Category: Dragon King
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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: The Gorilla Monsoon WON obituary
My rotation of classic pro wrestling history topics continues on this week’s DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show. On a “From the Pages of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter” edition, we look back at Dave Meltzer’s biography on the death of Gorilla Monsoon which subscribers can read here. Not only was Monsoon a notable commentator during the Hulkamania era…
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DragonKing Dark: The death of Naomi Judd
We continue our series of 100 of the darkest moments in pop culture history by looking at the recent death of country music star Naomi Judd. Judd was 76 years old and all of The Judds’ hit songs were behind them, so in terms of affecting pop culture, one might argue that this one doesn’t…
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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: Pro Wrestling Illustrated from January 1983
In my rotation of retro pro wrestling podcasts on the DragonKingKarl Wrestling Show, I am adding old magazine reviews. The newsstand pro wrestling magazines were a staple of wrestling from the 1950s through the 1990s and especially peaked in the 1970-80s. Before the Internet and before newsletters were so widely distributed, the wrestling magazines are…
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DragonKing Dark: The death of John Denver
In my continuing series on the 100 darkest moments in pop culture history, I look back at the 1997 death of folk and country music star John Denver who was killed in an experimental aircraft crash at the age of 53. While Denver’s career as a hit maker was probably over, he was still a…
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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: The Yeti biography
I bet you didn’t expect this. Yes, Karl Stern vs. The Yeti. I saw the debut of The Yeti in WCW and am also a fan of giant tall wrestlers. I may be the only one, but this gimmick was something that straight out of Memphis wrestling, only it was on national TV. Ron Reis…
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DragonKing Dark: Warner Bros. destroys DC Comics
I continue my series of 100 of the darkest moments in pop culture history and this week, I look at the destruction wrought by Warner Bros. against the iconic characters of DC Comics. Characters who have been around since the 1930s have been rendered generationally irrelevant by a terrible connected universe of movies, bad castings,…
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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: Ultimo Dragon biography
This week’s biography lands on one of my favorite wrestlers: Ultimo Dragon. I was already a big fan of his before he showed up on WCW television as a new international junior heavyweight. The photo of him as the J-Crown champion survives in pop culture as a meme of achievement. Dragon has had standout matches…
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DragonKing Dark: Badfinger
We continue our series of the 100 darkest moments in pop culture history with a band that started off with a string of hit songs, signed to The Beatles’ record label, with songs written by The Beatles with many people believing they might BE the new Beatles. But a rash of “whatever could go wrong…
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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: History of pro wrestling at Maple Leaf Gardens
On this week’s DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show, I take a look back at the history of pro wrestling at Toronto’s Maple Leaf Gardens. Before the Tunneys, the Queensbury Athletic Club set the stage for one of the most famous pro wrestling venues in the world. This is their story.
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DragonKing Dark: Honey Boo Boo
We continue our series of 100 of the darkest moments in pop culture history and this week, I am your father who is very disappointed in you. No, this week nobody died. No tragedy has befallen a cast member (aside from a few arrests) but I discuss the general state of a show which was…
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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: One Man Gang/Akeem biography
The following is a free show. Just click below to listen. On a new biography episode of the DragonKing Classic Wrestling Show, I look back at the territorial era monster One Man Gang who later had his gimmick changed to the regrettable Akeem in WWF. Starting out with the outlaw promotions and then Angelo Poffo’s…
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DragonKing Dark: The OJ Simpson case & trial
Where were you when JFK was assassinated or when Elvis died or when a man landed on the moon? How about when the OJ Simpson verdict came down? The NFL football star and actor was accused of murdering two people, including his ex-wife. This case has been discussed a million times (or more), but here…
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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: Earthquake/John Tenta biography
This is a free show. Just click below to listen. John Tenta (aka WWF’s Earthquake, WCW’s Avalanche and Shark) wrestled at LSU and then became a sumo competitor where he was a standout Westerner. But, he soon became disgruntled and switched to pro wrestling, first in Japan and then in the U.S., becoming a star…
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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: February 1983 in pro wrestling
The longform history of wrestling podcast series from DragonKingKarl continues as we take a detailed look back at February 1983 in pro wrestling. Ric Flair travels around the world (literally) defending the NWA World title. The Midnight Rider (Dusty Rhodes) wins, then has to give back the NWA World title in Florida. Several AWA results…
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DragonKing Dark: The coverage of the JonBenet Ramsey murder
Continuing our look at 100 of the darkest moments in pop culture history, I continue to examine the rise in popularity of true crime documentary/TV channels/podcasts. On this DragonKing Dark, I look back at the murder of six-year-old JonBenet Ramsey. We aren’t going to dive into the details of the crime beyond the basics because…
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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: History of pro wrestling at MSG from 1880-1883
As part of my series looking at the history of pro wrestling at “The World’s Most Famous Arena,” I conclude with all the wrestling events held at the first Madison Square Garden (Gilmour’s Garden) which featured the biggest act of the time in William Muldoon. It’s so amazing looking back on the New York wrestling…
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DragonKing Dark: Adam Walsh & the birth of true crime content, pt. 1
Continuing our 100 darkest moments in pop culture history, we begin a three-episode run of tragic events that gave rise to the true-crime genre of documentaries, podcasts, and TV channels. The murder of Adam Walsh was a tragedy beyond comprehension. Yet, born out of that horrible event many incredibly good things came including the Center…
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DragonKingKarl Greatest Kayfabe Tournament: Bret Hart vs. Giant Baba
The next match in the GKT (Greatest Kayfabe Tournament) takes place and you the listeners have voted. Who will win when multi-time WWF Champion Bret Hart faces All Japan legend Giant Baba? Plus, a detailed look at the career and legacy of Bret Hart in Japan.
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DragonKing Dark: The Harvey Weinstein scandal
My ongoing series examining 100 of the darkest moments in pop culture history continues with a look at the movie scandal that spawned the #MeToo movement and the many crimes of producer Harvey Weinstein. Weinstein was a powerful movie producer in Hollywood who is accused of numerous heinous sexual assaults against a large number of…
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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: The Owen Hart WON obituary
On this week’s DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show, we take a look at Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter obituary for Owen Hart the week he was killed in a tragic fall in Kansas City, MO during the live WWE Over The Edge pay-per-view. Hart’s death still stands as one of the most tragic moments in the history of…