Sitting Ringside with David Penzer
Release Date: 11/26/18
Recap by: Jeff Rush, PWPodcasts.com Assistant Editor
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Special Guest – Bruce Mitchell
-Lots of talk about literally sitting ringside. Bruce says he used to notice Penzer at a lot of the shows and feel bad for him likely having seen the same matches 4-5 nights in a row in an age where he couldn’t just space out on his phone.
-Talking about the WrestleCade convention this past weekend, Bruce says the Mulkey Brothers weren’t there, though they’re mainstays of the event. He observed that nostalgia seems to be shifting away from 80’s acts and onto Monday Night War personalities.
-Lots of talk about his experience as part of the Front Row Section D group at the Greensboro Coliseum, which, if you’re a Torch VIP member of any length, you’ve likely heard lots about over the years:
-They once got under Dusty’s skin so bad he yelled at them on the house mic.
-Sid hated them.
-They made a sign that referred to Sting as “Stink,” causing Sting to freak out on them during a promo.
-Penzer asks him the best match he ever saw in Greensboro. Fittingly, it was a heel vs. heel match – Arn & Tully vs. the Midnight Express. He calls this the forgotten feud. There was a rematch scheduled for the following month, but never happened because Arn & Tully went to the WWF.
-Cornette has said the plan was for him and the Midnights to go babyface in the feud.
-This leads to talk about a bloody babyface promo Cornette cut saying “Mama, it’s time for me to grow up.” Penzer says he can’t find the promo anywhere online.
-Says they never really chased the wrestlers down at bars after the shows. They were nerds and hung out at Denny’s instead.
-Penzer talks about a time in the late 90’s he was at a bar with Arn Anderson, and Arn pointed out that “all the rats were now men.” This leads to a discussion about female groupies being kind of a dying breed.
-Bruce started writing for the Torch in Sept of 1990. At this time, a subscription came with a color photo.
-They talk about great Arn Anderson promos. David says he used to try them out on him. Bruce notes that Arn has had a continuous job with a major wrestling company since 1984 to today.
-Bruce goes on for a very long time describing a Ric Flair-Jimmy Garvin cage match, where Flair won a date with Garvin’s manager, Precious, by winning the match. He gets sidetracked during the story a few times and goes on about a fan who climbed over him to get into the ring during the match. Finally, he describes watching the vignette of the date they played on TV later, and even though it was TBS, him and his buddies were hoping they’d get some x-rated action. I think that was the point of the story. Penzer, at the start, actually said “You told me to ask you about the ‘Date with Precious’ angle?” So, I don’t know. At least it was a memorable angle.
-Penzer talks about the Sid Eudy/squeegie incident. He says they were in a bar one night and Brian Pillman and Mike Graham, who were both much smaller than Sid but both also tough as hell, were giving Sid a hard time. He finally got up and was like “That’s it, I’ve had it and stormed out of the bar. For the next several minutes, everyone was wondering what he was going to do. David says they weren’t really worried but still, your imagination gets going. ‘Did this guy snap? Is he coming back with a gun? More realistically, is he grabbing a crow bar or tire iron or something?’ So he finally storms back in carrying a squeegee and everyone just erupted in laughter. Penzer says he actually felt bad for Sid. Sid just stormed off again and was like “I’ll get you guys some other time.”
-Bruce talks about being a fan during this time. They hated Sid because he wasn’t a very good in-ring performer. They loved Brian Pillman. Everyone heard reports of the story in the newsletters. The next time they were in town, Sid wasn’t on the show, but Pillman was. Bruce and his friends, who couldn’t afford actual squeegees, cut out a bunch of paper ones and busted them out for Pillman’s match. Pillman loved it and took one after his match that he later said he carried with him for a long time.
-Bruce also talks about a cage match a month later between Cactus Jack and Sting, where Cactus had a mystery object under a towel. He later revealed it to be a squeegee and Sting, who was the number one face in the company at the time, ran from the squeegee like it was a machete, cowering in fear.
Review: This was my first time catching this podcast and it was a good listen. Penzer is an engaging host with lots of fun stories and industry credibility. He’s had a lot of big names on his show in the past, largely WCW names – from Scott Hall, to Terry Funk, to Dale Torborg. So I look forward to catching future episodes.
For someone like myself whose been hearing Bruce Mitchell’s voice for the better part of two decades, it was cool to hear it accompanied by someone other than Wade Keller (or Todd Martin or Travis Bryant, etc). I’d give it a recommend if you have the time, particularly for the squeegee anecdotes. Rating: 8/10
You can catch Jeff, along with PWPodcasts.com contributors Caitlin Lavelle and Joe Aguinaldo each week on The Pull Apart: The Pro Wrestling Podcast Podcast. To enjoy a ton more VIP content, visit PWTorch.com.
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