A Geek History of Time - Episode 111 - 1990s and Wrestling Part VI

Episode Date: June 12, 2021

So first thing foremost, I think being the addition of pant leggings is really when you start to see your heroes get watered down. The ability to go straight man, that one. Which is a good argument for absolute girls. Everybody is going to get behind me though, I love being and support numbers will go through. When you hang out with the hero, it doesn't go well for you. Grandfather took the cob and just slid it right through the bar. Oh god, I'm sorry. Okay.

And that became the dominant way our family did it. Okay. And so, both of my marriages, they were treated to that. Okay, wait, hold on. Yeah, rage and high coup. How do you imagine the rubber chicken? My grandmother actually vacuumed her pearls. Oh my god, it, I could. How did you imagine the rubber chicken? My grandmother actually vacuumed in her pearls. Oh my god, you always did.

We had the sexual revolution. It might have just been a Canadian standoff. We're gonna go back to 9-11. Oh, you're gonna get over it. And I don't understand. But we're just gonna go over it. Agra has no business being that big. With the cultists, we all win.

This is a geek history of time. I don't think I know how to read this one. I think it was a great lot of history teacher. Geek history of time Sometimes English teacher and I don't have anything right now I think I've to like throw in there as a bond mod right now It's a good life. That's a good life I'm you know doing doing what my cars in the shop because I got rear-ended last week on the freeway. Okay. But yeah, I was fortunate to walk away

with only the bumper on my car, suffering any damage. Do you think maybe rate naming it the RazorCrest was a bad move now? Maybe. Maybe. You know, okay, you know what, look, it didn't get blo-

spoilers, it didn't get blown up from orbit So I'm okay, okay, like okay. Yeah Hello, but bar you got there and and you know unlike unlike it's it's name sake I Don't have to have it basically completely rebuilt right from scrap this scrap every six weeks. True. So yeah, this time maybe I need to rethink that, but yeah, that might not have been the greatest decision.

But you know what, I'm sticking with it. How about you? My name is Damien Harmony. I'm a Latin teacher up here in Northern California. By the time of this recording, I may be on summer break, I don't know. But having said that, yeah, I have not gotten any car accidents.

I am- Six days of instruction I got left. Nice, nice. We have 10 days left of instruction, I think. Okay. And on top of that, it may be more, I don't do math well. Okay, all right. But we don't have that many days left of instruction.

So of course our district is looking to cram more kids in there. Like, one thing kids need is lots and lots of change all the time. I think that- Constantly. Yeah. Yeah, that's yeah. Yeah, let's not give them any kind of like ground under their feet. Yeah, don't let them get complacent. No, when we talk about we want our kids to be ground under the feet.

What we mean is that we want to ground them under our feet. Yeah, we don't we don't we don't. We're rounded. We were ground. As I said to somebody as I said somebody in a social media post today I Understand if you're exhausted and don't want to answer me on this one It has been a long week since March of 2020

Yeah, I did get a hate mail again At work, which was great. Yeah, it was hateful fuckface. How come you haven't responded yet? Yeah, like I want to know You know first off first off For once for once the insult he chose to use, I assume he, for once the insult, the insult this individual chose to use wasn't misapplying a term that has a meaning that you're using wrong, like calling somebody a communist when like you're bringing up, you're bringing this up in as a non-seqator, whether somebody's a communist has nothing to do with what you're

pissed off with him about. Right. You know, and all of the other stupid shit they've tried to insult you with. My favorite was that my parents had sex with Bolsheviks Zouy animals before having me. Yeah. Like, it was a training course. Number one, number one, do you know what Bolshevik even means? Like number one, number two, you do understand that Bolshevism is an ideology, not a genetic trait, which you're like trying to insure.

Or sexual preference. Or for that matter Yes, good point. I hadn't even considered it from that angle like and and I Don't understand I mean I get that you're just trying to go for shock value with the insult But I don't like epistemia logically. I don't understand what that's supposed to fucking mean Like how does that work? But no this guy It was this was this Bolsheviks do animals who no different. Okay. Yeah, all right But so so this guy this guy send you an email that was basically just you know, fuck you commie right you just don't want

Oh, yeah, now I remember the original was just don't want to go back to work right like like we haven't been working Our asses off. Yeah. But anyway, whatever, ignorant of how we do our job, whatever. So now, like, what, two weeks later? Yeah, about that. He comes back and is like, what, you're not gonna respond? To, like, at this point, I would be tempted

to actually email back to him saying to what Like yeah, like what I don't I'm just I'm not gonna use my work email to do that Well, yeah, I know I know but like I kind of want to say to him How did you think this was gonna go right? Like you you went off in a on on Facebook on a guy who was just could not read the room and was getting himself buried by like everybody And you said to him, okay, no, I think I understand what the problem is. I'll tell you what I'll help you come So imagine a liberal crying and begging you to stop. Yes. I think that's what this guy wants.

Yes. And he somehow thought that you were going to give that to him by like, no, yeah. Do you not, you clearly have not thought this through? Like, this is the point at which. It's if Guardians of the Galaxy War Maga hats. Yes, it really is. But you know, I know I've said this in very early episodes of the podcast talking about David Attenborough was once asked, you know, in all of these situations you've gotten and when you've been filming documentaries and stuff for the BBC, you know, he shared anecdotes where, you know, he was filming in countries where there was,

you know, an active civil war going on, and you know, he and his very, you know, all of the brits film crew getting surrounded by, you know, guys with AK-47s, and he said, well, you know, my response to all of those situations was I just got very British all of a sudden. I said, right, okay, right, look, you head over that way. What we're trying to do is we're filming this thing. You just go there and you just slipped into the character of, you know, and it's like, I read this guy saying this to you and I immediately wanted to just get very academic. Like, I just want to look at him like, okay, no, I really want it, like I'm genuinely curious,

how did you think this was going to go? Yeah. And just, and wait to see what that opens up. Can you please, like, correct it, like it's a paper? Yeah. I see your thesis statement. It's strong. Um, however, I see your thesis statement. It's strong. Um, however, I see no supporting details. Yeah, I need to know where your paper is going to go with this.

And so I do think that we need to rework this thesis statement a little bit, but I also do want to see evidence the next time you come in. You've only got one clause for the thesis here. Yeah, so you need to expand on that a little bit with some related kind of thematic issues. And I really need to see some supporting documentation. Like give me a bibliography or like just your notes. Tell. I even accept having a treatise off with these people.

You know? Yeah. Like, you know, so anyway. So anyway, last night, last time we talked about the 1997 Survivor Series and Montreal Screw Job. Yes. So, I think the most intensely meta sporting event in history. Oh, very much so.

Very much so. So, given that the 1997 Survivor Series saw the Montreal Screw Job, 1998 would be absolutely going in reference to it. Okay, so survivor series happens every year in November, has since 1987, which had one of the best survivor series, so the survivor series used to be, it was a gimmick, it was a gimmick paper view, okay, and what it was was, they were elimination matches. Okay. Five guys on either side and you wrestle and, you know, you eliminate the opponents, right?

Yeah. These are long matches. There were only four or five matches in the first survivor series. They were all elimination. Yeah. And the best match was the first one. And it was because there's Macho Man Savage and his team versus Honki Tonkman and his team. But the thing was.

Honki Tonkman. Yes. Okay. Oh God, that was my little brother, Bowie's favorite guy for a little while. Really? Yeah, I mean, he was super young in 1987. Okay, all right.

So, I mean, you were probably what? Like, had your first job. Um, you But the honky-tongued man, I know that George was driving at that point. Okay, George was actually driving producer George But the honky-tongued man had his team and what was cool about it was there was enough time for each pairing of guys and you could tag out to someone else no big deal But they genuinely told stories through the entire match. It was great. And you know, then they had an all-women's one and they had the jumping bomb angels, which was amazing. They were way ahead of their time. They had a 20-man battle roy or not

battle royale, 20-man elimination match for tag teams. Holy crap. Oh, it was nuts. One of my favorite moments came a couple years later at another one of those things where I think I've talked about Tolly Blanchard in the past. And he comes in and sees the guy across the ring from him and just walks over to another guy and tags out. And he got the most heat for that. It's so good. So good. Oh my God. Tully branches of master, master craftsman. So by the time you get to 1997, you don't have elimination matches anymore. Those had gone away by 95, maybe 96. Okay. And so now it's just, it's another pay-per-view. It's a tentpole pay-per-view. There's something called the Big Four. There's WrestleMania, Summer Slam, Survivor Series,

and the Royal Rumble. Okay, so, so, there's seasonal, yep. Is spring. Spring. March usually, maybe early April. Okay, and then Summer Slam, August. All right, yeah.

Okay, and then Survivor Series. Survivor Series, November. November. Originally. And then survivor series. That's in November. November. It originally was on Thanksgiving's. And it was done to compete with WCW and WA at the time. Georgia Championship Wrestling. Basically, Vince McMahon said, if you don't put survivor series on your closed circuit, instead of that one, you don't get to have WrestleMania next year. Oh shit. Yeah, so it is. It's hard, but we're in a hard one.

Yeah. All right. So, okay. And then in the Royal Rumble, it is January. January. Yeah. So they're kind of squeezed together, but yeah. Yeah.

It's going to say at the end, that's the- And by this point, you have 12 paper views here anyway. Okay. Yeah. You got basically one every month. Exactly, but these are the 10 poll ones. These are the big ones. These are the ones where major feuds get blown off. Okay. Yeah. You got basically one every month. Exactly. But these are the tent pole ones. These are the big ones. These are the ones where major feuds get blown off. Okay. Okay. A blow off, by the way, is to give you an idea. A blow off is where it finally

culminates. Yes, the day to tomorrow. Yeah. So the 98 survivor series is definitely going to be in reference to the 97 module screw up. Well, because how could it not be right when when all of the meta that was involved? Yes. Yes. Now at this point, Stone Cold Steve Austin had been sticking it to his boss on camera in one way or another since WrestleMania. In the most not in the ring, ring ways that he could.

Okay, one time he drove a Zamboni to the ring to disrupt Vince McMahon's plans. A different wrestler had come to the fore and fallen back, but Austin kind of was constant, and he had just been fired on camera for refusing to count a pinfall as a referee, and then he was reinstated by Vince McMahon's son Shane, who then himself was demoted to referee. Okay. Survivor series was turned into a tournament to crown a champion. And the rock at the time who is known as the People's Champion had been a face for

a little while and he had drawn the eye of Vince McMahon. Since big man hates the people. I guess I hate the people's champion. Oh Okay, meanwhile mankind Yes had undergone another change becoming a damaged bootlicker so he Is Stone Cold Steve Austin's first real opponent after WrestleMania. Okay. Okay, and he, oh man, it's interesting. He had been Cactus Jack, and then the very next night after WrestleMania 14, he's in a steel cage match against the New age outlaws who had used the rules to subvert the victory

that Cactus Jack and mankind had gotten over them in the dumpster match because they won that. Yep. Mankind was Cactus Jack, though. Yes. Okay, you said. Oh, I'm sorry. Cactus Jack and Shane saw Charlie. He also known as Terry.

Okay. Okay. So, Hunter Hurst Helmsley comes out, cuts a wonderful promo in, this is March of 97. Cuts a wonderful promo on Sean Michaels said, you dropped the ball. And you know what, when things get bad for degeneration X, we go back to our friends. And he brings out X-Poc. Used to be known as the one two three kid, then is known as six pack over in WCW and then comes over to WF as X-Pock.

And then they recruit the new age outlaws to be part of degeneration X by attacking Chainsaw Charlie and Cactus Jack. Now you might remember Cactus Jack and Terry Funk had been attacked by outside tag team in ECW when there were a whole bunch of chairs involved. Yes. So this is, yeah. Wow. All right, so this is like, oh hey, we did this thing.

Yeah, yeah. Let's do it here. We can do this here. So that gets over degeneration X. Everybody's cheering for DX, but at the same time, really mad at DX for hurting these two guys. And because of that confusion, they start chanting Steve Austin's name.

Wow. Because at least that gives them some hope. Okay. The next week, Mick Foley, he's Cactus Jack, he comes out and cuts a promo on the crowd. And it's, so now he's attacking the crowd and telling them, I gave you people every goddamn bit of energy that I had, he comes out, he's attacking the crowd and telling them I gave you people every goddamn bit of energy that I had he comes out he's got a neck brace and he says you know Terry

Funk is laid up and you know you people don't deserve cactus Jack it's gonna be a long time before you see cactus Jack again. And at that point Jim Ross kind of goes overboard says wow it feels like cactus jack's feeling sorry for himself and it's like motherfucker you called the action last week you saw what happened he's got a legit grievance here But what he was doing was he was turning himself heal So that he could feud with stone called Steve Austin, but he's a feeling sorry for himself heal Okay, he's a desperate and sad heal. He's a heal that wants love. And so he turns into dude love, which was a character that Mick Foley had created and filmed back when he was in college and hitchhiking

to wrestling. Yeah. All right. So again, art is imitating life. So then Mick Foley becomes dude love and dude love feuds with with Stone Cold Steve Austin. It doesn't get the job done. Vince McMahon's really pissed at him. And eventually Mick Foley gets a makeover. Now Mick Foley's famous for missing teeth. Yeah. Okay, I don't remember. Oh, he lost his teeth in a car accident

on the way to a wedding, actually. Oh wow. Because brother's wedding wasn't in the ring. He lost his ear in the ring in Germany. Ha ha ha ha. Ha ha ha. He's quite the battle scarred warrior. Oh boy, yeah.

She even has a scar. But he lost his teeth outside of the ring, actually. Yeah. But it just added to his character and so like that Well, it's not like he didn't have a set of teeth made, you know false set so He straightens his hair. Where's a shirt shirt and tie? Where's a suit and tie rather and he gets his you know his teeth and he comes out the next week and everybody's just

booing the shit out of him because he looks like he sold out. He's like, no, I'm a corporate guy. And so now he's a bad guy, bootlicker kind, right? Nice. Well, he does such a bad job of that that eventually Vince McMahon, it's just like, you know, you need to prove yourself and all this kind of stuff. So, mankind has undergone a lot of changes in his feuds with Steve Austin during 1997 in leading into the summer. So, but he is the person that Vince McMahon is favoring

because this guy is a sinko-fant to me. He makes plays such a great job of it. So, Vince McMahon awards mankind the hardcore championship. OK. More on that in a moment because it's symbolically quite interesting. And when he gives it to him, it's kind of just a play cater him and just like, well, let's just give him this. And it's not a big deal.

But then it makes like, you know, and he's like, you know, I've always kind of considered you a son, you know, and here you go. And he's like, thanks, dad. always kind of considered you a son, you know, and here you go. And he's like, thanks, dad. And the look on Vince's face is just utter disgust. And like, like also like, oh, this is going to be real uncomfortable, you know.

So, so he gives him the hardcore championship. And then he gets a buy, if I recall, in the tournament. And so he gets to go to the match with Stone Cold Steve Austin in the semifinals of the survivor series elimination tournament for the thing. Now Austin had a much tougher road in that particular series. Austin had to fight the big boss man who hit him with a night stick just to wound him for the next match. So he got disqualified. But so the story is Austin overcoming everything, right? And big boss man just wallops him with a night stick. Eventually Austin prevails against

mankind and is winning against mankind. I think Austin had to wrestle the big boss man twice or the big boss man was entered twice, I forget. Austin is winning against mankind and remember, Shane McMahon is a referee and he happens to be the referee for this match and he brought Stone Cold Steve Austin back. Right, right? So he's counting it, one, two, and then he stops and gives Stone Cold the double finger salute. Wow. Twist and turns, right? And then he counts

mankind as the victor. This means that mankind that shows in one goes on to the final match and the rock has had to deal with interference from the big boss man the entire night. Oh wow. Okay. Okay. So the rock is battered and bloodied. Now the match between the rock and mankind goes all over the place, taking as much place out of the ring as in the ring and even championship matches don't continue to be in the ring.

Right? Yeah. So where they just don't fit. They hadn't fit for a while. We head down now completely morphed into the ECW model. Yes. in the ring, right? So they just don't fit. They hadn't fit for a while. We have now completely morphed into the ECW model. Yes. How the spectacle works.

To the point where it's kind of like, OK, here's where they're going to go up the ramp. What are they going to do there? What piece of the furniture are they going to use? This match is no exception to that development that's been happening. The only time that being in the ring mattered was toward the end Because you still got a win in the ring when the rock puts mankind in Bret Hart's finishing move

And then gives the camera the people's eyebrow and you see a repeat of the Montreal screw job Okay, wait, wait, wait. Yep, yep. So Rob walked away with the bill. Yes. Okay. In a, in a tableau that was clearly. Yes.

Okay. Yes. And. Stations of the cross level. Yes. Okay. Yeah, this is like going to that that Jesus fun theme park in Orlando and watching The crucifixion three times three times in a day. Yeah, yeah, so I would just point out that it was mankind who was the chosen one to go on there Yeah, and the rock pulls a Montreal screw screwdriver on him and Vince McMahon is there and the rock hugs him and make man crows about swerving everyone and double crossing mankind. Wow. Now this instantly makes mankind a baby face in the process. And what's interesting here now is mankind has been wrestling in a suit and tie.

So now a lot of the pictures you probably see of mankind are him wearing like a dress shirt. That's all tattered and battered. Maybe a tie, maybe not, but you know, sweats and whatnot. This is where that starts. So now mankind is a babyface. And the rock is a heel. Okay. So the people's champion has now become a bad guy that's gone corporate. Now so just derivative upon derivative upon, you know.

Now the hardcore title. Eventually mankind would lose said title and it ends up somewhere in the bottom mid card is kind of a comedy bit and wrestlers would specifically wrestle hardcore matches for it. So hardcore matches are matches where you can bring anything into the fight. Okay. Hit people with cookie sheets that are under the ring, which I've never understood. Or stop signs that you find somewhere or whatever and it also. Or a kayak.

Or a kayak. That's right. So still getting there. somewhere or whatever and it also or a kayak. That's right. And these hardcore matches are now codified. So the chaos that we saw in ECW has been. Yeah and sanitized and kind of rocky horror picture showy. Yeah. And now the wrestlers are wrestling in not wrestling matches for this not wrestling title in a wrestling show and these are wrestlers and during paper views they would find their way over to a nearby bar, or maybe the rain river of the city, or a nearby forest.

They got out of the building. Wow. And it's codified. And then they instituted the 24-7 rule, which means that the hardcore title was up for grabs at all times, making it a backstage segment almost all the time. So now it's not even a match. It's a sneak up on a guy and find some way to ambush him and then you're the champion and you run off. And that's a filler segment. And then we'll maybe have a hardcore championship match

at the next pay-per-view to open or. Oh, okay. Now the belt itself was a broken reference to the original belt. It was literally shattered and held together by duct tape. Ah. Ah. And to give you an idea of this belt, and again, this is the Hardcore Championship belt. This is where wrestling is going in 1998, 1999. Do you have any idea?

There were women who held this belt. Now there's a women's championship, but women held this belt. Blurring lines. Okay. Again, you know, this is not too far from, I mean, honestly by name, 89, you might have the first graduate from Citadel. Yeah. You know, women held the title, a prostitute held the title. Okay. Well, because there was a pro wrestler called the Godfather, and he had something called the Ho-Train because he was a Pimp.

And he would, you remember how like Ted D. Biasi, the million dollar man would like buy his opponents off sometimes. Yeah. Normally he'd beat the shit out of them and stuff $100 down on their throat. Well, the godfather would be like, okay, we could fight or you could take a ride on the whole train. Really? Yeah, dude, it was the 90s and like blackface was still being regularly used to mock certain athletes. Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah. It's, it's, whew. So, yeah, a prostitute held it. The shortest title reign for the hardcore championship was roughly five seconds. You remember Pat Patterson and Gerald Brisco? Yeah. They had an evening

gown match for the title. The point of an evening gown match is to strip someone of their evening gown so it's just their bra on panties. They had an evening gown match for it on a paper view. Jim and Christmas. Yeah. That belt was the WWF's attempt to replicate and then control the chaos that ECW had created. And it became comedy. It was an emblem of instability born from the broken pieces of a championship belt, which had stood for tradition and excellence. Wow. Okay, yeah, heavy symbolism. Yes. Now just a little prior to this, finishing in mid-August of 1998, there was a storyline

between Valvenus, spelled V-E-N-I-S, who was a porn star. Yeah, of course. And a group called Kainthai, which was a bunch of short Japanese wrestlers, who had an older gentleman who was in charge of them, an older Japanese fellow who had a very young, hot Japanese wife. Now, the storyline between Valvinaus was, you know, he was a sex fiend, right? So, you know, he'd get him to the ring and he'd be like, hello, ladies.

And he'd do some stupid fucking tired ass pun. I'm saying this. Yeah, that means something. But, you know, he'd be like, you know, the big Valbozky, he'd call himself the big Valbozky, of course. You know, would like to meet you, you know, either sometime between Christmas, if your left leg is Christmas,

and your right leg is New Year's, I'd love to meet you between the holidays. I mean, like that level of like, Wow, can try people like you. Yeah, very feeble. What are you even doing? Right, like did who who's writing this shit cuz yeah you could come up with something creative. Yeah so

he seduces um kaian ties bosses wife and I can't remember her name all of a sudden but he seduces her and of course they have sex and of course he films it cuz he's a porn star and I forget exactly what he titles it but that's the thing every time he conquests a woman who's tied who's a valet of somebody he titles it something punny like Ken Shamrock's sister named Ryan Shamrock so he seduced her and they performed a film called Saving Ryan's Privates. Of course.

Of course. That's... Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yep, that happened. You're gonna end. And yeah.

But, but he was very popular. Like he was a low mid-carter, but he was pretty popular for this and Her name was Mrs. Yamaguchi. Okay, okay, and the leader of the factions name was Yamaguchi-san and she was the sister of Takamichi Noku who by the way is part of a traditional Japanese family of wrestlers, so no, no, no, like pro wrestling family of wrestlers. So no, no, no, like pro wrestling, putter wrestle, yeah, putter wrestle. But anyway, so Valvenus seduces her. Now, Mr. Yamaguchi san wants revenge, Kain tie kidnap Valvenus, and to close raw one week in mid August, they have him tied up to a pipe naked and Mrs. Yamaguchi is watching and Yamaguchi's son is holding her and blaming her for it and they're taking a katana and you see them swipe down and so it's a castration scene.

Wow. And that closes Raw. Which is on Monday night. Yep. Not Saturday morning. No, no, because then there were responsible Then we got to be because you know parental discretion on Monday night now after that cayentai anytime their reference valvina's they say choppy choppy So the next week You think it's bad the next week Valvina's comes out to the ring accompanied by John Wayne

Bobbit. For those of you that don't know, John Wayne Bobbit got his penis severed by his wife, whom he had abused for years. Lorraine a Bobit. She severed his penis and I think what captured everybody's imagination was the fact that he was a sleep when it happened and he woke up long after the fact because he was so knock out drunk and she drove off still holding the penis because she was in a state of shock and panic. Yeah. And then she threw it in the field. Lung it out the car window. And then they had to have dogs to go find it,

which of course leads you to all kinds of good jokes. I know, my own board. So he's got, and John Wayne Bobbitt had it reattached via surgery, which is good. Which is pretty remarkable when you think about the level of medical advancement in all in having that get reattached and be functional. Functional to the point where he started a porn career.

Yeah. Yes. Now it's a bit of a gimmick porn career, but it's a porn career in nonetheless. By the way, yeah, yeah, yeah, Frankenweeney, so like that. Now, by the way, when you have a finger that gets cut off and they can reattach that, they use leeches. Yeah. So I'm hoping. Because he deserves it. Yeah, he's done based on what we know.

So he shows up the very next week. With John Wayne Bonnet. Yes, and he said, he explains what happened. He says, luckily, the big Valboski was saved by it being cold out and there was just a little bit of shrinkage, so it missed. This is taking up television time. Okay, yeah. Now, in September, so that's August of 98. 98?

Yeah, 98. In September of 98. Now, this is leading up to the survivor series in September of 98 valvina's gets into a program with Dustin Reynolds who used to be known as gold dust Okay, who also is known as Dustin Rhodes. Yes, and WCW right so the son of dusty roads Yes, a traditionalist a second-generation guy He really makes his bones as Gold Dust, the one who's pushing all the limits. You may remember from previous episodes. Well, he ends up stopping being Gold Dust partly because he and Marlena actually get a divorce,

a real life divorce. And so then of course, life influences art. So Valvina gets into a program with Dustin Rennels and Dustin Rennels is now running a born again Christian gimmick. So he's a heel. Okay, because he doesn't want anybody to have any fun, you know, any any Tim Teebo's like, you know, well in advance of Tim Teebo. So Valvina gets into a program because he sleeps with Dustin's, like, you know. Oh, okay, yeah. Well, in advance of Tim Tebo. So Valvina gets into Rome because he sleeps with Dustin's real life, divorcing him wife, complete with her claiming a pregnancy by Val,

eventually claiming a miscarriage, and then... You've talked about that miscarriage. Yes, and then turns out, no, that was the leader. A different, a different miscarriage. Yes. My god, they've used that more than once is a fucking plot. Lies.

You have said that with demonic possessions at days of our lives. Yes. Yeah. Okay. So then it turns out she was lying and she was never pregnant at all. I don't know. I don't know if that's worse. Yeah, I don't know. Wow. Yeah. Wow. Yeah.

Okay. So yeah, like August and September, that's kind of like taking up the upper mid card. The non-stone cold Steve Austin. Yeah. That is taking a lot of it. Yeah. Now, the Royal Rumble since 1993 had been what determined the challenger for the title at the year's WrestleMania.

Okay. Royal Rumble is a battle royal in reverse. So a battle royal, you start with 20 guys or 30 guys in a ring and the last one standing wins. This one, you start with two guys in the ring and every two minutes, you add another guy. And then of course, you're throwing people over the top rope, right?

So it's pretty cool because then you get into who's going to come out next, what storyline is gonna advance here, and also the winner of this gets to go on to WrestleMania for the championship. It's pretty cool. Now, by the late 90s, it became a tool for advancing storyline, okay? And it did so by taking the action out of the ring, which is really weird considering the whole point. Well, Jimmyc is you're adding more people into the ring, which is really weird considering the whole point is that Jimic is you're adding more people into the ring as people are getting thrown out of the ring. Right. Again, you and I are draw number one and two, right?

We wrestle for two minutes. Now, if you're lucky, you can throw me out, right? But if you're not, we wrestle for two minutes, a third guy comes in and joins into the fray. And if nobody can get a guy out of fourth guy, well, even if you throw two other two people out of fourth guy's going to come out two throw two other people out of fourth guy, it's gonna come out two minutes later. And it's just every two minutes. And it's not every two minutes.

It's called royal rumble time. You know, like they're just like, okay, go. And you tend to send the guy out there with instructions. You know, be like, okay, make sure you tell this guy that he needs to throw the next guy out and blah, blah, blah, blah. But by the way, it's a Pat Patterson creation. It's very brilliant. It's one of my favorite types of matches.

But the thing is, by the late 90s, it is about advancing storylines and the action for the thing where you're supposed to stay in the ring, bounces out of the ring. But you have to throw them over the top rope. So if you go under the middle ropes, then you're not technically out. So you can come back. Okay, so you could have all kinds of shenanigans. Yeah. Right.

But now you're fucking with rules, right? You're, you're, yeah. So Vince McMahon made it. So Stone Cold Steve Austin was number one in the Royal Rumble. Sean Michaels, at this point, he is not in the ring. He is a commissioner. Uh, he said not in the ring, he is a commissioner. He said, okay, but Vince McMahon is number two, which means Stone Cold's gonna get two minutes with him.

Well, immediately Vince McMahon runs out of the ring, so immediately Stone Cold Steve Austin, chases him having gone out of the ring, neither one went over the top, therefore neither one got eliminated. Now this is 99. Yeah, 98. Let's see, 98, no Now this is 99. Yeah, 98. Mm, let's see, 98, no this is 99.

Okay. Yeah, yeah. Cause Austin doesn't have the belt. So Austin's gonna win the Royal Rumble, then he's gonna go to Mania, and then he's gonna get the belt back, goddamn it. So Austin Chase is a McMahon from the ring. Neither is eliminated.

They end up in the women's bathroom where McMahon has set up a ambush with his retinue and they attack austin and austin is hospitalized oh wow so he gets gurneyed and he's hospitalized now all of this happened while the match was still going on but the camera was focused on austin being loaded into the uh... hospital or it loaded into the uh... thank you i was gonna say the sick wagon because german uh... loaded into the hospital or loaded into the ambulance. Thank you.

I was going to say the sick wagon because German. So again, our attention is not in the ring. The very place that is the centerpiece for all the action is no longer germane to the action that's going on within it. Now McMahon went to do commentary at ringside. He didn't get back in the ring. Mabel was eliminated. Mabel was a 500 pound six foot eight black man with a white mohawk. He was eliminated and then put into a herse outside of the venue. Again more focus on that than what's in the ring. And the reason for that is because as they're loading him into the hearse, because the

undertaker is doing the corporate ministry thing, as they're loading him into the hearse, guess who comes driving back in an ambulance that he is now commandeered. Wait, okay, hold on. Yeah. Back up. Sure. Back back to her. Sure. Yeah. So he got loaded into an ambulance on a gurney. Yes.

But he has somehow managed to get a fourth wind. Yes. To get to commandeer. Yep. The ambulance. Yep. To drive back. Yes. Okay. So he took himself to the ring to finish Royal Rumble and he eliminates everybody eventually and then he looks to McMahon who's doing commentary and he stalks McMahon. Austin throws him into the crowd because why would you go in the ring? Yeah. So the match is still going on. Now there's nobody in the fucking ring. Not like we paid attention

to anybody in the ring the whole time anyway, but now there's nobody in the ring. Ring is blatantly empty. Yes, it's a blank canvas literally. Yes. Okay. So Austin throws him into the crowd, then he throws him back out of the crowd and he eventually throws him in the ring and then he throws him back out of the crowd, and he eventually throws him in the ring, and then he gets distracted by the rock, and then Vince McMahon throws Austin out and wins the Royal Rumble, which means Austin is not going to WrestleMania to fight the champion, and Vince McMahon technically has that ticket. The boss won. Yes.

Now this is January of 1999. The boss won. The guy who was sticking it to the boss lost and it was obvious that the real action outside of the ring superseded anything happening where the rules are being followed. Well it sounds to me like a Southern plotline. Doesn't it though? Except the Southern plotline almost always had the actual promoter as the good guy. Okay.

Which is itself a really special kind of bootlicking. Now I bring all of this up because it does remind me of something else. See in December of 1998 Bill Clinton got impeached. Oh. The house had brought up charges that Clinton had lied about his sexual activities with specifically one intern. He was 49 and she was, I think, 22. Which makes him a goddamn dirt bag and all of America focused on her for some reason because

we're shitty people. But the impeachment was really an effort that was driven by Republicans starting as far back as 1994 when they got into office trying to find a way to remove a legally elected Democrat president from office. Kenneth Star, who replaced Bob Fisk, was appointed by Janet Reno as an independent counsel to investigate whitewater. Now again I'm gonna bring to bring this up. Just tell you the timelines again. Valvenous, choppy choppy August of 98. Valvenous knocks up Marlena and turns out she's lying. You can't trust that woman September 1998. November, boss double crosses the every man and has co-opted the people's champion.

Is that November, is that January? That's November. January, the boss overthrows the one guy who's been able to stand against him. Wow. So whitewater was essentially an investigation into real estate investments in which the Clintons had invested and lost money along with Susan and Jim McDougall. The Madison Guarantee Savings and Lone Association, also owned by the McDougalls, had failed at a time when the Keating Five were just a few years away from being rebuked.

So you can imagine people would rather be vigilant about another SNL failure being tied to a public official. Laura Jean Lewis was just such a person and she dug deep into finding connections to the Clintons, naming them to the FBI in a criminal referral as a witness to what had happened with the failures of white water. See, if you fail at an investment, that could mean tax breaks and stuff like that. It could be a wave laundering party. The FBI didn't think the referral had enough merit and never pursued. She continued from 1992 to 1994 to continue to submit referrals, which then became

public knowledge. Now, in November of 1993, David Hale, a former judge and a banker in Arkansas, claimed that Clinton pressured him into loaning Susan McDougall $300,000 illegally. The problem with this allegation was that in 1989 during the original FBI investigation, he had not named either Clinton in his testimony and he only did so once he was indicted. The McDougalls were found guilty of fraud and conspiracy and Clinton's successor, as governor, Jim Guy Tucker, was sentenced to four years of probation in his part for the whole thing. Bill and Hillary Clinton were never prosecuted, as three different investigations couldn't

link them criminally to what had happened. Two of those three investigations were led by Kenneth Starr. So is he slick Willie? Quite possibly. Or is this people witch hunting? Quite possibly. Yes. What I do know is that Vince McMahon overthrew Stone Cold Steve Austin in January of 1999 and that Valvenus had an affair with Mrs. Yamaguchi and then with Marlena. Now, Star continued this, and the impeachment that surrounded

Lewinsky and Clinton's power dynamic laid an affair with her, seemed to stem from his inability to link the Clintons to the Whitewater scandal. Yeah. So he can't link them, so now he's gonna go after the fact that a creepy-ass 49-year-old...

Used his power in his position to manipulate and... Yeah. Yeah, in Sweden, I think it's called like, rape by power dynamics or something like that. So, yeah. I don't even want to say seduce, you know. So an executive is too slick to be able to get caught in the public zeitgeist and certainly that's the story that the media sees is upon when it's brought up. And in 1998 Kenneth star with a lot of

Republican support was going after Clinton about his affair with an intern. A lot of this stemmed to Apologone sexual harassment suit against Clinton, which was initially filed in 1994, for when he had been governor of Arkansas. Remember sexual harassment was pretty new. I think it was 91 and Anita Hill was given a little bit of time in front of Congress, but none of the other women were because then President Pro Tem of the Senate, Joe Biden, went off on the women and apologized to and sided with Clarence Thomas. Yeah. So, let's see, that takes us to Paula Jones, right?

Yes. Now he tried to claim that he was immune Now, he tried to claim that he was immune, as Clinton tried to claim that he was immune to civil suits while he was in office. Now, that claim worked its way through the courts until 1997 when Supreme Court said, oh hell no. Because back then, there were people interested

in jurisprudence not in taking money from a group that they then spoke in front of and then not recusing themselves from a decision which might outlaw abortion. Well, I mean, he's, he was an asshole, but like he would recuse himself from shit. Now I'm talking about, uh, Kavanaugh. No, what's your name? Um, the, the one that they snuck in there. Oh, yeah, Barrett. Yeah, yeah, there. That's the last moment. Yeah. Barrett? Yeah. Come me, Barrett.

Yeah, there you go. There you go. Yeah, she literally took money and spoken in front of the group that's part of that. That's a trend, I remember, which is a bit faster. Anyway. Yeah. So in early summer of 1997, the pre-trial discovery

process started for that civil suit, the Paula Jones civil suit. So a sitting president is being sued civilly for something that he did while he was governor. So the reason why Lewinsky was included was twofold. First she'd been telling her friend Linda Tripp about her affair with the president and Linda Tripp was leaking this information secretly to Paula Jones' attorney. Secondly, Jones's attorney was trying to establish that Clinton had a history of such behavior with women and that would be material to the case.

Now, after Lewinsky got added to the list of witnesses in the Jones case, Clinton began trying to conceal his relationship with her. He encouraged her to file a false affidavit, to use cover stories and hide gifts that he'd given her and to try to find her a good job as a favor for her silence. These are all things that he did do. This is all according to the Star Report. Now this is Crooked Yes. This is Slimey Yes. In January of 1998 Clinton denied his sexual affair with Lewinsky. I have never had sexual relations with that woman. Now, it's really interesting to parse those words. I did not have sexual relations, which you could start

on what is sex and remember people. Well, and he wound up, he did not do himself any favors by saying, well, you have to get into what the definition of is. You know, I looked into that and he actually had some standing on that though. Well, you have to get into what the definition of is. You know, I looked into that and he actually had some standing on that though. Okay. Like there was a stump to step on for that.

It wasn't just a splinter, but you're right. I mean, it still sounds, it plays badly. It played horrible. But what I also like is that he said with that woman, that woman, not this woman not not this one Not any of these other one that woman specifically denying that woman Miss Lewinsky So again, he's naming her and he's being very parsimonious. He is a lawyer now a few months later He admitted to oral sex with her and that it was wrong and in August of 1998

Right wrong and in August of 1998. Right. Mid-August, 98. Okay. So the Jones case gets thrown out because it was 1998. Women claiming sexual harassment by powerful men did not really get taken seriously. Clinton settled with Jones in November of 98, by the way, for $850,000. This also meant that he didn't have to admit any wrongdoing in November of 1998. Yes, I get where your point is the timeline here. Now then it gets wild.

Bob Livingston replaces Newt Gingrich as Speaker of the House in January 3rd of 1999. Okay. Because Gingrich, who had two years before been hit with an ethics reprimand for violating federal tax laws and using funds and appropriately to get reelected had resigned from Congress. Yeah, he found a book deal. Of course he did.

Yeah, but then Bob Livingston resigned from Congress because he'd been unfaithful to his wife and he said to Clinton that he should do the same. Okay, Clinton said no and actually urged Bob Livingston to reconsider his resignation, which makes Clinton look like the reasonable one. Okay. So this is January of 1999. Yeah, and okay, so when? So the guy that was always sticking it

to the corporate boss is gone. Yeah, I remember how that whole thing is the end result of that whole saga wound up getting getting satirized. Oh, is this on the SN the s&l what the hell happened so good oh so good this is not celebratory this is contemplative i remember that

haps blue ribbots yes you know and oh so good my once in a future girlfriend you know and And the thing is that whole chain of events has become this, this totemic, like Moses on the mountaintop moment

in our political discourse. Yep. Because that is, I think the moment that Republican irrational teeth-nashing, hair-pulling hatred was given full face. Was given, was given, was crystallized. Yes. Into the hardened thing that gave birth to the Tea Party.

And at the same time, I think moderate Democrats spent the next, I don't know how many years talking about, well, you know, it was a blowjob. And you tried to crucify him for it. Meanwhile look at what your guy is doing. Yeah. Meanwhile progressives feminists, intersectionalists, everybody were like can y'all centrests kind of stop being so shitty about this? Yes, you know, because just that skit that we both remember so clearly, the attitude displayed toward Bill Clinton, the attitude displayed toward Monica Lewinsky

and Clinton's relationship with Hillary Clinton was such a relic of an era we are not living in and his and and Clinton's relationship with Hillary Clinton was such a relic of an era we are not living in anymore. Well, and what I find especially interesting with what you just said is I think I genuinely think that they used the impeachment wrongly. It was a political tool on their part and And what it did was it made it so that nobody had the balls or the ovaries to impeach George H or George W. Bush for absolutely

lying to get us into another war. And he should have been impeached for that. Those are impeachable offenses. And the centrist were running the show and they refused to do it because then it would look like a revenge impeachment. And it's like, and that's what I hate about what happens so often is that the people who are in the wrong suck the air out of the room for doing the right thing. So that when you need to do the right thing to stop them, you don't. So by the way, tons of Republicans who'd voted for impeachment had their affairs exposed.

Oh yeah. Larry Flint was paying bounties. Oh yeah, Larry. Yeah. Now Bill Clinton was impeached on December 19th, 1998 by the House of Representatives. It had been a bit delayed due to a bombing of Iraq. But they impeached him on two separate counts of perjury, one count of obstruction of justice and one count of abuse of power.

Of those, one count of perjury and one count of obstruction of justice went ahead into the Senate. Clinton beat those charges on February 9th, 1999, but nobody thought they'd actually get a two thirds majority to impeach him anyway, so now how about that Royal Rumble where the guy in charge towards the good guy? Yeah. Look what that's pulling on. Now speaking of all that sex, the mid to late 1990s got really sexy really fast

Okay starting with sunny In 1995 yep, she became the most downloaded woman an aol of 1996 Really mm-hmm and remember to download pictures back then took time took patients like yeah, yeah pictures back then took patients like yeah yeah she brought a sexiness and flirtatiousness to the WWF and this was at a time when USA did something called up all night so lots and lots of sunny lots and lots of sexiness and she managed if you're looking up a picture of sunny look her up from 95 not now because she's in jail now and oh her life has been hard. So many of these people's lives have been hard. It's almost like this business rides people hard and puts them up wet.

So she managed a lot of tag teams. She even managed LOD 2000 in 1998. By the way, I told you last to a time, if you put new in front of your name, it's a kiss of death. Yeah, it's put in 9.000 at the end of your name is also a bad idea. Yes. So, she was pushed out of the WWF, some say due to a fight with the next woman who is coming up in the WWF, Sable.

Oh, okay. And now the error of the Valle is in full swing. Now Sable was a very 1990s hot Pam Anderson style. Yeah, yeah. And I'm just gonna say I would have downloaded images of Tammy. Yeah, oh, she's such a cuteness to her. And such a eye-own-unus to her eyes. Yeah.

So, but the era of the Valleys in full swing, Sable's wearing lots of pleather, she's got huge breasts, she's got long-curled blonde hair. Oh, and she was also on the cover of Playboy in April of 1999. I vaguely remember that. Yep, now this was WWF, so there's lots of control over that, lots of production value and lots of corralling

of this sexuality. They pushed it, don't get me wrong, but it was nothing like ECW. So I'm gonna give you a list of the valets of ECW. Now remember, ECW is Philly based. It doesn't have nearly the production value. So it's gonna get grimy. Okay.

We'll start with you. I'm just sorted, but grimy. Yeah, I, okay. We'll start with you. Not just sorted, but grimy. Yeah, I did. Okay. It's a choice of adjective that kind of has me a little scary. He should be. So Bula McGillic, Bula McGillicuddy was a valet who was build as being from the pages of Penthouse magazine because in fact, she had been in Penthouse.

Oh, okay. Don Marie, a debut with ECW in 1998. Now she debuted as Tammy Lynn Bitch. Oh, that's lovely. Yeah, now this is because it was a play on the real name of Sonny, Tammy Lynn Stitch. That's shit, okay. Or it's actually just Sitch, I think.

Sitch, yeah. Who had come back to ECW after getting pushed out of WWF. Angelica, and then later called Miss Congeniality, now she was only an ECW for five months in 1999 before moving on to WWF and becoming Lita. Oh wow, okay. And then you've been mentioned already a couple of times. And do a side-by-side of those,

and you can see that WWF has a lot of production value. Just again, grimy, like like ECW had hers kind of grimy. Francine was another staple of ECW and Francine would often wrestle men. Come on, I want to lay. I did that so much on purpose. Oh, for our listeners, Ed is drinking Kalastoga water and I waited. I waited. That would have been pain.

I was hopeful. I was so hopeful. Now, that was that was her name. Come on, I want to lay. She is credited with one of the very first lesbian angles in wrestling, making out with Bula. Okay, I, yeah. You talk about Bula wrestling with man, I was like, wait.

Yep. Okay, hold on. Oh, but Bula is hot though, but she's, she is vicious. I mean, she's Philly hot. Okay. So, probably the best way to put it. Uh, they also had chastity. Who was. Yes, they did.

They know she's an actual porn actress. There's a woman named woman. She was one of the first values in ECW. Her story is really tragic because she then goes on as woman in WCW, is married to Kevin Sullivan, who was the head booker, who then gets into a feud with Chris Benoit, where Chris Benoit steals woman away from him, which actually then happens

in real life, and then Chris Benoit is actually married to woman and that that was actually his wife. Wow. Yeah, and they get to. Yeah, and you know what happens there. Yeah. Yeah. Jasmine St. Claire, an actual porn star from the 90s. Clearly did not recognize that name. No, not at all. Totally did not recognize that name. Yeah. Now there are about four others, but as you can see, ECW was doing it first and just less dressed up.

Very filling. Yes. Now by the late 1990s, WCW was trying to do the same. They had been using the Nitro Girls as warm up dancing troop for years. Now again, cheerleading. Yeah, and the idea behind them was you gotta keep the crowd hot uh... between matches for commercial breaks that's when they would come out and when you come back from commercial

they're finishing up their dance for the last ten seconds so you get to see them and they become a real kind of favorite on the show and it was pretty neat actually i i i liked it uh... it just added a little bit of something. They're very cute. You could kind of pick your favorites. Did you have a lot of sizzle? No, they didn't. And so that added a little bit of that production value

that they so desperately, desperately needed. And it was still better than the ECW. But remember, ECW used the women in story lines. So one would say actually ECW might be more empowering, but it's also like it's just, it's so, Well, it's more empowering, but it's such a sleazy way. Yeah, yeah, that's a good way to put it. Whereas WCW was very much Southern, very much like, you know, what was Atlanta?

You know, the Hawks and the cheerleaders. Yeah, look at the pretty girls. Now let's get back to the sports. Yeah. So, so once Vince Russo got into WCW, they started getting used to having valets and they started using the Nitro Girls as valets and then they started using them as wrestlers and it was awful because these are women who don't know how to wrestle, they're not trained as wrestlers, at least ECW had women who had been trained as wrestlers.

These are dancers who are then thrust into storylines and they're supposed to wrestle. And it's just cat-fighty bullshit. And it's the laziest writing. It's Vince Russo. He's garbage. Kimberly had been the head and the creator of the Nitro Girls. And she was Diamond Dallas Pages wife. And she had already been in playboys early as 1994 but there

wasn't much national attention paid to it and there wasn't much marketing because WCW tends to be more conservative but they weren't the WF but by 1999 she had been worked into sex storylines. To the point where she and Ric Flair went to a hotel and had sex 14 times. And then that tired him out enough so Diamond Dallas Page could attack him. It was so dumb writing. It was terrible. Okay.

So, yeah, what WCW couldn't do in production? The wrestling version of a honey trap. Yeah. So what they couldn't do in production, they tried to do in volume. Here's a brief list of the women who are using sex-based storylines from 1998, going forward, Stacey Kebler. At that time, she was known as Miss Hancock. Chastity came to work for WCW. Tammy Lynn Sitch came to work for WCW. Uh, Tammy Lynn Sitch came to work for WCW Tigris. Paisley, who later would then go on to be known as Sharmel, and she married producer George's wife's favorite wrestler, Booker T. Tyline Buck, who is now a cam girl, and Medaija,

uh, who just, I mean, look her up, and it's it's it's as though someone described on paper What they thought a 1990s hot woman should look like but the artist wasn't that good Okay, so it looks just like a parody now Here at in WWF at King of the Ring in June. I'm rewinding a bit of June of 1998 Jerry Lawler broke down pretty clearly during a match between the new midnight express and the new age outlaws What was going on? This was the first pay-per-view where Mick Foley had gotten thrown off the hell in the cell Okay, and then got thrown through the cage onto the mat and then onto a bunch of thumbtacks so

Again all hell is breaking loose you have a cage that's supposed to contain the action in and around the ring right He finally gets thrown through the cage into the ring All hell's breaking loose windows 98 just got released A plague has been visiting the whole humanity yeah, and Jerry Jerry Lawler says this. He says, even I like these guys. It's one of those kinds of things. They're like Beavison butthead. They're like South Park. They're offensive, but hey, that's what's happened in today.

They're in their hip. They're with it. And you're lost out there somewhere in this generation gap. So you wouldn't understand J.R. But kids today, that's their way of thinking. They love these guys. Because they say what's on their mind. They go around and tell people what they really feel. Everybody would like to be able to do that, but sometimes at school, sometimes at work, you can't do that.

These guys, DX, will do it for you. Lawler goes on to say, see, and the cool thing about DX is, they don't really care if anybody likes them or not. They're just being themselves, and that's why people like them. Okay, so there you go. Now, I think the next episode is going to kind of be the epilogue to all of this. Okay. Um, but that's what's happening in the 90s and look at what happened to politics at the same time. I'm not saying one caused the other, but they certainly were reflective of each other. I would-

It was a sun house mirror. Yes. What was going on in- in the national subconscious. Yeah. I would say it's a grotesque representation of it. Now the next episode will be the last episode on this. Okay. And it's about to get really sad. Ooh. Yeah. Okay.

So it's basically it's what I call the two epilogs. So all right. Do you have anything that you've gleaned from this? Um, not yet. Okay. I want to reserve any, any kind of that part of the conversation until after the next episode. Okay. Because we're in kind of a transitional moment. Yeah. Here, what I'm what I'm curious about. So there was the the new generation, the attitude era. And I assume Stone Cold Steve Austin is the banner bearer for the attitude era. Yes. Okay. Degeneration X in many ways was. Okay. But Steve Austin was what was drawing everybody in but as far as what attitude meant

I guess there were two sides of attitude. There was the fun side and there was the fuck you side Okay, so just like in the 90s there was The the fun South Park aspect of things. Yeah, but also there was the fuck you anti hero aspect of things Okay, all right, that makes sense. So then, and so, so this, this is the point where we have Stone Cold and the rock. Yes. In, in proximity to each other chronologically. Yeah, actually.

There's overlap there. So you know that 99 Royal Rumbles to determine the, you know, the person who would be fighting against the champion. Well, the champion was the rock. Okay. I forget exactly how Austin did it, but he ended up becoming the number one contender. Okay. I think it was because Linda McMahon stepped in and empowered him to be the number one

contender. And so Austin and the Rock was WrestleMania 15. Okay. And then they were also WrestleMania 17, and then they were also WrestleMania 19. Really? Yeah, they every other year, they basically did like the San Francisco Giants did for World Series for a little while there. All right. But Austin and the Rock were there, there were two poles going at it every time. And yeah, they're the main event each time. Okay. So now at what point, where in that chronology, would you say the rock transition being WWE's creature to being the juggernaut within our media landscape.

Oh, okay. So he goes away from the WWE F. Actually, at that time, I think it was WWE. But he goes away from them around WrestleMania 16 or shortly thereafter. I forget exactly when, but he goes away for a while. He comes back and that's when they end up ginning up for the WrestleMania night. I'm sorry, he goes away after WrestleMania 18. Okay. Um, where he wrestles Hulk Hogan in the Toronto Skydome and Hogan is

supposed to be the heel and the rock is supposed to be the face, and they listen to the crowd and switch. Really? Yeah, now that's outside of the 90s, so it's outside of my purview of this, but it is quite an interesting thing, and hats off to the rock for reading the crowd, and Hogan for reading the crowd.

Toronto's always been a weird city as far as faces and heels go anyway But so then shortly after that I want to say like summer of that he goes away to film the scorpion king Oh right or or maybe he was filming other things I forget but He beats Austin spoiler alert in WrestleMania 19 It's the only time he wins against Austin

Which is ultimately one of Austin's last matches, his last big one. But he beats Austin in 19. He goes away to Hollywood and he really starts building his brand there. He comes back for 20 to team with Mick Foley for the Rock and Sought connection. And it's so much fun. to team with Mick Foley for the Rock and Sot connection.

And it's so much fun. Mick Foley's so good. But because by this point, Mick Foley is using Mr. Saco to attack people. So it's the Rock and Sot. But he, that's 20. I think he's pretty much gone by then and he's full Hollywood until about 27 or 28. And by the time it's 27 or 28, he's a goddamn superstar. Yeah. So I don't remember the first movie that really truly made him

the superstar that he was like where it's's like, oh, oh, right? Yeah. But maybe I can find that between episodes. But it was, so we're talking the early 2000s. Okay. By 2005, 2006. Okay. That's when he really fully transitions.

Okay. Yeah. So cool. Yeah. So got anything for people to read or watch? I'm going to recommend what am I going to recommend. I didn't plan this out ahead of time this time. So I'm a little bit of a loss. I'm going to recommend very strongly watching WandaVision if you haven't done it already. Oh yeah. And even if you have I would say go back and do that again because it's worth it and the when we're talking about postmodernism

the the device of a fully constructed sitcom reality that is actually being broadcast as a sitcom. Yes From from within the the sphere of influence of quantum axiom offs burgeoning, you know reality warping powers I don't think enough has been said about the symbolism of, okay, no wait, I've picked up a carrier wave signal that is actually broadcasting this reality. I like that you said the deconstructed because the whole point of it is to deconstruct it is it is a massive deconstruction On so many levels and and it is it is peak

Well, no, it is not peak postmodernism. No, you have proven to me You know to shout over doubt that the Toronto screw job is peak postmodernism Montreal Montreal. Sorry Montreal screw job It's Canada whatever So yeah, that's okay. That's my my Recommendation okay is gonna be take a look at one division and really look at it with a with a With an investigative eye with an investigative eye toward the levels to which it gets metta. Because there's the obvious level and then there's four or five other ones beyond that.

Oh yeah. Oh yeah. How about you? Well, you know, I have a bit of a correction. It wasn't Ed, it wasn't Ed the Strangler Lewis. I've found recent literature, it says, is Evan the Strangler Lewis. Oh, okay.

But I'm finding contradictory evidence there. So, if you're interested in looking up Ed or Evan the Strangler Lewis, I'm pretty sure that's the same damn guy. Okay. So, yeah. Now, as far as what I'm gonna recommend, it's called Sisterhood of the same damn guy. Okay. So yeah, now as far as what I'm gonna recommend, it's called Sisterhood of the Squared Circle.

It's the History and Rise of Women's Wrestling by Pat La Pradae and Dan Murphy. I heard him interview, I heard Pat La Pradae interviewed and he did a really good amount of research on those wrestlers. Yeah, I think it's been another reprint. Okay. And the other thing I would recommend is lipstick and dynamite, which is a documentary on women's wrestling, and it's really, really good.

So those would be the things that I would recommend. Okay. I might find another women's wrestling book to recommend for the next one, because there's another one tickling the back of my brain, but I can't remember who wrote it. So yeah, hey, where can people find you on the social medias. I can be found on TikTok and Instagram as MrBlaylock. And where can they find you if they need to, you know, point out an error you have probably not made, but you know, where can they find you? Yeah, sure to correct me on Yamaguchi son or something like that You can find me at duh harmony on the Insta and the Twitter You can also find me every Tuesday night on twitch.tv for slash capital puns or every Friday afternoon on twitch.tv forward slash iMac pun I also have a YouTube channel that is called Marvel Strike Force Excelsior Gaming or Excelsior Gaming Marvel Strike Force, you'll find it. I feel like there's something I'm missing, but that's okay. That's more than enough. Yeah, that's more than enough.

That's plenty you got going on. Yeah, yeah. So anyway, where can they find us, by the way? Collectively, you can be found on Twitter as Geek History Time. And so for Geek History Time, I'm Ed Blalock. And I'm Damien Harmony. And until next time, woo!