Tag: DragonKingKarl
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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 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…
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DragonKing Dark: The Bill Cosby scandal
Bill Cosby was “America’s Dad.” He was a mega-popular comedian and actor with his NBC TV sitcom The Cosby Show holding the spot as the biggest television show of the late 1980s. Then, it all came crashing down a few years ago when allegations of rampant sexual misconduct and assault began to surface which ultimately…
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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: WWA Indianapolis retro review from May 1984
This week’s DragonKing Karl show focuses on some low-rent wrestling as WWA Indianapolis is about the dirt worst “major” pro wrestling show from the territory era I think I have ever seen. Dick The Bruiser literally gave zero sh*ts about his wrestling show. We have generic knockoffs of Abdullah The Butcher, Michael Hayes, and a…
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DragonKing Dark: Tonya Harding vs. Nancy Kerrigan
Our Dark 100 series looking of the 100 darkest moments in pop culture history continues with a look back at the 1994 sports scandal involving U.S. Olympic skaters Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan. Harding was accused of being involved in a physical assault of Kerrigan in order to increase her Olympic medal chances. The attack…
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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: The longform history of pro wrestling in January 1983
My longform pro wrestling history series lands in January 1983 and we now have issues of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter to help us along as well. A lot will happen very quickly in 1983: Jimmy Snuka is hugely popular and seems to be ascending to the WWF title picture, but Nancy Argentina will change all…
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DragonKing Dark: The death of WCW
Continuing our 100 darkest moments in pop culture history, I return to the world of sports entertainment (pro wrestling) to find out how one company became the most profitable and successful wrestling company in the world and then sank over half of genre with it. The death of WCW is an amazing account of how…
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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: History of pro wrestling at MSG, 1878-1879
On this episode of the DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show, we return to the early days of Madison Square Garden in New York City and look at two early years’ worth of MSG matches featuring James Singley, William Heavyside, Prof. William Miller, Charles Murphy, Wilhelm Heygster, John McMahon, Edwin Bibby, and Andre Christol. Plus, Gilmore’s Gardens…
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DragonKing Dark: Milli Vanilli hoax
We continue our look at 100 of the darkest moments in pop culture history by looking at the late 1980s pop music act Milli Vanilli, who were busted as lip synching imposters after a hugely successful album and even a Grammy win. But, were Milli Vanilli the bad guys or victims? Don’t most live acts…
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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: Tammy ‘Sunny’ Sytch involved in accident involving fatality
Tammy “Sunny” Sytch has reportedly been involved in a car accident in Florida that has claimed the life of a 75-year-old man. Sytch has been in the news repeatedly over the last few years for multiple DUI’s and other offenses, and media reports say this fatal accident may have also included alcohol. I am going to answer…
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DragonKing Karl Greatest Kayfabe Tournament: Terry Funk vs. Triple H
Round two of the DKK Greatest Kayfabe Tournament continues to ask the question: if wrestling were real (not a shoot but if the characters as presented on TV were real), who would win? Two legends collide this episode with multi-time world champions Terry Funk vs. Triple H. Both are legendary brawlers having been involved in…
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DragonKing Dark: The death of NHL player Bill Masterton
The NHL is a fast, high-impact, and sometimes violent sport. But you may be surprised to learn that only one hockey player has ever died as a direct result of the game. In 1968, Bill Masterton became the only NHL player to date to die as the result of injuries suffered during a game. His…
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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: Rick Rude’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter biography
In April 1999, 40-year-old Rick Rude was found dead in his home. Generally speaking, super fit 40-year-olds don’t just die of natural causes. So what happened to the former WWF Intercontinental champion? In this week’s DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show, I look at that week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter and how Dave Meltzer discussed the life, death,…
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DragonKing Dark: The murder of SNL star Phil Hartman
Another tragedy from the cast of Saturday Night Live is our stop this week on the DragonKing Dark 100 darkest moments in pop culture history series. This week, we take a look at the domestic violence murder of comedian Phil Hartman. Hartman was a popular SNL cast member, voice actor, and comedian who was killed…