The Art of Wrestling with Colt Cabana
Episode 313 – Edinburgh Fringe Live
Release Date: August 11, 2016
DIRECT LINK TO LISTEN/DOWNLOAD
Report by Chris Davidson
Hot Topics
– The Art of Wrestling Live features John Hastings, Chris Gethard, Joe Hendry, and Brendon Burns.
– Colt Cabana talks about the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and his dorm-style living.
TIMESTAMPS
0:00 – Introduction
5:30 – First Guest: John Hastings
16:43 – Second Guest: Chris Gethard
31:01 – Third Guest: Joe Hendry
45:37 – Fourth Guest: Brendon Burns
58:40 – Colt wraps up the show
EPISODE SUMMARY
0:00 – Introduction – Colt opened the show joking that he keeps upcoming guest Brendon Burns contained when he goes out of control. Colt made fun of the crowd for doing a Ric Flair “woo” when he called on them, even saying that one was more of a David Flair. Colt talked briefly about his living situation in Edinburgh, particularly one of his roommates Shigehiro Irie. Colt joked about Jim Duggan’s show at the Fringe Festival, which no one in attendance attended because it cost £25, and he brought up another show that he wishes he had seen.
5:30 – First Guest: John Hastings – Colt introduced John Hastings, then instantly killed his momentum by asking who was taking pictures, and taking a moment to get them set up. Hastings made a joke, which got no response, and he said it was going to be a tough show. Hastings talked about how weird it was that Vince McMahon hired Nick Dinsmore to play Eugene, and he talked about McMahon pooping his pants twice on television. Colt was fascinated with McMahon pooping his pants, and Hastings briefly told the stories, as reported by Jim Ross. Hastings brought up Disco Inferno pitching an invisible wrestler during the dying days of WCW, and ended up rambling about Chevy Chase. Colt asked about Hasting’s stand up, specifically how he works wrestling into his stand-up routine. Hastings said it’s hard because he has to make everyone laugh, not just the one or two wrestling fans in the audience. Hastings mentioned a joke he made about Jim Crockett Jr. that went over the heads of even the wrestling fans in the audience. Hastings talked about Terry Taylor’s engrossing promos, and his stint as the Red Rooster. Colt asked what’s making Hastings mad in the world of wrestling. Hastings called for Dean Ambrose to put on some trunks, mocked Seth Rollins’s gear for looking like that of a future cop, and Roman Reigns’ “Roman Empire” t-shirt. Hastings joked that if he were to wrestle, he’d wear a suit of armor like a young Lanny Poffo. Hastings plugged his show at the Fringe and his podcast.
16:43 – Second Guest: Chris Gethard – Colt mentioned that Chris Gethard looked nervous, which Gethard said was because he’s a low energy guy and it’s hard to follow Hastings’s energy. Gethard said that he has been living with Colt, and constantly asking him questions about wrestling. Gethard joked about going to the gym with Colt, but having to take all of the weights Colt used off and just work out with the bar. Colt asked Gethard to talk about his experience “becoming a wrestler” on his talk show, where he wrestled a man named Vacation Jason. Gethard said it was a dream come true, and talked about delivering a tornado DDT to a man dressed as a coconut. Gethard worried about breaking kayfabe doing the tornado DDT, and mentioned some wisdom X-Pac gave him before the match. Colt joked that X-Pac’s next question was about smoking marijuana, and Gethard told a story about X-Pac smoking with one of his writers. Gethard credited his brother for being the biggest wrestling fan he knows, and for getting him into wrestling. Gethad told a story of breaking his collarbone taking a Stinger Splash from his brother, and then sneaking behind their father’s back to watch NWA. Gethard later found ECW on a UHF station, and loved Mikey Whipwreck and New Jack. Gethard discussed some of his favorite types of wrestlers and memories watching wrestling. Colt bemoaned the fact that you could always tell ECW rings were not very good, and that when he sees a ring like that, he tends to avoid high risk moves and do more comedy. Gethard plugged his Fringe show and left the stage. Colt broke in to the live show to plug Hastings’ and Gethard’s social media.
31:01 – Third Guest: Joe Hendry – Colt asked if Joe Henry had a chant, like a lot of U.K. wrestlers. A few members of the audience did a brief chant, and Colt said that he wants one of his own. Colt joked with Hendry about his wardrobe, and Hendry talked about his tag team championship belt that he had with him. Hendry mentioned wearing a monkey costume and singing a song during his entrance for an ICW iPPV. Hendry said that his goal is to be WWE champion, so he is working to rise to the top in the U.K. to gain exposure. Hendry has made a lot of “dumb entrances,” mostly including song parodies. Hendry blamed the entrances for taking up a lot of his time, because it’s what people expect from him. Hendry used to be in a band, but he was too focused on making something a major label would want, rather than just putting out good music. Colt asked a few follow up questions about Hendry’s band, but Hendry did not want to mention anything because there are embarrassing videos he doesn’t want used against him. Hendry started amateur wrestling when he was filming an ICW documentary, and now he is trying to qualify for the Commonwealth Games. Colt asked about the Olympics, and Hendry joked that if he talks trash like Conor McGregor, maybe the Olympics will “book” him. Hendry talked about his time as a Rosebud in WWE, where he did 12 shows while living in a van with some of the other Rosebuds. Henry also did a promo with a Russian accent on WWE TV, where he ended up tangling his legs with Rusev because he was trying too hard to look like he wasn’t a wrestler. Hendry plugged his social media in his bad Russian accent and left the stage.
45:37 – Fourth Guest: Brendon Burns – Colt called for Brendon Burns, then was shocked as he came out zipping his pants, having just come from the bathroom. Burns joked that Hendry’s dream is to be in WWE, but his back up plans are to be either a rock star or an Olympian. Burns asked what Hendry’s dad did, and joked that his parents are probably supporting him too much. Hendry came back to stage to say that his dad manages a charity. After Hendry left, Burns mocked Colt for complaining about walking around, even though he goes to the gym for two hours every day. Burns talked about building a bridge at the Fringe between comedy and wrestling, because they both involve suspension of disbelief. Burns talked in depth about working heel during comedy shows, because he’d rather alienate the majority of people to make a handful of strong fans. Burns said that comedy and wrestling are similar because you change what you’re doing depending on the audience, you depend on love from strangers, as well as a few other similarities that comedians are starting to notice. Burns compared the “shiny” WWE to the U.K.’s “Live at the Apollo”, and said that people can seek out more underground forms of both wrestling and comedy. Colt asked Burns what’s making him mad in the world of wrestling. Burns said that there wasn’t anything making him mad, but he enjoyed the opening of the first episode of Smackdown Live that featured a large Colt Cabana head in the audience. Burns talked about his friendship with Colt that’s blossomed over the course of the Fringe. Burns closed with a story about Don Rickles setting up Frank Sinatra so that Rickles could impress a girl, then plugged his social media before Colt ended the show.
58:40 – Colt wraps up the show – Colt thanked all of his guests and talked about his events while at the Fringe Festival, including his upcoming live episode tapings. Colt thanked his fans, his tech help and sponsors and ended the show.
OVERALL SCORE/REVIEW
Score: 7.8 – This was a different type of live episode, but it was still an enjoyable episode of the Art of Wrestling. Only featuring one wrestler and a few comedians was an interesting choice for Colt, as he typically does the opposite. The show was entertaining, but it lacked the type of personal stories that usually make the live episodes essential listening. Hearing more about Gethard’s turn in the ring on his TV show (which is on YouTube) was interesting, but the other comedians leaned heavy into recounting funny happenings in the world of wrestling. I did also enjoy hearing about Joe Hendry, and his entrance videos sound very enjoyable. I would recommend this episode to anyone who likes Colt Cabana, or comedians, and I look forward to next week’s new live episode as well.
Be the first to comment