Not Pondo. Not Pondo. Dale above me. right ay So we are the we were the furthest. The Dale call it.
00:17:00
Speaker
So what what like what was there a conversation where he's like, I'm getting top. buck No, no, no, no, no. So the conversation because of what what transpired that night. I hope I'm not telling stories. I'm sorry, Dale, if I'm telling stories out of school, I don't listen.
00:17:17
Speaker
You did it. So um we went to Kobayashi's bar that night, like the first night we were in there. but Like I just set my stuff upstairs. That's all I did at the at the dojo. We got off the airplane in Tokyo, drove to the dojo. I dropped my bags and then we immediately went to Kobayashi's bar.
00:17:39
Speaker
um And we drank at Kobayashi's bar a lot. We drank quite a bit. hey um Because Kobayashi wants to show you like hospitality. and And then he made us drink this snake juice stuff that was like, it's just a coiled snake in what I assume is sake.
00:18:05
Speaker
what you hope is what I hope is sake and clear and Kobayashi told us that Americans all Americans who come into my bar have to do one shot of this and and I've already had enough to drink right and I go well then I'm doing too and I say it and I remember Dale going He goes, I'll do too, too. So I don't think that Dale really wanted to do too, but fuck it. I had already said we were doing two. So we're doing two. So we we drink like till, I don't know, midnight, one o'clock. And then we go back. We got ah like a taxi back to the to the.
00:18:50
Speaker
Dojo. We get in there i and then we're like, oh, wait a minute. Like you can buy booze every hour forever in Japan.
00:19:04
Speaker
So let's keep this good time rolling. So we go to the family mark down the street and we end up buying a six pack as of acai and ah and Jack Daniels. And I will say Jack Daniels in Japan certainly does not taste like Jack Daniels in America. Better or worse? Worse. Like it was it like it had like it tasted like old granddad. I don't know if anybody like old granddad is like kind of crap whiskey and it just kind of tastes like crap whiskey. And so like we're drinking it and we're getting like close to the end and like I'm very OK with just stopping.
00:19:55
Speaker
Like like what i I've drank enough, I'm ready to go to bed. And Dale got it in his head that we had to finish the bottle. So Dale got it in his head. And so Dale finished the bottle. It's a good thought, Dale. Granted, it's a pint. It's not a giant. it's not It's not like we're not drinking a handle. like It was a pint. But he finishes the he finishes the bottle.
00:20:24
Speaker
and I know that by the time we got back to the dojo that it was hitting me. So I can only imagine how much it was hitting Dale. And I didn't want to be privy to the the these stressors of getting up the steepest stairwell that I'd ever seen in my entire life. So I walk in the dojo and I immediately up the stairs and I go, I got to get in my bed now.
00:21:00
Speaker
Like, and I saw like, I'll be honest, I saw a plug in and I was like, but but this is I need this. I need a plug in. I need to be able to plug my my all my wares in and and be able to watch the download. Watch New Girl on your phone before you go. to yeah I got to watch. Well, like so because I had to download a bunch of stuff because that was the only way I was going to be able to watch anything because there was no Wi-Fi at the at the dojo, which was very unfortunate.
00:21:29
Speaker
um uh but uh i remember hearing dale i remember hearing the size of a person who was just like i should have just slept in the ring Like that's the only vibe that I was catching from that door. And then he got up the stairs. And I think that like, you know, like when you're not you're not pretending to be asleep, but you're kind of pretend like I was. like You know what? ah I mean, that came in check. Yeah. And I just, you know, just close your eyes real tight. I let the new girl run in. I'm already asleep. You can't wake me up like. And so I remember the sound that Dales made as he was. climbing the tower and And I would have felt bad if it wasn't so funny.
00:22:27
Speaker
yeah Did Kobayashi show up at like five in the morning the next day to make you guys do calisthenics? No Kobayashi I didn't see until we were at uh uh what's the name of that venue uh uh first one or or ring one ring one uh when he showed up at ring one and but my favorite thing that I saw Kobayashi do while I was over there is right before we got on the tour bus to go to Sapporo.
Bunk Bed Anecdote
00:22:58
Speaker
Him and like three other guys from big Japan just pull up on these loaded out scooters. Like they were in full blown like they looked like a moped game. It was amazing.
00:23:16
Speaker
Back to the sound Dale made. um but great yeah You remember the Shane McMahon sound from like many years ago, right? Like Shane hit a guardrail or something was like. Something like that. No, no, no, no, no. What was more is his life? It was more of like it had a debt it had a dad quality to it of like I've been hoisted by my own petard.
00:23:45
Speaker
happy like like like oh heaters already asleep on the bottom bunk which would be very easier to get into with the way that I feel but I'm also not a dick and I'm not gonna make him get up so it was like
00:24:05
Speaker
It was like, it was a lift up and go. And there was somebody in that room, I don't know who, but there was somebody in that room that needed a CPAP machine.
00:24:17
Speaker
I think you know who. I think you know that I know who needed a CPAP machine.
00:24:29
Speaker
It's a Swedish man, isn't it? Yep, yep, you nailed it. Notorious snorers, those Swedes. Oh man, we haven't even gotten you fighting yet. We got you into your bed. Listen, listen. the the The fighting is the least interesting thing that happened in Japan. Like, I mean, it was fun, don't get me wrong, but it is truly the least interesting thing that happened in Japan. Well, except for the part where you're in Necrobutchers last match, probably. Yeah, that also, ah you know what? That's the most interesting thing that happened. Yeah, i I take back what I just said.
00:25:08
Speaker
How surreal, was it you, Pondo, and Butcher on the same team? Yeah. Okay, how, first off, at what point when you walked in there, like that has to be such a surreal moment.
Wrestling with Legends in Japan
00:25:23
Speaker
Like, was there a moment where you kind of took it all in and just thought of yourself as a fan, where you have watched these guys wrestle for years? So, yeah.
00:25:38
Speaker
i
00:25:40
Speaker
i Yes, there there there is that fan aspect of me that remembers back to Necrojo or, in my opinion, Necrodanielson, which is like just a crazy match. where they just ah like Both matches, they just beat the hell out of each other. but like There are those moments where I'm like, I remember Necro. Like, I remember that guy ah for Pondo. It's like I played as Pondo. In a backyard wrestling video game. Yeah, like, yes, too. Yeah, yeah. heing my own bos yeah yeah yeah the Yeah. So like, so like that fan aspect never has went away.
00:26:31
Speaker
Now I say that also going like, Oh, I don't like, like not to get political about any of this, but, but I don't agree at all with anything that I'm just going to use. Necro is my example. I don't agree at all with anything that Necro stands for.
00:26:51
Speaker
But he is the Magabudger. So that is like that weighed on my mind a lot more than anything else if I'm being honest. yeah But there were moments where I like I was able to kind of just shake that and just kind of be in the moment of being like.
00:27:09
Speaker
I'm gonna fucking match with Necro butcher in madman Pondo in Japan. Like this is weird. Like, like, how did I get here? Like, that doesn't feel like a thing that like, that feels like a thing that I could have said in 2010.
00:27:31
Speaker
It's just so bizarre that I mean, when I met you, you had never even stepped in a ring. No, you exactly. We met at a wrestling show and at the beginning of this podcast, really like it was like very early in. Yeah, like you. Like it's just like to peek behind the curtain a little bit, the first time that we hung out, not at a sub show.
00:27:56
Speaker
We watched L.A. Confidential at the apartment. Arquette versus Gage. He came over and watched it on pay-per-view. And and at that show, I still I still smoked cigarettes. And we went outside and smoked a cigarette. And I told you, I was like, I think I'm going to try to be a wrestler.
00:28:18
Speaker
and cut to what? sex and Six, seven, six, seven. Yeah, it's playing team, right? Yeah. And I was like, I think I'm going to try to be a wrestler. And you were like, OK. Like you were you were supportive, but also like where our friendship was just beginning. like Like it wasn't like we'd hung out a few times at sup. And then like, you know, like you you test your friendships. You go like, OK.
00:28:46
Speaker
Like, okay, that works. But are we friends outside of that? You know, and so like it was like the first time that we had done that and I said it like. And then fucking cut to seven years later, I'm in a fucking match in Japan with Necro Butcher and Madman Pondo.
00:29:05
Speaker
his last minute well necro necro butchers last match off of joe wasn't there danielson wasn't there idea right now he now neither one of them were uh it was uh i i don't know if you guys well i mean i know the camera worked there I honestly don't think you're able to see on the video what actually happened. So him and Miyamoto are working on one side of the ring, calling for pile driver, calling for pile driver. Miyamoto gives him a back body drop onto the concrete. And that was the last time that I saw a Necro standing straight up for the duration of me being there.
00:29:50
Speaker
Which is also so crazy because that's a move he must have taken a million times. yeah Right. Absolutely. It's a back body drop. Like it's like you kind of just like it's kind of baked into wrestling. Right. Even on a floor like I mean, he's he's done that. Yeah. Yeah. Right. I've seen him take way more awful bumps from way higher places.
00:30:11
Speaker
Um, but you know, like it just happened and like, you know, like, like again, peek behind the curtain. It was his, he was supposed to be in the ring for the next thing that's going to happen. And I just see a, I just see a bloody hand on the side of the ring. That's all I see. And, and I can hear Pondo going. Going.
00:30:38
Speaker
Necro. And and he's in the ring and he's just done like the thing that he's going to do. Again, again, we're really going to peek behind the curtain on this one. um He's done the thing he's going to do. And I could see that Necro is not getting up. And I see Kobayashi getting in the ring to do the thing that him and Necro were going to do.
00:31:04
Speaker
And I'm like, well, Pondo just did something and he's rolling out of the ring. I think this is on me. yeah So I roll in, I look at Kobayashi is to say like, you'll be dealing with me now.
00:31:26
Speaker
hey
00:31:29
Speaker
And, um,
00:31:33
Speaker
Necro screams have delegated me this job. Yeah, yeah this is now my bailiwick. And and Kobayashi has four tubes in his hand. And I go, well, he's just going to break these over my head and we'll go into whatever the next thing that needs to happen is. And I don't know what I expected, but I didn't expect for him to swing the tubes at me in the way that he did, because instead of bringing them straight up and down, he brought them across my face. Slap fight style. yeah And he hit me, and I remember hitting the mat and going, am I dead? And going, no, I think I'm all right. And then going, there's a lot of glass in that ear.
00:32:30
Speaker
o And then just kind of, you know, like when you got a little bit of water in your ear for in the shower, you just kind of do, you kind of do that number. I did that to get as much of it out that I could. And I was like, all right, well, it's time to do the next thing that we're supposed to do. That is, I mean, we've all been in a position at a job where a coworker
00:32:58
Speaker
I don't know, something happens and you have to pick up some slack. you know You've we've gotten gotten yelled at by a couple clients you know in place of people, you you take you're taking a hit. um No one's ever swung glass at me like that.
00:33:13
Speaker
and you did that to be a bro. Well, actually, I mean, yeah there's no one else. like coworker yeah yeah what i mean I mean, I didn't want to go over to Japan and have bad matches. Okay, so was that your only glass?
00:33:29
Speaker
or did you have a couple so I had cause you had a lot of sparkle boards yeah a lot of sparkle yeah sparkle boards uh yeah it was mostly it was mostly sparkle boards that's nico nico talking yeah yeah um those those boards didn't feel very sparkly when we were hit um um yeah I mean we did like We did like that was the only glass glass match I had. um It was mostly barbed wire boards and ah and then we used gussets quite a bit. Is that a relief? Like if you're going over to Japan like. If you as a deathmatch wrestler.
00:34:15
Speaker
It seems like the aftermath of barbed wire would be easier to deal with. But I don't know. I'm very glad I got glass while I was in Japan. well yeah I mean, because like, like that is like.
00:34:32
Speaker
Like that's the foundation of what I saw to get into deathmatch. Like the the thing that I liked was as like Japanese deathmatch wrestling with glass. And I was very glad that I got ah I got a full blown deathmatch. Like not that I wouldn't call the the barbed wire boards and Gus. It's not deathmatch. It is Gus. It's certainly.
00:34:55
Speaker
Yeah, but those match, I mean, watch I mean, you're they were pretty relatively straightforward matches with kind of like big spots. Yes, right. They were not kind of like complete match start to finish. Right. Which which like that that is why I was like the six man was fun for that reason was because we got to kind of I It was a little bit more like the speed in which I like my death matches to be is is kind of a little bit more chaotic and just kind of if it's there I'm using it. Right. And and so like you're kind of in the in the in the tag matches with the barbed wire boards. You're kind of coming up with things that we can do.
00:35:39
Speaker
Whereas like, Oh, there's just 62 bundles around here. If as we're brawling around and on the outside, if I get my hand on when I'm swinging it, like that was the, so I was glad to have that because I think that that shows off. Like.
00:36:00
Speaker
I really like the matches that I had with Dale as a tag, like from from a structural and from like a baseline of a match standpoint. But it's I also love that six man just because of the sheer chaos, because like it's Kobayashi, it's Io, it's Miyamoto.
00:36:25
Speaker
And so it's like deathmatch, Japanese deathmatch, religions and then me and then Necro Butcher and
Building Anticipation in Matches
00:36:34
Speaker
Madman Ponda. Yeah, like like I i am 100 percent the person in this match that has the least amount of experience in deathmatch. So there is a there was a comfort in like going, oh, I'm going to be fine. Like, yeah.
00:36:51
Speaker
yeah I'm gonna be taking care of it, at least in the best way that you can in deathmatch wrestling. It was kind of interesting watching, or kind of even skimming some of the shows, because I was a little surprised at how it built, right? like You guys, the barbed wire board matches were semi-main events, and it was like, okay, these were relatively straightforward wrestling matches, now we've got boards, now the main event is,
00:37:18
Speaker
an actual straight up death man. yeah Yeah. Just everything. um Yeah, it was. i I will say that that the way that I wish that that was more adopted here as as like because. I was talking to I was talking to Hoodfoot and we were talking about like when you're structuring a show um and.
00:37:43
Speaker
like If you're using glass in the first match, probably you're like it's the line of diminishing results. By the last match, that glass is going to get a whole lot less of a response than it would have if they hadn't seen it the entire time.
00:37:58
Speaker
And so like I do like that way of them building it of like of like regular match regular match regular match. Alright, this will be like there might be a chair or chairs. And then the barbed wire boards and gussets and whatever. And then like you said full blown like tax, everything, like anything that's left in the building is going in that last match. Like that they haven't caviated for something else. So I think that it, and I think that it sets up like the um the anticipation really well for the fans.
00:38:38
Speaker
but but i mean That makes sense because think back to like this last Mania weekend where the main storyline in GCW was a match where somebody was gonna get set on fire. And then, or was that Mania weekend? Actually it might have been while we were in Vegas.
00:38:57
Speaker
yeah then yeah I don't remember if it was earlier in the card or the day before. There's fire spots. I was just thinking that. It's like because it was the Effie and Mance match was the one they built up fire. And then it was they had done. They were doing tournament survival the day before. And the main event had like a fire spot. You're going like.
00:39:20
Speaker
but wait a minute. The whole, that was the build to that thing. And like, I don't want to be like a ah Pollyanna. Like, well, you can't, you know, but like that, I mean, yeah, you could do a little bit of planning and like leave that level for the next day. Yeah. Right. There's, you don't, you don't have to be like, we're only going to do like, like you know, wrist locks for the first. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Like yeah I would say this that like it's the check offs gun theory like like um'm I'll show you that we're I'll show you it in in in the first act. If you use it in the second act then it means nothing in the third. Right.
00:40:00
Speaker
So, yeah, like if you're if if there is if you're is a dedicated, let's call it fire spot, if there's a dedicated fire spot for your main event, then you probably shouldn't use fire for the next for the day before or the rest of that day. Yeah. Yeah.
00:40:18
Speaker
But, you know, that's what that's where I like, like, I think I've talked to you about it. Like, that is why I like going to Japan was so interesting because of how differently wrestling is treated over there.
Respect for Wrestlers in Japan vs. America
00:40:31
Speaker
Like, I felt like a fucking baseball player. Like, that's the only way I can describe it is, is that like, like there is a level of respect.
00:40:41
Speaker
not just from fans, but from both both sides of like of like very much like, it's very carnival here. It's very like, like we're a dirty secret in America. right In Japan, it's respected in a, like in from my experience, which is one tour,
00:41:06
Speaker
let's let's that Let's not get lost on that. um ah But it was very like like, oh no, you guys, not only are you you guys risking your bodies for this, but also like you guys spent money to come here. And I don't want to disappoint you know time out of your day to be here, to be a fan of of this, like
00:41:35
Speaker
Stupid thing that we do like like i mean in Japan. I mean, it's same was here there's a Lot of options. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. They came to you. Yeah Well, especially in like some of these cities like I mean like Tokyo there's I mean you could watch wrestling so much wrestling so incredibly much wrestling Work did they kind of did you get the kind of the the Brody? Scary American treatment So I have my my favorite my favorite like fan interaction was uh there was like we were at uh uh I believe it was a beatsu um and we were in like uh it was like a
00:42:15
Speaker
community center, essentially. And the show's over. ah One of the one of the coolest things about wrestling in Japan is most venues we went to had showers. Hmm. So after our match, we could go shower and I could get, you know, it's not it's not the coma in Nashville where I've got to go. I got to hop in my car and I got to drive to my house to shower.
00:42:41
Speaker
So it was cool to just be able to clean up and then just like, okay, the rest of my night now. Um, but like, so me and Dale, we get changed. We're coming out of the locker room. We're bringing our bags and stuff to load it onto the bus.
00:42:57
Speaker
And there's these two little kids, a lot of lot of children at deathmatch shows in Japan. It was it like crowds 60 percent children. They're just more progressive. Yeah, it was wild. um And so we're walking out and these two kids are playing. And I, assume father I assume I assume. Mm hmm. But they make eye contact with Dale and eyes were coming down the hallway.
00:43:25
Speaker
And and his the dad starts smiling. And and then, like, I can see him looking at his son or who I assume is his son. um This guy might have just been an asshole. Yeah, he might have an asshole that very much so. ah But it's ah awesome but it's yeah either way. Either way, it was awesome. And so um he's just kind of like he keeps looking at me and then looking at the kid, looking at me, looking at the kid.
00:43:52
Speaker
And so I'm like picking up like the nonverbal cues. I'm like, oh, they don't know that you're right behind them. And so Dale and I stop behind behind these two children that are playing. They are not they haven't acknowledged our existence yet.
00:44:10
Speaker
and I get down as low as I can and I grab the beard and I just I just make like noise like just like not not like anything too intimidating just like and then I as soon as the kid turns around I just ah and against space and he he ah He shocked, scared, and and starts immediately like nervous laughing and runs over to this this dad who has now like been over laughing. And and like he gave me like the the the good job. like And I was like, I've never felt more like a professional wrestler in my entire life than I just scared a child for no other reason than I happened to be walking down the hallway.
00:45:02
Speaker
the thing is he's not going to forget that no that's like you're in his memory forever That was his version of like my little kid moment was like Bobby Heenan kind of being an asshole to me at my first show and I thought like that's not nice. And it wasn't until I'm in my 30s that I realized like oh he's a heel. It's a bad man. He's supposed to be being an asshole. Yeah. Yeah. I know like I actually don't even remember what time this started because we had been recording for so long but something I feel like we definitely have to discuss
00:45:39
Speaker
You got the Ribera jacket.
Ribera Jacket Honor
00:45:40
Speaker
I did. Oh, man. What color is it? Silver. Ooh. I got a I got the silver Ribera jacket. I feel like those are the nicest ones. So it's a nice silver. It is a nice silver. um It was, again, a very surreal moment. So ah to go into the backstory of getting to even to Rivera. So we were asked by Pondo Day two. um Because we were going to be in Tokyo for one more day.
00:46:11
Speaker
Um, he said, Hey, um, we got our, we got an option. He said, do we want to go to Mr. Danger Steakhouse or do we want to go to Roberta?
00:46:24
Speaker
Well, as I said, I was a Japanese death match fan. So ah I want to go to Mr. Danger. Like i I want to go see a man who used to set his head on fire. like i yeah Makes sense. And and I was like, I would love to go to Robert. And he was like, we can make that happen later. He was like, but which one is like the one that you really want to like? like And I was like, I really want to go see Mr. Danger.
00:46:49
Speaker
So we go to Mr. Danger, like two days, like they're our second day there, we go get food and like, I watched Mr. Danger cook my steak. How's the steak? Fantastic. Fantastic. Like, like he had this stuff called, uh, called danger soup. It's like a chili. It's like a chili, like, like the meat. I wouldn't say like meat leavings, but like, like.
00:47:14
Speaker
junk meat like he he just like makes a ah broth out of it and then he chilies it and it's got ah corn and carrots and it was delicious corn with every almost every meal that I had love corn love corn in Japan.
00:47:32
Speaker
um But like we had that and ah Like I'm watching him cook my steak. And I was like, this is one of the most surreal moments of my life. I was like, Oh, I'm watching Mr. Danger cook steak. And then I watch him plate it. And then I watched the plate be handed to the server. And then I watched the server bring.
00:47:55
Speaker
the plate to me and I go, wait, Mr. Danger just cooked my steak. Yeah. And so like I was like, this is this is crazy. So we eat the food. um He ends up giving us these. So he made business cards. OK. For Mr. Danger Steakhouse.
00:48:12
Speaker
And on the front of it is just his greatest moments in wrestling as the front and he signs them. And then on the back, it's just a map. it's It's a train map of how to get to Mr. Danger Steakhouse. And I was like, this is the greatest thing that he could have made. He ends up giving us like his how to cook a Mr. Danger Steak t-shirt because, you know,
00:48:34
Speaker
He's I mean, to a certain extent, they're kind of in competition with Ribera, like Mr. Danger is in competition with Ribera. So we end up getting t-shirts. And as we're leaving. um I think that's it. Like, I think hope that like this is the but I could have had a better experience. um We're walking out the door and there's a gentleman over in Japan named say that makes like all wrestling t-shirts essentially like all like the independent era or level of of Japanese wrestling he makes all the t-shirts like he designs them all um and then it's like kind of a ah
00:49:15
Speaker
ah like fashion designer in and of itself, not just of the t-shirts, but in other aspects. And as we're walking out the door say goes like me and I'm just trying to be cool. Like I'm just trying to like maintain my cool, trying to get outside.
00:49:33
Speaker
You've ready to eat the Mr. Danger Steve. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And it was delicious. Yeah. And it was delicious. And I'm like, like, I'm going to hyperventilate if I don't go outside and pretend like the night didn't just happen. That's where I'm at. And we so we're like we get to the outdoor and like me and Dale know like where the train is. So we start taking off to walk towards the train and say goes, hey, hold on just a minute. Mr. Danger said he would like to come take a picture with both of you.
00:50:00
Speaker
And I was like, what? So we end up getting this photo. I think I like how this photo turned out and everything. But like if yeah my internal monologue was losing, I was losing my mind the entire time this is happening. And so me and Dale start walking back towards the train and.
00:50:24
Speaker
Have we already killed Necrobutger at this point? No, no, no, no. Necro's still... I would get it, yeah. Okay. and And me and Dale are walking quite a bit quicker than the other two people that are with us because, you know... Age in. Age in. And we've also seen those Necro matches. Right, exactly. um So, and there was a moment that that Dale just goes, this might be the most surreal night of my life.
00:50:48
Speaker
And I was like, you're absolutely right. It is. it We got back on the train. I was like, I would have been happy if that was my steakhouse. Experience in Japan. We get done with the tour. ah We're driving back through Sapporo. And it was a 32 hour bus ride. What from from Tokyo to Sapporo, 32 hours. So it's 18 realistically.
00:51:18
Speaker
but it's a bus, so it goes a little bit slower. okay And we were stopping every two hours, because somebody had to take a piss. There's 40 some wrestlers on this bus. No one can hold it? ge oh that's Well, and again, i'm I'm just trying to be respectful over it. There were three separate times on that bus ride to Sapporo that I was like, I don't really need to wrestle anymore.
00:51:42
Speaker
yeah
00:51:47
Speaker
It's like journey, it's like heart of darkness. yeah Yeah, yeah, I just, like, I was like, I can get to support and I can just fly home, it's fine. um Like your ass is numb. You've already watched everything you've downloaded. Oh yeah, oh yeah you like my phone's dead. but Like there's just, I've got nothing.
00:52:05
Speaker
You've you've rewatched all of New Girl. It's just the whole thing. yeah The whole show. I so I wish I would have downloaded New Girl. I was going to tell you that. I don't know what happened, but like I had set a whole bunch of things to download and a bunch of it didn't. So the things that I had on my phone. Yeah. Were that Schwarzenegger um miniseries. Cool bar.
00:52:30
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. Wait, like the TV show? The did that Netflix show. Yeah, I had the three or four episodes of that. OK, I had the Super Mario Brothers movie. Oh, and wait, wait. wait ands No, Pratt, Pratt. OK, which so far I'm like kind of bummed for you. I.
00:52:52
Speaker
aye the first three episodes of The Last Dance that Michael Jordan documentary. yeah um and i And back to the future one and two.
00:53:07
Speaker
Okay, those I could do a couple times, but I'm just picturing like into this 32 hour bus ride at a certain point, like your ass is numb, everything sucks. You're just rocking in your seat, just peaches, peaches, peaches, peaches, peaches, just gusset plating yourself in that. What I ended up doing was is I ended up, I had also downloaded um Medium Rare. It's a Anthony Bourdain. It was like his third second or third book. And so I ended up reading a lot of that while I was while i was
00:53:39
Speaker
while we were riding, but I will be honest and say the moment when I got to the first hotel, i I got on the wifi and I downloaded as much fucking shit as I possibly could, because I was like, this was ah fuck, this 32 hours was a nightmare. And the first the first seat I had, i again, the first seat I had was a middle seat.
00:54:00
Speaker
yeah Like the right, there's three seats. There's no only in the very back only in the very back row. I didn't know we were supposed to claim our seats. I had no idea. And I think that I was hoodwinked into setting in the seat. So I'm sitting in this middle seat. It's the most like it doesn't recline anything.
00:54:24
Speaker
um We get about halfway to Sapporo and I said, I think I'm just going to lay on the floor. I said, unless somebody wants to give up their seat for $50 and the Swedish guy.
00:54:39
Speaker
goes, I'll give it up for 100. And it's the easiest. It's the easiest hundred dollars I've ever spent. I could not pull that hundred dollars out of my wallet fast enough to be like, no, I'll take one of these reclining seats with a footstool. So that I can sleep. And so I ended up paying one hundred dollars for my seat on that bus because I'm a man of comfort and needs.
00:55:06
Speaker
That makes me think something's wrong with this Swedish guy. Like, mentally. I think there is. but Listen, like we're professional. No one needs $100. Like, 32 hours in a middle seat. Maybe he badly needs $100. What's he doing over there? Besides needing to see pap machines. A lot of Swedish meatballs. It's expensive. Yeah, yeah, he doesn't buy them. No, he I mean, he just, like, he was like, oh, I don't sleep on buses.
00:55:34
Speaker
That's worse. And I was like, you don't want to be so you like you started this raw dog in because he goes I would like. Well, his character was a sadomasochist. Like I am not saying that as a joke. Like he wore like bondage. Like he wore like a bondage top and leather pants.
00:55:54
Speaker
all the time. I mean, it's just I didn't turn up to 11. Yeah, yeah, i did yeah. I didn't see what was underneath that hoodie in track pants. You never know. I just now put that together as we were setting here is is that his character was a Sadio masochist. Like that was his character.
00:56:12
Speaker
he's a fuck it he's one of those method actors yeah yeah yeah yeah listen i met the daniel day lewis of sweden that is i mean that is i don't know if you know this story like in um just to go to a movie jared lido is a method actor uh to an annoying fault and when they made morbius that and character is handicapped. He walks with limps and crutches, or canes, and on set, he was walking with it, like in between tanks. So when he'd be like, I gotta go to the bathroom, take him 45 fucking minutes to get to him from the bathroom, and they had to come to an agreement that somebody would push him in a wheelchair. I love the agreement was you just jogged the bathroom. Okay, Jared, come right back to it.
00:57:03
Speaker
the guy from 30 Seconds to Mars in his fingerless glove. I got to say, I got to say, do you really like like in that like I've seen the the Jim Carrey documentary about becoming Andy Kaufman. Yeah, becoming Kaufman. And like he seemed like an asshole in that. Like like and so like and I feel like it was a good movie. Yeah.
00:57:30
Speaker
and He's playing an asshole. I mean, I love Andy Kaufman, but he's an asshole. yeah But I will say that like Jim Carrey feels like surface level asshole. Like everything I've heard about Jared Leto. Leto, I'm like, oh, like fuck that guy forever. He's just inconvenienced in you because he can. Dude loves a middle seat. yeah Yeah, yeah, yeah, he would he would have also taken my hundred he would have paid me a hundred dollars Take a seat. I hope you guys like 30 seconds to Mars because I'm playing it through my speakers um So we we take the ride we do that we do the tour I'll get back to back to the Rivera. but We're coming. That's where I was circle
00:58:17
Speaker
So we get to the last stop and we are now four hours north of where the 32 hour bus ride stopped. So I'm now looking at 36 hours back.
00:58:31
Speaker
Ooh, no. And I showed the map to Pondo, and I said, it's 36 hours back. And he goes, well, we have to go through Sapporo. And they normally stop and let guys out for the airport. Do you want to see how much tickets are? He said, if you buy my ticket, we'll fly back. And I go, well, I'll look at tickets then. There is a company called Jetstar.
Travel Challenges and Choices
00:59:01
Speaker
It was getting tickets from Sapporo to Tokyo for $40 and I said again that hundred and eighty dollars is the best money I ever spent. Yeah, wait, so you said if you buy my ticket all fly back. I think you got worked We were there as his as his like you young young boys. like we're You're his little guys. i was as little We were his little guys. And so like there if he's riding the bus back, we're riding the bus back. I do whatever Pondo's doing. I can't hop on an airplane. yeah He got the keys to the dojo. I don't got the keys to the dojo. right So if Pondo ain't going back via plane, then me and Dale certainly aren't going back via plane.
00:59:55
Speaker
um I did just see a travel hack on Instagram next time if you do wanna leave Pondo on the bus. ah So it showed that a thing that people will do if they don't wanna get a hotel room, and they're like, ah you can get a ah mangaru manga room by the hour. And in these rooms, ah you have, there's like free drinks, it includes a shower, and there is like a fold out bed.
01:00:23
Speaker
and you're basically in like this manga library, and you can bring them back to your private little room that you like can read in, but it showed that like this girl was showing that she missed the read. You're jerking off. If you're fine sleeping on the jerk off couch, still better than the middle seat, yeah even if the Swede disagrees. Those rooms have also been JD'd.
01:00:53
Speaker
i but so we we fly back because like I don't want to spend 36 hours on a bus I'm sorry I'm 30 at this time 38 years old like there's no like there's no amount of money that I wouldn't be willing to spend and not spend 36 hours on a bus And ah so we flew back and that was how we were able to go to Rivera. Because had we not flown back, like we would have got into town and I would have left for the airport about four hours after the bus pulled in.
01:01:26
Speaker
So I would have went 36 hours on a bus two hours sixteen hours To Dallas to oh just adapt then fucking two hours. Yeah. Yeah so so the the plane from Sapporo to To Tokyo again worth every dollar that I spent because me and Dale spent so I spent $60 I spent $60 to fly a from Sapporo to Tokyo and it was like an hour and a half flight. So anyway, so we go and so we get, we've get the day set up. Um, so kind of the way Roberta works now is you kind of have to be like, I would call it a vibe check. Like, like, like you have to be vouched for like you, any, just because you're a professional wrestler in the United States doesn't necessarily mean you're going to get a Roberta jacket.
01:02:20
Speaker
Chuck Taylor. Right, Chuck Taylor. Jimmy Lloyd's probably got one though. Jimmy Lloyd probably does have one. I believe Jimmy Lloyd did get one. It's funny that. Because I think Cardona vouched for him. we Probably the person that vouched for him. Yeah, of course he did. It's my little broski. Give him a jacket. He's cold. He doesn't really wear shirts.
01:02:51
Speaker
This isn't an honor. This is a necessity. He's gonna freeze. He doesn't have a jacket. you see this Do you see this little boy? He's gonna die. It gets cold in New Jersey.
01:03:11
Speaker
Just really leaning into the charity of it all.
01:03:16
Speaker
um So, so the person, the person who like, I mean, obviously Pondo, but the person who really was the one that, that like vibe checked us was shadow WX, AKA a Mr. Pogo too.
01:03:32
Speaker
um And so like we show up and, like so there's already a line, so they they open at five. We get there at like, call it 455.
01:03:44
Speaker
Is this think the original location? Original. not we So we kinda got, we like the guy kept, the taxi driver kept trying to take us to the smaller one and we're like, no, we wanna go to the original. like The bigger, the bigger, the bigger, the bigger. And so we ended up getting, like it's we ended up getting to the right one. And we show up at, like I said, about 455. I wouldn't call it a line around the block, but there was a healthy line.
01:04:10
Speaker
And we're walking up. And so the owner is the person like the the the founder. His son runs the day to day now. Um, and we're walking up and his son is standing outside, just kind of, you know, surveying the people that are standing in line, getting ready to eat. And he just immediately dismisses us into the restaurant and then puts us at the back table, which is like, if you've seen any, if you've seen any wrestler out, Rivera, there's, they're standing in front of that barrel because right in front of that is the wrestlers table. That's where wrestlers set when they come in. eat
01:04:51
Speaker
Brian knobs Brian knobs is Jimmy Lloyd Jimmy. like Yeah, Jimmy Lloyd Beast man most recently at Beastman. Oh, I didn't see. Oh, well, I assume I would assume why wouldn't they take him? I saw I did see redacted was there so and redacted was the one that was over with him. So I would assume that Beastman as well. I it's going to it's maybe there was a concern for the amount that Beastman would eat. They had to.
01:05:19
Speaker
a Yeah, because I feel like, I feel like I could trick him. Like, I feel like, but you look a beast, man, and you go, oh, we don't have enough food. We'll have to close. We'll have to close. We could feed one person today. I feel like if Cardona can trick him into giving Jimmy Lloyd a jacket.
01:05:45
Speaker
It hurts me that you didn't end up over there with Beastman. The things that you could have told him. I think he listened. Eventually. I think that this podcast would have had to have stopped. Yeah. We would have been touring Japan with you guys in a tiny car driving behind a bus for 36 hours. Actually, we're talking today because I'm a New Yorker. I don't drive, so it would just be like Garrett just driving 36 hours straight.
01:06:14
Speaker
I'm like, I'll keep you awake. Don't worry, buddy. And this is the 1991 version of. I was just trying to think of a Grateful Dead song. Oh, this is a China china writer. China. There we go. I was going to say, ah like, you you're just like, you're like, here, gart you want some more slime candy?
01:06:37
Speaker
Speaking of slime candy. Oh, are you going to go get it? Yeah, let's do this. All right. I'm going to grab it. You finish this out. And then and then, yeah, and we'll do and we'll do challenge time. um So we get in there. We eat our food. um We brought T-shirts for like it's like an exchange. Like you you're going to like. So we bring T-shirts. We the the the sun comes over and and he's like, what size?
01:07:11
Speaker
And just like, I'm like, what size? I'm like, the big steak. I want the biggest steak you have, sir. and um And he goes, no, jacket. And I had that moment of like, well, this is again.
01:07:28
Speaker
the surreal there were so many surreal moments that didn't like it still doesn't feel real and that happened you know a couple months ago but like it was and i was like extra large he was like okay and he goes back and he comes back and he goes i'm sorry mr heater only only double xl and i was like You're giving me a Ribera jacket. like i got Like you could have given me an extra small and I'm not like I'm going to fucking put it on. I'm going to look silly as fuck in it, but I'm going to put it on. You will fat guy in a little coat. Yeah, I will rip the shit out of this thing because it is going on my body.
01:08:09
Speaker
um But yeah, we got the Ribera's and then the rest of that night, we like we went to Todaku. It's the wrestling spirit store. It's like the one that's like pretty close to the Tokyo. There's an end in the end, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. You went to the Nico Nico headquarters. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly.
01:08:35
Speaker
And we go there, and we were inside for about two minutes, and the woman behind the counter looked at, oh, let me back up just for a second. Roberta's steak, fantastic as well. It's so good. It was fantastic. Did you go when you were in Japan, Gary? That's where my wife drew the line. She went- Oh, that's a unfortunate line. Because my wife, we went to Roberta and my wife was like, that was delicious steak.
01:09:01
Speaker
Yeah, fantastic steak, fantastic steak. Well, you know if I went, I would they say, what would you like? And I would say, bring me whatever Jimmy Lloyd ordered. And they would say, sir. if We don't have any chicken tenders.
01:09:18
Speaker
They. they
01:09:21
Speaker
They bring me a pack of Virginia Slims and i some gravy. yeah yeah And an imported Miller Lite.
01:09:36
Speaker
Oh my God. um But like the food was fantastic. The experience was fantastic. ah like And like you know you're riding that high. So we wanted to go, like let's keep this good time rolling.
01:09:49
Speaker
But shadow WX was the person that kind of vouched for us of being like, no, no, no, I've seen like it came out at the the second meal I ate that night with with shadow WX that like shadow has watched Dale and I's work like and was like, I respect what you guys do. And I was like, I don't like this doesn't make sense. You know, like you're you're you.
01:10:16
Speaker
Why would you be watching anything I did because I used to watch you or I did not even just used to still do, but, but like I used to, watch but I used to watch you as Mr. Pogo till when you were lighting Mr. Danger's head on fire.
01:10:34
Speaker
Like guess he was the one on fire. You held the match, man. It takes two to tango. And yeah, so we go to this. So we go to the wrestling spirit store and we're inside two minutes. The the the lady behind the counter immediately is like wrestlers. And she just points at me and Dale and I'm like, hi. And she comes around and she took our Polaroid picture.
01:10:59
Speaker
had a sign them and then gave us free t-shirts and then was like walking around and showing us like all the things in the store like it's like a that place is like a museum it's like like you can go up and they have like ring worn like dangerous like like
01:11:20
Speaker
They had all Japan like they had one of Kawada's jackets. Cool. That was just like he wore with ah um dangerous. ah It wasn't dangerous. techers It was a K. He goes to do his K, but dangerous. I don't remember.
01:11:38
Speaker
Yeah, but but that holy demon army. Yeah, yeah. the Holy demon. Thank you. Holy demon army. They have like holy demon army jackets like for sale. But like they were also like six hundred dollars. And I was like, if I had the money, I would just I gave it all to the Swede. I came out of the Swede and Jetstar.
01:12:03
Speaker
And now he's walking around in that jacket. Right, right, right, right. That's what it was. He was like, he was like I'm $100 away from honing the Kawata jacket. I can raw dog 19 more hours of this shit. All right, so, but yes, Japan, fantastic, really good time. i Would love to go back, would love. I think the next time I go back, like I have one goal and one goal in mind, and that is to get to that fucking Otter Cafe that I was looking for the entire time I was there.
Steak with Mr. Danger
01:12:37
Speaker
If because if I'd come across it I was gonna go pet some goddamn honors. Yeah, awesome I really thought you were gonna go with I have one goal. It's a main event singles match in corkin Man Well, no beast man. I feel like it's beast man heater as a team I feel like taking over the world you guys would be such a good team I think we'd have a lot of fun. I think you would I think like I It I really need to get you guys in a room so that like you got vouch for for the Roberta jacket. You can vouch for us that we're not going to be weird at him. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I got you. it' I mean, could I don't know if we could keep that promise, but like we'll at least say that way too hard about you could at least tell him like it was kind of a bit.
01:13:25
Speaker
yeah you know yeah Yeah, I'd be like, oh, you didn't get it? yeah They talked about my honeymoon too much.
01:13:36
Speaker
They just like to do research. Motherfucker, you capture our imagination. like You wrestled too good, and we liked you. they what What's the crime? They kept referring to my wife as Mrs. Beastman. Beastwoman, we said. But I don't.
01:13:54
Speaker
right And that on paper is offensive. But it didn't mean it. In that it really sort of reinforces traditional roles, which we don't really know you know if she's taking his name. We don't know. um And so we're sorry for her. I do a bad, you know.
01:14:15
Speaker
I would love to buy you as many Ribera Stakes as well. Yeah, yeah that's yeah. That's a financial hole you're talking about right now. Where's the Swede?
01:14:27
Speaker
yeah Yeah, he's got a hundred dollars of my money.
01:14:34
Speaker
The big old loop. ah but Before we get on to this little challenge, Mr. Danger cooked you a steak. And it was one of the best moments of your whole life. Yes. Chris, what pro wrestler could prepare you a steak that would just be mind blowing to you that you're just like, ah, you never forget it.
01:15:00
Speaker
you know What comes to mind, there was some interview with Cody where he was talking about his like big egg like smoker, ah the the big green egg. yeah and i'm i'm just like barb Barbecue at Cody's sounds like it would just be just a weird experience. you know like The Miz and Matt Cardona are there, Jimmy Lloyd's probably rolling down a hill somewhere in the back.
01:15:24
Speaker
and just yeah I just want to like sit with like Cody and eat whatever like smoked meat. I'm like, yeah, let's go let's do that. and you know And the other thing is, is Brandi's going to get you hammered shit drunk. Oh, yeah. She's the new guy. like That's the thing. Oh, the new guy. You got to go be on a shot of Brandi. You're like, oh, what?
01:15:45
Speaker
she's She's also got a bottle with a snake in it. She goes everybody takes one ms three You might have to take two I Don't think that's what I was expecting you to say like I was picturing like Bret Hart Silent and sadly cooking you a steak i don't know i've heard i've heard how dirty the hard house was i don't really well it is a house now he's not taking a dungeon i'm sure i'm sure he keeps it cleaner than stew but did always stuck with me that story where like like he would like flip like something would fall on the floor and he would like he would like flip like cat poo and then just like flip the eggs and you're like fuck stew
01:16:37
Speaker
Yeah, I mean ah you gotta assume that house smelled like a YMCA. Just like the worst parts of a YMCA. Mixed with cat piss. Yeah, it's with just like a strong ammonia smell. oo To nod him. Not bread, no. that's so like You're gonna go eat nice food from a clean egg. He's exceptionally clean. Hold on, who are you eating food from?
01:17:06
Speaker
Well, I'm not gonna say Beastman, because he would poison it. He wants me done. Like, I swear to God, he listens to this show. I don't know if you heard, but while they were over in Japan, I saw we were getting downloads in Japan. He knows this is a Beastman show. He wants to hear what he's got going on. yeah Yeah. He's like, I don't remember what's on my calendar. We're his dirt sheets. Like when people want to know what beast man's got going on, you don't got to follow his Instagram. You don't got to look at Twitter. You don't got to watch his matches. Yeah. We'll tell you got you. He's the one the most, most disappointed by the nikco Nico Nico hat because see couldn't watch it live. You know,
01:17:51
Speaker
Would've done it, would've done it, you know? Streamed them all. Yeah, there's honest to God two people that would get us to download that app. You. And be goddamn, like I know you've said, you're like really checking off like a lot of the boxes you would've wanted out of a wrestling career. Like correct and the in a year span, nearly. like
01:18:20
Speaker
I need you to wrestle Beastman or team with Beastman. It sucks that you haven't met him either. Cause my meeting with him was so disappointing. Like it was, I met him at the red con one gym and I was just like, hey man, I'm a big fan. And he like, I couldn't tell if he knew like I'm that creep or if he was like hitting me with the Beastman character where he doesn't talk.
01:18:47
Speaker
I mean, he was pleasant to Fax and I in Bhutan while wearing a Miami dolphin jersey. So, you know, although I think part of it was there, he was trying to like, I think he was trying to like latch on with GCW and like people being like, see Brett, like these guys like me. You did like you guys really. You showed up very loudly. Yeah, you made us think they should have booked him more. Well, you also need to think about you also need to think about the geography of it all.
01:19:16
Speaker
That's that's New Jersey. Mm hmm. Like we're like the bloom is off the rose to a certain extent on kayfabe. Whereas you're here in Nashville, Tennessee and country bumpkin. He can fucking be beast man. Like he can just fucking. Hmm. Hmm. And not say words. Listen, yeah he gave you the beast man experience.
01:19:42
Speaker
That sucks.
01:19:47
Speaker
In West Virginia, he terrorizes BW3s. It's just... they believe They believe he is from the jungle and that they can do nothing other than, you know, give in to his desires. In character, out of character, that Buffalo Wild Wings fears that man. God damn wrestle there, Hardway. Listen, it get if I get an in, I'm there. why but I don't know why I couldn't send a fucking tweet. that You don't end up in that gymnasium or a Buffalo Wild Wings. Or barn. Me, Beastman, Shane Douglas, triple threat. Let's make it happen. Holy Oh, man. I got i got like airline miles saved for this occasion.
01:20:39
Speaker
My intention is to bring so many wrestling belts that all that Shane Delos can do is stand in a corner and throw wrestling belts into a trash can. That's how I'm going to keep him distracted. Yeah. Didn't Vince McMahon fuck you over? He's like, you're right. Throw away his belt. He tell you a story.
01:21:04
Speaker
Oh my god, you and Beastman together on Shane Douglas's Facebook podcast or whatever. Apple Action Exposรฉ. Oh my god. Which always sounds like a much more exciting show.
01:21:18
Speaker
about about like about like sexy things happening in Appalachia as opposed to or like just wrestlers talking or like the like like the problems with like the coal mining towns like ricky Meanwhile Ricky Morton just like we just didn't draw very much there that's the problem with the coal mining towns
01:21:46
Speaker
Only could draw about four or 5,000 Raleigh. We were drawing 16, you know, got to get out of there. I get out of there. Couldn't run the coal mine down anymore. God damn. And that place is right near a casino. We were going to stay out. We're going to want to go to that casino. Yeah.
01:22:02
Speaker
And all this didn't, I mean, I mean, facts ended up getting cancer and it like yeah it really like put a damper on our moods. His too. Yeah, but more importantly, ours. It's not the group here. you know We feel as one. Facts, I wish you were here, buddy. This is a... He would come dry from Flomax on this couch for you, only he could.
01:22:34
Speaker
Oh my god wait till JD gets a taste of the flow max. Oh dear. Yeah. Um, so we have, we do, we, we should try something. Yeah. Right. We, uh, Garrett and I went to a grocery store today because we're getting some stuff for barbecue. And I was like, let's just find some, we talked about sodas earlier with your wife. Yeah. And we said, uh, weird soda. We were just like looking and we found beetle juice Fanta.
Tasting Beetlejuice Fanta
01:23:03
Speaker
The flavor is haunted apple.
01:23:07
Speaker
And so now we're gonna offer this, we Garrett and I have tasted this, we're offering this to Heater, a man who was hit with four light tubes in the side of his face. And and we're gonna we're gonna see if this is, you know. So just under first inspection, they used an oh they used like a current photo of, well, this is Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. Yeah, right, right, right. yeah But like,
01:23:34
Speaker
you probably could have got away with the original photo. Well, I mean, I don't want to false advertise what the movie looks like. It is kind of weird that Michael Keaton looks older in the makeup. Yeah. Or what the drink tastes like.
01:23:48
Speaker
You can't false advertise it. You showed a young Keaton. I feel like it would change the whole place. It's a haunted apple. Haunted apple. He's opening the can, which, to describe the can, it is like the Beetlejuice suit stripes. um Before you drink it though, we want you to take a sniff. Because when when you smell it, yeah, just go ahead. Go ahead and describe.
01:24:13
Speaker
Surprised face. Yeah, he looks he looks surprised. I think everybody should know too that Hardway Heater is a dapper man. like He's a well-dressed man. like He always has interesting pants, I feel like, and always a shirt tucked in, a nice belt, like rings, pretty stylish glasses, sniffing at garbage soda. like
01:24:36
Speaker
It's got like an antiquey smell to it. like takeky okay like like Like it's what I imagine like like the booth, like a booth at an antique store. Okay. Okay. That haunted kind of, I I mean, I smelled it earlier, but I got a,
01:24:58
Speaker
want to make sure ours wasn't all like bad like it was the like energy it okay do you need another ah che just to remember yep that's what um that's whats I remember like it's strange smell for a drink that I'm gonna yeah kind of colonial that passed at least nine people before it got sent to a store we're like it's a
01:25:27
Speaker
Tastes exactly like it smells, right, isn't that? yeah That's unsettling. You just drank an antique booth. That tastes like an old comic. An old comic next to a Civil War coin. Next next is some Peanuts clippings. they ah Okay, hold on. That backend is so glad of weird' actuallyed the back end The front end, you're like, okay. The back end is really just full like like cologne. ah Yeah. Like musk yeah like smell.
01:26:01
Speaker
Like, OK, it does. That is exactly what it is. It's like ah if like I'm putting cologne on myself and like you think that like, oh, the spray was fine. And I take a deep breath and like I accidentally get some of it in my mouth. And that's what the fuck that that's disgusting. How are they selling this unclear? I believe Leah called it ah like a T.J. Maxx candle. Yeah, she said like yeah it's a candle.
01:26:29
Speaker
I got big candle energy. It tastes like a holiday candle. handle No. Do you know Jeff Cannonball? Are you friendly with him? Get him to drink that shit. he like has that whole I don't know if he still does the Twitter show, but you got his phone number? I don't have his phone number, but I do have an active Instagram messaging with him.
01:26:53
Speaker
He's gotta, we gotta at least have him get a can of that and hit us up. I'm going to message him and I will read out exactly what I'm typing to him.
01:27:05
Speaker
Hold on. justice cause Do you remember like he had the whole thing where he reviewed sodas? He still does. and He's still OK. So did you wrestle him on our circle six show? OK. Oh, yeah. that's Yeah. Yeah. That's when he did the um when we did the the straw skewer spot where he he was putting bendy straws into my head and he hammered him in like the skewers. That's awful. And then it all just fell. And then and I go, why the fuck did you think that was going to work? And then he kicked my leg out and then he ah single tacked straws to my head. Nightmare. Yes. Nightmare. Yes. that and And drinking that Beetlejuice soda was more painful than that experience for you. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know if you guys could hear it. It doesn't feel like.
01:27:50
Speaker
Food. they get they Well, they read there's natural ingredients. and It specifies that they are natural. Candles are very natural. They exist when they aren't otherworldly. i think You finished a can, Gary. I was thirsty.
01:28:07
Speaker
its i mean Did you like like slam it? I didn't fucking shotgun it, but like like I didn't leisurely sip a soda for 20, 30 minutes. the the end of it The end of it's so bad that like I can't imagine like getting that once. I could see slamming it. Do you know the only way to get that was to buy a pack of of them for $10?
01:28:32
Speaker
That's how much a case of soda called. They really took you for a ride. They took you for a ride. They took me for a ride, yeah. Because I bet if you put that in like an atomizer, I bet I could wear it as cologne. And you wouldn't know the difference. Like, I'd be a little stickier. But, I mean, I've had worse problems. You're gonna be sticky anyways. That Southern humidity. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. This ass is swampy.
01:29:00
Speaker
Rest those cans in my friend's house for a long time. there's There's no way anyone's. So far what I have typed is, hey, I just tried that Beetlejuice Fanta. Juice Fanta.
01:29:23
Speaker
If you need an awful soda review,
01:29:30
Speaker
I'm gonna say if you need an awful soda review to balance out all the good ones. been a lot of good sodas lately that's Feel it's free to use it. That's what I'm gonna tell them. I feel like you will. The movie's coming out. That's gonna get some hits. yeah that's what go want to know yeah Fuck. We've been going a while. I mean, I think we're probably probably should wrap it up. Honestly, if ah if you didn't look, you look sleepy. You've been a little sleepy. You look a little sleepy. and so I'm not insulting you. Humans get sleepy. you You're in a different time zone. You're an hour ahead of what time
Session Wrap-up and Farewells
01:30:09
Speaker
is it. Holy shit, it's midnight. It's one in the morning for you.
01:30:16
Speaker
Yeah. You probably gotta to go to bed too. Yeah, I gotta work. yeah Work is stupid. Well, hey, thanks thanks guys for coming to the basement. It's fun to not see on screens. ah Hardway Heater, please join us again sometime. Absolutely. We need to do that more often. yeah You're around. Yeah, I'm truly not, like, I'm around. And I'm normally not busy.
01:30:47
Speaker
except when you're in Japan. Except for when I'm in Japan or wrestling and most weekends I'm busy, pretty busy, but like any time that like I'm not at work or at the gym, so like at least two and a half hours a day. i Like I can do whatever I want.
Promoting Upcoming Wrestling Event
01:31:07
Speaker
He's got free play time. We'll get you back on with, because I don't think you've you've only done it with Chris. You've never done it with facts. I've never done it with facts. Or Derek. I never did with Derek either. I was always ah i always felt like the pinch hitter for Derek.
01:31:21
Speaker
yeah well We're all going to be in Chicago together. And we have an extra ticket and a suite to watch all out. They might have hardware heaters if they want it. all right guys ah okay You do have a show in Indiana the day after.
01:31:40
Speaker
Oh, it is this it is the seventh isn't yeah. Oh, can I put that over real quick? Yeah, sure. do Hey, I can't be K presents 85 territories ah at Duke's Indy. If you want more information, like follow me on social media, you'll see the flyer, ah but four p.m. doors, five p.m. bell.
Improvements to IWTV Streaming
01:32:04
Speaker
We're just gonna have like some fun. We're gonna treat it like it's 1985 and it's the territory system still and Vince McMahon didn't ruin wrestling as a whole. Who else on the card so far that you can announce? So far, Sean Campbell, myself, i Hood Foote, of course.
01:32:22
Speaker
That's three names already that you wouldn't even need to name another. ah Big Dave. Okay. Braden Toon. Okay. ah And as far as, I think that's everybody who's been announced. Man, I mean, you listen to the show. if If you listen to the show, you know, Sean Campbell's insane. Yeah. Psychopath. Guy's crazy. No noted psychopath.
01:32:45
Speaker
Go buy whichever streaming service you end up needing to see this. If you're not, IWTV. That's an easy one. They don't make it hard. no We'll do it. money Hey, and you know what? The service has gotten better. You can search on it now. Oh, oh shit.
01:33:00
Speaker
Yeah, you can search by wrestler name. Get out of town. Wow. That's actually that is like that. It's insane that that in our mind is like game changer. I should have done that a while ago. But can you fast forward more than 20 seconds at a time in the app yet? They're working on it. OK. Hey, what's Rome built in a day? Understood. And the wrestling has an app at all.
01:33:30
Speaker
It's true. It's true. And that and that on that same app, you can watch me wrestle as well. That's true. The combination, the fact that both of us are on that app and and you and I as fans at sub. That's like they're like really IW TV. You can kind of go through the entire history of predetermined that app.
01:33:53
Speaker
It's true. actually And probably meet me as a fan at ICW shows in like 2001, you can probably find me somewhere and tucked away in corners of the Elks Lodge. Goddamn. Hey, sorry we busted your balls a little bit, IWTV. We do love you. like We've used you a lot.
01:34:10
Speaker
We just really want your app to be just slightly better. We just were trying to get you there. We want you to be like a Hulu. And at the very least, the stars app. I don't know what it looks like, but I'm guessing you can scroll. I don't know. No one has that. All right, guys. but Thanks so much for listening.
Final Remarks and Social Media Notes
01:34:31
Speaker
ah Thanks you guys for coming by and ah follow. We don't do anything on Instagram anymore, really. Sometimes, ah we we could put some stuff up. If you have any question, comments, or concerns, you can shoot us a message there, and we'll definitely see it. Sure. I think we get notifications about that still. Yeah. Hey. Better goddamn music. Kisses.