This week on the podcast, a look back on 1984. It’s a strange thing, I know. But I explain it all in the show. Plus a few wrestling-related memories at Christmastime. And a special guest kicks things off this week.
Merry Christmas and join in next week for the Centy Awards. The show will drop on New Year’s Day.
Don’t forget, I’m also now a part of COLLARxELBOW. You can shop online and use the promo code MY123CENTS to save on t-shirts when you shop. The company has added some new shirts in recent weeks. It’s a great way to support indy wrestling and My 1-2-3 Cents. Thanks as always for your support.
My 1-2-3 Cents Episode 150: Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat[ 1:03:53 | 0.01 MB ]Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (623)
Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat
Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat has been a part of pro wrestling for more than 40 years. My first memories date back to his run with Crockett Promotions. I had read up about the Dragon in the Apter magazines and in 1985 made his WWF debut. I never thought back then I’d have a chance to interview the Superstar.
But that’s who the guest is for episode 150 of My 1-2-3 Cents the Podcast. The Dragon is going to be a part of fundraiser event Rasslin’ in the ‘Ville. The show is Friday, Oct. 6 at Community Consolidated School 204 in Pinckneyville, Illinois. Steamboat will do a meet & greet beginning at 5 p.m. Then the action for Stride Pro Wrestling begins at 6:30 p.m. You can get ticket information here.
I’d also like to do a quick shout out to my friends over at Podzilla 1985. They interviewed Jeff Hardy at CCW (Cape Championship Wrestling) FanFest. It’ll drop Wednesday on the show Pro Wrestling Unscripted. Find them on Facebook.
CollarXElbow Partnership
Don’t forget, I’m also now a part of COLLARxELBOW. You can shop online and use the promo code MY123CENTS to save on t-shirts when you shop. The company has added some new shirts in recent weeks. It’s a great way to support indy wrestling and My 1-2-3 Cents. Thanks as always for your support.
Jay Spade and I have quite a history together in professional wrestling. We first met in 2011 in All American Pro Wrestling. Jay was a fearless guy who had a heart of gold. He even defended me when I was being bullied by Mike Masters. Spade helped me win my match in 2012 against Masters.
Spade is flying high again, this time in Stride Pro Wrestling. He is the number one contender to the heavyweight championship, held by “Big” Roger Matheus. The two will face off at Rasslin’ in the ‘Ville on Friday, Oct. 6. By the way, Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat will be on hand at that event in Pinckneyville too. You can learn more on Stride’s Facebook page.
CollarXElbow Partnership
Don’t forget, I’m also now a part of COLLARxELBOW. You can shop online and use the promo code MY123CENTS to save on t-shirts when you shop. The company has added some new shirts in recent weeks. It’s a great way to support indy wrestling and My 1-2-3 Cents. Thanks as always for your support.
Match of the Week
After a bit of a hiatus, Match of the Week is back. This week, I’m paying tribute to Bobby Heenan and this gem that Chad sent me. It’s Bobby Heenan vs. Lord Alfred Hayes in the AWA, circa 1980. Enjoy.
“Don’t follow your dreams, chase them.” That’s the mantra on this week’s guest JD Wilk. He’s a rising star in both Stride Pro Wrestling and Cape Championship Wrestling. He’ll be teaming up with Jay Spade against “Big” Roger Matheus and Farmer Billy Hills. Wilk talks about his beginnings, the obstacles he’s overcome along the way and his future in professional wrestling.
You can keep up with all things Stride Pro Wrestling via the Facebook page or the My 1-2-3 Cents blog. The next show is this Saturday night, Sept. 9 at the Illinois Star Centre Mall. Bell time is 6:30.
I also want to do a shout out to a few other podcasts I’ve become a big fan of. Besides the shows here on the Jittery Monkey Podcasting Network (Positive Cynicism, Nerds United and the Five Heart Podcast) I am also a big fan of Tom & Jim’s Top 5, Skullbuster Wrestling and Podzilla 1985. Also, Bruce Prichard and Conrad Thompson are helping folks impacted by Hurricane Harvey with Love for Houston. You can make a donation to the Red Cross here.
Don’t forget, I’m also now a part of COLLARxELBOW. You can shop online and use the promo code MY123CENTS to save on t-shirts when you shop. Thanks as always for your support.
Growing up, Tito Santana was always one of those guys I loved to see wrestle. He was a two-time holder of the Intercontinental Championship and a two-time co-holder of the WWF Tag Team Championships (with Ivan Putski and Rick Martel). Recently my buddy Tom Harness (Harness Digital Marketing) and I had the good fortune of interviewing Tito for the 25th Hour Radio Show. Host Rob Fairless hooked us up with the interview, which in my 1-2-3 cents turned out to be great.
Tito talks about his time in the ring, including a great story about his real-life knee injury and who he wanted to work an IC title program with and didn’t. Tom and Tito talk education too as Tom was once a teacher and Tito is a teacher now.
“Make Stride Pro Wrestling great again” has been the mantra of Dexter Roswell in recent months. The Stride graduate along with his bodyguard Brian Richards and Nathan Bragg make up the DR Party. The trio is making waves on the roster and continues to improve in the ring each time they wrestle.
Roswell and I talk more about his training and what inspired him to finally pull the trigger on a career in pro wrestling. He also explains why he feels the need to sanitize his hands before stepping through the ropes each time he wrestles. And who he hopes to one day recruit to be a member of the DR, along with a dream opponent of his.
He’ll face JD Wilk at the upcoming Brave the Storm event at Pinckneyville School 204 Saturday, May 6. This feud has been building up for some time. Roswell offered Wilk a spot in the DR Party, but Wilk made it clear he wasn’t interested.
The May 6 show is a big fundraiser for storm victims in southern Illinois. Learn more about the event here.
Well, it’s March 1, 2017, and in the Christian faiths, it is Ash Wednesday, forty days before Easter. In the Roman Catholic faith, it is a day to fast and abstain from meat (as we will abstain from meat every Friday between now and Easter Sunday.
The common thread around Lent is for Catholics to “give something up,” to sacrifice something for the season. Now when you’re a kid, it could be something like giving up candy, or cookies, or ice cream. As an adult, I’ve given up McDonald’s, soda, beer (that was tough), and ice cream (because I love ice cream).
This isn’t a religious post or anything, but I’m just setting the stage for all of it to make sense.
This year, I’m working on curbing my swearing. I have a 14-month-old son who’s getting really good at mimicking our words and sounds. Naturally he is saying “mama,” “dada,” “yeah,” “hi,” “milk,” and once, I think I heard him say “boob.” So…I have to watch my mouth, because I don’t want to get THAT call from daycare. So I created this…
And it already has $2.25 in it, with another quarter due to it. And those are just the ones I caught as I police myself on this. After Easter, I’ll take the money I raised with my potty mouth and donate it to our church.
Okay, that’s part of it.
Another thing I’m trying to do this year is maintain some discipline on the content front. So I’m hoping/planning 40 days of new content, which will be written and spoken. So you’ll get the podcasts on the weekly (hoping to get a new episode recorded this weekend, actually).
So…back to this post, and the title. I finally saw Doctor Strange last week, and while I hope to sit down at length and talk about it in an upcoming episode, this will have to suffice for now.
First of all – Doctor Strange in the MCU first appeared on my radar in Captain America: Winter Soldier, when he was named among other more anonymous threats to Hydra. The placing of that makes it seem that the Doctor Strange movie would take place before the events of Winter Soldier, which would indicate that Strange was still largely unknown (albeit active) during Captain America: Civil War (and also Avengers 2: Age of Ultron.
Here’s what I really enjoyed about this movie – it took things to a mystical place, a place you can’t explain with science. In a universe of Iron Man, the Incredible Hulk, Captain America, Ant-Man, Spider-Man, and Falcon, it was a pleasant departure. I will say that Thor touched on some similar themes, including his famous line to Jane Porter:
But as beautiful as Asgard was in Thor and Thor 2, there was something visually stunning about Doctor Strange. The Inception-inspired cityscape bending was not only done with seamless SFX, but the story was told in a way that made sense. If you think about it, the sorcerers live in the world that has yet to realize they exist. Sleight of hand, misdirection, illusion. It’s what magic is. So it’s completely natural to think that most of the regular world wouldn’t be aware of its existence. So the mirror dimension helps the filmmakers tell the story, manipulate “the world” in a way that doesn’t actually affect the real world.
It was great to see the astral plane. It was amazing to see Doctor Strange in the Dark Dimension, and his use of the Eye of Agamotto (*cough*TIME GEM*cough*) had me rolling. Take THAT, Dormammu.
I thought the cast was brilliant, from Benedict Cumberbatch to Rachel McAdams, the sublime Tilda Swinton, the brilliant-in-everything Mads Mikkelsen, and the incomparable Chiwetel Ejiofor and everyone I didn’t mention…the talent they brought in for this movie just continues to show what Marvel is capable of.
Long story short (since it’s late), if you haven’t seen Doctor Strange, you shouldn’t wait any longer. It’s available in the digital format and as of yesterday, is available on bluray and dvd as well. Don’t wait any longer. After all, time is no longer on your side.
Stride Pro Wrestling returns to action Saturday, November 12 at West Frankfort High School. It’s the Redbird Rumble. Several great matches have already been announced including the Stride Pro Wrestling heavyweight title. Heath Hatton gets a last chance opportunity for the gold against Ax Allwardt in a Street Fight. The tag team titles will be defended in a Fatal Four-Way match and “Big” Roger Matheus battles Chris Hargis in a grudge match.
In this week’s show Heath talks about his upcoming match and goes over some of the big events from his career, including an NWA title shot against Adam Pearce and his WWE PPV debut against Ryback in 2012.
Speaking of the upcoming Stride Pro Wrestling show, there’s a new Legacy Champion. Jerry Travelstead beat Tony Flood in a ladder match to win the brand new title. The two put on an amazing match, both coming out worse for the wear as a result.
There are plenty of hot topics in the world of professional wrestling this week. Chad joined me to discuss some of them in Episode 99. Things we talk about:
*John Cena tying Ric Flair’s 16 World Title reigns
*Goldberg vs. Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series rumor
*WWE Network airing TNA & Ring of Honor shows
*TNA’s future
*WWE using WCW event names
*Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks inside Hell in a Cell
The breakdown of the WWE Network pricing (a survey, not a done deal):
I’ve talked many times before about Stride Pro Wrestling. The independent wrestling company continues to grow in southern Illinois. The next big show is set for Saturday, Oct. 1. Fall Break is being held at the Illinois Star Centre mall in Marion at the CMA Dojo. Bell time is 6:30.
Heath Hatton is the new number one contender for Ax Allwardt’s Stride Pro Wrestling championship. He gets his title match November 12 in West Frankfort, Illinois. We talk more about that show as well as the rivalry with Ax that has been one of southern Illinois’ most intense.
Hatton also trains the newest crop of indy wrestlers in southern Illinois at the Stride Pro Wrestling school. Check out Facebook for more on the program. And don’t forget to read the My 1-2-3 Cents blog.
It’s after midnight and I have no clever title for this week’s show. I apologize. But the conversation is good this week as Chad and I discuss the Battleground event (or is it still pay per view) from WWE.
Dean Ambrose has walked out with the WWE World Heavyweight title, which means right now SmackDown Live is the only show with the “main” gold. We talk about what is next for Raw, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins.
Who was Sasha Banks’ mystery partner? IT’S BAYLEY!
While we both liked the show, neither of us felt like it was “must see” action. As always, it’ll be interesting to see what stories develop now that the brand extension will be in full effect.
Check out @my123cents on Twitter and Instagram. Like the Facebook page and read the blog and watch the YouTube videos (including my submission for the Rock the Promo contest). My personal page is @kevinhunsperger on Twitter and @kevin_hunsperger on Instagram.
Welcome back to the podcast NWA National Heavyweight Champion “Golden Boy” Greg Anthony. He’s been a fixture in NWA Mid-South for years. Anthony and Kevin worked together in 2011 in All American Pro Wrestling. He’s also been to the Cauliflower Alley Club several times. He shares stories from the 2016 event on this week’s show.
“Golden Boy” shares stories about NWA Mid-South and their weekly shows in Dyersburg, Tennessee. Bell time is 7:30 p.m. every Saturday. You can learn more about them here.
Don’t forget to keep up with My 1-2-3 Cents the blog. Also, every Thursday a new video drops on the YouTube channel. Follow @my123cents on Twitter and Instagram and like the Facebook page. For wrestling fans in the southern Illinois area, check out Stride Pro Wrestling. The next show is coming up Saturday, May 7 at CMA at the Illinois Star Centre Mall in Marion.
Kevin also has a new endeavor that combines wrestling with craft beer, social media and pop culture. Check out the Craftbeericans on YouTube and all forms of social media.
Ten years ago Chad and I attended our first WrestleMania. We made a road trip to Chicago for a weekend of wrestling that included a Ring of Honor show, the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony and WrestleMania 22.
For me, it was a dream come true. I was content with that one trip. But I also knew if the opportunity came up again I wanted to go. Luckily for me, it came up again and again and again. Chad and I have have been to eight of the last ten WrestleManias. We’re heading to Texas next month for our 11th.
In this episode of the show we talk about our favorite memories and moments. It’s not just about the ‘Mania. It’s the fun in getting to each destination, the other events we attend and of course the WrestleMania atomsphere.
Meet your new wall-crawling, web-slinging friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.
Say hello to Tom Holland. “Hello Tom Holland.”
Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures have announced the new Spider-Man, as well as the director and even confirmed the release date for the stand-alone Spider-Man movie.
Mark your calendars, as July 28, 2017 has just been selected for the release of the third Spider-Man franchise kickstarter.
2017 currently has seven movies set for theaters based on Marvel or DC characters. That could actually increase before it’s all said and done. Just remember how quickly the ball got rolling on a Deadpool movie.
Spider-Man will be released after The Wolverine 3, Guardians of the Galaxy 2, Wonder Woman, and Fantastic Four. After a few months to cleanse the palates, November has in store for movie goers Thor: Ragnarok and The Justice League.
I’m exhausted (and already a little broke) just typing all of that out. And that follows a 2016 that already has seven more movies based on the Big Two scheduled for mass consumption.
Okay, I got off on a little tangent there. Sorry about that.
Back to the new Peter Parker.
Tom Holland is a relative unknown, at least to me. In fact, a quick view of his IMDb page indicates he has just ten credited roles, one being the announced Spider-Man gig. I think that’s good. I like the idea of bringing in an unknown, because you already have so many stars/heavy hitters in the MCU.
Now I don’t know if it’s a coincidence that Sony + Marvel made the announcement days after videos like this hit the internet, but I’m sure showing off the skills didn’t hurt Holland.
It is unknown at this time whether or not Holland/Spider-Man will have a role in Captain America: Civil War. I would love for Spidey to make an appearance in the movie, because he is a pivotal character in the comics. However, if it makes the story too convoluted to include him, I say withhold him at this time. If there is no logical way to include him – if you can’t add him in without making it flow seamlessly and make sense, then I say “don’t add him.”
They are already shooting Civil War. Unless they had Spider-Man in the script and saved his scenes for last, don’t force him into the story, rushing production and compromising the picture.
I for one am looking forward to the return to Marvel of one of its biggest stars. And with Spider-Man topping the list of most profitable superheroes, this will hopefully launch the web crawler into the stratosphere as far as movies go.
I liked the original Tobey Maguire Spider-Man movie. Then the Sam Raimi-led franchise started to tumble down the hill PDQ. By the end of Spider-Man 3, they were like the Jamaican bobsled team, zooming down the ice chute at blazing speeds and then wrecking in grand fashion.
Again, I enjoyed the Andrew Garfield/Emma Stone Amazing Spider-Man. It had the things that I wanted to see, like one bad guy. It stayed true to the comics with the [SPOILER ALERT] death of Captain Stacy. It also had a Peter Parker who stayed long and lanky, and didn’t become a guy who looked like he spent some time at the gym.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 brought me one of the saddest movie moments in recent memory: the death of Gwen Stacy TNA-style over-booking. Rhino at the beginning. Electro and Green Goblin in much of the middle, with Rhino inexplicably returning towards the end. And yes, I popped when you saw the Oscorp stash of Sinister Six enhancements.
But one of the traps to which Hollywood can sometimes fall victim is over-stimulation. Give me a good story with one solid villain instead of a shoddy story with multiple antagonists.
Wow…another tangent.
I wish Tom Holland good luck as he dons the familiar red and blue Spider-Man costume. Unfortunately, the success or failure of the new Spidey franchise will undoubtedly be placed on his shoulders, much like Garfield took heat for Amazing Spider-Man 2.
But let’s face it – I’m going to go see all of these movies anyway. I can’t seem to stop myself.
Also, Marvel and Sony announced that Jon Watts will be directing the 2017 Spider-Man movie.
And let me just say…IF Spider-Man (or Peter Parker, for that matter) does appear in Civil War, I’d really like to find that out when I see it in theaters.
We’ve hit double digits on the My 1-2-3 Cents Podcast and in episode 10, Kevin is joined in the studio by co-blogger Chad. The two answer questions from friends on the My 1-2-3 Cents Facebook page. Topics include the long term future of WWE, Wrestlemania and My 1-2-3 Cents merchandise. The two also discuss Chikara Pro, Ring of Honor, Lucha Underground and Impact Wrestling.
Thanks for listening and check out these folks on Twitter:
