When It Was Cool Wrestling and Retro Pop Culture by DragonKingKarl

Today is one of my most popular shows of the year where I run through the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame ballot. It is no secret that Dave Meltzer and I have not seen eye to eye recently. In keeping with the fact that I, as a pro wrestling historian for about 35 years, have opinions of my own not influenced by how many 'hot moves' a wrestler does. I'm not saying that is all the WON HOF is, but it can be biased. I'll give you my thoughts on this year's ballot as well and encourage you to come to your own conclusions.

On this edition of the 1000 Hours Podcast by pro wrestling historian and author of DragonKingKarl's Pioneer Era Pro Wrestling Omnibus book available from Amazon, Karl Stern takes a look back at the early career of pro wrestling pioneer and champion John McMahon. Along with Col. James H. McLaughlin, John McMahon was one of the most famous early pro wrestlers and part of one of the first 'territories' or 'combines' that pro wrestling ever had. He even had famous shooting matches and survived being shot twice. Join us as we look back at the life of this original true pioneer of pro wrestling - John McMahon.

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Rising from the grave like Zoomvie or humvee or whatever Marvel Comics had to call Zombies back in 1970s, I have resurrected DragonKing Dark for this week only to celebrate Halloween! On this classic episode, we revisit cryptids. Everything from Bigfoot to the Moth Man, what is going on with these strange and often unverifiable creatures? Still to this day, cryptid stories pop up regularly in the news. How do you get in here? I ran here.

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It's that time of year, boys and ghouls! Halloween! Long time listeners will know that Mike and Joseph love Halloween so it's only natural that this time of year they talk about the spooky season. Trick or treating, favorite costumes, even movies that they liked to watch around this time of year. Of course, what would an episode be without a mix-tape challenge and this one fits the season as the guys present one another with lists of spooky songs! Put on your favorite Ben Cooper costume and sit back and enjoy this one with a handful of candy corn and some other assorted candies!

Today we are going back to 1944 and revisiting one of the later Universal monster movies — The Mummy's Ghost, starring Lon Chaney Jr., John Carradine, Ramsay Ames, and a collection of familiar faces from the golden age of Universal horror. I like this movie. Is The Mummy's Ghost the greatest Universal horror movie ever made? No. Is it even the best Mummy movie? Well... probably not. But I will tell you what The Mummy's Ghost is: it is almost exactly what I want from a 60-minute Universal monster movie made in 1944. And it's Halloween season so here it is.

My Long Form History of Pro Wrestling Series here on the DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Podcast continues this week and is taken from the pages of my latest book DragonKingKarl's 1986-1987 Pro Wrestling Omnibus with a detailed look at November 1986. Thanksgiving was a big deal in pro wrestling in the 1980s and in 1986 the NWA held the Starrcade that Magnum TA was supposed to defeat Ric Flair for the NWA World championship. However, Magnum's career was now over due to a car accident and former tough guy Russian heel Nikita Koloff stepped in to take his place. A terrifying scaffold match also took place, and the WWF had two relatively new shows- Superstars and Challenge that were holding massive TV tapings where even some of the prelim enhancement wrestlers went on to be big future stars. All of that plus the UWF, Japan, World Class, AWA and more.

Ernest Roeber was the protege and friend of William Muldoon and continued his Greco-Roman legacy into the 1900s. He was a star in the early days of New York City's Madison Square Garden. His win-loss record was not particularly as impressive as his name recognition might suggest. Today, on the 1000 Hours Podcast by pro wrestling historian and pioneer pro wrestling history expert Karl Stern, we take a look back at the legacy of Ernest Roeber.

YOU CONTROL THIS SERIES! It will only run as long as it is supported. In order to get another hour of 1000 hours we need a new Patreon supporter at any level or a cash donation via the front page of https://whenitwascool.com/ to either PayPal or CashApp (Please put "1000" in the note). As soon as it is received, I will produce a new hour. Presently, we are funded up to hour 149.

From the pages of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter by Dave Meltzer, pro wrestling historian Karl Stern takes a look at the February 2, 1987, issue which includes stories on Jim Neidhart of the Hart Foundation being charged with assaulting an airline employee, Roddy Piper is teasing retirement, and the buildup to WrestleMania III is in full swing but nobody is really sure if Andre the Giant is going to be there or not.

Episode 2011 (October 12, 2026)

Last episode it was sitcom families, this time around Joseph and Mike discuss non-sitcom families like the Cartrights from Bonanza, the Ewings from Dallas, and The Robinsons from Lost in Space and a few more. Plus, you want tangents? We got tangents! But before any of that, we've got a mix-tape challenge involving songs with numbers in the title. Dial up 867-5309 and tell Jenny to tune into this one!

Today the DragonKingKarl Show hosted by pro wrestling historian Karl Stern is available exclusively only at When It Was Cool (I am running Wrestling With the Dawg Episode 500 podcast at Observer in my spot this week). So, with just us friends here today we look at a very interesting issue of Dave Meltzer's Wrestling Observer Newsletter which leads with the tragic story of a car crash that UWF wrestler John Tatum had which took the life of another person. In wrestling news, we discuss fall out from the Christmas shows and watch WWF (WWE) march in the direction of the biggest pro wrestling show in history up to that date- WrestleMania III.

Today is an interesting topic for me personally. The death of pioneer pro wrestling legend William Muldoon fell outside the scope of my groundbreaking book DragonKingKarl's Pioneer Era Pro Wrestling Omnibus since Muldoon died after 1900. However, the death of the biggest legend of the pioneer era of pro wrestling is certainly within the scope of this podcast and today I dig through the pages of Scott Beekman's new William Muldoon biography to find out the sad final days of William Muldoon.

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YOU CONTROL THIS SERIES! It will only run as long as it is supported. In order to get another hour of 1000 hours we need a new Patreon supporter at any level or a cash donation via the front page of https://whenitwascool.com/ to either PayPal or CashApp (Please put "1000" in the note). As soon as it is received, I will produce a new hour. Presently, we are funded up to hour 149.

For the 500th episode of Wrestling With the Dawg Broadcast at https://flairflop.com/, the Three Faces of Fear unite to debate and discuss the MONTREAL SCREWJOB from WWF Survivor Series 1997! Joe Drilling and Eric Allen of https://onthestick.com/ joins the Dirty Dawg Darsie to review the Dark Side of the Ring episode on the matter as well as review the WWF Championship match at Survivor Series, as well touch on if it was a work, why couldn't the personalities been tamed down, and so much more! Please support https://whenitwascool.com/! https://patreon.com/WIWCool/ https://patreon.com/DirtyDawgMES/ Please check out the latest sponsor of the podcast, Dubby Energy at http://dubby.gg/! Save 10% in check out if you use "DIRTYDAWGMES" in the coupon code!

Today I discuss the December 8, 1986, issue of Dave Meltzer's Wrestling Observer Newsletter which covers NWA Starrcade 1986, the show where Magnum TA should have won the NWA World heavyweight title but following his career ending car accident, he was replaced by Nikita Koloff in a better-than-expected match. Plus, The Road Warriors battle the Midnight Express on a scaffold and Jim Cornette suffers an injury. Also discussed is the tragic car accident with UWF wrestler John Tatum which resulted in a death and his arrest.

Episode 2010 (September 28, 2026)

It's time to travel back and visit some sitcom families from the 80s, 70s, and earlier. The Bradys, the Bunkers, the Bundys and even some families that had last names from elsewhere in the alphabet!

But, as usual, before the main event we've got to answer the mixtape challenge wherein last episode Mike asked for tapes with songs that asked a question. Did you come up with a list of your own? Listen to see if any of yours made their tapes!

Today we crank up the time machine and travel back to the fall of 1986 and cover October from my latest book DragonKingKarl's 1986-1987 Pro Wrestling Omnibus and discuss the details of the career ending car accident suffered by top NWA star Magnum TA (Terry Allen). Magnum TA's car accident prompted the babyface turn of Nikita Koloff and changed the booking for the upcoming Starrcade '86 and set the NWA on a new course. Plus, the Hulk Hogan verses Paul Orndorff feud continues in the WWF, massive TV tapings for their new shows and tons of notes from the AWA, Japan, World Class, Continental, Memphis, and more.

Karl Stern: Professional Wrestling Historian: Author of DragonKingKarl's Pioneer Era Pro Wrestling Omnibus takes a deep dive into the retirement of the most famous pro wrestler of the 1800s in the United States, William Muldoon. I take a look into Scott Beekman's new biography of William Muldoon for notes of interest I may have missed in the Pioneer Pro Wrestling Omnibus and now, I believe we can paint an interesting picture of the how's and why's of The Solid Man's retirement from pro wrestling and what he did next which made him even more famous.

YOU CONTROL THIS SERIES! It will only run as long as it is supported. In order to get another hour of 1000 hours we need a new Patreon supporter at any level or a cash donation via the front page of https://WhenItWasCool.com to either PayPal or CashApp (Please put "1000" in the note). As soon as it is received, I will produce a new hour. Presently, we are funded up to hour 148.

Today I look back at the November 3, 1986, issue of Dave Meltzer's Wrestling Observer Newsletter which first reported details from the career ending car accident of Magnum TA. Magnum TA was being pushed to win the NWA World heavyweight title at the upcoming NWA Starrcade according to the late promoter Jim Crockett, Jr. The career ending car accident changed the course of pro wrestling history. Plus, this was a heavy news week for many other areas as well and we discuss all of that here on this show.

Episode 2009 (September 14, 2026)

School was back in session last episode so it's only natural that Mike and Joseph cover after school TV watching this time out. Ultraman, Gilligan's Island, Star Blazers - the guys watched a lot of different things covering various genres. Did they watch one of your favorites? Listen to find out! And of course there's the "Mix-Tape Challenge" wherein they share their playlists of songs that tell a story. Most importantly, the audio issues that plagued the previous episode have been corrected and the previous audio engineer has been sacked.

Aaron Gartlan presents SECW Action News Podcast. Over the few weeks pro wrestling historian and author Karl Stern will be posting a 3 part series about the little known assault story involving Mr. Wrestling 2 (Johnny Walker). This series is not for kids as we will be discussing some very heavy criminal themes. Part 1 - Who is Two? This isn't a biography, but rather a look at who was John F. Walker? How did he become friends with a President all while being on an offender database in Hawaii? Then we begin the trek through the complex criminal case of Mr. Wrestling 2. This is, far and away, the most detailed examination of this story ever done.

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Blackjack Mulligan was a major pro wrestling star in the 1970s into the 1980s and his sons Barry and Kendall Windham also joined him as wrestlers. Married into the family was Mike Rotundo who, of course, spawned Bray Wyatt and Bo Dallas. In 1989 Blackjack Mulligan and Kendall Windham were indicted in a million-dollar counterfeit money scheme and ultimately were sent to prison for around two years. I have gone back and combed the newsletters and newspapers of that story and present it to you here today.