Vocal Vignette - We Are Here Because We Love Wrestling Ep

The Vocal Vignette podcast is about discussing wrestling and the people who made us love it. They want to talk about all types of wrestlers and different eras of wrestling. The podcast aims to bring respect to the art of wrestling and focus on the stories and moments that made it special. They want to create a positive environment where people can talk about their favorite aspects of wrestling without arguing. They also want to give wrestlers a space to talk about why they love wrestling and what inspired them to pursue it. Wrestling is a diverse medium that attracts different types of people, and it is becoming more mainstream. Welcome to the vocal vignette podcast. This is our inaugural episode, which we are finally happy getting up off the ground. My name is Annabelle, and this is my partner in crime. Zachary. What's up, Zach? So, the purpose of the vocal vignette podcast is really to talk about wrestling, our love of wrestling, and the people who made us, you know, just keep along with the journey and keep attached to it in whatever capacity it may be. On this podcast, we're going to talk about all types of wrestlers, indie wrestlers, whatever, WWE, AW, whoever is your favorite, whoever got you into wrestling, what stories got you into wrestling. So we want to talk about it all, anything, NWA, whatever, 80s, WWF, as it was once called. Ruthless Aggression, TNA, Ring of Honor, New Japan, wherever you are in the wrestling space, we just want to talk about it and have a great time here and bring levity. And I think we're going to do a good job at that, and like I said, this is our inaugural episode, so we're doing the best we can with what we got, and we just want to make it bigger and better. So, if you're with us now, you're along for the journey. Yeah, I think it's always been about respecting what makes the business great. I think a lot of content and media in the wrestling space now boils down to, you know, what's hot, what's on TV, what's the viral angle, what's making people click. And a lot of the times that just isn't what wrestling is about for people. You know, people are moving back to the weeklies, they're moving back to what makes wrestling very interesting, they're moving back to storytelling-based wrestling. And more than anything, I think what people want to do more now than ever is enjoy the fundamental principles of wrestling. They're not as worried about work rate and kayfabe and this, that, and the other, they just want to feel something. And I think that's the ethos of this podcast, is to respect what made us feel something in somebody. I think over the next however many dozens of weeks, you're going to see that we want to focus on people who not just mean a lot to us, but mean a lot to people who are in our lives. And I think ultimately mean a lot to people who know about the wrestling space. And people that know about the wrestling space know that some of these people are some of the most influential, they're some of the most talked about, they're innovators, and they're cultural touchstones of what is a very diverse set of works that is professional wrestling. I think we're going to try to bring respect to that in any way that we can. Yes, definitely honor the craft and everything. I do feel like a lot of, well there is just everything in wrestling media now, everyone wants to be backstage, everyone wants to be woes, shams, you know what I mean? Everyone wants to break news, contracts, you know what I mean? I was like, we're not SRS, we don't have sources, we're just going to talk to you about what we love, why we love it. We want to create a wrestling space where this is your favorites. You know, you could talk about the reason why it's called Vocal Vignette specifically is that, whatever for nostalgia purposes, but we all know how awesome wrestling vignettes are. But we want to vocally just like talk about whoever inspired us or what we like or what they brought in any capacity whatsoever and just bring flowers to them and we want to create the environment that a lot of people who consume wrestling, who consume these podcasts, these shows, read the dirt sheets, whatever it is. It seems like an issue that's going on is people, too much arguing, too much this is better, that better, you know, too much of this is my show, this is my tribe. And really not anything that you speak of that you enjoy and really love, like what you like. There's segments on TV that you like it and you obviously dissect the show because that's your purpose, but a lot of the chatter online can get very mixed muddled because it's like every single day something happens. You need nuance and detail, but here it's all about what you love, why you got into wrestling, what keeps you into wrestling, what would you like wrestling to be in the future. We might get into that, too, but really we want to talk to other wrestling heads. Obviously, both of us are big wrestling heads. We want to talk about the other wrestling heads and hopefully other wrestlers to discuss their journey for the people who are literally in the ring and taking the bumps. What was the match? Who was the wrestler that got you into it? And it could be from any starting point. And I think the beautiful thing about wrestling is that people get into it from so many different angles and it's been interesting to see where these wrestlers thrive, how they thrive, when they thrive. So it's very cool just to see the layout of the land and seeing people live out their dreams. It's a beautiful thing to see. Yeah, I think right now we're in an era where we're learning so much about these people. A lot of these people are very front-based. It's a social media era of any form of entertainment. And I think what makes wrestling really unique is that a lot of forms of premium content creation and really high revenue, high audience volume content creation, like stuff on TikTok, a lot of people are doing that. Like stuff on Instagram, like fitness people and dare and challenge people like Mr. Beast says that a lot of wrestlers have a lot of control over how they get into the business, where they're starting from. And it's all things that have so many roots deeply planted in so many different aspects of the business. And I think what does get lost in the online discourse is just the focus on the weeklies and television and what it's most about is the people. Everyone's trying to make some moment the moment and let's talk about that moment. And now they need to do that segment again and again forever. But I think what makes wrestling really special is that it can be from a time and a place and capture a very specific feeling. And that's what a moment is. It's not just a set of circumstances. It's not just a spot. It's everything happening all at once. So I think being able to hone in on very specific people and times and places gives us the opportunity to really understand what it all meant and why it was so special. And I think a lot of the best media in the wrestling space now attempts to do that. And I think that's what's very critical to how we're carrying forward with this project. Yes. One of the big things I want to do is obviously with social media wrestlers have the power to talk. But it's like so many like I don't hear questions of like oh why? What got you into this? Why do you love it? Like what was your favorite match growing up? What was your favorite match that you've done so far like while in the business? It seems like everything that we see obviously, WWE, AEW, people want to know like what's up like either backstage or you know like how they feel about their career at that particular moment. And you know sometimes you might get some people who are disgruntled, some people who have really long journeys. And you know they get there and they're like it's not what I expected or wanted out of it or I'm not getting the opportunities I felt. Or there are others who journey once again took the long road and they journeyed and they're wherever they are and they are being fruitful and the spotlight's on them and they're shining and thriving which is good. So here I just want to give the space for wrestlers to just talk about like why they love it so much. Why do you love taking bumps? Like what was the match or the person that was like I'm doing this. Like non-negotiable, I'm chasing my dreams, I'm doing this. And for people who are not like that who are like who they knew wrestling was out there but they didn't necessarily you know were like oh I'm watching this match and this is why. But like how did they get into wrestling? Like what was it that was appealing to them? Especially as they've gotten into wrestling when they're older because it's one thing to be a child and grow up with it and be a fan and like I've been a fan since I was like four. But like when you meet someone who's like they're aware of wrestling and then you know it's like they're in their 20s and like they discover it and like they're doing it and it's like oh my god. Like what made you like what clicked like what was the switch for you to pursue this later in life? You know not like I'm 10 I want to be a wrestler. You know that's different than like you know I'm 23. What is this thing about? Yeah and I think I think that's what's so interesting too about how the the medium works is that it draws from so many places and it can naturally attract so many different types of people. I I'm always shocked when I hear someone you know say that they've never heard of wrestling before not because even it's just such a cultural like it was such a big deal at a certain time but there are a lot of people who I think about things that they're into and I remember you know whether it was when I was in a lot of theater productions growing up or in improv troupes or I was doing radio and sports and even now as I'm doing stuff in advertising I see in every sector I've been in there's some subject section of people who they're either a lapsed fan or they're a longtime casual viewer and they don't really watch every week but they know who the big wrestlers are and they have people in their lives that talk about wrestling and I think that it's it's so interesting to see now we're at a time where we're more now than ever in a space where wrestling is just returning to the mainstream. It's not just a cult thing even in the peaks of the attitude era it was still considered part of crash TV and encounter culture and now it's just part of culture it is just what it is it exists people know how it functions there is no more you know all wrestling is fake and well that's not real and no we're we're all the way here now so there is a desire I think from every perspective to build a more sophisticated approach to talking about wrestling. There is and as you mentioned like wrestling is in a renaissance period like ever since rock came back and all these things it it it it has come back I always I always at him on Twitter Ben Coyle at comic coil who came up with the perfect saying wrestling is everything and it's true. You find everything you think about people are trying to WWE the angle literally our world our politics people are trying to WWE it how to sell something people are trying to WWE it so as much as you know it it it gone underground a bit before it came back people are still the elements of WWE is in everything and it's everywhere you can find it right. Because the narrative is all storyline. It's true and it's every era of WWE and every era of even you go back to like Jimmy Crockett WCW and now with a W there's something there's always something and people are seeing it and it breaks through people like oh what this wrestling stuff is still like oh my gosh I can't believe it like I remember in 2019 it was the first like maybe it was within the first 25 shows. Dynamite and a clip of Orange Cassidy went viral of a kid in the OC like cosplay and he had the perfect like the glasses and he did the thumb and everything and that video still I think it's about four and a half years old but it has like 70 80 million views and it was on the news and people that don't even like wrestling like oh it's cute and who's this guy and you know WWE had so many of those moments. And I think even people like even shows like impact you know with with Rampage Jackson and the Sharkboy gimmick and there's just there's so many things happening in the space all the time and people are always going to see it and even if you go into other sports and events and venues where wrestling seems to bleed through like when the Pistons won the championship and Ben Wallace got everybody the World Heavyweight Championship replica. Or when Aaron Rodgers debuted the discount double check and it was literally the belt like it's it's that it's always been there it's always been a big deal I think it's just now it's a bigger deal than ever. Right it is a bigger deal than ever obviously with WWE when a team wins they send the belt to whichever team won and they they're proudly holding it at the parade they're passing it around they're holding you know they're putting on their waist like they this is child they're fulfilling sort of childhood things and it's cool to see and it's neat to see that like people are always still undercover like low-key still in the wrestling like I'll walk out in public with a stone. Cold shirt stone cold rock taker Michaels China Lita Trish like whatever shirt I'm wearing from wearing it people will stop me and she's like oh I remember this like or and then they'll just be like oh they recently saw something and it's like I just brought up that memory for him because it's on my shirt so it's very cool when those things happen in wrestling and that's one thing I also want to bring back is just like you mentioned earlier is that. The humanity side of it like not necessarily doing worried about weeklies and dirts and ratings and stuff like that like just feeling it's going to be all feeling like what like like what made you do this like we're in our I'm in my 30s you're you're approaching your 30s like why do we still love this thing why do we still watch this thing what keeps us here when for a long time. You know we didn't have to be like well I certainly wasn't at certain points I'm like this is not but there were certain things that that that that did keep me in for instance like throughout even like I would watch it a little bit more in high school but then when I got to college obviously college is college and you're doing your thing but the one thing that kept me is because Undertaker is my favorite wrestler and I was like all right well Royal Rumble time let's see who he's facing for mania let's see the lead up but then doing that. I'm tuning in checking in I'm like oh this is like 2011 12 13 you know what I mean so I'm like oh what's going on here and I'm like all right this looks cool but what really got me back into it was when Zach was doing a wrestling show at our radio station shout out to St. John's radio we're going to go down as the most legendary things we're going to go down as legendary the St. John's radio club. Maybe we'll save a St. John's specific pod and we'll tell the stories about our radio beginning and then just everyone from the radio club shout out Gabe and on the radar shout out to him but you know what we'll get everything with the St. John's radio and discuss how legendary we are. But anyway Zach was doing a show a wrestling show and he was alone and then I was like oh you know what obviously I'm a wrestler at that point in time I wouldn't say I was a wrestling head but I was like all right I know enough where I jump back in like it'll be easy. I jump back in and this is right around what I want to say like 2014 ish 2014. Yeah this was like yes old mania was in the I think that summer was the summer slam where Brian lost. Okay yeah so 2014-15 like yeah so around there yeah I was like let me tune in let me see what's going on so I was aware of the shield but this is when Seth is really like they like this is around the time the shield breaks up basically so I caught as I'm going dipping in and out like I'm catching the shield I'm catching this. Shield breaks up I'm like oh shoot okay what really kept me was NXT I was watching that seeing NXT and then what brought it home for me was Sasha Bangs at the time and Charlotte Flair when I was like oh Ric Flair's daughter's wrestling oh that's nice and I'm staying in I'm like oh the women are really wrestling now. Like this is this is a different ballgame right now let me see where this goes so then throughout NXT like I remember my first event getting back into it where the NXT's Brooklyn like all those NXT like SummerSlam Brooklyn stuff and this is this I knew they caught me because I didn't even go to the the main roster stuff I was like I just want to see NXT. I was in the building for Sasha versus Bailey like I was there I like still one of my favorite matches I saw in person I can't believe I saw that match in person absolutely my favorite takeover my favorite and since then I got back I got hooked on a narcotic man you can't I'm never gonna be clean from this. I I remember being at that show too and like that was that show was insane because they did that match and then they did Finn and Kevin Owens right after and people were standing around like I can't believe it there's still more show to go the place was really rocking but you know live events like that I think I think back to so many New York crowds have been a part of too because the year after that I couldn't believe it. I remember I went back to it might have been a year after or the year before there was a Barclays Center Raw where The Rock came out by surprise and he had an encounter with Rusev and Lana and then I think back to the grand A.W. Grand Slam the first ever A.W. Grand Slam I was there on the floor. And Kenny Omega versus Bryan Danielson I had I have to say as much as I love Sasha and Bayley like that match might have been the best live crowd I've ever been a part of because that that felt like a moment people were waiting for. It was 35,000 people it was the hype and anticipation of Daniel Bryan Danielson now being able to perform not just a venue like that but you know back getting back in the swing of his style of wrestling and it just is what it meant to all those people like you can't put that match in any particular 35,000 person venue and it's going to sell and it's going to be as magical as it was. Maybe you can do that for a lot of WWE shows at a lot of different places some people might pick up but I think there's something about being in downtown New York in the Queens area knowing the reputation of how much people love professional wrestling there and building to a moment that's like we keep saying that's what it's all about. It's about really being able to define that moment through feeling not just the big the broader strokes. But it's more it's just everything that wrestling gives you and the emotion and it's just like just thinking about the matches that we saw or that we've come across and it's so interesting like if we could put down like some of the best matches we've seen live like it's incredible like what they do. Yeah and just the feeling you get. And I think like they try to communicate so much more personally too and like you go to some indies you go to a lot of these like smaller shows with people who like they're really going at it like and it's not just oh they're hitting each other hard and whatever else. These are people that work together all the time. They're going the same tracks. They're working the same indies. I remember something that really stood out. We'll talk about more during our Armenia weekend recap was our GCW for the culture and some of the people on those cards with on those in those matches on that card that we talked about we were like oh they've been working a lot this month and this person's working with that person a lot. That's what makes the business really interesting and special. It's not just oh this person's signing here. It's this person's been working, developing something, making something special and look at all the people they're connected to. Right. It's the connectivity. It's the tissue of everything. Definitely. Yeah, we went to obviously a lot of events during Mania weekend and we're seeing people. Some people wrestled, you know, five, six times during that week. You know what I mean? Just hustling and getting their work in and giving us incredible matches and that's really what the feeling is all about. As a wrestling head when you hit those moments of like on a high and it's just like it's amazing. It's beautiful and I'm happy that you know more people like hopefully more people share that aspect of it and aren't embarrassed to because it is an incredible art form. A unique art form in a sense because nothing is like wrestling. Like nothing is like it at all and that's what makes it beautiful and that's why so many people, you know, they try to work elements of that in. But as you mentioned the GCW and all that like we want to sort of give you what we plan to talk about. So like I said, we want to talk about wrestlers that are inspirational, that we find that are cool, that have inspired us. So we're going to give you a rundown of our next couple episodes of what we plan to do. We definitely want to give just have a wonderful episode on Bull Nakano. Just recently inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. Look is amazing, just her attitude is amazing, how she changed a game is amazing. And you know I was really disappointed with the audience when she went up there to speak because obviously Paul Heyman went first and they wanted to see Paul. You know but Bull Nakano is someone who's really an OG, a real OG. I thought it was kind of flat. It definitely just felt like people weren't sure how to react. And it was weird because it was like, you know, she was on it like a kind of, I guess not. I believe she was right after Paul. It was tough to follow that just for anybody. But I think Bull is so special and she represented such an important time for women's wrestling breaking through into the United States. And you know you had Alundra Blaze who was so untouched as far as her stature in the division. And then you had people like Bull Nakano leading a generation of, you know, pre-joshi, just like Japanese women wrestlers. Just blazing the path, you know, working incredible programs and really long-standing matches. It was a very special time in women's wrestling when Bull was riding high in the early 90s. Right, so Bull Nakano, obviously one of my favorite wrestlers now is Asuka. Direct inspiration, even with Io, Kairi Sane, Juliana, just the whole, just all the Japanese girls are really, really doing their thing. Another person is Zach's favorite. Yeah, one of my favorites ever, Chuck Taylor, who unfortunately had to announce his retirement from the ring because of a long-standing ankle issue. So he will be retiring from in-ring performing and working as a backstage or producer hopefully with A.W. to finish his contract up. I know as of the time of this recording, he has a big interview coming up with Renee of A.W. So it really is one of those things where I feel like Chuck Taylor's career is so much less stated in the matches and the title runs. And it's more stated in who he is as a wrestler. He's always somebody who was known for his comedy, but he could also work in the ring and has worked in the ring with so many big names and so many important people in professional wrestling. And seeing his run in any indie you can name, but namely Chikara in the late 2000s, early 2010s YouTube era of just people posting clips of pro wrestling online, hoping that you would buy a $6.99 iPay-per-view. And I think he's a guy that people would love to hear more about if they understood him, if they saw who he was, if they saw a very different era of professional wrestling. It was a different time. It was an edgier time, but it was also a time with a lot more sincerity and a lot more focus on seeing people who were not going to ever get a chance in the structure that was pro wrestling on TV at the time, ever get a chance to be on TV. And these indie promoters like PWG, like Chikara were making it their business to make these guys as big of a deal as possible. People like Owens, like Kevin Owens now, Kevin Steen, people like El Generico, Sami Zayn. Chuck Taylor was right there with them, and he is part of a larger legacy of that era of indie wrestling. Right. Shout out to Mr. Fuck Them Kids from the Clip Vac Show. That's right. That's right. Another person we're going to talk about is someone we saw in person in Philly. We saw her a few times as Jada Stone, GCW. She was at the SWV, the vintage wrestling store. She was wrestling over there too. Just an incredibly young, talented woman in the space. Clearly, the grind, you know, she's doing what she needs to be done, as you know, Bailey wore her shirt. She's recognized by Mercedes, and she's just an amazing, amazing athletic. Just someone so young and so vibrant and just hungry and ready to get what is theirs, do what is theirs, and just live out their dreams. It's so beautiful seeing someone just chase their dreams as they're very young. I believe they're only like 20, 21, if I'm not mistaken. 20 years old. 20. The world is her oyster. She's fucking phenomenal. I loved her athleticism when we saw her. I was like, I was immediately, I was like, okay, because I've seen her online, and I've heard of her. But when I actually saw her in person, I gave her something like, nah, like I need to, you know, if she's ever at House of Glory or something, I was like, listen, we're in there. We are in there. But she's just another one who's just putting on strongly, and 2024 is her year. It's her year. She's great. Another thing that we plan to do is, as I said earlier, a WrestleMania recap. This was Zach's first one, my second one, to be watching wrestling so long, and finally have him come to WrestleMania in Philly. You know, recap what that was like. What were you expecting? What did you like? And things like that. Yeah, Philly's a beautiful place, too. Like, it was just so much fun. It was your first time in Philly, right? Yeah, it was a couple of firsts. I had a plenty decent bit of firsts. And it was a beautiful place to be, and like, WrestleMania weekend, I always hear about it, and I always see all the frenzy and the activity. But it really was one of those places where we saw everything, and so much was happening all at once. The day we were getting in there was blood sport. And then by the time that we got to Wally Mania that night, like, there was already so much more going on. So, you know, it's a whirlwind, and I couldn't have imagined a better place than Philly because it was just so much damn fun in general. Yeah, Philly was fun. I know people complained about the weather and the cold, and I was like, I mean, just gotta brave it. It is April. But Philly as a city, I like Philly. I go to Philly a lot. So I had no problems going there and doing what needed to be done. I was like, let's combine my two, one of my two favorite things. So yeah, it was a fun experience, and we're definitely going to share clips and post those and just what it feels like being in an audience during WrestleMania weekend. It is different. It is different. I mean, it's fun, and it's nice to just be a part of that. No matter how goofy or embarrassing people think it, it is fun. It is a real fun thing to actually witness because people are like, you know, WrestleMania is like, it's like WrestleMania obviously has all these fans go. But like in the middle of the street, it's like you're never like, oh, you go to WrestleMania, you go to WrestleMania. You know what I mean? It's very different thing to talk about, especially for something like WrestleMania that is so ubiquitous and everyone knows what it is. So it's just like, oh, you're going. So yeah, we're going to do that. But basically, from now on, all these shows are going to be about a specific person, what we like about them. We're going to go over some matches that we love. I don't care about, you know, I don't care about five stars, two stars, zero stars, one star. I do not care. If I love a match, we're going to share it. So if it's the worst match in history and I like it, it's going to be on here. So brace yourselves. But that's that's what we're here for. Same. Absolutely the same. If it's if it made me remember it, if it's something I thought was cool to talk about from any particular angle, like it doesn't have to be a good match. It doesn't have to be particularly funny. It doesn't have to be particularly gory or bloody. Like it can be its own thing. Has to be different. I'm glad we talked about Sharpe Boy. There is a very oft not covered segment Sharpe Boy did. And I just think his whole gimmick in general is incredible because his final stages, the payout he got from the movie studio, I feel like is one of the best stories you could ever hear. Because it's true wrestling. It's about copyrights. It's about gimmicks. You know, stuff like that. We're going to talk about things in the business that has a larger impact on culture itself. Not just did you see that promo at the beginning of Raw? Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I feel like that is so worthy of stressing. That this is not going to be just howdy doody like one clone 350. Like we're not doing that. Right. Another thing too is that there's so much wrestling out there and so many people watch it and they like what they like. It's just I don't feel it necessary for us to add more to it because so many people already have their own shows and they're doing what they want to do. A lot of them are doing just that. So it's like we want to take a different approach. We just want to talk to you. And I think hopefully this fosters into a beautiful environment for people to come and talk about why they love wrestling. So it's going to be interesting getting into this and seeing how it shapes out because I find the beauty in all of it. So it's going to be really cool talking with you and then figuring out what maybe other wrestlers that you enjoy. Because I didn't realize you enjoyed Chuck Taylor that much. But yeah, but it's like we're clearly going to teach each other things. And another beautiful thing about this is that this is going to even broaden our horizons even more within wrestling as we talk about certain individuals. And if down the line we may ask you guys, our fans, our soon to be fans, who would you like us like introduce us to people that we may have not done yet. So we could go watch and see what we like and share with you what it is that we like. So it's going to be a beautiful thing. Yeah, I feel like you personally have always been someone I like your approach on wrestling. I think you have a good authority on the programs you watch and the content you consume. But something you said is very astute. At the end of the day people already have their show or their way of following their whatever thing they watch a lot. So what's important for us to do now is to flex that muscle and we want you as an audience to join us in doing that. We want you to learn and grow with us. We want you to learn and grow from the things that we are trying to educate ourselves on. And we want to be able to use you as a resource as well. The viewers, people who get involved in the communities that foster themselves through professional wrestling. Through fandoms and groups that are passionate like wrestling fans are. I think that's a powerful thing and I think we want to continue to connect with people on that level. I want this, at least from my participation, to be a very two-way street. It's not about, oh this is a parasocial thing, I want to be this and that. It's about, I want to know what everyone else is thinking about when it comes to wrestling and media and how they affect each other. And I hope that we can attract people who are also interested in that same line of thinking. Right, so final words is we're aiming to find what you enjoy because we're going to talk about what we enjoy. So let's all enjoy this thing together. Alright guys. That's right.