Bruce Prichard shoots on The Honky Tonk Man refusing to lose the IC title to Randy Savage

Something to Wrestle with Bruce Prichard is an audio podcast that discusses topics, events, wrestlers and memorable moments through the lens of former WWE executive Bruce Prichard co-hosted by Conrad Thompson.
STW was launched in August 2016 on MLW Radio. The episodes typically range from 2 hours to 4 hours in length, and include discussions about previous WWE pay-per-views and former WWE wrestlers.
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[@evildeaddrew]

Half of the videos Conrad: Asks detailed question Bruce: I don't know

[@daw162]

Bruce's i don't know is 1/3 he doesn't know, 1/3rd he doesn't want to get in trouble with anyone, and 1/3rd he knows he's told 10 different versions of a story and can't remember which one is true at this point, so he'll defer.

[@korywilliams1856]

@@daw162 Thus is why Jim Cornette calls him "The Artful Dodger." To the point that Bruce named his dog "Dodger".

[@Jim-Tuner]

"I dont know.....but Honkey Tonk Man is a liar"

[@Pillar5770]

I don't understand why Bruce gets upset with Conrad. Ted Dibiase has PUBLICLY said over the years that he blamed Honky Tonk Man for refusing to drop the IC title to Savage as the reason he did not win the WWF title at WrestleMania IV. These were Dibiase's words, not Dave Meltzer's. Also, HTM has publicly stated he refused to lose to Savage because of how Vince presented the finish to him. We, the fans, did not state these things, Dibiase and HTM stated these things.

[@BigBadJerryRogers]

I can't see the heel Dibiase winning the main event of wrestemania 4 sending all the kids home sad in 1988. I just can't picture Vince going with this in that era. And who would he have beaten as the final tournament opponent?

[@jeremygeesmothers6379]

Bruce's first instinct to protect the guy who signs his paycheques. I think Corny said once whenever he sees Bruce & Vince together & hears Bruce's voice...he looks to see if Vince's lips are moving.

[@Pillar5770]

@@jeremygeesmothers6379 😄😄😄

[@Dessan01]

Yeah I was looking forward to this segment but Bruce just pissed right in the porridge from the get go.

[@invisiblechurch9621]

Because Bruce said he doesn't know and Conrad is pushing him to answer, it makes a more interesting podcast than I don't know move on.

[@Netsolace-tech]

Savage being protected over liz makes a lot of sense when you think about the fact that sable found shit in her lunch box. Savage was the real Mccoy.

[@homedeezyfasheezy5662]

Never thought about it like that but very logical. Besides one of the boys trying to hit on her it seems like most wrestlers back then had that football team locker room mentality. A bunch of muscled up guys that have the mentality of a 16 year olds that are bored and just wanna get a rise outta some before the game, or in this case show, takes place.

[@Spooky_515]

@@homedeezyfasheezy5662as a man let me explain this to you. We aren’t sensitive or submissive. We enjoy breaking balls, pranking each other, messing around and having a sense of humor. Levity, try it sometime

[@HeartyArtie]

Bruce needs to realise there is a difference between people not listening to what he says, and people not believing what he says.

[@gopherstate777]

Thanks.

[@neilb1334]

I believe Bruce…well I did .. well I don’t. 😎👍

[@paulofreire9174]

@@neilb1334Wellllllll yew know

[@sampleoffers1978]

He's like that Avril Lavigne song...youu...you need to listen

[@pigs18]

Best thing that could have happened to Savage. That fruitless run to reclaim the belt made Savage's career. Without it we don’t get the MegaPowers, the WM5 main event, or the WM7 redemption arc.

[@bassclay100]

truth!!!! but i gota say it makes me mad that honky could call his own shot it pisses me off

[@aoisora1445]

@@bassclay100 honky had finally touched the top, if he lost there he was done... look what happened after Warrior destroyed him, Warrior became unstoppable, Honkey Tonky became yesterdays news and his heat and everything just collapsed, he was being written off, he was basically protecting his image, in that time your image once you reached a higher spot meant if he dropped there he was done... he got like maybe two more years or something from not agreeing to that then... People still mad at Bret Hart as well over these things, or Stone Cold who just walked out on things However people often overlook the number of times Shawn Michaels refused to do the job, or other stars who did the same thing would be overlooked for doing the exact same thing...

[@bassclay100]

@@aoisora1445 well with bret alot of people complain about him n hbk now austin always gets a pass its not fair true but honky im sorry WHO THE HELL DOES HE THINK HE IS? still to this day it pisses me off that at 1 time he was the longets ic champ of all time i thought n to this day thinks he sucks!!!!!!!!

[@StarOasis26]

Conrad pushing hard over and over and over again to get Pritchard to say yes he knew. 😄

[@mr.mirchenstein6549]

Everything meant something back then. All these years later and not only are we still talking about this, but it feels like it just happened last week...

[@PoorMansInvesting]

My grandfather doesn't talk about it much but he played against Wilt Chamberlain in the 50's and gets pretty angry saying he played dirty

[@brasidas33]

Who’s the wilt chamberlain wrestler?

[@EGarrett01]

I think it's because they didn't have monthly PPV's and constant title changes where nothing meant anything. Less things happened so things were more orchestrated and everything mattered more.

[@Jim-Tuner]

Its "rumor" if a wrestler directly involved says it, but its "truth" of Bruce Pritchard says it.

[@georgeasimakos1744]

Bruce’s poker face is horrendous lol. Never before have I heard someone basically say, “I don’t know,” while sounding so unbelievably guilty and defensive.

[@HatfulofHallow]

This is the most pathetic I've heard from Prichard. He spends the whole time trying to say that what Honky Tonk said isn't true, but in the way that somehow Honky Tonk isn't lying and then randomly attacks Meltzer when he gets too pressured

[@tomvu1470]

When Bruce talks....it's Vince's lips that are moving.

[@chrisfraser3435]

Please bring back that Legendary IC title belt!

[@tommyhallum2054]

I haven't watched it in so long I didn't even know it was gone.How long has it been gone? The IC is supposed to be the stepping stone to the heavyweight title. You cant go without the IC!

[@Dessan01]

Yeah don’t watch the new stuff, but i would say from what little I’ve seen, bringing back the IC belt won’t do nothing - you need the old wwf back, not the sterilised toy advert they have today.

[@mr.mirchenstein6549]

What are you guys talking about?? The IC Title is still around. It NEVER went away. Sammy Zayn is the current champion. He has a big match coming up at survivor Series against Bobby Lashley. The US Champion vs The IC Champion.

[@chamae01]

One dumb thread here

[@SAnd-pd1ou]

Honky should keep the IC title. Longest championship reign

[@jasonkraatz5968]

The only other thing I can think is that Honky Tonk Man was actually thinking of the SNME from February 1988 and that was the one where maybe they wanted to put the IC title on Savage. That makes more sense because with Wrestle mania being around the corner Dibiase was a big player then.

[@JRRTOKIN420]

Loving it! Great episode.

[@taekwondotime]

I believe HTM. He spells it all out in DETAIL in his shoot interview with Oliver. Savage was going to win the IC belt at SNME.

[@mox19380]

there's two stories to pick apart. what honky says about them wanting to drop him to drop the belt and him refusing, which is true and then the speculation (which conrad doesn't source) that because of honky's refusal they created a million dollar belt and pushed savage to the title belt. i agree the first part is true. the second part, that vince would allow an IC title holder to manipulate him into changing his plans and create a whole new title belt, sounds completely improbable

[@taekwondotime]

​@@mox19380 Agreed. I think the million dollar belt was just a nice prop for Ted and it suited his gimmick. I think Macho Man was on his way to the top anyway, and this just accelerated that plan. The SNME finish ended up being the epic finish where HTM hit Macho Man with the guitar while the Hart Foundation was holding him, and then Elizabeth runs backstage and brings Hogan out to make the save. Next thing you know, Hogan and Savage are shaking hands in the ring and you have the start of the Mega Powers.

[@michaeldepinto3562]

@@taekwondotime I remember the bracket being changed around as a kid, so I feel something went down.

[@clark82]

@@taekwondotime I think HTM is probably referring to the initial SNME 87 plans.... probably they planned for Savage to win that and go into 88 with him and IC champion.... BP has said that Vince told the office about No Holds Barred just a few weeks before Survivor Series, and to plan to get the belt off Hogan before WM4, but have it so that WM still had Hogan involved in a way that he could go off the road straight after it. I have suspected that a lot of people think they planned for the Main Event for Savage to win, but having him win there makes no sense with WM4 around the corner.... so they probably planned for SNME 87 for the switch, but as Savage went on a hot streak, they knew they had struck gold with the Mega Powers (Vince does like to recycle old idea's, and the Mega Powers is basically the Hogan-Orndorff feud with all the dials turned up to 11) so held off on the switch, and then went cold on the idea by The Main Event, by witch time Warrior was on the way up).

[@taekwondotime]

@@clark82 Ted Dibiase was supposed to win the tournament at WM4 to win the world belt. Presumably, had Macho Man won the IC belt at SNME, he wouldn't have been in the tournament at WM4. Instead, he would have had a singles match defending the IC belt against someone.

[@bookiebyrd8772]

We played the Honky Tonk man song at our wedding

[@tommyhallum2054]

So yall classed it up I see.

[@richmuscle8316]

I dig it

[@bookiebyrd8772]

Rich Muscle Roll Tide

[@CesarGarcia-qg8ti]

Hell yeah!!!

[@TL2354]

Ugh

[@stacymirba1433]

I love how Honky Tonk Man has told this story for at least 20 years and Bruce's reaction is to deny it and say "I'm not going to lie to you like Dave Meltzer." Um, yeah if you can get your head out of your ass for a minute, this isn't a Meltzer report this comes directly from HTM? God this show is impossible to listen to.

[@jessecumba]

Get his head out of his own ass? He needs to get his lips out of vince's ass first! 😂😂

[@StanStacks]

Bruce once said Shawn was never high while on tv in 97. Jim Ross said he was high and way to intoxicated at half the shows in 97.

[@isitoveryet9525]

@@StanStacks even hbk said he was fd up on TV lol

[@adamsmashups4839]

"Aww geezuss....."

[@Matt-cr4vv]

The saying of “I’m not going to lie like Meltzer” doesn’t mean it’s a Meltzer story. It’s in line with the running gag of “Meltzer makes stuff up”. Bosch off says it a lot too.

[@RyWilsonGaming]

Bruce said: I AM NOT GETTING FUCKING ANGRY" lol.

[@markbowman6655]

Wayne "HTM" Farris the greatest IC Champion of all time, and you expect this man to job to Johnny B. Badd in WCW?

[@Rjensen2]

He wasn't even remotely over in WCW.

[@leestens419]

It was definitely a huge angle...I remember being about 7 or 8 and staying up watching sat night main event seeing this happen

[@kelman727]

Vince: Jump. Bruce: Off which cliff, Sir?

[@jamieoiler5690]

Vince only cares about Vince nobody else

[@DoppelgangerShockwave]

Bruce made some very fair and valid points here. HTM never seemed to be telling the total truth in the KC special he did on Summerslam '88 with Sean Oliver in 2016. HTM claims he was being laid off for a short period, then he'd be repackaged as a new gimmick, which was never told to him what that would be during the meeting. Then HTM said he talked to Jim Barnett after the incident and when Vince found out he only yelled at him...? Yeah, I didn't buy that at all. HTM was with the WWF from 1986 to 1991. If Vince was pissed off at HTM over that, he'd have been fired or at the very least not used as much anymore to make him quit. I seem to recollect he was used quite a lot after Summerslam, all the way up to his departure in 1991. If someone was truly that unhappy with the way a promotion was doing them, they left. HTM stayed for 3 more years. Did HTM win anymore belts after that? No. But no heel every really did. And I'm sure someone is going to mouth off saying, "What about Savage?" Savage wasn't a heel. He was an anti-babyface. He was a babyface with an edge. He had some heelish attributes, but he was a babyface like Hogan. But back then no pure heel ever won the world championship belt. That's not how the WWF was back then. HTM was lucky to have even won the IC belt. I honestly think HTM is just a bitter guy because he wanted to be the next Hulk Hogan star-level-wise and never made it that far. He claims to have made his gimmick a heel, and perhaps he did, but he sure didn't fight Vince on being a babyface when he came into the WWF in '86, did he? No, he went along with it until he was becoming clear he wasn't going to draw any money as one. And with a gimmick as corny and out-dated as his was, I'm not surprised he fizzled out by 1991. No kids I knew liked him when I was growing up in the 1980's. He was a total goof. If Vince wanted to repackage HTM, he should've done it when he brought the man in initially. If he would've gave him a street punk look with a black leather jacket, it might've worked with the slicked back jet black hair. Hell, was Punk Rock Wayne for a minute. Could've worked since no one knew who the hell Honky Tonk Wayne was back then.

[@thegoughandbordenfamily8234]

Honky tonk man was a fantastic gimmick. You didn't like it cause you were a mark. He did his job.

[@andrew6872]

Honky has said that he told Vince that honkytonk man was designed as a heel when told he was gonna be a face and that he just played it as a heel anyways because the reaction was negative from the beginning

[@ranielalmaria6612]

Now I know Bruce was lying on this one. I asked DiBiase myself years ago during a convention. Ted himself said he was slated to win the WWF Championship.

[@davidgraham8299]

Ok, but maybe Bruce wasn't part of that conversation. Doesn't mean he was lying. It just wasn't to his knowledge.

[@ranielalmaria6612]

@@davidgraham8299 I'd believe Ted over Bruce anytime.

[@thegoughandbordenfamily8234]

@@ranielalmaria6612 Ted is a crook. A hypocrite Christian taboot.

[@Rjensen2]

Ted DiBiase isn't really known for being honest, either. His and his sons stealing money from the state of Mississippi is proof of that.

[@markgeorge1980]

5 different wrestlers were promised the strap at WM4 is a rumour that goes back to my childhood, LONG before the internet. In hindsight I have no idea how wrestling rumours would formulate before the web, but I know that they did, bc I know on the playground in elementary school we all knew that Hulk, Andre, Dibiase, Savage & Bigelow were all promised the belt at mania4.

[@murray1978]

Which five wrestlers were promised the strap? The only five I could think of were Dibiase, Andre, Hogan, Savage, and maybe Bam Ba.

[@brettsix2027]

As a kid I honestly thought Bam Bam could have walked out WM4 with the belt around his waist.

[@brettsix2027]

Add HTM into this and you’ve got the lineup from WWF WrestleMania on NES.

[@gbody2617]

Bam Bam wasn't ready for any kind of belt back then. I would say Dibiase would've made a great champion and instead of Hulk winning it when he came back but Macho winning it and then leading to what we ended up with to begin with which was Hulk vs Macho but I would've had Macho go over by countout or even a pin by knocking Hulkster out with a foreign object and thus retaining the belt.

[@jd9119]

There is no way on earth that Bam Bam would've got the belt. He wasn't even at IC belt level yet. Hulk was going to do a movie that year and that's why they took the belt off him in the first place. The problem with Andre getting the belt is that he could barely walk let alone work a main event on a regular basis. That leaves Dibiase and Savage.

[@coresan9956]

Bruce runs around so many questions. You can tell he didn't wanna burn bridges hoping he could get back with WWE or he knew he had something lined up with them. This is why I like JR better

[@perfectblindguy]

rumor and innuendo should be the name of a tag team someday

[@mistermay7986]

I need to hear more about DiBiase wrestling Flair for the NWA World title

[@jd9119]

I believe he did it in Mid South

[@stephenrogers4537]

Bruce knows everything accept what actually happened😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄👏

[@kdohertygizbur]

LMAO

[@Spooky_515]

Felt like Bruce and Connie didn’t stress how much heat HTM got when he shoved Elizabeth down. I remember it being a hot topic at the lunch table for days following the event! Lol In my opinion HTM had more heat than anyone in the industry following that and through the rest of his feud with Savage.

[@m8x425]

You must have gone to school with a bunch of real cool kids. Not being sarcastic.

[@tyggar2169]

Wait?!!... You mean Conrad and Brian Last aren't the same person? 😱

[@stevennorthcutt3838]

😂😂

[@mikegeiler2347]

Bruce gets so defensive over something he had nothing to do with. The combination of him being cranky from being sleep deprived/overworked and the fact that he works for WWE and thus toes the company line more than ever, he’s become especially angry these last few episodes

[@thegoughandbordenfamily8234]

He cant stand Meltzer and the dirt sheet guessers. There is a climate of contempt for Meltzer and his followers and Bruce just can't contain himself every time Conrad sets him up with a 'Meltzer reported such and such'.

[@jd9119]

Part of it was he doesn't want word getting to Honky that Bruce called him a liar.

[@mikegeiler2347]

@@thegoughandbordenfamily8234 would you like to know why it’s always “meltzer writes…” ? Because literally no major or even minor news outlets covered wrestling until the last few years. He can’t very well say “USA Today wrote…”because they didn’t, and neither did anyone else. And calling them “guessers” is wrong. Meltzer is a reporter. He reports what people tell him. So blame people like Scott hall/Brian pillman/Bret Hart or other guys that were known to have a relationship with him and would feed him things to benefit them or their friends. Funny how Bruce criticizes meltzer for saying “plans must’ve changed” when he gets a prediction wrong, but Bruce openly admits that plenty of times, plans have in fact changed last minute.

[@flapjak3009]

Yeah he was cranky, but Conrad was making his own wrong extrapolations off of what Prichard said. He could have handled it better, but that was very annoying. “I have no idea” is exactly that.

[@brianconnelly1238]

Well, Honky Tonk Man, he has been known to tell a tale or two, like when he "quit" WCW in 1994 in actuality, the dude was fired

[@davidgraham8299]

It's a matter of which liar you want to believe

[@seanabbins5481]

I never really believed that they would make Savage the world champion to placate him for not winning the IC title. That's just not how they ever operated. Everything revolved around the WWF title; it was not a consolation prize. I heard Ted Dibiase himself espouse in a shoot interview that he was supposed to win the WWF title, but didn't because of the Honkytonk Man... but I believe he was mistaken; it just wouldn't fit with Vince M's MO to operate that way. Perhaps they considered giving Dibiase the title, but then decided not to, and the stuff with Honkytonk Man happened to occur around the same time.

[@GameTime-yj6qv]

Yes i couldn't see a heel million dollar man leaving Wrestlemania 4 as the champion.

[@ajk]

@M M Interesting....no wonder he had such a big run as IC champ. The longest one to this day.

[@thegoughandbordenfamily8234]

Vince may have said it to DiBiase at some point in 87 knowing that it would make sense to build DiBiase as the hated rich wrestling equivalent to Donald Trump. But Savage had the greatest year of his career in 1987 and probably proved to Vince he could run with the ball. He worked somethi g like 215 dates and was a proven workhorse. Plus people loved Liz. DiBiase just didn't have the charisma or main event presence to maintain wwes momentum with Hogan on hiatus. There's just no way there could be advanced plans to put the title on DiBiase but Honky just messed that all up. I'd say Savage was Vinces choice by the time Ted bought the title from Andre. At some point in Savages face turn a story arch leading to Wrestlemania 5, also at Trump Plaza, was devised and DiBiase just wasn't part of it. Perhaps Vince went with Savage to ensure Hogan would rush back since Savage was a legitimate threat to replace him as a top draw.

[@seanabbins5481]

@@thegoughandbordenfamily8234 I agree with most of what you said. There's no way Vince decides who is going to be World Champion as a concession for not winning the intercontinental championship. He may have seriously considered Dibiase but then decided to go with Savage, perhaps because of his popularity, as you say. I think they ruined Savage as a babyface as time went on by watering down everything that was cool about him and making him a Hulk Hogan Mini-me. And I think the "best friend turns on Hogan" theme leading up to Wrestlemania V was silly at that point because they had did it twice recently (with Orndorff and Andre.) I would have preferred a Dibiase title run to what they ended up doing, but alas....

[@Director2024]

Sounds more like it.

[@fizzdrizzle4206]

One of the heaviest angels in the 80s as a kid to watch!!

[@aa_da_man]

That's Right Bruce Educated Em

[@vbian88]

HTM WAS THE GOAT.

[@EyeSeeSports]

Honky always said Jimmy hart was at that meeting to drop the belt. I wonder if he was ever asked about that.

[@jasonkraatz9574]

This story always confuses me because Prichards take on it says everyone else’s story is false. I could see Dibiase win the title but would he really have won it at Wrestlemania? Back in those days Vince didn’t end Wrestlemania on a bad note. So him letting Dibiase win the title at Mania made no sense. However, I could see Savage winning the title at Mania and then Dibiase beating him for it down the road, which I’m surprised never happened. I can believe Macho Man winning the title was planned a long time before this because I can’t see this being planned in a matter of months or weeks. Bruce also saying how they lost faith in Honky Tonk Man but keeping the title on him another 9 or so months also tells me that maybe some of what Honky Tonk Man said was skewed.

[@darthsebio1726]

Bruce:I would never make shit up...🙄😬

[@conman823]

Wow. I stopped listening awhile back and checking back in here reconfirmed it. Bruce doesn't want to do these and it shows.

[@daw162]

just at the beginning of the video and waiting for the part where saving tells HTM that he has little hands.

[@vinnyl8937]

how much did conrad pay bruce for that clap joke setup??

[@DarkReapersGrim1]

Bruce needs to calm his behind down. I know a lot of it wasn't genuine anger, but he could've calmly said, "no, it's not true and I'm going to destroy any logic to that argument by saying this, "Those rumors are exactly that, rumors. Vince had complete confidence in the Honky Tonk Man after that incident. People don't have to take my word for it, go and google who held the intercontinental title for nine full months after that date." That's all he had to say.

[@JRRTOKIN420]

Love Bruce's stories.

[@lambdindale1320]

Should have brought moondog spot in with HTM and had the blonde bombers vs mega powers .

[@samstoff]

😆 @1:12 Conrad chill, I almost choked on my food.

[@IdealX-fr4eg]

Million Dollar Man deserved a run with championship he was the best heel they had years over..

[@OmegaRedFan]

Conrad is the cerebro of the wrestling

[@michaeldepinto3562]

I'm sorry, as a kid I remember them changing the bracket around. So something fishy went down.

[@thegoughandbordenfamily8234]

They changed the bracket around so it would be DiBiase losing to Savage rather than Andre or Hogan.

[@mrdeeds72]

Conrad kept pushing and Bruce wasn't having any of it lol

[@mws755]

I love this shit lol Keep it up guys

[@Christhatradioguy]

Lol at bruce getting pist during this interview.. eff this and eff that.. lolol

[@Westlyn80]

Bruce went OFF !!!! # hit nerve

[@JoeyT1]

His head is so far up Vince's ass

[@jasonkraatz5968]

Savage winning the IC title would have hurt him more than help him. I could see Dibiase becoming champion back then and holding it until Hogan returned. I'm still shocked Dibiase didn't dethrone Savage for the title at some point.

[@taekwondotime]

Agreed. Savage never would have got the world title otherwise because of his size. He would have stayed in IC belt land forever until he retired. By HTM refusing to drop the IC belt to Savage, it forced them to put Savage in the world title picture and win at WM4. That's why they came up with the whole Mega Powers thing and the jealousy angle over Liz.

[@thegoughandbordenfamily8234]

@@taekwondotime This is by far the stupidest comment I've read in a while. Randy Savage is the greatest wrestler who ever lived. There were tons of smaller guys who won multiple world titles over the next few decades. And the IC title back then was just another world title for heels. Savage was also bigger than DiBiase. Over his career he was bigger than Slaughter, Flair, Hitman, Backlund, Shawn, Austin list goes on and on.

[@jd9119]

@@taekwondotime They already had the plans to do the Megapower angle with Savage getting the belt at WM4 and dropping it at WM5. If they would've put the belt back on Savage, he would've dropped it in some other screwjob finish.

[@taekwondotime]

@@jd9119 That's not what I've heard. I heard the original plan was MDM wins the world title at WM4. Savage would have the IC belt and not be in the tournament. Sometimes things work out for the best. Savage got the world title. We got a MDM vs Savage final at WM4 and we got the Mega Powers feud. :)

[@jd9119]

@@taekwondotime Listen to yourself there. Vince puts the world belt on him, because honky wouldn't drop the lower belt to him? If it was true that Honky wasn't going to do business, Vince would've just stripped him of the title and fired him.

[@ganglabesh]

piledriver 2 was stellar

[@WrestlingWithThe80s]

I don’t understand why it’s so hard to believe that the plans for the WrestleMania that followed the most historic WrestleMania of all time were completely changed less than two months before the event to keep HONKY TONK MAN happy! 🤷‍♂️🥴🤣🤣 I’m sure he had creative control written into his contract. Good thing they had that consolation prize of the WWF World Title lying around for a bummed out Savage 👍

[@jamesthacker8419]

Yowie Wowie Conrad😬.. Get Bruce a Slim Jim, and some Love, he be a bit Gummpy✌

[@andrewglicker4747]

Don't worry Bruce I totally understand what your saying. This is really annoying to watch. Conrad is literally putting words in his mouth and is not listening or understanding what Bruce is saying. He said several times that "He Doesn't Know" and he's just telling what he "Does Know" about it and the whole situation.

[@marcusgilmore5211]

I would have rather lost my championship belt to Savage Then the ultimate warrior. I still feel like Ted Dibiase and Rick Rude and Mr. perfect should have had a title run with the world championship….

[@walihenry4600]

Conrad was reaching,he clearly said I wasn’t there for that,& Conrad keeps rephrasing the question

[@jayell8253]

10:29 Seriously, liars like Meltzer who Conrad obviously defends.

[@homedeezyfasheezy5662]

He leans way too much on Uncle Dave’s takes. Unfortunately Meltzer is one of the few historical references on pre-internet wrestling. Also he used to be pretty good at documenting historical references but has a history of blending his own personal opinion into these references as bona fide facts.

[@Rjensen2]

​@@homedeezyfasheezy5662Since the early 1970s. Kinda stupid of you to whine about it at this point, 50 years later.

[@elland37]

So even if Bruce was not there when HTM had a discussion with Vince about this, he expects us to believe that he wouldn't have heard a word about it from anyone, Vince included?

[@carlosvelarde7948]

All I can say even doe it would be nice to see macho man win the ic championship belt twice and I'm shuretheir was a good reason why he resume to drop the belt to macho man he still offers machoman an better deal because macho man when to the tournament at wredtlemania 4 againys the million dollar man and won even a more worth championship tittle and Tha was the world championship belt and macho man in the and is ki d of losing the battle but won the war because even lost his chances to be intercontinental championship belt but won the war whe. He won the world championship tittle wich was even a better deal

[@Commander76]

Why have Bruce on the show if he's JUST going to lie?

[@Matt-cr4vv]

I could see HTM pushing back on losing the belt and arguing against dropping the thing but the story he told about the events in a KC shoot I don’t buy at all and largely just boosts his ego. Seeing who Vince McMahon is and how he has responded when people hold him over a barrel to get their way, excluding the very top stars of the company that exceptions will always apply to, I can’t buy into what he says happened. The way he says it went down was that he was being tossed out and thought he was fired so he called Jim Barnett and lined something up for himself and was ready to leave. I could get that. And he talks a bunch of smack talk about how their contracts weren’t valid and so he knew there wouldn’t be an issue when he decides to quit out of the blue, which is probably accurate but I’m not buying he was aloof and confident in that and had no worries that Vince would sue over the thing and tie him up for awhile. I can see him springing the news that he didn’t want to lose possibly when he says he did and that he possibly got by with it since the end goal was for Macho to win the world title so they just didn’t make a deal of it. But I just can’t behind the notion that in September of 1987 HTM not only refuses to lose, but says he’s leaving for Memphis and Vince can beat him for it if he wants it and told him off, and not only does he not have the belt taken off of him or lose his job but he proceeds to keep the title for almost another year when he doesn’t lose that title until August 1988. And then he doesn’t leave the WWF until January 1991. The idea that events proceed that way after he’s supposedly said and done the things he says that he did would require Vince McMahon responding and operating in the polar opposite fashion that he always had. So maybe he did push back or refused to lose (hard to see he’d prioritize HTM over Savage to begin with though) but doing everything he’s claimed he did in his shoots? Can’t get there.

[@darthsebio1726]

Miss Elizabeth bringing out Hulk Hogan is like when you see the teletubbies ..they are really useless but you are still glad to see them...

[@clark82]

I suspect there is confusion based on the 87 SNME and the 88 Main Event matches…. I suspect in the build up to the 87 match they probably had plans to put the IC belt on Savage, but by show time they changed their mind and decided to use the chance to sprinkle some Hulk dust on Savage and wait for the Main Event match to do the switch…. By time the Main Event came along, they had probably went cold on the idea of putting the IC belt on savage as they wanted to put the championship on him at WM (knowing Hulk would be away filming NHB), as it would seem strange to put belt on savage at the Main Event and have him go into WM as IC champion (HTM has said Vince told him that he knew as early as Feb that the IC belt was going on Warrior). I suspect it’s a mixture of people getting 87 and 88 mixed up, and luck on HTM part that Savage found himself at the top of the ladder by the time they had their match.

[@johnepants]

It’s definitely the Main Event show in 88 where Honky was supposed to drop the belt. That was the end of the feud, Macho would regain “his” title which would help balance out the heartbreak of Hogan losing that night. I guess the original plan was for Hogan to lose in the finals to Debiasi by some chicanery, and at Summer Slam, Macho would take the title and build toward WM 5 after dropping the IC belt in the summer. My guess is they just moved up the timeline because Honky was working a handshake deal and could have no showed the live broadcast since he didn’t want to job out in minutes, which is ironic, because once he is resigned, he jobs out in less than a minute by Summerslam

[@clark82]

@@johnepants they knew just before Survivor Series 87 that Hogan was going to be off the road for a large chunk of 88 to film "No Holds Barred" and needed a new champion.... if the plan was the Main Event, then that makes no real sense, as Savage would either have to lose the IC title before WM, or they did not plan for him to win the title at WM4, which seems rather odd, as they were clearly laying the foundations for the Mega Powers Explode.... also this was very much peak Hogan, and "Hogan must pose", so I doubt they could come up with a finish where Hogan could be in the final, but also lose and see people go home happy. The 87 SNME match was more so to start the Mega Powers angle, and that relied on a DQ finish, rather than Savage winning.... so I would discredit that night.... plan might have been to hold off until the Main Event, but probably changed plans late as they probably knew Hogan could not juggle both commitments, and to cash in on Savage's hot streak. Still feel truth is in the middle somewhere, and HTM is embellishing probably the initial plans, but not the final plans.

[@johnepants]

@@clark82 I always questioned any scenario where the heel went over in the 80’s on PPV, but at the same time, it could have happened. I guess the best proof that Honky was telling the truth is to compare the original brackets for the tournament to the one we got that night. The original brackets lined up for Ted and Hogan to be able to meet in the finals, with Dibiasi buying off one of the heel opponents to get his bye instead of the double DQ between Hulk and Andre. Basically, Hulk would close out his feud with Andre with a win during their match. Obviously what we got was better from a long term storyline, and I think things changed almost immediately after the Main Event, but other than the idea that Vince wanted to send people home happy, which I always believed in at the time, Honky’s claim of holding up the title still makes sense. The entire Honky vs Savage feud smelled of one where Savage would eventually destroy Honky to get his belt back, and it would make sense to do it on the biggest live TV wrestling broadcast since the 50’s. Plus, a squash would allow WWF to fit in the 3 title matches they had planned, where as the actual broadcast really screws over the Hart Foundation and Strike Force because they ran out of time

[@clark82]

@@johnepants I think the HTM v Savage feud was simply one of those "pure money" feuds that they did not need a actual winner to come out of it, and to keep Savage involved in a story that would take him right through to WM4.... simply people would pay to show up thinking "surely HTM will lose this week?"... plus Vince knew there was still enough juice in the Hogan v Andre feud that he could string it out into the summer when Hogan would be back more often (Summerslam and their Wrestlefest Cage Match... as Hogan needed to get his "win" back after taking the fall at SS87, the Main Event and then the dud finish at WM4)... IIRC Andre went on to a short house show feud with Duggan after WM4, but was working mainly with Savage across the spring time. So there probably was a plan, it was just a case of that it was one of many, and the winner in the long run was probably HTM who got a extra 8-9 months as IC Champ (who lets face it, dose have a habit of changing his stories over the years).

[@C280S]

Honky tonk man was a fuckin joke. He shouldve been grateful to win anything

[@mrexcellence8705]

One of the best examples of why nobody believes a word that comes out of Bruce's mouth. Bruce should run for office. He reminds me of every politician I've ever heard. Can't give a truthful answer if his life depended on it

[@vongola11thboss67]

A lot of this segment is based off of Honky's words. I don't know why Bruce got so hot, trying to go after the dirtsheets when HTM has done shoots on this as well as DiBiase.

[@beastofsportsgab1113]

Savage was the top worker in the business from 84-89. Lawler was 2, Flair 3.

[@paulpatane2439]

Steamboat 85 to 88 was dam good. I thought his 3 matches with Flair were boring.

[@BDMC07]

"F*cking -A!!!!" "BEEFER!!!"

[@AwesomeLorenzoBros]

I hate when Bruce says "I don't know" bc I want answers!!!!

[@homedeezyfasheezy5662]

But it’ll be Bruce’s version of the truth which you have to take with a grain of salt. Bruce wouldn’t be Bruce if he didn’t dance around hot topics like this lik

[@jaythor70]

Conrad sure does have an easier time with Arn Anderson than Bruce.....lol But, in this case, he's trying to push Bruce into a corner, and Bruce is just refusing to go in.

[@GoryEyedBeast1978]

Sometimes brother love is a real headache to interview. You can just say "hey thats a great question, but I'd be guessing at the answer as I wasn't part of that." Instead of going into a rant "like Dave Meltzer" and driving your point home by. Making. Every. Word. Its. Own. Sentence. Conrad has more patience than me, thats for sure.

[@timjespersen3605]

Meltzer owns a condo in Prichards head.

[@Buffstang76]

HTM told me in person in 2003 that he refused to drop the belt to Savage and that’s why he got the World title, because Vince promised the IC to him. OTOH, a heel win for DiBiase in WMIV seems highly unlikely. They didn’t do things that way then. If they had, Andre would win in WMIII.

[@thegoughandbordenfamily8234]

Vince likely had a million ideas and tried one of about 20 out by asking Honky to drop the IC title to Savage in fall 87. Honky refused. But that's not what made Savage world champ. Savage would have won another ic title just to lose it before or drop it after Wrestlemania upon winning the tournament. Perhaps Vince wanted to make Savage Diesel and put all the titles on him?

[@billblaski9523]

I'm glad Conrad never just kowtows to his co-host like alot of these other podcast, like Brian Last is always co-signing whatever Cornette says. Conrad at least call them out or asks question

[@Rjensen2]

You obviously never listen to Cornette and Last. 😂

[@aceloco817]

That shit was hilarious! 😂

[@mywifesboyfriend5741]

Too many ads.

[@jokoolmyles4354]

Conrad tried to catch Bruce up cuz he knew Honky did a shoot interview saying that he refused to drop the IC belt. He would’ve had him too. But he just showed his cards a a little early. Bruce thought it was Meltzers account. But it was actually from the horses mouth 😂. I luv Bruce. But he be stooging sometimes

[@mattyinthemorning9057]

Damn take it easy Bruce

[@billgober2]

Real facts Dibiase wouldve been a much better IC champ than Honkey and they couldve and shouldve went that route because who the hell cares about an elvis impersonator character with a gimmicked guitar. Dibiase Savage and Hogan were all on another level from Honkey. The best thing they did was put the IC belt on Perfect and Hitman later on. Because then the title wasnt a joke anymore.

[@toddgrinolds3069]

Brother love getting heated....lol

[@MrHeem94]

This was painful.

[@Mechtrekica]

Conrad got hosed down by Prichard!

[@JoeyT1]

Pritchard is lying

[@kelman727]

...in bullshit.

[@Bruv234]

Macho!

[@scottyblades666]

FUCKIN AAAAAAA YES!!! BEEFER!!!

[@MrMortadella1]

Why would they unify the titles? That would be stupid to mention it would piss off Hogan by making Savage look bigger by having both titles at the same time.

[@shawnhornick1901]

Because Miss Elizabeth was what they used to call a “Ring Rat” that’s why

[@davidgerow]

Again, Bruce can’t give a straight answer.

[@JoeyT1]

trying to balance his bullshit Vince ass-kissing with the actual truth.

[@JoeyT1]

@Randy Savage LOL, you believe him too? LOL Hey, you know what? The sky is purple.

[@gregkemper3328]

That’s why I switched to Corny. Pritchard never gives a straight answer. He can never “remember.”

[@jameslee133]

DiBiase being the Federation champion would not have been good business.

[@garrypeak4277]

Way to fire up Bruce lol

[@qmkb4917]

So Honky created the mega powers...

[@taekwondotime]

Bruce seems to be confused. If the plan is for Savage to beat HTM, then Savage becomes the IC champ and isn't winning the tournament at WM4, because otherwise he would have both titles. They would have had someone else win the World title at WM4 and Savage would have had a run with the IC title for awhile and likely never would have moved up to the World title because of his size. That was likely the original plan because we know how Vince thinks and we know he doesn't like small champions having the World title. When HTM refused to lose to Savage, that forced Vince's hand and Savage got bumped up to World title level right away and got a brief run with the title when Hogan was away to film movies. That's the ONLY reason Savage ever got that opportunity.

[@1882Stu]

More Vince lies. Savage, flair and Hart all had world title runs from 88-92. Those were ‘smaller guys’

[@douglasjarnagan3835]

Brief run? Savage was WWF Campion for almost exactly one year.

[@deandreparker5820]

Douglas Jarnagan one whole year and a few days that’s a big run in that era

[@IrishCarney]

There's zero chance Vince would let Wayne F-ing Ferris 1) refuse to drop the IC belt and 2) in doing so totally destroy Vince's plans for the world title tournament outcome at WrestleMania.

[@BigBadJerryRogers]

@@IrishCarney Yeah, I mean he could have just had Jack Tunney come out and say that The Honky Tonk Man's no longer the champion because of reasons. If he needed to be done with it. There's always an alternate way to go.

[@darrickcato9499]

It doesn't make sense for Vince to make a new title and change his whole plan for Honky.

[@jamieoiler5690]

ummm i have the cd but okay...

[@dannooooooo]

Bruce has come off poorly to me a number of times, not a fan of how defensive he gets. But I feel its worth mentioning that he usually only gets like that after Conrad continues to ask the same question, and Bruce did only really say, 'I don't know, I didn't hear anything like that, but it could have happened' which seemed fairly honest to me. We a company as large and fast moving as WWF in its early days, and how new and young Bruce was still at that time, it seems quite believable to me that many decisions were discussed and made without his presence or knowledge. But Conrad's repeated asking of the same question with his short tone always seems to make Bruce more defensive because he doesn't know how else to respond and feels like hes being accused of something. I know personally how frustrating this can be, as an addict in recovery (8 years sober) in my first few years my family would berate me at every chance about what im doing, where I was, etc, and when I answered with the honest truth they'd get angry and shout how they wish I would just be honest with them... it can make you feel like your losing your fucking mind... still dont really like Bruce though lol

[@Reddberry41510]

HTM Was Gonna Be Wwf Champion If He’d Drop The IC Title To Randy Savage

[@PoorMansInvesting]

Had to get paid to lose the warrior then complains he looked ridiculous in the match. Then Bischoff firing him for demanding more money to drop a title in WCW.

[@tapockesci1171]

I dont believe Honky Tonks story cause from a fans perspective it makes no sense. Up until HHH at WM16 every Wrestlemania ended with the hero or heroes celebrating. In those days thats how they wanted the show to end. I believe Savage was always planned to win the belt.

[@thegoughandbordenfamily8234]

Ted will probably start telling people he was gonna turn face lol