Episode 100 - Family Affair #3 - Caged Heat
Aug 08, 2021
Show notes
The sons vow to avenge their father.
We had such great plans for episode 100. Unfortunately, life gets in the way sometimes. We had lined up a bunch of folks to discuss the night that changed Continental Championship Wrestling, when Robert Fuller turned on Bob Armstrong in a steel cage and joined the Stud Stable with his brother Ron and cousin Jimmy in August 1985. But, due to all the sad wrestling news from this week, we were left with the only piece of the show that was recorded before the deaths of Jody Hamilton, Bert Prentice and Bobby Eaton.
So, we welcome back Karl Stern (@WIWCool) from When It Was Cool to talk about the fateful evening. We discuss the build-up to the cage match, not just from the start of Continental in June, but seeds that had been planted for years in the long-running Armstrong family feud with the Fuller/Golden/Welch clan. Then we analyze the match and the angle, including one part of the story that bugged Karl for many years.
We follow that up with a more general discussion of Continental and Southeastern, including why some parts of the wrestling community have overlooked or ignore the contributions made by Roy Welch, Buddy Fuller and Ron Fuller over the years.
The show wraps up with some comic book talk, as Karl had been gushing online about the first issue of the new Moon Knight comic, so we chat about that and whether this version will tie into the new Disney/Marvel TV show featuring the man of many personalities.
We have some shows lined up in the future, so hopefully those will materialize. Given all the problems we have had with guests lately, we don’t feel confident giving a timetable anymore. But thanks for listening for any and all of the first 100 episodes.
Episode Ninety-Nine - The Night of the Affair Affair
May 05, 2021
Show notes
Barbara Feldon and Robert Vaughn from the Man from UNCLE
There were two choices for what to do for episode 99 - hockey or female spies, so we chose the latter. To talk about Agent 99, Mrs. Peel, April Danger and lots others, we’re happy to welcome back to the pod John Champion (@DVDGeeks) from the Mission Log Podcast amongst other shows.
We start, of course, with Agent 99 herself, Barbara Feldon and Get Smart, including the start of the show, her role as straight woman/love interest, the evolution of the show , the 90s Fox sequel/revival and the Numb Bomb movie which noticably did not have Feldon in the cast.
Feldon’s appearonce on the Man from UNCLE led us into discussing The Girl From UNCLE, the one-season spiin-off starring Stefanie Powers. This segues nicely into a chat about the number one female TV spy, Mrs. Peel, played by Diana Rigg on the Avengers. We talk about what made her so special and tallk about some memorable episodes.
Naturally, this brings us to James Bond, where we start with the whole notion of “the Bond Girl,” and how the term has outlived its usefulness in 2021. We discuss our favorite from the movies, whether they were leading ladies or dastardly femme fatales. And that includes some of the lesser-known characters over the years, not just the obvious ones.
(editor’s note: Shamefully, we forgot to discuss Barbara Bain and Mission: Impossible. My apologies)
We end the show with some brief Star Trek talk. Mission Log recently reviews the Deep Space Nine episode “Far Beyond the Stars,” so we discuss how that episode still holds up 30 years later. There’s also some brief chat about season two of Star Trek Picard and the new Roddenberry podcast “Sci Fi 5.:”
As we mentioned on the show, episode 100 is next and hopefully we will be having someone as a very special, after literally years of them asking to do the show. Tune in next time to see if they are here.
Episode Ninety-Eight - The Warrior of the Wasteland
Apr 08, 2021
Show notes
The Lord Humongous (Jeff Van Camp) from his Mid-South debut in 1985.
The It’s a Family Affair podcast makes its return with a very special guest, Jeff Von Camp aka Lord Humongous (Continental/Mid-South version). We discuss how Jeff was broken into the business by Jerry Lawler, cutting his teeth in Indianapolis teaming with Dick the Bruiser, being given the Humongous gimmick, working in Southeastern/Continental for the Fullers, joining the Stud Stable, turning babyface, wrestling Ric Flair for the NWA World title and some of his opponents in Pensacola, including Porkchop Cash, Bob Armstrong and The Flame (Jody Hamilton). We then go over his move to Mid-South, where he could have gone at the time, his debut angle with Dick Murdoch, being managed by Sir Oliver Humperdink, teaming with Nord the Barbarian and his memorable feud with Jake Roberts. We end by talking about why he left the business after such a short time and his career after that.
Amazingly, I forgot to ask about the thing I was most curious: the Mid-South Lord Humongous music video,, set to War Machine by Kiss (see below). Jeff was nice enough to tell me after the show that it was Bill Watts’ idea and it was shot at a body shop in Watts’ hometown of Bixby, Oklahoma.
Thanks to Jeff for talking about his brief-but-memorable time in the business. We hope to have more wrestlers from that era on the podcast in the future so stay tuned. Thanks for listening.
Episode Ninety-Seven - Nothing Could be Finer
Mar 11, 2021
Show notes
Jim Crockett Jr shakes hands with Paul Ellering at the 1986 Crockett Cup as Bill Watts and Elizabeth Crockett look on.
We’re happy to welcome back Beau James (@kingofkingsport) to the show for another history lesson.
First, we discuss the recent passing of Jim Crockett Jr, who ran Jim Crockett Promotions from 1973 until selling the company to Turner Broadcasting in 1988. JCP promoted in the Tri-Cities, when Beau saw his first live shows in the early 1980s. We talk about how Jim Crockett Sr promoted there before moving to North Carolina in the 1930s, the history of the Crocketts promoting the area off and on over the years, including once the Knoxville War ended in 1979 and eventually taking over the territory when it was sold by Ric Flair and Blackjack Mulligan. We also talk about them running in the late 1980s there, including a record-setting show in Kingsport in 1987.
After that, we spend a good while talking about Ron Fuller’s Southeastern Wrestling in Knoxville and Pensacola and Continental Championship Wrestling., including the 1977 time period Ron is currently discussing on his podcast and the 1980s stuff that will be part of the It’s A Family Affair project, which you can find elsewhere on the website. All the names you would expect to hear are brought up: Ron Wright, Robert Fuller and Jimmy Golden. Ron Garvin, the Mongolian Stomper and many more.
Of course, plenty of other stuff too, as you would expect when Beau is on the show, including some baseball chat and an update on Beau’s health issues. It’s always great to talk to the King of Kingsport.
Episode Ninety-Six - The Sheik of Araby
Mar 07, 2021
Show notes
Sarge gets a “gift” from Saddam Hussein. Or so he says.
We welcome back Ashraf Khalil (@ashrafkhalil) to take about a dubious wrestling anniversary, the 30th anniversary of Iraqi Sympathizer Sgt. Slaughter winning the WWF title during the Persian Gulf War. We talk about the whole history of the gimmick, friom Sarge’s return to the WWF in the Summer of 1990, his initial heel gimmick, the pairing with General Adnan, his winning the WWF title, the Wrestlemania VII match with Hulk Hogan, the addition of Colonel Mustafa to the group, the split and face turn and blow-off. We discuss what was going in Middle East as all this was going on, as well as the WWF’s war with Dave Meltzer over his coverage of the angle in the National. (Check out the recent Between the Sheets Patreon episode for more on this topic).
This leads into a broader discussion of the depiction of Arab/Middle Eastern wrestlers, from the Terrible Turk in the late 1900s up until the present, including looking at the Iron Sheik, Sheik Adnan Al-Kaissie, Scandar Akbar, the Great Mephisto, Muhammad Hassan, the Original Sheik, Sabu and many more. Who were Arab-Americans, who were from the Middle East, who used a fake accent and who didn’t and other relevant questions. Shout out to Charting the Territories podcast for their recent look at the in=ring career of Scandar Akbar, which helped out conversation.
There’s also a lot of digressions in the show, including stuff about comics, Indiana University’s “eight front doors,” pre-Internet journalism and more. Thanks for listening.
Episode Ninety-Five - New Math
Dec 31, 2020
Show notes
Danny Hodge on the cover of the April 1, 1957 issue of Sports Illustrated.
We’re happy to have the debut on the pod this week of Al Getz (@AlGetzwrestling) from Charting the Territories for a wide ranging conversation.
First, we discuss the life and times of Danny Hodge, who passed away last week at the age of 88. One of Al’s main areas of research is the Leory McGuirk territory, Hodge’s home for most of his career. We discuss Hodge’s amateur accomplishments in both wrestling and boxing, his transition to pro wrestling and his career highlights. Al has a number of great stories about Hodge, both in his younger days and the unfortunate end of his in-ring tenure following a car accident.
After that, we talk about an article Al wrote about the early career of pod favorite Buddy Landell. We talk about his start in Poffo’s ICW and his journey up the card until becoming a main eventer in Memphis, during his infamous run in 1986 teaming with Bill Dundee. We talk about his time in Mid-South, Mid-Atlantic and Puerto Rico. This leads to a wonderful digression about the journey wrestlers go on in finding the right persona to adopt in the ring.
We also talk about the statistical-based Al uses on his website and podcast to evaluate wrestlers, how it was inspired by baseball sabermetrics and the folly of using traditional sports metrics to try and analyze pro wrestling. There are also some fun stories about indy wrestling, involving folks like King Kong Bundy and the Honky Tonk Man.
Thanks for listening. Work is slowly continuing on our new It’s A Family Affair project, with a few weeks of Continental TV recapped on the website. We hope to have the next episode of the podcast up soon with a former wrestler as guest. Stay turned for more information. We hope you enjoy the show.
Episode Ninety-Four - It's a Family Affair Number One
Nov 07, 2020
Show notes
Ron Fuller on the Continental Championship Wrestling set.
We are happy to debut the first episode of the “It’s A Family Affair” Podcast, the companion piece to the website project of the same name examining Continental Championship Wrestling. And for our first show, it’s great to welcome back Karl Stern (@WIWCool) to the show. Not only is Karl a wrestling historian, but an Alabama native who grew up watching Southeastern Wrestling and saw its transition to Continental.
In a very wide-ranging discussion, we talk about the transition of the promotion in June 1985, the logistics of the change, why they changed names, format and even announcers, bringing in Gordon Solie to replace longtime host Charlie Platt. We talk about where the promotion was in terms of angles they were running at the time and what they did on the debut show, including bringing in world champion Ric Flair to kick off the first episode.
After that, quite frankly, we just all over the place, talking about just about everything related to the company, including their start in Knoxville in 1974, Ron Fuller acquiring the Gulf Coast terrritory and renaming it Southeastern in 1978, the towns they ran and where the TV show was seen in that part of the country. We talk about Ron Fuller’s career as a wrestler and promoter, including whether we think buying Knoxville cost him the change of being NWA World Champion .
And we discuss just about every name you can think of from this era: Robert Fuller, Jimmy Golden, all of the Armstrongs (Bob, Brad, Scott and Steve), Adrian Street, Rip Rogers, Austin Idol, Tommy and Johnny Rich, the Nightmares (Danny Davis and Ken Wayne), Tom Prichard, Tony Anthony, Jerry Stubbs, The Flame (also known as the Assassin), Roy Lee Welch, Bill Ash, Lord Humongous and more.
We also talk about Karl’s When It Was Cool website, a wide ranging popular culture site, very akin to our own. We even find time to talk about Southern Basterds, then now missing in action comic set in the part of Alabama Karl knows very well.
The goal of the podcast is not only have wrestling journalists and historians on the show, but also the wrestlers were that is possible.
Note: You can also hear me on an upcoming episode of Ron Fuller’s Super Stud Cast, where I can to ask Ron about the creation of Continental and hear how it happened from the man himself.
Be sure to check out the It’s A Family Affair section of the website for a look at the Continental television shows and other articles about the promotion. Thanks for your time.
Episode Ninety-Three - Tragedy Tomorrow, Comedy Tonight
Oct 30, 2020
Show notes
Kevin’s new book, Who Are Ya?
Sometimes the podcast you plan isn’t the one you end up doing. That’s the case with our new pod with writer/broadcaster/comedian Kevin Day (@kevinhunterday). What was supposed to be a chat about Kevin’s new book and his podcast ended up starting with a long conversation about comedy, old TV shows and more.
We innocently began the pod talking about time zones in the United States, which somehow turned into a long chat about old school British comedies, especially the shows that were shown in the States on PBS. This turned into a wide-ranging discussion about American comedy vs British comedy, Monty Python, Dad’s Army, Whose Line is it Anyway?, 1970s British sitcoms brought over to the States, classic spy shows, referentiality in comedy, stand-up versus improv and more. We also talked about Kevin’s son Ed Night (@_ednight) also being a stand-up comedian and the challenges facing the comedy business in Great Britain during the pandemic.
Eventually, we did get around to talking about Kevin’s new book, Who Are Ya?, an examination of the (current) 92 clubs in the English football pyramid. We discuss Kevin’s famous interview on Match of the Day 2 with Sylvester Stallone at Goodison Park, football’s working class roots and the contrast with today’s big business philosophies, at least among many of the Premier League clubs.
We close it out with Kevin’s current podcast, The Price of Football, and some of his old ones. How did Kevin end up working with Kieran Maguire and would the pod have even started had he known Kieran supported Brighton, the hated rival of Kevin’s beloved Crystal Palace. We also talk the old Chappers podcast that Kevin did with Mark Chapman, Graham Poll and Roy Meredith and discuss how the podcast model can be better for concent creators than trying to work in radio or TV.
This was a fun show that went in so many different directions. It’s always fun when you have a guest as multi-faceted as Kevin who can talk about everything from football finance to Randall and Hopkirk Deceased to Robin Williams. Hopefully, we will have Kevin back on the show in the future.
Also, when this show debuts in late October 2020, we hope to be announcing in the next week or so our next project which will have written content on the website and an audio companion, either on this feed or a new one.
Thanks for listening.
Episode Ninety-Two - Dream Catching
Sep 29, 2020
Show notes
Rey Cometa and Espirtu Negro.
We are happy to welcome The Cubs Fan (@luchablog) back to the pod for the annual post CMLL Anniversary show under very unusual circumstances to say the least.
First off, there’s a match-by-match breakdown of the show, including discussing the matches that did not take place, either due to injury or COVID-related illness. Which matches were exceeded expectations, which did not and how did the luchadors that getting a chance to shine in the spotlight fare on the night?
Then, we discuss how lucha as a whole has dealt with the pandemic in Mexico. Who has been able to run shows, how have the wrestlers coped with no income for months now, how have the promotions and officials taken care of them (or not)?
Next, with voting still taking place at time of recording, we examine all the lucha candidates on the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame ballot. After the logjam in the lucha category was thinned out last year, how do the prospects of old and new candidates look for the likes of Los Brazos, Caristico and others?
We end the show with some quick postseason baseball chat, with the playoffs Astarting tomorrow and a discussion of the next generation video game consoles. Is it worth getting a new PS5 or Xbox Series X at launch?
Also, we are hoping to very soon launch a new project on the website that may or may not have a podcast component to it. Keep an eye on the website and Twitter for details.
Thanks for listening.
Episode Ninety-One - Long and Lean and the color of the sun
Sep 01, 2020
Show notes
The Tennessee Stud, Charlie Platt and Bob Armstrong. Not pictured: Ron Fuller.
We are beyond thrilled to welcome The (original) Tennessee Stud Ron Fuller (@RonFullerWelch) to the podcast for the first time (hopefully not the last) to discuss a wide variety of topics.
First, we discuss Ron’s new novel Brutus, about a cunning and deadly man-eating lion that gets loose in the Smoky Mountain National Park. We talk about how long ago Ron wrote the book, how it got published, some (but not all) of the plot, the characters involved, how writing can be like being a wrestling booker, comparing Brutus to the Mongolian Stomper and more.
From there, we pay tribute to the late Bullet Bob Armstrong, who passed away a few ago as of recording. Ron talks about his long friendship and business relationship with Bob outside the ring and some of the famous angles with and against him in the ring. We talk about how Bob excelled at being a heel for the first time and discuss the psychology of heels growing mustaches.
This segues into a chat about Ron’s promotions in Knoxville and Pensacola and some of the folks he worked with in those places, including some Ron Wright stories.
Lastly, we talk about how Ron ended up in hockey, owning teams in Nashville and Cincinnati, bringing wrestling showmanship to the ice and the resistance that entailed and how he helped pave the way for the successes the NHL has found with the Nashville Predators.
There’s also talk about doing the Studcast, the Super Studcast, the largest wrestling family in American history, playing against Artis Gilmore in college, watching his dad stretch Elvis in the family barn, and so much more. You can buy Brutus from Amazon or you can get it from Ron directly at tnstud.com, where you can get an autographed copy.
This might be one of my favorite episodes, getting to talk Southern Rasslin’ with someone so important to its history. We didn’t get to talk about so many topics that we can’t wait to have Ron on again.
Our TOPPODCAST Picks 
Stay Connected
