Tag: DragonKingKarl
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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: The death of Giant Baba
Dave Meltzer’s Giant Baba obituary from the February 8th, 1999, Wrestling Observer Newsletter may be one of his most massive obituaries in his history. The size of a small book, the story of Baba is woven into many of the most important stories of pro wrestling history, especially that of Japan. We all know Dave is a…
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DragonKingKarl True Crime Wrestling Stories: The case of Mr. Wrestling 2, pt. 1
Welcome to the first of a three-part series focused on Mr. Wrestling 2 as part of my true crime stories from the world of professional wrestling — a series that is not for the kids or faint-of-heart as we will be discussing some very heavy themes. This focuses on a little-known assault story involving Mr. Wrestling…
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DragonKingKarl Greatest Kayfabe Tournament: Brock Lesnar vs. Roddy Piper
Image: WWE The votes are in for this second-round matchup! You have voted and we have a winner as two of the biggest heels of all time meet up: The monster, the beast, former UFC champion, and multi-time WWE champion Brock Lesnar vs. “Rowdy” Roddy Piper. It may seem like Piper is physically outgunned in this…
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DragonKingKarl Greatest Kayfabe Tournament: Frank Gotch vs. Undertaker
Image: WWE The final match of round one of the Greatest Kayfabe Tournament brings us to our strangest matchup yet. From one end of the spectrum to the other. From the early 1900s we have the undefeated Heavyweight Champion of the world: Frank A. Gotch. With his toe-hold he is a feared and seldom defeated…
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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: May 1982
We take a deep dive into May 1982 when 21,000 people turned out to the Superdome in New Orleans to see the Junkyard Dog & Mr. Olympia battle The Samoans. Plus, the Buzz Sawyer vs. Tommy Rich rivalry was raging on in Georgia, Jimmy Garvin won the Florida title, Hulk Hogan was chasing AWA World Champion Nick Bockwinkel,…
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DragonKingKarl Greatest Kayfabe Tournament: Jim Londos vs. Rikidozan
As the first round of the Greatest Kayfabe Tournament nears completion, we have a battle of the greatest live attendance draw of all time (Jim Londos) vs. the greatest TV draw of all time (Rikidozan). Both are legends from different eras. You voted and we have a winner! Join DragonKingKarl (Karl Stern) as he discusses the…
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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: The true crime story of Jose Gonzalez
Image: NotiCel We all know the story of the killing of Bruiser Brody. In this latest true crime deep dive, I focus in on his killer (Jose Gonzalez) instead of rehashing the whole story once again. The popular version of that story is that Gonzalez murdered Brody in a shower by stabbing him and then was…
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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: The true crime story of Buck Zumhofe
Buck “Rock and Roll” Zumhofe was a staple of the 1970s-80s pro wrestling scene. While largely a mainstay in the AWA and winning their World Junior title several times, he also worked in both World Class and WWF regularly. However, he was also a convicted sex offender and everybody knew it as he spent a stint…
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DragonKingKarl Greatest Kayfabe Tournament: Steamboat vs. Angle
Image: WWE This edition of the GKT (Greatest Kayfabe Tournament) features two of the best workers in modern history: Ricky Steamboat and Kurt Angle. Between the two, they have a library of some of the best matches of the last 40 years so what happens when they collide? The listeners voted and we have a…
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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: Portland Wrestling retro review
Today’s edition of the DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show features a review of a territory I haven’t watched a lot of: Portland Wrestling. This November 1980 episode featured a young Buzz Sawyer under a different name, a young Eric Embry under a different name, Lord Jonathan Boyd with a different look, Buddy Rose, Rip Oliver, and an interesting masked…
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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: February 1982 in pro wrestling
Ob episode 64 of the DragonKingKarl Longform History of Pro Wrestling series, we are covering February 1982. Jimmy Golden wins a van, the AWA World Champion tours Japan, something historic happens at the Kiel in St. Louis, WWF Champion Bob Backlund is feuding with Jesse Ventura, Jerry Lawler is feuding with Dutch Mantel, NWA Champion Ric Flair…
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DragonKingKarl Greatest Kayfabe Tournament: Funk Jr. vs. Vachon
Match number 27 in the Greatest Kayfabe Tournament takes place this week and pits two contemporaries against each other: NWA World champion Dory Funk Jr. vs. AWA World champion Mad Dog Vachon. The two actually met several times in real life and — surprisingly — it appears one is undefeated against the other. Let’s talk about…
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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: The death of Eddie Gilbert
From the pages of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, we go over Dave Meltzer’s obituary of Eddie Gilbert on today’s episode. Gilbert was a good southern style brawler wrestler and studied the wrestling business. By his late 20s he had already booked in Memphis, Watts’ UWF, Continental, WCW, and the early days of ECW. He was…
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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: Mid-Atlantic retro TV review
This week on the DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show we take a look back at Mid-Atlantic Jim Crockett pro wrestling from May 1986. The episode features Boogie Woogie Man Jimmy Valiant, Hector Guerrero & Manny Fernandez as a tag team, Jim Cornette and The Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton & Dennis Condrey) doing battle with The James Boys/Gang (Magnum…
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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: History of wrestling hillbillies
We continue our down home country month with Karl Stern taking a look at famous pro wrestling hillbilly gimmicks, including the incredible story of Elvira Snodgrass, a pioneer in women’s wrestling who partnered with her hillbilly husband Elmer. Elvira was married several times, had a car wreck. and literally cut her own arm off to…
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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: Death of Jerry Blackwell
Today we return to the pages of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter for another biography/obituary from Dave Meltzer. This time we look at the Mountain From Stone Mountain — Jerry “Crusher” Blackwell. Blackwell was a big star in the AWA and remained loyal to them for most of his career, though he did also have success…
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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: From the pages of the Observer – Boris Malenko & Art Barr
Today on the DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Audio Show, host Karl Stern dives back into the pages of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter for Dave Meltzer’s biographies on Boris Malenko (the father of wrestler and future agent Dean Malenko) and Art Barr. The death of Barr was treated as a huge loss for pro wrestling at the…
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DragonKingKarl Greatest Kayfabe Tournament: The Rock vs. Dick the Bruiser
Round one of the GKT: Greatest Kayfabe Tournament continues as we ask the question: if pro wrestling were real (not a shoot but the characters as presented real) who would win? On this episode. The Rock vs. Dick the Bruiser! You have voted and I have the results. The most electrifying man in sports entertainment and mega-movie…
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DragonKingKarl Greatest Kayfabe Tournament: El Santo vs. Eddie Guerrero
It’s time for match 23 of round one of the Greatest Kayfabe Tournament — and this matchup would be an all-time headliner in Mexico: El Santo vs. Eddie Guerrero. Guerrero’s father’s career was intertwined with that of El Santo, so there is familiarity there. You the listeners have voted and we have a winner! Obviously, this…