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Category: Dragon King

  • DragonKingKarl Biography Series Radio Show – Mongolian Stomper

    DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Audio Show: Biography Series – The Mongolian Stomper. I wanted to dedicate an entire biography show to the late Archie “The Mongolian Stomper” Gouldie. He was my first favorite heel character when I started watching wrestling. Normally, I would not expect a lot to be made of the Stomper’s death other than a mention here or there since he was not a giant international star.  But to me, here in the deep southern United States and, I am sure, to many in Canada he was a very big deal.  

    Today I want to talk about the career of the Mongolian Stomper and talk about the angle that made him my favorite.  He was well spoken in some areas, while in others he was a grunting brute.  Yet, even when he played the brute, his angles were often sophisticated.  He was part of a famous, very heavy, angle in Stampede wrestling that lead to the shows announcer quiting.  He did a similar angle in Alabama.  

    On today’s show I will talk in detail about another sophisticated angle he did involving Ric Flair, Austin Idol, Buddy Rogers, and much more.  Today, I am going to give the Stomper his due and I hope you enjoy learning about a relatively under rated wrestling star.

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  • DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: Iron Mike Sharpe, origins of kayfabe, and more!

    DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Audio Show – Questions and Answers!  The return of the popular questions and answers format.  Topics and questions today deal with a variety of things but I have to start off with the death of “Iron” Mike Sharpe.  If you grew up watching WWF in the 1980’s like I did then you undoubtably saw many “Iron” Mike Sharpe matches.  He came from a wrestling family and I think he could have been a pushed star in certain areas had he not been typecast in the WWF prelims.  I also revist the topic of who has had the most matches in wrestling history.  A listener to the show writes in questioning the 9,000 matchs or more number that we talked about a few shows ago.  We talk about the reality of that number.  

    Then the main topic this show comes from an email I got just yesterday.  What are the origins of kayfabe and the sport becoming a work?  It is a question we have talked about many times on the DragonKingKarl show.  Still, it is a great question to revist from time to time and discover just how pro wrestling came to be.  How did the carnivals and the circus get tangled up with wrestling?  How did wrestling evolve out of the civil war?  Was Frank Gotch, Ed “Strangler” Lewis, or Lou Thesz actually “shoot” wrestlers?  Just when did it change from being a legit contest to theater in a ring?  If you are interested in getting a copy of the Pioneers of Wrestling Special that I reference on this show, it is available as part of the massive amount of data on the Super Stern Stick available at my personal website http://www.dragonkingkarl.com

    Today’s show is a free one!  I have not given away a show in years but I am giving away today’s show so we can have a good discussion about the origins of pro wrestling.  I hope you enjoy!

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  • DragonKingKarl Biography Series Radio Show – Gene Kiniski

    DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Audio Show: Biography Series: Gene Kiniski.  Gene “Big Thunder” Kiniski was one of the most important champions in pro wrestling history.  He bridged the gap between two distinct eras of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and he was the face of the 1960’s in pro wrestling.  

    An AWA, WWA, NWA, and Montreal World heavyweight champion, Gene Kiniski was an amazingly respected wrestling champion whose career spanned North America and is closely associated with the Funks, Whipper Watson, Yukon Eric, and others.  I had never studied Gene Kiniski’s career much before doing the research for today’s show and it really struck me just how important a figure Gene Kiniski was to separating two distinct eras of pro wrestling.  Everywhere Gene Kiniski went, he seemingly became a star and very quickly too.  Starting in the Southwest to Madison Square Garden but especially in Canada, Gene Kiniski was a huge star.  Gene Kiniski spent over three years as NWA World heavyweight champion and his mentoring of Dory Funk, Jr. set in motion the era that came after him.  I really enjoyed learning about this incredible Hall of Famer and I hope you will too.

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  • DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Audio Show: Q & A

    The first DragonKingKarl Show of 2016 is a question and answer show so the good DragonKingKarl can clear out some email questions to get the year started off right! 

    Several of them deal with off-topic discussions from recent shows including the ever controversial Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Not only that but there is even a touch of After Dark related subjects. Then we shift gears into pro wrestling discussion and one of the best questions we have ever debated here: who has legitimately had the most number of matches in wrestling history plus a sub-question, who has had the most in-ring time in pro wrestling history? The question is far more complicated than it sounds, and has been debated on The Board~! and elsewhere. Together, we will try to pin down the answer.

    The second part of the question is also very interesting as it really is a different question. While some of the top “most matches” candidates will have near 10,000 matches, there may be wrestlers with much fewer actual matches that have much more time spent inside the ring.  We will even look back at some of the legendary longest matches featuring people like Ed “Stranger” Lewis and Joe Stecher.  But the answer to who has had the most number of matches is probably someone in the modern era.  We will look at schedule differences between the United States, Japan, and Mexico which could greatly influence the answer. (It should lead to a nice research project for someone.)

    Email Karl with your thoughts, and enjoy today’s show with a variety of topics!

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  • Dragon King Karl Audio: Lizmark, Star Wars spoilers, a little rock’n’roll

    This week’s show is a change of pace to wrap up 2015 with the only wrestling talk being the death of luchadore Lizmark who was a major career rival of Karl’s mentor in pro wrestling, the late Ken Timbs. Timbs and Lizmark had a big feud in CMLL in the late 1980s over one of the major championships in Mexico.

    After that, it’s all off topic:

    – The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees have been announced for this year and Karl talks about the merits of Chicago, N.W.A., Steve Miller Band, Cheap Trick, and Deep Purple in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Being a big Chicago fan dating back to the 1970s, Karl tells you what makes them great (and what doesn’t). He also talks about why major bands with huge success and staying power have been historically overlooked by the Hall of Fame.  

    – Then, the second half of the show is all Star Wars: The Force Awakens spoilers. In fact, there’s so many spoilers that Don Jardine would say “Whoa! That’s a lot of Spoilers!”.  Enjoy but do not listen if you don’t want to be spoiled! 

    Sit back and enjoy the final DragonKingKarl Show of 2015 and may the force be with you!

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  • Dragon King Karl Classic Wrestling Audio: WWE Network’s new additions examined

    On this week’s show, the conversation is about all the new classic, old-school wrestling shows which have been added lately to the WWE Network.

    Finally taking advantage of their incredible tape library, WWE has finally added a sizeable amount of classic content to the online network. Included among the newly added material is NWA World Championship Wrestling from TBS, late-era AWA, Mid-South Srestling, Smoky Mountain Wrestling, more World Class Championship Wrestling, Global Wrestling Federation, and even some Stampede Wrestling from Calgary…for a few days anyway.

    Karl also discusses the animated David Crockett and apparently, his dog hates him.  Who knew?  Then in the second half of the show, Karl takes a few questions out of the mailbag including some follow up emails from the Monsters Of Wrestling show he did back around Halloween. We learn more about the Los Angeles Monster and hockey masked maniacs.

    Please check out the Super Stern Stick Flash Drive from Karl’s website to take advantage of a holiday season special offer!

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  • DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: Your holiday season wrestling gift buying guide!

    On this special family-friendly edition of the Karl Stern Show, the Dragon King (and his wife!) talk about buying gifts for the wrestling fan in your life this holiday season.

    It can be intimidating for a non-fan to buy gifts for a wrestling fan, so Karl’s wife sits down with him to talk about what she looks for, our thoughts on various wrestling related items available out there, Mattel action figures, wrestling video games, lucha libre masks, and thinking outside the box.

    We review the Mattel Four Horseman Hall of Fame action figure set, a lucha libre mask, talk a little bit about the WWE 2K16 video game, subscription services, plus some outside the box ideas for the wrestling fan and collector.

    It’s a unique show that I hope you and your significant other (or children or parents or whatever) can enjoy. Gather the kids around the speakers and enjoy! 

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  • DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Audio: Bruiser Brody biography special

    On the latest episode of the DragonKing Classic Wrestling Show, host Karl Stern bring you the latest in a series of wrestler biographies. This week, Karl takes a look at the incredibly popular, mythical, and controversial “Intelligent Monster” Frank “Bruiser Brody” Goodish.

    Brody was a wild bearded powerhouse who ran roughshod through the United States, Japan, and Puerto Rico before his untimely death in 1988 at the hands of Jose “The Invader 1” Gonzalez.  Until his death by stabbing in 1988, he was one of the biggest business stars in the world. In Japan, it was reported that at times he made in excess of $14,000 per week. It is impossible to tell the tale of recent biography focuses like Stan “The Lariat” Hansen and Abdullah the Butcher without also telling the story of Bruiser Brody.

    Attached to this show is a special audio bonus feature! Karl recorded an audio companion for the Super Stern Stick Flash Drive based on issue 35 of the DragonKing Press Newsletter. That issue dealt with the death of Brody as told by some of the people that were there or later talked to Jose Gonzalez including Tony Atlas (the closest thing to an eyewitness), Dutch Mantell, and “Nightmare” Ken Wayne.

    I hope you enjoy this show and a detailed look at the crazy life and untimely death of Bruiser Brody.

    *****

    Listen to the show by clicking below or right-clicking/save:

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  • DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Biography Special: Abdullah the Butcher

    This show is part two of a series of biographies on some of the wild and craziest wrestlers in history.  Very few were more wild and crazy than the Madman from the Sudan, Abdullah the Butcher.  The WWE Hall-of-Famer’s story is a complicated one.  From his days to team with and battling against The Sheik to his time as a territorial bounty hunter and, of course, his insane brawls with Bruiser Brody and Carlos Colon. We also look at how his career ended in controversy.

    Enjoy today’s biography featuring Abdullah the Butcher.

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  • DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: Biography Series: Stan Hansen

     Biography Series: Stan Hansen. This part one of a three part series covering some of the greatest brawlers in wrestling history.  On this show I look at former AWA World champion, WCW U.S. Champion, and one of the all time legends of Japan – Stan “The Lariat” Hansen.

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