Road Trip After Hours w/ WWE Hall of Famer Teddy Long and Host Mac Davis
The Fastest 30 Minute Wrestling Show with WWE Hall of Famer TEDDY LONG and MAC DAVIS! It's FAST, It's FUN and it's FREE!
Road Trip After Hours w/ WWE Hall of Famer Teddy Long and Host Mac Davis
John Cena’s Garden Letdown
BILL APTER joins the show! A brand-new listener-made theme sets the tone for a candid look at why Madison Square Garden felt robbed of a true John Cena moment. We unpack how a six-man tag undercut the weight of a final Garden appearance, why tradition favors a one-on-one farewell, and what fans actually expect when a career reaches its last chapter. With Bill Apter in the chair, we debate the ideal final opponent—Gunther for the baton pass, Brock Lesnar for spectacle, or a left-field choice like Dolph Ziggler that could have built real suspense if booked differently.
From there, we zoom out to the decisions shaping the product. Are corporate priorities overshadowing creative clarity? We talk TKO’s influence, rising ticket prices, and the possibility of WrestleMania stretching to Japan, Germany, England, or France. Global reach sounds exciting, but fans feel the squeeze when pay-per-view pricing returns and emotional payoffs get rushed. We also consider leadership and process: creative teams execute, but final calls determine whether stories land or limp. There’s hope in Triple H’s wrestling-first instincts, yet structure still rules the day.
We close with a smarter GOAT conversation. Cena can be the greatest of the modern era without erasing Bruno, Flair, Hogan, and the foundations they laid. Era by era, greatness looks different—but the standard is the same: moments that matter. If this is truly the road to Cena’s last stand, it deserves time, stakes, and a finish fans won’t forget. Enjoy the stories, the mailbag, and Apter’s classic WOW magazine reveal—and then tell us who you believe should share the ring with Cena for that final bell.
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All right, Teddy, before I say another word, I want to tell you that that was uh a special music piece given to us by Dustin Novas, who sent that in. That is a listener who had that put together for you and I for our open.
SPEAKER_02:I gotta tell you, I like it. I asked somebody to please help us out. Thank you so much, young man. Whoever you are and wherever you are from. Yep, thank you. Thank you so very much. I'm uh I'm uh God, I I just don't know what to say.
SPEAKER_04:It was really cool when I got that. You know, he's been coming talking to me for a couple of months now. And uh when he was doing that, he was saying, I've got I've got an idea, I got an idea, and he sent it to me. And I just finally decided I don't want to edit somebody else's creativity because he was saying, Yeah, I can make any changes. I like when people do something like this where they own every bit of it, you know, from how the beat is to what the words may be. Guys, I appreciate that very much. It tells me that you watch the show because you can feel the show in that song, and that is exactly how I've always felt this show's sound should be. But I want some teddy long music, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, when that music was going on, when that music started Teddy Long Mac Teddy, I heard the by the way. I thought the name of this show was after hours.
SPEAKER_04:No, no, no, it's road trip after hours, but we brought you in, so tonight it is road trip after hours.
SPEAKER_02:Bill After. Wait just a minute before we get started. Before we get started, Bill After, can you please explain to me? And I know that all everybody right now that are watching this, why are you in all those clothes? Are you do you have heat on at home, or what is going on?
SPEAKER_00:I I know exactly why outside from outside where it's about 40-something degrees, and I generally wear uh a jacket, and I got my uh international professional wrestling hall of fame. So I didn't have time to take the jacket off, and I come fully dressed with my tick crack.
SPEAKER_02:Well, well, now I know why you got on all those clothes. Okay, that explains it.
SPEAKER_04:By the way, for those of you who are wondering, of course, our special guest this week is none other uh than a part of the three amigos. We used to do a show together on Sports Kita. It's been several weeks now, and uh, so this is a lot of fun for me just to get together with these two guys again and be able to talk about wrestling. Uh, and of course, we're talking about legendary pro wrestling journalist, Mr. Bill After. Welcome, Bill.
SPEAKER_00:Thank you for that nice introduction. It's great to be back with my brothers again.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, man. I I missed uh our get togethers because we we would always cut up, and this is the thing I loved about the time machine when we were doing that. What you saw, I promise you, while we may have had questions we had to ask, a lot of times we just went to wherever we wanted to go on that show, and we had some great conversations and some great memories that popped up. Uh so you know it for me, Bill, I think it feels like you've got to come visit us once a while here on the Road Trip After Hours show.
SPEAKER_00:And that old format of saying what you want and everything. John Cena screwed New York. Whoa! He did next week. Was that go ahead, go ahead? All my friends that went that went to Madison Square Garden to see this guy wrestle in the third to next or fourth to next last match of his entire career and they threw him into a six-man tag match in instead of giving him a one-on-one. They could have had him wrestle Dominic Mysterio. They're gonna do that in the pay-per-view, but they could have done it as a non-title match, and Dominic could have pinned Cena, making the pay-per-view even more palatable. He'd want to see more of it. But they went and John screwed New York. A six-man tag team match. Unbelievable. People at the Garden, I saw people coming out of there, and people like, I can't believe we didn't get a match with John Cena. It was a six-man tag team match. At Madison Square Garden, no less.
SPEAKER_04:Teddy, I I agree with Bill. There was not only just that for me, but I felt like the Boston show was more on track of what I felt like was special with John Cena. But when we got to Madison Square Garden, I don't know. I don't know if I expected them to hang his name up in the rafters of New York, you know, in the in the garden. Something that really specified exactly the history he has in the garden. And it felt like it was a throwaway moment to me.
SPEAKER_02:Well, let me explain something to you. John Cena did not screw the people in New York. John Cena was doing what he was told to do. Yeah, the person that screwed New York was the person that wrote that or gave the okay for that six-man or whatever to happen. That's who screwed New York.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, I I thought the match was an okay match.
SPEAKER_00:So let's say the WWE. Screwed New York City.
SPEAKER_02:I won't I want to ask you this too. Everybody know from uh from day one when a guy does his last deal, goes into retirement, or even if you did the old thing like when they left the territory, that was no tag match. That was nothing like that. Was always a one-on-one. Whoever lost, they left the territory, or if you had your last match. Well, look at uh Flair and Shawn Michaels. Wasn't no six men in that. No, and you were supposedly been Flair's last match, right?
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, but you are gonna get John Cena's one-on-one final match, and that's coming up in December at Saturday night's main event. But this was his last time in Madison Square Garden, and I think that's why fans were disappointed because they expected more at Madison Square Garden.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, and this is my next question, Bill. As well, so I'll take back I'll take it back that John Cena did not screw the fans in New York. Whoever six-man tag team match, they screwed the fans in New York. I can tell you they're really P.O.'d you be?
SPEAKER_04:I would. I would. Yeah, yeah. I see.
SPEAKER_02:I tell you what, a lot of guys now, you know, these the other guys that's been around for a while, they take the fans for granted. These ain't the same old fans, you know, you used to have back in the day. You can't give these do anything to these people now and not expect them to come back at you. So they need to wake up and smell the coffee and realize you know, this is a different business now.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, you know, and when it comes to John Cena, I I really wonder in his heart of hearts, is he happy with the way his uh final run has gone? Because it just seems like it was lost in the very beginning. Ever since uh the storyline just got tossed out that he was a bad guy, now he's a good guy. No apparent reason we're just gonna shift you know gears and go in another direction. I feel like this entire thing has been anti-climatic. And even to where his final opponent, Bill, who do you think we're gonna see him face as his final opponent?
SPEAKER_00:Well, if you remember two months ago when we started discussing it on our our other show that's no longer there on Time Machine, I came out just off the top of my head, I said, it's gonna be Gunther, and you you both looked at me like, oh, maybe, and all of a sudden Gunther's out. But they could be planning something a lot more uh creative and brutal. What if whoever becomes becomes the final opponent gets beaten the hell out of by Brock Lesnar, who's come back and just killing everybody? He's not imagining matches, he's just and the last match turns out to be seen on Brock Lesnar. Can you imagine that? But I I still think it's gonna be Gunther the way they're doing it at this point.
SPEAKER_04:Teddy, does that excite you? I mean, look, I like Gunther, and I think it'd be a great place for him to get a rub from John Cena, but I'm really wondering, does Gunther need that rub from John Cena?
SPEAKER_02:Well, I don't really think so. Uh Gunther is a is his own man, and he's doing he's done doing a good job. Uh, I I I kind of agree with Bill. I'd like to see, you know, that finally they end up and Cena and uh Brock, you know, be the final one, and Brock puts him over. But like I said, right now, I mean they could do that, but I mean, Bill's got a great idea. Is Brock just come in just beating up people for no reason, you know what I mean? So Dev gives Cena reasons like, hey, what's the problem? You know, you you know, you know, then now we get some words, and maybe you and him, you him and him and Cena. So I like that idea, but I mean, who knows what they're gonna do. Here's my problem, Bill.
SPEAKER_00:They had a great they had a great comeback, uh Zack Ryder. They had a great comeback, and the fans went wild over Dolph Ziggler. I think Dolph Ziggler would have been a fabulous final opponent for John Cena. Let him lose.
SPEAKER_04:I believe Bill, I believe the same thing. I think that they made uh they made a miss the other night. Ziggler should have won that match because I think a lot of people are looking at it going, oh, he's gonna lose, you know. And of course, you know, because he's he's over what in TNA right now, so he he's you know, he's gone from here, he's just gonna lose this match, which is exactly what happened. When in reality, he should have won that match, and there would have caused a lot more questions between now and the date of John Cena's final match. People may go, you know, there's a possibility right now. There's nobody really that he has a beef with that's in this tournament that really excites me. And and when you finally get to the end of this tournament, how much time do we have to build a feud between two guys?
SPEAKER_00:I still think it's gonna be Gunther. I think they're gonna wrap it up and Gunther's gonna go uh all the way. I don't know how they're gonna finish the match if it's Gunther and John Cena with Gunther maybe getting you know the championship from Cena, that would be a good finish. But does but do the fans want to see John Cena go out on the losing end?
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, I I still question that they will even uh well I don't know. You know, that's very possible maybe they would do that. Teddy, you never like you say, if they don't want him to really get over that much, make him lose, you know. Make him lose on his way out if you really want to stick it to him. If you don't like him, you know.
SPEAKER_02:Hey, I hey, I applaud John Cena, he knows what's going on. So uh just go do what you what you're told to do, man. Retire and get out of this thing and enjoy the rest of your life.
SPEAKER_04:All right, guys, as you can tell, we have a special guest tonight. It is legendary pro wrestling journalist, Mr. Bill After. If you've got questions for Bill or Teddy or all three of us, simply leave your comments in the comment section. I know a lot of you have already. We'll get to them in just a minute. But in the meantime, I do want to give you an idea of what Bill has been working on. Ba ba ba ba. That's uh Teddy's favorite song of all with the entire show that we've done since we started. Yes.
SPEAKER_00:Do you know what? When I was a little kid, when I was a little kid, there was a uh by the way, that video you produced uh the top secrets, and Teddy Long suggested I do a show about secrets of pro wrestling. It came from him and the video was magnificent. But when I was a little kid, my parents used to watch a singer on TV named Perry Como. And Perry Como had a segment in his show where four ladies would surround him and go, Letters, we get letters, we get stacks and stacks of letters. Dear Perry, would you be so kind to fill a request and sing the songs I love best? And that reminded me of that.
SPEAKER_04:Wow, that's that's pretty cool. Actually, I didn't know that. That's something that I should know because uh what year would that have been, Bill? Do you know back in the peri Como days? What year would that have been?
SPEAKER_00:Oh, 1955 when I was a little kid.
SPEAKER_04:Okay, never mind, never mind. I still wouldn't even thought of it at that point. All right, let's see. One of our first uh people in here tonight is Zach Minger. And Zach always stops by and uh tells us uh any special dates that are around. And right now it's National Peanut Butter Fudge Day uh today. So uh thanks, Zach. That sounds good. Peanut butter fudge.
SPEAKER_02:Jeez, yeah, yeah, that does sound good.
SPEAKER_00:Let's go for one day we have the tick crack.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, Bill Bill, in case you don't know, uh his uh tick cracks are something that uh Teddy also came up with uh because he kept eating them during the show and Teddy Bond called.
SPEAKER_02:I don't know why y'all keep talking about tick tick tack. That's crack. That's crack. Okay, I'm telling you. Wait till about 10 more minutes. He's already see, he's already had some. So give him about 10 minutes and watch his manner.
SPEAKER_00:What is that? This is uh a dark chocolate Hershey kiss wrapper.
SPEAKER_04:See, you always get candy, always has candy.
SPEAKER_02:No, those are no no gummies. Like gummies.
SPEAKER_04:Okay, well, no wonder if he's got food around him, he's got gummies. I'll understand it a little bit better now. Gummies, I got you now. Pretty classy lady, uh, stopping by and saying hello. No, no, and how are you, young lady? Yeah, she's always here every single week. We and we love you for that. Curly man, the same thing. Curly man's in here all the time. Tim's in saying hello tonight.
SPEAKER_02:Curly man, holla at a player.
SPEAKER_04:He also said that he liked the music, Teddy. So uh that's that's an up for there. By the way, uh, you know, uh, hopefully uh I would get with somebody and we'll well never mind. I'll talk about that later. Uh let's see what else we got here.
SPEAKER_00:Uh wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a wee. Wait, wait, wait. You that was curly? That was curly man. That was curly man. Oh, a nice guy. Hey, so you limo. Okay, I had to go and do it.
SPEAKER_04:All right, let's see. Uh Money Mac 101. Hey all, and hello to Mr. Bill After. Welcome back.
SPEAKER_00:It is a pleasure. I'm gonna just be here every Thursday I'm able to, believe me. As long as two brothers here, don't mind uh uh letting them here.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, we'll we'll keep it locked uh once in a while.
SPEAKER_02:No, the legendary Herb Simmons is in the building, ladies and gentlemen. Y'all give him a shout out.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, man. He's saying good evening. Always good to see you in here, Herb. Uh let's see what else we got here. We got pretty classy ladies saying that uh she's good. She's in New Orleans for a conference. Uh she said the food isn't that good as uh people say in New Orleans. Teddy, you've had I know you've been in the New Orleans area because you've traveled with a wrestling guy. Do you like the food from Louisiana? Is that spicy, good with you?
SPEAKER_02:Well, I didn't really eat like that, so I didn't experience none of that. Uh no, I couldn't. That man, you you you you do you you gained 300 pounds in about five minutes.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah. Bill, what about you? Are you uh much of a uh Louisiana kind of flavored uh eater?
SPEAKER_00:The hundred times I've been there, I'll find a burger.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:I've been to Pat O'Brien. I don't I I don't take chances. I eat like five things, that's it. But um uh I was there one night in Pat O'Brien's restaurant when uh Andre the Giant and Harley Race had a drinking beer contest, and Andre won after about 142 mugs of beer. Wow, and then he went in the bathroom and peed for like a half hour.
SPEAKER_04:Man, I don't know. I can just imagine somebody drinking that much. Uh wow. All right, let's see what else we got here. We got uh Pee Wee. Uh by the way, uh I just got your message uh with the address. I'm not gonna throw it up on the screen right here, but uh thank you because I was trying to get in touch with you last week uh to find out where to send it. Uh let's see, we also have uh Joey77 saying, hello, Teddy and back and Bill. Uh look, I also want to go to the mailbag. Ricky Tiki in Palm Beach uh is asking a question of you guys. Wants to know who is the best person that you have met in wrestling and why. Plus, who was the worst and why.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, you want me to go first? The best was uh beside Teddy Long. Um the best is very easy for me, Bruno San Martino, the consummate gentleman and athlete in every way. The worst oh god, that it's very hard to think of along with pretty much everybody.
SPEAKER_04:Um you had to have somebody that you just get in jail with. I mean, there's always somebody.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, that that been uh uh Phil Zacko, uh promoter in uh uh Philadelphia area back in the Vince Sr. days. He didn't want any part of anybody with the magazines trying to eject it from some of the biggest matches. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:Why did they get you ejected?
SPEAKER_00:Because they didn't want he that was his club, and he didn't want any photographers or any news coming out of there with the magazines. It's a different era. Remember, they did the same matches in Philly that they did at the garden, and they didn't want that stuff. Yeah, and he didn't know who I was. I was just starting my first few months there, and uh, if it wasn't for uh Lou Albano the Grand was in Fred Blassey, he would have thrown me out that night.
SPEAKER_04:Wow. Teddy, what about you? Who was the best person you ever met in wrestling and why? And who was the worst? And I can figure out who that was gonna be.
SPEAKER_02:Well, I met you know, several people. It ain't just one person that was the best. You know, there are a lot of good people in wrestling, and I had the opportunity to be friends with some of them. Um I'd say Binz McMahon, I'd have to say that first because I was able to get a chance to work close to him, and that's something that everybody don't have the opportunity to do. Uh I wouldn't sit down with him in meetings, and there was just me, him, and Taker, or me, him, and somebody else. And he didn't do that with everybody. So I would thought I consider myself as real lucky. And for him to put me in that position, you know what I mean? I consider him one of the best people. Uh JBL, real good guy, had so much fun with John, enjoyed with him. Um Godfather, another good guy, Ron Simmons, um Jesus, The Rock, uh, me and Dwayne, we had a lot of fun when he was there too. Uh, so just so many people that were really good people. But some of the people that were bad, I ain't gonna call no names. I I am gonna call them, but I won't call them tonight.
SPEAKER_04:I got I think in most people, if they have watched this show long enough, already know uh who some of those people he doesn't really care for.
SPEAKER_02:Uh, but there's one in particular that's like this, they don't care for me. Oh, yeah. You know what I mean? It ain't I ain't got no vendetta against anybody. I always try to get along with everybody and do my job. And to let you know that I was doing my job, if I stayed and ran Vince McMahon's company for nine years, I was doing my job. So ain't nobody gonna keep you can't tell me nothing. So if you're gonna get mad at me for doing my job, then okay.
SPEAKER_04:Uh by the way, L.
SPEAKER_00:I'm not gonna go into detail. Mac, I'm not gonna go into detail, but there's a guy who's very famous for uh a sound like woo, who uh in the last few years has become personally um not one of my favorite people. Personally, not professionally.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, that's that's unfortunate. Yeah, no, no, but uh okay. Let's see. Uh what we got next here. We have uh oh, we got somebody.
SPEAKER_02:You know, you got to be real bad if you got Bill Aptur on.
SPEAKER_04:Look, I'm thinking that and I was trying not to say too much after you said that, Bill, but I'm thinking if you're on the bad side of feeling.
SPEAKER_02:You got to be an evil, mean person. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Or someone that says something or something, someone that says something without thinking and becomes uh irritated at you again without thinking and start saying bad things about you.
SPEAKER_02:It's because it's because they're evil, Bill. It's just that simple.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, and it's not like it happens just once because these people tend to be able to do that.
SPEAKER_02:And if you can look at you know how we're living today, look at the world today. We're not together anymore. You know, we're not shaking hands and talking to our neighbors, we're we're against each other now. So it's really sad, man, that we as a people can't just sit down and get along, eat and have a great time and enjoy ourselves and try to think about our futures. And you know, I I don't, but look at us now. I I I tell you, man, this is really something.
SPEAKER_04:I we got Money Mac uh also in here saying, question for you guys when do you see Braun Breaker becoming world champion? WrestleMania next year? Bill.
SPEAKER_00:Maybe, maybe, maybe, maybe they're they're uh you know, they're ramping him up. What what I don't like with Braun Breaker is these 50-50 type images where he he's getting beaten up quite a bit, and then he does the comeback with the spear, which makes him look powerful. But I don't see him ready for that uh world championship just yet. But then again, him against CM Punk would be if they're going to change the title to him, Punk would be the guy to do the job.
SPEAKER_04:I like Braun Breaker, Teddy, but I'm not sure I that I think he's ready for that title quite yet. What about you?
SPEAKER_02:Well, I you have to look at it like this. We don't know who'll be running the company next year at WrestleMania. So that's what I'm saying. I think we we're we're we're really jumping ahead of ourselves right now.
SPEAKER_00:Well, we're gonna say about it. Next year they'll be 26th in 2020, of course, they will be in this, but after that, they go to Arabia for WrestleMania. So it could be a whole new ball game for uh who tiger G Singh might be the uh no, he's from India.
SPEAKER_04:I can tell you that you know, when it comes to the decisions like going taking Saudi Arabia, I mean the WrestleMania to Saudi Arabia and the price of tickets and everything else. WWE has been taking a beating a lot in social media lately because of things like that. And and I, you know, this and it people need to understand that sometimes the two are separate. What TKO decides they want done may not be what WWE themselves wants to do, but the bottom line is boss man is TKO and you got to do what they say. But lately, the ticket prices and all this negative publicity they keep getting, it they're doing it to themselves, they're giving ammo to making a fortune, making a fortune, they're making a big video thing, but again, but again, they don't care about the the viewers or the fans if that's the case. It's just about the money. And at one point it's gonna be only a rich man's thing, only a rich man can go see your wrestling. And yep. I'm gonna predict something.
SPEAKER_00:What's that? I'm gonna predict something. Triple H at the MVP arena last week when WWE was there, spent 45 minutes with Seth Turner going through the International Wrestling Hall Hall of Fame. He's still a wrestling fan, and I can tell uh just by the vibes that I get when he and I will text or something, I can tell that I don't think that this whole TKO deal is sitting right with him in terms of being a wrestling person. Not in terms of finance, in terms of finance, which is great. But in terms of being an old school wrestling fan and seeing like the uh where it's going to go on how he feels about it.
SPEAKER_04:What do you think? I I I think that there needs to be some changes, and I think when it comes to creative, there that's one of their biggest problems right now is the creative. And they've got to do something to get that creative fired back up again. And you're gonna have to make people get it out of the way so new people can come in and start fresh. And until certain people start disappearing, I'm afraid we're gonna continue to have the issues that we have.
SPEAKER_02:You have to remember this creative does what they're told. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. It's not creative, it's the person that's in charge.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, it's those in charge, and there's a handful of them that have been there for a long time, but there's only one that makes the decision, makes that final decision, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Right.
SPEAKER_04:All right, so let's see. Uh Bob Smith. Hey, Bob, good to see you in here, my friend. I got a chance to do Bob Smith's um the outdated wrestling hour. God, I hope I got that right.
SPEAKER_00:Thank you. Thank you for the two of you saying some nice things about me. I really appreciate that.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, we even put you over too, Teddy. Uh, we we talked on the podcast about you as well. That was a fun podcast. Bob is a great talker. Uh, just uh he and he's a great guy. Uh, he also got me lunch when we were in Albany.
SPEAKER_01:Um, so no wonder, no wonder he's all great.
SPEAKER_00:That's you never you've never heard him sing. Bob Bob is an incredible blues singer. The Bob he is actually.
SPEAKER_04:I've I've listened to some of his stuff uh that I've been able to find and pull up. And yeah, he is an incredible performer. I didn't realize that he did all that. On top of working with you at PWI, how what years were those?
SPEAKER_00:Oh, I don't I'm terrible with that kind of information. Long time I am about eight years.
SPEAKER_02:I am didn't I tell y'all that just watch his mannerisms? Now he's forgot everything. See what I'm saying? He's on those. I'm telling that's crack he's taking.
SPEAKER_04:See Dave Crohn's in the room saying, uh, what up from St. Louis? Hey, what up, Dave man?
SPEAKER_02:Hope to see you next year, guardian of chaos.
SPEAKER_04:Hey, brother, good evening, man. Good to see you in here. Um, trying to get everybody in here to make sure we don't miss anybody. Uh hi guys, hope you are all well. That's from Darla Staggs and uh Bill, you know who she is. We all know, we all know Darla. Yeah, she's a sweetheart. Uh she's one of the friendliest. Uh her. Let's see. There's there's three of them now. We got her, Pam, and uh Pam being um uh JJ Dillon's daughter, and and Barbara. Barbara uh Goodish, who is Frank uh Bruiser Brody's wife. Yeah. Oh, great women. And they're they're fun to hang around when you get a chance to.
SPEAKER_00:Charlotte, I gave her her title. She's the first lead of the Cauliflower Alley Club.
SPEAKER_04:Yes, she is. Absolutely is. She handles so much for the Cauliflower Alley Club and does a fantastic job. And she's been around wrestling ever since she was a little girl. Uh, when you hear her story, which is really good.
SPEAKER_00:Uh pretty classy ladies saying I've known since she was 12 or 13 years old. I go way back to Dora. How old were you then?
SPEAKER_02:See, you would have to ask something. It got nothing to do with net. It ain't got nothing to do with net.
SPEAKER_04:Let's see. Pretty classy lady.
SPEAKER_02:You gotta watch him, BL. You have to watch him.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, you're behind by a couple of seconds. We've been working around it okay, though.
SPEAKER_00:It's weird, though.
SPEAKER_04:Okay, now he's doing it at worse now. Yes, you're a little bit delayed. That's okay. Okay. Uh let's see. We got uh pretty classy lady, and uh who else we got here? We got uh money magazine. Do you ever see WrestleMania taking place in Japan for the first time ever in WWE history in the near future?
SPEAKER_02:I wouldn't I wouldn't doubt it.
SPEAKER_04:If the money's there, they'll go. Let's put it that way.
SPEAKER_02:They got the money, the money is there.
SPEAKER_04:Oh, yeah. Well, you I'm sure it is. But what do you think? You think it's a chance we'll see it in Japan one day, or is it just to the highest bidder?
SPEAKER_00:Absolutely, absolutely. I think Germany will get a WrestleMania. Um, I think England will get WrestleMania. I think France will get a WrestleMania.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, it'll go all over the world.
SPEAKER_00:Right. And we're again we're back to basic pay-per-view again. If you want to watch it here in the States, if you're not going to go to any of those countries, you have to pay$30 to go on ESPN and pay-per-view. We're all the way back to it.
SPEAKER_04:Steve uh popping in the room. Steve, I haven't seen you in a while, brother. Good to have you in here. Regardless if we like it or not, WWE has had a strong hand in changing culture and acceptable standards. Uh well, and and that is absolutely true. Yeah. All right, let's see. Uh, that's uh Josh saying Bill's audio is cutting in and out a lot, but uh yeah, he he's popping in out a lot, but he's it's the crack. I'm trying to get everybody in here, but see, I'm gonna have to rush through these pretty quick here. Rutherford uh saying, hey guys, Bill, I've been reading your book. I loved your story on how you announced going to WoW magazine NWO style. Can you share uh that story with us, Bill?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I yes, when I when WOW magazine uh bought me away from PWI, I went into the editor Stu Sachs, and I opened up my shirt WoW magazine, just like people who joined the NWO. So, yes, stunned everything. How did that go over? Thank you, thank you, my book.
SPEAKER_04:How did how'd that go over with Stu? I mean, did I mean did Stu take it in just as it was meant to be?
SPEAKER_00:Um yes and no.
SPEAKER_04:Oh, really? So he was a little offended too, huh?
SPEAKER_00:Not offended, no, but he was he didn't want to lose me as part of that team.
SPEAKER_04:Oh yeah. Well, I can understand that because you were off you know what I don't think a lot of people before he worked. I don't think a lot of people understand if you weren't around that time. Teddy, you know this because we were around, you know, in the I mean in the uh magazine era, Bill Aptor was the face of the magazines. I you know, it didn't matter what wrestling magazine was out there, everybody assumed that's Bill Aptor's magazine, and they became known as After Mags because of that. Um, and and I know to this day, Bill, you always try to tell people, I didn't, that's I I don't own the magazines. You tried to clear that up all the time. But at the end of the day, you are what John Cena is for WWE. You were the face of that company, and everybody knew who you represented, and you've always done it with professionalism. And it's one of the things that I love about you, uh, the fact that you share that wealth of knowledge you have with other people, such as myself and many other of the actor boys that I always talk about. Um, you know, to me, you're very giving in this business, and it's the reason why I enjoy you and I enjoy being with Teddy Long, because you both give a lot to this business that nobody ever sees or ever has a clue takes place. So, from the bottom of my heart, thank you very much for coming on the show tonight. And we are gonna have you back, Bill.
SPEAKER_02:I promise you that, because I think it needs to become a way before we leave, and yeah, but and just before we go, I wanted to say this too. I'm so glad that uh we got Bill to come aboard because Bill has some things that you people may not be never dreamed that he knows. This man has been around people that are gone, passed away, and gone. So he's talked to people that we have no idea who who they are, and I guarantee you he's got some some stories that he can tell you that are certainly worth sitting down and listening to. So to have Bill here with us on road trip is such an honor. Thank you, Bill.
SPEAKER_04:And I do want to mention that I want to bring one thing up.
SPEAKER_00:I want to bring up.
SPEAKER_04:Let me mention real quick here, Bill, that Nick Patrick's in the room as well. Good saying, Great to see you, Bill. You guys kicking ass.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, no, Nick, one of my favorite people, great referee back in the day at WCW, was always terrific to me.
SPEAKER_02:He never did a legendary Gleeko Beak. Yes.
SPEAKER_00:He is he always said when he's putting me on the cover after, we'll get to it. One thing I want to bring up, and thank you, Nick. Very I enjoyed you and your dad very much. One thing I want to bring up that uh I've been on a couple of shows and brought this up, is they're pressing, they're pushing John Cena as the greatest of all time. My take on that is of the modern era that is at 100% accurate. But every era had their greatest of all time. Bruno San Martino's era, he was the greatest of all time. Ric Flair's era, he was the greatest of all time. The current current the current time in pro wrestling in the past 20 years, John is the greatest of all time. But I don't like that they pigeonhole that he is the greatest of all time since this business started, because I don't want anything taken away from the legends like Bruno and Ric Flair and Pedro Morales and uh superstar Billy Graham and Harley Race. I mean, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. And hey, and listen, I mean, I know you're going back in time talking about the greats, but let's not forget about the legendary Hulk Hogan. Hulk Hogan is the greatest of all time.
SPEAKER_04:Yes, yeah, yes, I think of that era, yes. I and that's the thing, too. You know, is it everything is uh based on your age and the era you watched wrestling, really. That sweet spot in your life where those heroes were your heroes, they're not gonna be those same heroes 20 years.
SPEAKER_00:Wait a minute. Does that mean that Abraham Lincoln was wrestler of all time?
SPEAKER_02:Of course. You nailed it, Bill. You I always told you you're a smart man.
SPEAKER_04:I want to mention the money back stopping in saying coming in to us, uh, coming to us from San Francisco. Uh Steve is also saying, Bill, congratulations on the Hall of Fame induction. Uh let's see, Josh is in here saying, I'm glad these three are continuing to do this podcast. Just a different channel name. We appreciate that. Uh, and very much. Make sure you pop in and see us each and every week. Herb Simmons, uh, let's see, he was saying that her first match was 1959 in St. Louis. Um, herbing whose first match? Yeah, I'm I'm not sure. You you lost me a little bit there, Herb. I'm sorry. Um, let's see. Ellen saying, Buddy says, Happy Thanksgiving. Tell Buddy we said hello. Uh, buddy, if you're watching right now, good to see you, brother. Um, did he get his shirt? He he does, he's got his shirt. I've got proof of that too, as a matter of fact.
SPEAKER_02:And that's another, I'm glad Ellen called. That's another person I wanted to mention too. She's been uh around this business forever and forever and ever, known her for years and years. So she's another nice person.
SPEAKER_04:Yes, she is. And what she does for her son and for her family to uh to go to all these shows to make sure he gets to see as much wrestling as he can. Uh, what a great, what great mom. Um, also a pretty classic lady. They have a lot of fans in India, but they won't do major shows there because they don't have the billions. Um, yeah, yeah, pretty classic lady it is. It's all about money. That's it. I'm trying to get he's got a lot more coming in. Steve uh Bill's a great singer, and he can still climb up on a bar stool and he can scare the hell out of the way.
SPEAKER_00:Would you like me to end this show with a song?
SPEAKER_02:You're gonna make me uh well, you know, for old time's sake, uh we got any we got any more out there we need to uh talk about before we go? Uh no, no.
SPEAKER_04:Well, yeah, we do need something we need to talk about before we get out of here. Bill, where can people find you outside of this show right here? Where else are you? Uh can we find you? Because you've done some great interviews this week.
SPEAKER_00:I'm on Twitter X. Yes, I'm on Twitter X at After One Wrestling, the number one, not the word. Uh, I'm on and I'm gonna start cranking up uh my TikTok account again uh soon. And you can find me uh a lot of Thursday nights here um on Road Trip After Hours.
SPEAKER_04:And this felt good tonight, uh Bill. I gotta tell you, I enjoy this a lot. And we're burning up time.
SPEAKER_02:This is probably one of the longest shows we've done. But before we go, I want to remind everybody I'll see them tomorrow night in Buffalo, New York for Empire State Wrestling. I'll be there for a big uh big big wrestling show tomorrow night, Buffalo, New York.
SPEAKER_04:I hope it's not gonna be chilling cold up there. I wonder what the temperature is gonna be because that's that area boy. When winter comes, it is huh?
SPEAKER_00:That was the home of the original votion of Pedro Martinez way back in the 70s when I used to cover wrestling.
SPEAKER_02:Am I saying that right, Bill? Is it is it Empire State Wrestling? Is that right?
SPEAKER_00:I'm not sure. I think probably it's it is New York is the Empire State.
SPEAKER_02:So uh I think it's right. It's only from New York Empire State.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah. Unless you're into baseball, then it's the umpire state. So do you want me to end this with a song? Um like we used to?
SPEAKER_04:Uh yeah, yeah, let's do what we used to do, Bill. Uh if you'll give us Teddy, why don't you pick uh a song for him to sing on the way out here? Yeah, yeah, that's right.
SPEAKER_00:How about uh James Ingram song? Remember James Ingram?
SPEAKER_01:Well, I'm that guy.
SPEAKER_02:Listen, we gotta really pay respect to somebody. How about giving me and Max some BB King?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, BB King. I don't know enough, I don't know enough of his music, but James Ingram, I can give you fired.
SPEAKER_01:There you go. That's great.
SPEAKER_04:Those of you who are watching.
SPEAKER_01:That's a way to get out. That's how that's good. You're fired.
SPEAKER_04:All right, guys, we're out of here. I've enjoyed this, so let me get Bill back in here so we don't have to be that rude to him here. Let's see what can you get back in here, Bill. Bill, it's been a blast, my friend. We will see you guys. We're not back on Teddy.
SPEAKER_02:We're back on until you go get you some history on BB King.
SPEAKER_00:All right, Teddy, you do know the song which uh by James Ingram. Uh just once, can we figure a week?
SPEAKER_04:Thank you. Just doesn't get the message, doesn't he? We're out of here. Thursday night, seven o'clock Eastern time. We're live. I'm Mac Davis. That's Teddy Long, and that was Pro Wrestling Journalist Mr. Bell. After we'll see you again next week. Olive Lance.
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