I Can Talk Kayfabe

We go back to Stately Wayne Manor with WRESTLING WORLD from May 1991 as the biggest heel of the non-Apter mags goes in on Sting, calls Hulk Hogan “the Dumpster,” and drowns puppies with Terry Funk. There’s also the rare kayfabe think-piece as we discuss the appeal of wrestling villains and outlaws. Well, WE don’t discuss it but the article does. Joe and Shawn just get bored and wonder why this magazine prominently features a full color pinup of The Warlord. There’s also a story about the UWF Stevie Ray OD’ing on birth control and flirting with nurses. The Herb Abrams-UWF was not to be messed with.Also in this ep: Joe watches the first-ever NXT, Shawn watches Halloween Havoc 1994, Zack Ryder collects all the WWF Hasbro figures, the mystery behind the WCW Galoob figures is revealed and the greatness of 1991 independent wrestling in Northern Canada.Rate, review, tell a friend and check us out on Twitter at @angryheroshawn and @sweatpantsjoe

As promised from our previous ep, we have INSIDE WRESTLING from September 1987 with Hulk Hogan wearing a bloody turban from a moment in time neither of us can figure out. Speaking of time, the New Breed is here from 2002 to tell us that Dusty Rhodes is President and the Rock-N-Roll Express are considered a bunch of losers. Also, Sean Royal from the New Breed might have been an early evolutionary form of Randy Orton.Also in this ep: a discussion about the Ric Flair 30 For 30; which is more high-class: Faygo or RC Cola, Steve Austin breaks into the business via the Chris Adams Fan Club, the best Paul Jones t-shirt you’ll ever hear about and, holy crap, how could I have almost forgot — KEN PATERA’S PRISON PALS~!!!Rate, review, tell a friend and check us out on Twitter at @angryheroshawn and @sweatpantsjoe

In a rare occurrence that is still not 100% valid, an actual WWF Superstar wrote an editorial piece for an Apter mag. Here, its Jesse Ventura allegedly telling us - in print - that Macho Man is a wimp because he turned face. Jesse or “Jesse” does, however, go on to drag Hulk Hogan thru the mud as a terrible ally and he’s NOT wrong, so, maybe it is Jesse. Also in this ep: Sting’s armpit hair is photoshopped out and its weird; Tully and Arn bust out a sweet tandem finisher; Kevin Von Erich powers through life with unbridled optimism and we learn the origins of the nickname “Puddin Head” that Paul Jones had bestowed on to him by the Mighty Wilbur. Rate, review, tell a friend and check us out on Twitter at @angryheroshawn and @sweatpantsjoe

On a special bonus edition of I CAN TALK KAYFABE, Shawn and Joe go in-depth on their thoughts, opinions, likes and dislikes of the new WWE 2K18 video game from 2K Sports. We both play PlayStation 4 so that’s the perspective you’re getting. Its a good game but it has its flaws and there’s room for improvement. Like, why can’t I see the top of my CAWs head when I’m trying to put something on top of it in the creative suite? What purpose does it serve for me to put something there if I can’t friggin’ see it? Stuff like that needs to be fixed. Regardless, we get in-depth because this is our Madden.Rate, review, tell a friend and check us out on Twitter at @angryheroshawn and @sweatpantsjoe

This book presents a lot of questions and establishes some hard truths. Like, why DID Hulk Hogan have to win the 1990 Royal Rumble if he already was champion? I mean, he just won it the following year as well. And why did Apter use an almost decade-old photo of Hogan - taken right after he downed some bug juice - as the cover photo? Speaking of photos, we get some great ones of Roddy Piper here. Also, the Road Warriors insist that they were in their prime in late-89 but let’s be honest, they weren’t. We also get probably the best John Nord interview you’ll ever find, a HUGE bait-and-switch, some classic WWF LJN figure discussion and the AWA just being dumb.Rate, review, tell a friend and check us out on Twitter at @angryheroshawn and @sweatpantsjoe

Its another issue of the wrestling literary masterpiece that is WRESTLING TODAY, complete with blatant and embarrassing misspellings of iconic wrestlers. Like, they didn’t even try to get it right. Nonetheless, this is a HUGE book with lots of content. We analyze Ric Flair’s late-89/early-90 contenders which could have possibly included Kevin Sullivan and Buzz Sawyer. There’s also a big story on what Nikolai Volkoff is up to whilst unemployed by the WWF, pondering of what could have been with Fred Ottman’s Big Steel Man gimmick and a confounding awards segment in this book that heaps unnecessary praise onto Jimmy Snuka like most kayfabe mags did in the 80s.Rate, review, tell a friend and check us out on Twitter at @angryheroshawn and @sweatpantsjoe

This week, we jump back to TV WRESTLERS which features a huge photo of Big Bossman’s face on the cover. We spend a lot of time discussing Bossman’s Heenan Family destruction angle that just kind of fizzled out around WrestleMania VII with no real payoff. There’s also this big article about Hillbilly Jim and his quest for gold, which by 1990 was pretty much a moot point but you gotta write about something I guess. There’s also some great color shots of bloody indie wrestling with Boy Gone Bad and other guys you’ve never heard of. I know you can’t see them but we’ll talk about them. All this plus live ECW memories from Buffalo at the Flickinger Center in the 1999 which wasn’t the greatest time period for ECW but it was fun.Rate, review, tell a friend and check us out on Twitter at @angryheroshawn and @sweatpantsjoe

After a bit of a break, we are sticking with the 90s here as we get into a local Western New York favorite (at least from Shawn’s childhood), WRESTLING’S MAIN EVENT. This week, Shawn and Joe question the lavender color scheme of the magazine’s cover, discuss the abruptness of the Mr. Perfect face turn, marvel at the fact that the Ultimate Warrior actually showed up to an indie show that he was paid to appear at and Kensuke Sasaki channels Manute Bol. Rate, review, tell a friend and check us out on Twitter at @angryheroshawn and @sweatpantsjoe

In one of the worst instances of magazine layouts, we cover WRESTLING TODAY from Spring 1992. Its a pretty packed magazine actually with lots of random WWF coverage as well as some random indie coverage from the early 90s that features perennial WWF jobber and former HHH Kowalski classmate Tony Roy and the mighty Cream Team. This magazine FINALLY poses the question as to WHY Fit Finlay is being IGNORED by the UNITED STATES! I’d like to know more as to why his ring jacket only has one shoulder pad. We also lament the fact that Mike Shaw (Bastion Booger aka Norman aka Trucker Norm) never really got any tangible merch. Feel free to correct us.Rate, review, tell a friend and check us out on Twitter at @angryheroshawn and @sweatpantsjoe

This week, Shawn and Joe cover a SPORTS REVIEW WRESTLING from 1984 that focuses on an infamous match lost to time that turned out to be…not very good. Its none other than the “Last Battle of Atlanta” between Buzz Sawyer and Tommy Rich in a cage covered by another cage and ends for some reason with Ole Anderson beating the holy hell out of Paul Ellering back when he wore pink trunks! Also, we talk more about video game emulators and additional wrestling games that suck ass, the time Bill Eadie aka Masked Superstar verified - in person to Shawn - a quote from this very magazine as well as Rick Martel losing his shit on Bob Orton in St. Louis. Rate, review, tell a friend and check us out on Twitter at @angryheroshawn and @sweatpantsjoe

Shawn and Joe cover a classic PWI this week as we go back to August 1983 to see if we can win a phone call from Roddy Piper. Strange fact - we already did but we called him and talked to him about video games so I guess we are out of the running. Also, Paul Jones takes advantage of a confused Jake Roberts, Mr. Wrestling II and Tiger Conway Jr. covet each others tag belts, Larry Zbyszko wastes $25K and Kevin Sullivan goes full Satan with his chest hair. Rate, review, tell a friend and check us out on Twitter at @angryheroshawn and @sweatpantsjoe

This week, we read through a WRESTLING EYE by-product of a book which features awful layouts and a huge focus on the Midwest scene. Nothing wrong with that but having Brian Christopher and pre-anything Jeff Jarrett on your cover probably won’t sell that well. Also, focusing your content on what your photographer is up to and why he’s spending so much time with Jeff Gaylord eating cake is not the best approach. We do get some WCW and WWF talk though with tag team combos made up out of thin air like its WWE2K17 Universe mode or something. Speaking of video games, we also talk about wrestling video games from the mid-90s when they were tough to play then and are even tougher to play now. Rate, review, tell a friend and check us out on Twitter at @angryheroshawn and @sweatpantsjoe

The Wrestler - February 1987 Join us for one of the most somber wrestling magazines of all time. In this episode, we look back at the Magnum TA tragedy of 1986 and, incidentally, how it has affected Magnum to this day and even just a few days ago (per Tessa Blanchard’s Twitter. We also look at the debut of the Honky Tonk Man, heel Jake Roberts, lousy WWF Hasbro action figure designs, Nikita Koloff with a lot of hair and Ricky Steamboat’s celebrity status. We also talk about NXT and whether or not its as good as it was. Rate, review, tell a friend and check us out on Twitter at @angryheroshawn and @sweatpantsjoe

To both of our surprises, Wrestling USA has become a MARVEL TALES-style reprint magazine but that doesn’t stop it from bringing the gold. In this episode, Missy Hyatt cleans Jerry Lawler’s bathroom while he eats a banana, Dusty meets Sting and Luger and Dr. Death in a bar, Hulk Hogan dresses up like he’s on MIAMI VICE (and looks great doing it), Tony Anthony invents the Double Down and the freaking Warlord knocks it out of the park again! We also give our thoughts on what original programming should be featured on the WWE Network. Rate, review, tell a friend and check us out on Twitter at @angryheroshawn and @sweatpantsjoe

A truly unique take on the pro wrestling kayfabe magazine, WRESTLING ’94 RULEBREAKER comes at you from the heel perspective specifically. In this episode, an Apter mag causes Ricky Steamboat to get divorced, we try to figure out who Brian Lee is calling for heel advice, Sting gets pranked, Yokozuna is over as all hell, the legend of Ludvig Borga in Japan, young Bill DeMott and Papa Shango hunts down Hacksaw in Michigan Also, Joe gives his GLOW on Netflix review and we watch WWE Battleground on mute! Rate, review, tell a friend and check us out on Twitter at @angryheroshawn and @sweatpantsjoe

In a second edition of the awesomely early 90s TV WRESTLERS, Shawn and Joe come to the realization that Steve Keirn MAY HAVE worked at an Arby’s after his wrestling career was over or in worst case scenario, owned an Arby’s franchise. Also, Ric Flair holds a mystery belt, Hawk ribs Bret Hart, audio diaries for female wrestlers, pro wrestling horrorscopes and Shawn makes an appeal for Hulk Hogan to unblock him on Twitter. Rate, review, tell a friend and check us out on Twitter at @angryheroshawn and @sweatpantsjoe

On this week’s show, Joe and Shawn discuss: TV Wrestlers - Mystery Month 1991 Topics include: - Joe discovers the magic of Thunderfoot - Sunny Beach rules the scene - the halcyon days of Norman the Lunatic - Slaughter’s Atomic Noogie - the best USWA card we never got to see Rate, review, tell a friend and check us out on Twitter at @angryheroshawn and @sweatpantsjoe

On this week’s show, Joe and Shawn discuss: Pro Wrestling Illustrated - 25th Anniversary Issue (2004) Topics include: - the Z-Man becomes THE MAN - Joe eggs a Camaro during Undertaker/Mankind Hell In The Cell - a prospective list of restaurants owned by wrestlers - Joe defends David Arquette - Shane Douglas is a dweeb - the best cover shots in PWI history….discussed! Rate, review, tell a friend and check us out on Twitter at @angryheroshawn and @sweatpantsjoe

On this week’s show, Joe and Shawn discuss: Wrestling All-Stars - September 1986 Topics include: - Kamala is the black King Kong Bundy - why are there only THREE Horseman? - Dusty Rhodes does a striptease - Mike Rotundo fears Mmmbop Hanson - Ivan Putski gets shredded; no one cares - Larry Zbyszko wears the best karate gi of all time - the rarity that was Sherri Martel matches - Jerry Blackwell flubs his WrestleRock lines Rate, review, tell a friend and check us out on Twitter at @angryheroshawn and @sweatpantsjoe

On this week’s show, Joe and Shawn discuss: Wrestling Eye - May 1986 Topics include: - RIP Rick McGraw - lots of poorly contrasted pics of dudes getting bloodied - Hulk Hogan ends up making too much money - RIP Mr. Big Stuff - fan violence…are we to blame (probably not) - was Larry Zbyszko ever important? - Joe almost remakes I LIKE TO HURT PEOPLE - Jerry Blackwell and his devastating spash - Boris Zhukoff…world beater - Tommy Rich’s forgotten cousin Rate, review, tell a friend and check us out on Twitter at @angryheroshawn and @sweatpantsjoe http://bit.ly/ICanTalkKayfabe