What Does A Dream Tryout Cost A Wrestler.

[A wrestling career isn’t just highlights and entrance music, it’s mileage, mistakes, weird bookings, and the kind of lessons you only learn by doing the work. We’re recording on the Friday before WrestleMania, talking Hall of Fame excitement and the legends we grew up on, then we dive straight into the real backbone of the show: a handwritten match journal that tracks towns, opponents, finishes, and pay down to the dollar.

We walk through the 1995 grind across Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, West Virginia, and beyond, including TV tapings, rematches that drew money, and the small details that make you better fast. There’s a great story about learning leapfrogs the hard way, teaming with Bill Dundee and feeling what “Memphis style” really means, plus a run of matches as Doink the Clown that leads to one of the most painful reminders of ring geography you’ll ever hear. Along the way we talk indie wrestling reality: one-off enhancement talent, cards that look unreal on paper, and nights where you don’t get paid at all.

Then the road finally points toward WCW: the tryout, getting accepted, and a blunt, personal take on why the Power Plant could be miserable for young talent. We also share early WCW TV experiences, including a quick on-camera beatdown and what it’s like to work around bigger names while staying composed and ready. If you’re into pro wrestling history, wrestling travel stories, and what it truly takes to “make towns,” this one delivers.

Subscribe for more real match-by-match storytelling, share this with a wrestling fan who loves the territory days, and leave a review with the part of the journey you want us to cover next.]

Transcript

WrestleMania Weekend And Hall Of Fame

SPEAKER_00 0:01

I am your champion. Oh man, that's classic. I love it. I'm gonna climb that ladder of success all the way to the top. It's a great day for wrestling. I'm excited this weekend as we are taping. It is Friday before WrestleMania 42. So a lot going on this weekend. Very excited to see the Hall of Fame tonight. I just saw Bill Eady acts of demolition at one at the event in Canova. He looked great. He was very excited to be going in the Hall of Fame. Just a great, great guy, stellar guy. What a great class this year that they've got Stephanie McMahon, Demolition, Sid Bishops, Bad News Brown, and many, many others. And I'm looking very forward to seeing the Hall of Fame as I do every year because I love the legends, the guys that I grew up on.

Sponsor Spotlight Dubby Energy Drink

SPEAKER_00 1:25

Before we get started, today's show is brought to you by W Energy Drinks. Use the promo code YOURCHAPING at checkout to get a 10% off on all W W Energy drinks. I was telling you guys about this last week. It's a godsend. It is, you know, the flavors are tremendous. It's not jittery at all. And it just helps with that two o'clock deal where you just taper off after lunch and you get your lunch settled on your stomach, and you still got half a shift to go. This dubby energy drink is just perfect to get you through the hump right there. It has clean, smooth energy for sharper mental focus, no added sugars, unique flavors, and is built for anyone, ready to mix anywhere, anytime, with about 150 milligrams of caffeine per serving, and is shipped worldwide with flavors like cherry lime or retro rainbow sherbet, sour gummy bears, sweet and sour blue raspberry, Japanese yuzu, Japanese soda, s'moors, lunar strawberry margarita, push and punch, beach and peach, and many, many more. I'm hearing some good things about the s'moors and the sour gummy bears, sound pretty good to me. But it is zero sugar, zero artificial colors and flavors, no secret formulas, no hidden ingredients, and it's gluten-free. And it equals out to about a dollar per drink. You just get it out of the can, you mix it up with some water, and you shake it up and you're good to go. And it is made in the USA, so you cannot beat that at all. Just good, solid quality product right there. I love it, and I'm so glad that they're sponsoring the show today.

YouTube Growth And Lost Footage

SPEAKER_00 3:22

I also want to tell you guys thank you again so much for growing the YouTube channel. You guys in the past three days have just it's grown exponentially, and I'm just so excited to have the YouTube channel doing as well as it is. I'm loving having all the videos up there, all the comments are great. For the most part, most people like it. There's a couple of haters out there, as always, who don't like the fact that we're posting good content, so they gotta hate a little bit, but but we're for the most part doing great, and we we will continue to upload videos and post those on the social medias. It is at I Am Your Champion exclamation point on YouTube. And if you guys have not gone out and subscribed, please, please go over there and subscribe to it at I Am Your Champion exclamation point on YouTube.com because it might not mean much to you to subscribe. And if you don't want to hit the the bell for the notifications, I understand that, but you can and you'll get updated on every video we put up daily. And uh just it it just just tremendous. We're putting up we put up the WFS Frenzy, and uh yeah, if you'll just give me a subscribe, I would greatly, greatly appreciate it. It would mean the world to me. We put up WFS Frenzy, we put up all the episodes of AWA Apex, which has never been released before other than on a streaming channel, and we put up Great American Wrestling, the six episodes that I was involved with with Chris Lash, and no one anywhere has ever seen this footage. What had happened was that this guy, this radio guy, he owned a couple of radio stations, wanted to come to Knoxville and run some TVs. Well, he was completely clueless. Now the TVs are good. He had me come in and do the production and do the booking for it, and that we did six weeks of TV before he lost his mind and ultimately got sick and disappeared and just lost his mind because of pro wrestling. But we have the six episodes of Great American Wrestling, and they are up and there, and like I said, they've never been released anywhere. At I Am Your Champion exclamation point on youtube.com is the only place you can see great American wrestling. The six episodes there. So we put up quite a lot of of uh content this past week between episodes, between last week's podcast and this week. I think we put up about 40 episodes product on there, and just couldn't be more happy about it, just very ecstatic about it. But all right, let's get to it. This

1995 Match Log In Arkansas

SPEAKER_00 6:19

is Making the Towns. What it I spent over 30-some years in professional wrestling, and I have kept a journal the whole way about the money, the miles, the bumps, the paydays, the competitors, everything, and we are going through it. This is episode eight, and we are back at 9235, Christian Debereau versus Rick Burton in Paragold, Arkansas. I won that match and made $40. Seven days later, we were back in paragold. These must have been the TVs for uh Burt Prentice's Ozark Mountain Wrestling. We're probably taped in paragold. But on 9 30 95, Christian Debereau wrestled Bull Pain, and I won by count out and made 40 bucks. And this is the match that I was talking about last week with the leapfrog spots. I'd missed a leapfrog, and he caught a leapfrog in every single spot, caught about 20 of them so that I could learn how to do a leapfrog, and boy, by the end of it, I could. On October 2nd, 95, my birthday, I was in Truman, Arkansas, Christian Devereaux against the Giant Warrior, and I lost that match, made 40 bucks. And the giant warrior is a great guy. His name is Neil. He is on Facebook, but I really like this cat, man. He he's very intelligent, he's a good dude, he's been around forever. He does some motivational speaking now, and I just enjoy listening to him, and I enjoyed working with him. Big guy, very, very big guy, a legit giant, and over seven foot tall and just big as can be, but was agile, very agile, and we had great, great matches. On the next day in October 3rd, 95, I was in Pocahontas, Arkansas, and joint the clown wrestle bull pain and lost for $40. On 1022.95, I was in Morgantown, West Virginia, and Christian Debereaux against Bobby Blaze. And I skipped the page there. Let's back up. Let's back up to 10 595. I'm sorry, folks. My pages got stuck together. I was in West Memphis, Arkansas, Christian Debereaux versus Bull Pain, won by DQ, made 40 bucks. Then I was on the 6th of October, I was in Marmaduke, Arkansas. Christian Debreau versus Bull Pain. Lost made 40 bucks. And then on 101295, I was in West Memphis, Arkansas, again doing TV, wrestling bull pain, lost and made 40 bucks. Also

Learning Spots And Teaming Bill Dundee

SPEAKER_00 9:20

on that TV, we did Christian Deborah. I teamed with Bill Dundee against Bull Payne and Terry Golden and Loss. So we had started a program. I had moved on from Buckhouse Buck in Ozark Mountain Wrestling and moved on to working with Bull Payne. And I think the highlight of this whole deal was working with Bill Dundee. I really liked working with Bill Dundee. I felt Bill liked me. We made a great team and just enjoyed learning from a new guy, a new aspect of the business from that classic Memphis style and going out there and working slow, but working everything means more. Now on October 22nd, 95, in Morgantown, West Virginia, caught back up. Christian Debereaux versus Bobby Blaze. I lost and made 90 bucks and was in a Battle Royale and that was won by Bobby Blaze. So I decided to take the Christian Debereo deal and take it on the road and move it up to West Virginia because that seemed to be what was getting me over more than Brian Logan at the time. On 1028. Me and D Lo had had such a great match. And they wanted to bring it back as they do because it drew the first time they wanted to do the rematch. I think D Lo won the first, and then I won the second one. And it was just an all-out affair of uh, you know, doing everybody we did the doink spots, like I had said before, and then we did the D Lo Brown spots, and then we ended up having false finishes and going into the finish and just hitting everything we knew. And it was just a really good battle. And the crowd in Ashland was so, so good that you know they were always, always up for matches there, no matter who was in them. They always supported my character. Just a hot crowd there. On November 4th, 1995, I go into Columbia, Columbus, Mississippi, as Christian Devereaux with Carter Biffle versus Sam and Bubba, and won $45. Now that's some names there. Carter Biffle, I have no idea who Carter Biffle is, and I don't know who Sam and Bubba are. I would assume that these are all enhancement talent guys from Burt's TV, guys that he just stuck in a match, featured me doing some moves and let them work the match a little bit. But some very rural, rural names there. On 11795, I was in Johnson City, Tennessee. Doink the Clown again versus 8 Ball

8 Ball Jones And Training Stories

SPEAKER_00 12:25

Jones. Won that match, made 50 bucks. And I love 8 Ball Jones. I haven't seen him in decades, but I absolutely love this guy. This when we had open tryouts for Tim's school after he had left Smoky Mountain, and we had talked about a couple of the guys in the Nighthawks, and they were part of this tryout. And 8 Ball comes in, a black guy from Michigan, a little bit older, but still young, in his 30s, and uh was an amateur wrestler. I want to say he was military, but I'm not sure. I'm not 100% sure. Don't quote me on that. So but I but he was I want to say military. And he got in the ring, and we started amateur wrestling and shooting a little bit, and I ended up stretching him, and he got out of the ring and got sick and puked everywhere. Come to find out he had ate a couple of cheeseburgers before he got into the ring, and with all the shooting and the jostling and the rolling around, it just made him sick, and and we had a great friendship from that moment on, and I always kidding him about me blowing him up, stretching him, and making him puke. But we trained at the school. A lot of times Tim wasn't coming to the school, I was teaching the class, and it would be just me and eight-ball. So a lot of me learning in-ring stuff on the fly, learning new stuff, not in front of an audience, just training in a ring, was done with 8-ball Jones. And he hung right there with me and took all the moves and was one of the toughest son of a guns I've ever met in my life. He could take a pounding and nothing would hurt this cat. But I love him dearly. If anybody out there knows eight ball Jones and knows this contact, see, I don't even know his real name. I just know his working name, Eight Ball Jones. I think he was living in Knoxville and he was driving a truck for the Coke Company, the chicken company, years and years and decades ago. So I don't even know what he's doing. He's probably retired by now or moved on. But if anybody knows him and can send me a way to get a hold of him, I would love to talk to him. And if you do know him, tell him that I said hello, and I love him and I want to talk to him. So if you know this guy, pass it on. But as 11, 7, November 7th, 1995, I had had 185 matches to date at that point. So a little over a year, almost two years, I'd almost had 200 matches. Which was very good. And it was all over the place. On December 1st, 1995, I go to Columbus, Mississippi, Christian Devereaux and Carter Biffle again. Apparently, we were a hot tag team, versus Bad Boy Billy and the Terminator. And we won that match and made 40 bucks. Again, I don't know who Bad Boy Billy is unless it's Billy Black. I don't know if that's him or not. Or the Terminator. I don't think that's the real Terminator that was Road Warrior Animal's brother. I think this is just some guy that was doing the gimmick. But uh apparently me and Carter Biffle were a very popular team, the two of us. The next day on December 2nd, 1995, we go to South Paul Tucket, Mississippi. Christian Deboreau and Biffle versus Bad Boy Billy and Tom Gennetti. We won that match, made 40 bucks. Assume Tom Gennetti took the pin in that. And I don't know who Tom Tom Gennetti is. I'm sure he has no relation to Marty Gennetti. But back then, but uh Bert would get these guys and just use them for TV somewhere in Arkansas or Memphis, underneath guys, they'd come in. We'd wrestle a match with them, they wouldn't be on the house shows and we wouldn't see them again. So you might see these guys meet them and know them for, you know, 10-15 minutes in the ring, and that's that's about it. But when I go to shows now, I get a lot of, hey, do you remember me? And I'm always polite and I always, you know, no, I'm sorry, I don't have a very good memory, and then they proceed to tell me. But a lot of times guys will be like they know me because they were with me in, say, an Arkansas or a Mississippi or somewhere like that, and they just start talking like they know me and we're buddies, and I don't and we were, but I have no clue who they are. And I I like it when people remind me of where they know me. I don't want to be rude with my autism. I don't wanna, you know, it's hard to begin with. And so when these guys come up, and if I don't know you, please, please forgive me for not remembering because there's so many guys over so many years. But if you remind me, generally I remember who you are, and and it works out. And I'm glad to see you, even if I don't remember you. I'm glad to see you and talk about the old days with everybody. On 127, 1995, I was in Alcoa, Tennessee. Christian Devereaux versus Chris Powers, double DQ and made $25. Chris Powers was a guy that worked for Smoky Mountain. His son works now. They still are working in Knoxville. Two great guys. And Chris Powers was an incredible worker, just a nice guy. We did have a, if you are familiar with the Caleb Miracle incident, which we will get into way, way down the line. But basically there was this kid, Caleb Miracle, that I had to work in Knoxville, and he kind of ran his mouth, and he me and him ended up getting into a shoot. Well, the locker room worked itself up into a frenzy, and Chris Powers and his son ended up coming to the ring to tr to with intentions to shoot on me. And they couldn't remember who I was. And I was like, Well, get in the ring. Come on, if y'all want to shoot, let's shoot. And about the time they went to get in the ring, it hit them who I was, and remembered that we've known each other for 25 years, and they were like, Well, we're not gonna do this, and they they decided that it wasn't worth it, and that they weren't gonna shoot, and it was no point in fighting whatsoever at all over this. And so that was the last time I saw Chris Powers and his son, but two great guys, nice guys, we talked after that happened that night, and we laughed about it, and of course the Caleb Miracle thing, we'll get into details of that down the line, and I'll tell that story one day, but that is not for today, a little foreshadowing for everybody. But

Street Festival Shoot Fight Chaos

SPEAKER_00 20:11

all right, on 1295, Morristown, Tennessee, there was Tim Horner had the idea to do street festival wrestling. And he got that guy that was with the no arms to put up the money for it. What it was was pro-wrestling shoe fighting. It was MMA style, but in a pro wrestling ring. And I had said that it's not gonna work because somebody's gonna turn this into a work instead of it being a shoot, or somebody's gonna get hurt. It's it's kind of like a brawl for all without gloves. And uh so I entered in it, and everybody was wearing sweats or boxing material, no, no gloves. But I wore my tights, my boots, my ring jacket, I had ring music, everything. The whole the whole shit and shebang for everything. So I come out and I win my first two bouts, end up I got lucky. I'm not gonna sit here and say I'm a big shooter or big tough guy, but I got lucky and I ended up getting a tap out on two guys using a front sugar that Tim had taught me. And uh, and I write about this in worker last of a dying breed in deep, deep detail. But so he comes to the semifinal match, and the guy I'm wrestling is a guy from my gym, and he is just cock diesel. And he literally took one of the Nighthawk kids and speared him basically, tackled him through the ropes to the floor and hurt him. And I was like, There's no way I'm getting in there with this guy and and get risking getting hurt and not Not wrestling, you know, in my profession. So I refused to lock up with the guy. I was gonna every time he'd go to lock up with me, I'd back up and go to the ropes. This happens four or five times. And eight ball Jones was the referee. And he comes up to me and he says, What do you want to do? I said, Well, just disqualify me because I won't compete. And that's what he does. And it starts a riot. Everybody at ringside started fighting everybody at ringside. Tim comes down there and they're throwing punches. This guy ducks, ends up hitting Tim in the mouth. He busts his lip wide open, gets a mush mouth, and a melee ensues. And then finally it gets calmed down. And basically, they thought the whole thing was a shoot till they saw me, and then they realized that it was a work on my part at least, was the rest of it a work. And the crowd was was livid it, livid. But uh, I took fourth place by disqualification and I won a trophy for that. And I wish I still had the trophy, but I I don't. And I'd love to show that trophy, but it's it in my many moves I have lost it over the years. But it was fun, and you know, Tim never ran a street festival shoot fight ever again. So that was that was very, very eventful and very fun. On January 5th, 1996, I go to Carreville, Tennessee, Doink the Clown versus 8 Ball Jones, and I won for 50 bucks. On the 6th of 96, January 6, 96, I go to Knoxville, Tennessee, and Doink the Clown versus 8 Ball Jones, and I won that one as well. And then also on that show, I wrestled as Brian Logan with Tony Pritchard versus the Memphis Mafia, and I won and made 50 bucks. So I worked twice, made 50 bucks. But I don't know who Tony Pritchard was, no kin to Dr. Tom or Bruce, and it doesn't denote here in the who the Memphis Mafia was. So that could have literally been anybody. On December 13th, 1996, we're in Morristown, Tennessee, Doink the Clown versus 8 Ball Jones, and I lost that match and made 50 bucks, and I broke my hip bone, I fractured my ass. I went and took a clothesline over the top rope and took the bump to the floor, and the railing was closer than I had judged, and I landed left side ass right on the barrier. And there's a small, very small fracture, hairline fracture on my on my buttocks, my hip that's been there ever since December 13th of 96th. And it was it was very, very painful that that that happened. And you know, what can you say? But me and eight ball, we worked great matches. It was one of those freak things that you couldn't, you know, you just couldn't avoid it. Who knew the railing was there? But I always checked after that to make sure that I didn't fracture my ass again. On March 1st, 2nd, and 3rd of 1996, I ended up going to the Arnold Classic in Columbus, Ohio, and ended up going up there, getting some supplements, meeting some bodybuilders, met Lou Ferrigno, met Gregory Hines, and that's just in the book as an extra. It didn't count it as a match or nothing, didn't work, but went up there and got to see the Arnold Classic and hang out with some bodybuilders. And I was getting in pretty good shape at that point, been in the gym, been on the gas. I'm not gonna hide that. I was on steroids and using steroids at the time and supplements and everything, and just really working out and into getting looking the best that uh I could. On March 15th, 1996, I went to Augusta, Georgia, and Doink the Clown worked Tony Carr and one, and then also on that car, Kendo the Samurai wrestled Ron Standard, and I lost that match, and I made 90 bucks for both of those. So

WCW Tryout And Power Plant Rant

SPEAKER_00 26:54

at that point, I'd had 199 matches, so my 200th match was 320 and 323 of 96, and I go to Atlanta, Georgia, and I get an official WCW tryout, and I made it and I got accepted into the power plant. So that was pretty cool that I'd had right at 200 matches, and the power plant wanted me to come to WCW. Now, little did I know that working in WCW would be the worst decision and most miserable I've ever been. I I absolutely hated the power plant. To this day, I only got heat with one guy in the business, and that's Sergeant Buddy Lee Parker. I think he's a piece of shit bully. I don't want to mince words about it because that's exactly what he is. He's a jobber that never made it anywhere and has an attitude and takes it out on people. A friend of mine named Brian Overstreet was down there, and he was working out in the power plant, and they made him do squats until his knee liquefied completely, and he couldn't could barely walk. To this day, he doesn't walk very well, and they just took advantage of it, and Sarge would just browbeat you, and it was more about how you could do calisthenics instead of working. They wanted to run you off. So the office would sign you to a contract, and then they just they would the power plant guys would try to get rid of you. Also, when you finally got to working, because see you would do calisthenics from eight, nine o'clock in the morning till lunch, and then if you come back from lunch, you got to work in the ring, but of course you're you're exhausted, you can't do anything. Most people wouldn't come back or they'd go home. And if you got to work in the ring, then Mike Winters would come over, who's a nice guy, but not the greatest wrestler in the history of the business, tell you how to do things one way. Then Pez Watley, who is one of the best to ever put on a pair of boots, would say, Don't listen to him. Do it this way, this is the right way. So you start doing it that way, and then Buddy Lee Parker would come over and yell at you and browbeat you and put you down and tell you you're a piece of shit and that you didn't know what you were doing and to do things his way. And it was just a complete cluster fuck mess, is what it was. And it was all because Jody Hamilton is a fat piece of shit, and it's all about Buddy Lee Parker being a bully. No. Sorry for my rant, forgive me for my rant, but I just I don't like those guys. They have nothing to do with the business. They're c you know, people walk around and say Sarge is a great guy. Sarge is not a great guy. Sarge is a bad human being. And if I can educate people on that, that Sarge is not a good guy. You know, I was in the power plant with guys like Ron Reese and Kidman, the cat. I was down there with High Voltage, with Del Torberg and Lodi and those guys. And, you know, that whole crop of guys are not known for their technical ability. Now there's some great characters in there and some great guys, but they're not known for all of that. Being, you know, technical wizards or masters. So, you know, my experience in WCW wasn't very good, and more on that as we go. On 323 96, we go to Oxford, Mississippi. Christian Debereau and Carter Biffle versus Bubba and Sammy. And we won, and it was 40 bucks. Again, these one names, Bubba and Sammy. Can you imagine the introduction for this? In this corner, Carter Biffle and Christian Debereau and their opponents. Bubba and Sammy. I mean, come on, man. That is some weird outlaw mud show stuff right there, but we we got through it and Oxford, Mississippi loved it. On 4-496, I was back in Augusta, Georgia, and Doink the Clown wrestled their version of the Night Stalker, and I won. And then I wrestled in a tag team match as Christian Devereaux, and I don't know who my partner or my opponents was because I net I'd met them that night, didn't really talk to them that much, had the match. We won. I made 90 bucks and we moved on. And I just really wasn't sure, you know, who they were. So it's not really denoted in there that it was one of those one and done scenarios. On 72696, we're in Columbus, Georgia for the NWF. Back as Brian Logan with Anthony Michaels versus Kodiak and the Cowboy, and we won. And then also that night I wrestled as myself on TV against David Lynch and won and made 60 bucks. Now, it is the same David Lynch from West Virginia. So I had gone all the way to Columbus, Georgia to meet one of my good friends. He's no longer with us in the business. And I think he's passed on. I'm not sure. So if I'm saying he's passed and he's alive, I apologize. It's just hard keeping up with these guys over the years. And it's just, you know, it's just one of those one of those things, man. But I always he did a like a dog gimmick with fur on his boots and fur on his tights. And and I just I really liked working with David and I liked him as a person. And uh that was the first night I met him there in Columbus, Georgia. On 7276 in Columbus, Georgia again for the NWF again, and I wrestled as Logan versus Vic Rose, and I won. Also, I wrestled as Brian Logan versus Bo Leduc. I won that match and made 60 bucks. And uh I always enjoyed the Columbus, Georgia area, the Augusta area. I know that's two different sides there, Savannah, all those areas. When I would get out, it was like a vacation. When I would get out and go down to South Georgia because it felt like I was so far away from everybody that nobody, you know, nobody knew where I was. I was doing my thing. After the show, I could do whatever I wanted to do. And I just enjoyed being down there in those areas.

No Pay Bookings And David Young

SPEAKER_00 34:18

On 8196, Bobby Blaze goes to Huntington, West Virginia and runs the famous Red Dog Saloon. We have run that saloon for a long time. And I think this was the first time that it had been run. Cornette ended up running there as part of OBW. I've ran shows there. Bo James, I think, has run shows there. But the local radio station was inside the had a had a little room inside the saloon. So when you booked it, you got automatic radio coverage. And that night I wrestled Bo James and I lost, and I did not get paid. For whatever reason, I have no idea, but I did not, I didn't get paid at all. So I made nothing. But I had a great match with Bo, and the wild dog or red dog saloon was always, you know, a good crowd to wrestle in front of. And this was the first TV taping, and I wrestled as Brian Logan versus Poison Ivy, and I won. If you notice a pattern, I end up wrestling in these pilot TV shows, and I get a push, and then they don't get picked up. Now I wonder I wonder if that's a coincidence that I don't get picked that the show doesn't get picked up and I'm on the show. Some people might get, you know, paranoid. But I think what ends up happening is TV costs are just too expensive, and they try to go in there and they can't find the sponsorship and and they can't air the TV as long as they want. But but Manny and Buck Robley came in. They had a profit share idea that I had never heard, but they were going to you would buy into the company and get points into the company and it would give you guaranteed money back at all the house shows. Now the problem with this was is there weren't any house shows. They tried to get house shows, but they couldn't because you had to run the TV. So they were trying to sort of work the boys. I thought the incentive was there. I thought that it would work if it would have got going. Of course, I bought in. It was just a few hundred bucks to get in, and it was guaranteed to make $1,700 the first month, so I was gonna make quite a profit back. And but it just didn't it just didn't work. And but I like Colonel Buck Robley and I love Manny. Wrestling Manny was was a night off, and he's so intense, and we have so much fun together working each other. It's just incredible. But also that night on 8296, I wrestled David Young from TNA, which this was way before the TNA days, and I just love David Young. Also, I didn't make any money for this TV taping at all. So this is two shows in a row that I didn't make any money whatsoever. But David Young is one of the funniest genuine guys that I've ever come across. I literally crack up when we work each other or are in a tag, especially when we're in a tag. Because the running commentary between the two of us while we're doing spots is so freaking funny. It is just hilarious. He just makes me laugh. One night, and we'll get into this later. I was me and him were wrestling, Bob Armstrong and one of the one of the boys, and he got blown up. Bob Armstrong blew him up, and he's dying, and he's screaming out, please tag me. I can't breathe. And I looked at him, I said, I dare you to get blown up on an old school match. What is going on with you? You all are literally sitting in a hold and you're dying. But it was the heat. It was the heat of the night. I think it was down in South Georgia or Mississippi or somewhere like that. We'll when we get to it, we'll I'll retell the story better. But uh yeah, David Young, I love you, buddy. I don't know if you listen to the podcast, but if you do, shout out to you. I talk to him on the socials all the time, and just one of the best workers of all time, without a doubt, one of the best professional wrestlers to ever put a pair of boots on or kick pads or whatever he wears, and just tremendously talented and just a good, good person. And if you get a chance to meet David Young and you become friends with him, I highly, highly recommend that you become friends with David Young. Your life will be better for it. All right. On 9796, we were are in Ashland, Kentucky again. Probably for yes, this is another Bobby Blaze show. Brian Logan versus Tommy Gibson, and I won. The legendary Tommy Gibson. Also, I wrestled Sean Casey in the main event, and I lost and made $25. But at least it was something. Because, like I said, I had those two shows that I didn't get paid. Now, both Tommy Gibson and Sean are Sean Casey are local legends. They wrestled Tommy wrestled and made his fame in West Virginia, in the western part of West Virginia, down in Man and Mingo County and Huntington and Charleston, and he's been around forever. Good dude. Just a real good dude, just fun to be around. And Sean Casey, my buddy, I've known him since Smoky Mountain Wrestling. He is so full of it. And I love him to death. He is he's a pimp. He's a pimp. That's all I can say, man, is pimping ain't easy, and he knows it, man. But yeah, so on 101896, I go to Monroe, Georgia, and I wrestle as Brian Logan versus Chip Minton, and lost that match and made 50 bucks. Chip Minton, if you remember, was a WCW guy. He was an Olympic bobsledder, big guy, huge guy. Reminded me a lot of Ron Waterman, but just jacked. Wasn't that great as a wrestler. He was pretty good though. I'm not gonna say he's terrible or the shits or anything. He had limited mobility due to the size of his muscles, but he had the knowledge and he he had the ability of an athlete. So we had a very good match there. Very, very, very good match.

WCW TV Debut And Benoit Reflection

SPEAKER_00 41:28

But right after that, I mean on November 5th, 96, I'm in Gainesville, Georgia for my first WCW TV taping. And this is such an interesting story. I made $150 and I was in this segment where Sullivan and Chris Benoit were having a locker room fight. And I'm supposed to run down the steps and turn the corner and go to break up the fight. And Chris is going to cut me off and beat me down. And then I end up doing that. That's exactly what we do. And I come running down the steps thinking I'm gonna turn that corner. And as soon as I hit the bottom of them steps, I'm greeted with a crispenoir punch that just takes me down and out. If you watch the clip, you see big blonde hair come through, take a get hit, take a bump, and fall out of camera range. And that was me, and that was my WCW TV debut. That I had ran down and got my ass kicked. But it was a cool moment, it was a big part of their feud. It was cool to work with Chris Benoit. Now, let me talk a little bit about Chris, which does not make me happy. I don't talk about Chris Benoit very much because I think what he did was terrible, abhorrent. And I just, it hurts me. I cried so bad when I found out the news. And he is a murderer. Let me get that straight. He's a murderer. But that's not the Chris I knew. The Chris I knew would give you his jacket off his back. We were at Pleasure Island down there at MGM Studios one night, waiting to get in the back door of this club, because they were letting all the WCW guys in the back door of the club. And this guy came up, just some random guy. And we Chris was wearing a black leather jacket, nice trench coat, leather trench coat, and the guy said, Hey man, I like that jacket, and Chris took it off and gave it to the guy and made him take it. Just like that. And I was so amazed at the kindness and that it wasn't nothing to him. And and it wasn't a cheap jacket at all. But I just I I can't I can't justify, I can't reconcile, I can't think about it. The whole Chris Finn Ma situation just tears my heart to pieces. I've known Nancy since before I got into the wrestling business, and I saw Daniel as a kid, and I just it's just it's a tragedy. So I just wanted to touch base so people didn't think that I was glorifying a murderer. I'm not glorifying a murderer, I'm just telling the story, and that's just just the way it is.

WCW Matches Against Bigger Names

SPEAKER_00 44:35

So on 111396, I'm in Orlando, Florida for WCW at MGM, and I wrestle Conan. I made 150 bucks. It was for the IWA World Championship. And Jimmy Hart managed Conan. And it was really, really cool. And we had a very great, good match, very competitive. It was like a he treated it like a title match, like I was gonna win. I lost that match, and but I was a contender for the belt trying to win it. On the 14th of November 14th of 1996, I'm in Orlando again for WCW, and I wrestled Michael Wall Street, who at that point is part of the NWO. Again, I made 150 bucks. And we had a very good match, and it was great to wrestle one of my heroes. It's funny, I missed a headlock. We did all this stuff in these spots, and I missed the headlock, and he he had to call the headlock, and I grabbed it. So no harm, no foul. Nothing was done. It literally took a second off, but I was like, I can't believe I forgot to grab the hold again. But that that happened, but I'm proud of that match. On 1115 96, I wrestled twice for WCW, made 150 bucks in Orlando, Florida. I wrestled as Brian Logan versus Disco Inferno. And we had a competitive match there. That was for the TV title. Well, it wasn't a TV title match, but Disco was the TV champion. Also that night I wrestled Bobby Eaton for the first time. And got to get in there with Bobby, and I love Bobby to death. And it's just it was so great to wrestle him, one of my ultimate heroes in wrestling. And it was just really, really, really cool to get in there with him. And the thing is with Bobby, is he said, when I tell you to take over, just get the heat on me and do whatever you want to do. But the moment you let up, I'm taking back the match and I'm gonna beat you. I said, Okay. We locked up and he said, Okay, take over. As soon as we locked up, and I just commenced to pounding on him and giving him bumps and trying to beat him and doing all these things and being really aggressive. And eventually he makes a comeback and he hits me with the neck breaker in the Alabama jam, and we're out of there, man. So that's that's a really good start to doing jobs in WCW and getting there, not really knowing what was to come with WCW, but definitely, definitely worth it, and it was like a different at that point a different level of competition for myself. And it was just it was starting off going to WCW. Well,

Social Plugs Merch And Sponsor Close]

SPEAKER_00 47:48

guys, we're coming up to the end of our deal here. Let me we're almost to the town. Be sure to follow me on Facebook at making the towns, also on Instagram, Brian Logan Making the Towns. I am your champion. Exclamation point on YouTube. Subscribe and hit the bell. And again, I would really appreciate all the subscriptions we can get there. That way we can do some live stuff at some of these events that I'm going to be going to and let you guys see in real time what I'm experiencing. I am your champion on TikTok and Three Crows Entertainment at LoganYourChamp on X. All social links are on IamYourChampion.com. So if if you need a, you know, you don't really want to write these down and keep up with all these episodes or handles and all this stuff, all you have to do is go to IamYourChampion.com. It's a one-stop shop for everything, Brian Logan. We got some really cool things that we're in negotiations with that I think the fans are going to really like, merchandise-wise, some consumer products that are going to be really off the hook if we if we get the deal. And I can't wait to be able to tell everybody about that. But we're in the beginning stages of some of this stuff. But also, if you will check out the store there, I would greatly appreciate it. We have plushies available, slam buddies. We have the congregation book. Also, t-shirts, $10. $10 for shirts. You cannot beat that. That is great price for shirts. Also, we have ring used memorabilia. And I have the Damien boots and the butcher that was on SmackDown and Wrestle John Cena and Brock Lesnar and Randy Orton and many, many others available for sale. The final Smoky Mountain Wrestling office jacket is available for purchase on there. One of a kind items. Both of those, the boots and the trunks or the butcher top and the jacket. One of a kind, just really good, cool finds if you're into ring use memorabilia. Also, some championship belts that we've used in the ring, including my World Heavyweight Championship, the Evolution Championship, and the WFS Championship. And we want to thank our sponsor again, Dubby, for this episode. No secret formulas, no hidden ingredients, gluten-free, made in the USA, gives you clarity, smooth energy, clean energy, sharper mental health, no added sugar, unique flavors. It is built for anyone. It equals out to about a dollar a drink compared to other sports drinks. And they ship worldwide about 150 milligrams of caffeine per serving. They have cherry limer, retro rainbow sherbet, sour gummy bear, sweet and sour blue raspberry, Japanese Yuzu, Japanese soda, someores, lunar strawberry margarita, push and punch, beach and peach, and much, much more. They've got some really cool anime themed products that are going to be, they're only on sale till August, and they're going to be discontinued. The licensing with the anime runs out. So the anime themed powder drinks and bottle shakers and everything is up now for a limited time. Please use promo code YOURCHAMPIN at checkout where 10% you can find all this at W.gg. They have really cool um memorabilia too, hats and shaker bottles and all this stuff. And uh just a really great company, and we're thankful. Again, that's W.g. And thank you again for sponsoring the show, W Energy Drinks, your champion at checkout for 10% off. Again, we're always on the Pirate Flag Radio on the Radio Kings app. This is Brian Logan coming from Morristown, Tennessee at the Three Crows Entertainment Studio. And remember, I am your champion. I am your champion. Oh man, that's classic. I love it. I'm gonna climb that ladder of success all the way to the top.