December 24, 2024 • 55 mins
Luke Roberts is a man of many hats in the world of professional wrestling having spent 35 years in the business and still counting. From wrestling to production to refereeing and everything in between. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rick252/support
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:11):
It's going on, everybody. This is Rick Del Santo. You're
listening to Pro Wrestling Wire podcast, part of Pro Wrestling
Wire dot Net, Helix Rock Radio, which is Rock Radio
dot Live each and every Wednesday nine to eleven pm,
and of course the AIWF Network. I have a very
special guest here today and Luke Roberts, thirty five year
veteran of the ring Wars. I guess you could say
(00:33):
or breaking up the ring wars.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Very very true. Ricking again, thank you for Pro Wrestling
Wire for having me again. Happy holidays to all the
viewers here. I know that we're in the holiday season
and tonight we're gonna be talking pro wrestling here in
one of the hot beds of professional wrestling history, that
being the Saint Louis area. And again, it doesn't seem
like thirty five years, but I mean again, it's one
of those wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
You know, I've only been doing this for like five
six years myself, and it's hard to imagine that that
six years has gone by, and as incredibly fast as
it's done, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
I totally get you. I mean again, it's one of
those where when you sit down and you look at
professional wrestling before you blink. I mean, there's a lot
of wrestlers that I know who've been in the industry fifteen, twenty,
twenty five years or more and they can still remember
their first match and what they wore, and road trips
and all the different things that are there. And again,
that's one of the things that's great about professional wrestling
(01:30):
is the friendships you make and the experiences that you
have are things that you'll carry with you for your lifetime.
And again, that's one of the great things about this
sport is just the memories that are made, not only
for the fans, but those that are involved as well.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
Yeah, I've made some of the best friends in my
life through professional wrestling and I appreciate.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
That most definitely. And I mean again, there are several
people that I've I mean again, I wouldn't be where
I am today without. I mean, when you talk about
being in the ring and competing, or being a referee,
or being a trainer or being a broadcaster, there are
so many different components and things that you see when
(02:09):
it comes to professional wrestling that I mean again, you
sit there and the bonds you make are those that
simply put, you're gonna have for a lifetime. And I
mean again, there's several people that I can tell you
right now. As a matter of fact, I talked with
a very good friend of mine that actually when I
first actually started competing in the ring. That was far
too many years ago, but I had an opportunity to
(02:31):
talk with him, and I mean again, we've been friends
for better part of thirty years, and I mean again,
it just it's the experiences in the bonds.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
Yeah, why don't you talk a little bit about how
you got interested in the world of professional wrestling and
getting involved.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
Well, I'm gonna tell you right now, and this is
kind of a kind of an inside joke to a
friend of mine in the wrestling industry. Picture it heid Mott, Missouri,
nineteen eighty two. Okay, now that I've got my Golden
Girls reference out the way, when you say they look
at progrestling, I remember when I was a little dybody kid.
I was probably five years old, and I had the
(03:05):
opportunity to be sitting on my grandmother's floor. And I
mean again, to put the picture in perspective, that really
ugly way for thin brown orange carpet that I mean again,
which is horrible. I mean it was like basically sitting
on concrete. But I remember it like it was yesterday.
My mom was on the couch, my grandma was in
(03:26):
a recliner, my dad was in a recliner, and we
had to be no questions asked, six oh five Eastern,
five oh five Central. We had to be sitting in
our chairs in our spots watching professional wrestling. Now, this
wasn't the WWF or the WWWF. I grew up on
the idea of Georgia Championship Wrestling, and I'm talking back
(03:47):
in the days of the Thunderbolt Pattersons of Ollie and
Jean Anderson, magnum Ta mister Wrestling, to Ronnie Garvin, the Sawyers.
I mean that's where my first real i'll grasp of
professional wrestling was and I mean that was that was
the standard for me. And it went from there to
(04:10):
again the media boom of the mid eighties. And I
mean again, I was fortunate because not only was I
a wrestling van, but my brother was a huge wrestling fan.
He was one of those where he spent all the
time at wrestling at the case. He would stay after
and go to a place like the Choruston Room and
get the autographs and get the posters and get all
(04:30):
those kinds of things, and we I mean, I'll tell
you right now, in the eighties, we had World Class,
We had the WWF. When AWA was on ESPN, if
it was anything major wrestling related, it was going on
in this house. And I mean again, when you get
to sit there and you see all these different and
(04:51):
again it was seeing the territories, which was which was
awesome to me in retrospect because you look at it.
You have the Georgia style of wrestling. Then go to
World Class, where you had a lot of great storytelling.
I mean again, I think back to the matches with
the Van Erks and the dynamic duo of Gino Hernandez
and Chris Adams, wrestlers like Killer, Tim Brooks, ice Man,
King Parsons, the Fabulous free Birds, among others. And then
(05:16):
you watch the AWA, which is the vern Gania style
of wrestling. And I mean again, I was hooked. And
it's not just a hook then to get me involved. Now,
you could ask my wife if he was gonna be
on the show. She could tell you up until it
was a couple of months ago. It was every night
I'd have to still sit in front of the television,
whether it's watching New Japan on Roku, or going on
(05:38):
to Pluto and watching old Triple A, or watching through
the world of YouTube, watching stuff from the Catch Wrestling Association.
Once it gets in your blood, not just as a
fan but a wrestler or whatever, it doesn't go away.
And I mean again, it's been in my blood since
I was five years old.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
You get into it a lot younger than I did.
I got into it really late, which you know, it
was always a dream of mine, so to speak. But
it sounds like a lot of our youth were very
kind of parallel in the way growing up in the
nineteen eighties and you know, I'm reaching fifty, but I
grew up watching World Class on ESPN every day after.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
School the AWA.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
You know, I would rush home, never do my homework.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
World Classes.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
I'm sorry, Yeah, five o'clock, no problem, you know, AWA,
whatever was on. And it's just amazing to think that, like,
you know, so many things were harder to grasp back
then or get to it back then, and then now
in twenty twenty four, reaching going into twenty twenty five,
how easily things are accessible, especially professional wrestling. It's out
(06:46):
another peak, so to speak. But obviously things are different
with technology. There's wrestling on every night of the week.
You have multiple shows to choose from, basically seven days
a week.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
Very true, Rick, And I mean again, you look at
it now and you hit a point that I can't
believe in my age. And again it's one of the
things really amazes me is the idea of how close
we are to that new I don't want to say
a new attitude era or a new renaissance or a
rebirth of professional wrestling, but you're looking at the idea of,
(07:21):
for example, the WWE and aew WWE's going to Netflix.
You've got aw that's got its dealings with Max. You've
got so many different live stream like New Japan World
and Honor Club and things like that. If you would
have told wrestlers back in the nineteen eighties that there
(07:42):
will be so much stuff that, I mean literally, is
that your fingertips. I mean, it's just unreal. And you
can go back and again, you go back into things
like Peacock and you can pull stuff from the mid
Atlantic days. You can pull stuff from Smoky Mountain. You
can pull countless different wrestling promotions, and again, to me,
it's just amazing how wrestling has transformed as we go
(08:04):
forward now, and it's crazy, it sounds going into twenty
twenty five in a little over a week's time.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
That's funny that ww has always been ahead of the
game in a way in changing the landscape, even going
into twenty twenty five at their Netflix deal. You know,
it's just they're just always innovative on ahead of the game,
I guess, you know what I mean, and influencing others.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
And again that's one of those things where when you
sit back and you look at it. I mean again,
they've always seemed to be at the cutting edge. But
there's been a lot of things too that have kind
of forced the hand of the WWE a little bit.
I mean, you go back to the Global Wrestling Network
and when Jeff Jarrett and TNA was going to go
(08:52):
into the idea of going into a streaming service, You've got,
like I said, you've got Honor Club, You've got New
Japan World. And that's one of the things too. A
lot of people say, oh, well, the WWE, they transform
pro wrestling, No new Japan World's been doing it for years.
It's just one of those where somebody in a corporate
office in Stanford, Connecticut finally put two and two together
(09:16):
and realized that there is a market for these kinds
of things. And they looked at it. And a lot
of people say it's about putting people in seats. But
when you can go back and look at just I
mean literally how I mean. I could go to my
computer right now, on my television, click on a handful
of buttons and I'm magically transported thirty forty fifty years ago.
(09:37):
In the world of pro wrestling, and when you look
at things like the WWE, they've always been the one
that they're going to go in. They're going to push
all their chips in and again giving them props because
right now is that on January sixth, And if you
go back and you look at the matches that have
already been announced, they're not just going halfway on this. Now,
they're going all in.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
It's going to be pay per view quality television show.
Well definitely, Yeah, it's kind of amazing. So I'm really
looking forward to that. I'm getting some snacks. I'm gonna
be sitting down there on my rear end and watching it.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Well, you know one thing too, and I mean ay
talk about that is the idea that I mean, there's
gonna be. And that's one of the things I've really
grown to love in the last few years is the idea.
And I won't lie to you. I'm I'm huge in
a new Japan and I'm really looking forward not only
to seeing what Russell Kingdom is going to bring forward
on the fourth, but also what the the the I
(10:32):
don't want to say new brand, but new identity of
Night two being Russell Dynasty, right, and again, where else
can you go? I believe it's a stardom cmll A
E W and I believe it's r O H. And
that's just a women's matchup. The winner gets to call
(10:52):
their shot for a championship opportunity. How many companies can
say that you have wrestlers from all those promotions just
in one match. Yeah, and that and that's one of
is when you said that, you look at that and
you go right into January sixth, and then you're going
right into the rumble. And I mean again, the road
to WrestleMania always peaks to curiosity and I'll tell you.
(11:15):
I mean, I think back to a lot of times
where to me, the Royal Rumble is much more of
a big to do in my household than WrestleMania itself.
I mean, I I can't tell you the number of
wrestlers that have come to my house and sit and
we either order pizza or get wings or cook something
on a grill and just sit and watch that kind
of event, because, like I said, that's one of those
(11:36):
that grips your attention and that's what makes wrestling so unique.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
That's my favorite event of the year, the Royal Rumble.
That's w W wise, because it's something I look forward to.
It's usually consistently good in quality. There's a you know,
sometimes there's some surprises and not always, but you know,
it's a it's the most enjoyable show and it kicks
off the you know what I mean as far or
(12:01):
the season you sort of speak of really good, really
good putting in their all for shows.
Speaker 2 (12:09):
Well, and you know, something rick when you sit there
and you look at I was watching something today. And
there have been several different media outlets, and again not
Pro Wrestling wire by any stretch, but I've heard a
lot of different pro wrestling officials or media who said, oh,
Triple H hasn't mastered the the booking of a Royal Rumble.
(12:31):
It's like, guys, listen when it comes down to it,
don't be constantly overwatching this stuff. Let people enjoy what
they've grown accustomed to. Let them enjoy the Royal Rumble
for what it is. Let them enjoy WrestleMania for what
it is. And that's one of the things where they're
not going to disappoint. They always deliver a great product,
(12:52):
and that's that's the way it's gonna be.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
Hands down, absolutely, I agree. Uh, let's talk a little
bit about your career. Do you mind if we jump
into your career?
Speaker 2 (13:04):
Oh? We we can jump into my career. I mean,
I've been a long, long ning road when it comes
to professional wrestling. One of the things I find ironic, Rick,
when I talk about my career is, first of all,
is if you look at it from my family. My brother,
as I said, longtime fan of professional wrestling, and he
(13:26):
happened to just totally out of the blue. He was
doing his day job at the time, he was working
as a mobile entertainer, and it just happened that we
were doing an event at a place called the Village
Bowl in Kahokia now Kahokia Heights, Illinois, and we happened
(13:46):
to run into a friend of ours who we knew
wrestled down at the South Broadway Athletic Club. Man's by
the name of John Blackhart. And John Blackhart was a
cruiserweight well before his time. And I'm not talking cruiserweights
from flying all around the ring and whatnot. He was
a solid two hundred, two hundred and ten pounds, the
kind of guy you don't want to meet in a
(14:07):
back alley any night of the week. And it just
happened my brother. He's like, hey, you're a big guy.
At the time, he was about my high, about five ten,
five eleven, both pushing four hundred pounds. He's like, you
need to get into the wrestling industry. And one thing
led to another. And while my brother was doing the
in ring competing, I was learning, and a lot of
(14:28):
people don't get to do this. I was learning a
lot of the behind the scenes to stuff from ten
eleven years old. I mean running sound run and ring jackets,
help and write news like program articles, making sure that
things were being sold, taking notice of what's selling. And
it was so cool because even at ten eleven years old,
(14:50):
being able to see these things. And there's a lot
of names here in the Saint Louis area, guys like
John Blackhart, like the late Tony Costa, the man who
for years was behind the South Broadway Athletic Club in
the MMWA, Herb Simmons. I know a lot of people
through the professional wrestling world, No Herb Simmons from his
work in sicw as well as the Cauliflower Alley Club.
(15:13):
And I mean when it was when it was acceptable
for me to get in the ring, Blackhart pulled no punches.
He said, you're gonna go in here and you're going
to know how it is. And basically, for the better
part of three years, usually two nights a week, I
would get in that ring, and I wasn't being treated
like a fourteen, fifteen, sixteen year old. I was expected
(15:33):
to be able to go in there with guys who
had ten, twelve, fifteen years under the belt and be
able to go And I remember my other trainer, my
brother was one. John Blackhart was another one that a
lot of fans may or may not know, A gentleman
by the name of the human wrecking Ball. Pete Madden
very well known here in the Midwest side a lot
(15:55):
of things with promotions like Metro Pro, Gateway Championship Wrestling MMWA,
among others. And I remember, I mean, I'm a little
sixteen year old kid and I'm wrestling trainings about done
and he's like, stay here, don't move like and he
picks me up, he slams me, and I'm like, why,
(16:16):
says here's why. Guy tosses him a chair, does a
chair sault right there in the training ring, and I'm like,
literally my jaw drops down to about my sternum. And
the crazy thing was I was able to walk away,
and he's like, that's why you do what you do,
(16:39):
and and and again it just kind of it's just
kind of snowballed from there. I mean again, having an
in ring career, I spent better part of probably I
want to say, about six seven years in the ring
on a regular basis. As far as ah in ring
competitor goes, my fair share of injuries. I mean, I
(17:02):
was only about one hundred and twenty pounds, but it
went from there. And I'll tell you rick, I mean,
the people I met, it was great and wonderful, and
it's thankful that this coming June when I go into
the Independent Saint Louis Wrestling Hall of Fame, that my
one of my trainers, Pete Madden, will be going in
with me in that class as well. But it's the
(17:24):
idea of I really think the biggest thing in the
professional wrestling game is how are you willing to be
ahead of the curve? And I know you and I
have talked about that on a couple of occasions, both
here as well as off there, that you got to
be ahead of the game. And that's why I'll be upfront.
That's why I feel that I've had the longitivity I've
had because when one door closes, another opens and that
(17:49):
kind of leads me to the next phase of my career.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
Let's say you decided to become a referee after that.
Speaker 2 (17:56):
Yeah, usually usually a lot safer, but I learned very
quickly that it's not always the case. And it's kind
of ironic Rick that me getting into the professional wrestling
industry and being a referee, a lot of people say
a lot of things just happened by chance. And I
(18:17):
had been back in four oh five, I had been
training a few wrestlers for a promotion called Mid America
Extreme here in Alton, Illinois, and it just happened that
I was refereeing an event for another promotion and there
was a gentleman for a group who with the time
(18:38):
was known as the Lethal Wrestling Alliance, now known as
Saint Louis Anarchy. A lot of your a lot of
the followers of Pro Wrestling Wire are probably very familiar
with them, And as soon as I got done, he
literally tapped me on the shoulder and said, how would
you like to come work for us? And it just
kind of snowballed from there. I spent a good chunk
(18:59):
of time with Saint Louis Anarchy, having the opportunity to
referee for the likes of Alex Shelley, Chris Sabin, Rachel Summerlin, Delirious. Oh.
I could go on and on and on, but then
that would lead to me getting the opportunity to referee
(19:23):
with my home promotion of all places, Dynamo Pro Wrestling.
And interesting story, I remember there were countless wrestlers, and again,
if you're in any major wrestling hotbed, there's gonna be
countless promotions and the gentleman who at the time ran
It's kind of weird because you had a promotion called
(19:44):
MRW Midwest Renegade Wrestling when they closed their doors. Out
of that comes Gateway Championship Wrestling. And if you get
a chance, I gotta tell you check out Gateway Championship Wrestler.
There's a lot of great matches online. Uh. That was
where you see a lot of people like Matt Sidel,
Daisy Hayes, Mischief Gingo, among others who had come through
(20:05):
the doors. But I remember walking in the door and
the guy at the time, who was really kind of
an executive with Dynamo Pro, had issues with my brother.
And I was sitting there and basically I had to
sit there and listen to him talk trash about him
for a better part of thirty minutes. And the last
(20:27):
thing I said was, I'm not my brother. I've never
claimed to be your roster knows what I'm capable of
as an official. Do you want me to come in great?
If not, thank you for your time. And I walked
out the door. And now it's been almost fifteen years,
and like I said, they're like family to me. And
(20:51):
I mean again, it's just it's staying one step ahead
of things. It's always been. When they had their announcer
leave the promotion, it's like, hey, Luke, can you do this? Okay?
And then there you go. And then had an opportunity
about a decade ago there was a gentleman by the
name of TNT Kenny g A lot of people may
(21:13):
or may not know him. He is the late father
of one Santana Garrett, and they were going to do
a charity event to say, hey, he had just recently
had stroke. And the title event was stroke Ain't no joke.
And I know there's a lot of grammar people who
are like, no, that's not gonna fly, but I was like, no, Kenny,
(21:34):
I mean, Kenny is a great talker. I'm not even
gonna remotely bit about that. Kenny Garrett phenomenal guy.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
I think I saw him on TV when Santana Garrett
worked for a while, right, I think he was. He
was on an episode sitting in the front in a wheelchair.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
I believe now.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
I think that I'm not very familiar with him, but
I knew, you know, what her father had done, and
you know, and I saw him on that show like
one time. This was I don't know years ago, and.
Speaker 2 (22:01):
It was when I was at that time. I remember
watching the episode of Myself and Kenny wasn't in the
best of health at that point, but he was always
a good talker, and I knew he was still having
some issues. So they were like, oh, okay, let me
let me do media. Let me let me talk to
the newspapers, let me talk to this, that and the whatnot.
(22:21):
And they're like, okay, you want to do this, you
can do this, and I mean again, it was it
was a great experience and it's given me the opportunity
to be where I am today. I mean I I
do want to share one story for you and I
your viewers will We'll definitely get a kick out of this.
I officially agreed with Dynamo Pro to become their media
(22:45):
director on January one. We had a show. Belie was
on a January third, so I'd officially been on the
job in my role for two days. The first thing
is they're projecting a blizzard, as they called it here
in the Saint Louis area, Snowmageddon. We wound up I
think with like thirteen inches of snow come in that night.
(23:06):
Was horrible and I'm sitting there going, Okay, let's get
this done. Let's let everybody be safe, Let's let everybody
get home. We're getting things going. First match, tag team
comes into the ring. Tag team by the name of
the Black Hand Warriors. They accomplished a lot in WLW,
Damo Pro, several other promotions here in the Midwest. One
(23:28):
of the gentlemen was climbing the ropes to kind of
haunt the crowd. Stepped on the bottom rope, puts his
foot on the second rope. No sooner is his foot
on the second rope. Bottom rope snaps. I mean, I'm
talking turnbuckle bolt just shatters, Everything goes. There is no
saving this rope. I look at my broadcast colleague, Chris Rodell,
(23:50):
and he kind of gives me a look because he
had taken over my job as an announcer. And I
remember in mouthing the words what do I do now?
My reply was this, I had no answer whatsoever. And
and again, since that point in time, I mean again,
it's it's had a lot of a lot of great
opportunities and and I'll be honest, there's been a lot
(24:13):
of times along the road that wrestling has been very
therapeutic to me.
Speaker 1 (24:23):
Yes, sorry, I had trouble. I had trouble on muting
my microphone.
Speaker 2 (24:28):
Hey, I'm thankful. In fact, it's not me. You can
talk to a lot of people I have. I have
that notorious history about the microphone going haywire. But like
I said, a lot of people in professional wrestling rick
they look at it from the idea of their bodies
get beat up, they get worn down, they mentally get
worn out. And I remember after we did stro Kate
(24:49):
no joke, I had found out that my wife and I,
after many years of being around pro wrestling, uh, found
out she was finally expecting.
Speaker 1 (25:00):
Oh wow.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
And I always told myself when she was expecting, once
my child was here, that's it. I'm done. I had
a good run. That's the way. It is. Found out
in November that she was expecting twins. So my shock
value is in an all time high. And unfortunately, right
(25:24):
before the holidays, actually almost ten years ago to the day,
in the span of a little over a week, my
wife lost both of our daughters at twenty weeks. Sorry,
and out of that, I remember, of all things, it
was the week between Christmas and New Years, and I
was sitting with my friend Chris Rodell, and I didn't
(25:46):
know where to go. I didn't know what to do.
I mean, nothing, nothing makes you process that. And actually
Chris Rodell brought up the idea of if you feel
up to it, why not put on a benefit for
(26:06):
the organization that's helping you and your wife deal with us.
And I was like, you know, that's a pretty good idea.
And I went and I talked to the management, and
management said, let's do it. And within three months, Dynamo
Pro had had more sponsors for that one event that
(26:27):
they had ever had a lot of professional wrestling companies,
they're like, oh, a portion of the proceeds. We were
able to say that night, through an anonymous donor, that
one percent of the gate went to the charity. That's amazing,
(26:48):
And we were able to donate by the time everything
was done, a little over two thousand dollars to share
pregnancy and infant loss support. And it was ironic that
I found out well after the event was done, after
everything was taken care of, everything was documented, I went
to I went to my boss, Crystal Young, she can
(27:11):
charge talent relationship with Dinamald promly, Crystal, I don't know
if you're going to tell me. I don't care if
you tell me, But can you tell me who this
anonymous donor was? Can you tell me who was the
person that made this a reality that we could do
such great things for his charity. And I found out
that the venue, which was I think the only cost
(27:32):
we had, and they gave us a great deal, I mean,
building seats like six hard people. I found out that
of all people, my own father paid for the building
that night. He paid for out of his own pocket.
And when I sit there and look at it to
this day, I mean again, rustling has its its its
(27:54):
long roads. It has us up and downs. But since
that point in time, I mean and wrestling has really
kind of given me a family. And I mean again,
it's one of those things where when you look at
professional wrestling, Rick, I mean my brother. He's eleven and
a half years older than me. He spent better part
(28:14):
of a decade in the ring. Total irony that my
nephew by marriage is continuing on at the family legacy.
In a program that was on Discovery recently, Big Little Brawlers.
My nephew is Ivar the Micro and he's still to
(28:35):
this day traveling the country doing what he does, and
again want to give a shout out to all the
guys and gals over at Big Little Brawlers, Jack and
everybody over there again great promotion. Had a great opportunity
to go see them just a few months ago when
he was here in our area. But I mean again,
it's one of those things whereas time's gone on, you
gotta adapt, and when it comes to being in the ring,
(29:00):
know full well there's a lot of people who overstay
their welcome. I got back in the ring about two
two and a half months ago as a referee, and
I can tell I'm not as great as I once was.
But when it comes down to it, I mean again,
I know I can still go and as long as
I can contribute, as long as I can give input
(29:20):
not only to the wrestlers that are inside the ring,
but to share the historical legacy of professional wrestling in
our area, I know that I'm going to have a
place in this wonderful, crazy world. It's pro wrestling.
Speaker 1 (29:35):
That's an amazing story. So does your brother involved at
all still at all?
Speaker 2 (29:41):
Or is he It's an interesting thing with him, I'll
level he had an opportunity when I was training wrestlers
back in four oh five. He wanted to get back
in the ring, and he was a guy. He was
probably and I know a lot of people hear this,
He's probably the most athletic big man that I've ever scene.
(30:01):
I remember there were a few matches when I'm about
one hundred and twenty one hundred and thirty pounds where
By drew the short straw and wind up having to
go against him. I've never seen a four hundred pound
man throw a sidekick and get you right there on
a point of the job. I've never seen a guy
at four hundred pounds who can go out there and
actually do a sunset flip, who can do a roll up,
(30:25):
who can do a Mahi straw cradle. He could do
all those things. And he kind of got where a
lot of a lot of people get once they've spent
their time in the world of pro wrestling, and they
kind of they kind of get a little bit salty
about it. They get a little bit sour, a little
bit of sourness about it. And he, I mean, he
comes to events now and again, but he kinda is
(30:48):
kind of disconnected. I will say in the last few months,
he's kind of gotten a little more involved. I wish,
I wish somebody would go and pick his brain, because
that's like a lot of wrestlers to this day, and
you hear it all the time. How are you going
to improve? You learn from the past. You learn from
the wrestlers that have gone out there and have been
(31:09):
on the roads and have competed in front of the
big crowds, and see what kinds of things they can do.
I had one I just sent out today to a
friend of mine, Brutal Bob Evans, And I'll tell you
right now, if you get an opportunity, make it a point.
You need to follow him on social media. You need
to look at his stuff online because Brutal Bob is
(31:31):
the name says it all. He will tell you how
it is you want to be a success. These are
the kinds of things you need to do. And you
got guys like him, like doctor Tom Pritchard and JPWA,
and you've got guys like the Dynamo pro Dojo and
the Forge and countless other training facilities with wrestlers who've
been up and down the roads right and again to
(31:52):
be able to impart wisdom I mean that's the biggest
thing for a professional wrestlers. Sometimes it sounds cold, but
you got to sit down, close your mouth, open your eyes,
open your ears, and you will learn more in a
matter of minutes than some people do in their entire careers.
Speaker 1 (32:11):
Right, yeah, I know that the off air. Now, in
one of our conversations online, you were telling me about
that you attended the Kylie Flower Hour Alley Club. I
always got tongue tied trying to say that, Sorry.
Speaker 2 (32:24):
Hey, you're not the only one, Rick, You're not the
only one. I feel very fortunate because I always, for
years have had it on my bucket list. I mean,
I've been around wrestling a long time. Doesn't look like
it was a babyface, but I had opportunity. I actually
had three friends of mine who pushed this hardcore with me.
One was late Kenny Garrett. Second was a gentleman by
(32:47):
the name of Tom Simon. He's a referee. He's been
a referee in Saint Louis for years. He was the
voice of a traditional championship wrestling down in Arkansas, used
to be running by Matt Rivieria. He had some dealings
with Burt Apprentice, the Leaper apprentice down with his promotion
USA Championship Wrestling. But they were both like, you need
to go, you need to go, you need to go,
(33:09):
And I'm like, okay, you were guys. I've learned a
great deal from When I get the opportunity, I will go.
But the man who really pushed me the most to
go is a man who's one of my best friends
in the world of pro wrestling, a gentleman by the
name of doctor Drew Abenhouse. He is the voice of
sicw He used to be a part of the Ringsiders
podcast here in the Saint Louis area, was very heavily
(33:31):
affiliated with a wrestling website called Missouri Wrestling Revival. And
he's like, if you don't go, and you keep saying
you're gonna go, eventually it's gonna pass you by. And Mike, Okay, Drew,
you're right. You go. And I had hands down, probably
one of the greatest three days in my life. As
(33:53):
a matter of fact, Actually, I'm gonna see you here
real quick. Yeah, I got it here in my office.
Hopefully I don't knock everything down on the show. Had
an opportunity, you're right here to participate. As many people
know playing cribbage again, the sport of wrestlers back in
the day. Wound up winning second place in the Cauliflower
Rally Cribbage Tournament. Another good broad story. I'm there and
(34:17):
first round I got no worries, and again it was
a great friend of mine, Brian Westcott out from the
Pacific Northwest. But my second match was against the man
who basically is the icon of the cac cribbage tournament,
that being the one the only cowboy, Bob Orton Jr.
Bob Orton has won this thing about seventeen times. They
(34:39):
should probably name it. I know it was actually called
and now it's called I think it's a dick the
Destroyer Buyer Cribbage Tournament. Bob is probably gonna wind up
having some kind of a recognition in this for the
number of times he's won the tournament. And not only
did I win, but I won him two straight. And
I remember the first night when they had the ceremonies
(35:02):
and all, and I remember this guy shouting and again
I'm not going to say specifically because it's definitely kind
of offhanded. It's like, whose butt did Bob kick to
get to the finals this year? And a friend of mine.
Bulldog Bob Brown Junior came up to the mine when
he was talking about it, and he's like, Bob's not
(35:23):
in the finals, and the crowd was just their jaw
dropped and they're like, who was it? And then he
had the point it was this guy and he points
at me. I'm about three tables back. He points at me,
and he beat him in two straight and the crowd
is just brewing. I felt like I was in my
(35:44):
WrestleMania moment because at that point, I'm like, if I'm
gonna go, I'm gonna go in a blaze of glory.
And I got up and I did the whole Hogan
and I'll fit sitting there. And granted I didn't win
the term. I wound up coming in second in place,
but when they called me up to get my plaque
and during the Hall of Fame or during the awards ceremony,
(36:07):
I made peace with Bob and that's one of those
I'll share that story for another day. But again, if
you had the opportunity, CC is a great organization. From
the top of the list. Brian Blair, Darlas DAGs, Rich Engling,
Herb Simmons, Vance, Nevada I mean, from top to bottom.
They are a great organization to be a part of.
(36:29):
And I'll say you right now, Rick if cac, if
you can't take three days to go to Vegas and
enjoy professional wrestling in that avenue, had the opportunity at
same under a year to go to the Wrestling Hall
of Fame in Waterloo, Iowa. Now that that was an
experience when you're sitting there. We went first night, we
(36:51):
were at a trivia night and all I'm hearing from
it's like an l shape building and we're sitting there
at our table and we're eating food and having a
good time, and all of a sudden you hear these
two guys just talking trash. I mean literally they could
say it here and you could hear it without your Internet,
(37:15):
that's how loud they were. And we're sitting there and
one of my buddies is like, who is that, Mike,
You don't know who that is. Jerry Brisco and jbl
are sitting at the other side. They've already had a
few beverages of the evening and they were just letting
it go. But I mean, again, the opportunity to and
(37:38):
and again it was it was cool because I got
to meet people like Rock Riddle, and again, if you
haven't had a chance to find mister wonderful Rock Riddle
through it, you will not be disappointed. Guys like Bill
DeMott was there having an opportunity to meet one of
my first real favorites in the world of pro wrestling,
the legendary Thunderbult Patterson. Less at your Jerry Brisco. I mean,
(38:02):
it was a great experience. Had an opportunity to watch
the Impact Pro Wrestling event that that first night that
we were there, or sorry, second night they were there,
and it was just I mean, from top to bottom,
it was a great experience. And again that's one of
the things that makes pro wrestling unique is the idea
of where you can see what the what the wrestlers
(38:25):
have put in their blood, the sweat, the tears, and
I mean again, when you can say that you got
to sit down and you got to sit and have
dinner with Tommy Rich in the Plaza Casino, or you
get the opportunity at Hash House at go Go to
be sitting there and talking with one half of the
Rock and Roll Express, Robert Gibson, or the idea of
(38:45):
sitting there at the Wrestling Hall of Fame in Iowa
and having dinner and having a conversation with Haku. Those
are the kinds of things I was like, as you
said at the top of the program, those are the
kinds of things that you always remember. And again, it's
a lot on my bucket list and one of the
things that's here in my office that I treasure to
no end. There are two things. One I got an
(39:08):
opportunity to have a picture with JJ Dillon and I
had an opportunity. The picture I have not only autographed
by him, but it has a copy of I'm holding
the copy of his book and he's showing the four
fingers and the other one which it was ironic. I
went to the c AC I win this. I go
(39:30):
to the Hall of Fame and I managed to get
my picture autographed. That's the fan in me. One side
of the picture is jbl other side referee James Beard.
How much better can it get? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (39:46):
Yeah, it's funny because you've mentioned a good portion of
these guys I've had on the show. I've had James
Beard in the show. Herb Simmons has been on the show.
You know, Brian Blair has been on the show. Know,
Bob Cooks is about to come on the show in
the beginning of the year. So you know, I'm a
(40:06):
history nerd when it comes to wrestling, and that goes
back to early part of the conversation when we first
signed in and our access. I could watch wrestling every
day of the week half the time. I'm on the
Siboldi network watching classic wrestling from the Soboldi footage that
they own, whether it's the odd Ball US w A,
(40:28):
Texas stuff, the Wild West Wrestling, the random AWA shows
that they put on or helped, you know, bring over
to weird parts of this side of the country, what
have you. So, Yeah, it's kind of amazing the stories
that you're telling here, Like I'm kind of freaking out
inside and this is so awesome.
Speaker 2 (40:48):
Well, you know, and I do have to share this
one again talking about being ahead of the curve. Through media,
I've had an opportunity to kind of jump into the
next four the four A in the world the professional
wrestle with being a part of several different podcasts, including
the Russell Talk podcast out of Kansas City, Interstate seventy
Sports Media and falls Kind Everywhere podcast here out of
(41:10):
Saint Louis. Interesting story, we had an interview. It was
about two three weeks before CAC and had a gentleman
by the name of Santana Jackson come on the program
and he was I mean, the internet was blowing up
on him and we're sitting there thinking, okay, he is
on the show, looking forward to seeing him Ounta in
(41:32):
Vegas competes in a match, and was just totally mind
blown and had an opportunity to We're going to interview him.
And now it's like twelve thirty one o'clock in the morning,
We're in Vegas. I'm beyond worn out, and Santana is
signing an autograph after autograph and we're having to follow
him down Fremont Street to be able to conduct the interview.
(41:57):
But I mean, again, it's one of those things, Rick,
when it comes down to it, I would not trade
it for anything in the world. And and like I said,
I'm looking forward to in June June twenty second here
in Saint Louis being a part of the independent Saint
Louis Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame and being inducted. It
shows that not only myself, but there are a lot
(42:20):
of great wrestlers both male and female, who've given of
their time, And I mean, just to give you an idea.
I know we're going to talk about it briefly here
in a minute, but to be in a class with
the likes of my trainer, Pete Madden, former Wrestling at
the Chase referee and wrestler referee announcer Eddie Smith, Handsome
(42:43):
Harley Race is going to be inducted, Mischief is going
to be inducted. For those that follow a lot of
the Ring of Honor stuff and a lot of wrestling
overseas to be in a class. Bishop Stevens is another
one that's out there. To be in a class with
those individuals who a lot of them I grew up watching,
(43:04):
and to be recognized with a group like that, I mean,
it just amazes me how not only how much have
I been able to experience, but by the same token,
how much people respect what I've done in this industry.
And again, if you tell me thirty five years ago
that you would call me a Hall of Famer, I'd
(43:25):
say you're out of your mind. But to have so
many people come up and say, hey, Luke, what do
you think about this? What can I do better? What
can I do about this? What can I do about that?
It just amazes me how it doesn't matter whether I'm
a five year old kid watching it or like you
said earlier, near and fifty myself and having people come
(43:46):
up to me and say, hey, did you like this?
Those are things I can do better. It just amazes
me how brustling has come full circle for me.
Speaker 1 (43:56):
You're also, excuse me, you're also part of the board
of directors of the Hall of Correct.
Speaker 2 (44:01):
That is Correct And like I said, we just had
got done with a meeting here a little over a
week ago, and I'll tell you right now, they're already
looking at some names for the next induction class. And
I'm going to tell you right now, when you look
at the Saint Louis area, I mean there's a lot
of people like I mentioned earlier on Dingo, Daisy Hayes, Midshift, Delirious,
(44:22):
Matt Sidell, Mike Sidell, names a lot of people may
not know, like black Glove, Butch Fletcher, like Bama Bodine,
guys like Tim the Punisher, Faris, guys like Kane got
to start here in the greater Midwest and the greater
Saint Louis metro area. Uh, there's a lot of pro wrestling,
(44:43):
and again it's one of those where I feel fortunate
that Saint Louis has always been a hotbed for pro wrestling.
And to me, my biggest thing is simple, I don't
care if what promotion you wrestle for, I don't care
who pays your paycheck at the end of the the day.
If you're able to go inside those guardrails, or if
(45:03):
you're to be fortunate enough to step inside the squared
circle as we call it, to be involved in professional wrestling,
that right there, you have my respect and all these
people in this area, there's a lot of people who
professional wrestling today on the independent level as well as
on the national and international levels, would not be the
(45:26):
same if it weren't for the men and women who
step inside the ring. And again, I want to give
a shout out to all the members of the Hall
of Fame board because they've been working NonStop since last
June's induction. And I'll tell you the twenty sixth class
right now is already shaping up to be a potential
(45:50):
of a humongous class. And again, shameless plug here, tickets
are going to be available soon. If you can make
the opper comunity to come to the Saint Louis area,
you will not be disappointed. You will have a great
time and hearing from some of these individuals who traveled
the world doing what we all love, not just from
(46:10):
being inside the ring, but it's pro wrestling fans what
we love. I'll tell you right now, it's gonna be
a once in a lifetime experience. And I hope that
people can take these things and experience them because it
just increases your fandom that much more.
Speaker 1 (46:26):
I would love to come down there for something like that.
You know, I do convention weekends and stuff. Collie Flower
Alley Club said it right that time. I'd love to
get out there. Have been invited.
Speaker 2 (46:36):
Was it two years ago?
Speaker 1 (46:37):
A year ago? Albert was trying to get me to
come out there. One year, great guy. You know I
usually do the New England fan Fest, which is the
base in Rhode Island, and you do the Wrestling Classic
every You're in Springfield, Massachusetts, about forty five minutes from
my house. I'm in Connecticut, So you know, I love
doing stuff like that, hanging around and you know, I
(46:58):
do a little bit of commentary myself. I'm not let me.
I just lied. I do a lot of bit of
commentary for several different organizations between Connecticut and Massachusetts, and
it's a lot of fun being on that and you know,
helping with production and ideas and stuff like that. So
professional wrestling has got me sort of speak, even though
(47:19):
I got into it a little bit late. You know,
I've been a lifelong fan, but being a part of it,
you know, I joined the lake really late in life.
I guess you could.
Speaker 2 (47:28):
Say, well, you know something, Rick, when it comes down
to it, I mean, it doesn't matter whether you're able
to get in the ring or be involved when you're sixteen, seventeen,
eighteen years old or I mean guys like our age
and things like that. I mean, one of the biggest
things you always remember DDP WWE Hall of Famer. Yeah,
said he wasn't able to get into his ring till
the mid late thirties.
Speaker 1 (47:49):
Yeah, And I remember him in Awa as a manager,
you know, managing a bad company.
Speaker 2 (47:54):
You know that's true, Paul Diamond and Pat Sanaka. And
when you sit there and look at it, I mean again,
before he ever got in the ring, he had that stint.
He had the opportunity to drive Greg Valentine and the
Honckey top Man to the ring at WrestleMania's Crick. I
mean there's so much There's so much stuff that they
had that ability to do. And I mean again, it's
(48:16):
one of those once you get in, you never want
to leave. And again, hopefully, if everything goes according to plan,
I hope there's still plenty of more energy in this
tank as we go along, because I mean again, when
I see guys like a Herb Simmons, like the late
Bert Prentice who spend their entire uh lets Thatcher is
another one who spend their entire life being involved in
(48:38):
the world of professional wrestling. If I can say that
I've accomplished even a tenth of what they've done, I'd
be a very happy man.
Speaker 1 (48:46):
Yeah, Herbs putting on some great shows. It's my and
I'll be honest with you. I think I've said this before.
It's uh it's my favorite weekly television show is the
SI c W. It's from minds me of the wrestling
I grew up with. Yeah, I think, and I had
I had Lucky P. Larson on just about two weeks ago.
Speaker 2 (49:09):
I'm sorry right now, I know for a fact, hearing
the stories from my friend doctor Drew, that probably had
to be a very long interview. But again it wasn't
too bad.
Speaker 1 (49:18):
I think it just went about an hour. Maybe we
might have caught it, you know, went about ten minutes
more because like I said, I usually cut a time limit.
So it was fun because he was half in character,
half not. You know what I mean, But he's always
a character that I really enjoyed watching on that television show.
Speaker 2 (49:36):
Well, you know something too, and I mean again, looking
at professional wrestling here in the Saint Louis area, I'm
a level with you. And again, this is not Luke Roberts, Media,
Dynamo Pro or any of the podcasts I'm affiliated. When
as a professional wrestling fan in the Saint Louis area,
I know that you've been following the situation that just
took place in the last couple of weeks where steven
(49:57):
E and his devastation should incorporated. I didn't want to
tell herb because her was a great friend of mine,
but I was scared that they were going to be
able to win and take over. I mean again, when
you have a tilicon, the International Bounty Hunter Haku and
the barbarian. I mean you had Ron Simmons, Danny Boy Hawkins,
(50:19):
Gary Jackson. I mean, if anybody's going to carry the
banner for SICW, you're if they're going to go into
a fight when you're back's against the wall and your
companies on the line. Those three men were able to
be successful. And again when you look at it, you've
got promotions like SICW. You've got promotions like MMWA who've
been around for forty fifty years, Dynamo Pro, which I'm
(50:40):
affiliated with. If you go back all the way to
the Gateway and to the MRW days, they're looking at
nearly thirty years. You've got WLW, which is twenty nearing
twenty five. You've got places like Saint Louis Anarchy that
have been around twenty twenty five years. When you look
at it, that's one thing. And St. Louis. You got
(51:01):
all these different avenues of professional wrestling. If you want
to watch people flying and doing two and a half
flips into cross bodies, great. If you want to watch
wrestling as it was when we were growing up, the
hard hitting, gritty action, the chain wrestling, then you've got
wrestling like the sicw's like the mmwas, like the Broadways.
(51:23):
That's one thing. It's great. Doesn't matter if it's Saint Louis,
New England, Northwest Texas, Florida. There's always going to be
something for everybody. And that's what makes pro wrestling, whether
it's forty years ago or now. That's what makes pro
wrestling so special is whatever is your cup of tea,
(51:45):
you can find it in your area and enjoy it absolutely.
Speaker 1 (51:50):
Luke, I want to thank you for being a part
of this show today, and I definitely want to have
you back soon because I feel like we just scratched
the surface, you know, because I think we can go
and get a lot more conversation out of this, but
we're nearing our deadline here. So I want to thank
you very much for being a part of this and
I'm glad we finally got to got to get this done.
(52:12):
And I'm sorry I made you wait a little longer.
Speaker 2 (52:15):
Than you know. You know something, Rip, One of the
things I always say is card subject to change, and
I know full well what's there. And again I want
to say thank you to Pro Wrestling Wire for having
me here on the program. And again, the names that
you've mentioned to be along that list of individuals who've
graced this program definitely has been something here. I it's
(52:36):
I mean again, it's I'm gonna hold very special. And
again when you look at it, most people at my
time we'd be like, Okay, I'm gonna start slowing things down.
I'm gonna start chilling out. Oh no, I mean I
got Dynamo Pro Wrestling's New Year's Brawl on the fourth
in Farmington, Missouri. New Year's Revolution for the MMWA on
January eleventh, where they're going to be inducting members into
(52:58):
the MMWA Hall of Fame. New Beginnings for HWA on
the eighteenth of January. You can also catch me on
the Wrestle Talk podcast every other Tuesday night, whether it's
behind the boards or on camera. Also Sunday, June twenty second,
Andrew's Banquet Hall in Saint Louis Independent Saint Louis Wrestling
(53:19):
Hall of Fame. It's could be a great night. And
I'm gonna tell you right now, and I'm just gonna
level with you because you're talking about being in New England.
We've got people coming in from West Virginia, we got
people coming in from Florida. I got a friend of mine,
longtime promoter friend, Jeff Manning, who's talking about coming in
from the greater Salem, Oregon area. I'm gonna tell you
right now, Rick, if you had the opportunity to make
(53:40):
that journey down, I would guarantee you not only would
you be able to have a seat, but we make
sure that you had plenty more memories to carry with you.
And who knows, maybe we can go ahead and we
can put this into Pro Wrestling Wire. I always think
about my good friend man who put the podcast together
of the late Rick Rose, and it was one of
those he made of log from leaving Kansas City all
(54:02):
the way down to Saint Louis to catch a Dynamo
Pro event. Maybe that's what we need to do for
Pro Wrestling Wire. Hook you up, get you down here
from the greater great Northwest and experience Saint Louis. And
I'll tell you right now, Toasted Rabs, Emo's pizza, you
name it, a lot of great things, gooey buttercake, you
name it a lot of great things here in Saint Louis.
We'll make it a point that if you can get
down here, we'll make sure to take care of you
(54:23):
is only the Saint Louis wrestling scene camp.
Speaker 1 (54:25):
I'd love to come. I'd love to love to come.
We'll talk about this more. I thank you again, thank
you again.
Speaker 2 (54:32):
All right, thank you very much again. Make it a
point check out Pro Wrestling Wire. They've got lots of
great interviews, lots of great wrestling news. You can check
them out online and make it a point to enjoy
the best in professional wrestling right here on Pro Wrestling Wire.
(55:03):
S
It's going on, everybody. This is Rick Del Santo. You're
listening to Pro Wrestling Wire podcast, part of Pro Wrestling
Wire dot Net, Helix Rock Radio, which is Rock Radio
dot Live each and every Wednesday nine to eleven pm,
and of course the AIWF Network. I have a very
special guest here today and Luke Roberts, thirty five year
veteran of the ring Wars. I guess you could say
(00:33):
or breaking up the ring wars.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Very very true. Ricking again, thank you for Pro Wrestling
Wire for having me again. Happy holidays to all the
viewers here. I know that we're in the holiday season
and tonight we're gonna be talking pro wrestling here in
one of the hot beds of professional wrestling history, that
being the Saint Louis area. And again, it doesn't seem
like thirty five years, but I mean again, it's one
of those wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
You know, I've only been doing this for like five
six years myself, and it's hard to imagine that that
six years has gone by, and as incredibly fast as
it's done, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
I totally get you. I mean again, it's one of
those where when you sit down and you look at
professional wrestling before you blink. I mean, there's a lot
of wrestlers that I know who've been in the industry fifteen, twenty,
twenty five years or more and they can still remember
their first match and what they wore, and road trips
and all the different things that are there. And again,
that's one of the things that's great about professional wrestling
(01:30):
is the friendships you make and the experiences that you
have are things that you'll carry with you for your lifetime.
And again, that's one of the great things about this
sport is just the memories that are made, not only
for the fans, but those that are involved as well.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
Yeah, I've made some of the best friends in my
life through professional wrestling and I appreciate.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
That most definitely. And I mean again, there are several
people that I've I mean again, I wouldn't be where
I am today without. I mean, when you talk about
being in the ring and competing, or being a referee,
or being a trainer or being a broadcaster, there are
so many different components and things that you see when
(02:09):
it comes to professional wrestling that I mean again, you
sit there and the bonds you make are those that
simply put, you're gonna have for a lifetime. And I
mean again, there's several people that I can tell you
right now. As a matter of fact, I talked with
a very good friend of mine that actually when I
first actually started competing in the ring. That was far
too many years ago, but I had an opportunity to
(02:31):
talk with him, and I mean again, we've been friends
for better part of thirty years, and I mean again,
it just it's the experiences in the bonds.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
Yeah, why don't you talk a little bit about how
you got interested in the world of professional wrestling and
getting involved.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
Well, I'm gonna tell you right now, and this is
kind of a kind of an inside joke to a
friend of mine in the wrestling industry. Picture it heid Mott, Missouri,
nineteen eighty two. Okay, now that I've got my Golden
Girls reference out the way, when you say they look
at progrestling, I remember when I was a little dybody kid.
I was probably five years old, and I had the
(03:05):
opportunity to be sitting on my grandmother's floor. And I
mean again, to put the picture in perspective, that really
ugly way for thin brown orange carpet that I mean again,
which is horrible. I mean it was like basically sitting
on concrete. But I remember it like it was yesterday.
My mom was on the couch, my grandma was in
(03:26):
a recliner, my dad was in a recliner, and we
had to be no questions asked, six oh five Eastern,
five oh five Central. We had to be sitting in
our chairs in our spots watching professional wrestling. Now, this
wasn't the WWF or the WWWF. I grew up on
the idea of Georgia Championship Wrestling, and I'm talking back
(03:47):
in the days of the Thunderbolt Pattersons of Ollie and
Jean Anderson, magnum Ta mister Wrestling, to Ronnie Garvin, the Sawyers.
I mean that's where my first real i'll grasp of
professional wrestling was and I mean that was that was
the standard for me. And it went from there to
(04:10):
again the media boom of the mid eighties. And I
mean again, I was fortunate because not only was I
a wrestling van, but my brother was a huge wrestling fan.
He was one of those where he spent all the
time at wrestling at the case. He would stay after
and go to a place like the Choruston Room and
get the autographs and get the posters and get all
(04:30):
those kinds of things, and we I mean, I'll tell
you right now, in the eighties, we had World Class,
We had the WWF. When AWA was on ESPN, if
it was anything major wrestling related, it was going on
in this house. And I mean again, when you get
to sit there and you see all these different and
(04:51):
again it was seeing the territories, which was which was
awesome to me in retrospect because you look at it.
You have the Georgia style of wrestling. Then go to
World Class, where you had a lot of great storytelling.
I mean again, I think back to the matches with
the Van Erks and the dynamic duo of Gino Hernandez
and Chris Adams, wrestlers like Killer, Tim Brooks, ice Man,
King Parsons, the Fabulous free Birds, among others. And then
(05:16):
you watch the AWA, which is the vern Gania style
of wrestling. And I mean again, I was hooked. And
it's not just a hook then to get me involved. Now,
you could ask my wife if he was gonna be
on the show. She could tell you up until it
was a couple of months ago. It was every night
I'd have to still sit in front of the television,
whether it's watching New Japan on Roku, or going on
(05:38):
to Pluto and watching old Triple A, or watching through
the world of YouTube, watching stuff from the Catch Wrestling Association.
Once it gets in your blood, not just as a
fan but a wrestler or whatever, it doesn't go away.
And I mean again, it's been in my blood since
I was five years old.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
You get into it a lot younger than I did.
I got into it really late, which you know, it
was always a dream of mine, so to speak. But
it sounds like a lot of our youth were very
kind of parallel in the way growing up in the
nineteen eighties and you know, I'm reaching fifty, but I
grew up watching World Class on ESPN every day after.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
School the AWA.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
You know, I would rush home, never do my homework.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
World Classes.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
I'm sorry, Yeah, five o'clock, no problem, you know, AWA,
whatever was on. And it's just amazing to think that, like,
you know, so many things were harder to grasp back
then or get to it back then, and then now
in twenty twenty four, reaching going into twenty twenty five,
how easily things are accessible, especially professional wrestling. It's out
(06:46):
another peak, so to speak. But obviously things are different
with technology. There's wrestling on every night of the week.
You have multiple shows to choose from, basically seven days
a week.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
Very true, Rick, And I mean again, you look at
it now and you hit a point that I can't
believe in my age. And again it's one of the
things really amazes me is the idea of how close
we are to that new I don't want to say
a new attitude era or a new renaissance or a
rebirth of professional wrestling, but you're looking at the idea of,
(07:21):
for example, the WWE and aew WWE's going to Netflix.
You've got aw that's got its dealings with Max. You've
got so many different live stream like New Japan World
and Honor Club and things like that. If you would
have told wrestlers back in the nineteen eighties that there
(07:42):
will be so much stuff that, I mean literally, is
that your fingertips. I mean, it's just unreal. And you
can go back and again, you go back into things
like Peacock and you can pull stuff from the mid
Atlantic days. You can pull stuff from Smoky Mountain. You
can pull countless different wrestling promotions, and again, to me,
it's just amazing how wrestling has transformed as we go
(08:04):
forward now, and it's crazy, it sounds going into twenty
twenty five in a little over a week's time.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
That's funny that ww has always been ahead of the
game in a way in changing the landscape, even going
into twenty twenty five at their Netflix deal. You know,
it's just they're just always innovative on ahead of the game,
I guess, you know what I mean, and influencing others.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
And again that's one of those things where when you
sit back and you look at it. I mean again,
they've always seemed to be at the cutting edge. But
there's been a lot of things too that have kind
of forced the hand of the WWE a little bit.
I mean, you go back to the Global Wrestling Network
and when Jeff Jarrett and TNA was going to go
(08:52):
into the idea of going into a streaming service, You've got,
like I said, you've got Honor Club, You've got New
Japan World. And that's one of the things too. A
lot of people say, oh, well, the WWE, they transform
pro wrestling, No new Japan World's been doing it for years.
It's just one of those where somebody in a corporate
office in Stanford, Connecticut finally put two and two together
(09:16):
and realized that there is a market for these kinds
of things. And they looked at it. And a lot
of people say it's about putting people in seats. But
when you can go back and look at just I
mean literally how I mean. I could go to my
computer right now, on my television, click on a handful
of buttons and I'm magically transported thirty forty fifty years ago.
(09:37):
In the world of pro wrestling, and when you look
at things like the WWE, they've always been the one
that they're going to go in. They're going to push
all their chips in and again giving them props because
right now is that on January sixth, And if you
go back and you look at the matches that have
already been announced, they're not just going halfway on this. Now,
they're going all in.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
It's going to be pay per view quality television show.
Well definitely, Yeah, it's kind of amazing. So I'm really
looking forward to that. I'm getting some snacks. I'm gonna
be sitting down there on my rear end and watching it.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Well, you know one thing too, and I mean ay
talk about that is the idea that I mean, there's
gonna be. And that's one of the things I've really
grown to love in the last few years is the idea.
And I won't lie to you. I'm I'm huge in
a new Japan and I'm really looking forward not only
to seeing what Russell Kingdom is going to bring forward
on the fourth, but also what the the the I
(10:32):
don't want to say new brand, but new identity of
Night two being Russell Dynasty, right, and again, where else
can you go? I believe it's a stardom cmll A
E W and I believe it's r O H. And
that's just a women's matchup. The winner gets to call
(10:52):
their shot for a championship opportunity. How many companies can
say that you have wrestlers from all those promotions just
in one match. Yeah, and that and that's one of
is when you said that, you look at that and
you go right into January sixth, and then you're going
right into the rumble. And I mean again, the road
to WrestleMania always peaks to curiosity and I'll tell you.
(11:15):
I mean, I think back to a lot of times
where to me, the Royal Rumble is much more of
a big to do in my household than WrestleMania itself.
I mean, I I can't tell you the number of
wrestlers that have come to my house and sit and
we either order pizza or get wings or cook something
on a grill and just sit and watch that kind
of event, because, like I said, that's one of those
(11:36):
that grips your attention and that's what makes wrestling so unique.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
That's my favorite event of the year, the Royal Rumble.
That's w W wise, because it's something I look forward to.
It's usually consistently good in quality. There's a you know,
sometimes there's some surprises and not always, but you know,
it's a it's the most enjoyable show and it kicks
off the you know what I mean as far or
(12:01):
the season you sort of speak of really good, really
good putting in their all for shows.
Speaker 2 (12:09):
Well, and you know, something rick when you sit there
and you look at I was watching something today. And
there have been several different media outlets, and again not
Pro Wrestling wire by any stretch, but I've heard a
lot of different pro wrestling officials or media who said, oh,
Triple H hasn't mastered the the booking of a Royal Rumble.
(12:31):
It's like, guys, listen when it comes down to it,
don't be constantly overwatching this stuff. Let people enjoy what
they've grown accustomed to. Let them enjoy the Royal Rumble
for what it is. Let them enjoy WrestleMania for what
it is. And that's one of the things where they're
not going to disappoint. They always deliver a great product,
(12:52):
and that's that's the way it's gonna be.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
Hands down, absolutely, I agree. Uh, let's talk a little
bit about your career. Do you mind if we jump
into your career?
Speaker 2 (13:04):
Oh? We we can jump into my career. I mean,
I've been a long, long ning road when it comes
to professional wrestling. One of the things I find ironic, Rick,
when I talk about my career is, first of all,
is if you look at it from my family. My brother,
as I said, longtime fan of professional wrestling, and he
(13:26):
happened to just totally out of the blue. He was
doing his day job at the time, he was working
as a mobile entertainer, and it just happened that we
were doing an event at a place called the Village
Bowl in Kahokia now Kahokia Heights, Illinois, and we happened
(13:46):
to run into a friend of ours who we knew
wrestled down at the South Broadway Athletic Club. Man's by
the name of John Blackhart. And John Blackhart was a
cruiserweight well before his time. And I'm not talking cruiserweights
from flying all around the ring and whatnot. He was
a solid two hundred, two hundred and ten pounds, the
kind of guy you don't want to meet in a
(14:07):
back alley any night of the week. And it just
happened my brother. He's like, hey, you're a big guy.
At the time, he was about my high, about five ten,
five eleven, both pushing four hundred pounds. He's like, you
need to get into the wrestling industry. And one thing
led to another. And while my brother was doing the
in ring competing, I was learning, and a lot of
(14:28):
people don't get to do this. I was learning a
lot of the behind the scenes to stuff from ten
eleven years old. I mean running sound run and ring jackets,
help and write news like program articles, making sure that
things were being sold, taking notice of what's selling. And
it was so cool because even at ten eleven years old,
(14:50):
being able to see these things. And there's a lot
of names here in the Saint Louis area, guys like
John Blackhart, like the late Tony Costa, the man who
for years was behind the South Broadway Athletic Club in
the MMWA, Herb Simmons. I know a lot of people
through the professional wrestling world, No Herb Simmons from his
work in sicw as well as the Cauliflower Alley Club.
(15:13):
And I mean when it was when it was acceptable
for me to get in the ring, Blackhart pulled no punches.
He said, you're gonna go in here and you're going
to know how it is. And basically, for the better
part of three years, usually two nights a week, I
would get in that ring, and I wasn't being treated
like a fourteen, fifteen, sixteen year old. I was expected
(15:33):
to be able to go in there with guys who
had ten, twelve, fifteen years under the belt and be
able to go And I remember my other trainer, my
brother was one. John Blackhart was another one that a
lot of fans may or may not know, A gentleman
by the name of the human wrecking Ball. Pete Madden
very well known here in the Midwest side a lot
(15:55):
of things with promotions like Metro Pro, Gateway Championship Wrestling MMWA,
among others. And I remember, I mean, I'm a little
sixteen year old kid and I'm wrestling trainings about done
and he's like, stay here, don't move like and he
picks me up, he slams me, and I'm like, why,
(16:16):
says here's why. Guy tosses him a chair, does a
chair sault right there in the training ring, and I'm like,
literally my jaw drops down to about my sternum. And
the crazy thing was I was able to walk away,
and he's like, that's why you do what you do,
(16:39):
and and and again it just kind of it's just
kind of snowballed from there. I mean again, having an
in ring career, I spent better part of probably I
want to say, about six seven years in the ring
on a regular basis. As far as ah in ring
competitor goes, my fair share of injuries. I mean, I
(17:02):
was only about one hundred and twenty pounds, but it
went from there. And I'll tell you rick, I mean,
the people I met, it was great and wonderful, and
it's thankful that this coming June when I go into
the Independent Saint Louis Wrestling Hall of Fame, that my
one of my trainers, Pete Madden, will be going in
with me in that class as well. But it's the
(17:24):
idea of I really think the biggest thing in the
professional wrestling game is how are you willing to be
ahead of the curve? And I know you and I
have talked about that on a couple of occasions, both
here as well as off there, that you got to
be ahead of the game. And that's why I'll be upfront.
That's why I feel that I've had the longitivity I've
had because when one door closes, another opens and that
(17:49):
kind of leads me to the next phase of my career.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
Let's say you decided to become a referee after that.
Speaker 2 (17:56):
Yeah, usually usually a lot safer, but I learned very
quickly that it's not always the case. And it's kind
of ironic Rick that me getting into the professional wrestling
industry and being a referee, a lot of people say
a lot of things just happened by chance. And I
(18:17):
had been back in four oh five, I had been
training a few wrestlers for a promotion called Mid America
Extreme here in Alton, Illinois, and it just happened that
I was refereeing an event for another promotion and there
was a gentleman for a group who with the time
(18:38):
was known as the Lethal Wrestling Alliance, now known as
Saint Louis Anarchy. A lot of your a lot of
the followers of Pro Wrestling Wire are probably very familiar
with them, And as soon as I got done, he
literally tapped me on the shoulder and said, how would
you like to come work for us? And it just
kind of snowballed from there. I spent a good chunk
(18:59):
of time with Saint Louis Anarchy, having the opportunity to
referee for the likes of Alex Shelley, Chris Sabin, Rachel Summerlin, Delirious. Oh.
I could go on and on and on, but then
that would lead to me getting the opportunity to referee
(19:23):
with my home promotion of all places, Dynamo Pro Wrestling.
And interesting story, I remember there were countless wrestlers, and again,
if you're in any major wrestling hotbed, there's gonna be
countless promotions and the gentleman who at the time ran
It's kind of weird because you had a promotion called
(19:44):
MRW Midwest Renegade Wrestling when they closed their doors. Out
of that comes Gateway Championship Wrestling. And if you get
a chance, I gotta tell you check out Gateway Championship Wrestler.
There's a lot of great matches online. Uh. That was
where you see a lot of people like Matt Sidel,
Daisy Hayes, Mischief Gingo, among others who had come through
(20:05):
the doors. But I remember walking in the door and
the guy at the time, who was really kind of
an executive with Dynamo Pro, had issues with my brother.
And I was sitting there and basically I had to
sit there and listen to him talk trash about him
for a better part of thirty minutes. And the last
(20:27):
thing I said was, I'm not my brother. I've never
claimed to be your roster knows what I'm capable of
as an official. Do you want me to come in great?
If not, thank you for your time. And I walked
out the door. And now it's been almost fifteen years,
and like I said, they're like family to me. And
(20:51):
I mean again, it's just it's staying one step ahead
of things. It's always been. When they had their announcer
leave the promotion, it's like, hey, Luke, can you do this? Okay?
And then there you go. And then had an opportunity
about a decade ago there was a gentleman by the
name of TNT Kenny g A lot of people may
(21:13):
or may not know him. He is the late father
of one Santana Garrett, and they were going to do
a charity event to say, hey, he had just recently
had stroke. And the title event was stroke Ain't no joke.
And I know there's a lot of grammar people who
are like, no, that's not gonna fly, but I was like, no, Kenny,
(21:34):
I mean, Kenny is a great talker. I'm not even
gonna remotely bit about that. Kenny Garrett phenomenal guy.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
I think I saw him on TV when Santana Garrett
worked for a while, right, I think he was. He
was on an episode sitting in the front in a wheelchair.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
I believe now.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
I think that I'm not very familiar with him, but
I knew, you know, what her father had done, and
you know, and I saw him on that show like
one time. This was I don't know years ago, and.
Speaker 2 (22:01):
It was when I was at that time. I remember
watching the episode of Myself and Kenny wasn't in the
best of health at that point, but he was always
a good talker, and I knew he was still having
some issues. So they were like, oh, okay, let me
let me do media. Let me let me talk to
the newspapers, let me talk to this, that and the whatnot.
(22:21):
And they're like, okay, you want to do this, you
can do this, and I mean again, it was it
was a great experience and it's given me the opportunity
to be where I am today. I mean I I
do want to share one story for you and I
your viewers will We'll definitely get a kick out of this.
I officially agreed with Dynamo Pro to become their media
(22:45):
director on January one. We had a show. Belie was
on a January third, so I'd officially been on the
job in my role for two days. The first thing
is they're projecting a blizzard, as they called it here
in the Saint Louis area, Snowmageddon. We wound up I
think with like thirteen inches of snow come in that night.
(23:06):
Was horrible and I'm sitting there going, Okay, let's get
this done. Let's let everybody be safe, Let's let everybody
get home. We're getting things going. First match, tag team
comes into the ring. Tag team by the name of
the Black Hand Warriors. They accomplished a lot in WLW,
Damo Pro, several other promotions here in the Midwest. One
(23:28):
of the gentlemen was climbing the ropes to kind of
haunt the crowd. Stepped on the bottom rope, puts his
foot on the second rope. No sooner is his foot
on the second rope. Bottom rope snaps. I mean, I'm
talking turnbuckle bolt just shatters, Everything goes. There is no
saving this rope. I look at my broadcast colleague, Chris Rodell,
(23:50):
and he kind of gives me a look because he
had taken over my job as an announcer. And I
remember in mouthing the words what do I do now?
My reply was this, I had no answer whatsoever. And
and again, since that point in time, I mean again,
it's it's had a lot of a lot of great
opportunities and and I'll be honest, there's been a lot
(24:13):
of times along the road that wrestling has been very
therapeutic to me.
Speaker 1 (24:23):
Yes, sorry, I had trouble. I had trouble on muting
my microphone.
Speaker 2 (24:28):
Hey, I'm thankful. In fact, it's not me. You can
talk to a lot of people I have. I have
that notorious history about the microphone going haywire. But like
I said, a lot of people in professional wrestling rick
they look at it from the idea of their bodies
get beat up, they get worn down, they mentally get
worn out. And I remember after we did stro Kate
(24:49):
no joke, I had found out that my wife and I,
after many years of being around pro wrestling, uh, found
out she was finally expecting.
Speaker 1 (25:00):
Oh wow.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
And I always told myself when she was expecting, once
my child was here, that's it. I'm done. I had
a good run. That's the way. It is. Found out
in November that she was expecting twins. So my shock
value is in an all time high. And unfortunately, right
(25:24):
before the holidays, actually almost ten years ago to the day,
in the span of a little over a week, my
wife lost both of our daughters at twenty weeks. Sorry,
and out of that, I remember, of all things, it
was the week between Christmas and New Years, and I
was sitting with my friend Chris Rodell, and I didn't
(25:46):
know where to go. I didn't know what to do.
I mean, nothing, nothing makes you process that. And actually
Chris Rodell brought up the idea of if you feel
up to it, why not put on a benefit for
(26:06):
the organization that's helping you and your wife deal with us.
And I was like, you know, that's a pretty good idea.
And I went and I talked to the management, and
management said, let's do it. And within three months, Dynamo
Pro had had more sponsors for that one event that
(26:27):
they had ever had a lot of professional wrestling companies,
they're like, oh, a portion of the proceeds. We were
able to say that night, through an anonymous donor, that
one percent of the gate went to the charity. That's amazing,
(26:48):
And we were able to donate by the time everything
was done, a little over two thousand dollars to share
pregnancy and infant loss support. And it was ironic that
I found out well after the event was done, after
everything was taken care of, everything was documented, I went
to I went to my boss, Crystal Young, she can
(27:11):
charge talent relationship with Dinamald promly, Crystal, I don't know
if you're going to tell me. I don't care if
you tell me, But can you tell me who this
anonymous donor was? Can you tell me who was the
person that made this a reality that we could do
such great things for his charity. And I found out
that the venue, which was I think the only cost
(27:32):
we had, and they gave us a great deal, I mean,
building seats like six hard people. I found out that
of all people, my own father paid for the building
that night. He paid for out of his own pocket.
And when I sit there and look at it to
this day, I mean again, rustling has its its its
(27:54):
long roads. It has us up and downs. But since
that point in time, I mean and wrestling has really
kind of given me a family. And I mean again,
it's one of those things where when you look at
professional wrestling, Rick, I mean my brother. He's eleven and
a half years older than me. He spent better part
(28:14):
of a decade in the ring. Total irony that my
nephew by marriage is continuing on at the family legacy.
In a program that was on Discovery recently, Big Little Brawlers.
My nephew is Ivar the Micro and he's still to
(28:35):
this day traveling the country doing what he does, and
again want to give a shout out to all the
guys and gals over at Big Little Brawlers, Jack and
everybody over there again great promotion. Had a great opportunity
to go see them just a few months ago when
he was here in our area. But I mean again,
it's one of those things whereas time's gone on, you
gotta adapt, and when it comes to being in the ring,
(29:00):
know full well there's a lot of people who overstay
their welcome. I got back in the ring about two
two and a half months ago as a referee, and
I can tell I'm not as great as I once was.
But when it comes down to it, I mean again,
I know I can still go and as long as
I can contribute, as long as I can give input
(29:20):
not only to the wrestlers that are inside the ring,
but to share the historical legacy of professional wrestling in
our area, I know that I'm going to have a
place in this wonderful, crazy world. It's pro wrestling.
Speaker 1 (29:35):
That's an amazing story. So does your brother involved at
all still at all?
Speaker 2 (29:41):
Or is he It's an interesting thing with him, I'll
level he had an opportunity when I was training wrestlers
back in four oh five. He wanted to get back
in the ring, and he was a guy. He was
probably and I know a lot of people hear this,
He's probably the most athletic big man that I've ever scene.
(30:01):
I remember there were a few matches when I'm about
one hundred and twenty one hundred and thirty pounds where
By drew the short straw and wind up having to
go against him. I've never seen a four hundred pound
man throw a sidekick and get you right there on
a point of the job. I've never seen a guy
at four hundred pounds who can go out there and
actually do a sunset flip, who can do a roll up,
(30:25):
who can do a Mahi straw cradle. He could do
all those things. And he kind of got where a
lot of a lot of people get once they've spent
their time in the world of pro wrestling, and they
kind of they kind of get a little bit salty
about it. They get a little bit sour, a little
bit of sourness about it. And he, I mean, he
comes to events now and again, but he kinda is
(30:48):
kind of disconnected. I will say in the last few months,
he's kind of gotten a little more involved. I wish,
I wish somebody would go and pick his brain, because
that's like a lot of wrestlers to this day, and
you hear it all the time. How are you going
to improve? You learn from the past. You learn from
the wrestlers that have gone out there and have been
(31:09):
on the roads and have competed in front of the
big crowds, and see what kinds of things they can do.
I had one I just sent out today to a
friend of mine, Brutal Bob Evans, And I'll tell you
right now, if you get an opportunity, make it a point.
You need to follow him on social media. You need
to look at his stuff online because Brutal Bob is
(31:31):
the name says it all. He will tell you how
it is you want to be a success. These are
the kinds of things you need to do. And you
got guys like him, like doctor Tom Pritchard and JPWA,
and you've got guys like the Dynamo pro Dojo and
the Forge and countless other training facilities with wrestlers who've
been up and down the roads right and again to
(31:52):
be able to impart wisdom I mean that's the biggest
thing for a professional wrestlers. Sometimes it sounds cold, but
you got to sit down, close your mouth, open your eyes,
open your ears, and you will learn more in a
matter of minutes than some people do in their entire careers.
Speaker 1 (32:11):
Right, yeah, I know that the off air. Now, in
one of our conversations online, you were telling me about
that you attended the Kylie Flower Hour Alley Club. I
always got tongue tied trying to say that, Sorry.
Speaker 2 (32:24):
Hey, you're not the only one, Rick, You're not the
only one. I feel very fortunate because I always, for
years have had it on my bucket list. I mean,
I've been around wrestling a long time. Doesn't look like
it was a babyface, but I had opportunity. I actually
had three friends of mine who pushed this hardcore with me.
One was late Kenny Garrett. Second was a gentleman by
(32:47):
the name of Tom Simon. He's a referee. He's been
a referee in Saint Louis for years. He was the
voice of a traditional championship wrestling down in Arkansas, used
to be running by Matt Rivieria. He had some dealings
with Burt Apprentice, the Leaper apprentice down with his promotion
USA Championship Wrestling. But they were both like, you need
to go, you need to go, you need to go,
(33:09):
And I'm like, okay, you were guys. I've learned a
great deal from When I get the opportunity, I will go.
But the man who really pushed me the most to
go is a man who's one of my best friends
in the world of pro wrestling, a gentleman by the
name of doctor Drew Abenhouse. He is the voice of
sicw He used to be a part of the Ringsiders
podcast here in the Saint Louis area, was very heavily
(33:31):
affiliated with a wrestling website called Missouri Wrestling Revival. And
he's like, if you don't go, and you keep saying
you're gonna go, eventually it's gonna pass you by. And Mike, Okay, Drew,
you're right. You go. And I had hands down, probably
one of the greatest three days in my life. As
(33:53):
a matter of fact, Actually, I'm gonna see you here
real quick. Yeah, I got it here in my office.
Hopefully I don't knock everything down on the show. Had
an opportunity, you're right here to participate. As many people
know playing cribbage again, the sport of wrestlers back in
the day. Wound up winning second place in the Cauliflower
Rally Cribbage Tournament. Another good broad story. I'm there and
(34:17):
first round I got no worries, and again it was
a great friend of mine, Brian Westcott out from the
Pacific Northwest. But my second match was against the man
who basically is the icon of the cac cribbage tournament,
that being the one the only cowboy, Bob Orton Jr.
Bob Orton has won this thing about seventeen times. They
(34:39):
should probably name it. I know it was actually called
and now it's called I think it's a dick the
Destroyer Buyer Cribbage Tournament. Bob is probably gonna wind up
having some kind of a recognition in this for the
number of times he's won the tournament. And not only
did I win, but I won him two straight. And
I remember the first night when they had the ceremonies
(35:02):
and all, and I remember this guy shouting and again
I'm not going to say specifically because it's definitely kind
of offhanded. It's like, whose butt did Bob kick to
get to the finals this year? And a friend of mine.
Bulldog Bob Brown Junior came up to the mine when
he was talking about it, and he's like, Bob's not
(35:23):
in the finals, and the crowd was just their jaw
dropped and they're like, who was it? And then he
had the point it was this guy and he points
at me. I'm about three tables back. He points at me,
and he beat him in two straight and the crowd
is just brewing. I felt like I was in my
(35:44):
WrestleMania moment because at that point, I'm like, if I'm
gonna go, I'm gonna go in a blaze of glory.
And I got up and I did the whole Hogan
and I'll fit sitting there. And granted I didn't win
the term. I wound up coming in second in place,
but when they called me up to get my plaque
and during the Hall of Fame or during the awards ceremony,
(36:07):
I made peace with Bob and that's one of those
I'll share that story for another day. But again, if
you had the opportunity, CC is a great organization. From
the top of the list. Brian Blair, Darlas DAGs, Rich Engling,
Herb Simmons, Vance, Nevada I mean, from top to bottom.
They are a great organization to be a part of.
(36:29):
And I'll say you right now, Rick if cac, if
you can't take three days to go to Vegas and
enjoy professional wrestling in that avenue, had the opportunity at
same under a year to go to the Wrestling Hall
of Fame in Waterloo, Iowa. Now that that was an
experience when you're sitting there. We went first night, we
(36:51):
were at a trivia night and all I'm hearing from
it's like an l shape building and we're sitting there
at our table and we're eating food and having a
good time, and all of a sudden you hear these
two guys just talking trash. I mean literally they could
say it here and you could hear it without your Internet,
(37:15):
that's how loud they were. And we're sitting there and
one of my buddies is like, who is that, Mike,
You don't know who that is. Jerry Brisco and jbl
are sitting at the other side. They've already had a
few beverages of the evening and they were just letting
it go. But I mean, again, the opportunity to and
(37:38):
and again it was it was cool because I got
to meet people like Rock Riddle, and again, if you
haven't had a chance to find mister wonderful Rock Riddle
through it, you will not be disappointed. Guys like Bill
DeMott was there having an opportunity to meet one of
my first real favorites in the world of pro wrestling,
the legendary Thunderbult Patterson. Less at your Jerry Brisco. I mean,
(38:02):
it was a great experience. Had an opportunity to watch
the Impact Pro Wrestling event that that first night that
we were there, or sorry, second night they were there,
and it was just I mean, from top to bottom,
it was a great experience. And again that's one of
the things that makes pro wrestling unique is the idea
of where you can see what the what the wrestlers
(38:25):
have put in their blood, the sweat, the tears, and
I mean again, when you can say that you got
to sit down and you got to sit and have
dinner with Tommy Rich in the Plaza Casino, or you
get the opportunity at Hash House at go Go to
be sitting there and talking with one half of the
Rock and Roll Express, Robert Gibson, or the idea of
(38:45):
sitting there at the Wrestling Hall of Fame in Iowa
and having dinner and having a conversation with Haku. Those
are the kinds of things I was like, as you
said at the top of the program, those are the
kinds of things that you always remember. And again, it's
a lot on my bucket list and one of the
things that's here in my office that I treasure to
no end. There are two things. One I got an
(39:08):
opportunity to have a picture with JJ Dillon and I
had an opportunity. The picture I have not only autographed
by him, but it has a copy of I'm holding
the copy of his book and he's showing the four
fingers and the other one which it was ironic. I
went to the c AC I win this. I go
(39:30):
to the Hall of Fame and I managed to get
my picture autographed. That's the fan in me. One side
of the picture is jbl other side referee James Beard.
How much better can it get? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (39:46):
Yeah, it's funny because you've mentioned a good portion of
these guys I've had on the show. I've had James
Beard in the show. Herb Simmons has been on the show.
You know, Brian Blair has been on the show. Know,
Bob Cooks is about to come on the show in
the beginning of the year. So you know, I'm a
(40:06):
history nerd when it comes to wrestling, and that goes
back to early part of the conversation when we first
signed in and our access. I could watch wrestling every
day of the week half the time. I'm on the
Siboldi network watching classic wrestling from the Soboldi footage that
they own, whether it's the odd Ball US w A,
(40:28):
Texas stuff, the Wild West Wrestling, the random AWA shows
that they put on or helped, you know, bring over
to weird parts of this side of the country, what
have you. So, Yeah, it's kind of amazing the stories
that you're telling here, Like I'm kind of freaking out
inside and this is so awesome.
Speaker 2 (40:48):
Well, you know, and I do have to share this
one again talking about being ahead of the curve. Through media,
I've had an opportunity to kind of jump into the
next four the four A in the world the professional
wrestle with being a part of several different podcasts, including
the Russell Talk podcast out of Kansas City, Interstate seventy
Sports Media and falls Kind Everywhere podcast here out of
(41:10):
Saint Louis. Interesting story, we had an interview. It was
about two three weeks before CAC and had a gentleman
by the name of Santana Jackson come on the program
and he was I mean, the internet was blowing up
on him and we're sitting there thinking, okay, he is
on the show, looking forward to seeing him Ounta in
(41:32):
Vegas competes in a match, and was just totally mind
blown and had an opportunity to We're going to interview him.
And now it's like twelve thirty one o'clock in the morning,
We're in Vegas. I'm beyond worn out, and Santana is
signing an autograph after autograph and we're having to follow
him down Fremont Street to be able to conduct the interview.
(41:57):
But I mean, again, it's one of those things, Rick,
when it comes down to it, I would not trade
it for anything in the world. And and like I said,
I'm looking forward to in June June twenty second here
in Saint Louis being a part of the independent Saint
Louis Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame and being inducted. It
shows that not only myself, but there are a lot
(42:20):
of great wrestlers both male and female, who've given of
their time, And I mean, just to give you an idea.
I know we're going to talk about it briefly here
in a minute, but to be in a class with
the likes of my trainer, Pete Madden, former Wrestling at
the Chase referee and wrestler referee announcer Eddie Smith, Handsome
(42:43):
Harley Race is going to be inducted, Mischief is going
to be inducted. For those that follow a lot of
the Ring of Honor stuff and a lot of wrestling
overseas to be in a class. Bishop Stevens is another
one that's out there. To be in a class with
those individuals who a lot of them I grew up watching,
(43:04):
and to be recognized with a group like that, I mean,
it just amazes me how not only how much have
I been able to experience, but by the same token,
how much people respect what I've done in this industry.
And again, if you tell me thirty five years ago
that you would call me a Hall of Famer, I'd
(43:25):
say you're out of your mind. But to have so
many people come up and say, hey, Luke, what do
you think about this? What can I do better? What
can I do about this? What can I do about that?
It just amazes me how it doesn't matter whether I'm
a five year old kid watching it or like you
said earlier, near and fifty myself and having people come
(43:46):
up to me and say, hey, did you like this?
Those are things I can do better. It just amazes
me how brustling has come full circle for me.
Speaker 1 (43:56):
You're also, excuse me, you're also part of the board
of directors of the Hall of Correct.
Speaker 2 (44:01):
That is Correct And like I said, we just had
got done with a meeting here a little over a
week ago, and I'll tell you right now, they're already
looking at some names for the next induction class. And
I'm going to tell you right now, when you look
at the Saint Louis area, I mean there's a lot
of people like I mentioned earlier on Dingo, Daisy Hayes, Midshift, Delirious,
(44:22):
Matt Sidell, Mike Sidell, names a lot of people may
not know, like black Glove, Butch Fletcher, like Bama Bodine,
guys like Tim the Punisher, Faris, guys like Kane got
to start here in the greater Midwest and the greater
Saint Louis metro area. Uh, there's a lot of pro wrestling,
(44:43):
and again it's one of those where I feel fortunate
that Saint Louis has always been a hotbed for pro wrestling.
And to me, my biggest thing is simple, I don't
care if what promotion you wrestle for, I don't care
who pays your paycheck at the end of the the day.
If you're able to go inside those guardrails, or if
(45:03):
you're to be fortunate enough to step inside the squared
circle as we call it, to be involved in professional wrestling,
that right there, you have my respect and all these
people in this area, there's a lot of people who
professional wrestling today on the independent level as well as
on the national and international levels, would not be the
(45:26):
same if it weren't for the men and women who
step inside the ring. And again, I want to give
a shout out to all the members of the Hall
of Fame board because they've been working NonStop since last
June's induction. And I'll tell you the twenty sixth class
right now is already shaping up to be a potential
(45:50):
of a humongous class. And again, shameless plug here, tickets
are going to be available soon. If you can make
the opper comunity to come to the Saint Louis area,
you will not be disappointed. You will have a great
time and hearing from some of these individuals who traveled
the world doing what we all love, not just from
(46:10):
being inside the ring, but it's pro wrestling fans what
we love. I'll tell you right now, it's gonna be
a once in a lifetime experience. And I hope that
people can take these things and experience them because it
just increases your fandom that much more.
Speaker 1 (46:26):
I would love to come down there for something like that.
You know, I do convention weekends and stuff. Collie Flower
Alley Club said it right that time. I'd love to
get out there. Have been invited.
Speaker 2 (46:36):
Was it two years ago?
Speaker 1 (46:37):
A year ago? Albert was trying to get me to
come out there. One year, great guy. You know I
usually do the New England fan Fest, which is the
base in Rhode Island, and you do the Wrestling Classic
every You're in Springfield, Massachusetts, about forty five minutes from
my house. I'm in Connecticut, So you know, I love
doing stuff like that, hanging around and you know, I
(46:58):
do a little bit of commentary myself. I'm not let me.
I just lied. I do a lot of bit of
commentary for several different organizations between Connecticut and Massachusetts, and
it's a lot of fun being on that and you know,
helping with production and ideas and stuff like that. So
professional wrestling has got me sort of speak, even though
(47:19):
I got into it a little bit late. You know,
I've been a lifelong fan, but being a part of it,
you know, I joined the lake really late in life.
I guess you could.
Speaker 2 (47:28):
Say, well, you know something, Rick, when it comes down
to it, I mean, it doesn't matter whether you're able
to get in the ring or be involved when you're sixteen, seventeen,
eighteen years old or I mean guys like our age
and things like that. I mean, one of the biggest
things you always remember DDP WWE Hall of Famer. Yeah,
said he wasn't able to get into his ring till
the mid late thirties.
Speaker 1 (47:49):
Yeah, And I remember him in Awa as a manager,
you know, managing a bad company.
Speaker 2 (47:54):
You know that's true, Paul Diamond and Pat Sanaka. And
when you sit there and look at it, I mean again,
before he ever got in the ring, he had that stint.
He had the opportunity to drive Greg Valentine and the
Honckey top Man to the ring at WrestleMania's Crick. I
mean there's so much There's so much stuff that they
had that ability to do. And I mean again, it's
(48:16):
one of those once you get in, you never want
to leave. And again, hopefully, if everything goes according to plan,
I hope there's still plenty of more energy in this
tank as we go along, because I mean again, when
I see guys like a Herb Simmons, like the late
Bert Prentice who spend their entire uh lets Thatcher is
another one who spend their entire life being involved in
(48:38):
the world of professional wrestling. If I can say that
I've accomplished even a tenth of what they've done, I'd
be a very happy man.
Speaker 1 (48:46):
Yeah, Herbs putting on some great shows. It's my and
I'll be honest with you. I think I've said this before.
It's uh it's my favorite weekly television show is the
SI c W. It's from minds me of the wrestling
I grew up with. Yeah, I think, and I had
I had Lucky P. Larson on just about two weeks ago.
Speaker 2 (49:09):
I'm sorry right now, I know for a fact, hearing
the stories from my friend doctor Drew, that probably had
to be a very long interview. But again it wasn't
too bad.
Speaker 1 (49:18):
I think it just went about an hour. Maybe we
might have caught it, you know, went about ten minutes
more because like I said, I usually cut a time limit.
So it was fun because he was half in character,
half not. You know what I mean, But he's always
a character that I really enjoyed watching on that television show.
Speaker 2 (49:36):
Well, you know something too, and I mean again, looking
at professional wrestling here in the Saint Louis area, I'm
a level with you. And again, this is not Luke Roberts, Media,
Dynamo Pro or any of the podcasts I'm affiliated. When
as a professional wrestling fan in the Saint Louis area,
I know that you've been following the situation that just
took place in the last couple of weeks where steven
(49:57):
E and his devastation should incorporated. I didn't want to
tell herb because her was a great friend of mine,
but I was scared that they were going to be
able to win and take over. I mean again, when
you have a tilicon, the International Bounty Hunter Haku and
the barbarian. I mean you had Ron Simmons, Danny Boy Hawkins,
(50:19):
Gary Jackson. I mean, if anybody's going to carry the
banner for SICW, you're if they're going to go into
a fight when you're back's against the wall and your
companies on the line. Those three men were able to
be successful. And again when you look at it, you've
got promotions like SICW. You've got promotions like MMWA who've
been around for forty fifty years, Dynamo Pro, which I'm
(50:40):
affiliated with. If you go back all the way to
the Gateway and to the MRW days, they're looking at
nearly thirty years. You've got WLW, which is twenty nearing
twenty five. You've got places like Saint Louis Anarchy that
have been around twenty twenty five years. When you look
at it, that's one thing. And St. Louis. You got
(51:01):
all these different avenues of professional wrestling. If you want
to watch people flying and doing two and a half
flips into cross bodies, great. If you want to watch
wrestling as it was when we were growing up, the
hard hitting, gritty action, the chain wrestling, then you've got
wrestling like the sicw's like the mmwas, like the Broadways.
(51:23):
That's one thing. It's great. Doesn't matter if it's Saint Louis,
New England, Northwest Texas, Florida. There's always going to be
something for everybody. And that's what makes pro wrestling, whether
it's forty years ago or now. That's what makes pro
wrestling so special is whatever is your cup of tea,
(51:45):
you can find it in your area and enjoy it absolutely.
Speaker 1 (51:50):
Luke, I want to thank you for being a part
of this show today, and I definitely want to have
you back soon because I feel like we just scratched
the surface, you know, because I think we can go
and get a lot more conversation out of this, but
we're nearing our deadline here. So I want to thank
you very much for being a part of this and
I'm glad we finally got to got to get this done.
(52:12):
And I'm sorry I made you wait a little longer.
Speaker 2 (52:15):
Than you know. You know something, Rip, One of the
things I always say is card subject to change, and
I know full well what's there. And again I want
to say thank you to Pro Wrestling Wire for having
me here on the program. And again, the names that
you've mentioned to be along that list of individuals who've
graced this program definitely has been something here. I it's
(52:36):
I mean again, it's I'm gonna hold very special. And
again when you look at it, most people at my
time we'd be like, Okay, I'm gonna start slowing things down.
I'm gonna start chilling out. Oh no, I mean I
got Dynamo Pro Wrestling's New Year's Brawl on the fourth
in Farmington, Missouri. New Year's Revolution for the MMWA on
January eleventh, where they're going to be inducting members into
(52:58):
the MMWA Hall of Fame. New Beginnings for HWA on
the eighteenth of January. You can also catch me on
the Wrestle Talk podcast every other Tuesday night, whether it's
behind the boards or on camera. Also Sunday, June twenty second,
Andrew's Banquet Hall in Saint Louis Independent Saint Louis Wrestling
(53:19):
Hall of Fame. It's could be a great night. And
I'm gonna tell you right now, and I'm just gonna
level with you because you're talking about being in New England.
We've got people coming in from West Virginia, we got
people coming in from Florida. I got a friend of mine,
longtime promoter friend, Jeff Manning, who's talking about coming in
from the greater Salem, Oregon area. I'm gonna tell you
right now, Rick, if you had the opportunity to make
(53:40):
that journey down, I would guarantee you not only would
you be able to have a seat, but we make
sure that you had plenty more memories to carry with you.
And who knows, maybe we can go ahead and we
can put this into Pro Wrestling Wire. I always think
about my good friend man who put the podcast together
of the late Rick Rose, and it was one of
those he made of log from leaving Kansas City all
(54:02):
the way down to Saint Louis to catch a Dynamo
Pro event. Maybe that's what we need to do for
Pro Wrestling Wire. Hook you up, get you down here
from the greater great Northwest and experience Saint Louis. And
I'll tell you right now, Toasted Rabs, Emo's pizza, you
name it, a lot of great things, gooey buttercake, you
name it a lot of great things here in Saint Louis.
We'll make it a point that if you can get
down here, we'll make sure to take care of you
(54:23):
is only the Saint Louis wrestling scene camp.
Speaker 1 (54:25):
I'd love to come. I'd love to love to come.
We'll talk about this more. I thank you again, thank
you again.
Speaker 2 (54:32):
All right, thank you very much again. Make it a
point check out Pro Wrestling Wire. They've got lots of
great interviews, lots of great wrestling news. You can check
them out online and make it a point to enjoy
the best in professional wrestling right here on Pro Wrestling Wire.
(55:03):
S
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