When WWE Creative Loses The Room

Road Dogg is out of WWE, and that one headline opens up a much bigger conversation about power, trust, and whether WWE creative is keeping up with the fans who watch every week. I’m joined by WWE Hall of Famer Teddy Long to talk about what Brian James meant backstage, why he’s always been respected as a straight shooter, and what it says when a veteran mind decides it’s time to step away.

From there we get into the push and pull of modern sports entertainment. We talk Chelsea Green, the “old guard” mindset, and the ongoing debate about who should be writing wrestling storylines. Does a lead writer need in-ring experience, or can someone learn the business well enough from the outside to book great TV? Teddy gives a grounded perspective from decades in the locker room, where the difference between fantasy and believable wrestling psychology is obvious fast.

Then we hit a topic every WrestleMania traveler is arguing about right now: WWE World pricing. We break down the shocking entry fee and the photo op numbers that have fans doing double takes, and we ask the real question, are average fans getting priced out of the very culture they built? We wrap with mailbag questions and classic road stories, including who was toughest to work with and why certain match styles made talent nervous.

Subscribe for more honest wrestling talk, share this with a friend who’s fed up with modern pricing, and leave us a review telling us your limit: what’s the most you’d ever pay for a photo or autograph?

Transcript

Welcome And Upcoming Bookings

SPEAKER_02 1:46

And welcome to another episode of Wrestling's Road Trip After Hours. I'm your host, Mack Davis, and that is, of course, WWE Hall of Famer Teddy Long, who has spent the entire time through that intro trying to get his light fixed and the picture behind him.

SPEAKER_00 2:02

All right, I got everything.

SPEAKER_02 2:04

You sure you got it now, Teddy?

SPEAKER_00 2:06

Oh yeah. Well, you know, when when you're doing the podcast out of your your second bedroom, you know, it's not too much stuff in here.

SPEAKER_02 2:15

It's funny because this room is really small that I'm in. It may look big, but it's not nearly as big as it may look. And it is just stuff everywhere. I understand what you're saying.

SPEAKER_00 2:27

How you been doing, man? Hey, man, I'm good. I'm good. Good. I'm good. I'm looking forward to this coming Saturday night right here in Atlanta, Georgia at Center Stage, MLW Wrestling. Uh, I'll be a big part of that Saturday night. And uh, like I said, gonna be some big stars there. The good brothers, they're gonna be there. And I'm real excited to see Paul London. Haven't seen him in ages. One of the guys that I've worked with, you know, in my career. So uh gonna be a big show there, MLW Friday night at Center Stage. I mean Saturday night, March 14th, right here in Atlanta, and I'll be there.

SPEAKER_02 2:58

And of course, uh, while we're talking about that next week, uh or the week after this next weekend is what I'm trying to say, you're gonna be also in Maryland, isn't that correct?

SPEAKER_00 3:07

Oh, yeah, I'm gonna be with James Eldworth. Got uh three big shows up there next Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. I'll be uh they're calling it spring fever, so I'll be a big part of that.

SPEAKER_02 3:17

So that's uh a lot of fun there, too. You can find Teddy Long at that show and uh go get tickets right now, mcwprowrestling.com. And that's where you'll be able to find Teddy. Uh, we'll talk about some other shows that are taking place coming up. But Teddy, I want to get uh your thoughts on the news of Road Dog uh no longer being with WWE. Now, you know, you and I both know Road Dog Brian. We, you know, we've even worked with him. I even myself, I know you did. Um, but it was he just a guy that was pushed to the edge, you think? Because as I understand it, he's the reason why he's not there. He's the one that said, uh, you know, my time's up. I want to go.

Old Guard Creative And Chelsea Green

SPEAKER_00 4:01

Well, that's the thing about that. Let me say this. I have the utmost respect for Brian James. Yes, I've known him. Well, I his his father, God rest his soul, uh, bully Bob Armstrong, you know, he was a great, great man and uh always uh respected me. Whenever I met him anywhere I was, Bob was just, I mean, just outstanding, man. What a nice friend to have. And so by me meeting that father, and I had a chance to work with Brad, uh, God rest his soul, you know, the other brother. And uh then I came on down with Stevie and then, you know, with Brian. So I have the utmost respect for him because Brian Jane was like this. He was a real man. He wouldn't lie to you, he wouldn't walk up to you and, you know, pretend that he liked you if he didn't like you. If he didn't like you, he let you know. Yeah. Okay. He was, he, I, that's why I had the utmost respect for him. And I he said something to me one night and he was talking to me in cold a little bit, and I got it. And I said to him, I know I walked out and I come back, and he said to me, he said, Yeah, damn, Teddy, you got a hell of a pop out there. I said, Yeah, I said, uh, tell Hunter. And he looked back at me and he said, He heard it. Yeah. So that and and I he hadn't called me back since.

SPEAKER_02 5:12

Yeah, man. I, you know, uh when I saw the news, it didn't surprise me because if you remember, those of you who watched the uh WWE Unreal uh series that came out, there was a confrontation between Road Dog and Triple H. Now, when I watched that, I thought they were playing it up for the camera. That's that was just my original thought. But after now, I it doesn't surprise me because he he couldn't understand why they weren't using uh Chelsea Green in a bigger role. And I think everybody in the in the fandom of WWE was thinking the same thing. Uh you can watch her and tell this is a star. Why aren't you doing something with her? And there were comments made by Michael P. S. Hayes that she wasn't meant to be, you know, the the big star. She's just meant to help the other girls.

SPEAKER_00 6:02

And I heard he had to back, he had to uh roll back those comments. He apologized for them.

SPEAKER_02 6:07

Well, he should have. I mean, let's face it, she really is one of the most entertaining females they have on the roster. Why wouldn't you put a rocket on her back?

SPEAKER_00 6:17

Here's what you gotta understand, man. You know, these guys, some of them are just still living in the past. I swear to God, man, I love them to death. I love Michael Hayes, he's a great guy, never had no problem with him whatsoever. But you gotta come out of the past. This is that it's not Rand like it used to be no more. And a lot of guys just refuse to come into the 20th century. They're just gonna stay back there with the old way that it's been done since the beginning of time.

SPEAKER_02 6:41

Yeah, and and you know, as you were saying, that the things weren't the same anymore. Vince disappeared from the picture. He uh he he fell over right behind you. You have no idea what I'm talking about. There you go. Listen, don't be jinking me, okay? Uh jinking you. Okay. Let's see. Oh, we got a lot of people in here. I do want to say that uh we have uh Dave Crones in the room, cornhawson. Uh hey, here you go. Cornhawson saying, I smoked weed with Teddy once.

SPEAKER_00 7:10

I never heard of this guy.

SPEAKER_02 7:14

Even if he had, he wouldn't tell you. All right, let's see. Uh Zach saying National Oatmeal Nut Waffles Day. Oatmeal Nut Waffles. And I'm not sure that sounds that great, to be honest with you.

SPEAKER_00 7:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:26

Does that sound good to you?

SPEAKER_00 7:28

Not at all.

SPEAKER_02 7:29

I didn't think so either.

SPEAKER_00 7:30

Uh Zach is high all the time. He'll need anything.

SPEAKER_02 7:34

Well, I tell you what, I went to the uh God, I shouldn't say this because now everybody else can go out and try to find this. But there's a a corn chip maker, Brahms or something like that. I was in a dollar store and I wanted something to snack on. Well, I was in the chip section and they have what I thought were pork rinds, but they weren't. They were cinnamon twists, like you get at uh Taco Bell if you order some of their little sweets thing, and I got a bag of that. Brother. Brother, if you like cinnamon sugar, you need to. Oh, see, I love cinnamon sugar. Oh anyhow, anyhow, that's that good stuff. I'm trying to find it now. They had it once and I can't find it again. Uh let's see. I think that's yeah, Ellen's in the room. She's saying, Hey guys, Buddy says hello.

SPEAKER_00 8:19

Hello, buddy. Hey, hello to you guys, and Buddy, my main man.

Should Writers Have Ring Experience

SPEAKER_02 8:24

Let's see. Now we also have um here. Fonzie is also going live. Who would win in a no DQ Fall Count Anywhere match? Teddy Long versus Fonzie.

SPEAKER_00 8:39

Oh, Jesus, I just tap out.

SPEAKER_02 8:44

And now you know why Joseph says Teddy is comedy.

SPEAKER_00 8:49

Thank you, I am.

SPEAKER_02 8:50

Uh also, David saying that Bruce Pritcher needs to go. Here's what I think, Teddy, and tell me if I'm wrong. There does come a point. I I don't care how in touch you think you are, you reach a certain age where you're not in touch. You can't be like the kids are. And and maybe that's why we're having these issues. You when as long as that old guard continues to control the creative, nothing is gonna change.

SPEAKER_00 9:18

No, nothing at all. See, what people don't understand is once you step into that arena, you step into another whole world. That's the world of professional wrestling. Once you leave that arena, it's a whole different deal. You you you know, you're not that same person. But a lot of people don't get that part. A lot of people take their work home with them and you're uh to uh to the streets, and they shouldn't do that. Once you leave the arena and do whatever you need to do, then be yourself. Okay, treat people nice and you know, but uh like I said, they just refuse to come into the 20th century. So, like you said, until the guard changes and they get some young guys in there with younger minds and creative and you know, not people, you know, treating them bad and you know, doing stuff to them just because you don't like them, you know, it just doesn't mean just sad.

SPEAKER_02 10:05

And you talk about a lot of uh differences from the days of early wrestling to now. Um when I saw who replaced Road Dog, uh, it was a female writer who has never wrestled in the ring, to my knowledge, has never even really been around wrestling. How does your lead writer for a wrestling product not have a wrestling background or history? It it seems to me now you're really asking for the entertainment part because they're gonna put this out in fantasy land because they don't really know what it means to be a wrestler in the ring and the reason why certain things happen.

SPEAKER_00 10:43

Well, I'm not sure, but I think this girl has been there for a while.

WrestleMania Fan Experience Price Shock

SPEAKER_02 10:49

But even if she's been there for a while, Teddy, if you haven't been in that ring, how can you write wrestling stories? I don't know. It just seems like that should be a prerequisite for the job.

SPEAKER_00 11:00

Well, you know, like I said, some people, some of them are cut out for this. You know what I mean? You got it in your blood, or you re you if you stay around so long, you finally get it. And maybe she's one of those people that's finally got it. Maybe she understands. Like I said, she's been around for a while, doesn't mean anything because she hasn't been in the ring. But you see, they put guys on TV right now, ain't never stepped a day in the ring uh in their life. So I don't think that has nothing to do with it. I think if you've been around and you learn, you know, and understand exactly how this works, then I think she'll do good.

SPEAKER_02 11:30

Uh, we also have pretty classy ladies saying, holla holla, players from the Himalayas.

SPEAKER_00 11:35

All right, holla back at you, player.

SPEAKER_02 11:37

Let's see. And she's also saying that Zach must be making up all these things about what day of the uh the month it is, or you know, what he'll have to prove that. Uh look, we got a lot of things I else I want to talk about, but let me bring this up because somebody sent this to me. I mean, right as we got in the room, and I've been kind of glancing at it as we've been talking. This is the I'm trying, okay. This is from the WWE World Fan Experience or something like that. Uh, I guess this is what happens when WrestleMania comes to town. They have their own kind of big convention thing where you can go and do things. Do you know how much uh one ticket is to get in for uh that particular I would say like the WrestleCons that we do, Teddy? How much do you think uh uh it's gonna cost somebody to go into uh the WWE version?

SPEAKER_00 12:29

Uh like a signing?

SPEAKER_02 12:32

Just to go in and get things signed and stuff like that. How much do you think the entry fee is?

SPEAKER_00 12:38

God, I have no idea.

SPEAKER_02 12:39

Almost$400. To do what? Exactly. You're paying all look, I've gone to a lot of wrestling cons, and the price to enter that wrestling con is nowhere near that expensive. It's usually maybe$50 or something like that, which covers what they've got to do for the the crew that's got to be there working. I understand that.$400 to come in and spend money to get autographs?

SPEAKER_00 13:05

This ain't gonna this this ain't uh these guys ain't the WWE.

SPEAKER_02 13:09

No, and and I'm sitting here looking now. Uh they show the uh prices actually. Let's see if I can I can't get that to pull up. Yeah, I can. Adam Pierce. Now, how much do you think he's charging for a uh for a photo optetic? This is the general manager for uh Raw. I have no idea.$36.89. What the hell? Why can't you just say$50,$75? You know, so I'm curious. All right, so now that's him. AJ Lee, and she sold out of hers. Hers is$145.39 for a photo. Let me see who else is on here that may be uh let's see, Chelsea Green. Let's see. We were just talking about her. What is she charging? Now see, here we go. This is what they think of Chelsea Green.$69.44. Cheaper uh than what I just say a minute ago. AJ Lee. And the most and the most entertaining woman on the roster is on the low end. All right, now let's see. How much is CM Punk getting paid for a photo?$205.07. I still don't know where they get these little pennies. What the hell? Uh Dominic Mysterio, that's another good one to check because of course he's one of the big stars.$112.84. And I'm gonna give you one more. I just spotted here. I'm gonna try to get it open up. Where does it go? Stone Cold Steve Austin, Teddy. There is a chance to get your photo out with him. Uh$335.27. Okay. All right. Hey, let me ask you, you guys who are in the room and you're watching this, would you pay that kind of money? Would you pay three to four hundred dollars to get Stone Cold's autograph? Nothing against Stone Cold, but I mean, seriously, that's a lot of money for a freaking autograph.

SPEAKER_00 15:09

I I think we need to move on.

SPEAKER_02 15:11

Yeah, you think so? Yes. Curly man. Hey Teddy and Mac, question for Teddy. Where did you get your suits that you used to wear as general manager of SmackDown?

SPEAKER_00 15:22

Uh Burlington. Uh men, uh well, it's a Burlington soup factory. It was like that. It was a for men, just only men only. It was like uh, what's that? They got a place here that sell nothing but suits. I can't think of the name of it, but Burlington uh soup factory is where I got them from.

SPEAKER_02 15:38

Men's warehouse, I think, is the new one that you're thinking of. Yeah, yeah. Is that what you're thinking of? Yeah, yeah. Uh let's see. Uh, we have people responding to what I was just talking about. Uh Ellen saying, nope, she wouldn't pay that kind of money. Dave Crone saying that's the cost of a weekend vacation. Fuck that. Curly man saying nope. No. I I agree. I think it's just you're asking way too much of fans, and we've said this over and over again on the show. They're pricing out the average consuming fan. The people who built that stuff, and now you're charging way too much.

SPEAKER_00 16:13

You're you're beating a dead horse because they don't care.

SPEAKER_02 16:16

No, they don't care. Uh, let me see. We also have uh Eric Heelbiz popping in, and he's saying, Good evening, fellas. Good evening to you, Eric. Also, a pretty classy lady, Teddy. She wanted to know um, Teddy, what about DK suits?

SPEAKER_00 16:32

Did you ever get a couple from them, D and K. Yeah, I know what that is. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:38

And also, we have uh pretty classy lady saying, just hang around the casinos. You can see plenty of wrestlers that week for free. She's smart. She's smart. All right, look here. Uh, we have uh Fan Fest 4 coming up. More information about that right here.

Fan Fest And JCW Event Promos

SPEAKER_01 16:57

Let's do this. You wanted more. So we're bringing you Fan Fest 4. JBL, Mickey James, Carlito, and Seven Robert, Gibson Carrie, and Ricky Morton. Hello, girls, I'm Lady Fulton, Eddie Long, and Mac Davis, the Liquid Roller, Johnny Robbins, the Cloud of Listen, D Lo Brown, Backwell, Harvey Whippledman, Paul Ellery, powers of pain, wild fire, Tommy Rick, boy, pop, and boy, eight and night, Fairview Heights, Illinois, the Radison Hotel and Conference Center. That's ICW Fest Four, the St. Louis Wrestling Hall of Fame. Weekend includes McFoley's One Man Show and the Bruiser Brody Memorial at iCW.org. As we approach and close in on the killing field, that Las Vegas will surely become the night of JCW's Stringomania. April 17th. Hopes is race. Anxiety earth its way through the bodies of the competitors. Sweat beats run down the scar of defated faces of the warriors, all of which aim to survive, but few of which actually will. With certain two on the horizon, I RND chaotic even every combat is 13 for a tactic or strategy to cripple their opponent beforehand and better their eyes in famous eating for an early event. The lines between good and evil have become blurred. As all is fair in love and war. And on the night of March 22nd in Lansing, Michigan, Juggalo Championship Wrestling will provide its contestants with just touch an opportunity. JCW's Panic Zone, March 22nd, live from Lansing, Michigan. Gruel Hall at 224. Absolutely free to watch live from Lansing or absolutely free to watch from home. Some selective bomb ass eating is available for purchase at Gruel Hall. All love is lost and gone. Don't miss JCW as we enter the Panic Stone Sunday, March 22nd from Langstein, Michigan. And don't miss StrangleMania from Las Vegas, April 17th. Available on Psychopathic Records YouTube, Insane Cloud Possies Facebook, Insane Cloud Possies X, and the ICP Network on Twitch.

SPEAKER_02 20:37

Okay, wow, that would that played great. Teddy, you ready to answer a question or two here from the mailbag?

SPEAKER_00 20:43

I'm ready.

SPEAKER_02 20:44

All right, let's see. We have Kevin. Uh this comes from Gmail. Now, this is uh one that we actually skipped over last week because uh we got so busy in here. And this is a name association. Teddy, I'm gonna give you some names and uh give me your thoughts on these folks. You ready? Yeah. All right, here we go. First one, Luna Vashan.

SPEAKER_00 21:05

I had a lot of fun with Luna. She God rests her soul. She was a sweetheart, you know what I mean? But she's also mean that she didn't take no stuff. I saw her beat up one of the well, was she a lit? One of the girls worked with the, she was a floor director for the camera girls, camera guy or something. But anyway, I don't know, something happened, but boy, and Luna lit right into her. She's a sweetheart, but she gets to drinking a little bit then, and that that kind of kind of set her off there. I remember one time her and godfather got into it. She threw a fucking uh soda ball at him or something like that. Oh God. They'll tell you about that. I can't remember all of it, but her and godfather got into it, and she threw a ball at him or something like that.

Mailbag Name Association Stories

SPEAKER_02 21:57

Well, see, we do have uh Dave uh popping in and saying, I doubt WWE will go to the Saudi now. We talked about that a little bit last week. I'd be surprised too with everything that's going on right now. I just can't imagine people are gonna just want to pack up and go over the Saudi next year for WrestleMania when things are just as crazy as they are. Nick Patrick uh Teddy in the room saying, I wonder where a road dog would turn up. He'd be a great fit for TNA. Teddy, he's not wrong. I think that in TNA, any any group, even AEW out there, anybody getting a road dog on your uh on your staff is a plus. And I can't imagine that he'd have a hard time if he wants to even come back into wrestling.

SPEAKER_00 22:40

Well, I think, you know, that like you said, he's has a great mind, you know, any wherever he turn up at, you know, he's valuable. Uh, but you know, with Brian, you know, Brian's been doing this a long, long time. You know, he cleaned his act up and got himself together, man. And he's been there a long time, and I'm sure he saved his money. And uh maybe Brian just wants to take a while and enjoy the rest of his life. That's what I'm doing. I'm just enjoying the rest of my life, all that traveling and up and down in the mayor planes, man. I mean, I'll do it, but not like I, you know, like how I used to have to do it.

SPEAKER_02 23:11

Oh, yeah, yep, I I agree. Um, I Dave is also uh mentioning that uh Road Dog is doing a signing in New York too. So I look back at this list that we were going over a minute ago, and it he is listed uh in this uh thing as if he's gonna be appearing at the WWE World. Uh, and if you want a picture with him, it's$47.74. Okay. But uh I I would be surprised if he's actually still gonna be there. I can't imagine that.

SPEAKER_00 23:40

Well, you never know.

SPEAKER_02 23:42

That's true. You never know. Uh let's see. We also have uh here we go. Pee-wee. Hey, Pee-wee. Uh what up, Mac? What up, Teddy?

SPEAKER_00 23:50

What up with you, Pee-wee?

SPEAKER_02 23:52

By the way, if you want to be a part of the program, uh it's really simple. There's been a lot of you asking questions already and popping in. Uh, you just simply leave us a comment in the comment section. Doesn't cost you anything, no super chats, it's absolutely free. Uh, you just get be a part of the show. It's that simple. All right, uh, let's see. We also have a wrestling historian, Teddy, and uh saying, Mr. Long, do you remember why WCW management had Doom drop the tag team titles to the fabulous Freebirds instead of the Steiner brothers? That had me scratching my head. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 24:25

Um, I don't know. I think that was uh DDP, Diamond Dallas Page was involved in that. Uh I think he was mentioning Jimmy Garvin or something. I don't know who it was, but I remember after we lost the titles. I know Dallas, he was the first guy to come out and uh congratulate the winners there. So I don't know who, you know, like I said, they made a lot of decisions back in the day. You know, some of them are right, some of them are wrong. So all you had to do, you know, this is what you want to do, that's safe, no problem. Yep.

SPEAKER_02 24:54

All right, let me go. Uh, some more of these names that they were sent in. Uh, the next name on that list, uh Teddy, is Angelo Pafo.

SPEAKER_00 25:01

I didn't know him. Uh I think that was Macho of them, Daddy, right?

SPEAKER_02 25:05

Yeah, yeah, that was Macho Mandy.

SPEAKER_00 25:07

Yeah, I never did get a chance to meet him. I saw him a couple of times, but never had a chance to speak or nothing. So I didn't I didn't know him.

SPEAKER_02 25:13

All right, here's another one. Superstar Billy Graham.

SPEAKER_00 25:17

I had a chance to talk to him uh at some at one point in time in his life and my life. Uh he was he he was a character man, but you know, nice guy, but like me, he was in his own world.

SPEAKER_02 25:29

Well, you know, he is. Uh Ivan Ivan Kolov.

SPEAKER_00 25:33

Oh, what a sweetheart. Um, I had a chance when I was uh a couple of weeks ago, I was with Deep South uh wrestling there, and uh they had the, you know, they honored uh Ivan Kolov. They had his granddaughter there. And uh I tell everybody, you know, if you just saw Ivan on TV, it's a whole different thing. Backstage, he was just as mild and manner, and he was so respectful, you know, always spoke and had a great, you know, conversation for you and stuff. So he was another guy that I really had a lot of respect for.

SPEAKER_02 26:01

And here's somebody uh who will be at the SICW uh fan fest, the fan fest for this coming up in May, and that's Nikita Kolov, Teddy.

SPEAKER_00 26:11

Um I start with him back in the day, you know what I mean, but I don't know what happened with him. You know, he doesn't really talk to me too much now, so you know, so I don't nothing really I can say anything about him.

SPEAKER_02 26:22

And the last one on this list is Rocky Johnson. Of course, we're talking about the rocks dad.

SPEAKER_00 26:28

Yeah, well, yeah, yeah. He was a good guy, man. Me and him had a chance to. Well, I never did ride with him, but I saw him on at several, you know, house shows and stuff, and we had a chance to talk a lot too. So Rocky was a nice guy, too, man.

SPEAKER_02 26:40

All right, Teddy, you ready for this next question? Here we go. Water bong or joint?

SPEAKER_00 26:47

Neither. Neither.

SPEAKER_02 26:50

Okay, well, I won't, I won't I won't ask anything else. They have to ask the question if you want to know. Money back 101. Hello all, as always, coming from the Bay Area in San Francisco, California.

SPEAKER_00 27:02

Well, player.

SPEAKER_02 27:04

I I like saying that. I don't know why. I always think of the old rice aroundy commercials that used to always say get a year's supply of rice around, the San Francisco treat. And I guess that's okay.

SPEAKER_00 27:13

Okay, you're not on radio.

Hardest People To Work With

SPEAKER_02 27:15

I know, I'm just thinking back in the young days, man. Let's see. Uh Talia on Facebook. Who was the easiest person to work with? And who was the worst?

SPEAKER_00 27:29

Oh, I don't know. There's a lot of guys that were basically easy to work with, and there were a lot of guys that were hard to work with. So it wasn't no just one guy, good, one good guy, one bad guy. I mean, you just a lot of guys that were good, you know, easy to work with. Some days you had trouble working with them, you know, different days, different attitudes.

SPEAKER_02 27:46

But it's probably easier, isn't it, to pick out the one that's like uh was probably the most difficult to work with. That's easier to remember, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00 27:53

Oh, yeah. Well, uh, God rest his soul, but Sid Vicious, he was one that was difficult to work with. When I was managing the skyscrapers, you know, we had had a lot of problems with Sid. Um, you had to bring uh Taker in one time to take his place, you know what I mean? You know, with the to be a part of the team. Um, trying to think of uh God man.

SPEAKER_02 28:16

Huh. Yeah, I don't know. It's like you say, there's so many of them.

SPEAKER_00 28:21

There were so many of them that were hard to work with.

SPEAKER_02 28:24

Was there one guy in particular where all the guys in the back, like, oh man, I jeez, I don't want to work with him.

SPEAKER_00 28:29

Abdullah.

SPEAKER_02 28:30

See, that's the one I always heard about, and it wasn't because he couldn't work or anything else, it's just his work style was something they didn't want to be involved with because you're gonna bleed.

SPEAKER_00 28:40

He was pretty stiff, he'd hurt you.

SPEAKER_02 28:42

Oh, yeah. Well, that's back in the time when people would actually lay stuff in. You know, you wouldn't try to kill anybody, but you would lay it in, and he was stiff now.

SPEAKER_00 28:52

So you knew when you worked with Abby. I used to have guys when I first started when I was a referee, I used to have guys that come to me and present and tell me, hey, I know you're not supposed to tell me this, but am I working with Abby tonight? They'd want to find out, you know, before they got out, and then you couldn't tell them. I'm like, man, I can't, I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 29:09

Yep, yep, because they know they won't show up if they find out they're working Abby.

Road Stories Gear Smell And Ring Mats

SPEAKER_00 29:13

Oh, they'll leave or so screw the show up. Then, well, who told you that? Well, Teddy said I was working with Teddy All right, let's see.

SPEAKER_02 29:20

Uh Curly Man saying, Hey Teddy, are there any episodes of Future Shock on YouTube that we can watch where you where you were working back in the day?

SPEAKER_00 29:31

Oh, I don't know. I couldn't I couldn't really tell you. I don't know. I mean, I started reading uh cop civic center, mayor editor, Georgia. That was the first match I ever had.

SPEAKER_02 29:41

And well, I think he's asking about Future Shock. Wasn't that a uh that was what you were doing with um Oh, Future Shock.

SPEAKER_00 29:47

Oh, he's uh talking about when I was working for James Brown.

SPEAKER_02 29:49

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:50

Yeah, James Brown had a uh dance show and he called it. I don't know whether you can find you might get find it if you go and look up under James Brown. He had a it was a dance, but you have to go under James Brown, it'd probably be under him, but it's called Future Shock. But I never did do nothing on camera there. I was always behind the scenes. I was like the music director. Yep, I selected the music for the people to dance for them to dance by.

SPEAKER_02 30:12

I uh Dave is saying, Did Vader have body odor, like they said?

SPEAKER_00 30:19

Um I don't remember. I I never smelled him.

SPEAKER_02 30:22

I don't think Teddy never really worked up with him, whereas a wrestler with a girl.

SPEAKER_00 30:27

But I rode in the car with him, though. I was in the car with him and Tony Alice uh one time. They rolled with me one time. We were riding, so you know, you know, you if you're gonna smell a guy, you definitely know then if you roll with him.

SPEAKER_02 30:39

I always heard that it was it's more it was his gear, it wasn't him, it was the gear because he wouldn't wash it enough.

SPEAKER_00 30:45

That's what I always bad too. A lot of guys are like that that didn't wash that gear, and once you sweat in that gear and then that sweat dries, that odor deck, you cannot get it out. I don't give a hoot if you washed it 50 times.

SPEAKER_02 30:58

That you it it won't it won't come out, and um that's one thing that I found out in uh independent wrestling. When you and I don't know if it's the same way you tell me, Teddy, in the WWE, but after a while, the mats uh that you work on, if you work a match, I don't care if they've even swept it and you know, vacuum, whatever they had to do to clean it, it still has a certain smell to it, much like clothes that don't get washed because you know that sweat sitting in that mat, and you come out of that ring, you're like, Man, I smell like this damn mat.

SPEAKER_00 31:29

And they only they probably only only wash those things maybe once a week. If then.

Dates Tickets And Hat Giveaway

SPEAKER_02 31:34

Yeah, if then. So, you know, that's that's one of the things that uh you have to get used to kind of smelling, maybe why a lot of guys can't smell bad smells. Uh, let's see. Teddy, that's it. We're out of time here. Uh, anything you want to go over before uh we close out of here? Anything uh you want to repeat about before you're gonna be going?

SPEAKER_00 31:49

I just want to repeat, let everybody know. Uh don't forget Saturday night, March the 14th. That just coming Saturday night, I'll be at the center stage. I'll be a big part of MLW, the Good Brothers, they'll be there and many other MLW superstars. So I'm looking forward to seeing all the players at the center stage on Saturday night. Uh like and like you said, we're sure next week I'll be with James Lworth up there around Maryland for spring fever. It's gotta be Friday, Saturday, Sunday nights in uh Maryland. And on the 28th, I'll be in Lexington, North Carolina at the high school there.

SPEAKER_02 32:23

And of course, uh Superstar Fan Fest uh that we were talking about before, the uh Fan Fest 4 in Fairview Heights, Illinois, taking place at the Radisson Hotel and uh conference center. And you can get those tickets at SicW.org. You'll see on the screen right here all the people that are gonna be there. I think there may even be more people added since uh this uh picture was put up. So uh go make sure you go by and check it out. Sicw.org. All right, anybody you want to uh reach out and say congratulations and give them this beautiful wrestling's uh road trip after hours ball cap. If I can get my yeah, we got it.

SPEAKER_00 33:01

Uh yeah, uh that was a kid there that uh wanted those. So I can't remember the question now, but it was kind of early on. Uh let's get him a hat. What was the kid that asked me? I I got it now. I remember the what the kid that had the um you kept asking me about different people. Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_02 33:20

That's Kevin from the Gmail that uh we got all right, Kevin. Let me get that down. I know I got it because I got your Gmail, so I know I can get your information. Congratulations, Kevin. We uh certainly appreciate you watching and uh participating in the program. Every every week we do this, guys. So if you want a chance to win one of the ball caps, all you have to do is uh you know give us a question that we can uh choose from, and that's what Teddy does at the end of every night. He finds the best one, and that's the winner of a new ball cap. And uh, by the way, uh Teddy and I will have those hats uh when we go to St. Louis. Those hats will be available, so uh get those while they last because there is a limited supply of those caps. All right, Teddy, I'm out of here. Uh anything else you want to talk about before we go? Uh no. I didn't think so. You never do. All right, guys, we're out of here. We'll see you again next week. Uh same time, same place.