Tag: Dragon King
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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: The WBF
Today we take a look back at another bright idea Vince McMahon had. In an era where the federal government was trying to put him in prison for dealing steroids and the WWF public imagine was at an all time low, Vince decided to promote his own bodybuilding federation full of jacked up dudes. Go…
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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: Old Tyme Wrestling Hour with Stevie J
On the new DragonKingKarl Old Tyme Wrestling Hour Podcast, host Karl Stern talks about the current downturn in pro wrestling ratings and popularity and explores what the future might hold. Then we bring in our special guest for this episode — Stevie J from AngryMarks.com, who acts as an impartial sounding board for questions about…
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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: The legacy of Mr. T
The DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Audio Show continues to add additional content during this era when many people are confined to their homes. Today, I want to give you something from my WhenItWasCool.com archive — a biography on Mr. T! Mr. T was very important to the national expansion of WWF, appeared in the main event…
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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: April and May 1981
On this episode of the longform history of pro wrestling series, Karl covers April and May 1981. The months include the quick switch in Georgia of the NWA World title between Tommy Rich and Harley Race. More on the filming of Rocky III, the origins of the IWGP title, Sgt. Slaughter in the WWF, the debut of…
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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: Saga of Ric Flair jumping to WWF while WCW/NWA Champion
This is a massive show with tons of stuff — including a lot of things you might not know. Karl Stern covers the entire story of Ric Flair quitting WCW to jump to WWF in 1991 while still WCW/NWA World Champion. Karl discusses what the NWA was during that time. Could Flair have jumped as…
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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: From the Pages of the Observer – Kerry Von Erich
Between this and my Saga of David Von Erich and the NWA World title I did recently at When It Was Cool, you’ll basically be an expert on the life and times of the Von Erich family. This is Dave Meltzer’s obituary for Kerry Von Erich, who took his own life at age 33, which…
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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: American Gladiators
American Gladiators was a weird hybrid athletics show that combined a game show with basically pro wrestling style entertainment. There were even crossovers between the two, and American Gladiators was clearly marketed toward pro wrestling fans. On this retro episode, Karl Stern takes a look back at this quirky game-sport.
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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: Pandemics then and now
On the new DragonKingKarl Old Tyme Wrestling Hour podcast, host Karl Stern talks about pandemics both now and in the early 1900s and how they affected the pro wrestling business, or alternately titled, Mine Constitution is Superior to Thine. Plus, Karl answers some listener emails and covers a ton of pro wrestling history.
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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: History of the NWA title, pt. 5
In the final installment in my look at the history of the NWA World title, I cover the indie years and the era where the NWA title floated around among small time promoters. Note that this series was completed prior to the Billy Corgan era but covers everything up to that point. Previous editions: Part 1 | Part…
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DragonKingKarl Greatest Kayfabe Tournament: Antonio Inoki vs. Harley Race
It’s time for match 22 in round 1 of the Greatest Kayfabe Tournament, a fun way to do some pro wrestling biographies. On this edition, we have a very close match-up: Antonio Inoki vs. Harley Race. Inoki was the ace (and founder) for New Japan Pro Wrestling for many years. In storyline, he also was…
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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: History of the NWA title, pt. 4
The fourth part of my historical look at the NWA World heavyweight title covers the legendary Ric Flair era with the belt. Who was really promised what? Why Ronnie Garvin? This episode looks at the most famous era of the National Wrestling Alliance World heavyweight championship including the switch from the 10 pounds of gold to the big gold…
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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: The Lawler-Idol hair vs. hair match
Image: Scott Bowden Straight out of 1986-87, this week’s DragonKing Karl Classic Wrestling Show takes a deep dive into the Jerry Lawler vs Austin Idol hair vs hair match that took place in a steel cage. I had such fun putting this show together and I encourage fans of both classic and modern wrestling to…
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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: History of the NWA title, pt. 3
On the DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show, I continued with the third part of the history of the NWA World heavyweight title. I take a look at the title from the time of Harley Race to the era of Ric Flair, how Race ended up bridging the gap between Dory Funk Jr. and Jack Brisco following Funk’s…
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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: Spring 1981 in pro wrestling
The spring of 1981 saw Harley Race continue his run as NWA World champion, Ron Fuller losing his smile and going home, Junkyard Dog cranking it up in Louisiana, Hulk Hogan battling Jerry Lawler in Memphis, a big name wrestler appearing on a game show, Sgt. Slaughter becoming a force in WWF, Don Muraco heading to WWF, and…
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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: History of the NWA title, pt. 2
In part two of my look at the history of the NWA World heavyweight title, I start with the decision in 1948 to form the National Wrestling Alliance, why Orville Brown was the first NWA World champion, why he was set to face Lou Thesz who also held an NWA World title, and everything you…
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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: A look at Dave Meltzer’s Andre The Giant bio
One of Dave Meltzer’s first mega obituaries is the subject of this episode of the DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show. When Andre The Giant died while attending his father’s funeral in France, Dave wrote a near book length synopsis of his life in the February 8, 1993 edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, packed full of…
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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: History of the NWA title, pt. 1
The history of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) World Heavyweight Championship is rich and reaches back into the 1940s. During many of the last 100 years, the NWA World title was viewed as the most important championship in wrestling. Join historian Karl Stern on this journey through every NWA title change, including much about the early…
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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: Old Tyme Wrestling Hour with Dave Wills
On this brand new Old Tyme Wrestling Hour on the Dragon King Karl Classic Wrestling Show, I talk about something I have been working on for a couple of months: the secret history of pro wrestling. The history of pro wrestling isn’t what a lot of people think it is and a lot of the bickering…
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DragonKingKarl Greatest Kayfabe Tournament: Stecher vs. Okada
Match 21 in the Greatest Kayfabe Tournament sees two of the greatest wrestlers from different eras face off. From the 1920s-1930s, Joe Stecher takes on the man many say is the greatest pro wrestler of the modern era — NJPW’s Kazuchika Okada. Of course, the GKT is just a fun way of doing two biographies. You,…
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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: Old Tyme Wrestling Hour
On the new, revamped, and improved Old Tyme Wrestling Hour, host Karl Stern discusses the Twitter feud between Dave Meltzer and Jim Cornette, along with the the faulty misconception many old timers have and the insane tribal mentality that accompanies it. Karl is then joined by Bryan Alvarez for some discussion about building the F4W newsletter, podcasting…