Greetings From Allentown

Stand back for the diamond anniversary show with a look at WWF Superstars of Wrestling from November 14, 1987! - It’s the end of Superstar Billy Graham as we know it and I feel fine - An examination of Demolition’s theme song and music video - Figuring out why Bam Bam Bigelow had a saxophone based theme in 1987/88 - Re-enacting how Jim Crockett would have found out about the Survivor Series being a Thanksgiving event - Who let Dangerous Danny Davis talk twice during the same show? - The Ted DiBiase Basketball Challenge and proper ball protection - Linking Paul Orndorff, Lex Luger, and Big Show - Slick’s reasons for associating with Russian Communists Also: - The one incredible realistic feature of the WWF LJN “Stretch” Dolls - Looking back on a trip to Chicago: Wrigley Field, preferred deep dish pizza, and TSA issues - The high comedy of a facilities manager praising the WWF under apparent duress - S.D. Jones, Frenchy Martin, and the song from the climactic scene from Dirty Dancing - A beloved trope of wr

This week the show jets to Chicago for a look at WCW Pro on WGN from March 9, 1991! - The reasons why WCW had to tailor a show like this to Chicago only - The Freebirds lose the world tag team titles as part of an elaborate short sell - Attempting to explain why the Southern Boys became the Young Pistols and finding a better way to do it - How Jim Herd did Ric Flair a favor - Sitting in as the third wheel on an awkward date with El Gigante and Missy Hyatt - Legendary sportscaster Jack Brickhouse: From Willie Mays to Alexandra York - Barry Windham's hair is ridiculous - The valid reason why Bobby Eaton sucker punched the Z-Man Also: - Dustin Rhodes imitates his daddy - The 1991 Chicago White Sox and a little dose of Chicago baseball history - Michael Jackson echoes his sister Janet at the MTV Video Music Awards - If he is from anywhere he pleased, why would Sid Vicious choose West Memphis, Arkansas? - YouTube Comment Theater! Email: GreetingsFromAllentown@gmail.com Twitter.com/GFAllentownPod Facebook.com

This week features a loaded episode of WWF All American Wrestling from February 23, 1986! - Why this particular show had so many big matches - Randy Savage kicks off his IC title reign and his strong case for best of all IC champs - Terry Funk shows and tells us the importance of family - The diminishing returns of bringing back Mr. T for WrestleMania 2 - Mr. Wonderful treads water - Spicing up the Lanny Poffo act of 1986 through song - The inherent problem with using boxing in the wrestling world - Making sense of the “WWF on Tour” announcements Plus: - A public service announcement about restaurant etiquette when in large groups - Connecting the Philippines revolution ousting Ferdinand Marcos back to wrestling - In light of Paul Orndorff’s ’86 induction, looking at other University of Tampa Hall of Famers - So many fragrance ads along with one for a failed computer system - The Andre the Giant of thumb wrestling Email: GreetingsFromAllentown@gmail.com Twitter.com/GFAllentownPod Facebook.com/greetingsfr

This week we take a trip to the Carolinas for some Jim Crockett Promotions action with Mid Atlantic Wrestling from November 1981! - Mid Atlantic as a star laden territory - Roddy Piper as top guy fending off challenger Ricky Steamboat - Defending Bob Caudle as a host of weekly wrestling TV - Sandy Scott tries to attract big names to the territory by offering a specific prize in a vague contest - Framing Sgt. Slaughter as an all-time great - What exactly would you call Jimmy Valiant? - The much more athletic 1981 Jake Roberts Plus: - Local promos for a show that may or may not have happened - A brief history of the studio where this show was taped, WPCQ in Charlotte - Similarities between a song by The Police and the fight song of a Major League Baseball team - A 1995 WWF gimmick idea using one of the early 80s JCP jobber names - YouTube Comment Theater! Email: Greetingsfromallentown@gmail.com www.twitter.com/GFAllentownPod Facebook.com/GreetingsFromAllentown Placetobenation.com/amazon

In honor of the 2nd season of GLOW dropping on Netflix, this week Greetings From Allentown takes a look at the original G.L.O.W. from the 1980s with their pilot episode! - How G.L.O.W. was different from traditional wrestling promotions and its cult-like popularity - Thoughts on the Netflix series GLOW - Matilda the Hun wants meat and she knows how to get it - WWE Hall of Famer Ivory: the bridge between G.L.O.W. and the Attitude Era - Critiques of David McLane as a play by play announcer - Salt and Pepper take me back to my childhood with their fighting - An incredible moment where someone goes through a table(!) - Americana: a preview of Trump’s America? - The unique production elements during the broadcast Plus: - Travel adventures in Atlanta, GA with long baseball games and confusing rental car keys - A few quality raps and some bizarre promos on topics like food and men in Africa, apple pie, and eating banana splits - Don’t mess with casino security - Hollywood shocks by working blue - A lengthy YouTu

It is that 70s show this week with the initial visit to the decade for a look at WWWF Championship Wrestling from October 29, 1977! - The Grand Wizard makes his case for 1977’s Manager of the Year while running down Arnold Skaaland - The forgotten moment that made the Manager of the Year trophy presentation stand out - “Exclusive” audio of the breakup of the championship tag team of Chief Jay Strongbow and Billy White Wolf - Why Dusty Rhodes couldn’t and wouldn’t be the WWF’s top guy for the 1984 national expansion - The unusual buildup of Bob Backlund in ’77 and how he differed from previous top guys in the promotion - Dewey Robertson as a pure wrestler in his pre-Missing Link days - A different kind of Vince McMahon on commentary: quiet and subdued - Fun with enhancement talents and odd looking results - A single heckler gives Backlund advice - Larry Sharpe: Pretty boy? Plus: - Meditations on the music of 1977 - Thoughts on the Panama Canal treaty - What the Zembo Mosque means to certain wrestlers - The

Episode number 69 gets extreme with a look at ECW Hardcore TV from October 10, 1997 (ECW 233 on the WWE Network) - Breaking down one of the most (in)famous ECW matches ever between Beulah McGillicutty and Bill Alfonso - Examining whether ECW could have been sustainable in the long term - Figuring out the motivations and background for the Justin Credible character - November to Remember ’97 and its similarity to JCP’s Starrcade ‘87 - Lance Storm’s hideous tail and its potential impact on US/Canada relations - Why the Mr. Monday Night gimmick had an expiration date - Paul Heyman as Vizzini the bald Sicilian from The Princess Bride - An accusation of “match plagiarism” as “move inflation” runs amok Plus: - Thoughts on CM Punk and his MMA experience - Common ground between wrestling and pornography - Actual praise for a specific music dub on the WWE Network Email: Greetingsfromallentown@gmail.com www.twitter.com/GFAllentownPod Facebook.com/GreetingsFromAllentown Placetobenation.com/amazon

This week we go back three decades for a look at the WWF Superstars of Wrestling from October 22, 1988! - An examination of the attack on Hulk Hogan by the Big Bossman on the Brother Love Show - The WWF in the fall of 1988: out with the old and in with the new - Reasons why Haku was a logical choice for “King” - What kind of wrestler would you want to be: one known for matches or one who is known for everything but the matches? - The simple argument for why the Brain Busters WERE a good fit in the WWF - Comparing two Akeems head to head for 1988-89 - Tito Santana runs into a string of bad luck - Explaining the difference between the Warlord and the Barbarian - A revelation by Bad News Brown Plus: - Running around downtown Nashville like Henry Hill at the end of Goodfellas - A true tale of hustling drunk guys for money on the golf course at age 7 that ends with a life lesson - Dan Quayle walks into a trap - Singing the Hulkamania Prison Blues - Famous men named Pork Chop - Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura b

This week we head to Las Vegas, Nevada for an episode of AWA Championship Wrestling on ESPN from May 9, 1987! - How one ends up doing an AWA show from this era - Examining what Curt Hennig’s 1987 might have looked like had he jumped to the WWF - A TV show idea for Larry Zbyszko - Theorizing on Sensational Sherri’s working style - Rod Trongard can’t keep his shaded eyes on the prize - Nick Bockwinkel doesn’t give a crap anymore - The one man who may have benefitted from Curt Hennig’s and the Midnight Rockers’ respective decisions during the year - The racist symbol that somehow made its way onto ESPN - Looking at Jerry Sags and Brian Knobbs as separate enhancement talents Plus: - How Eric Bischoff got his foot in the door of professional wrestling - What was that damn noise when sports channels went to commercial in the 1980s? - Playing the AWA Front Row Empty Seat Watch game - The current state of the site of the Las Vegas AWA shows “The Showboat” Email: Greetingsfromallentown@gmail.com www.twitter.com/GFA

Get funky like a monkey for a look at WCW Prime from March 11, 1996! - The ridiculousness of the Doomsday cage match at Uncensored but did the heels actually accomplish their goal? - Finding the perfect gimmick for John Tenta in WCW - The Berlyn gimmick and Alex Wright: a victim of circumstance and oversized egos - Why Men at Work and the Barrio Brothers should have joined forces - The impossible situation of The Renegade - Sting's new role: NASCAR interviewer? - Critiquing Dave Taylor’s gear - The alternate universe where The Gambler is the WCW World Television champion Plus: - Spicing up the bowling commercial - How NOT to tell a deaf person that the fire alarm is going off - What Peter did in his last ever - There are many men named Manny Fernandez and why is Dusty Rhodes concerned about one of them? Email: Greetingsfromallentown@gmail.com www.twitter.com/GFAllentownPod Facebook.com/GreetingsFromAllentown Placetobenation.com/amazon

This week the show jumps back into WWF’s “mini-Attitude Era” of 1991 with a look at WWF Superstars from November 23! • Examining the entire cobra bite saga with Jake Roberts and Randy Savage, with great camera work and perhaps Vince McMahon’s last great call • The Mad Men-inspired theory of WWF’s suddenly crazy storylines in 1991 • How Shawn Michaels is kind of like a John Travolta character • Former blood enemies teaming up: how much time needs to pass before this can be accepted? • Breaking down the WWF run of Big Bully Busick • Hulk Hogan invokes God as he faces his Gravest Challenge • So what exactly was the nature of Jack Tunney’s relationship with Elizabeth? • The Undertaker gets audio treatments to close out his promos Plus: • Why it’s a good thing that Ric Flair’s “real world title” belt was censored • Goofy Survivor Series team promos aplenty • Wanting to be an Executive Consultant • Medicating a cat in the year 2018: we’ve come a long way, baby! • The return of YouTube Comment Theater! Email: Gre

Be fair to Flair and check out Greetings From Allentown for a look back at WCW Main Event from April 2, 1995! - WCW in early 1995: the meeting of good comedy and bad continuity - The formation of the Blue Bloods: great vignette or the greatest vignette? - Ric Flair does a time buy to clear his name and set the record straight about some recent actions - Questioning the makeup of the “WCW Executive Committee” - Sgt. Craig Pittman in the big shadow of Sgt. Slaughter - Brian Pillman confounds with his finisher - Executing a “short sell” of the WCW Tag titles Plus: - How to properly smoke a pork shoulder - A brief history of 1-900 numbers in the United States - Nick Bockwinkel as a regular Jay-Z in the boardroom - The infamy of the Duchess of York Email: Greetingsfromallentown@gmail.com Twitter: @GFAllentownPod Facebook.com/GreetingsFromAllentown Placetobenation.com/amazon

This week Greetings From Allentown heads to the Land of 10,000 Lakes (and Dropkicks) for a look at AWA All Star Wrestling from April 6, 1986! - A comprehensive breakdown of the infamous WrestleRock Rumble rap video ranking the performance of each vocalist - Common threads between rap music and professional wrestling - The last vestiges of the Pro Wrestling USA leads to pleasant surprises in the promo - The AWA in 1986: teetering on the brink but still solid in-ring - Jerry Blackwell as the badass babyface - Young Leon White (Vader) as a plucky underdog(?!) - The “storied” history of the AWA Americas title as told by its Wikipedia page - The common thread between AWA Scott Hall and nWo Scott Hall Plus: - Who are these random people in the WrestleRock Rumble video? - Favorite non-wrestling podcast of all time - There’s no shame in being a one hit wonder and the greatest Simpsons parody song - Travel and entertainment advice for Las Vegas, Nevada! - The full New Hampshire experience Email: Greetingsfromallent

Much like Marty McFly, we go back to 1985 for a look at WWF All Star Wrestling from August 31, 1985! - Late ’85 WWF gets a freshening up and a more coherent direction than a year earlier - Early Elizabeth and noticeable differences in how she acted and commentary talked about her - Breaking down the candidates for the Manager of the Year contest - The different chemistry of the early Gorilla Monsoon/Jesse Ventura commentary team - Terry Funk is everything you want and need him to be - Uncle Elmer is everything you don’t want or need - Defending Paul Orndorff’s 85/86 babyface run - The incoherent Captain Lou Albano draws comparisons to an ill-fated Goodfellas character Plus: - The bizarre story of how the naming of Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania came to be - An all-jobber tag team match and how something is always off about Lanny Poffo - Gene Okerlund and Mr. Fuji evoke memories of Karate Kid - A story of disposable razors and a bad blade job - Commercials for things like other wrestling promotions, modular home

In this very special episode of Greetings From Allentown “Best of the Heel Turns, Volume 1”, Peter looks back at three big turns done on earlier episodes of the podcast. - Andre the Giant turns on Hulk Hogan with a build beginning with the big man’s return from a Jack Tunney imposed suspension (Episode 4) - Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty attempt a reconciliation after months of bickering in the Barber Shop, but the Heartbreak Kid has other plans (Episode 5) - In the greatest example of the student taking on the teacher, Larry Zbyszko snaps on Bruno Sammartino after finally getting a match against the Living Legend (Episode 14) Please note: This episode was finalized before the passing of Bruno Sammartino at age 82. Email: Greetingsfromallentown@gmail.com Twitter: @GFAllentownPod Facebook.com/GreetingsFromAllentown Placetobenation.com/amazon

This week Greetings From Allentown goes back 31 years to Jim Crockett Promotions for a look at NWA Worldwide from June 13, 1987! - Despite having red hot crowds, how some cracks were starting to show in the foundation of JCP that wasn’t readily apparent at the time - The ’87 Four Horsemen: underappreciated historically compared with the quartet before and after - Dusty Rhodes vs Tully Blanchard for $100,000 leads to a very sad, cinematic moment in the locker room - The batshit crazy schedule for Jim Crockett Promotions in early 1987 - Tommy Young’s poor officiating and comparing his response with other officials who famously blew calls in sports - Jim Crockett Jr. oozes with charisma as he explains the rules for the new War Games: The Match Beyond - Where the case for Jim Cornette as greatest manager of all time should start - The Rock and Roll Express and the curious case of the missing tag title belt - Two great Arn Anderson promos, as if there is any other kind Plus: - Is Peter a “bad wrestling fan” for

In the spirit of WrestleMania season, the "Adams Division" (Peter Winson of Greetings From Allentown & Steve Bennett of the Sports-Casters) reunites to discuss and rank WrestleManias 1 to 14. Featuring: Top matches, hidden gems and personal recollections of attending the biggest wrestling show of the year!

This week Greetings From Allentown is uncooked, uncut, and uncensored with a look at WWF Monday Night RAW from March 8, 1993! - Trying to be fair to Rob Bartlett as a color commentator and comedian - Virgil and El Matador Tito Santana: friends to the end - Rick Martel hassles the RAW girls while dressed like he’s going to christen a sloop - Hulk Hogan sings a song from a car commercial then on TV - Shawn Michaels: bad promo or just a really big Bruce Springsteen fan? - Re-imagining the Michaels-Tatanka WrestleMania 9 match in a way that would help both guys - Bob Backlund fans out in force in New York City - Getting the voodoo gimmick wrong with Papa Shango Plus: - Vince McMahon lets us know what’s coming up next on USA Network and it’s not “Silk Stalkings” nor “Murder, She Wrote” - The laziness of the first Gilligan’s Island theme song - Wondering about the influence of All Japan on WWF in 1993 - Yelling “Bonzai!” leads to a discussion of Daniel LaRusso’s choice of car from Karate Kid 1 - A strange as for

It’s WrestleMania season so this week features a look at the build to the Ultimate Challenge at WrestleMania 6 with WWF Superstars from March 10, 1990! - A passionate tirade against the Ultimate Warrior’s promo style and general bigotry - Reasons why the Ultimate Warrior would want to protect Hulk Hogan in advance of their match - Earthquake is down with the brown (tights) - “Boxcar” Greg Valentine tries his best with new black hair and a guitar - Who would have fetched more on the free market: Warlord or Barbarian? - Newly babyface Big Bossman: still kind of a dick - Bad News Brown takes a stab at a Boston accent - Is Akeem a character from a children’s book? Plus: - A big St. Patrick’s Day in 1990 at the Boston Garden with hockey and a WWF house show - Hulk Hogan’s recurring issues with mirrors - Jake Roberts gives us a chilling vision of things to come - Robert Goulet in popular culture - The return of YouTube Comment Theater! Email: Greetingsfromallentown@gmail.com Twitter: @GFAllentownPod Facebook.com

Bring some attitude to the 21st century for a look at WWF Metal from March 3, 2001! - Starting the build to Rock-Austin II and contrasting with other babyface WrestleMania main events - The distinction between WWF Metal and WWF Jakked - Samoa Joe drifts through WWF TV in 2001 with blond hair - Essa Rios: The Cal Ripken of the syndicated shows - The psychosis of Vince McMahon in early 2001 - Breaking down the Radicalz as Eddie Guerrero gets loud - Another installment in the heated rivalry between Memphis and Canada Also: - Looking back at Chaotic Wrestling’s Cold Fury 17 show last week - Struggling to say “X-Pac” - The Rock had an internet browser? - Ranking cities in the state of Texas - A salute to Snickers, a WWE sponsor then and now - Explaining signs at wrestling events in that era