The Portland Wrestlecast returns with some Tales from the Territories.
“The Grappler” Len Denton, just off recording the Portland-focused episode of the Vice TV show, talks about his experience on the set and some of the stories you can expect when the episode airs.
Plus, Denton talks about how he and Roddy Piper changed what had been a very traditional territory. There’s also a wild and classic story about the time Curt Hennig got his AWA title held up in Portland and why a second match never happened which you will want to hear.
(Listener note: It takes a minute or so for Denton’s signal to improve on his phone. It’s not terrible, but it gets better.)
There are lots of great tales from the Portland territory on this episode so check it out!
When he was a teenager, Fumi Saito came to the United States as an exchange student in Minnesota. He covered and photographed the American Wrestling Association (AWA) for a Japanese wrestling magazine.
During that time, he became close friends with Adrian Adonis, Road Warrior Hawk, Jumbo Tsuruta, Masa Saito, and others.
As a result, he has a unique, first-hand perspective on the recent AWA episode of Tales from the Territories. He even visited Mr. Saito while he was incarcerated for his role in the Ken Patera/McDonald’s incident. In this case, being in prison may not be what you imagine.
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Liv Morgan was a guest on this week’s Out of Character with Ryan Satin.
The company announced that this month is “Kane Month” in honor of Kane’s 25th anniversary of his debut in the company. Kane made his debut at WWE’s Badd Blood pay-per-view on October 5, 1997.
This week’s Aces High column, where Hiroshi Tanahashi looks at wrestling Naomichi Marufuji back in 2012.
JesSICKa was a guest on the Women’s Wrestling Talk podcast. When asked about who helped her the most during her run in Impact, she said: “I would have to say that there are two people who have helped me I feel more than anyone and that would have to be Madison Rayne and Gail Kim and actually you know what Christy Hemme as well. When I was at TNA being Havok and stuff like I always remember Christy was in my corner and always supportive always and Christy is like, incredibly creative. So I would have to say it would be those three women who have helped me the most. My match with Madison Rayne at the knockouts knocked down match or show all those years ago is actually what got me my job at Impact. She does it because it does what it takes to have a good match. We’ve always had really good chemistry. I think I’ve known Madison Rayne the longest out of everyone in wrestling. She was my first friend in wrestling. There’s a lot of history that people don’t realize, but Madison Rayne was honestly, she was someone who helped me greatly. Then Gail Kim, obviously like it just takes someone to believe in you. I don’t know if Havok would have been so successful the first time around on TV if she did not have an opponent like Gail Kim.”
Dave Meltzer and I are back on Wrestling Observer Radio.
Evan Husney, Executive Producer of Dark Side of the Ring joins us to talk about his new project with Jason Eisener and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s Seven Bucks Productions, Tales from the Territories.
Before we talk to Evan, we discuss the passing of Antonio Inoki. Dave talks about his legacy. We also talk about a new documentary coming out on Vince McMahon and AEW ticket sales woes.
Topics with Evan include:
The difference between the new project and Dark Side of the Ring
How The Rock’s Seven Bucks became involved
How the Jerry Lawler/Andy Kaufman story became its own episode
Vice TV has officially announced its new “Tales from the Territories” series.
It was revealed today that “Tales from the Territories” will premiere on Vice TV at 10 p.m. Eastern time on Tuesday, October 4. The series is from Dark Side of the Ring’s Evan Husney & Jason Eisener and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s Seven Bucks Productions.
The series will take viewers back to “the golden-age of professional wrestling” when the industry was divided into local territories.
Husney and Eisener are executive producers for “Tales from the Territories,” along with Johnson, Dany Garcia, Hiram Garcia, and Brian Gewirtz of Seven Bucks Productions. Chavo Guerrero Jr. is involved with the series as a co-executive producer.
“We’re incredibly excited to expand the ‘Dark Side of the Ring’ series with this first-ever exploration of the hidden past of wrestling’s Wild West era, with a dream collaborator in Dwayne Johnson, who has such deep family roots in the history of the business,” Husney and Eisener said. “We can’t wait to showcase the fascinating stories of the pioneers who set the stage for wrestling’s worldwide pop culture dominance.”
Amid reports that “Dark Side of the Ring” had been canceled, Vice TV tweeted a statement this May saying that they were “as committed as ever” to the “Dark Side” series.
“We’ve heard some rumors flying around about Season 4 of Dark Side of the Ring. We are as committed as ever to both the series and the broader Dark Side franchise,” Vice TV wrote. “Evan [Husney] and Jason [Eisener] are hard at work making more content that we know our fans of the series will love. Stay tuned.”
Interviews with Bret Hart and Abdullah the Butcher are featured in the trailer for “Tales from the Territories.” Jim Ross revealed on his podcast earlier this year that he was going to be involved in a “Tales from the Territories” episode looking back at Mid-South with Jake Roberts, Michael Hayes, and Ted DiBiase.
