The Art of Wrestling with Colt Cabana
Episode 273 – Bob Holly
Release Date: October 22, 2015
DIRECT LINK TO LISTEN/DOWNLOAD
Report by Chris Davidson
TIMESTAMPS
0:00 – Introduction
10:30 – Song of the week
11:15 – Bob Holly Interview
19:10 – Holly talks time in WWE
24:37 – Holly talks steroids
33:02 – Holly talks getting in to wrestling
47:09 – Holly talks bad matches and training
54:17 – Holly talks Memphis Wrestling
1:01:08 – Holly talks Smoky Mountain Wrestling
1:07:50 – Colt wraps up the show
EPISODE RECAP
0:00 – Introduction – Colt is currentky in Japan, so he kicked off the show talking about his time in getting to Japan, and setting up his hotel room to record the podcast intro. Colt brought up Bob Holly’s reputation as a “mean-spirited” guy, but Colt said he’s come to like him, and was happy to have him on the show. Colt announced his new documentary he will be filming in December, “Wrestling Road Diaries 3: Funny Equals Money” where he will fly Grado and Kikutaro to America to “dissect the idea of comedy wrestling” during a three-day tour.
7:51 – Song of the week – The song of the week this week is “Better Call Paul” by Kyle and Olicer
11:15 – Bob Holly Interview – Colt and Bob Holly talked about working out and being in good ring shape. Holly mentioned he is no longer on steroids, so he’s lost some weight, but he still likes working out and staying in shape. Colt told Holly that when he started the podcast, Holly was someone he didn’t want on because he knew Holly had a bad reputation, but when they recently met in England, Holly was nice and apologized if he was a jerk in the past. Holly said he got a reputation for hurting people, but that was his character, and he’s never hurt anyone more than a black eye or bloody lip.
Holly blamed the WWE schedule for making people tired and prone to looking mean. Holly compared himself to C.M. Punk as someone who shoots straight and doesn’t necessarily want to be bothered in the locker room. Colt brought up a rumor of Holly throwing people out of the locker room, but Holly said that the other wrestlers police the locker room and Vince McMahon is good about getting rid of wrestlers who are negative influences.
19:10 – Holly talks time in WWE – Colt asked Holly if there has been a change since he left WWE, and said everyone he talks to can’t believe how nice he is, based on his reputation. Holly said he can get along with anybody, as long as they don’t “screw him over.” Holly mentioned his personal problems while in WWE, and brought up the pressure of the WWE travel, and the stress of whether they were going to do anything with him or not. Holly credited being away from WWE as relieving a lot of stress, and that he felt when he was in WWE it was an audition every night, even after he had been there for a decade. Holly never worried about being fired, because he is a welder, but he enjoyed wrestling and was worried he would get cut whenever cuts were made. Holly mentioned coming back from injury and not regaining his spot right away because management wanted to see what he could do, while upper-card wrestlers would get put right back where they were. Colt jokingly asked if Holly ever gave the ring crew welding advice, which Holly did not.
24:37 – Holly talks steroids – Colt asked if Holly felt pressured to take steroids, but Holly said he never felt pressured, it was just what everyone was doing. Holly credited other wrestlers for teaching him about working out and eating right, but other wrestlers were the ones teaching him about steroids. Holly compared steroids to drinking alcohol, smoking, or eating fast food in that people do things that aren’t healthy, but “everything in moderation.” Holly said steroids helped his joints when bumping, and compared all the negatives of alcohol to the negatives of steroid. Colt mentioned that Holly’s openness is refreshing, as most people deny steroids, and Holly said that our society is so hypocritical because everyone denies things openly that they do in secret. Colt and Holly briefly complained about politicians.
33:02 – Holly talks getting in to wrestling – Holly talked about moving from Oregon to Alabama after high school to get into wrestling, and to be with a girl who was having his baby. Holly initially liked watching roller derby, but got into wrestling when his family got cable and he could watch Portland Wrestling. Once Holly saw all of the wrestlers, he started lifting weights. Holly tried everything he could to get into wrestling, including writing a four-page letter to Continental Championship Wrestling. It wasn’t until Holly worked with a guy at an automotive shop who knew Paul Bearer’s friend, Marcel Pringle, who worked for Gulf Coast Championship Wrestling that met with Holly. Holly kept trying to get Pringle to help him get into wrestling until, eventually, Pringle helped him get into a wrestling school in Pensacola, Florida. Holly said that his trainers tried to “break” him, and that he never ended up paying for training due to a deal they worked out that he never paid up. The school was over an hour away from where Holly was living, and he made training while working ten hour days as a welder and taking care of his child.
47:09 – Holly talks bad matches and training – Holly said his first match was on TV as a babyface for the World Organization Wrestling, and it was awful. Holly was forced to wear shiny trunks instead of tights, which he hated. Holly talked about his first match on tape, which exists only in his home, and he said it is the worst match and he looks terrible. Holly said he thought he was doing well because no one ever critiqued his moves in the ring, and he thinks it is because his trainer liked watching people suffer. Holly said he was the only one that made it out of his training, and told a story about another wrestler who he thought would be good, but ended up quitting when his trainer went off on him for being tired. Holly also talked about his trainer making trainees run until they were exhausted, then having them get in the ring, which Holly credited as getting him in good shape when he finally started wrestling.
54:17 – Holly talks Memphis Wrestling – After WOW closed, Holly and Pat Rose went to Memphis to wrestle as a tag team, but left very quickly due to lack of pay. During that time, Holly almost lost his job for throwing Scott Steiner over the top rope, which he didn’t know was a disqualification. Holly talked about the low pay and long driving in Memphis, until he was offered a job in AWA. Holly brought it up to his partner who went off on him for even considering leaving Memphis, and Holly ended up passing on the job to please his partner.
1:01:08 – Holly talks Smoky Mountain Wrestling – Holly mentioned wrestling twice in WCW, which is where he met Jim Cornette, who thought he was a good wrestler and hired him for Smoky Mountain Wrestling. Holly kept his job in Alabama, but drove up to Tennessee on the weekends to wrestle for Cornette. Cornette wanted him to quit his job, but Holly didn’t like the “Hollywood” character he was given and didn’t want to quit his job. Colt mentioned his issues with present-day Cornette, but Holly said Cornette is someone he is forever grateful to, and someone he really likes. Colt told Holly they would have to talk about his time at WWE another time, Holly told Colt he loves listening to his podcast, plugged his book, and Colt wrapped up the interview.
1:07:50 – Colt wraps up the show – Colt talked about getting Holly on the show for another episode in the future. Colt thanked his fans, Holly, and his sponsors, plugged his upcoming appearances and signed off.
OVERALL SCORE & REVIEW
Score: 7.2 – This was another solid episode of The Art of Wrestling. Bob Holly’s old reputation of being a jerk was torn to shreds in this episode with Holly and Colt displaying their breezy chemistry and Holly’s willingness to talk about anything. Interesting, Holly didn’t talk about steroids like they were a massive mistake he wants to forget like most people, but he made steroids out to be a part of his past, and something he didn’t necessarily regret. They didn’t get into Holly’s time in the WWE, but there was plenty to dig into with his pre-WWE career. This episode probably isn’t a must listen for most, but if you don’t like Bob Holly, this episode could help change your opinion on the man.
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