Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk

Episode 24: Johnny Rich's Ring In Episode 24 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Talks about 1995 and the summer he had Johnny Rich's ring in his front yard of his house, which was on state Highway 14W, just outside of Prattville, Ala.  Reflects about the luckiest break he ever had in the business, which turned out to be an ankle, and how that led to acquiring the wrestli...

Episode 23: Two Programs from Houston In Episode 23 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Looks at two of his oldest programs from Houston Wrestling, one each from its two legendary promoters: Friday, Aug. 1, 1958, from the City Auditorium, promoter Morris P. Sigel promoted a main event of Dickie Steinborn defending the Texas Championship against Pepper Gomez.  Friday, Feb. 17, 1967,...

Episode 22: 1976: A Funker of a Year In Episode 22 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Talks about the career of  Terry Funk, the West Texas legend. Looks at Funk's NWA title reign from his Dec. 1975 win over Jack Brisco to his Feb. 1977 loss to Harley Race.  Focuses on Funk's title defenses in Houston, including against Peter Maivia, Rocky Johnson and Jose Lothario. Cons...

Episode 21: The Wrath of Khan In Episode 21 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Talks about the career of Masashi Ozawa, a Japanese wrestler better known as the Mongolia Killer Khan. Looks at Khan's career-making feud with Andre the Giant and how it was an accident. Talks about the PWI match of the year in 1981. Looks at Mid South Wrestling Association's TV shows from Jul...

Episode 20: The Bill and Buddy Show In Episode 20 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Dips his toes into Memphis Wrestling for the first time, talking about the Bill and Buddy Show from winter 1986. Looks at four Memphis cards in 1985-86 and plays guess the attendance. Talks about the six weeks Bill Dundee and Buddy Landel headlined the Mid-South Coliseum against Jerry Lawler and D...

Episode 19: A very expensive book, brudda In Episode 19 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Discovers a copy of the autobiography of "Playboy" Gary Hart and is fascinated with the manager/booker's life story. Answers his question from a previous episode about why Dusty Rhodes did not get to defend the NWA title in his home state of Texas in 1981. Listens to a 1976 in...

Episode 18: The Best Man No More In Episode 18 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Catches up on Mid South 1982 during a pivotal summer, as Ted DiBiase decides he does not care what he needs to do to protect himself and get his North American title back. Looks at May and June television as Skandar Akbar's Army continues to gang up on the good guys, Dick Murdock runs through a...

Episode 17: A Flair for the Road In Episode 17 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Looks at Ric Flair's 1985 NWA World title defenses, including (of course) at the Sam Houston Coliseum. Talks about how the dying territory system would make 1985 or 1986 the last year of the touring world champion. Looks at Flair's Texas and Mid South schedule in 1984 and 1986 and wonders w...

Episode 16: Hands of Stone, Title Reign of Clay In Episode 16 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Looks into Jim Crockett Promotions downfall and traces it back to all of the booking, and buying from 1987. Talks about the good and the bad of Dusty Rhodes' booking and how bad it was at times in 1987. Wonders if buying the UWF had any due diligence attached to it. Looks at Ronni...

Episode 15: The Greatest Feud That Never Was In Episode 15 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Pretends he is Nick Bockwinkel and has a "Southwest week." Greg dips down into San Antonio to talk about the action at the Junction and HemiFair in 1983. Look at the wrestling prodigy Gino Hernandez and his famous tags teams known as The Dynamic Duo, with Tully Blanchard in Sout...

Episode 14: Dusty, Dusty, Dusty In Episode 14 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Goes on a rant about the Wrestling Observer Newsletter's Hall of Fame ballot and tries, again, to explain Junkyard Dog's historical significance to wrestling. Looks for NWA world title defenses in Houston by Dusty Rhodes and comes up empty, but finds some incredible matches instead, includin...

Episode 13: The Farm Accident Heard Round the World In Episode 13 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Talks about the famous 1973 NWA title controversy when champion Dory Funk Jr.'s shoulder injury causes him to miss a scheduled title change in Houston, and how it leads to a new build-up for Jack Brisco in Houston. Looks at a program from  July 6, 1973, the match before the ma...

Episode 12: Some of us are Clowns In Episode 12 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Talks about meeting Golden Boy Jerry Grey in the Houston County Farm Center in Dothan, where he also reunites briefly with Adrian Street and Miss Linda. Talks about working for Jerry in World Pro Wrestling in 1996 and 1997. Provides some context to the infamous Jake Roberts owes Jerry money story. T...

Episode 11: 1983: Bockwinkel says Goodbye to Houston In Episode 11 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Continues to re-examine the career of AWA world champion Nick Bockwinkel, this time looking at his 1983 travels and matches. Discusses the attempted territory war in Houston in spring 1983 as Southwest tries to reclaim the market, running opposition to Paul Boesch and Bill Watts....

Episode 10: The Butch Reed tribute In Episode 10 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Talks about one of his territory favorites, Hacksaw Butch Reed. Traces his love to Reed to a magazine article about his success in Florida. Looks at the first half of Reed's career, including his Central States pedigree, start in Vancouver, first trip to Georgia, big star push in Florida, retu...

Episode 9: 1982: Farewell to the Gulf Athletic Club In Episode 9 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Continues to re-examine the career of AWA world champion Nick Bockwinkel, this time looking at his 1982 travels and matches. Discusses the changes in wrestling and in Houston Wrestling in 1982, as Gulf Athletic Club is replaced by The Best of Texas Wrestling, Inc. Nails down the exa...

Episode 8: The Power Plant In Episode 8 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Talks about his one day at WCW's Power Plant in fall 1996 and how different it was as a training center from what he was used to doing. Explains why he got a "Thank you" on the wrestling documentary Beyond the Mat. Discusses who were the name wrestlers at the plant at the time and who was lea...

Episode 7: The Gold Cup In Episode 7 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Returns to Houston and the Sam Houston Coliseum, this time in 1981, to talk about Nick Bockwinkel's AWA World Title defenses in Texas. Discusses Harley Race's second no-show of a big match in Houston and how this led to Paul Boesch leaving the NWA. Discusses Wahoo McDaniel's brief reign as a wor...

Episode 6: Allen Martin ribs Mike Jackson In Episode 6 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Talks about the summer of 1996 and watching Allen Martin work as a main eventer in Sylacauga and Anniston, Alabama. Tells a story about meeting Joey Maggs and how nice he was. Looks at why sometimes the guys doing the jobs are actually the stars of the show. Looks at April 1982 in Mid-South W...

Episode 5: Nick Bockwinkel, The Real World Champion In Episode 5 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Talks about how he came to appreciate Nick Bockwinkel, despite his lack of enthusiasm for mid-1980s AWA television. Looks at Bockwinkel's first reign as AWA World Champion, which lasted 1,714 days and included much more than just AWA matches. Talks about the first Sunday wrestl...

Episode 4: The Legend of Billy the Kid  In Episode 4 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Talks about why he took the name Billy the Kid and how it tied into The Brady Bunch and a book by Larry McMurtry, "Anything for Billy." Talks about the "Phenix City crew" and the unknown heat he had with them. Says nice things about the late wrestling writer Scott Williams....

Episode 3: Bar Fights and King James Buremoh In Episode 3 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Talks more about what it was like to be trained by a legendary wrestler, Exotic Adrian Street. Tracks the career of a mystery wrestler named Oladipo, thanks to a big break from Ebay. Who was he? How did catch on with Houston Wrestling and Mid South and why did he disappear? What name did h...

Episode 2: The Skullcrusher Shed In Episode 2 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Talks about what it was like to be trained by a legendary wrestler, Exotic Adrian Street. Talks about how Adrian and Miss Linda made their living outside the wrestling ring. Talks about why Skullcrusher was so different than any other wrestling school. Gives a glimpse into how tough Adrian Street real...

In Episode 1 of Greg Klein's Old School Rasslin Talk, Greg: Talks about how he became a fan of professional wrestling, in particular Mid-South Wrestling (Association) and Houston Wrestling.  Talks about going to matches with his dad at the Sam Houston Coliseum and the day he decided he wanted to be a pro wrestler.  Talks about breaking into the business in the Mobile-Pensacola area, being tra...