Grew up near DC, early 80s. On the local stations watched WWF, mid a🎉 Atlantic, Georgia, mid south, southwest,and AWA. Also wccw.

We sure miss him!

I was there for the program between Brunzell and Patera as well as Brunzell and the Sheik. I was a huge Brunzell fan. I still have his autograph 😊

Nice treat with Jim.

Always good stuff when Jim Brunzell is sharing his stories. Outside the ring he is one of the nicest guys and I'm very honored to have him as my friend. Great show Brian!

５０歳を過ぎても軽やかな動きを見せたバーン・ガニア。贅肉がまるでなく、フルタイムで戦い続けたバーン・ガニアは今でも憧れのプロレスラーです。ＡＷＡの帝王として君臨し続けたバーン・ガニアは私の永遠♾️のレスラーです。有難う、バーン・ガニア。

I remember watching Georgia championship wrestling, wwwf, and Florida wrestling on cable in Minnesota. Wwwf late at night and Florida early morning though.

Bobby Heenan was one of the few people who left the AWA and finished his out his program

Bobby was truly the best

George, I watched a match from Berlin on smackdown, not one wrestling hold. No headlock, no leg locks, no selling, High spot after high spot like a video game. Terrible

Vern is from my hometown of Robbinsdale ,Rick Rude .Greg Gagne ,all great wrestlers !

As a kid growing up in the Twin Cities, Verne was my hero and he never let me down. So looking forward to the book!!

When lists of the Greatest of all Time are compiled, if Verne Gagne is not at or near the top of the list, throw the list away. He always gave the fans what they paid to see. WRESTLING!

The Crusher was a nice humble person outside of the ring but Dick the Bruiser was a mediocre person outside of the ring he had a mean streak in him at least when he was younger

How. Many title. Defenses. Have. You. Had.

Excellent job, Guys.

yea, yea,yea

Adonis beat Bob Orton Jr. in the finals. Tully wasn't even in the tournament.

I love your podcast, but you got one thing wrong. Adonis and Murdoch took the belts from Atlas and Johnson. They dropped them to Windham and Rotunda.

She was in a skit where she was in the audience holding popcorn.

Colonel DeBeers has lost his South African accent since what’s been living in the United States for so long. Hopefully he still gets the time to visit his extended family in Johannesburg, South Africa 🇿🇦

Tom Stone was a master heel jobber. He was trusted and excellent at making the star look better. I believe that Bockwinkel would allow Stone to call their matches, because Bockwinkel had faith that Stone knew exactly what to do . There is a Stone vs Baron Raschke match on KZbin where the Baron accidentally released a side headlock, and Stone, smooth as silk, placed his head back in the side headlock.

The original "Easy Ed" one of my favorites, loved him with the Rose in Portland

I wonder if the story of this face turn for Crusher corresponded to his changing his finisher from the Crusher nelson to the Bolo? Because a full Nelson is sort of a heelish move and the Bolo is a face move.

George, Is there any truth to the rumor that Crusher's first name was "Da"?

I loved her dad! Have been watching a lot of the replays I watched in the 80’s and grew up on, him and Gorilla! As soon as the interview started, what a beautiful lady, that smile and warmth. Nice to see not all wrestlers families lives were tough.

Hulk and Bobby had a love hate relationship

Jessica: If you ever read this, I just loved your dad. You should consider writing a book.

Rogers' first title defense in Comiskey Park was against Art Sailor Thomas on July 29, 1961. The winner was scheduled to meet Pat O'Connor in that venue on September 1st. I've got the programs for both of those shows.

$141,000 in 1961 would be over $1,410,000 in today's money.

Buddy invented the Figure Four Grapevine and was the only one who used it throughout the 1950's until Dick Beyer adopted it and used it on Rikidozan in Japan around 1963 when he was in his Destroyer persona. Buddy taught the hold to Eddie Gossett (Graham) when he was working with him. So, Eddie used it occasionally to take a fall when he was with Dr. Jerry later in the late '50's. Toward the mid to late '60's a lot of wrestlers started to use the hold.

Rogers ankle injury in Montreal on November 21, 1962 against Kowalski was legit. But, since he only lost one fall the title didn't change hands. Rogers was back in the ring on December 26th in Bridgeport against Pete Sanchez.

Rogers held the WWWF title from April 11th to May 17th when his angina got to the point that he couldn't compete. He had to cancel out of a number of bouts at the end of April including matches with Dory Dixon and Bulldog Brower. He checked into the hospital a few times. Finally, in order to keep the nascent WWWF it was decided that he would put over Sammartino in MSG in a short match so as not to risk his health. Sammarinto went to Rogers' home in New Jersey to discuss how they would work the match and on May 17, 1963 the title was switched in 48 seconds. I didn't go to that one, but my friend Lenny did and called me the next morning with the bad news.

Let's get the time frame correct. The Rogers-Thesz Toronto title switch occurred on January 24, 1963. Toots Mondt/Vince McMahon, Sr. of Capitol Wrestling Corporation and Fred Kohler Promotions in Chicago refuse to recognize Thesz and secede from the NWA. Rogers straps on his old NWA United States Championship belt and competes as World Heavyweight Champion in those former NWA territories. From January 25th to April 11th there is NO WWWF yet. Buddy is just recognized by the above mentioned promotions. On April 11, 1963 I watched Willie Gilzenberg announce the creation of the World Wide Wrestling Federation and present Rogers with the belt on the regular Thursday night telecast of "Capitol Wrestling From Washington, DC" with iconic announcer Ray Morgan. On that night Gilzenberg explained to the fans that Buddy defeated Antonino Rocca in a tournament in Rio de Janeiro to become the first WWWF World Champion.

The FIRST NWA World Heavyweight Champion was NOT Lou Thesz. It was ORVILLE BROWN. Thesz was awarded the title in November 1949 after Brown was injured in a car accident and forced to retire from active wrestling. They were supposed to have a unification title between Brown (NW Alliance) and Thesz (NW Association), but it never came off due to Brown's accident.

That is really true about TV back in the day. It was a black and white wrestling world back then. I always thought the NWA belt was silver, because the gold color didn't show up on TV. The first time I went to a MSG show in 1962 to see my hero wrestle Cowboy Bob Ellis I was blinded by the colors. To this day I remember sitting ringside and seeing Rogers strut past me to the ring with the GOLD championship belt strapped to his waist. I was confused, because I didn't realize until then that the belt was GOLD!

Initially, Rhode's (ROW-dee) "Nature Boy" persona seemed similar to Wagner. However, it quickly evolved into something quite different than the effeminate, dandy persona of Gorgeous George. the "Nature Boy" was a bleached blond, sneering, strutting, vicious gladiator that the fans just loved to hate. Rogers' "Nature Boy" was not only the template for names like Chet Wallieck, Freddie Blassie, Ric Flair, and others. Buddy trained or mentored greats like Ray Stevens and Eddie Gossett (Graham). Eddie Gossett was Buddy's kayfabe brother Rip Rogers and tag team partner in the early-mid 50's before he morphed into Eddie Graham.

Thesz may not have cared for the gimmicks, but the real reason behind his animosity toward Rogers was the fact that Buddy had jumped ship from his promotion in 1948 to the nascent NWA. Buddy always went where he money was! LOL Unfortunately for Rogers, Lou wound up merging with the NWA, controlling the belt with Muchnick, and defacto becoming Buddy's boss. LOL Talk about bad timing! A quick word about Thesz. Without question Lou was the real deal, but he could be vindictive and jealous. The reason the AWA came into existence in 1960 was because Thesz refused to give Verne Gagne a championship run. They placated him for awhile by making him the first NWA United States Champion. But, eventually Gagne got fed up and started the AWA with Wally Karbo. Rogers stuck it out in the NWA and eventually was given a title run when he defeated Pat O'Connor.

Hey, George! It's Mike in V. Heights. There have been a lot of additions to the "Parrot Cave" since you visited a few years ago, so you have to drop by and check them out. This time I'll make sure we don't get locked out my house! LOL Give me a call when you get a chance. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to take you to school on a number of points in this video. I'll post point by point as the issues come up. First of all, Buddy made his debut under the name DUTCH ROHDE on July 18, 1942 (NOT 1944) in Atlantic City in the Dusek brothers territory. He fought Eddie King to a draw. That year he competed in about 50 matches against names like Jack Vansky, Abe Coleman, Angelo Savoldi, and BARON MICHELLE LEONE whom he fought the first time on October 19, 1942 in Camden, NJ. The match was a draw. Secondly, the name Rohde is Germanic and is pronounced ROW-dee. It doesn't sounds anything like "Roads." Anything is possible, but unless I see something that confirms your assertion that he was billed as "Dusty Roads," I have to disagree with you on that one.

Always so much fun being on "Bumps & Thumps" with Brian Ferguson. Great topic today!

Wow! What an incredible show! So much information! I really appreciate it! Just a note on Rogers' Mid-Atlantic run. He had several matches with Flair. Of course this was the territory days before wide spread cable, "dirt sheets" and, especially, the internet so, the concept worked. He also worked some mid-card (imagine that) matches and tag team matches to establish (or re-establish) his reputation and identity to the fans. I was about 13 years old when he was in the territory. He was a legend to me (and a new personality). A lot of folks, especially in my age range were discovering him for the first time. Even at his mature age of 58 (my current age) I knew he was something special. I regret never having been successful getting his autograph. I will have to send you guys some press on him from the era. Thanks for the shout out! Love you guys!

I like her.

I miss Bobby heenan.

So glad I watched this. Heenan gave me so much entertainment as a kid. Jessica is personality plus just like her father funny and charismatic. Great job interviewing guys👊. And great to hear from Jessica just as amazing as her dad

Gene, Lars and Ole Anderson, The Minnesota Wrecking Crew.

Keep it going big cuz joe

What a great interview 🏆I ran the gammet of emotions with this one...laughter, tears, smiles, everything. Harley Race was the first NWA World Heavyweight Champion that I vividly remember. That feud with Ric Flair and the bounty drew fans in unbelievable numbers. They sold out the territory in the big cities and the small towns. And, yes, the "A" team worked them all. God bless, Justin. RIP Harley❤

RIP Let's Yodel😊 He's An Oldy Ole Old Da Ole Hooo!😊

Looks a lot better than I thought he would. Must be 60 something years old.

I have always akinned being the child of a wrestler back in day to being a military brat, I am a 3rd generation military brat and my kids are 4th generation military brats so I see alot of likeness in the 2. Not so much anymore where wrestlers don't do many house shows and are just gone for a day or 2 a week and then right back home.