Episode 133 - Legend of a Mind

Kevin Sullivan, King Curtis Iaukea and Mark Lewin. Sullivan passed away on August 9 at age 74.

Before we start, an apology for no podcasts during or after the Tragos/Thesz Hall of Fame a few weeks ago. During the travel to the event, we had some weather-related issues at home that necessitated putting any recording plans on hold. But we are now back, although we were it were under better circumstances.

We’re very grateful to Mike Sempervive (@sempervive) to take some time to discuss the recent passing of the great Kevin Sullivan at age 74. There’s no rhyme nor reason for how we talk about the great man’s career: We go from Florida to Knoxville (all six more or times he worked there) to WCW to ICW to Hawaii and all points along the way. We discuss our favorite angles, try to place the Prince of Darkness gimmick in historical context, our favorite angles and promos, including The Dream Mike Davis, the Slaughterhouse, the Varsity Club, the third Head Hunter, the Sheik, Mark Lewin, King Curtis and so much more.

It’s great when Mike has time to fit us in. If we had him on more often, maybe the shows wouldn’t be as long, but the winding road takes us to where we want to be, in the end.

Episode 111 - Let's Go to the Videotape

The American Ninja from Texas Championship Wrestling.

We’re happy to welcome for the first time to the show, Kris P Lettuce (@krisplettuce), the man behind the Armstrong Alley You Tube channel. We discussed the treasure trove of found footage he has been posting on his channel featuring independent wrestling from the 1980s., 1990s and 2000s.

First up, we talked about his channel and the origins of all this footage, including a subject we’ve been talking a lot lately on the show, tape trading. Just how big was the list of footage from which he was choosing?

From there, we talk about a number of short-lived promotions, including: Austin Idol’s 1993 USA Wrestling, the 1987 Alabama promotion World Organization Wrestling, the 1990-91 Texas Championship Wrestling, the 1991 Nashville International Wrestling Alliance, the 1990 Arkansas International Pro Wrestling, The 1990-91 North American Wrestling Assocation/South Atlantic Pro Wrestling and more. There’s a littany of people we mention here: Idol, Junkyard Dog, the Bullet and the other Armstrongs, Bob Holly, Bill Ash, Stunning Steve Austin, Paul Jones, Robert Fuller, Willie the Wrestling Clown and even Nick Gulas.

There’s also chat about Southeastern/Continental, missing and found footage, Ron Wright and Ron’s Championship Wrestling, wrestling fan subcultures, Kris’ new Patreon, wrestling books, what footage he hopes to get next and more.

Note: The next episode of The Plot should feature two spy-themed Silver Age comics and should be out in a week or two. Thanks for listening.

Episode 100 - Family Affair #3 - Caged Heat

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-Eight - The Warrior of the Wasteland

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

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-Four - It's a Family Affair Number One

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-One - Long and Lean and the color of the sun

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.