Episode 73 - Kenny Omega vs. Will Osprey (Tokyo, Japan - 4/1/2023)

It’s road trip time as Tariq recalls his memorable but completely hellacious trip to Detroit with three people he would rather not have gone with.  On top of that we talk about the booking nightmare that Halloween Havoc 1994 turned out to be.  In a nutshell, Hogan, Flair, Mr. T., Arn Anderson or Brutus Beefs in a mask, Muhammad Ali, Sting, and Jimmy Hart all get involved in this singles cage match.  What an absolute shit show.  With all that said, Sherri stole the show, watch and you will understand why.

When you talk about parodies there should be one name that comes to mind for everyone, Weird Al Yankovich.  In this week’s intro we talk about the greatness of Weird Al and which one of his works we liked most.  Tariq talks about how he credits Weird Al for providing his children a fundamental understanding of English grammar. With regards to wrestling parodies, one of the greatest of the 1990’s and maybe of all time is the bWo.  We start of the core of this episode by seeing how many bWo members Jim can recall and then get into a brief look back at the debut match of the leader of the bWo, Big Stevie Cool.  At the end of this episode you will head a funny anecdote between Tariq and his daughter.

Have you ever wanted to beat up your dad?  How many people on earth can actually say that got paid to beat up their dad?  Well, Dominik Mysterio can, and that’s one of the reasons why you hate him.   In our intro this week Jim and Tariq talk about their kids challenging them and getting put in their place.  Jim’s kids actually tried to physically challenge him which is ridiculous because he’s 6’8 and Tariq’s daughter actually punched him square in the face!   This match from Wrestlemania 39’s first day of events was definitely one of the most memorable matches of the night and undoubtedly will be remembered for years to come as this match clearly established Dominik’s place in WWE and today his position as one of the greatest heels in the company is absolutely unquestioned.

2023 has seen the death of a remarkable number of highly skilled professional wrestlers.  In addition to the shocking passing of Bray Wyatt this week, we also lost some great legends including Lanny Poffo, Exotic Adrian Street, Superstar Billy Graham, and quite possibly one of wrestling’s greatest performers ever, Terry Funk.  

Coincidentally this episode was recorded a day prior to Terry Funk’s passing so Tariq and Jim didn’t provide a career overview of Terry Funk and what he meant to Pro Wrestling.  Quite frankly such a discussion would need at least a month of discussion to do it justice. This week the episode began by discussing moments when Pro Wrestling seemed real to both Jim and Tariq.  Jim and Tariq discuss angles involving Dr. D, Randy Savage, Andy Kaufman and more.   The match itself might quite possibly be one of the greatest in ring debuts ever.  Terry Funk not only establishes himself as a heel but he does so in a unique fashion and is well worth watching.  Some time in the future Tariq and Jim will pay tribute to Terry Funk in a much more appropriate fashion.   

In this episode Tariq and Jim talk about the different faces they have… It will make sense once you listen to the discussion. The reason we did so is because this week we are reviewing what is one of the hidden treasures of Hulk Hogan’s career as he takes on Genichiro Tenryu in an outstanding match.  Spoiler alert, Hulk Hogan does an enzigiri! 

This week we talk about everything British to us and take a look at an Indy match coming out of the UK that has been making the rounds on social media.  For those of you who are unfamiliar with the backwards ways in which America does things, this week we discuss pounds, inches, feet, yards and even the American political environment in 2023.  Sit back and enjoy Jim reacting to Tariq losing his mind again and again in this episode.  

In this week’s episode we talk about the insanity of the recent FMWE show and how Atsushi Onita created a war like environment at a Professional Wrestling show. 

Were you alive in 1985?  If you were we bet you won’t believe what went down in 1985!  In this episode we discuss the major events that happened in and around Wrestlemania 1.  For those of you who weren’t around, this is an episode that will likely blow your mind. The match this week comes on the heels of the death of the Iron Sheik and it features his tag team championship win alongside his longtime partner Nikolai Volkoff.  Although most people remember these two for their singing of the Russian National Anthem and the Sheik’s mic work immediately after Volkoff sang, these two were actually really sound workers and this match is a must watch for any true wrestling fan.

Tariq and Jim talk about their experiences going somewhere for the first time and Tariq talks about how his insistence on seeing how the locals live in the Bahamas scarred him for life.    This week we take a close look at the debut of the WWF Tazz (also known as the ECW Taz) and just how great a debut match this was.  It’s hard to believe that the WWF totally ignored how over Tazz was and decided to basically bury his character.