From Canada To Arkansas On The Wrestling Grind

The wrestling road can turn on one sentence: “Pal, the money’s not there tonight.” That’s where Brian Logan takes us, from a pre 9/11 hop into Canada to an Arkansas armory where a promoter’s “missing payday” feels less like bad luck and more like a loyalty test. Dallas digs into what that moment means in the territory era, how you answer it without losing your spot, and why being reliable can quietly make you the workhorse behind the top act. 

From there we bounce through the lived-in details that only show up when you’ve actually done the miles: Canadian hockey arenas with floors over ice, crowds that give you polite heat, and the real headache of managing money when you’re dealing with currency exchange instead of instant transfers. We also hit the fun stuff and the absurd stuff, including first impressions at the border, the Headbangers before the world really knew them, and why some “classic” gimmicks like the endless generic Russian still feel stuck in time. 

The heart of the talk is craft. Brian breaks down a surreal win over Rick Rogers when there’s no clear finish to hold onto, why staying calm matters, and what Brickhouse Brown taught him about slowing down, taking the extra beat, and making the crowd part of the moment. We even zoom out to the night WCW Monday Nitro changed the air, why that felt like more work for everyone, and how legends like the Sportatorium can be a dump and still feel sacred. 

If you love pro wrestling stories, match psychology, and the truth about indie wrestling life, subscribe, share this with a friend who misses the territory days, and leave us a review with the road moment you want us to talk about next.

Transcript

Cold Open And Show Format

SPEAKER_03 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. Dallas, how are you today?

SPEAKER_01 0:44

I'm doing great. I feel like it's been so long since we last spoke.

SPEAKER_03 0:48

It really has been. It's been about seven days, hasn't it?

SPEAKER_01 0:54

A little peek behind the curtain. We're trying to get the ride home caught up to making the town. So we're doing we're doing a two-for-one taping day.

SPEAKER_03 1:03

Yeah, so we're taping back to back. So we literally just did the last episode, and now we're doing the next episode.

SPEAKER_01 1:10

So yeah, episode seven, Canada to Arkansas.

SPEAKER_03 1:13

Oh, the big trip, the big trip. And I have no greetings. So greetings and salutations to everyone.

SPEAKER_01 1:19

Yeah, we haven't quite had time if you listen to the last episode of The Ride Home. We need, you know, the Brian has such a great closing line with I'm your champion, with sort of the the centerpiece of the whole brand now. And uh we need we need a greeting. You know, he tried a great day for wrestling, and I kind of put the kibosh on that, and he agreed. It just didn't work, right?

SPEAKER_03 1:42

Yeah, it didn't work, didn't it?

SPEAKER_01 1:44

So so uh we'll we'll we'll we'll give you all the socials at the end, but we definitely are in need of a greeting for Brian, something to something catchy to start the show off with. So um the more ridiculous the better, as far as your ideas.

SPEAKER_03 1:59

Absolutely. So if you are listening for the first time, we have a podcast called Making the Towns, where I've kept a journal for 30 plus years of all the wrestling matches, the money, the miles, the bumps, and everything in uh that ensues from that. And I tell the stories, and we're going through that journal one match at a time. And that's kind of like going to the town, going to uh the wrestling show. Well, always on the way back home from the wrestling show, you get together and you rebook the town, and this is a QA format here on the ride home where Dallas will ask me questions to expand on making the town stuff that wasn't clear or stuff that is just inquisitive to people. So without further ado, I'm gonna turn this over to Dallas and uh we'll get started.

SPEAKER_01 2:49

Yeah, so you know, we we we like to get in the weeds about stuff that's not, you know, you're not really covering uh when you go through what's in the journal and talk about that. And you know, sometimes you just gloss over things and I want to talk more about them.

First Canada Border Crossing

SPEAKER_01 3:05

And yeah, so so uh so you you you've you've you're making your first trip to Canada here as we get started on this episode. And I want to know about your first time actually physically getting across the border into Canada. Uh what stories do you have? Did I mean did you have to did you have to tell uh some kind of border agent that you were doing just to get across the border? What what do you remember about that first trip to Canada?

SPEAKER_03 3:37

Well, it I ended up uh I actually crossed the border late at night, and um all they did was ID me. They didn't ask what my purpose was because this was before 9-11. So they didn't they didn't ask what I was doing, where I was going, or anything. They just wanted to see my driver's license, and that was about it, and they let me go across. But the first thing I noticed, I was always a fan of strip clubs. I always enjoyed going to a good strip club back when I was a young man. Well, as soon as I crossed the border into Canada, there were these bright lights of all these strip clubs, but they were male strip clubs. There wasn't a female strip club for miles upon miles upon miles, but as soon as you crossed over into Canada, there was lit up Lake Disneyland for male strip clubs. And I thought, well, that was weird, and uh that was my first uh exposure to to Canada.

SPEAKER_01 4:46

Interesting.

SPEAKER_03 4:48

But I loved Canada. Um I ended up driving in that night, I stayed over, got up the next day, went to the gym, and we wrestled in hockey rings or hockey arenas. Um so, like where we have little league baseball fields up there, they have hockey arenas everywhere. So they put down the the flooring on the ice and uh to protect the ice and everything and make it to where you can walk on, which I was used to because Knoxville is like that. The the uh the big building in Knoxville is a hockey uh arena. So I was used to seeing that. Um, but with the whole tour was done in hockey arenas, which was pretty cool, and you know, you can get a lot of fans in there, so the houses were really, really good. But the one thing I did notice about the fans of Canada, they were very polite. They weren't like like your regular East Tennessee fans, you know. I mean, like you would get heat still, but they were it was a polite heat.

SPEAKER_01 5:52

Right. Well, I mean, Canada's pretty famously a very polite country compared to America.

SPEAKER_03 5:58

Yeah, yeah, yeah. But it was I mean, we didn't go too far deep. We it was it was basically right across the border from Detroit. So, um, you know, everything was pretty much like America except the prices were different. Uh it was in liters instead of gallons, and um, you know, the you had to exchange the money, that was the thing. So there was the coin, the loony, which is the dollar coin. I don't think they had those anymore, but uh that was a big deal up there. So you had to change you had to manage your money very well because you couldn't just I couldn't just call somebody and say, hey, send me a hundred bucks, you know, like we had discussed before, you know, sponsors would help me out along the way. You had to manage your money very well because you had the exchange rate. And you couldn't just go and you know, go to Wells Fargo and get a hundred bucks. You had to you had to have it exchanged and all all whatnot and all that. So I did notice that.

Hockey Arenas And Canadian Crowds

SPEAKER_01 7:00

Yeah, so so you're making this this trip Canada to Arkansas that you would go to get pretty used to, it sounds like. And um you get you get you get to Arkansas and Bert says, Hey pal, the money's not there tonight. Can I pay you next time? And you know, you're you you did a great job of explaining kind of what that was and how you you got paid, but it was a he was testing you, he was testing your loyalty. Um it just I don't know, man. It just it was a whole different business.

SPEAKER_03 7:36

Whole different, whole different business. And you know, like I said, the there in in an armory they had these big rooms where they keep the chairs and the the stuff, and there's cages usually that's got like stuff locked up that's for the the military and stuff. And so he says they say, Hey, whoever it was said, Bert wants to see you in the back room. And I go in the room and he's sitting in the very, very back in a chair, just sitting, which is weird to begin with. And there's nothing but chairs on both sides, so it's like this maze all the way to the back. So I'm thinking, am I gonna get whacked on like night one? Like, like am I gonna, you know, and then he's very serious, and he asks, you know, hey, the house is not right, can I, you know, can I pay you some other time? And and I thought for a second. I mean, I didn't hesitate. I was thinking quick on my feet, but I was like, yeah, that's that's no big deal. But I did make it clear that I needed that money. That, you know, whenever you get an opportunity to pay me, I need you to pay me. Don't just forget it. And it was the right answer, but it was different now. Now, you know, you they wouldn't do that kind of stuff nowadays, and I don't even know if they get away with it nowadays.

SPEAKER_00 8:54

Right. But Well, I mean, do the guys get paid nowadays?

SPEAKER_03 8:59

I mean Well, that's the other thing. I mean, would the guys would probably be like, you know, sure, no problem, and then not even get paid, you know. I mean, but promoters are definitely not looking for somebody to help draw, you know, what he was basically doing was saying, I want to make you number two behind Colorado Kid, and you're gonna have to be the workhorse because as good as Colorado Kid was, he he was like Hogan. He had his stick, he did his deal. You know, so the the the the Colorado Kid gimmick was what it was. You know what I'm saying? What you saw is what you got.

SPEAKER_02 9:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 9:36

I had to be the workhorse underneath, and I had to accept the fact that I was not gonna be the main events, and I had a little bit of trouble with that um internally. Um I I remember when I left for the final time, I called Tom Pritchard and was like, you know, they're not advertising me. They're not uh they're making me number two, they're they're just I just don't feel like they're promoting me the right way. And Tom was like, Are you getting paid? And I was like, Well, yeah. And he's like, then that's what's important. And of course I didn't listen and I left the territory. But that's way down the line. But Tom always being the the voice of reasoning throughout my career was right, and I should have listened to him and I should have stayed. And I told Bert that later on, years later, and uh, because I thought there would be heat and I didn't want any heat between us. And uh I said, you know, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have left the way I left. And he said, Look, man, seven years goes by in wrestling, all heat disappears, and it had been over seven years, and uh, he's like, There's no heat. He said, It we we weren't doing a big enough business for it to matter anyway. He said, I totally understand what why you did what you did.

SPEAKER_01 10:49

Yeah, yeah.

The Arkansas Payday Loyalty Test

SPEAKER_01 10:51

So um we're gonna we're gonna add some more names that people might know here.

SPEAKER_03 10:58

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 10:58

Um to your to your opponent list, and that's the headbangers. Had you met the headbangers before this match in Asheville, and tell me I mean it just at the time was such a such an interesting gimmick. And it makes sense that they ended up where they did with the WWF at the time because that gimmick fit with the with that movement later on, but at this point, I mean they're sticking out like sore thumbs. So I just kind of want to know like what you thought of them, how you got along with them, and just any memories of like those first interactions with them.

SPEAKER_03 11:42

Well, I had actually met Glenn. Um that's Thrasher. Yeah. I had met him at the remember the story I told you about covering the uh convention with Carrie Von Erich? Uh I uh I had met him at the convention at the ECW table when it was just a Eastern Championship wrestling, and he was the spider. So they had been wrestling as the spiders all these years in um Pervert, whether it was Kansas City or whether it was uh Arkansas or Memphis or wherever. And I don't remember if I met them again as a team in Smoky Mountain or Arkansas first, but by the time I knew them immediately. And we were friends and we got along, and it was kind of one of those we're on this island of misfit toys, we're the only sane ones, let's at least, you know, tolerate each other because we got each other.

unknown 12:44

Right.

SPEAKER_03 12:45

So we would all go out, you know, um after the matches. We would go and hang out and have a couple of beers together and stuff. Um here's the thing with them they're dicks. Now, do they mean to be dicks? I don't know. But I think they think they're being funny, or at least they thought they were being funny back then, and that their sense of humor just didn't match up. I never had a problem with them. They were always nice to me. I was always nice to them. I'm being unfair by calling them dicks. But I just that's just the way their personalities always struck me. And but that was the gimmick, and that's what made them special was their attitude. And that the and you're talking about that time frame where they were perfect for the gimmick and the time of wrestling, and that and that just meshed together as a perfect storm. And I don't know two other guys that could have done that gimmick and pulled it off.

SPEAKER_01 13:46

Yeah, yeah.

Headbangers Memories And Gimmicks

SPEAKER_01 13:48

So speaking of special gimmicks, and and you know, I had in my notes um the last ride home when I asked you about how many times did you just show up and get handed the Southern States tag belt. I didn't mention this on on when we recorded, but I had in my notes that that that that I was willing to do that tally as we go along.

SPEAKER_03 14:12

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 14:14

I'm not willing to tally this one. Number one, because I I fear the volume would be overwhelming, and number two, I don't want to have to back up and and re-listen um to get anything we may have missed. How many different guys did you work with or against doing a generic Russian game?

SPEAKER_03 14:35

Oh, a lot. A lot. There were so many Russians, and they were usually my partner. Um the somebody to take the fall in a tag match. You know, I I I lost a lot of tag matches and didn't get pinned. I was just the I would come in and shine, and then they would tag in and then they would just get ate up. But it seemed it was doink and Russians. That seemed to be the the fashionable thing to have on your as long as you had a doink and a Russian, you were good.

SPEAKER_01 15:08

Well, at least Doink went out of fashion. I feel like the Russian thing is still happening for some time forsaken reason.

SPEAKER_03 15:15

Well, and and not to get bogged down on this, but there's there's no uh it's not a Soviet nation anymore. It's not there's no iron curtain, you know. So these these Russian gimmicks uh need uh to modernize themselves a little bit.

SPEAKER_01 15:31

Yeah, they're a little outdated. A little outdated. They should all they should you should be required if um if you do a generic Russian gimmick in 2026, your entrance music should have to be surfing USSR by Ray Stevens.

SPEAKER_03 15:48

Absolutely. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 15:52

Alright, so let's uh let's stop talking about that silliness and talk about something a little more

Russians And Other Outdated Tropes

SPEAKER_01 15:58

serious. Okay, because I'm gone to I'm gone to get to this. So you tell this great story about working with Rick Rogers and how the idea was a star putting you over you getting a win against a star. And uh first off, you talked about in the I guess I guess in the yeah, in the lockup, he asked you how many matches you had and how you had the correct answer to that because you had a specific number and it wasn't like this you know bullshit answer or overblown too high a number. Did you meet when you locked up?

SPEAKER_03 16:33

Yes. First time I ever met him and spoke any words to him, and he spoke to me first. I didn't dare open my mouth.

SPEAKER_01 16:42

Right. Right. So um it was a whole different business, man.

SPEAKER_03 16:52

I mean, you're you're told what you're gonna do, and and I remember I I remember thinking this, and I think I said it to Bert was, does he know he's gonna do this? You know, does he know he's gonna put me over? Like, I couldn't believe it. Because even though we weren't in Smoky Mountain at the same time, I had watched him that year that Smoky Mountain was on TV while I was still in college. So he was a Smoky Mountain star to me doing the the Hindu squats and the push-ups of that whole gimmick, and I couldn't believe that he was gonna put me over, little on me.

SPEAKER_01 17:29

Yeah, yeah, and that and that kind of bleeds right into the next thing I had on this, which was just after it happened, because I have to imagine at a certain level, you couldn't be sure he was actually gonna do it until it was done. Right. So so once once he once it's done, it has happened, and you're getting your hand raised, what what what were your what were your thoughts and your kind of your feelings at that point?

SPEAKER_03 18:01

Well, it was surreal, I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe first of all, the finish was so simple. It was just drop down on him and pin his shoulders. Um but usually you go into a match, and this was a lesson that that that a lot of kids need to learn today, um, especially working for Bo James. Usually you go into a match with a finish and you're confident and you know what you're doing. Well, I didn't have a finish. I was just there for the ride, and a lot of kids will panic nowadays. Um I watched Roger Anderson, who is one of the all-time best, panic one night over Manny Fernandez, not giving him a finish. And he took an ass whooping for Manny because of it, because he got nervous. So I I kept my composure and just went along for the ride and took it second by second, and then one, two, three, and I get my hand raised, and of course I get out of there. I don't linger. If he's nice enough to put me over, I'm not gonna grandstand. I'm gonna get out of there and let him get his heat back. Um, and I was just on the floor with my hand being raised, and I couldn't believe it. I just it was a huge it was probably my biggest win at that point.

SPEAKER_01 19:16

Yeah, you certainly framed it that way in the episode, and and and you know, kind of what a moment that was for you. And you know, we're starting to get to some of those types of things for you. You know, you're you're you're traveling to these new territories and they're seeing um potential, I guess, in you, or seeing how good you are at this juncture, and you know, you're you're you're starting to get these wins on on some of these shows. So um so we're we're back to East Tennessee a little bit.

Rick Rogers Puts Him Over

SPEAKER_01 19:51

And was there an angle at some point that split the Hornet and Bo James? Or was it just that Bo turned babyface because now he's with Punky, and that was just kind of that?

SPEAKER_03 20:04

That was just kind of that. Uh the Hornet went, I think maybe the Hornet wrestled him once or twice, and once Bo beat the Hornet, he wanted to beat me. Um and then he went with Punky and became a babyface, and and then I stayed with uh Roger and Frank, and then then they split that up, and I had the uh was with War Machine, and uh so it was Death and Destruction, me and War Machine and Punky and Bo. And doing three ways and um, you know, round robins switching different matches with each other.

SPEAKER_01 20:43

Yeah, yeah. Um I I have here uh lost to quote unquote two guys.

SPEAKER_03 20:50

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:51

Because you lost a match to two guys. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 20:56

Um I have no idea who they were. I didn't know them that night. I didn't catch their names. It was in and out, and just I had to What if what if what if you're framing this incorrectly?

SPEAKER_01 21:09

What if that was their gimmick name? It could have been just misremembering.

SPEAKER_03 21:12

Like five, like we're two guys. Two guys in this corner, two guys, these two some bitches. You know, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:20

They do the Fonzi times. We're just two guys.

SPEAKER_03 21:23

I think that's what it was. But you know, that happened. I mean, it it happened more often than you would you would realize. You know, you just occasionally you would come across, you know, the promoter would, you know, had two guys that he liked, and you just weren't there long enough to know who they were. Or they brought two guys in to do a favor and you had to put them over, and that was just the business aspect of it. But I mean, can you imagine that and I don't know, I'm not getting on the kids today. The kids are way better than we were. We are were it's Just it's different. But kids would panic today if they didn't know who their opponents were.

SPEAKER_02 22:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 22:07

You know, you don't know their names, you don't know their style, you don't know anything about them. The bell rings, and there they are. That was another thing. It wasn't like I met them and we hung out for an hour. I met them in the ring.

unknown 22:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 22:20

And we had our match, and that was that.

SPEAKER_01 22:24

In all fairness. Because because the last thing we want to do is get on here and and just talk bad about the current state of wrestling and and and be those guys. Because there, if that's what you're looking for out of a podcast, there are plenty of places to find that.

SPEAKER_03 22:40

That's not us.

SPEAKER_01 22:41

Um not us. In fairness, to the to the guys today, they should panic because you can't trust guys nowadays. You don't know how they were trained or if they were trained at all.

SPEAKER_03 22:57

Well yes, absolutely. I mean, that's that thinking back, the worst whoever the worst guy ever wrestled back then was. I don't know, just Joe Blow. That guy was still went through a school somewhere and was trained. He might not have been the greatest athlete in the world. He might not have known his trade, he might not have had the most experience, but you knew he went through a school somewhere because he wouldn't be in the business otherwise. You couldn't just get in the business.

SPEAKER_01 23:27

And that's not, and just to be clear, that's not just showed up at the school with some money. That's you vetted, you got you you had to put in some sort of resume or or had to have some kind of credential athletically, or um, you know, it was it wasn't just you showed up with the money.

SPEAKER_03 23:46

You had to show up more than twice to get a match. You couldn't just, I mean, you would train for months to get a match. You know, it's not like today sometimes you go to a seminar and then you're on the show that night, you know. And some guys are good like that. I mean, I trained kid Apollo. We had four sessions. I know that's a name that some people will know, most people won't know. I worked out with him four times and said, There's nothing more I can teach you. You're that good. And we we just put him in the ring because he he had it. He was a natural, you know. So that does happen. But uh, yeah, I mean, you're right. Kids should panic if they if they don't know anything about these people. Because you don't you never know their background nowadays.

SPEAKER_01 24:35

Yeah, it it you know the the little bit that I managed you there uh it it just it got to the point, and we were fortunate most of the time, you know, we knew who we were in there with. And that that was always great because you know, I knew I could trust Wayne Atkins to to take a bump, and and I knew I could trust, you know, uh Huckabee. Well Huckabee to, you know, to to take care of me on something. But you know, sometimes it was like, I don't know about these kids. Yeah, I don't know. I I'm just gonna stand in the corner and kind of mind my business, and I'm not gonna get too directly involved because I I don't know that I I don't know that that's a good idea. Thank you wise.

SPEAKER_03 25:21

But also you had the flip of the coin where we we met that one kid up there in uh Indiana or wherever it was who was phenomenal. Come out of nowhere.

SPEAKER_01 25:33

Logan Myers.

SPEAKER_03 25:34

Yes, who was just absolutely the best kid in the world, just was very good, very polite, listened, um, allowed me to get him over. That's another thing. Sometimes people just don't let you get them over. Um and he was such a pleasure to work with because we we were expecting the worst and got the best. And it was it was fun because of that.

SPEAKER_01 25:59

Yeah, he just recently took a little time off, and I saw on Facebook he's already already back at it. So good for him. I'm glad to see he he had you know, he just he you know what he sometimes you just gotta go to the mountain, pal.

SPEAKER_03 26:11

Hey, absolutely. I'm the king of going to the mountain. I mean, sometimes you gotta get your head right. Here's the thing the business isn't going anywhere. Take all the time in the world.

SPEAKER_01 26:20

Yeah, absolutely. So don't don't know if he's if he's listening, but shout out to Logan Myers. What a what a what a treat guy he was to work with. And he will obviously make an appearance on making the towns at some point way down the line.

SPEAKER_03 26:34

Absolutely. Good kid. If you get a chance to book him, book him. He's worth it.

SPEAKER_01 26:38

Yeah, absolutely. Uh great look. Just uh just like you said, a really good kid. So uh we are really making towns now at this point.

Unknown Opponents And Training Then

SPEAKER_01 26:47

I mean, we're going from Canada to Memphis back to East Tennessee. I love the way that you laid out exactly what a trip from one end of the state of Tennessee to the other is. Um I mean, you are just you are just logging some miles at this point.

SPEAKER_03 27:05

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, just going town to town to town to town, and that's where I say that my first r stint on the road was eight years. It didn't mean I worked every day for eight years, but it meant I was going somewhere every day for eight years. And that if I got somewhere, I didn't spend more than six to eight hours in any given town in any given night. I mean, it it was just constant travel. And and again, had I not been a teenager, it would have killed me. And that's another thing. Can you imagine? I would not let my kid go and do that. Nineteen, twenty years old and out there doing that. What were my parents thinking? I mean, my God, anything could have happened. And it did happen.

SPEAKER_01 28:00

Oh, so we talked a little bit on the last ride home about Doink sort of becoming your waterloo. And I just happened to notice here on this very next episode of Making the Towns, you're working D Lo as Doink on a Bobby Blaze show.

SPEAKER_03 28:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 28:25

So it's already getting bad because here's a show where you were already working as yourself, or at least as your other TV gimmicks, and and getting over and main eventing, and now you're on a Bobby Blade show as Dorne. Yeah. I mean, that's it's I mean, that's bad quick.

SPEAKER_03 28:46

Yeah. Yeah. And billed as WWE superstar versus WWE superstar because D Lo has been on TV just a little bit.

SPEAKER_00 28:56

Right.

SPEAKER_03 28:57

Doing some jobs here and there. He he hadn't been part of the nation yet because they hadn't created that yet. But it was a great match. Um we we were smart enough. We had first of all, we had the time. Bobby gave us the time and the platform to do what we needed to do. So we did the Doink stuff and got it out of the way. Then D Lo did his stuff and got it out of the way, and then we had a real wrestling match, a competitive match. I mean, like I had said, I did a moonsault and missed. Doink doing a moonsault is ludicrous.

unknown 29:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 29:32

And then he does this big springboard moonsault to the top rope in the middle of the rope and does a beautiful moonsault. And I can to this day remember looking up and watching him fly over me and I'm thinking, oh, I gotta get out of the way. And I rolled at the last second, but it was so beautiful, I almost look he almost landed on me because I wouldn't roll out of the way.

SPEAKER_01 29:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 29:55

But um, but it was fun, it was very fun, and probably the best doink match I ever had.

SPEAKER_01 30:00

Yeah, yeah. Uh well, I mean, D'Lo, I mean, D Lo's gonna make anybody look great. He is that's just what he really is. That's just what he did.

SPEAKER_03 30:11

One of the best.

SPEAKER_01 30:12

Um you have seen D Lo since the Chia Club, by the way. You said the last time you saw D-Lookia Club, y'all.

SPEAKER_03 30:19

That's right. We saw him at WrestleKay, didn't we?

SPEAKER_01 30:22

Yeah, you guys had a a match kind of sort of.

SPEAKER_03 30:26

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 30:28

For um for the count, right?

SPEAKER_03 30:31

Yes, yes, yes. I'm vaguely remembering all this.

SPEAKER_01 30:36

But I just wanted to correct you on that because that's one of my favorite pastimes.

SPEAKER_03 30:40

Yes, well, absolutely. No, you're right. And I as soon as you said that, I remembered it seeing him there, and we hugged and told stories about how great we were and what happened, and how the hell did we end up where we're at. But yeah, d'o is one of my favorite people.

SPEAKER_01 31:00

Yeah, absolutely.

Doink Vs D’Lo Done Right

SPEAKER_01 31:02

So um you you you talked about how valuable working with Brick House Brown was, and that you learned the larger than life. He pulled that out of you. Yeah, you know, um, you know, more than he taught you because you you you believe it's something you either have or you don't. But he he sort of summoned it and taught you how to chance it and really get the most out of it. Um can you think of an example later on where you used exactly what what he taught you? Or or can you just expound upon that? Because I'm just fascinated by that being the specific thing that you learn from Brick House.

SPEAKER_03 31:50

Okay, well, let's take working dirty white boy for an example. We worked main events, but I was there to put him over. We weren't equals. Um, it was to showcase his ability against a heel. That heel could have been anybody, it just so happened to be Kendo. So I was limited in what how far I could take it. I could only do so much to him because it wasn't called for. Rock and roll was the same thing. We were there to get minimal heat on Punky and let Robert make the hot tag. So as an underneath guy, I had not yet experienced the platform to where I had the freedom to really be a character, to really bring out all this stuff and tie it together, all this knowledge that I had learned and showcase it and had the freedom. And it seems weird to say, well, you know, okay, you body slam a guy and then you look at the crowd. Well, how many different ways can you look at the crowd? Well, you can look at them a lot different, you know, and he's he taught me go ahead and take that extra second and and and make that eye contact with that girl at ringside or that kid over here. Or also when I he hits me like Ricky Morton does, take that extra second to drag those people in and really let them be a part of you. Don't rush. Dirty White Boy taught me how to slow down less is more, but he showed me how Brick House showed me how to get more out of that less by taking the time to get it. Does that make sense?

SPEAKER_01 33:43

Absolutely. And and what a man, what a thing, what a thing to learn.

SPEAKER_03 33:48

I mean, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 33:50

I mean that that sounds like something you would use countless times.

SPEAKER_03 33:54

Oh, I did, yeah. I mean, I mean, Damien, when I first started being Damien in OVW, I was not comfortable with the character at all. I grew extremely comfortable with it, um, to where it became second nature. But I it just felt weird at first, and it and I I had to hearken back on the take the minute to get the gimmick over. Take the minute to do what you need to do, because that's what they want. That's what Corney wants. He's giving you this opportunity to be this character. You need to be the character. Don't worry so much about the hammer locks and the slams and all this. You're going to do that. You know how to do that. You've known how to do that from day one. But taking the time to hear the voices, that that was something that I derived from the brick house deal. When brickhouse hurt my leg and I had to sell my leg for weeks, and we would always go back to it, you know, that was that extra second. And that would translate countless times over my career um on how to get over over and really connect.

SPEAKER_01 35:06

Wow. Yeah, that's awesome. That's it's really fantastic. I I don't know that I've ever heard anybody say a bad thing about Brick House.

SPEAKER_03 35:13

No, he's awesome. He's awesome. And and let me phrase this very carefully. You could easily get caught up in the aesthetic of Brick House as a character because he was so good at what he did. And that's not the dude. He's not this evil bastard, he's a nice, kind gentleman. So you could easily get intimidated by him because of the of the heel he portrayed. But he was able to get that across still be the heel in the ring and still get across to you that he's a nice guy and he's trying to help you. He's just an awesome guy. I mean, and he he he did something for me that probably is in the top three or four things of my career. I mean, you know, there's Jimmy helping me get booked everywhere, there's Tim and Tom showing me how to actual wrestle, and then there's Brick House. You know, and and without Brick House, I I wouldn't be able to do any of this.

SPEAKER_02 36:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 36:19

And the fact that I got to tell him that, you know, I mean, and he was sick, and he didn't really remember me remembering, but he remembered what I was talking about. He just didn't specifically remember me, but he got the point. He believed that I believed it. And he and he appreciated what I was saying about it.

SPEAKER_01 36:42

So totally switching gears here.

Brickhouse Brown And Bigger Character Work

SPEAKER_01 36:46

Okay. I love the story. You're staying with bull pain, and you're you're you're you got all the animals, the the iguana, and uh uh, you know, just all these the birds, and and you're you're sitting on the couch with all the animals eating and everybody's eating crackers and you're watching nitro.

SPEAKER_03 37:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 37:08

And um I say all that to to ask. What was what did the boys think of Nitro when it first came on the air?

SPEAKER_03 37:22

Oh, they thought it was great. They thought it was gonna be more work for everybody. They they really, really thought, thought that this was gonna be, you know. Well, first of all, the boys knew that Vince was gonna buy the company in '96. I had been told that in 1996. And I just thought it was bullshit. But they all knew that there was something brewing of the pay-per-view WWF versus WCW. And this was the first time that that that rumor had started to grow legs and show signs of wow, this they might actually compete. And just everybody thought this was going to be more work for everybody. And the production level was so much better, it was an interesting show. Luger showed up. It was just it was special. And the boys knew it.

SPEAKER_01 38:20

Live every week. I mean, I mean, and and if you weren't there, it's hard for you to understand. Monday Night Raw had been on the air at this point for a couple of years. It was not live every week. It was live some of the times, I think every other week at that point. But they would tape another one to air the next week.

SPEAKER_03 38:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 38:46

And I think the other thing about Nitro was just Bischoff is such a fascinating character. I know we're going down a totally weird path here, but this is the time to do it. Yeah. Bischoff is such a fascinating character in the history of wrestling because his catch with getting that job in the first place was he quote unquote was not a wrestling guy, even though he was.

SPEAKER_00 39:18

Right.

SPEAKER_01 39:19

But he wasn't the old school, the Ole Anderson or the Jim Cornette or the Jim Ross who was sort of I don't want to say stuck in their time, but compared to Bishop, it was night and gay.

SPEAKER_03 39:35

Well, he wasn't a wrestling nerd.

SPEAKER_01 39:38

Right. And I think for him to just immediately come out and go, okay, we're live every week, they take, I'm gonna read the results to what they're about to air on my show.

SPEAKER_03 39:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 39:53

And and I know there's a lot of people that I have a ton of respect for who to this day do not care for Eric Bischoff. Probably based solely on that.

SPEAKER_03 40:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 40:06

Well because that I mean it really crossed the line.

SPEAKER_03 40:09

It really did. And you have to realize that Kayfabe was even though it was breaking, it was just cracking. It wasn't, you know, it wasn't dead or shattered or anything like it is now. So that was such a huge deal to break K-fabe. You were betraying the whole industry, not just trying to beat Vince. You were betraying everybody on every show, everywhere.

SPEAKER_01 40:35

But at the same time, I also see his side of it because it's not like he was exposing the business.

SPEAKER_03 40:40

No, he wasn't. No, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 40:42

He was exposing, he was exposing the fact that, hey, we're here live every weekend. You don't, you never know what's gonna happen. But they're taped. Yeah, they're in the can, their show has been edited, and we already know what's gonna happen. And smarter fans knew that already because they were reading Melter, yeah, you know, they were reading the results, right? Well, you know, before they aired. So I don't know. It's just I've I've always been fascinated with Ms. Joff. Um I I I not to make this about me because I hate doing that on the show, but uh, I've always related to him in certain ways, right? Um as just as a guy, you know. So um yeah, I'm I'm I'm I I can't, yeah. It was hard for me to imagine a scenario where where the boy the boys on the independence and on these in these smaller territories could would have been anything except excitement. Right. You know, the way they came out with you know, Jucian Ligers on the first one, the second one, Sabu is flipping through a table and winning a match and then getting disqualified after the fact because he won't quit breaking tables.

SPEAKER_00 41:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 41:57

Um, you know, and I had read about Sabu in the magazines, and that was just like, you know, it was like the first time I'd ever seen these guys that I read about, you know, and and and just been enamored by the thought of. Um so yeah, it's cool to hear that the boys were excited about that too, and it definitely led to you know, eventually a bump in the overall business. I uh and I assume that trickles down to you at some point.

SPEAKER_03 42:23

It did. And one of the things that's overlooked and is never ever mentioned because it's such a niche thing, when Scott Hall shows up, the match in the ring was Steve Dahl. He was one of us, he was working for Bert. And that's his opportunity on Nitro, and he got stopped for Scott Hall. That was huge business all the way around. Of not only was it stopped, but oh my god, our guy didn't get his opportunity. I mean, it was just such a cluster of things, not a cluster, fuck, but a cluster of different things and emotion and everything that is encapsulated in that one moment that never gets talked about of the boys seeing themselves, you know, if Steve, y'all can get booked, I could get booked. But wait a minute, do I want to get booked? Because his match just got interrupted. Like, oh, you know, you're going through this whole gambit of emotions, and and it just adds to the moment of what it was to begin with.

SPEAKER_00 43:25

Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_03 43:27

But uh real quick, I I want to tell you what this has nothing to do with anything, and uh but I'm sitting there with the animals, I'm watching Nitro, and Ian Rotten comes over to get his steroids out of the refrigerator, and him and uh Bull go to the gym. Samantha comes down wearing panties and a t shirt. Her friend Debbie T. Wilde is wearing panties and a t shirt going through the kitchen, and they're cooking breakfast. I'm sitting there with all these animals and I'm just concentrating on watching Nitro. What a circus. And that was like a Tuesday, a Tuesday morning.

SPEAKER_01 44:09

Well, it was a Monday night. Right. It was a Monday evening. Right. Right. You know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_03 44:14

I mean, it was just it it's so surreal. I remember Samantha walking by and it was like nothing. It was like my little sister. And and that's the way it was, it was nothing. You know what I'm saying? But it's just so weird looking back of all the shit that was going on, and I'm glued to watch a nitro.

SPEAKER_01 44:34

Yeah. Yeah.

Nitro Arrives And Kayfabe Cracks

SPEAKER_01 44:37

So you mentioned in this episode, as we're starting to get wound down here, that you were you you you talked you told a story about I think this is you and Rapotta with Rapotta working as a kid. Okay and you talked about how Bert was so hot after the match because you guys tried things that didn't work and you just were sloppy. And you you just sort of talked about how that was kind of proof that you guys, even though you had 150 matches or so at this point, uh were still pretty green.

SPEAKER_03 45:12

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 45:13

I mean, how how long does that last? I mean, I I know it's different for everybody, but like for you personally, like at what point do you feel like, okay, I'm good. I I'm I I'm not green anymore.

SPEAKER_03 45:25

Well, it it it's a state of mind. It's when when you first start in the business, you think you're not green anymore because you're smartened up. Then two years later, you're like, man, I thought I knew everything and now I don't know nothing. Then you think, okay, well, I know now because I know more than I knew then. Then five years come and you're like, Man, I was really clueless at two years. And it just keeps going your entire career until you absolutely get it. You know, um, for in specif specifically, never I never tried a moonsault off of a a line salt off of a Memphis ring ever again. I learned that lesson that moment when I looked like an idiot. Um, so you learn little things as you go and they they they build up and then suddenly you're not as green as you were. Um I remember um Barry Darso told me that you had to have 500 matches before WWF would consider you, and that it took about 500 matches to get the greenness, like the the really greenness out of you. And ironically, my 500th match was with the WWF.

SPEAKER_01 46:44

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_03 46:45

Yeah. So, you know, you you learn as you go. I mean, I'm still learning stuff now. You know, I learned stuff in the last match I had that I didn't learn before. You know, you you you can't when you you should worry when you stop learning. Right. I mean, I remember Animal told me, he said, Are you nervous, kid? And I said, Not really. He said, Are you? And I said, Yeah, I'm I'm petrified. This before we went out in some show. And he said, I'm Road Warrior Animal and I still get butterflies. It's when you stop worrying that you you you're done. And that's true. And that and that's usually when I have to go to the mountain. It's when I when I either when I have the massive panic attack or I stop worrying that I have the massive panic attack, and then I gotta take some time off.

SPEAKER_01 47:39

Yeah. Very well put. Very well put. So I got one more thing, and I don't

When You Stop Learning You’re Done

SPEAKER_01 47:46

know. Say as little or as much as you want on this, and we can get down the rabbit hole of trying to answer this question, but um, especially if this is not the answer, but is the sportatorium the coolest wrestling venue, even though it was a dump that you ever got to watch?

SPEAKER_03 48:04

Yes, absolutely. It was very cool. Now the Georgia Dome in front of 34,000 people was pretty cool. That was really, really cool. The Louisville Gardens, when we sold it out with the WWF guys, that was really cool because we did a hundred and some thousand dollar house. Um, that was super cool. But the sportatorium, man, they played Carrie's music for me when I came out. And that meant like I couldn't believe it. And that meant the world to me. And the crowd, you know, the crowd knew I was special because I had Carrie's music. They didn't think I was Carrie. They knew they were just playing the music, but they knew that I was somebody worthy of that music. And it was just really, really cool to just take in the whole place, and you know, you walk in that that door and you're right there, and the dressing rooms are to the left, and the concessions are to the right, and straight ahead is the arena floor, and it's open air, and it's a thousand fucking degrees, and you know, they got these fans blowing, and you get a teeny little bit of air coming through, and even though the crowd wasn't what it used to be, it seemed like they were still mobbing you in the uh aisleway when you were coming down. Now the girls weren't kissing me or anything like that, but you know, you still had to walk cautiously down that aisle because there were people in the aisleway. And I just uh I you know what I remember most about the sportatorium is taking a shower in the in the uh stall because the shower were for the uh original animals when it was uh uh an auction house back in the way, way, way, way back in the day. And I remember you go out of the dressing room and you're in your towel, and you almost have to walk down this corridor to get to these stalls to take a shower. And I was like, I can't believe that I'm showering in the sportatorium. It's funny how you member remember little things like that that has nothing to do with anything, it's a shower. But that but that's what I remember Bill Irwin not taking those arm drags and me getting so mad that he was not taking them because he was drunk. And I remember that shower. And uh what an experience, man. And and you know uh me, you know, me and George South are real close. George George never got to work the sportatorium. Yeah, and that's when I realized, wow, not everybody got to do this. And that's that was really cool. That I and I I'm so thankful that uh that Bull got me booked and I got those two shots to go there. Now, Akbar wanted me to move to Texas. Yeah, they always they always want me to move to their territory, and I'm always like, I can't move 'cause I'm in some other territory. You know. Uh but I but it was nice to be asked. And you know, I often wondered what it would have been like to to wrestle there, you know, and be in programs and and uh not the program, but you know, angles, with uh, you know, and and have meaningful matches at the sportatorium. So it was just cool, and I'm so thankful.

SPEAKER_01 51:32

Yeah, what a what a cool full circle moment from meeting Carrie before you were in the business or as you as you were getting into the business. Um and then and then you know everything happens as it does with him, and and then and then wow, you get to work this portatory and then come out to his music. That that's just that's just super cool.

SPEAKER_03 51:53

It was, it was very, very cool. And the other thing I remember too is is I had these pair of uh, you know, we all wore zuba pants, and I was notoriously cheap and wouldn't spend money on clothes. And I had these uh green kilt looking zuba pants, and as soon as I got in the car leaving Memphis, my pants, the crotch completely disintegrated and ripped out of it. And Bull would not stop and let me buy another pair of pants. I went that whole trip with my ass hanging out the entire way down and the entire way back because he couldn't stop for two seconds for me to run in somewhere and buy a pair of pants. So so again, that's just another weird thing that you remember that has nothing to do with anything.

SPEAKER_01 52:48

Right, right.

SPEAKER_03 52:49

I mean, I don't know if that's entertaining or not. It's just funny to me that you know I I looked like a hobo at my at my debut at the sportatorium, and nobody noticed because everybody else looks like a hobo too.

SPEAKER_01 53:04

Yeah. Well,

Sportatorium Magic And Road Misery

SPEAKER_01 53:08

with that, I mean I that's all I had for uh for episode seven, a lot of great, great stuff, and um yeah, I'm looking forward to uh looking forward to episode eight as we get caught up here. Yes. Uh I mean so I guess we should say the goal is to get caught up so that you know the ride home that is that is associated with an episode of Making the Towns comes out just a couple days after that episode of Making the Towns. So we're a little bit more topical on this show with what the listeners uh have heard most recently.

SPEAKER_03 53:47

Right. Right. But life gets in the way and we're playing catch up. I mean, we both have jobs and you know we have to do it. My my job takes up a lot of time with the puppies, and um more on that in the coming weeks. I've got some really good, I don't want to let it out of the bag yet, but I'm dying to tell people some really cool stuff coming up with that. That's why I keep mentioning that I work with dogs. Um, but yeah, we're eventually going to get caught up to where maybe it comes out the the making the towns come out on uh Friday mornings and uh the the ride home is like a Monday.

SPEAKER_01 54:25

Yeah, yeah. So uh we'll we're we're we're doing our best. We're doing our best. We hope y'all are are digging it, and thanks for listening and for all the uh you know, for subscribing to the YouTube and everything to try to help us uh get to where we can do some other cool stuff.

SPEAKER_03 54:41

Yeah, I mean, and the response we're getting, most of our fans listen to us on YouTube, and I think that's great. Uh we have we can tell for the first time, not I'm just gonna say it. We can tell for the first time in doing podcasts we have an audience, and that audience means the world to me in Dallas. We are so thankful that you guys are taking the time to listen to us, and it makes it we're gonna do this no matter what. Um and we're dedicated to doing it, but it it means a hell of a lot more to know that people care too.

SPEAKER_01 55:14

So couldn't have said it better myself.

SPEAKER_03 55:17

So,

Release Plans And Audience Thanks

SPEAKER_03 55:18

all right, uh be sure to uh find us on all the social media. On follow me on Facebook at Making the Towns. Instagram is Brian Logan Making the Towns. YouTube, we've talked about I am your champion exclamation point. Please subscribe if you haven't already and hit that bell if you want to know about everything we're doing. We're putting up videos daily. We just put up a bunch of WFS shows from 2019, almost the entire run of the house shows and the big events. So people seem to be liking those. Those are the full shows, and those are all free. They are not monetized. We're not trying to get monetized, we're just putting it out there so you guys can see it. Also, I am your champion on TikTok and Three Crows Entertainment at LoganYourChamp on X. But if you don't want to remember all of these handles, all you have to do is go to IamYourChampion.com. It is the one stop shop for all things Brian Logan's career. And it has the little buttons there. You just click on the buttons for Facebook or Twitter or TikTok or whatever, and it'll take you right there, and you can do whatever you need to do. And uh Making the Towns is on Pirate Flag Radio on the Radio King app. Those come out on Friday, and like you said, we're trying to get these caught up and we will pretty soon.

Socials And YouTube Uploads

SPEAKER_03 56:40

Today's show is brought to you by Dovey Energy Drinks. They are uh some of the best, best uh energy drinks that you can have. I'm really enjoying using them. They're really uh, like I said, when I work with the uh the dogs, I get right after lunch because the puppies have to take a two-hour nap. And by the time I take two hours and sit and get something to eat, I am just zonked. But Dubby has helped me get by that. No zero sugar, no artificial colors or flavors, no secret formulas, no hidden ingredients. It's gluten-free. It equals out to be about a dollar per drink compared to other drinks. It's all made in the USA. What it does is it has clean, smooth energy, sharper mental focus, no added sugar, like I said, and the unique flavors. You have cherry uh lime, which is very, very good, sour gummy bear, sweet and sour blue ras, s'mores, just tons of flavors, and they're ready to mix anytime. About 150 milligrams of caffeine. You get 10% off when you use promo code YORCHAPING at W.g. That's W.g. I know that sounds uh strange for an address, but that's the address. Promo code for 10% off your champion. Dallas, I have enjoyed doing this. The past couple episodes have been really, really fun. We're getting into the meat and the potatoes of everything, and I really feel like we're telling some good stories and we're getting some good matches under our belt.

SPEAKER_01 58:12

Yeah,

Sponsor Read And WFS Tease

SPEAKER_01 58:13

absolutely. And just real quick, uh, while you were plugging to YouTube, you mentioned we're putting up some WFS stuff. Um, for anybody who doesn't know uh that those that's the company that Brian and I ran together. So uh that those I'm I'm I'm doing my best on this show to not talk about myself. Um this is all about Brian and celebrating his career, but when we get way down the road, excuse me, way down the road to these WFS shows, this show is gonna be way more of me because you know, these are stories that there's a Brian's side to the story and there's my side to the story. And uh I'm really looking forward to the when we eventually get there, but you know, um, yeah, it please go check those shows out. Um, like Brian said, we're we're not trying to make any money, we're nothing behind a paywall anymore. And I would love to see the for you guys to see those and hear your feedback on some of that.

SPEAKER_03 59:17

Well, you put in a lot of work. You you wrote those shows, you uh essentially directed those shows. Um you put your heart and soul in it. And uh and man, I don't mind you talking about yourself on here. I mean, this is a partnership, so hey, as long as we're entertaining and the fans like it, uh, let's just talk about whatever.

SPEAKER_01 59:36

No, I I I understand completely, but but you know, um I I do my best not to get too in the weeds with my own uh experiences and opinions um when they don't you know when they're when they're not directly relevant to what we're talking about. But when we when we start getting down that path, you know, in the future, we're we're gonna we're gonna really tell some stories because we uh uh some stuff that if you didn't live in you might not believe.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:10

We we had a hell of a time with this promotion. It was the the the little promotion that couldn't. We just we just tried our best, but uh no, we got some good content from it, and uh I'm real proud of our work.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:24

Yeah, me too. Absolutely. That's why I'm so excited that some of that stuff is going up on the YouTube, and and uh I'm anxious to hear uh the feedback. So y'all don't be shy. Tell me what you really think.

Final Sign Off

SPEAKER_03 1:00:36

All right, well, that's it for this week. 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.