Tag: Left My Wallet

Left My Wallet: Vince Verhei NFL playoff preview, Observer fantasy football recap

Posted on by Josh Nason

Left My Wallet returns for a double stuffed NFL season recap/playoff preview and fantasy football finale recap!

I kick off with the two combatants from the Wrestling Observer fantasy football league championship: Josh Nason and Mike Sempervive. They recap this year’s league and their championship matchup which Josh won over two weeks. We talk about favorite fantasy format and speculate on who was pulling the strings for Bryan Alvarez’s fantasy team.

Then, I talk with Vince Verhei from the Bryan & Vinny Show about his observations from the 2020 regular season, a preview of Wild Card Weekend and our Super Bowl picks. Who is his MVP? Who is the true offensive player of the year and the most valuable player in fantasy? Does Vinny like Justin Jefferson or Justin Herbert for rookie of the year? What favorites might be in danger of losing this weekend? Find out with our resident football expert and Football Outsiders columnist!

It’s a playoff sized episode with a little bit of everything for the football fan!

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Left My Wallet: ‘The Taskmaster’ Kevin Sullivan

Posted on by Antonio Garza

Left My Wallet returns with legendary wrestler, booker, and sports fan, Kevin Sullivan.

Whether you know him as a young babyface in the WWWF or as The Taskmaster, after listening to this show, you will understand why he’s one of the most knowledgeable sports fans you have ever heard.

We discuss our love for former Boston Red Sox great Dwight Evans and which Hall of Famer Kevin thinks Evans was better than. He recalls his memories of going to Fenway Park as a nine-year-old in Boston to see Ted Williams play. We also discuss what he thinks baseball needs to do to garner more fan interest, some of the greatest players and pitchers he had ever seen, which players he feels should be in the baseball Hall of Fame, and who is playing today that’s an automatic Hall of Famer. 

He then gives his memories of Pat Patterson and working with him as a babyface in Florida. Finally, he makes his case as to why Johnny Rougeau should be in the Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame and some of the booking philosophies he learned under Dusty Rhodes and Eddie Graham. 

HIs legendary career has spanned almost 50 years, but his knowledge and love of sports has spanned even longer. Join us for some baseball and wrestling talk from the one and only Kevin Sullivan.

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Left My Wallet: Dark Order’s John Silver on AEW, BTE and UFC

Posted on by Antonio Garza

Left My Wallet returns with one of the fastest rising and most popular stars in wrestling today, AEW’s very own John Silver.

The Dark Order member has quickly risen up the ranks to become a huge fan favorite and is here to talk about two of his loves: football and UFC. He is a huge New York Giants fan so we talked about their huge road upset win over the Seahawks and their outlook for the rest of the season.

We then talked about UFC and which upcoming fights he is looking forward to, some up-and-coming fighters to look out for, what he thinks will happen to Yoel Romero, and how he’s able to watch almost every fight and prelim with his new wrestling schedule.

Finally, John talks about how things have changed for him since he became massively popular from AEW and BTE.

Please note there was an audio glitch on my end, so bear with me on some of the skipping, but the problem has been resolved for future shows. For now, enjoy this fun talk with John Silver!

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Left My Wallet: Love & basketball (and hip hop) with Lee Moriarty

Posted on by Antonio Garza

Left My Wallet returns with one of the brightest up-and-coming stars on the independent scene today: Lee Moriarty!

The Pittsburgh, PA, native has been making a name for himself in Game Changer Wrestling, Beyond Wrestling, and countless other promotions and now he stops by to talk about a myriad of subjects.

While not a huge sports fan, he does love basketball so we explored his love of Jimmy Butler and why he likes the hard nosed Miami Heat forward. We talked about his own experience with martial arts and sports growing up and what spawned his love of Bruce Lee.

Finally, we talk hip hop and delve into his love of all things Wu Tang Clan and how the combination of Bruce Lee, World of Sport, and Wu-Tang have influenced him as both a worker and graphic artist.

This is a quick and fun show that will bring you inside the world of one of my favorite current indie standouts.

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Left My Wallet: Lenny Leonard on the New York sports scene

Posted on by Antonio Garza

Left My Wallet is back with one of the most recognizable voices in professional wrestling today, Lenny Leonard.

Lenny lives in Florida, but his sports allegiance bleeds New York, specifically New York Jets green. We discuss the purgatory that is being a Jets fan, his thoughts on head coach Adam Gase, their lack of skill players and playmakers, and if he was crying tears of joy when they lost in the final seconds against the New England Patriots recently. Why would he be happy about losing? We talk about the possibility of them going 0-16 and landing the biggest NFL draft prize in recent years, Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence.

The focus then shifts to the New York Yankees and the outfielder Lenny feels should be a regular going forward. He also says what he thinks this team needs to do to get back to the World Series and what position player he has disdain for and wishes was traded. 

Any wrestling fan will know Lenny’s voice from his time commentating for SHIMMER, WWN Live, ROH, Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport III, and countless other shows the past 20 years. He definitely has a New York state of mind when it comes to sports, so join us for this fun 40 minute talk.

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Left My Wallet: When Garrett Met Sempervive

Posted on by Antonio Garza

This week’s Left My Wallet features the first-ever meeting between two of your favorite Figure Four Online personalities: WOR co-host Garrett Gonzales and WOL/Big Audio Nightmare co-host Mike Sempervive.

We all talked about some Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame candidates and compare them to Hall of Fame candidates in other sports.

Is the Ultimate Warrior comparable to Jose Canseco? Do Junkyard Dog and Daryl Strawberry have cases for their respective halls? Who do we equate to Sgt. Slaughter, the Hardys, Edge, Randy Orton, and so many more Observer ballot favorites to?

It’s a unique conversation debating the merits of the soon-to-be-released Observer inductees — an audio version of when the irresistible force meets the immovable object.

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Left My Wallet: Beyond Wrestling and the pandemic era of indie wrestling

Posted on by Antonio Garza

Left My Wallet returns with Drew Cordeiro, owner and promoter of Beyond Wrestling, to talk about the challenges, pitfalls, and positives of running shows during the pandemic.

Drew is someone who I know extremely well, having worked with him and Beyond for the last 18 months. He is passionate about his product and growing Beyond into one of, if not the top, independent wrestling promotions in the country.

We talk about what led him to run three shows over the summer and fall, the safety measures he had to follow in order to run, the logistics with reduced fan capacities, and running with no fans. He also delves into what went into his decision to cancel his November 8th “Tournament for Tomorrow” show.

Enjoy this story about his journey during the pandemic to bring fans the same in-ring action that Beyond has come to be known for.

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Left My Wallet: Bryan Alvarez and ‘Battle of the Network Stars’ watchalong

Posted on by Antonio Garza

Left My Wallet returns with a double dose of sports silliness.

First, Bryan Alvarez joins the show, talking trash about our fantasy football matchup this week and to the rest of the league.

Then, I’m joined by Paul Fontaine as we bring you another watchalong at his request, this time featuring 1978’s infamous “Battle of the Network Stars”.

Join us as we watch Gabe Kaplan, Scott Baio, Christy McNichol, Willie Aames, Robert Conrad, GRIZZLY ADAMS, and so many more of your favorite late 70s/early 80s television favorites. While most of you weren’t born yet, those that remember know the goodness that comes from these mish-moshes of network talent.

This is a fun doubleheader of fantasy football trash talk and all the gloriousness that is Gabe Kaplan in a tug of war. Enjoy!

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Left My Wallet: Wheeler Yuta on ROH Pure Title tourney, Philly sports

Posted on by Antonio Garza

Left My Wallet returns with recent Ring of Honor Pure Wrestling title tournament competitor Wheeler Yuta.

At only 23 years old, Yuta has quickly established himself as one of the fastest rising technicians in the industry today. He is also a Philadelphia native and Villanova graduate who bleeds all Philly sports. Join us as we talk about the Phillies not making the playoffs, the Eagles recent tie against the Bengals and their season long struggles, and the underachieving 76ers and their search for a new coach.

We then talk his recent match in the ROH Pure Wrestling Championship tournament against Jonathan Gresham, the match he and I had last year, and what he loves about technical wrestling.

If you don’t know the name Wheeler Yuta already, you will know it very soon as he is a bright rising in-ring star. Enjoy this conversation and learn more about him!

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Left My Wallet: Mark Sterling, MJF’s attorney & fantasy football fan

Posted on by Antonio Garza

Left My Wallet returns with the attorney of MJF, “Smart” Mark Sterling.

He is no stranger to the show, but this time he joins us after a brief convalescence from facing AEW World Champion Jon Moxley several weeks ago on Dynamite. Mark has recovered, recouped, and is ready to talk about his healing process, but moreso, fantasy football.

We go back to 2001 and talk about when we we first started training together and our first match. We also talk about being a sports fan while on the road and how we made adjustments for our fantasy teams in the pre-cell phone era and while being on the road. We then finish up with some players we like for the rest of the season.

This is a short and fun episode filled with fantasy football, a little wrestling talk, and even a little action figure talk that I know you’ll enjoy.

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Left My Wallet: 2020 NFL & fantasy football preview with Vince Verhei

Posted on by Antonio Garza

The NFL season is here and so is Left My Wallet for the second time this week.

While the first episode followed our Observer league fantasy football draft, this episode is a NFL season preview with our resident football expert, Vince Verhei of the Bryan & Vinny Show and an assistant editor with Football Outsiders.

Vinny and I discuss our fantasy football league, which players he likes and doesn’t, underdrafted and overdrafted players, and more to get you primed for the fantasy season.

We then look at some of the surprise teams he thinks could emerge this NFL season and which might be a disappointment. Which highly hyped team does he think will bust? Which three win team could boom?

Tune in to a fun 2020 NFL season preview with the one and only Vince Verhei. Enjoy!

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Left My Wallet: The 2020 Observer league fantasy football draft

Posted on by Antonio Garza

Left My Wallet is back with the audio from this year’s Wrestling Observer fantasy football draft!

Join myself, Garrett Gonzales, Josh Nason, Producer Rob, Ryan Frederick, Vinny Massaro, and Paul Fontaine as we make picks while talking some sports and sharing some fun stories.

Who took a kicker first overall?!? Who did new league member Bryan Alvarez draft? Why did the draft restart and who boycotted the league because of it?

Find out on this hour long episode of fantasy football and antics from this year’s draft. 

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Left My Wallet free show: How former WCW star Ice Train beat COVID-19

Posted on by Antonio Garza

Left My Wallet returns with a special free episode featuring former WCW star Ice Train, aka Harold Hogue.

The man with one of the greatest entrance themes ever joins the show to talk about his football career, why he didn’t play in the NFL, what brought him into pro wrestling, and who are some of today’s NFL stars he enjoys watching.

We also talk about his time in Europe, how much Fit Finlay meant to him in his development, his tenure in WCW and why he was his own worst enemy, why the Fire and Ice tag team with Scott Norton didn’t succeed, and why he never ended up in WWE.

He then talks about his own personal battle with COVID-19 as he, along with his wife and son, became infected earlier this year. He discusses what he did to fight through it, the one technique that might have saved his life, and the message he has for listeners on what to do to be as safe as possible in today’s world.

Finally, he talks about his own personal mission to break the world barbell curl record at the young age of 55!

Before our talk, Producer Rob joins the show for a quick segment to preview this years Wrestling Observer Fantasy Football League.

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Left My Wallet: Former WCW star P.N. News on soccer & college football

Posted on by Antonio Garza

Left My Wallet returns with a blast from the past as I talk soccer and college football with the former rapmaster of WCW, P.N. News.

The man born Paul Nue had a lengthy career outside of WCW as Cannonball Grizzly, mostly spent overseas and in Europe. There, he discovered his passion for Premier League soccer. We discuss what led to his love of the sport and take a deep dive into his memories and experiences both watching and attending matches in Europe. We have many futbol fans here on the site, so Paul brings familiarity with a topic we haven’t touched upon much yet.

He also discusses his time playing spring football at the University of Nebraska under legendary Hall-of-Fame coach Tom Osborne and the amazing talent he lined up with. In the 70s and 80s, Nebraska was a college football juggernaut, akin to Alabama today. He also talks his love of college football today, his thoughts on Scott Frost as head coach, and his eagerness for NFL star Christian McCaffrey’s younger brother, Luke, to take over the reins as starting QB.

At the end of the show, I was joined by multi-time guest and resident toy expert Flex Rumblecrunch for one of a handful of quick new segments on the podcast: Toy Talk. We talk about the ’91-’92 Galoob WCW figures and also get into the fascination and hefty prices of prototypes.

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Left My Wallet: AEW’s Pineapple Pete

Posted on by Antonio Garza

Left My Wallet is back with AEW’s Pineapple Pete.

While you may only know him from his time AEW, whether it’s facing Chris Jericho or cheering from the stands, he has been plying his craft around the world for over 16 years as Suge D or Sugar Dunkerton.

We talk about the inception of his Harlem Globetrotters-themed gimmick, how he incorporated basketball into his character, and his early start doing his ABA-esque persona. We then talk about Atlanta pro sports, their heartbreak in championship games, and a mini dive into the ABA. He also shares his thoughts about sports reopening and the current state of the NBA.

Finally, we discuss our love for British wrestling and he shares some of his favorites from World of Sport including some hidden gems currently working today.

It’s a Southern themed show talking both the ATL and a little bit of rasslin’. 

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