Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk

Episode 49: The fall of Fall In Episode 49 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Gives his no longer hot take on The Iron Claw. Compares November attendances figures for the Championship Wrestling Extravaganzas vs the LSU-Tulane football games. Unearths two 1986 shows that made him pop. Looks at an article from the national World War II Museum in New Orleans about wrestlers who serve...

Episode 48: The Atomic Drop  In Episode 48 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Looks at June 1983 in the Mid South Wrestling Association. Talks about the final turn of early 1983 as Butch Reed has decided he  has had enough of friendship. Considers what word JYD called Reed before the big split. Discusses the National Title situation in Georgia as Mr. Wrestling II shows up with a b...

Episode 47: Double Main Go! In Episode 47 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Explains his favorite new/old-time wrestling term, the Double Main Go. Finishes looking at the McGuirk/Watts/Crockett Championship Wrestling Extravaganzas at the New Orleans Superdome. Reviews the lowest drawing Superdome shows. Source:  http://www.prowrestlinghistory.com/supercards/usa/misc/midsouth/card...

Episode 46: Walkin' Tall In Episode 46 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Looks at the May 1983 in the Mid South Wrestling Association.  Remarks how over Hacksaw Duggan is as a new babyface and how hated his counterpart Ted DiBiase still is, a year after turning heel. Gives a nod to the early success for King Kong Bundy and his five-count gimmick, leading to speculation as to...

Episode 45: Issue No. 1 In Episode 45 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Looks at the Mid South Wrestling Association's first program. Talks about the backstory of Cowboy Bill Watts' 1970s pathway to becoming a wrestling promoter and why he split with Leroy McGuirk. Remarks on how Mr. Wrestling II's popularity in 1982 and 1983, isn't out of nowhere. Discovers t...

Episode 44: Turn, Turn, Turn  In Episode 44 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Looks at the Mid South Wrestling Association's TV for April 1983.  Wonders how MSWA got away with the Duggan hates Akbar angle and then guesses why the lapse in logic did not matter to Duggan's babyface turn.  Says goodbye to Matt Borne and Tiger Conway Jr.  Talks about how and why Mr. Wrestli...

Episode 43: The 1950s Texas Wrestling War In Episode 43 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Pays his respects to Ole Anderson, wrestling's favorite grumpy Uncle.  Goes deep into the 1950s Texas Wrestling War, with more than 25 newspaper articles gathered from newspapers.com. Explores what Jim and Brian got right and what they got wrong from their Guess the Program segments on...

Episode 42: To Every Season ... In Episode 42 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Looks at Mid South Wrestling Association TV for March 1983.  Talks about the long-term episodic booking going on with a six-month Mr. Wrestling II vs Mr. Olympia build-up and the recent tease of Hacksaw Duggan turning face.  Laments the missed moves and short MSWA run of Tiger Conway Jr.  Follows Ted...

Episode 41: The Super Bowl of Wrestling In Episode 41 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Looks at the Super Bowl of Wrestling, or as many Super Bowl of Wrestling cards as he could find. The journey apparently begins in 1972 in Cleveland, with a show deemed a dud. However, over the next decade promoters ran Super Bowl of Wrestling shows in cities large (Chicago, Nashville, Memphis,...

Episode 40: A Giant Slam In Episode 40 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Goes back to Mid South in 1983, this time Feburary, for one of the final visits to MSWA from Andre the Giant.  Wonders again about 1983 MSWA booking and the limited wrestling schedule for Ernie Ladd that year.  Looks at three great tag team matches/angles, as the tag team champs, Ted DiBiase and Matt Borne,...

Episode 39: Christmas Gifts In Episode 39 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Gives Gene Petit aka Tom Steele his Reunion Arena Star Wars due.  Researches the Parade of Champions show and traces it back to Buffalo in 1939.  Looks at the various, sometimes changing, figures for the Buffalo super shows found in a bunch of clips from the Buffalo Evening News.  Pulls out a Christmas ed...

Episode 38: Did You See What Boesch Saw? In Episode 38 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Moves into 1983 with his viewing of his beloved Mid South Wrestling Association. Explores the odd conversation of Paul Boesch and Boyd Pierce as they discuss Mr. Wrestling II beating Tully Blanchard down to a bloody mess.  Talks about how Bill Watts is continuing to position the Southwest sta...

Episode 37: The Summer of '69, Part Two In Episode 37 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Looks at a Houston Wrestling program from Sept. 19, 1969.  Revisits the Wrestling Observer HOF Class of 2023 and outlines a strategy going forward to work for Morris Sigel and Sylvester Ritter to make the HOF. Follows up on the Tracy Smothers-Adrian Street alleged incident mentioned in Tr...

Episode 36: Snowflakes & Superheroes In Episode 36 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Looks at a Houston Wrestling program from Oct. 24, 1975.  Talks about  the upcoming Halloween 1975 show the program advertises.  Predicts the Wrestling Observer HOF Class of 2023.  Looks at how WON HOF ballots track differently than MLB HOF ballots. Explains why he is now confidant Sylvester...

Episode 35: Boyd's No Snitch In Episode 34 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Looks at December 1982 in the Mid South Wrestling Association, including three tapings in one and a year in review.  Talks about Boyd Pierce's refusal to testify in the case of DiBiase vs. Lee.  Picks a MSWA wrestler and match of the year.  Looks at Mr. Olympia's first MSWA run and his 90...

Episode 34: Morris P. Sigel for the WON HOF In Episode 34 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Does some investigating into two questions that have been floating around the podcast lately:  1) Did Sylvester Ritter work at Wal-Mart at the end of his life? 2) Did Tracy Smothers get the better of Adrian Street during a fight  in Alabama in 1987 or 1988?   Rants a little more about the...

Episode 33: The Ballad of Stagger Lee In Episode 33 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Looks at MSWA TV for November 1982, including the "newcomer" Stagger Lee.  Explores the cultural and musical background of the character and how it relates to the babyface under a mask gimmick.  Talks about Tony Atlas in his prime and Hacksaw Duggan's move to headlining singles. C...

Episode 32: The Farm Accident Heard Round the World, Part 2 In Episode 32 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Revisits the most popular episode of the podcast so far, looking at two new perspectives on the missed Dory Funk Jr. vs Jack Brisco NWA title match in Houston on March 2, 1973. Looks at Brisco, the autobiography by Jack Brisco from Crowbar Press and explores Brisco's c...

Episode 31: The Unbelievable Finish In Episode 31 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Looks at October 1982 in the Mid South Wrestling Association, as one of the biggest angles in territory history takes place. Talks about the success of Hacksaw Duggan's spear as it becomes his finishing move and is figured into two big title changes. Welcomes Tony Atlas to MSWA. Wonders why U...

Episode 30: The Adrian Street Tribute In Episode 30 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Pays tribute to his trainer, Exotic Adrian Street, after learning of Adrian's death. Looks at Adrian's early career and the influence he had on Glam Rockers and UK history. Talks about Adrian's days in the territories, from 1981 in L.A. to Alabama in the late 1980s. Reiterates how...

Episode 29: The Summer of '69 In Episode 29 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Takes a trip way down south to Harlingen, Texas, to look at matches at the Wrestlethon Auditorium in June and August of 1969. Headliners include "Dirty" Dusty Rhodes, Wahoo McDaniel, Johnny Valentine, Thunderbolt Patterson and Jose Lothario.  Talks about other things happening in the summ...

Episode 28: Mr. II In Episode 28 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Gives a post-script to the Johnny Rich's Ring story by talking about WrestleMania XI. Talks about the Dark Side of the Ring episode reaction, including rebutting a couple of things said by famous commentators. Talks about the minor controversy involving George Culkin and his true feelings for Junkyard Dog.  L...

Episode 27: The Dark Side of the Junkyard Dog In Episode 27 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Reviews the Dark Side of the Ring episode about the Junkyard Dog, aka Sylvester Ritter.  Talks about producers for various shows and movies contacting him for JYD information and how it helped DSOTR get some of its key interviews.  Reflects on the rumor that Bill Watts called Ritter the...

Episode 26: Shepard's Episode In Episode 26 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: In memorial of his younger (step) brother, Greg talks about their shared memories watching wrestling and the days of trying rasslin' moves on your little brother. Looks at Mid South Wrestling from August of 1982.  Wonders why Dick Murdock wasn't turned heel in 1982, instead of Ted DiBiase...

Episode 25: Road to Huertgen, Forest in Hell In Episode 25 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Takes an in-depth look at Paul Boesch's World War II book, "Road to Huertgen, Forest in Hell."  Talks about the role Boesch played in the war, where, and how he was decorated.  Looks at the two battles from 1944, Boesch describes in the book, including the massive battle in...