Greetings From Allentown

This week is a trip back to February 2, 1980 for WWF Championship Wrestling. Including: - A complete and thorough look at the build to Bruno Sammartino vs Larry Zbyszko with extensive audio clips of the interviews that set up the match - Bruno Sammartino: master of the low key promo and talking people into the arenas with the emotional connection he had with fans - The brilliance of how the Bruno/Larry match progressed with Larry slowly boiling over in anger - Ken Patera's amazing 1980 and his very strange pre-match routine with manager The Grand Wizard - Pat Patterson as a worker and why he’s enjoyable - Johnny Rodz's special role in Vincent J. McMahon’s WWF - Vince McMahon doing yeoman’s work going solo on the broadcast Plus: My favorite wrestling podcast format ever, Tony Atlas’ strange match with Rodz, how the logo for the podcast came to be, the "rule" I broke in looking at this show, my evolving views on pre-1984 WWF, one thing I wish there was more of in Pat Patterson’s book “Accepted”, and YouTube Comment Theater!

Take a trip back to 1997 for the wild and crazy days of WWF Shotgun Saturday Night, from March 15, 1997. - Background of the Shotgun show and stretching the credibility of calling something "New York" as in the city - My love for Brian Pillman's entire career and regrets about what could have been - A description of trying to follow wrestling in 1997 without cable TV and Shotgun's role in that - The importance of Chyna in boosting the Hunter Hearst Helmsley act - Furnas and Lafon: Why couldn't they just give them a manager? - Bret Hart has some prescient things to say about Vince McMahon - All you ever wanted to know about Lance Wright, the ring announcer on this show - Finding a new gimmick for Flash Funk by looking at a piece of classic Mel Brooks cinema - Memories of a gruesome Hector Garza injury Plus: Commercials for stuff like NBA Shootout '97 and psychic hotlines, forming a wrestling fan club in college, and support your local indy promotion!

Take a trip back to the mini-Attitude Era with a look at WWF Superstars from April 13, 1991. - The trouble with Kerry Von Erich beyond his horrible theme music - Jake the Snake Roberts as babyface bully - Explaining (and defending!) the Berzerker gimmick with a look at the etymology and Icelandic literature(?!?) - The great Sean Mooney hosts an Event Center….with no specific event to plug - The trials and tribulations of Barry O - Bret Hart’s singles push begins, for real this time I swear! - The Nasty Boys: are they this podcast’s “house band”? - A comprehensive second by second breakdown of the Ultimate Warrior being locked in a coffin and the “attempts” to get him out. Plus, useful information on how YOU can best survive if you find yourself in a similar spot - Tugboat as the great palate cleanser - How many late tax filers are there during tax season and why is IRS so concerned about them? Plus: the return of YouTube comment theater, and an extended jag about the awesome WWF on NESN theme music

Take a trip down to the Irish McNeil Boys Club in Louisiana for some classic Mid-South Wrestling action from March 30, 1984. - Jim Cornette has been embarassed, and Bill Watts thinks it is funny so now they are at war - Bill Watts' political views and how you have to suppress them when watching this stuff - The debut of Jim Ross as the lead host and also his rendition as JR goes looking for Stagger Lee on Watts' behalf - The Rock and Roll Express set a new standard for "making the babyface save" - Mr. Wrestling II and Magnum TA flip the script on the "Bruno/Larry storyline" - Hacksaw Jim Duggan battling Russians - Terry Taylor gets suckered and then beat down by Butch Reed, and an alternate theory is offered re: The Red Rooster - The trouble with Masao Ito's tights - A video glorifying Watts plays....twice!