LIVE REPORT: “Something to Wrestle with Bruce Prichard” in Los Angeles in front of a live audience

“SOMETHING TO WRESTLE WITH PRICHARD” LIVE EVENT
SEPT. 23, 2017
LOS ANGELES, CALIF. AT THE REGENT THEATER
REPORT BY SHAWN VALENTINO, PWTORCH SPECIALIST

Over the past few years, one of the biggest movements in the professional wrestling business has been the rise of podcasts. Big names such as Steve Austin, Jim Ross, and Chris Jericho have launched successful shows. One of the unlikely success stories in this movement has been that of Bruce Prichard and Conrad Thompson’s retro series, “Something to Wrestle.” Prichard was Vince McMahon’s right hand man for decades, but he was primarily known to wrestling audiences as swarmy televangelist Brother Love. Thompson is a successful mortgage specialist and lifelong wrestling fan who has become one of the biggest hosts in podcasting.

Their show is arguably the most entertaining of all wrestling podcasts because of the chemistry between the two and Prichard’s knack for storytelling as well as his wealth of experience in the business. His hilariously uncanny impressions even make the commercials must-listen. They recently won an award for Best Sports Podcast so, when I heard they were coming to Los Angeles for a live show, I immediately purchased VIP Tickets. Here are some news and notes live from the show.

•The show took place at the Regent Theater, which is a vintage venue in Downtown L.A. and it sat a packed house of fans that were obviously loyal listeners.

•VIP ticketholders were allowed in an hour early and were able to take photos with Bruce and Conrad as well as receive souvenir autographs and koozies. The hosts were very friendly and obviously in great spirits. Last time I had seen Thompson, he had given me a bottle of wine “compliments of Ric Flair.” He thanked me for tweeting about the show. If you love their podcast, I highly recommend going VIP.

•I sat right next to Chavo Guerrero in the audience so I figured he would likely be a guest on the show. He looked to be in great shape.

•The show featured a combination of surprise guests and imitations, and it was formatted as a live Q and A. The first question was about Mae Young giving birth to a hand, and that segued to the introduction of the first guest, former writer Tommy Blacha.  He had participated in the segment by delivering the “baby.” They mocked the absurdity of the awful angle, but they also mentioned that Vince McMahon loved the idea. He worked with the WWF for a year replacing Vince Russo and came up with zany stories such as Sexual Chocolate. Blacha seemed to be having a blast hamming it up and fondly looked back at his time with the WWF.

•Bruce also discussed the infamous Katie Vick incident, and he remembered Vince loving the over-the-top shock value of the moment. They were supposed to film a tamer version of the scene, but McMahon loved the necrophilia shot of Triple H “screwing her brains out” so that was what aired. Prichard’s first person accounts of Vince’s mentality really give a strong perspective on his creative thought process. His entertaining delivery combined with his close connection with all of these major events is what makes his podcast so successful.

•The most disappointing part of the show was when an audience member asked about the infamous Hulk Hogan vs. Shawn Michaels match. I was hoping for some fascinating behind-the-scenes tales from the feud, but Bruce did not give much insight here. I would love to see Summerslam 2005 expanded upon in long form. Maybe it was too deep of a topic to address here?

•Chavo then got up and hit the stage, and I really enjoyed his segment. He discussed one of my favorite guilty pleasure characters, Kerwin White. He said that Vince loved the concept of White, but Guerrero wanted to take it further by wearing a KKK costume. They also recalled the bloodbath between Eddie and JBL in LA, which I had attended live. They talked about how excessive the bleeding was in the match, but it worked. My favorite part was when Chavo said that when you see a good storyline played out, it is generally the wrestlers’ idea, but when you see something bad, blame the writers, and he pointed at Blacha. He was half-joking, but it was obvious there was a layer of truth there.

•One of the gimmicks the show employed throughout the night was using cardboard masks to enhance Bruce’s imitations. I thought this was overused in the show, but it did create some funny moments such as when Prichard called Sunny’s porn as Jim Ross, which was hilarious.

•One of the expected guests was Sean Waltman who arrived with his dog. He was obviously in a great mood and shared some tales of ribs like cutting Michael Hayes’s hair and the plane ride from hell.

•The final guest was Will Sasso, which was one of the bigger letdowns of the night because many expected Austin, who lives in LA. Sasso did numerous imitations including Stone Cold, and there was a fun interaction between “Randy Savage” and “Hulk Hogan” with topics such as Elizabeth and Hulkster’s porn.

•The tone throughout the show was very light-hearted and comical which made for an entertaining watch especially after a few beers. One of the things that disappointed me was that for some reason, Conrad and Bruce were drinking water onstage. I was hoping to see the two sharing alcoholic beverages and really letting loose. I was tempted to buy some drinks and have them sent on stage, but I did not know if that was appropriate.

•Another issue I had with the show was there were not enough stories told from a serious perspective. The best part of Prichard’s podcast is that he inserts doses of humor to his retrospective tales. Their show is stronger because it does not always try to be funny so when the comedy is employed, it really stands out. I attended J.R.’s show during WrestleMania week and Bruce was one of the guests. That was a much better experience because it interspersed humor and seriousness.

•Finally, another critique I had of the show was that Conrad took a backseat and let the guest stars do more of the talking. I love the chemistry between Thompson and Prichard, and I would have loved to see the Podfather take a more assertive role in the live shows as well.

Overall, I thought that this was an excellent live experience. If you love the show or if you are a wrestling looking to hear some cool stories, I highly recommend “Something to Wrestle” live, especially with a few drinks.

By the way, if you want a good laugh, check out our new music video parody. It is a tribute to Prichard’s podcast set to the tune of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.” It features former ProWrestling.net contributor Rich Twilling, WWE Diva Shelly Martinez, and me. Warning, you may need a few drinks before watching this as well! LINK

Please follow me and send questions, comments and feedback on Twitter @shawnvalentino and subscribe to our show on Youtube.com/TheProWrestlingTop5