Tag: DragonKingKarl
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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: 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 Greatest Kayfabe Tournament: Buddy Rogers vs. Bobo Brazil
The Greatest Kayfabe Tournament round one, match 20 pits two people from the same era against each other. In fact, these men wrestled many times and one of those occasional unrecognized NWA World Heavyweight title changes happened once when Bobo Brazil beat Buddy Rogers for the title but returned it to him. How did the…
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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: 1986 WCCW retro TV review
On last week’s Dragon King Karl show, I reviewed an episode of WWF TV from the first week of July 1986, so I thought we would see what World Class Championship Wrestling from Texas was doing the same week. Well, Kerry Von Erich was wrecking his motorcycle, so that’s what. So, it was Mike Von…
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DragonKingKarl Greatest Kayfabe Tournament: Backlund vs. Tanahashi
The Ace of WWWF in the late 1970s into the early 1980s vs. the Ace of New Japan. It’s a clash of styles to be sure and a clash of charismas as well. As the GKT continues, Karl Stern of WhenItWasCool.com and F4WOnline.com takes a look at the careers of Bob Backlund and Hiroshi Tanahashi…
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DragonKingKarl Greatest Kayfabe Tournament: Brody vs. Goldberg
It’s time for one of the hardest hitting and interesting matches so far in round one! Two big monsters battle it out on this edition of the Greatest Kayfabe Tournament. The wildman Bruiser Brody takes on the WCW World Champion and undefeated Bill Goldberg. We discuss the legend of Brody and just how massive a…
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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: Halloween Havoc 1991
You know you’ve been waiting for this one — the Chamber of Horrors! Thrill as Abdullah the Butcher gets roasted alive, chill as Cactus Jack tries to figure out the on/off switch, be amazed that Razor Ramon is in this match! Plus: Lots of random masked men, Steve Austin, BILL KAZMAIER VS. OZ (!) in NOT…
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DragonKingKarl From the Pages of the Observer: Deaths of Gene Anderson, Lance Idol & El Gran Davis
On this episode of the DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show, Karl Stern looks back at three short obituaries pulled from the pages of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Gene Anderson was one half of the famous Minnesota Wrecking Crew with Ole Anderson and a well known name on the East Coast. You might have never heard of…
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DragonKingKarl Greatest Kayfabe Tournament: Thesz vs. Stevens
The Greatest Kayfabe Tournament continues as this matchup pits one of the most legendary in-ring wrestlers of all time (Lou Thesz) against one of the most influential wrestlers of all time (Ray Stevens). Who will win? You the listener voted and we have the winner. We also discuss the careers of both Thesz and Stevens, plus the…
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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: Start of 1980 in pro wrestling
We have hit the 1980s and there is so much more information that we can no longer cover an entire year per episode. So, today we take a look at the first few months of 1980 and talk Mr. Wrestling II, Tatsumi Fujinami, Ron Starr, The Wild Samoans, Dennis Condrey & David Shultz as a…
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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: The first time Heyman shook up a company
Host Karl Stern has a retro wrestling TV review on today’s edition of the DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show. From May 1988, we take a look back at the first company that Paul Heyman was hired to turn around. Continental Wrestling was getting long in the tooth and had sold to a new owner. Eddie Gilbert…
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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: 1979 in pro wrestling
On this episode of the DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show, pro wrestling historian Karl Stern takes a look back at the year 1979 in pro wrestling. 1979 was a pretty epic year in wrestling, and Karl looks at Dusty Rhodes (who finally wins the NWA World title), Harley Race, Ric Flair, Ted DiBiase, Tommy Rich, and…
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DragonKingKarl Greatest Kayfabe Tournament: HBK vs. Giant Baba
The GKT — Greatest Kayfabe Tournament — continues, and we have a bizarre matchup this time. It’s a real clash of styles and eras as All Japan king Giant Baba faces off against the Heartbreak Kid Shawn Michaels! This match would have been a train wreck in real life, but what did our voters say? Join host…
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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: The greatest wrestler you never heard of
Who are the greatest pro wrestlers in all of history? You might immediately think of Ric Flair, Shawn Michaels, Lou Thesz, Frank Gotch, or even Strangler Lewis. But perhaps the best wrestler ever might be someone who is basically an unknown. Let me tell you the story of Alexander Aberg, champion of the Brooklyn International…
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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: Mystery of the assault of Paul Boesch
The mystery of Boesch vs. Washburn. In 1935, pro wrestler Jack Washburn was arrested for using a steel plate inside his knee pad against future legendary pro wrestling promoter Paul Boesch, who was a wrestler at the time. The judge found Washburn guilty. Was this a shoot? What was Washburn trying to accomplish by assaulting Boesch?…
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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: 1978 in pro wrestling
Karl “DragonKingKarl” Stern is back for another deep dive into pro wrestling history. On this episode, we take a detailed look at 1978 and cover such names as Superstar Billy Graham, Harley Race, the Funk Brothers, Stan Hansen, Ted DiBiase, Bob Backlund, UWA Mexico, Japanese tournaments, and the death of John Pesek. From the home…
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DragonKingKarl Greatest Kayfabe Tournament: Jack Brisco vs. Triple H
The GKT continues! It’s all about the game and how you play it…yeah, Jack Brisco probably isn’t listening to that nonsense, but how did the voters see it? This week, two eras collide when we look at the former NWA World heavyweight champion and one of the most respected (and legitimate) mat wrestlers in history…
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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: AWA All-Star Wrestling retro TV Review
On today’s retro TV review, Karl Stern takes a look at an AWA All-Star Wrestling episode from August 1981. It features The High Flyers, Hulk Hogan, an awful Johnny Valiant promo, the world’s most awkward wrestler Baron Von Raschke, Tito Santana, Jesse Ventura, Karl’s irrational hatred of Adrian Adonis, and mush mouth Andre the Giant.…