Episode Sixty-Seven - Campeones, Campeones

Hot balls. The UEFA Champions League draw happened this week in Monaco.

With all sorts of news going on in the futbol word, we welcome ESPNFC journalist Gabriele Marcotti (@marcotti) to the show. We start with an analysis of the draws for the Champions League and Europa League, held this week in Monaco.  Which groups look the toughest and what are the prospects for the Premier League teams.  Then, we discuss the flurry of transfer activity this summer, including news just today that Ousmane Dembele is headed to Barcelona and Kylian Mbappe could be on the verge of joining Neymar at Paris St-Germain. That leads to a talk about PSG and Financial Fair Play, something Gab has written about over the last couple weeks.  We end the futbol talk with a look at Week Three in the Premier League, including the match at Stanford Bridge between Chelsea and Everton.

The rest of the show, we talk about how Gab became an ECW hardcore regular in the mid to late 1990s while a student at Penn.  What was his first trip to ECW Arena like? What angles does he remember seeing at the shows? Does he still keep up with the business in 2017?

We really want to thank Gab for his time, as the pod was recorded after he flew back this afternoon to London from Monaco. You can read Gab's work at ESPNFC.com, The Times (of London) [paywall] and you can hear him as the host of The Game podcast every Monday during the futbol season, on Soundcloud, iTunes, or most listening platforms.

Episode Sixty-Four - The Mad Titan

From the Death of Captain Marvel. (c) 2017 Marvel Comics.

Just in time for San Diego Comic-Con, an over-stuffed episode about comics, movies, TV and video games. We welcome Craig from the Puzzle Warriors 3 podcast (@PuzzleWarriors3) to talk all that and more.

We start by going over what got Craig back into comics after a couple decades, what we are both enjoying right and looking forward to coming out soon. Plenty of good recommendations here. Also, why does Craig love Dazzler so mych?

From there, we talk about the just completed season of Doctor Who and what we could happen in the Xmas Special as well as thoughts on the new creative team and cast.

And lots of Marvel Puzzle Quest talk, including why he, Ian and Craig started the show, thoughts of some of the more powerful characters in the game, balancing PVE, PVP and DDQ, how much fun the special events have been of late and chat about the special plants for their 100th episode in two weeks time. 

Lots of random stuff at the end, including wrestling and hockey talk. We never got around to all the old TV show and cartoon talk that was on the docket, so hopefully Craig will be back in a future episode.

Note: We had a brief addition to the show for a mention of the passing of George A. Romero and Martlin Landau. As a huge Mission Impossible fan, I am working on lining up a special guest to talk about Landau's career. 

Episode Sixty-Three - Es Un Asunto de Familia

Puma King with his copy of issue six at Break the Barrier 2017.

If you missed the news a couple weeks ago, issue six of the magazine is now out. It debuted at the Break the Barrier show in Old Forge PA, where Puma and his dad Felino wrestled Guerrero Maya Jr and Skayde. That match was the basis for our cover (by Kcidis) and cover story bios by The Cubs Fan (@luchablog).

To talk about his article in the magazine, we were joined on the pod by Dr. Lucha Steve Sims. We discussed his article on the Alvarado Family (Los Brazos, Maximo, La Mascara), their history and how that related to what happened to Ultimo Guerrero's car, the guys who were and were not fired over the incident and all the things that connect to the incident. We also discuss some of the other big families in lucha right now: The Munoz Family (Rush, Dragon Lee, Mistico and Pierroth), the Ibarra Family (LA Park, Volador Jr, Super Parka), the Panthers (Blue Panther Sr and Jr, The Panther) and of course, the Casas Family (Negro Casas, Felino, Puma, TIger, Dallys, Canelo), There's also other lucha talk, including why hasn't there been any legal action over the vandalism, the usual head scratching involving CMLL booking and talk about the next project coming to the website, a look back at what Rob Viper called CMLL's best tournament ever, the 2014 En Busca De Un Idolo tournament, which involved people like Hechicero, Barbaro Cavernario, Dragon Lee, Cachorro/The Panther and Sobernao Jr.  

After that, we talk about Matt's article on Gino Hernandez's time working in Houston for Pail Boesch. We talk about his matches there, both as a single and a tag team with Tully Blanchard. Unfortunately, Matt was unable to be on the podcast to discuss his article. But if you want to see many of the matches he wrote about and we discussed, you can see them on the NWA Streaming Service (at least as of this writing). 

Then there is a whole mish-mash of subjects, from what wrestling we could watch in the mid-1980s to watching wrestling in college (Steve in Chapel Hill in the 70s, me in Bloomington in the 80s) to a bunch of other stuff. 

For more information on the magazine, check out its page here on the website. 

Episode Sixty-One - Masters of the World

Parejas Increibles. Valeria Richards and Victor Von Doom. (c) 2017 Marvel Comics

Todd Rowker (@rowkerthejoker) from The Longbox Heroes Podcast (@longboxheroes) returns to the show for a chat about a variety of subjects. First, we talk about the new season of Doctor Who, what has and has not worked so far and a brief discussion of the rest of the season. Some small spoiler talk but only things shown in the teaser trailer.  We then talk about the Gallifreybirds project Todd and Joe (@joesposto) are doing this year on Longbox Heroes After Dark, We go over why Todd chose each episode of Doctor Who so far for Joe to watch, as well as thoughts on the wrestling he has seen so far. Then, some chat about current comics, including the Batman/Flash cross-over "The Button", Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps and another endorsement for Scooby Doo Team-Up. We briefly chat about some Marvel books, including thoughts after the deep dive re-read I did recently of Jonathan Hickman's run on Fantastic Four and FF. 

Also, as mentioned on the show, we will be setting up at the Powerbomb.TV Breaking the Barrier show on June 11 in Old Forge PA. Hopefully, there will be a new Odessa Steps Magazine debuting at the show. 

Episode Sixty - Dangerous Va-K-tion

Tim gets a handshake from Kawada, instead of a stretch plum. Photo courtsey Tim Livingston

Tim Livingston (@mrtimlivingston) joins the show to talk some basubaru and puroresu. First, we discuss his trip/vacation to South Korea and Japan, why he went and what he did while he was there. Plenty of talk about video games, baseball (in both countries) and pro wrestling, when Tim went to some famous venues and ate at some famous places. He even got to meet his favorite Japanese wrestler, Toshiaki Kawada. Then, we talk about his career in baseball, from working for the Dunedin Blue Jays to being the play-by-play voice of the Sonoma Stompers @sonomastompers). We chat about how he got the gig for his hometown nine, their progressive philosophies on and off the field, how Francis Ford Coppola fits in to the story and hanging out with "the Spaceman" Bill Lee.  

Tim did a write-up for Place to Be Nation. You can also catch Tim as the voice of Phoenix Pro Wrestling (@PPWPetaluma).

Episode Fifty-Six - Ursa Major

Ivan, Nikita and Don Kernodle.

Wrestling Observer Live's Mike Sempervive (@sempervive) joins the pod to talk about the recent deaths of Ivan Koloff and George Steele. We discuss Ivan's historic win over Bruno Sammartino for the WWWF title, his part in Ole Anderson's turn on Dusty Rhodes in 1980 and a long review of Ivan in Mid-Atlantic, from teaming with Don Kernodle to teaming with Nikita Koloff and Khrusher Khrushchev. We also mention some of his other career highlights, including the infamous "Russian Flag Burial" of Cowboy Bill Watts (my second favorite angle). We then discuss the passing of George "the Animal" Steele and his evolution or is that devolution from title contender to lovable "missing link" and his role in the Savage/Steamboat feud. There is also brief talk about the passing of Bruiser Bob Sweetan.

(1:00) - At the hour mark, we do some hockey talk. Mike talks about the playoff changes for the Rangers and the cataclysmic system for the Red Wings. We discuss the upcoming trade deadline, ways to improve it (many ideas borrowed from friend of the pod @jeffmarek), the success or lack thereof this year of the World Cup, ESPN's relationship to hockey and the NHl and more. 

Episode Fifty-Five - El Classico

The podcast remembers Chavo Guerrero Senior (Salvador Guerrero) who passed away at the age of 68. Chavo was the son of Gori Guerrero, brother of Hector, Mando and Eddy Guerrero and father of Chavo Guerrero Jr. Our condolences to his friends and family.

Magazine contributor Matt discusses Chavo's long career wrestling in Houston for Paul Boesch, including his singles feuds and matches teaming with Hector.  We mention their feud with the Fabulous Ones, amongst others. Lots of footage of Chavo in Houston can be seen on the NWA on demand streaming service. We also talk about some of matches available on the service, including a just-posted NWA title match from 1977 between Terry Funk and Harley Race. We also have a brief chat about new comics we are enjoying, including US Avengers and Ultimates 2 by Al Ewing.

Then, we have an exerpt from Winter Palace episode 7 with Vandal Drummond (@vandaldrummond). At the time, we discussed the passing of Roddy Piper and Vandal seeing him live in LA in the late 1970s and part of our discussion was about Piper's feud with a young Chavo.

We did not have a change to get someone on to talk about Chavo's career in Japan or his time as NWA Junior Heavyweight champion. We hope to try and get a guest to discuss that on an upcoming episode of the podcast. 

Below are a smattering of Chavo's work that can be found on youtube. 

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Episode Forty Nine - Holy Cow

How about that kid in the sombrero?

Egyptian-based journalist and Chicago native Ashraf Khalil (@ashrafkhalil) joins the show to talk Cubbies and the world of popular culture. First, we talk about what it was like to experience the Cubs World Series win while halfway around the world. We also discuss how Cubs fans will be viewed now that they are no longer "lovable losers." Then, we talk about watching American sports abroad, sports podcasts include those by Dan LeBatard and Tony Kornheiser, watching or not watching the NFL in 2016 and more.  Then, we talk pro wrestling, WWE getting mainstream coverage, watching the network vs youtube,  American wrestling versus lucha watching habits and reminiscing about old school grappling. Next, we talk current comics, what Ash is reading (Chew, Sex Criminals, Revival) and what he should check out next (Vision, Lazarus, Southern Bastards, The Black Monday Murders, Casanova, The Goddamned).  We end with a look at how the Presidential Election is seen in the Middle East and Red vs Blue dynamics across the country.

Note: We apologize for the podcast hiatus. Health issues of the ENT variety made doing a show problematic. Hopefully, things will be back to a more regular schedule soon. We tried to edit out any extraneous coughing and other issues, but some may have slipped through. Thank you for your patience. 

Episode Forty-Eight - Get Off My Bridge

It's the start of the baseball playoffs and we're joined by The Cubs Fan (@luchablog) to talk lucha libre. Oh, and baseball. We start by getting the latest on the Alberto situation, Zeuxis' tryout at the WWE Performance Center, the Volador Jr vs Barbaro Cavernario matches, including what might happen this week, Dragon Lee in ROH, the luchadors going to ROH for the trios tournament, the Hechicero vs Guerrero Maya Jr lightning match,  and more news. Then, we talk about the trip to Mexico Cubs and @robviper took in September, including best matches and travelling from Mexico City to Tijuana to see The Crash show. We end by talking playoff baseball (we recorded during Toronto's game one mauling of Texas), what is Cubs' confidence/worry level, playing the Giants in the NLDS, Madison Bumgarner, the Dodgers vs Nationals series and more. Be sure to check out the Luchablog for the latest news and thecubsfan youtube channel for all the matches not otherwise available. 

Episode Forty-Seven - Captain Caveman

He got a big ugly club and a head fulla hair Like great big lions and grizzly bears.

We welcome back Vandal Drummond (@vandaldrummond) from the Luchaworld podcast for a variety of subjects. We talk the Reyes de Aire match between Barbaro Cavernario and Volador Jr and its polarizing finish, what they have left for the rematch and Cavernario's main event future. We also talk about the recent CMLL legends show and how not all 50-+ year old wrestlers are like Negro Casas and Negro Navarro. Next, Vandal explains how he acquired some of the infamous Monsul's Powder, made famous by an angle with John Tolos and Freddie Blassie in 1971. We discuss other blinding angles and, based on the Last Battle of Atlanta footage, the importance of context when watching a match from the past cold.  Then we discuss the European vacation Vandal and his wife took this summer, including being in London right after Brexit and Paris right after the Nice attack following Euro 2016. He also mentions what city (home to a former podcast guest and friend of the show) they loved so much they inquired about retiring there. We end with talk of the next Luchaworld podcast with Alfredo Esparza (@therealfredo) and some of the other shows Vandal has done recently, including the 605 Superpodcast (@605pod). 

The dreaded Monsul's Powder.

Episode Forty-Five - Georgia on My Mind

Did the Battle of Atlanta ruin Tommy RIch's career?

Wrestling Observer Live's Mike Sempervive (@sempervive) returns to the pod for some old school rasslin' talk. We start with the WWE Network unveiling the thought-lost footage of the Battle of Atlanta between Tommy Rich and Mad Dog Buzz Sawyer. We talk about the match's historical context, does it hold up to 2016 eyes and how does it compare to the Magnum TA vs Tully Blanchard Starrcade 85 cage match. We talk about the history of Georgia Championship Wrestling both before and after that feud, including the legendary Ole Anderson heel turn on Dusty Rhodes (see below). We discuss all the wrestling content now available, including the WWE Network, the NWA On Demand Service, New Japan World, CMLL's streaming options and all the classic footage uploaded by folks like Kris Zellner (@kriszellner) and @Monsoon_Classic, to name just a few. We also talk about the current WWE scene, will HHH's success with NXT and the Cruiserweight Classic translate to the main roster, how will mainstream fans treat guys like Jack Gallagher and TJ Perkins and more. We wrap up with a brief chat about the just-starting World Cup of Hockey. Can anyone beat Canada? Will the Young Guns make it to the semi-finals? We taped the show during the North America vs Finland match. 

Episode Forty-Four - O Wretched Man

Pete No so Nice. Don't Call Him the Trapster. Art by Phil Hester. 

Veteran comics creator Phil Hester (@philhester) joins the show to talk about his recent health issues, the 399kirbys project for the Hero Initiative (@heroinitiative), the upcoming Aftershock book Shipwreck drawn by Phil and written by Warren Ellis (@warrenellis), his current Image series Mythic, now in TPB, drawn by John McCrea (@mccreaman), the giant omnibus collection of The Wretch coming (likely) in 2017, working with Ande Parks (@andeparks) on Green Arrow with Kevin Smith (@thatkevinsmith) and Brad Meltzer (@bradmeltzer), working on Swamp Thing with Grant Morrison (@grant morrisoan) and Mark Millar (@mrmarkmillar), giving us the art for the cover for Odessa Steps Magazine issue 3 featuring the Holy Terror, how his book Firebreather with Andy Kuhn (@andykuhn) went from an Image comic to a Cartoon Network feature and more.

At the end of the show, a brief tribute to the recently deceased Steven Hill, Harry Fujiwara (aka Mr. Fuji) and the legendary Gene Wilder. Condolences to their ffriends and family.

Episode Forty-Three - Girls and Boys

You're my girl, Bleu. Blue Monday: The Kids are Alright  (C) 2106 Chynna Clugston Flores.

With Blue Monday finally back in print, we are thrilled to have Chynna Clugston Flores (@chynnasyndrome) on the podcast to talk about the series being reprinted at Image with colors by Jordie Bellaire (@whoajordie), the timetable for reprints and  new material, the return of Scooter Girl, writing the Gotham Academy/Lumberjanes cross-over book, working on DC kids books including the Mad Mod issue of Teen Titans Go, MTV Classics, use of music in Blue Monday, the cyclical nature of fads and culture, silent movies and more. 

Following that, we have a short list of podcast recommendations, including Monday Night Braw (@mondaynightbraw), Between the Sheets and Exile on Badstreet by Kris Zellner (@kriszellner) and David Bixenspan @davidbix), european football podcasts from the Guardian, the Times (of London), Second Captains (@secondcaptains) from the Irish Times,The Men in Blazers (@meninblazers), Talksport's European Football Show, the Jonah Keri Podcast (@jonahkeri) and the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by RIchard Deitsch (@richarddeitsch) 

Episode Forty-Two - Hitto-ō

It's a celebration of Ichiro's 3000th hit, tempered by the passing on the day of recording of longtime ESPN anchor John Saunders. On the podcast today are Joe Lucia (@Joe_TOC) from Awful Announcing and The Comeback and former ESPN producer Gus Ramsey (@GusRamsey)'

Joe talks about John Saunders (1:29), Ichiro's 3000 hits and his amazing MLB season (5:07), the rash of retiring players this week (15:33), the August 1 trade deadline (21:26), the Aaron Sanchez soap opera in Toronto (22:42), rooting for bad teams (26:46), NBC's Rio Olympics coverage (33:08) and televising internationl futbol in the US (37:45).

Gus discusses John Saunders (48:34), Ichiro (53:00), retiring players (58:10), the Dan and Kieth years on Sportscenter (1:01:06), Sports Night and other depictions of newsrooms in TV and Film (1:05:29), working on the WWE Network's Edge and Christian Show (1:12:24), the state of current WWE (1:26:50), his new Talent Coach service for broadcasters (1:31:31) and the new Madden and other video games (1:39:15).

Episode Forty-One - Psycho Street

He's Back!  Art by Grant Morrison. (C) 2016 DC Comics.

Longbox Heroes podcast co-host Leonard F Chikarason (@LFChikarason) is back to talk about the latest goings-on in popular culture. We talk San Diego Comic-Con news (4:00), which leads to a discussion of comic book movies, our preferences and Trekkies vs Trekkers. We  discuss new comics (23:15) we are enjoying including Batman by Tom King (@TomKIngTK) and David Finch and Detective Comics by James Tynion IV (@JamestheFourth),  the Archie line of books including Archie by Mark Waid and Veronica Fish, Betty and Veronica by Adam Hughes,, Jughead by Chip Zdsrsky, Afterlife with Archie and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, Francesco Francovilla and Robert Hack, Blue Monday by Chynna Clugston-Flores, the FIx by Nick Spenser and Steve Lieber (including a great story about Lieber)  and Future Quest by former podcast guest Jeff Parker (@jeffparker), Doc Shaner @DocShaner), Jordie Bellaire (@whoajordie) and Steve Rude (@steverudeart)  We move on to luchadors working in the US (34:05), including for the two promotions where Leonard does commentary: AIW Wrestling (@aiwrestling) in Cleveland and Chikara Pro (@chikarapro). We discuss the popularity of Pentagon Jr at an AIW show earlier this year and luchadors working at King of Trios Labor Day weekend. We close with a deep dive on Marvel Puzzle Quest (39:41), some upcoming characters and strategies we employ when playing the game. Also, behind the scenes news about Longbox Heroes schedule (58:48).

1:04:03  - The show ends with a brief remembrance following the passing of MAD Magazine artist Jack Davis and Cul-de-Sac cartoonist RIchard Thompson. I recommend Mark Evanier;s obituary for Davis. I would also expect that Tom Spurgeon of the Comics Reporter will have a thorough obit for Thompson in the coming days.

Episode Thirty-Nine - Of Proud Adonis

Lucha Week continues as we are joined by CMLL wrestler Sam Adonis (@samelias89) to talk about coming to Mexico, working in CMLL, the CMLL Grand Prix ippv, his  almost-immediate rivalry with Shocker, his favorite opponents so far, the fluidity of opponents in CMLL, atmosphere at lucha shows, lucha vs British wrestling, great British wrestlers not yet known in the US including James Mason, the Knight family (of WWE's Paige fame), being trained by his brother (Corey Graves, formerly known as Sterling James Keenan) fliers and bases in wrestling and more. We were lucky to catch up with Sam on the same day he was main eventing Arena Mexico. 

Episode Thirty-Four - All Stars

Are things afoot?. From Baker Street Irregulars. (C) 2016 Roger Langridge and Andy Hirsch.

Happy Anniversary to us. To commemorate our first year, it's the return of our first guest, Al Kennedy (@housetoastonish) from the House To Astonish podcast/website. We talk about the recent Chikara Pro Wrestling UK tour, including the show Al went to in Glascow and compare this year's show to last, what they ended up having in common and some of the recent Chikara angles. Also on the wrestling front, we talk about the future of NXT ahead of the next Takeover special and UK tour and what the future holds for wrestlers like Bayley and Samoa Joe. We also discuss some comics news (not THAT news) and reviews, including some of the DC Rebirth titles, Civil War II, The Baker Street Irregulars, Limbo and more. Finally, we talk about Marvel Puzzle Quest, how our alliance did during the recent Civil War event and how transitioning from 2-star to 3/4-star level and finding time to play as part of a competitive alliance.

Episode Thirty-Three - The God Phoenix

The Mod/Emma Peel Wonder Woman. (C) 2016 DC Comics

0:56 - @TKD_117 returns to talk about his recent trip to Mexico for the 2nd Anniversary @Caralucha show, including the Hechicero/Cavernario vs Black Terry/Bestia 666 and Flamita vs Mascara Dorada matches. We talk about some other recent indy lucha, including Hechicero vs Virus. We also discuss the AAA Lucha World Cup, the always frustrating CMLL booking and more. As always, your source for great indy lucha footage is @BlackTerry. Tweet him for his match lists. For more lucha news, check out Como Estaz with @luchablog and @robviper & Luchaworld with @therealfredo and @vandaldrummond.

43:45 - Magazine contributor Matt D discusses DC Rebirth and a possible shift for a brighter storytelling outlook for DC. We talk about the metatextual nature of the issue and which books we are excited about going forward (hint: listen to episode 32 of the podcast). We also discuss some of the lucha matches covered earlier with TKD. We end with discussion of the two new Marvel superhero movies and was Movie Zemo really such an affront to his comics counterpart?

As discussed in the pod,  Arena Coliseo Monterrey -- Negro Casas vs Rey Hechicero

Technical note: During the interview with Matt, I left my desk fan on and the interview is a little wind-tunnely.  Apologies if it is distracting. 

Episode Thirty - Olde Tyme Hockey

Blackjack Mulligan and Ric Flair in the Crockett territory.

Jeff Marek (@jeffmarek) from Sportsnet and the #MvsW podcast returns to talk Stanley Cup playoffs with a break-down of each first-round series, (17:42) the passing of legendary Philadelphia Flyers owner Ed Snider, (26:00) a quick look at the junior hockey playoffs and Memorial Cup preview and (27:50) the passing of Blackjack Mulligan, patriarch of the Windham Family, who Jeff saw in the 1970s in Toronto.. 

Episode Twenty-Nine - R.U.Ready

Leonard F Chikarason (@lfchikarason) from the Longbox Heroes podcast (@longboxheroes) returns to talk about luchador Pentagon Jr (@pentagonjunior) wrestling in Cleveland for AI Wrestling (@aiwrestling), wrestle border crossing stories, previewing the Wrestlemania 32 card in Dallas and story lines moving forward, including a potential brand split involving NXT. We also look at some new comics, including Batman/TMNT, The Astonishing Ant-Man 6 by Nick Spenser (@nickspenser) & Annapaola Martello and Vision by Tom King (@tomkingTK) & Gabriel Walta (@ghwalta). We end with a discussion of the changes made recently to Marvel Puzzle Quest and how gameplay has been since they were implemented.