Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, gentlemen, what a day.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
What a day.
Speaker 3 (00:03):
We're going to talk about, Uh, this comedy show, which
we will talk about. The LAPS fan guys are here,
Jack and JP once again, and we're going to talk
about of course, their their show coming up during Summer
Slam weekend, freshly announced and uh chatting all about that
for those people hanging to Summer Slam or not just
want to get some comedy on Sunday, August third, head
(00:24):
to the Big City.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
We'll talk about that.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
However, as we record this Thursday, at two o six
pm Eastern, the Holkster's dead brother. I came home from
the gym, was talking to the guy. We're doing some
work on the house real quick, and I came back
in and checked my phone and and a separate texter
from any wrestling fans I know, we're just like, Oh,
hul Cogan died. I'm like what, And I go to
(00:47):
our slack channel and then lo and behold the Hulkster
passing away, And uh, what a fitting time. Uh sarendipitous
for us to talk because you guys have been obviously
He's Holkster has been.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
Ah. I was actually reading a tweet from the last
fan account.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (01:03):
I'm laughing as I think about talking again the Hulk
Cogan voice about you know, what's the work and all
this brother and all this stuff I hear in your
guys voices, and then like three hours later this happens.
That boy, what a s serendipitous time to talk. I'll
kick it over you guys for thoughts. It's only you
can give.
Speaker 4 (01:19):
So I say, we should have started to recording on
three oh three.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
Well, that that's the turner weight. Good point. Yeah, we
just you know, we we saw the same things everyone
else did about Bubba a love sponge, which is what hoppoetic?
Is it that it he ended up being the oracle
of truth and around Hulk Cogein's true condition. What a
strange fucking tie. What what is going on? I just
(01:46):
don't understand anything. I don't. It's so we we were like,
you know, I don't know about Hulk this year, Like
I don't know if he's gonna make it. What haven't
we done in our catalog of ten years of shows?
That is really a key seven Hulk Cogan moment Bashed
at the Beach ninety four, and.
Speaker 4 (02:02):
Which which has coincidentally, given that we had done just
you know, when we started a LAPS fan, we never
I don't think we even we never even thought about
doing tribute shows. You know, we never thought about the
fact that when somebody dies we should do a tribute.
It was not obviously on the radar. We don't even
know what we were doing. We were just kind of
figuring it out. And so we had already done like
(02:24):
WrestleMania one and WrestleMania three and all these things within
you know, by the time we realized that, wait a minute,
you know, at some point Hulk Cogan is going to
die and we're going to need to do something about it.
And so it was like, curiously, just this show had
been kind of put off on the radar. We had
talked about it years ago as being just a show
we're going to hold off, you know when the time
that when time comes and Hulk Hogan and you know,
(02:48):
whole comania truly dies, we're gonna you know, this is
probably the best show to do. And you know, that's
just that's that's what we call lap serendipity right there,
that it all kind of happen at that moment, yeah,
you know, and you know, yeah, good the day the
work died, you.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
Know, but the work's just begun in so many ways
as it regards saving the Hulkster. JP makes an excellent point,
and I think this isn't just apply to our podcast
by as anybody who's been a wrestling fan and came
of age in the late eighties and early ninety one,
the Hasbro generation and the LJN generation look ten years
(03:27):
ago when we first started doing this, and when a
lot of the people listening probably started following wrestling online
or whatever. You don't come to terms with the fact
that you're of the age where you're going to start
losing all these guys. We didn't set out to do
tribute shows in mind, because Piper was still alive, because
Dusty was still alive, because Howard Finkel and Scott Hall
(03:50):
were still alive, because we still had Bruno, Sam Martine
walking around and Hulk Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior and
John Tenta. Now Warrior was dead, brother, but you want
me to keep going. The point is the death of
Hull Coogan reminds us of our own age. Because anybody
who's listening to vintage wrestling stuff on a podcast, anybody
(04:14):
who's a subscriber of any tenure to Dave's newsletter orients
their sense of moving through time and space with that
of Hull Coogan because he brought so many people to
the table, and the people that came before he did.
As far as wrestling fans, they're they're gone, or they're
they're you know, in retirement homes. I think that's part
of what hits so hard about this is it's like, yeah,
(04:38):
we have now outlived Hulkogan. Hull Coogan's always been the
backdrop to so much of what we've gone to in
our minds. On first reference, when we think about professional wrestling,
and not just us as fans, but people who just
walk the streets and barely know anything about pro wrestling
immediately think of Hulkgan and you bring up pro wrestling,
you're only gonna lose someone of that stature in this
American culture. You know, it's a Santo in Mexico. Oh,
(05:00):
it's a Ricky Dozan in Japan, perhaps in Anoki, but
here we've lost that figure that shortcut to all that
wrestling is it's best in its worst. We were just
talking today about this JP and I and Hulk Hogan
defined what hul Cogan means in the second half of
his life as much as he did in the first,
after he was done in the ring, when he could
(05:20):
barely walk, when he's broken down, when his family fell apart,
when his wife started sending wild, wild Instagram stories crying
about his whole situation, when Brooks stopped talking to him,
When Bubba the Love Sponge goes from his absolute best friend,
Uncle Baba to somebody who ended up going through the court.
Ringer he wins the Gawker lawsuit after his ring career
(05:41):
was over, Josh with the stuff that built us all
up as people that want to follow this guy. That's
when things really just started to get sort of illustrative
about who hul Cogan was. It is so obviously the
mind goes in a million different directions on news like this. Yeah,
the the thought I had.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
So it's interesting you talk about kind of thinking about
our own mortality's you know, in the news business. You
think about the day that when Vince Di dives, how
that's how that's going to go. It was so many
different apps aspects and so on. And then when Rick
Flair passes away, and when obviously Hogan, I mean that's
kind of your your big three right now, and it's uh,
(06:24):
we've seen and so so far we're only you know,
a couple hours into this. So the tributes you know,
are starting to come out on social but it is
mostly from retired wrestlers and people that it's very few,
if any modern day as I TNA put something out, uh,
and Carlos Silva there president, I just I think, just
(06:46):
to do, just to do something, uh. Charlotte Flair wrote
something after her dad did Andrade did, but as of
this point, like, I haven't seen anything from aw Tony Kahan,
which against kind OF's question, would they do something if
this had happened yesterday one of our editors and I
were talking to what would they have done? I think
they would have just done a quick hit EXCaliber Tony
(07:07):
Shamani at the desk, doing a quick thing leading into
a commercial and that's it. But a lot of the
modern stars have not chimed in at all. And I
think the silence is deafening in this case. And I
think a lot of this some of the things that
you mentioned, if not all the things you mentioned, is
this this run from two whatever the data is that
(07:28):
you mentioned, this run with all these things that happen
really shaped his legacy for so many people. And there's
like the split of the people that before that and
the people that are after that, and for a lot
of us, you know, I'm forty seven, we're not so
far off the same age. It's it is this like
it's a thing of just like it is a it's
(07:48):
all of it with him, you just kind of had
to take all of it. And how you come down
on it is how you come down on it. Polarizing
is probably the best way to say it.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
Yeah, I agree.
Speaker 4 (07:58):
I mean it's a it's a very hard it's it's
a weird thing because there's there there is this more
modern part of hul Cogan who is just not a
very who just wasn't a very good person in midways. Yeah,
it was kind of backwards and a lot of a
lot of his views, said a lot of stupid things
and and you know, uh uh just was not like
(08:24):
you know, he tainted any fans view of him. And
with his racist remarks, with the sex tape, with all
sorts of shit, that's just like this is wait a minute,
supposed to be hul Cogan. You know, he's supposed to
be supposed to be the good guy of all to
end all good guys and so. But at the same time,
(08:45):
you know, when Jack and I were talking earlier today,
I mean, it's funny two you mentioned the Big Three,
but we listened that exact same Big three.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
Exactly, was Josh on the call.
Speaker 4 (08:56):
I don't know, I know, because we were like, you know,
there are three, you know, even as we've come of
age and we are like realizing, oh, you know, these
guys are going to go. They're just there are three
you can't imagine living without ever, no matter the fact
that you know that they're getting to that age, Hogan,
Flair and vincig Man. You know again, despite what you
think of them, despite their you know, some of their
(09:17):
just absolutely deplorable actions and whatnot. It's like, these are three,
three figures that if you're a wrestling fan, you just
cannot imagine your life without. And it's it's a very
I tried to look at it too, as not just
the fact that it's a but it's a human being
who died, and you know, it's it's sad in that regard,
(09:42):
but it is a very It's it does make me
think about mortality. I think a lot about Lately, in
the last maybe I don't know, two or three years,
I've been thinking a lot about legacy, and in terms
of especially as we live in the era we live in.
We think think of like wrestling on television, we think
(10:03):
of movies, we think of television itself, all sorts of
the current media that has really been the forefront of
our news, of our entertainment, of all these things, and
it's like we're still at the we're still at the
baby stages, Like so much of the stuff is like
(10:23):
one hundred years old, one hundred and fifty years old.
When you think about the life of the planet and
you think about the life hopefully hope to God, of
the future of the planet's like I wonder, it makes
me wonder in a thousand years are we going to
be thinking Are people going to be thinking about Hulk
Hogan as people thought about Shakespeare? Certainly not in that regard.
It's a very very drastic difference, but in terms of
(10:45):
crestling fans, in terms exactly and in terms of wrestling
fans too, Are wrestling fans a thousand years from now
going to be looking back and saying, Hey, God, I
wish I was there, you know? To see Hulk Hogan
body slam Andrea the Giant. You know, that's their Macbeth
or their or Hamlet or whatever, you know, like it's.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
Ever there was a death justifying that level of thought.
It be Hogan's, you know, because if Hogan doesn't count,
no one counts in that regard, you know, a thousand
years from now. Who's to say, but I'll say hear
it now, I'm sitting here, Why am I?
Speaker 4 (11:15):
So?
Speaker 1 (11:15):
Why is mortality come up so much? And it hit
me he was the immortal Hulk Hogan.
Speaker 4 (11:20):
Oh yeah, damn right.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
How many times did he say he was immortal? He's
not immortal? And we talk about this all the time, Josh.
I'm sure we've talked about it with you before, but
this is one of the things that we've really landed
on in terms of, you know, lapsed fans. People don't
know we don't just review old events and put them
in historical context and do imitations and have a ton
of fun. We also spent a lot of time trying
to figure out why it is that pro wrestling has
such a hold on us, Why it is that you know,
(11:44):
we can call ourselves lapsed and get these legions of
people to listen to us, all many of whom proclaim
to no longer care about pro wrestling, yet they're willing
to spend hours and hours and hours an hours listening
to and patronizing a podcast about it. And not the
only ones, you know. I mean, there's a whole it's
a whole category of podcast that it says something about
(12:04):
the wrestling fan. And I think one of the things
that we're coming around and realizing is it's like we
as wrestling fans, don't get to have immortal heroes like
fans of Superman or Spider Man or Batman or even
some of the you know, because because they're fictionalized in
(12:24):
a way that you know, legendary athletes are not fictionalized,
and you lose them in the flesh and blood. Hul
Hogan was rushed out of his condominium today. It was
strapped to a learning with EMTs frantically trying to revive him.
And that is that's the death of hul Hogan. It's
not just the death of Terry Boleo. I think two people.
Speaker 4 (12:45):
You know, It's not like I'm sure that there are
people who do this, but when you'm I'm getting it
is the weirdest thing getting random texts from people who
I haven't talked to in a while.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
All things. It's like, oh my, you know how just
my friend is, how you're holding up brother? What doubt if.
Speaker 4 (13:07):
Actually get the final three count? But you know, it's
like it's very It's funny that you know, they treat
it like it's a relative who died, Like as if
I'm you know, because if I'm planning a funeral and
now all of a sudden but uh.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
Thought, I don't want to subtract anyway. But to the point,
you're going to get a text when your favorite baseball
player dies from this many people probably not never, because
that's the thing about wrestling fan is you are and
that's why we that's why you know, community can be
built around reflecting on what it means to be a
wrestling fan because you are the wrestling fan in your life.
(13:43):
You are the person that everybody knows likes that ship,
and in times like this they think about you and.
Speaker 4 (13:48):
I remember now, I remember so the thing I I
I I am sure that there aren't as many people
who go back and watch record of old Super Bowls
as there are wrestling fans who go back and watch
old wrestling pay per views, old WrestleMania's, old starcaves, old
(14:09):
Great American bashes, whatever. There there is a there is
a a comic book feel about it that you know,
you can kind of say to yourself. You can say
to yourself, that's a concerning thing. And something behind you
is creeping up like that. I guess we didn't lose them,
(14:30):
did we Again? There's always gonna be listened. Hulk Hogan
is going to be always there, sneaking up behind a
lot of people. But uh uh, you know there there
is like a feeling of something finished. When an athlete
finishes their career, it's over. You know it's done. There
(14:51):
is something finished about it, and you're not gonna potentially
see them play again. They're not going to play again.
They're done and there their games will live in your
memor and sure you can find them on TV, but
it's not going to be like what wrestling fans do,
where we can go back and watch the day to
day things like that. Every week of television. We can
(15:12):
watch all these things and and it's like it continues
to live. It's it's it. It's a it's a blessing
and a curse. And I think this is why it
can affect people wrestling fans in a greater sense, because
it's it is like watching they've made them up in
the eighties. They made them up to be superheroes, they
(15:34):
made them up to be comic book characters, they made
them up to be to be larger than life and
in a way symbolic of things that you either hope
to be or hope to attain or whatever. And what
they didn't realize is that or maybe they did or
they didn't care or whatever, that these these symbols are
(15:57):
going to die. These symbols are going to leave us,
and it's going to be and it's gonna hit in
a different way to wrestling fans, then it's gonna be
to to somebody, you know, a more traditional legit athlete
or a an actor or whomever. Like it's just it's
(16:18):
a very it's a bizarre thing because because that they
they tried so hard to bridge that that, you know,
the reality and fiction, you know, because for so long
there was this like wait a minute, you know, is
it real? Is it fake? And so when they're trying
to make you believe something's fake, that again it's real.
(16:41):
You know now it's real, and it's it's a very
it's such a bizarre it's bizarre.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
It's it's bizarre.
Speaker 3 (16:48):
I think one thing to you mentioned kind of the
comparison to pro athletes. One thing, once an athlete's career
is done, they're they're done, like they're not gonna come there.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
You know, they'll be around, And I mean I think of.
Speaker 3 (16:59):
Like, you know, like David Ortiz for example, he retired,
he's not going to come back and play, so he
does his appearances and things like that. But with a character, right,
like a like a Hulk Hogan or any of your
favorite actors, any type stuff. Other wrestlers, there's always a
chance they can do something and not necessarily a full match,
but a a moment. There's there's a world in which
(17:22):
Hogan doesn't do any of this terrible stuff, and he
is part of Goldberg's retirement and a much bigger thing
coming out and having a moment. He has some sort
of moment with John cena At during his retire something
where it's just it's legends and you're seeing it and
you're like that makes me feel good.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
Now that whole thing.
Speaker 3 (17:40):
I mean again, the last time he came out was
last year at w W show and the big stories
he get booed out of the building in Jimmy Hart
and just in La Yeah, I mean it is if.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
Jesse getting the final muscle of Hogan, I get get
out of here.
Speaker 4 (17:54):
I ho hey, hey, Hull Hogan over there, that piece
of trying hul Cogan, get out of here. The fans
don't even want you here around fucking your beer.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
I'm fully prepared to walk out Paul if he's wanted
to be there, and I'm not afraid to say it.
And so I think he got one back on Holgan
for a ninety four batch at the beach where the
second Hogan walks in. Jesse's disappearing rapidly from the w
S position. But they don't have that, you know, these
other athletes to your point, Josh and JP went when
they go into retirement. Ortiz is a weird example because
(18:26):
he did get shot, so there was all kinds of
that messiness, But for the most part, it's always in
the news. Fort reason. For the most part, they fade away.
We would like to think with the degree of dignity,
not a Pete Rose, but you know, for the most
part in wrestling because their oxygen is attention. They're going
to make mockeries of themselves to the grave in ninety
(18:47):
percent of cases. And we celebrate tremendously when a wrestler
dies without a ton of pathetic things having happened, pathetic
final attempts to be in the spotlight and just laying
absolutely bare. If there was any doubt that they are
no work close to what they used to be or
how we prefer to remember them, we're not going to
think of, you know, ted Williams barely able to walk
for it, for instance, but wrestlers.
Speaker 4 (19:07):
Or or or deciding to change up his own his
style and start using chairs and barbed wire baseball bats
to the head.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
Right, It's like a Terry funk in those later years. Yes,
Teddy Williams not doing that. No, doing that. That would
have been interesting, though, would I would have paid to
see that.
Speaker 5 (19:27):
He's a lapsed fan wrestling podcast with Jack and Carnacio
and JP Sorrow. He's a lapsed fan wrestling podcast.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
I mean Terry and all the things he said over
the years about the difference between Terry Bala and Hulk
Cogan and their relative penis size on the stand.
Speaker 4 (19:53):
I mean, it makes me wonder is one or the
other still alive? Is Hull Cogan did or as Terry Blayd.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
We don't know. I think that's what we're here, both dead,
are both dead? Or both? I think both are dead. Yeah,
I'm sure people are tweeting hope Deminia will live forever
and all that, but I don't think so. I don't
think so, especially because what you said, Josh, it is
so impolitic to say positive things about him today, Like
you know, they just can't. They can't do it and
they can't bring themselves to do it even if they
(20:21):
feel positively about the guy. He's the ultimate separate the
art from the artist for the wrestling fan, and I'm
not sure they didn't do him any You know what
it costs him, It costs him so much that that right,
that FBI wire tap. But what what it probably cost
him more than anything is is people feeling free to
(20:41):
celebrate him upon his death. And if all the wrestlers
we've seen, you would think he'd be the one guy
that could enjoy that that that that that that that
privileged error.
Speaker 4 (20:51):
But not to be it is it is fast because
you know, I'm I'm I'm all about people being held accountable,
accountable for their actions. I'm all about people being you know,
whether or not they said things way back when or whatever.
I don't think they should be held to that. You know,
per se all the time. You know, I know that
his stuff is more current and it's more lasting. But
(21:13):
I I I do recall him fondly. I don't mind celebrating.
I don't celebrate the man. I celebrate the the idea
of Hulk Hogan. I don't celebrate Terry Blaya. Terry Blaya. Yeah,
there's there's a there's an issue there for sure. But
I do celebrate what I liked about Hull, what I
(21:33):
loved about hul Cogan. I mean I can I can say,
honest to god, you know, going through ups and downs
of Hull Cogan fandom. Being you know, a fan of
Stone col Steve Austin, appreciating Rick Flair as being, you know,
one of the greatest wrestlers of all time, I can say,
without a doubt, my all time favorite, no question, hul Cogan.
(21:54):
He was.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
He just was because he's the one made matter exactly.
Speaker 4 (21:59):
He He's the one that he's the first action figure
I bought.
Speaker 1 (22:02):
I bought my My.
Speaker 4 (22:03):
My series one hul Hogan Body Guerrilla Press Slam because
it wasn't a whole it was it was a gorilla
Press slam, hul Hogan with Andre the Giant, first one,
first one. I would not have become a fan had
I not been fascinated, and I had never you know,
I think about too watching starting to watch wrestling in
ninet ninety one.
Speaker 1 (22:22):
I didn't know. I don't even know how I became
aware of Hulkogan, but I knew w Hulk Hogan was.
Speaker 4 (22:26):
I knew who he was.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
And that's that's what we're morning too. Yeah, exactly is
we are the action figure generation. The generation before us
did not have them for every single thing they were into.
There he is brother as he holds up the Hasbro
red shirt mail Away from WrestleMania nine Days. And the
generation after us, these kids, you know, post phone, smartphones, YouTube,
(22:50):
forget it. You know, they care about action figures for
maybe four months. We our Age Group still supports the
action figure industry today in our forties. They make figures
for us because they know we'll buy twelve of them
to have a complete collection. They don't make action figures
to catch kids' eyes on the toy shelf anymore, because
there aren't toy stores anymore. And so we mourn, we
(23:12):
mourn the fact that Hulk Hogan, in the way he
was merchandised, got at indo so many things that are
centerpieces of our childhood. You had a lunch box, you
had a toy, you had a bed spread, you had
a bandana, get a Halloween costume, lunchbox, Yeah, lunchbox, trapper keeper, anymore,
every eighty surface you want to make, there was.
Speaker 3 (23:32):
There was Holgan on and that's the thing that they
the cartoon show, the Hulk Coggan's Rock and Wrestling, you know,
he was. It was just it was but that was
just the whole package of just that here you go,
and he's here now and and he's yeah, and today
he's not as yeah. It's I was thinking so much
as you're kind of going through stuff, how many different
(23:52):
I was thinking of asking him.
Speaker 1 (23:53):
You can't ask you what's your favorite.
Speaker 3 (23:55):
Hull Cogan moment or memory or I just I just
think of how many different lives he had in terms
of talking before everything went down, like he had the
w run, he had the which which which was I
mean so many different runs within that. He then does
the WCW run and which includes the pre MW will
(24:15):
run and everything after that, and that whole ship went down,
and then he went to TNA, he did that strange
tour of Australia, and uh and just and everything after it.
Speaker 1 (24:25):
Just it is such.
Speaker 3 (24:26):
A a long career and so much of it was
what happened after he was done, but just so many
memorable things in each and so many things you're just
associated with just this is great and this is terrible
and everything in between. And he for so many wrestlers
that come in the business and are never remembered, they
get to even get to the biggest stage and they're like, uh, nostalgica,
(24:48):
Remember for like a few seconds, this is someone that
that actually for a for millions and millions of people
mattered and he was a crossover star. And even in
just in business self, he kept trying to reclaim that
and he just never he was still the name, but
just never the name. And just that's a that's that's
(25:09):
really astonishing the thing about right now.
Speaker 1 (25:11):
Yeah, Yeah, he's always uh, he always wanted to be
on top of the wrestling business, even when he should
have been able to move on from the wrestling business.
We just in covering nine ninety four and bachel of
the Beach, we really honed in on that. Like he's
out there in his final, final final WW promos for
that August nineteen ninety three European tour against Yokozuna. This
(25:32):
is only earn on UK television, but it's on YouTube.
He's in the event center talking, he's listing all of
the things that he's doing after WW, after an interest
the fans, well, mister Nandy coming out under Paradise, all
of these things, you know, didn't really hit. But you know,
I think he he wasn't in a position to give
up on being Hulk Kogan. He wasn't in a position
to say, all right, well movies weren't the thing. Let
(25:53):
me find another, perhaps more dignified way to righte off
into the sunset. Maybe it's what Vince was saying around
being the baby Ruth figure.
Speaker 4 (26:00):
I think also too, I think I think, you know,
you know, he has such a a defined look. I
think that also played into that. You know, we've talked
about that a lot, like you go, if you go see,
if you see a Hull Cogan movie.
Speaker 1 (26:12):
You can't.
Speaker 4 (26:14):
You can't forget the fact that you're looking at hul Cogan.
It's Hul Cogan, John cne He's he's more generic. You
can watch Johnsen to play characters. You can watch The
Rock Batista, especially now Batista. Nowady's shed all that weight,
he's like, you know, you can see him playing other people.
Hull Cogan even when he lost all the weight, even
when he was ninety four w CW. He's he's still
(26:35):
hold Cogan like you cannot. He cannot. You could not
get away from that image, no matter how hard he tried.
And whenever you see a Hull Cogan, you know and listen.
He even tried in The Ultimate Weapon, one of the
worst movies, but one of his movies. And during the
WW period where he he had on like a hair piece,
I mean the sending with muscles, the same thing he's
(26:55):
hair pieces on. He's still hold Cogan. Bald not bald,
doesn't matter. Mustache less, yeah, mustache, it doesn't matter. He
was cursed with that. There was no way he could
ever transition to a legitimate movie career or anything, because
he just he embodies the character of Hulk Hogan.
Speaker 1 (27:19):
Part of the reason the sex tape was such a
huge thing was not just because there was a celebrity
sex tape. There have been a bunch of those. It's
because how funny is it that Hogan is on a
sex tape. Yes, not to make light of the traumat
caused his family, although he certainly made out in the end,
which is a lot. One of his last successful manipulations
was getting that Gocker settlement. But the fact that it's
(27:41):
Hull Cogan is exactly it is, Like, that's all that mattered. Like,
it was the fact that hul Cogan had a sex tape.
It didn't matter.
Speaker 4 (27:48):
It could have been anybody, but it would matter was
that it was Hulk Hogan, Like telling me that Wolverine
has a sex.
Speaker 1 (27:53):
Tape, right, exactly, exactly it. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (28:00):
I also just remembered there was the reality show aspect
Hogan knows best.
Speaker 1 (28:04):
That's all where it all comes from.
Speaker 3 (28:06):
Yeah, and he did the Also he tried you know,
Hulk Cogan's a celebrity championship wrestling You remember remember that, Uh.
Speaker 1 (28:12):
This is him feeling around in the dark for something
other than headlining a wrestling show.
Speaker 3 (28:16):
Yeah, and it was that was the show that that
was how really starved. We were for wrestling on TV
at that but which is impossible leaves. I look at
a calendar where every single night there's something is then
it was like it was w B and TNA and
indies and that's it. Like there was nothing. I mean, yeah,
you couldn't get anything on TV. And I was like, okay,
(28:37):
we'll watch watch Todd Bridges try this out, you know,
and Danny Bond Ducci and all this, and that was like, okay,
we'll check this out.
Speaker 1 (28:43):
And people actually watched it.
Speaker 3 (28:44):
But it's it's yeah, the Hlgan knows best thing and yeah,
his I mean yeah, the whole legacy with his his
family is such a like so many different chapters and
things he did here to here to hear in you know,
this real American wrestling thing. I don't think anyone really
took this seriously, and I doubt its future is that strong.
Based on Eric Bischoff and is He Martinez, it was struggling.
Speaker 1 (29:08):
They had bet Askrin but bless him, you know that's right. Yeah, yeah,
I mean all the strangeness around that project, huh.
Speaker 3 (29:14):
I assume Kurt Angle is probably going to move into
some sort of role just to try to salvage it
and just because he's somewhat but he's not. He's not
what they want in terms of a familiar face in Hogan.
Which part of that too is this last kind of
thing of him appearing at the Republican National Invention and
and he's been very celebrated by that side today.
Speaker 1 (29:34):
It came like a business plan when Wyant Hendrickson upset
Gable Steveson and Trump was there as Hogan to hear
him tell it in the early promotional tour of this
real American Wrestling thing, saw that and saw the spark
of a moment that could actually be like a touring
attraction for that part of the country that you know,
it just celebrated, you know, tremendously that Trump went to
the NCAA finals, or that he goes to a UFC,
(29:55):
whatever the case may be. Yeah, that's that's part of
why it's kind of like muted, I think right now.
As it's like he also he just wherever that spotlight goes,
even if he can't walk, he's gonna find it, you know,
and try his best. And it's kind of sad, you
could because we always say this about Hull Cogan un
lapsed fan. If ever, there was a pro wrestler who
should have been able to retire with dignity, it should
(30:16):
have been Hulkogan because no one made more money, no
one became a more mainstreamed, mainlined celebrity in this country,
and it just went to shit.
Speaker 4 (30:29):
It's it's so true. I mean, that's the thing, like
you'd think you would think out of everybody, You really
would think out of everybody, given the success he had
given everything, Like you even even given the fact that
he negotiated this incredible deal with w CW where he's
making really more money off of every damn thing that
he shouldn't have been touching. You really think that after
(30:51):
w CW went done, maybe he had his last WW run.
But then after that he's like, you know what, that's it,
Like you'd think that that's it. He rode off into
the sunset. You know, after Wrestlating nineteen, he can just
write off from the sun he beat vins nick Man
in the middle of the ring. He can write off
into the sunset and just call it a life.
Speaker 1 (31:07):
But no, but the reality show comes dock in and
brook Teeny's got to be a star, which you know,
look what I mean God bless her, But I mean,
what was that all about the damage that was caused
because Hogan decided the reality show vehicle was the best
way to get Brooke to become a pop star. And
now she doesn't even want people to even remember that
she tried to do that. That's how gineful it all
(31:28):
turned out to be. And we talked about comic book
characters before, and how much more kin to comic book characters,
pro wrestlers are, especially once like Hulkogan, than athletes. A
big part of the reason we feel that way in
our generation is because Vince didn't stop until they looked
like they were in comic books from a physique standpoint.
And you grow up and you learn. And we did
the Trial of his life. We read every word of
(31:50):
the trial transcript. We read. We did a whole series
called T and H where we looked at those fateful
years from twenty ten to twenty twelve, where twenty thirteen
where Hogan just ran roughshod and showed us just how
kind of sad the second half of his life is
really going to be. You look at that and you're like,
my god, it was all built on It was built
on steroids. That whole like that whole thing that caught
(32:13):
our imagination that wrestlers can be more comic book characters
than professional athletes. The thing we're mourning here today is
made possible by all that dirtiness. I mean I'm thinking
about too, Think about him hulking up. That's total comic
book stuff. Yeah, you know, that's pop Eye, your Nina.
You know the idea that even when he's down and out,
you know, he's going to have one last surge of
energy and he's going to conquer evil. I mean, we
(32:36):
we were. It's such an extreme day, but we were
lied to our whole lives. Well, it was just lied too.
It was one of many runs that Hulk had in him.
Speaker 5 (32:50):
You know.
Speaker 1 (32:50):
One of his big sayings was always life is a
bunch of series of runs. And just when you think
you're like, okay, this is the Hull cogin, that's the
pure Hulk cogin in his mind, it's one of thirty.
He's going to go on just to collect a few
more million. Yep. And there was. It was a bottomless pit.
It was a bottomless pit. His his beat shop is
his his cheeseburgers in the fucking frozen food aisle during
(33:11):
TNA and Hult coke and cheeseburger. What do we do
Hult Hogia. Yeah, just ended up making a mockery of it. JP.
Speaker 3 (33:21):
I hate, I hate to put you on the spot
like this. Are you able to access Twitter right now?
Speaker 1 (33:27):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (33:28):
Could you look up Vincent Band's Twitter? He just put
out of statement. We're going to get live reactions set.
I mean, I mean, this is kind of what.
Speaker 1 (33:34):
I'm hoping for. Yeah. Yeah, it's not along, not a
long you know, get.
Speaker 4 (33:41):
Oh my god, can you share with the world? The
world lost the treasure to day. Hulk Hogan was the
greatest ww superstar of all time, someone who was loved
and admired around the world. It was a trailblazer, the
first performer who transitioned from being a wrestling star into
a global phenomenon. His grit and unbridled thirst for success
(34:05):
were unparalleled, and he made and made him the consummate performer.
He gave everything he had to the audience, whom he appreciated,
respected and loved. He leaves us with one of his
favorite expressions, train take your vitamins and say your prayers today.
We pray for him.
Speaker 1 (34:26):
Thank you. Bence.
Speaker 4 (34:28):
Oh, the first performer transmission from a wrestling star into
a global phenomenon. I don't know if anyone's really transition
to being a global phenomenon. But that's fine, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (34:39):
I mean a global phenomenon. Shouldn't he, you know, be
sitting much prettier than he was there?
Speaker 4 (34:45):
Doesn't that make him kind of some kind of I
don't know, like a geographical object or something. Isn't that
kind of more of a global like this is a
geographical le I told all of it.
Speaker 1 (34:57):
I said, look, so all right, is this the same
Vince who we just watched go on check copic when
he jumped to WCW and rip Hulkogan and shreds as
some guy who never had abs and somebody who uh
you know it just betrayed him. And listen to what
he had to say about Hulk on the Netflix stock
if you want more on that front. As far as yeah,
and of course they got back together to some degree,
(35:19):
but again it's it's just chasing that run. Tremendous to
see Vince put that out. Should say, by the way,
you should see if I just wanted so.
Speaker 4 (35:26):
Many of the top comments, like the more recent comments,
are of Goldberg saying your.
Speaker 1 (35:31):
Next by the way, we cannot lose sight of it.
And if Rick goes, we hope he doesn't. But if
Rick goes, were Vince that you know another huge overarching
narrative here is that you know you step to Vince
and you will be in the grave before he will
be in the grave.
Speaker 4 (35:48):
The debate, obviously, the debate can be settled now I
made I'll Comania.
Speaker 1 (35:54):
What was the quiet? Vince? What was you know? I'm
sure in a time like this you think back to
your your steroid trial and Hull taking the stand on
behalf of the US government all felt he did a
tremendous solid and this is not fair. Being able to
see his face is not fair, Okay, a tremendous solid right,
and not stipulating to you playing a pre more active
(36:15):
role in procuring anabolic sterias. But now upon his passing
you seem to have much warmer feelings. Can you talk
about why it is that you'd celebrate hul Cogan despite
having such a up and down relationship with him over
the years. Is it just in you know, you're just
being more reflective in your old age, or is what
what's going on there? Well?
Speaker 4 (36:35):
In these times, you know, you think about all aspects
of an individual. You kind of go to where they began,
where they ended up, in all areas in between. But
you know that notwithstanding, here we stand with a world
that is now at a loss of a Hul Cogan.
There is no Hull Cogan anymore. Ohlk Hogan is gone.
O Covian is dead, O Cogan is buried. Oh Cogan
(36:58):
is no more. It's almost as if there never was
a Hulk covin right, which means it's almost as if
there never was a trial for Vincent Man in nineteen
ninety four. And I prefer to see it that way.
And right now this is finally the ultimate example of
case closed. Hull covid is gone. Therefore his testimony no
(37:18):
longer exists. Therefore, once again, I am exonerated, I am acquitted,
and I am and I never went to trial.
Speaker 1 (37:27):
And I am I'm the President of the United States
of America.
Speaker 4 (37:30):
And I am and I am at least in the
office of the President of the United States of America
at all times. And I am America, an Americana American,
I am and a real I am a real American.
Speaker 1 (37:51):
Emphasis on con you can put your camera back on.
Speaker 2 (37:53):
Now he's an elapsed fan wrestling podcast with Jack and
se Os.
Speaker 5 (38:10):
Lapsed fan wrestling podcast.
Speaker 1 (38:14):
Oh she laughs. We laugh, you know because even though,
like I told JP earlier, you know, I know I
want to, but it don't help the hide. So here I.
Speaker 3 (38:26):
Am any final thoughts before we talked some comedy. More comedy, Yeah,
write more comedy.
Speaker 1 (38:33):
I mean we should know by now we put a
live show up on the calendar and something consequential. I mean,
remember they sold w W the night before we did
the La Chew the whole fucking rewrite of the whole
goddamn show. Jesus, So you know what's gonna happen. Vince
is going on Saturday second, or in the morning of
the third. I don't even say it, man.
Speaker 3 (38:55):
So yeah, So originally we're booked to talk about as
I'm wiping tiers away. That's a good, good advertiser for
that show. So Sunday in August third, So last time
you guys are on, we had talked about the Dark
Side of the Ring series and a bunch of our stuff.
We talked about if people want to go back to
the archives and listen to that. We talked about, uh,
(39:17):
why you didn't decide to go to WrestleMania in Las
Vegas and so on and so forth. Yes, and now
you're back for more cash. You're heading to New York
City Times Square at the Kami Village, three fifty two
West forty fourth Street, Sunday, August third, during the Summer
Slam weekend. Noon, I said, noon eastern, Yes, noon eastern
New User and then Pacific.
Speaker 1 (39:36):
End of my mind and my brain just now high
noon in the east. Baby, that's right, we'll time only
around here.
Speaker 3 (39:42):
So why now? And what's going on? Tell me all this,
tell me all the details.
Speaker 1 (39:47):
The dish Thatt signal went up, back Bat signal went up.
Co Chairman Aer needed, there's a club that wants to
capitalize on, you know, all of the energy that a
to the biggest two night Summer Slam in history will create.
And so you know there was We had relationships with
folks that manage this club and they booked us up.
(40:07):
We yeah, we kind of batted around a rough idea
of maybe doing Summer Slam instead of wrestlemaning because it's
more proximate to us and therefore makes more economic sense.
It's hard to even break even going all the way
over there to Vegas with the prices and everything. He
just made a ton of sense. We're happy, nice lightlift.
We got a ton of fans in and around the
area that it's convenient to get to. Of course, no
(40:28):
real travel, it's no real travel for us. It's very
very easy. They're coming from far and wide, and wouldn't
you know it, and this is up on our feed.
We end up getting acquainted with the guy who runs
the club, and he was a huge ww fan in
New York City and quaintance in the seventies and Sunnyside
Queens of course, Sunnyside Gardens a very evocative part of
New York City for wrestling fans. And we'll get to
(40:49):
talking to him, and sure enough he goes, hey, do
you guys remember that black ring announcer guy. He used
to come around the neighborhood and he used to stack
us up in the in the station wagon and take
us to the garden and and one time, several times
he he asked us to put our feet in his
crotch in I mean, this is the kind of thing
(41:10):
that happens. This is the kind of thing that happens,
and this guy and his and his friends were shepherded
to MSG by Mel Phillips many many, many times in
the seventies, and he was just like he was amazed
that this is like a scandal and that everybody knows
this guy in the wrestling world, and it's there's been
lawsuits and everything, and he had no idea. No, Wow,
(41:34):
it was it was a big international news story. I
don't know how. I don't know how he missed it. Honestly.
It's it's it's crazy.
Speaker 4 (41:41):
But yeah, he had no clue and it was it
was it's shocking and appalling, honestly, and he I mean,
I give him, I give him credit, and we both
give him credit honestly, because he's you know, he's a comedian.
He's able to make light of it as much as
one can. And you know, it's you know, it's but man,
when you really, when you really think about just kind
(42:04):
of what went down, it's it's it's horrifying. It's horrifying.
Speaker 1 (42:09):
But that's that's the kind of thing that comes up.
When we got to New York sect to do a
wrestling podcast, there goes the neighborhood steps from where they
tried their their their restaurant, you know how to do
this one for the live Tuesday night smack Down satellite
broadcasts they used to do there and the body slam
wings or whatever the fuck they used to serve. I
did go there once and eight there once. But there
goes the neighborhood where we're in Times Square and it's
(42:31):
it's where like Vince said about them at the time,
it's where we belong in the middle of it all,
and we're very much looking forward to it and would
love anybody within the sound of our voice who's in
the area to give us a try. If you don't,
you know, know a lot about us. I think our
live show really puts a very fine point on on
what it is to listen to the lapsed fan. The
voices will be there, lapsed Vince will be there. I'm
sure we'll have a ton to say. I'm sure the
(42:52):
gathered lapsed masses will like to just have a candlelit
session for Hogan.
Speaker 4 (42:56):
Now, I'm sure I'm sure that there will be and
you know, listen, listen that There's one thing I can
say is that, you know, fortunately for the Labs stand
Lapst Hogan does live.
Speaker 1 (43:04):
Forever right laps total, and just all the the pecadillos
we picked up on and just the how bizarre it
is that we went in on him and we did
in terms of, like you know, the timing of his
passing and just over the years, all the things that
that we've decided to do around him and his life
and times. It's all in the archives, and it's just
going to come bursting out in the days and weeks
(43:25):
and months to come. I mean, we've got to we've
got to hit a hard stop here and really think
about what people expect of of a podcast like Hours
and Times like Tess, and I'm sure across Wrestling Observer
and all the other websites they're thinking much the same thing,
but in a lot of ways. It starts August third,
noontime Comedy Village in Times Square. Comedy Village dot com
for your tickets, and we'd love to see you there.
(43:48):
You know, it's it's hard enough being a wrestling fan.
The least you can do is be around other wrestling fans.
You don't feel as pathetic.
Speaker 3 (43:55):
The thirty put a sell job thirty thirty thirty five.
Speaker 1 (44:00):
I was very very affordable for agree drink minimum too,
So don't complain about that after you get through the doors,
or at least don't complain to us about it.
Speaker 4 (44:07):
Listen, we're getting you ready for the second night of
Summer Slam, so you know that's what you need. You
need you need to start drinking that early. If you're
going to ge through two nights of Summer Slam, the
biggest two night Summer Slam of all time.
Speaker 1 (44:17):
We're going to be talking about what happened on night one.
We've been looking forward tonight too. We've been all over
the scene of heel turn. Well literally, I didn't mean
like anticipating with excitement. I meant we're just previewing it.
And that's what we've tried to do. You know, the
first time we did this in la we did go
right after the end of Night two and just sat
there and told people that's what you get for thinking
Cody was going to win and everything like that, and
(44:40):
Vince wished everybody well in their future Endeavor as Endeavor
closed the deal and we were in Philly, of course
two years ago around WrestleMania, and Vince had a ton
to say. I remember we had a draft at one
point that predicted Hogan was going to go before Vince.
We talked about that. Vince had a lot to say
about how once they get to NETFLI Lapsed Vince. Of course,
(45:01):
once they get to Netflix, We're going to start to
see certain things fall off. We're going to start to
feel a certain way about how effectively ww is able
to reach its customer base and build new fans when
they're no longer putting their main flagship television show on
traditional linear cable, and how basically everything he said is
exactly what's happened as far as people watching the Netflix
(45:21):
numbers that do get published and feeling a sense of
reduced momentum. So many things he said came to fruition
on that day, and the fact that he's not going anywhere,
and the fact that the lawsuit won't put him down
as he continues to form corporations. Lapsed Vince is your reality.
What lawsuit is a lawsuit? He sees, The only sir,
(45:42):
that I have. The only suit that I have is
the one that I wear every day.
Speaker 3 (45:48):
The Sunday, August third, The Kami Village Times Square, the
Laps Fan podcast just over two and a half hours
of content for thirty five Bucks fans, as you heard,
can expect it to be chided and and dismissed. And
only the way that the last fans can.
Speaker 1 (46:04):
We let we we let you, you know, look at yourself,
a little bit of self regard, you know, like are
going to elevate things. It's not easy though.
Speaker 3 (46:11):
Are there mirrors going to be mirrors in each table
for fans that look at yourself?
Speaker 1 (46:15):
What have you done to get?
Speaker 4 (46:17):
If not that, just take out your phone and do
do the switch. Just look at yourself, flip the phone.
We talked about sartipity. We were in Philly. We're like
getting ready and we're trying to get this idea across
and we watched like a clip that someone put up
on of the local news, you know, the local NBC
affiliate what rever in Philly was covering the fact that
there were so many Wrestlemani related festivities across the city conventions.
And they've got this woman walking the line with the
(46:38):
w and she goes up to them, you've been here
since two am hung ready waiting to get in there
from England. He's like, yeah, yeah, we've been here the
whole time. She goes, what is wrong with you?
Speaker 1 (46:49):
And we played that clip for the assembled round the
live show in Philly, and they burst out laughing. We
read an old clip from WrestleMania fifteen, the last time
the show was in Philadelphia, just this columnist and one
of the main newspapers in the city, just completely lampooning
the idea that anybody would come watch this foolishness. I'm
sure there's gonna be no shortage of revisitations of the
great work of New York Post columnist Phil Mushnik, Visa Vi,
(47:11):
Hulk Hogan and Vince McMahon over the years. When we
arrive in New York. It only makes sense. So, yeah,
a lot of the work has already been done for
us in that regard, but we don't shy away from it.
We run towards we won't run towards the shame and
the pain. And absolutely that's how TLF chooses chooses to.
Speaker 3 (47:27):
Roll any file thoughts before we get out here and
Hogan Comedy, upcoming lap Span podcast, anything like that would
the people need to know?
Speaker 1 (47:37):
Action adventure comedy brother the Lapspan of gmail dot com
if you have any suggestions on how to sate Hulk
Hogan appropriately, we have a ton of ideas. We'll do it,
we'll do it right, we'll do it appropriately. But this
is the biggest one we've ever tried to approach. Oh,
it really is.
Speaker 4 (47:52):
I mean we and it's it is, it's it's it's
a crazy thing to even think about because we have
covered so much of the Hulk Hogan ground and even
on our our spin off show Under the Cinemat where I,
you know, look at movies with wrestlers, we have done
the entire Hull Cogan although actually get me thinking we've
done more or less cinemat style the Hull Cogan catalog,
(48:13):
but there's still one that we we may revisit as
it may be a little bit of a tribute to Uh.
Speaker 1 (48:19):
We watched every single Hull Cogan movie we've watched post
w W that we're just straight to video.
Speaker 4 (48:24):
Yeah, just so we've the whole thing, and we've gone
in depth in the entire catalog of of Hull Cogan's
so and then and then the the TNA run. It's like,
you know, there are so many aspects of Hull Cogan
that we've covered, but you know, I definitely think that
there's there's always more.
Speaker 1 (48:40):
There's always more on cover somehow, some way, there's more
to be said. That's That's the last thing I'll say
about Hull COVID's There's always more to be said. There
certainly is and be more to be said.
Speaker 3 (48:50):
On Sunday, August third, so being in New York City
for summer simwaking ear if you're not you just need
something to do. Head after Sunday afternoon at noontime, a
couple of hours to the guys, laugh your asses off,
and then uh, you know, go back to your lives
and look at yourself as in the mirror. You know,
I think that's the best way to do it.
Speaker 4 (49:07):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (49:07):
Jack and JP from labs Fan, thank you so much
for stopping by and talking about Hault Coogan and talking
about the comedy show.
Speaker 1 (49:13):
And having some laughs on this day. Thank you very much.
Fellows appreciate it. Thanks as always, man, thank you. Is
Suing Perseding.
Speaker 4 (49:20):
Please a production of the LAPS Entertainment Group. Its content
is intended for private use only.
Speaker 1 (49:27):
Sorry, sorry, we want