Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk

Episode 74: The Rich Full Life of a Bad Guy In Episode 74 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, The Rich Full Life of a Bad Guy, Greg: Unearths a 1966 Saturday Evening Post article about Cowboy Bill Watts and his heel turn in the WWWF. Discusses his complicated feelings for Watts, the person, and love for Watts, the wrestling promoter.  Talks about the May 14, 1982 Houston Wrestling reboot...

Episode 73: Classic Characters In Episode 73 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Classic Characters, Greg: Welcomes historian and author Steven Johnson to the show to discuss his new book, "The Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame: Classic Characters."  Steve and Greg also ... Talk about Paul Boesch, Gorilla Monsoon, Bob Orton Sr., Fritz Von Erich and many other stars.  Celebrate the pla...

Episode 72: The 3rd Anniversary Show In Episode 72 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, The 3rd Anniversary Show, Greg: Celebrates another year of doing the podcast.  Notes the milestone of TV reviews as well.  Looks unsuccessfully for episode 226.  Welcomes Terry Taylor and his perfect debut to MSWA.  Enjoys the heating up of Mid South after a fall of decline.  Ends with a story about th...

Episode 71: Gino's Edition In Episode 71 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Gino's Edition, Greg: Welcomes Lizzy Flanagan to the show for the first time.  Greg and Lizzy:  Discuss her upcoming book, "I Am Your Champion, The Life and Death of Wrestler Gino Hernandez.  Explore how a 20-something who did not grow up allowed to watch wrestling could become a fan of old school...

Episode 70: Tulsa Wrestlefest In Episode 70 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Tulsa Wrestlefest, Greg: Welcomes Shawn Sparks aka Sparks3rdCoast to the show for the first time.  Greg and Shawn:  Look at the July 28, 1985, Mid South Wrestling Association show at Tulsa's Fair Meadows Raceway.  Enjoy the Fantastics vs Jerry Grey and Eddie Gilbert match but not as much as the women in...

Episode 69: Better Dead Than Red  In Episode 69 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk,  Better Dead Than Red Show, Greg: Looks at the December 1983 television for the Mid South Wrestling Association.  Plays some audio from the anti-Russian tirades of Bill Watts. Discusses, again, how the current mindset about Nicolai Volkoff's pre-WWF run is wrong.  Notes where MSWA is still slow and w...

Episode 68: The 43rd Anniversary Show  In Episode 68 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, The 43rd Anniversary Show, Greg: Talks about the lead up to Morris Sigel and Houston Wrestling's 43 Anniversary show June 5, 1959.  Looks at three programs from May 1959 that lead up to the big show.  Praises the decade long feud between Bull Curry and Danny McShane.  Corrects the timeline on wh...

Episode 67: The Golden Era Begins In Episode 67 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, The Golden Era Begins, Greg: Welcomes Winter Place podcast host and IWC friend Mark Coale to the show for the first time.  Greg and Mark: Take a broad view of what Greg calls the Golden Era of the Mid South Wrestling Association, from the day Jim Cornette and the Midnight Express arrive until the day Bob...

Episode 66: Jenny's Episode In Episode 66 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Jenny's Episode, Greg: Pays tribute to his late mother, Jennifer Evans.  Notes how she changed his life for the better by helping him pay for wrestling school, thus sending him to Adrian Street rather than a notorious Gulf Coast outlaw. Updates the biggest star in Houston Wrestling discussion.  Finds...

Episode 65: Darkest Before the Dawn In Episode 65 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Darkest Before the Dawn, Greg: Looks at television for November 1983 in the Mid South Wrestling Association.  Talks again about the problems with rasslin in the South in the fall and how fall of 1983 is perhaps the rock bottom point in the promotion.  Coming up next is the tag team of George Weingroff &...

Episode 64: Two Ring Battle Royal In Episode 64 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Two Ring Battle Royal, Greg: Updates the Sylvester Ritter Year One discussion. Corrects a fact about Houston's use of the two ring battle royal. Names to top 30 stars of Houston Wrestling, split into the Morris Sigel and Paul Boesch eras. Talks about the two biggest stars in Houston Wrestling, based...

Episode 63: Vision Quest In Episode 63 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Vision Quest, Greg: Looks at the podcast's 2024 in review, including this year's Top 5 cities. Laughs about a match he attended in 1987 that ties into Episode 21, The Wrath of Khan. Discovers what Sylvester Ritter was doing Christmas night 1976. Ponders all the new information Beau James gave us in Episo...

Episode 62: And Then Things Got Weird  In Episode 62 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, And Then Things Got Weird, Greg: Looks at television for the Mid South Wrestling Association for October 1983. Speculates about the booking situation and reviews what we know about fall in the South. Tries to make sense of the North American title turmoil. Laughs about the solid wrestling ability of...

In Episode 61 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Hey, Junior, Where's My Cowboy Movie At?, Greg: Welcomes Tennessee wrestler and historian Beau James to the show. Beau talks about how he met Sylvester Ritter, the time Ritter lived with him and what the Junkyard Dog was like as a real person. Greg and Beau lament the idea of "workrate" being the most important barometer of...

In Episode 60 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Southwest Takeover, Greg: Welcomes Las Vegas resident and rasslin podcast Roman Gomez to the show to talk about Southwest Championship Wrestling. Greg and Roman review an episode taped Dec. 29, 1982 in the Junction in San Antonio. They discuss the changes coming in wrestling and the need to let go of studio matches. Greg, of course, pays...

In Episode 59 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Seasonal Variances, Greg: Reveals his newest, earliest Houston Wrestling program, from May 1948. Talks about the Billy Varga collection he bought and the range of programs from 1948 to 1958. Marvels at the Houston main event and the storyline for Danny McShane vs Miguel "Black" Guzman. Talks about Whiskers Savage and the newcome...

In Episode 58 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Seasonal Variances, Greg: Takes a look at the Mid South Wrestling Association for Sept. 1983. Compares five years of MSWA to the TV show The Wire, and discusses how we look for the one we like less. Says goodbye again to Ted DiBiase. Laughs at Bill Watts use of the Road Warriors. Welcomes Jim "the Hammer*" Neidhardt and Nicolai...

In Episode 57 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, The Professor Talks JYD, Greg: Welcomes his first guest to the show, New Orleans native and JYD original fan, the Professor Ricardo Coleman.  Greg and Ricardo talk about the historic nature of Sylvester Ritter's wrestling career. They explain how wrestling differed in New Orleans before and after JYD, especially where in town the mat...

In Episode 56 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Morris Sigel for the WON HOF, 2024 Edition, Greg: Takes a second look at the Hall of Fame candidacy of Houston promoter and Texas Booking Agency head Morris Sigel.  Traces his journey from hardware accountant to head of Houston Wrestling and his formation of the Texas wrestling circuit.  Notes the names of the top wrestlers he either disc...

In Episode 55 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Talks more about the Hall of Fame candidacy of Sylvester Ritter aka the Junkyard Dog.  Picks up at the beginning of Year One and talks about the timing of when Ritter must have trained.  Wonders if there are still earlier matches than Ritter's first known match of Nov. 11, 1976 vs Mike Boyette.  Talks about how Ritter's tr...

Episode 54: The College Edition In Episode 54 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Talks about the Junkyard Dog and his candidacy for the Wrestling Observer Newletter's Hall of Fame.  Looks at Sylvester Ritter's life before wrestling, including his two year trying to break into professional football.  Finds an ad for the earliest known match for Sylvester Ritter, only to l...

Episode 53: The Cheese Stands Alone In Episode 53 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Looks at the August 1983 in the Mid South Wrestling Association.  Talks about Ted DiBiase's two-year MSWA run, which comes to a close in August. Wonders if the top heel leaving has anything to do with the slowdown in fall of 1983.  Discusses the use of more arena footage rather than longer TV...

Episode 52: 1949, Part Two In Episode 52 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Looks at two programs from November 1949 Houston Wrestling, which feature Billy Varga challenging for NWA titles. Lucks into a piece of history as the second program features a preview of the Argentina Rocca vs Lou Thesz grudge match with huge out of the ring implications. Traces the bad blood between Rocc...

Episode 51: 1949 In Episode 51 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Revisits the subject of his earlier Houston Wrestling programs with a look at two issues form 1949. Talks about the start of TV in Houston and note how close we are to the Texas Wrestling War. Looks at the debut of Verne Gagne and marvels on the hair young Verne has. Thanks Young Billy Varga aka the Count for keepin...

Episode 50: Brick by Brick In Episode 50 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Looks at July 1983 TV for the Mid South Wrestling Association. Talks about the building of Magnum T.A. as a babyface and Butch Reed as a main event heel. Notes the girls in the crowd screaming for TA and Johnny Rich. Welcomes Doctor Death back to MSWA. Says a fond farewell to Mr. Olympia. This episode of G...