Greetings From Allentown

Strap yourself in and deal with the craziness of WCW on the Main Event from June 30, 1991! - The end of Ric Flair’s original WCW run with a fiery promo comparing himself to another legendary athlete - Defending the P.N. News gimmick because pieces are there for it to work and why it did fail - The Desperados: Bad vignettes ever or the worst vignettes ever? - The Six Man Titles: As 1991 WCW as it gets - Contrasting the failed Rock and Roll Express breakup with that of the Rockers later in the year - Instances of Dusty Rhodes booking malpractice - Steve Austin and the TV title: how it was the best thing for his development - Gary Michael Cappetta ruins the main event with constant interruptions Plus: - Pondering what Ric Flair missed by not being on the WCW Bruise Cruise in the fall of 1991 - More problems with the Nature Boy’s haircut - A re-enactment of ordering the 1991 WCW Great American Bash on PPV - A Diamond Dallas Page catchphrase that is still used on New York Yankees broadcasts to this day - Reflect

On this episode of Greetings From Allentown, Peter takes a look at WWF Wrestling Challenge from July 14, 1991! - The bizarre psychology of the Summerslam main event “The Match Made In Hell” - Sgt. Slaughter: the only man who could have pulled off the Iraqi sympathizer that well - Issues with Col. Mustafa as an Iranian pretending to be Iraqi - Virgil music mashups! - Mr. Perfect disses the town in the local promo - Reasons why this Bret Hart push was different than the previous ones - What to do when the enhancement talent has the same name of one your best friends - Ted DiBiase gives a lesson in TV history - What the Beverly Brothers theme sounds like Plus: - Looking back at the Super Bowl and using a former NFL head coach to express frustration - Judging cities by their breweries - Awkwardness in marriage proposals - Gorilla Monsoon buries a jobber because of his bad teeth - Jim Neidhart as a color man - Meditating on the importance of the barber shop in African-American culture Email: Greetingsfromallent

Get in the zone for some WWF Action Zone from April 30, 1995! - The debut of Hunter Hearst Helmsley: facing a Level 78 sex offender in Buck Zumhofe - Pros and cons of the In Your House PPV concept - Ted DiBiase as a manager: did he help anyone? - Intrigue over Jeff Jarrett’s Intercontinental Title - Reviewing reasons why Bob Holly was not paired with Scott Hall at the first IYH PPV - Bob Backlund is on spring break! - Changing one’s tune about Todd Pettengill - Wondering where Sid recorded his promo Plus: - Thoughts on various breakfast cereals - Passionate feelings about the music scene of 1995 - Why the LAPD should have talked to Jean-Paul Levesque in June 1994 - The greatest Dr. Dre lyric sequence - Vinnie Vegas Corner: Super Bowl edition with game props Email: Greetingsfromallentown@gmail.com Twitter: @GFAllentownPod Facebook.com/GreetingsFromAllentown Placetobenation.com/amazon

This week features a look at the CWA Memphis Wrestling from April 1, 1989! - The importance of Memphis as a unique territory and incubator of future stars - Enjoying the commentary stylings of Ronnie P. Gossett IV - Master of Pain: the pre-Undertaker gimmick that is similar to “Bikertaker” - Robert Fuller and persistence: insults Scott Steiner then asks him to do his bidding - Actually kind of enjoying Jeff Jarrett for a change - Breaking down Jerry Lawler’s clothing before his introduction of his new running buddy Lord Humongous (Sid) - Sorting out the Mason-Dixon Connection Plus: - Inspired by Lord Humongous’ mask, a story of why those masks fell out of favor with hockey goaltenders - There are too many places near Evansville, Indiana that start with “Owens” - Fractions of a penny in American culture - Remembering the Cola Wars Email: Greetingsfromallentown@gmail.com Twitter: @GFAllentownPod Facebook.com/GreetingsFromAllentown Placetobenation.com/amazon

This week features a look at the WWF Superstars of Wrestling from June 13, 1987! - Looking at the various happenings of May/June 1987 in the WWF and how a couple are connected to each other - The brilliance of building The Honky Tonk Man to an unthinkable upset IC title win - Ricky Steamboat awkwardly contributes a public service announcement and recalling other PSAs that aired on WWF TV - How the referee in the Steamboat/Honky Tonk Man match screwed up - A suggestion of a celebrity to bring juice to the Hillbilly Jim/King Kong Bundy angle with the minis - JYD returns and he’s bigger than ever! - Inspired booking of opponents for the British Bulldogs - Scott Casey passes Lanny Poffo in the super enhancement power rankings Plus: - A lone complaint about the WWF ice cream bars - Demolition Ax and his recurring bit with Gene Okerlund - Vince McMahon’s odd reaction to seeing footage of Jesse Ventura in the movie “Predator” - Pondering what Bruno Sammartino is thinking on commentary as Vince McMahon gushes over

This week WCW takes center stage with a look at WCW Saturday Night from June 26, 1993! - WCW in 1993: Flashes of goodness overshadowed by mini-movies and other failed ideas - Trying to make sense of the Paul Roma/Four Horsemen era - Checking in with Teddy Long, who seems to have more connections than anybody knew - How Maxx Payne got his gig in WCW - Flair For The Gold sets up a new feud….between Dusty Rhodes and the Assassin - Defending the city of Cleveland against its portrayal in the Cactus Jack “Lost in Cleveland” skits - Ricky Steamboat as the face in peril: exactly what God intended - Jesse Ventura goes soft in front of the Hollywood Blonds Plus: - Reviewing the Atlanta Braves game from this same date on TBS - Thoughts on the Sid imbroglio with the AIW promotion in Ohio - Where I would have gone if the Masters of the Powerbomb gave me plane tickets to go away - Vinnie Vegas Corner: NFL Divisional Playoff edition! - YouTube comment theater: Cancelled for the week due to lack of any funny or witty co

Make a New Year's resolution to listen to Greetings From Allentown starting with this peek at WWF Superstars from April 16, 1994! - The tax man attacks Tatanka and “tribal elder” Chief Jay Strongbow: Would the headdress have been subject to gift taxation in kayfabe per the laws of the time? - Examining the nature of IRS’ character and how it relates to Vince McMahon’s own political views - Jerry Lawler and Vince McMahon humorously break down the authenticity of Lex Luger’s all-American character - Owen Hart uses a word commonly heard in wrestling promos in its actual context - Plotting a different path for Earthquake if he stayed in WWF thru 1994 - Making sense of Men on a Mission and their clichéd version of rap Plus: - Frustration with researching Duke “The Dumpster” Droese - Searching for Shawn Michaels’ smile with no luck - Vinnie Vegas Corner: Wild Card Playoff edition! - YouTube comment theater! Email: Greetingsfromallentown@gmail.com Twitter: @GFAllentownPod Facebook.com/GreetingsFromAllentown Plac

Send off 2017 in style with a look at how the WWF ended 1983 and the Bob Backlund era in the 12-31-1983 episode of Championship Wrestling! - Bob Backlund loses the WWF title: how the finish came to be, why the Iron Sheik was the right guy, and why there was no recovering from Backlund’s post-match promo - A tale about Tony Garea’s #1 fan in Boston - Explaining time-travelling Gene Okerlund and Roddy Piper - The early exploits of Steve Lombardi - Comparing Paul Orndorff to…..NBA star Al Horford(?!?) - Magnificent Muraco cuts a local promo for the ages on Pat Patterson - How this edition of Victory Corner with Tito Santana might have been improved Plus: - Blaming Arnold Skaaland for not having a firm managerial hand - Commenting on Lord Alfred Hayes’ outfit for his formal WWF TV debut - The power of Samoan headbutts in 1983 - New Year’s resolutions by the wrestlers! - YouTube comment theater! ** Vote for PWO-PBTN for best podcast network in the Sheety Awards! ** http://www.sheetsandwich.com/official-polling

Take a break from the holidays and settle in for some NWA/WCW goodness with a look at NWA Pro from May 12, 1990! - Ongoing issues in WCW: a new booker, an injured Sting, Robocop, and unhappy Ric Flair - What is going on with Ric Flair’s hair and is it the inspiration for a Simpsons character? - Inside the negotiations to bring Sid Vicious into the Four Horsemen - Lance Russell: bringing sanity during uncertain and stressful times - Barry Windham fails a lie detector test - How being unmasked liberated Doom to pursue greatness - Mean Mark learns hard lessons on selling against Road Warrior Animal - Reflecting on the late Tom Zenk Plus: - The hilarity of Ole Anderson’s outfit with suspenders - Johnny Ace is a member in good standing of the Jimmy Garvin Appreciation Society - Oddly prominent advertisements on WCW TV - A possible connection between Norman and Braun Strowman - The return of YouTube comment theater! ** Vote for PWO-PBTN for best podcast network in the Sheety Awards! ** http://www.sheetsandwich.c

It’s not Arsenio from LA, it’s not Oprah from Chicago, it’s not Joe Franklin from Secaucus! This week it’s a look at WWF Prime Time Wrestling from June 17, 1991! - A brief history of the Prime Time format that featured a studio audience, meditating on the lives of those in the audience, and wishing to be a part of that - The fall of the Tugboat and Vince McMahon’s attempt to join the great play by play calls in sports history - Virgil and “Virgilina”: a round of applause for an American hero - Reasons for Hacksaw Jim Duggan’s over the top patriotism - Gary Strydom cuts a “promo” at the WBF Championship - Jake Roberts works with an unlikely ally against Earthquake - Bobby Heenan channels Ted Knight’s character from the 1980s sitcom “Too Close For Comfort” Plus: - The return of the “Andre to English” dictionary! - Lord Alfred Hayes does something very unusual to pick up women - Sean Mooney asks important questions on play by play about cemeteries and the Ted DiBiase/Sensational Sherri relationship Email: Gre

This week 1989 WWF is in the spotlight as we take a look at WWF Wrestling Spotlight from December 16, 1989! - The Sensational Queen Sherri has a freakout: assaulting Ian Mooney and climbing cages - Gorilla Monsoon as the Pat Buchanan of wrestling announcers and imagining Gorilla running a supermarket - Hulk Hogan and Brutus Beefcake tell a fanciful tale of an alleged motorcycle trip to the North Pol - Al Burke: the Renaissance man of late 80s enhancement talents - Bad News Brown invokes President George H.W. Bush, Pope John Paul II, and Hollywood Hogan in asking for title shots - The bizarre commercial airing immediately before the Jake Roberts match - Why 1989 was a bad year to be a Bolshevik both in kayfabe and in real life Plus: - Explaining away what seems to be a spoonerism by Zeus - The true meaning of the timekeeper ringing the bell constantly during an angle - Trying to understand Lord Alfred Hayes’ use of the English language - Jesse Ventura (accidentally?) books a match for WrestleMania VI - YouTu

This week we re-visit the year 1986 for a look at Jim Crockett Promotions with an episode of NWA Worldwide from March 29, 1986! - The great missed opportunity of JCP in 1986, why it went down that way and why 1987 was too late - Paul Jones, Jimmy Valiant, and the Manchurian Candidate - Breaking down the Pez Whatley attack on Jimmy Valiant, including theories on why Pez was carrying scissors - Joe “Nighthawk” Coltrane’s promo goes on and on and on and on - If Arn Anderson wants to destroy your left arm, he’s going to destroy your left arm - Jimmy Garvin does a comedic bit using the telephone - The Midnight Express: equal opportunity squash artists - Dusty Rhodes and Tully Blanchard have interesting things to say about each other - The more interesting teams from the 1986 Crockett Cup tournament - David Crockett can’t even get excited about a Ronnie Garvin squash Plus: - How doing this podcast has changed what I value and the way I watch wrestling - Earnestly fact-checking Jimmy Valiant’s assertion about Pist

Grab a turkey leg and sneak away from the family to take in some WWF Superstars from December 1, 1990! - The Undertaker talks on WWF TV for the first time but no one can settle on if he is Kane the Undertaker, Cain the Undertaker, or just plain ol’ Undertaker - Examining the Gobbledy Gooker: what they were trying to accomplish and different steps they could have taken to make it work - A rundown of the Texas Tornado’s IC title reign and wondering if it is the worst singles title reign in pre-1992 WWF history - Theorizing on a faux pas leading to the end of Tugboat’s 1990 push - The nuanced acting of Wrestling Superstar Virgil - Fact-checking Hacksaw Jim Duggan’s remarks on Operation: Desert Shield and Iraq - A bizarre exchange on commentary about Superfly Jimmy Snuka - Why Power and Glory was likely doomed from the start Also: - Earthquake leaves a voicemail for Hulk Hogan - Feeling bad while researching Akio Sato - Taking in the varied crowd at an independent wrestling show - A real life TV invasion angle

Get ready for Thanksgiving with a special holiday-themed edition of WCW Prime from November 20, 1995! - Dusty Rhodes is hyper on color commentary even by his lofty standard: talking to turkeys, shoutouts to the ring crew, and identifying as Jewish(?!?) - What exactly is the turkey doing behind Dusty Rhodes? - Early WCW Eddie Guerrero and regrets about missing the key part of his career - The biggest problem with the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame - Bart Sawyer: From Bart Simpson to the Scorpion King - Mr. Wonderful deals with an internal crisis as anyone else would: by calling for a psychic - Trying to make sense of Ric Flair’s color and gear choices Also: - Classic commercials and discussion of 1-800-Collect, video game Vectorman, Ovaltine, and Time Life music infomercials - Pitching a movie based on the madcap adventures of WCW Prime hosts Chris Cruise and Dusty Rhodes - Yet another Dungeon of Doom promo leaves the viewer scratching their head - Surprise at how fun the 1995 World War 3 PPV wa

This week it’s time for a look at WWF Saturday Night’s Main Event, FOX-style from February 8, 1992 - The motivations for FOX to jump into the wrestling game at that point and examining their usual Saturday night schedule from that winter - Sid Justice is a man for all seasons: acting, talking, wordsmith, speechwriter, philosopher - Deconstructing Sid’s case for being the number one contender and whether it actually holds water - Anger at the WWF re-recording commentary on the sacred 1992 Royal Rumble to try and change history - An appreciation of the original theme for The Mountie - Jim Duggan’s key role in rehabbing Sgt. Slaughter all the way back from Iraqi turncoat to American patriot - Roddy Piper’s IC title reign and why this is a case where babyface vs babyface made sense for WrestleMania VIII against Bret Hart Plus: - A theory on why the Barber Shop segment had to end when it did - The Genius opens the door for some Gilligan’s Island talk - Being annoyed at a recurring part of NHL games this season -

Grab your Members Only jacket because Greetings From Allentown is headed back to March 7, 1981 for a look at WWF All Star Wrestling featuring Sgt. Slaughter’s Cobra Clutch Challenge! - Breaking down one of the greatest WWF angles ever as Pat Patterson finally accepts the challenge from Sgt. Slaughter after many weeks of buildup; also paying tribute to Slaughter’s incredible versatility - A musical tribute to Angelo “King Kong” Mosca’s time as a color analyst on Maple Leaf Wrestling - The red hot S.D. Jones (yes!) has his hands full with the Hangman - Vince McMahon hangs poor Freddie Blassie out to dry on a promo - Moondog King and his brief taste of glory - Yoshiaki Yatsu and figuring out what was in it for both WWF and New Japan with their partnership - Tony Garea comes to the rescue, sort of Also: - How much money would Patterson have if he had been paid the $10,000 and invested it wisely? - Who is this Black Demon running away from the Cobra Clutch Challenge? - Imagining Dominic DeNucci as a 1970s sitcom

Buckle up because it’s time for da Prime! WCW Prime that is, from August 19, 1996. - Dusty Rhodes explains it all: Clubberin’, the nWo, Craig Pittman’s push, not taking bumps, and anything else on his mind - The origins of the Prime Network in the Los Angeles area and how it evolved over time - Why WCW Prime was such a unique show - Scott Norton and a theory of why he was always stuck on the nWo B-team - Marking time in 1996 by observing the color and length of Sting’s hair - Recalling the Dean Malenko drinking game - Konnan’s “Mexican Heavyweight Title” - Kurasawa: The Lex Luger of Japan? Also: - Why Peter has not eaten at McDonald’s since 1996, which turns into a rant about the Frosty at Wendy’s and coffee in hotel rooms - The delightful chemistry between Dusty and Chris Cruise - Tom Emanski and the endorsement of Fred McGriff - A poor choice of words about the 1996 Atlanta Olympics - YouTube Comment Theater!

Greetings From Allentown gets extreme this week with a look at ECW Hardcore TV from February 25, 1998. - Why ECW was important to me at that point in time and the bizarro universe the entire promotion seemed to operate in - Taz as an alternative to Stone Cold Steve Austin and his feud with Bam Bam Bigelow - A moment of silence turns into an all-boys high school assembly - Suggesting a different theme song for Shane Douglas - Discussing the in-house ads for ECW: Extreme Warfare Volume 2 and Born To Be Wired - The importance of limiting the size of Justin Credible’s entourage - Sunny keeps a secret from Chris Candido yet again before his match with former partner Lance Storm - New Jack: terrifying and hilarious at the same time Also: - What the hell is Brakkus doing in the ECW Arena? - Recounting various fan chants heard over the years - Imagining Bam Bam Bigelow playing golf - Scoring Tom and Jerry episodes on points - A brief and sheepish Vinnie Vegas Corner

On this episode of Greetings From Allentown, Peter takes a look at WWF Wrestling Challenge from March 12, 1989. - Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan duel on promos, with the Macho Man intense as ever and Hogan talks about being “crucified” - A breakdown of the Fabulous Rougeau Brothers theme song with the little heard French portion - Why it wasn’t a good idea to have the Rockers and Strike Force swap matches at WrestleMania V - An Andre the Giant interview forces the return of the “Andre to English” dictionary - Akeem’s critical role in the Twin Towers team - The problem with WWF Womens’ champion Rockin’ Robin Also: - Childhood memories of the Dukes of Hazzard - John Ziegler: enhancement talent/National Hockey League President? - An idea for modern WWE merchandise for the hot stable - A plea for an earlier start time for Wrestlemanias for the sake of fans in Europe - An abbreviated Vinnie Vegas corner and the return of YouTube Comment Theater!

Close the windows because the Heat is on: WWF Halftime Heat from January 31, 1999! - Why Vince McMahon would have called the Rock-Mankind empty arena match even if Jim Ross was healthy - The true winner of the empty arena match - The difference in how head injuries were viewed in 1999 versus today - Shane McMahon as an announcer: the most annoying man in the world - Chyna’s heel turn and examining it from a kayfabe perspective - An appreciation of late 90s Big Bossman and the evolution of the character - A look back at the fun “UFC-style” matches between Ken Shamrock and Owen Hart from summer 1998 - Triple H becomes a misogynist in putting down Chyna Also: - A recollection of the most boring NHL game the host attended, which was on the same date as this show - A personal story about the Will Smith song “Miami” turns into a rant - Low blow after low blow after low blow - What was the actual halftime show of Super Bowl 33 that anyone watching this would have missed - The reluctant return of Vinnie Vegas Corn