It’s been too long my friends…time to open up that dusty mailbag and see what’s on everyone’s minds!
Taylor W kicks us off with…”Tape trading was huge in the 90s and 2000s, but has kinda petered out with the advent of streaming and YouTube. Do you still have your tapes? Planning to get rid of them any time soon?”
I never really did much tape trading honestly except for with him and a couple of local guys. I got rid of most of my tapes a while back; same issue as everyone else I am sure, they took up a LOT of space, especially for the volume I had. I have a few scattered here and there, mostly stuff I got from Wild B. Brown, who was a HYOOGE contributor to the site in its early days. I’d also scour every video store I could find in search of something, anything, other than the same half dozen Coliseum VHS’s every store seemed to stock.
Andy G asks…”I don’t know if you have time for this, but I really think you’d enjoy answering: If WWE had allowed you to induct John and Fred into the Hall of Fame with a 3-5 minute speech about them, what would you say? How would you talk about their legacy as wrestlers and as people?”
I wouldn’t really talk much about them as wrestlers, but solely as people. I’d highlight how kind Fred is, how uplifting and positive he is, and what a just great person he is. John…I’d talk about how much John loved his family. That was always the biggie when we’d talk, how much he loved his wife and his kids. Any time I see Joanna post, I always smile and think about those conversations. He was just an incredible human being.
Logan W wants to know…”What is the worst movie you’ve seen in theaters? Mine is a toss up between Big Momma’s House 2 and Deuce Bigelow 2.”
Oh man, HOME. I took RD Jr. to see it at the Skyline Drive In and it was horrible from the beginning, and we both could see what a disaster (and not a fun one!) it was. I kept telling him “It will get better” but it somehow kept digging lower and lower. Like we were in the car, I could have literally drove us out of there at any time! One of my least proud moments as a father!
Chris S plays a mean silverball apparently…”What to you think of the new Predator pinball machine and why does it need more Jesse “The Body” Ventura?”
Haven’t played the new one, but played the original and thought it was eh, ok. That said, I’ve never played a pinball machine I truly hated. Even the worst ones are still unbridled joy to me.
Sean B wants to know…”Will we get more Wrestlecrap friend Diamond Dan Garza in the squash of the Week?”
You seriously think I’m not going to cover his legendary battle with Cactus Jack?
Ralph A has a pocketful of quarters…”What’s the best or favorite dual joystick game? For example smash tv, karate champ, robotron.”
I dig Smash TV and Total Carnage, but I gotta go Robotron. I just wish I was better at it. I get to like level 7 or so and I am always toast.
Cyndi S gets the sleigh bells ringing asking…”With the holiday season approaching, what is the best worst Christmas movie that you have seen?”
It’s kinda blurred anymore with what is bad and what isn’t to be honest. So I’ll cop out and say the one I always look the most forward to watching is Holiday in Handcuffs. I have a huge movie poster of that, and it is a life goal to get Melissa Joan Hart to sign it. She seems to do a lot of conventions so I can’t imagine it would be that difficult, just have to get the timing right.
Dustin N has apparently been hacking into my messages with…”What is your favorite arcade rail shooter and why is it LA Machineguns: Rage of the Machines?”
I LOVE THAT GAME. Saw that one is going to be coming up for sale in the state soon and kinda pondering getting it for Rupert’s to be honest. I also love Time Crisis (we have a dual TC3), House of the Dead, and Jurassic Park 3. Big fan of Lethal Enforcers as well if those count.
Mike M tosses me the keys for…”What’s your favorite car or truck that you’ve ever owned?”
So many, can’t possibly pick just one. Favorites would be a Pontiac Fiero (HOT DAMN), my 1967 fastback Mustang, and my trusty Ford F-150XLT, which my buddy called it “Little Appalachia” for reasons I never fully understood. I thought that was hysterical.
Arya W wraps us up with…”How did you get booked for an OVW show way back when?”
I had worked shows with Dan Garza for a few years, and our biggest show of the year was always in Hope, Indiana. They had a sign just as you came into town that said, “Hope…a Surprising Little Town.” I remember cutting a promo on that sign, telling the crowd, “You’re right, it is surprising. It’s surprising how ugly that woman is, it’s surprising how fat that guy is!” My guys would always lose their matches and I’d be forced into a stupid stipulation, like having my mouth washed out with soap or needing to kiss the feet of everyone in the building. RD wound up being the guy the town loved to hate so to speak. When Dan hooked up with OVW and was using them for shows, I didn’t expect to be on them, but the folks at the building in Hope more or less told him that RD NEEDED to be on those shows. What’s funny is Rupert’s Arcade is like 20 minutes from Hope, so every once in a while I wind up there getting gas or something to eat. Thankfully no one has spotted me yet. 😉