Greetings From Allentown

WrestleMania III is on the horizon in this look at WWF Superstars of Wrestling from February 21, 1987! - The Honky Tonk Man appears on Jake Roberts’ Snake Pit and everyone’s fate changes forever - The first Hart Foundation tag title defense on TV against the babyface Islanders - Roddy Piper confirms the rumors of his pending retirement - Extending the wrestling concept of “open contracts” the another sport - Billy Jack Haynes as a dear friend of Hulk Hogan - The forgotten 1987 WWF heel run of Salvatore Bellomo - Audio comparison of the first Honky Tonk Man theme and an early Elvis Presley recording - How important is Savage-Steamboat to the WM3 legacy? - The Can-Am Connection’s busy night in the Meadowlands Plus: - Attending a Chaotic Wrestling show: returning gimmicks, homage to Goodfellas, and Italian dining - Elizabeth cutting loose in an LJN figures commercial - Hulk vs Andre predictions foreshadows the coming fissure in a WWF tag team - Vinnie Vegas Corner for NFL Week 10 (and one NCAA game)! Email: G

Barely under the wire for Halloween is the final show before WCW’s 1991 Halloween Havoc, the October 27, 1991 edition of WCW Main Event! - WCW’s bad luck with the World Series on that date - Imagining a world where Kevin Nash stays as Oz and works Japan exclusively - Madusa in a rare WCW women’s match, and is extremely pissed off for some reason - Another extended appreciation for the great Johnny B. Badd - Van Hammer’s 1991 push: a tribute to a Navy man or just annoying? - The positive social implications of the Ron Simmons push - Football as a driving force in the Luger/Simmons battle - The big reason to never begrudge Mick Foley’s comebacks Plus: - Rebooting the Golden Girls with Missy Hyatt and Madusa - Scenes from a Long Island baptism - Memories of Jim Ross’ old WSB radio show - Vinnie Vegas Corner for NFL week 9! Email: Greetingsfromallentown@gmail.com Twitter: @GFAllentownPod Facebook.com/GreetingsFromAllentown

It’s time to check in with Cowboy Bill Watts for some Mid-South Wrestling from June 24, 1982! - Ted DiBiase takes a necessary step in his career facing Junkyard Dog in one of the greatest storylines ever - The wonderful misspelling of Killer Khan’s name - Andre the Giant’s common interests with the late singer Amy Winehouse - Wondering how Dr. Death Steve Williams didn’t break any stupid NCAA rules by being a pro wrestler - The One Man Gang looking far more like Akeem - Buck Robley, lengthy names, and Libya - Seeing Big John Studd in a non-WWF setting - The musings of Bill Watts: talking about his kids and crapping on Georgia Plus: - Advice on how to approach yard work - Freddie Blassie’s older vocabulary - Prince William vs Prince Harry, then and now - Similarities between DiBiase/JYD and Bruno/Larry - The return of YouTube Comment Theater! - Vinnie Vegas Corner for NFL week 8! Email: Greetingsfromallentown@gmail.com Twitter: @GFAllentownPod Facebook.com/GreetingsFromAllentown

We travel the road to the first King of the Ring PPV with a look at WWF Mania from May 8, 1993! - Todd Pettengill brings his worst qualities to the table - Tatanka saves Sherri from Bam Bam and gets a haircut for his trouble - How Jim Duggan’s ’87 firing impacted Shawn Michaels - The similarities between the Undertaker character and Star Wars - Bob Backlund meets Lex Luger in a battle of former world champions - A bizarre introduction from the Smoking Gunns - Kamala goes it alone without Reverend Slick - Mr. Perfect and Doink begin an unlikely series Plus: - Vince McMahon’s mid 90s calls of near falls - Why Fred Savage is obviously superior to his brother Ben - Pondering a change in the opening segment of the podcast - A close call for the Phoenix Suns - Vinnie Vegas Corner for NFL week 7! Email: Greetingsfromallentown@gmail.com Twitter: @GFAllentownPod Facebook.com/GreetingsFromAllentown

Sting joins forces with fellow Horsemen Ric Flair and Arn Anderson for a red hot six man tag on the January 26, 1990 edition of NWA Power(rrrrrrrrrrrrr) Hour - The eastern Tennessee crowd goes crazy for the short-lived incarnation of the Four Horsemen - Jim Cornette cracks on the taping site, which would change the course of wrestling history - Buzz Sawyer breaks the powerslam scale - Jim Cornette pitches an angle for Ranger Ross, while Jim Ross picks on the Italian Stallion - Terry Funk offers Sting some advice - Diminishing returns from the Samoan Savage - The mostly forgotten rap for WrestleWar ‘90 - Gordon Solie takes a dump on the Memphis territory Plus: - Weddings with accidental visits from mariachis - The story of a man named Savage (not Randy) - How the booking of Bud Bowls are kind of like recent vintage WWE - Reflecting on a big week in current wrestling - Positing an idea for a new Funk’s Grill set - Vinnie Vegas Corner for NFL week 6! - The return of YouTube Comment Theater! Email: Greetings

With the wrestling world changing this week, the show goes back 35 years to the January 28, 1984 edition of WWF Championship Wrestling as a new world champion is crowned! - Hulk Hogan’s title win over the Iron Sheik marks the start of a new era - Sheiky deals with an untimely boner - Paul Orndorff goes to a forbidden place talking about Hulk Hogan - Roddy Piper launches Piper’s Pit at the expense of Victory Corner - How The Hammer overlapped with his time in JCP - How are telegrams being sent to the announcer’s desk in Allentown? - Mr. Fuji’s refusal to tag with a different partner on this set of tapings - Who was the best babyface IC champion of the 1980s? - Tony Atlas vows to get “kinky” - Just how boring can B. Brian Blair be? Plus: - A recap of a week in Alaska - The importance of local promos - Enjoying how Roddy Piper says the name “Tony Atlas” - Hulk Hogan’s surprising tag team partner in New Japan from early ‘84 - Speculating on a movie career for Robert DeBord - Vinnie Vegas Corner for NFL week 5

In this Greetings From Allentown special, the Arsenio Hall Show takes center stage with a look at three appearances by WWF wrestlers on the show! - WWF Champion Randy “Macho Man” Savage appears in March 1989 to promote WrestleMania V and has entertaining interplay with the audience and a fellow guest - Bad News Brown mixes it up with Arsenio in the summer of 1990 on topics like food, his attire, and the feud with Jake “The Snake” Roberts - Hulk Hogan comes on the show to try and spin on the steroid scandals starting to engulf him and the WWF in the summer of 1991….with poor results Email: Greetingsfromallentown@gmail.com Twitter: www.twitter.com/GFAllentownPod Facebook.com/GreetingsFromAllentown

Bask in the afterglow of the 1988 Survivor Series with a look at the November 26, 1988 edition of the WWF Superstars of Wrestling! - Jack Tunney gets some Bad News on the Brother Love Show - What is the nature of these “favors” Bad News is saying Elizabeth did? - Why discussion of the Powers of Pain/Demolition/Mr. Fuji imbroglio from Survivor Series was vague, and thoughts of the execution of the double turn - Is Bobby Heenan and/or Ted DiBiase guilty of human trafficking with regard to Hercules? - Pleading for restoration of the original Rick Rude theme - The apparently aborted feud between the Brain Busters and Young Stallions - What else could be behind the Hart Foundation-Rougeaus feud? - The eternal debate of The Big Bossman vs The Big Boss Man Plus: - An oddity of the presentation of Superstars from this particular taping - Jesse takes a shot at the local Major League Baseball team, with cause - A stunning conclusion to your faithful host’s job search - Vinnie Vegas Corner for week 3 of the NFL! Emai

The Adams Division Podcast returns with part two discussing favorite single season sports teams! Steve Bennett (The Sports-Casters) and Peter Winson (Greetings From Allentown) discuss their 5 favorite single season sports teams of all time! Included are teams that won it all, ones that came agonizingly close, super teams, and ones that were intensely personal to Steve or Peter! As a bonus, Steve and Peter reveal their most HATED single season team of all time as well! Subscribe to the Place To Be Nation Wrestling feed, home of The Adams Division Podcast: placetobe.podbean.com/feed/

Familiar faces abound in this look at Stampede Wrestling from November 22, 1985! - How this version of Stampede came to be and the possible foreshadowing for a member of the Hart family - Babyface Bad News Allen has trouble talking when someone is standing near him - The debut of Chris Benoit and his very much in style head of hair - Bruce Hart’s alias is revealed! - JR Foley’s problematic facial hair - Evaluating producer Ed Whalen’s bizarre editing decisions - Condemning attention-seeking Chris Benoit conspiracy theorists - The soccer-style card system used in Stampede - A Greetings From Allentown musical tribute to Canada - Unfailingly polite promos from Dan Kroffat and Desiree Peterson Plus: - The bizarre connection between Idi Amin’s Uganda and Stampede Wrestling - Projecting the long term relationship of Bad News Allen and Honky Tonk Wayne - Events of November 1985: The Geneva Summit, a pop singer is born, a blues singer dies, and the Burger King “Herb” campaign - An express version of Vinny Vegas Cor

The Macho Man Randy Savage has a bachelor party thrown for him on the August 12, 1991 edition of WWF Prime Time Wrestling! - A comprehensive breakdown of the Macho Man’s bachelor party: what they did right, what went wrong, the invite list, the roles of the various guests - Jake the Snake literally buries the Ultimate Warrior and later shows up as an unwanted guest - Why Mean Gene Okerlund is the perfect bachelor party guest - Recalling the role of Sid Justice in the SummerSlam main event build - Lord Alfred Hayes gets all awkward talking the Macho Man’s wedding - Slick’s relationship with women - Mr. Perfect works around his crippling back injury - Having trouble against the Legion of Doom in the WWF Wrestlefest arcade game - Some background on the belly dancer performing at the party - Summing up every General Adnan promo from 1991 Plus: - Playing Wheel of Fortune with a Barbarian squash - The Irwin R. Schyster Drinking Game - Events of August 1991: John Daly ruins what could have been a promising career,

We’re going to Kansas City, Kansas City here we come for Central States All Star Wrestling from March 10, 1984! - A brief history of the Kansas City territory and its influence in the NWA and reputation - Learning to appreciate the talents of Mad Dog Buzz Sawyer - The random appearance of a Kerry Von Erich makeout session with a fan from 1982 - Longtime veteran Crazy Luke Graham gets hung up on issues of race - Buck Robley’s closest comparison in wrestling history - A bizarre production element of the Central States local promos Plus: - How the NWA travelling world champion model is similar to a popular basketball team - Why the English language is pretty screwed up - Events of March 1984: The failure of the Coleco Adam, Mondale the comedian, UNC and Jordan get upset, and the Colts explore relocation - A police sting at the motel from Planes, Trains, and Automobiles Email: Greetingsfromallentown@gmail.com Twitter: www.twitter.com/GFAllentownPod Facebook.com/GreetingsFromAllentown

We’re living here in Allentown (and Hamburg for one match) for this edition of WWF Championship Wrestling from August 1, 1981! - Bob Backlund takes on Moondog Rex, with extended thoughts on kids rushing the ring in the aftermath and people running on the field at sporting events - Andre the Giant gets very serious and wastes no time - A complete Joe McHugh introduction with an update on the doctor - Tag team action between relatively equal teams ends in a bizarre DQ - Breaking down which of the Three Wise Men managers I would want if I was a 1981 WWF heel - Watching older wrestling at a faster speed - Why Mil Mascaras is the Mexican wrestler who got all the publicity during his heyday - Capt. Lou Albano dumps the Moondogs for a new team: the returning Mr. Fuji and debuting Mr. Saito Plus: - Recapping Backlund’s somewhat one-dimensional first half of 1981 - Referee Danny Davis’ spectacular hairdo - Pondering a dinner with Fred Blassie’s mid-1981 stable - Events of August 1981: The PATCO strike, a baseball s

It is back to Center Stage in Atlanta for a look at WCW Saturday Night from October 2, 1993! - The many timing issues of 1993 WCW - Getting to know the other side of The Shockmaster - Stunning Steve Austin keeps the light on for a Hollywood Blonds reunion - Tracking the WCW tag titles during a turbulent time - Detailing the many issues with the Yoshi Kwan character - Sid Vicious: Philosopher - Rick Rude and Ric Flair: poor dance partners - Attempting to jazz up an already good Cactus Jack promo - Breaking down the promo skills of WCW Amateur Challenge contestants Plus: - A visit to a barcade prompts discussion of arcade games - Lies being told about the “world title” - Crowd chanting of a popular song hook - Events of October 1993: Jordan retires without conspiracy, the Dodgers wreck the Giants season - The return of YouTube Comment Theater! Email: Greetingsfromallentown@gmail.com Twitter: www.twitter.com/GFAllentownPod Facebook.com/GreetingsFromAllentown

The era of the WWF on NBC comes to end on this edition of Saturday Night’s Main Event from April 27, 1991! - Seeking assistance in covering yet another 20 man battle royal without a clear hook - Why 1991 Ultimate Warrior is the best version of the character - The Undertaker’s 1st in-ring meeting with Hulk Hogan - Nasty Boys vs Bushwhackers: a passing of the torch? - Randy Savage subtly offends others on commentary and how it may cause trouble down the road - Jake Roberts debuts his new snake Lucifer without much time to mourn the last snake - Bret Hart make an impression against Ted DiBiase - Examining the actual damage a cattle prod can do Plus: - Original 1991 commercials with car ads, movie trailers, and promos for upcoming NBA playoff games - Why NBC was giving up on the Saturday Night’s Main Event program - Sensational Sherri’s rough weekend of WWF TV - Sgt. Slaughter’s bizarre hairline Email: Greetingsfromallentown@gmail.com Twitter: www.twitter.com/GFAllentownPod Facebook.com/GreetingsFromAllento

It’s Saturday night in Motown for the highest rated edition of NBC’s Saturday Night’s Main Event, from March 14, 1987! - The 20 Man Battle Royal: the confrontation of Andre and Hogan, and the extremely unlikely final four in the match - George Steele meets Randy Savage yet again and prompts thoughts of human trafficking - Mean Gene gets caught checking out Elizabeth by Jesse Ventura - Vince McMahon’s amazing summary of the issues between Andre The Giant and Hulk Hogan - The timeline of Jake Roberts becoming a babyface - A tribute to Roddy Piper and Ventura’s cheeky remark about Piper going to Hollywood - The Hart Foundation defend their titles against a make-shift team - Strange backgrounds being used for interviews Plus: - Andre The Giant: channeling musical artists? - Dangerous Danny Davis as a Peanuts character - Partially going around the NHL for the evening of March 14 and pondering WrestleMania 3’s impact on the ’87 Detroit Pistons - Annoying political theater at the Lowell Folk Festival - The WWF w

The final part of a series looking at one specific weekend takes a trip to Texas for a look at USWA Challenge from July 8, 1990 (or so it was labelled!) - How the USWA in Texas is a slice of both Memphis and shades of the future ECW - The feud that put Steve Austin on the map against Chris Adams, and the ladies get physically involved - Hollywood John Tatum goes over the top in trying to make amends for past behavior - Bill Dundee’s valet Tessa: You can’t spell ‘Tessa” with an A, S, and another S - The brilliantly named Percival Pringle III takes one for the team after he makes light of the Von Erich tragedies - The goofy charm of Craig Johnson - Commercial music theme songs! Plus: - Coming to grips with the possibility that this may not be the July 8 show - Original commercials: Tetris, 7-Up, The Sporting News, and for Milk - Sporting events of the day: a 9-time Wimbledon winner and a massive crash at Daytona - A single comment of YouTube Comment Theater! Email: Greetingsfromallentown@gmail.com Twitter: w

The second part of a series looking at one specific weekend takes a look at NWA World Championship Wrestling from July 7, 1990 - The build for Sting vs Flair at the Great American Bash ’90 with its odd psychology and what could have been done differently - Ole Anderson as the annoying kid from high school and as a faded former all-star - Stan Hansen’s what-if acting career - The confusion created by the Big Van Vader video - A brutally dull tag team match designed to apparently kill time - The amazing part about Doug Furnas’ weightlifting career - One thing El Gigante was good at - The Rock and Roll Express in 1990: emblematic of the end of the JCP era? Plus: - A delicious and healthy pizza topping - Why a certain beach town in Massachusetts beings to mind Dealey Plaza in Dallas - How the Braves fared against the Mets after this show aired on TBS - YouTube Comment Theater! Email: Greetingsfromallentown@gmail.com Twitter: www.twitter.com/GFAllentownPod Facebook.com/GreetingsFromAllentown

The first part of a series on one specific weekend takes a look at WWF Superstars of Wrestling from July 7, 1990! - Randy Savage and Jim Brunzell face off in one of the all-time great enhancement matches, with additional background - Examining the sudden Demolition heel turn - Commentary on other wrestlers discussing Hulk Hogan’s pending decision on his future - A delightful rematch from the original WrestleMania - Bad News Brown flashes a rare smile! - Paths not chosen in the aftermath of Brutus Beefcake’s facial injury - Pondering the Honky Tonk Man in the same ring as Terry Gordy and Dr. Death - Sniffing out Ted DiBiase’s schemes in Cobb County, Georgia - Nikolai Volkoff talking world peace; what Bush and Gorbachev were up to at the time Plus: - Background on shellfish allergies - Speculating on the alleged friendship between Hacksaw Jim Duggan and President George H.W. Bush - Queen Sensational Sherri invents new hair accessories - The cost of travelling to Fiji - Vince McMahon’s 15 second effort at pump

It is a long awaited trip to the Pacific Northwest for a look at Portland Wrestling from October 11, 1980! - An extended appreciation of Playboy Buddy Rose, the king of PNW - A quick rundown of the Portland territory, how they were unique and the stars they produced - Why the play by play guy would have died watching 1996 WCW - Jonathan Boyd’s motivations for facing Buddy Rose - Why a Jay Youngblood promo telegraphs what will happen on the next big show - The thankfully brief run of Mike Popovitch Email: Greetingsfromallentown@gmail.com Twitter: www.twitter.com/GFAllentownPod Facebook.com/GreetingsFromAllentown