Sorry this one is a bit later than normal, been behind seemingly for days with the 4th of July holiday here in the US. Also had the very good fortune of meeting up once again with one of my heroes, “Weird Al” Yankovic. Here’s a guy that I’ve been following for over 40 years (!!), with my very first Al memories actually predating my first wrestling memories. He has a new show he’s going on tour and all I can say is if it’s coming anywhere near you, get those tickets. Even better if you pony up for the VIP, as you get to meet him in person for photos and autographs. In the past, I always used my connections to get backstage, but this time I was like, “Eh, not gonna bother them” and paid the $100 or whatever it was. It was money well spent. I’ve said this many times before but I will say it again, Al is a super nice guy, and it always makes me happy when celebrities turn out to be, well, nice in real life as well. Time to switch gears and talk some wrestling…
Or not, I suppose as Sean S kicks us off with…”Hot of seeing Weird Al in concert. What are your favorite Weird Al Songs? And what was the best part of the show you just saw?”
Too many to name, bad my favorites vary day to day. I’ve always loved the originals though, dating back to like “Mr. Popeil” and “Nature Trail to Hell (in 3D)”, with my most listened to the last few years being “Hardware Store”. Not because I love going to Menard’s, but just totally dig the song itself. As for the show, there are just so many little things that have been added, including a trio of females and a couple other new guys in addition to the “OG” band. The only one I will spoil is that during “Smells Like Nirvana”, they have a guy mopping the stage, just like in the video. There’s lots of small details like that and for a guy who’s been with Al since nearly the beginning, that was fantastic.
Robert R asks…”Who is your favorite president from a movie and why?”
Not sure why it came up, but the combo of George Bush and wife Babs in Naked Gun 2 1/2 immediately springs to mind, even though it would have been a million times better if Dana Carvey was in the role.
Jospeh has a pocketful of quarters and is headed to the arcade with…”Hi Deal- did you ever play the Journey-themed arcade game, that had a tape player built into its cabinet which would be triggered to play “Separate Ways”?”
I’ve definitely played the game many times in emulation, and I want to say that I have played an actual arcade machine once or twice. I know the “tech” they used for the music, but don’t remember the audio on it, probably because I think the game itself is so horrible I’ve tried to erase it from my memory.
James C wants to know…”How the hell do you play The Main Event wrestling arcade game? One big button that does nothing and a joystick that does even less.”
SPEAKING OF HORRIBLE ARCADE MACHINES, yeah, that thing was atrocious. I remember seeing it when it first hit arcades and was so excited to see a new wrestling game, then I played it and was like, “What on earth is happening here?” And not in a “let me put more money in to find out” way. There’s a reason you never see that popping up on anyone’s lists. Not sure it’s even been on any greatest hits releases either.
Arya W inquires…”If you were going to write another book, what would it be?”
Although I know I had that TNA book all lined up with Bryan years ago, I think I’d far rather do a book about something non-wrestling related. I was VERY close to a business that imploded in a way that would have even made WCW shake its head a few years back, and was just dumbfounded seeing it go belly up. As I told my old boss, “I know most of the details and know who to talk to so I could get the rest. I could write a book on this, it would be a fascinating read. Unfortunately I only think about a half dozen folks would bother to buy it.” Other than that, maybe a Christian devotional. Not sure, as books take a lot of time to write and I need to be very motivated to do one. Too many irons in the fire for me these days to consider it.
Mike M fires up the grill with…”What’s the most-memorable barbecue you’ve ever been to (or hosted)?”
Not sure it counts per se, but a couple days ago we left the family 4th of July party just before nightfall and drove home as folks were shooting off fireworks everywhere. It was really cool, like something out of a racing videogame. It was so much fun and I strongly recommend it as it was most visually stimulating than just sitting and watching one fireworks show. Even better was RD Jr. requesting that we jam some Out Run 2 music as we drove. AWESOME!
Dustin N finally gets us going with a WRESTLING QUESTION by asking…”With the him getting a world title main event at Starrcade 1994 (and in turn drawing one of WCW’s worst buyrates), does that make the Butcher Ed Leslie’s worst gimmick by default?”
And here you thought I was going to do a mailbag with NO wrestling whatsoever, like that Nitro first hour I inducted years back! The Butcher was a zillion times better than The Zodiac. Wait, do I really think that? Yes! No! Yes! No!
I’m kidding, the answer is yes.
Jarvis G ponders…”I always felt that aside from a heel Randy Savage winning the 1993 Royal Rumble, maybe Ted DiBiase could’ve won it and they could have headline The WrestleMania IX. Do you think either potentially challenge could’ve been a heel contender/challenger for Bret Hart at that time? I would’ve loved to have seen it.”
I know folks have an amped up love for Yokozuna these days, but I never, ever got the appeal of the guy. Was he talented? Sure. Was he WrestleMania main event talented? No way. Anything would have been better IMHO, and your two scenarios would be light years ahead. Randy going heel would have energized his career again as he was always a million times better as a heel. I would have been totally behind that.
Ryan G fires up the VCR for…”What was your favorite random Colosseum Home Video release back in the day?”
I remember always wanting to get that British Bulldogs tape and once I did, being a bit sad that they had so many random singles matches on there. Instead I’ll go Hart Foundation, as it had that great Bret-Ricky Steamboat match that was very difficult to find for years.
Chad A wraps us up with…”Surely Hangman’s winning at All In, right??”
I mean, he kinda has to. The tell I guess would be if Ospreay and Swerve lose in the match where they can’t challenge for the world title for the next year. If they do, there’s no possible way Hangman is losing. I’m not thrilled with the thought that Ospreay AND Swerve would be out of the title picture for the next twelve months, but I guess the logic would be that if they are, they can’t overshadow Hangman. And maybe, just maybe, they’d be the guys to get Shelton and Lashley to SELL for someone in this company. I dunno, I still would have gone with Will for the title as I just see his body giving out at some point soon and you can’t keep pushing that back. I guess we’ll see what happens next week.
And to that end, join us next weekend when we get 1,473 hours of wrestling jammed into a single day! See you all then (oh, and keep sending in those questions rightchere)!!