
It’s the holy week leading up to WrestleMania Weekend (I really miss when it was a one-day, gajillion-hour affair, but what do I know?), so Adam & I are giving you the FIRST RTSMania 3-man tag match! That’s right, we signed the contract, set up the ladders, and invited the man, the myth, THE LEGEND: Chad Young! Known online as/for HorrorMovieBBQ, Chad’s love for all things wrestling, Ghostbusters, and horror conventions is unmatched. It was his idea to cover the show we discussed in this episode, Learning The Ropes. I had almost no familiarity with it, so, no, I did not Remember That Show.
Learning The Ropes was a 1988 Canadian sitcom (syndicated in the US), starring former NFL defensive lineman Lyle Alzado, as private school teacher/vice principal Robert Randall. What those around Randall didn’t realize was that he was also a professional wrestler, known as The Masked Maniac. He had been instructed by school leadership to keep his side gig a secret, so only his 2 teenage kids (he’s also a single father) knew about his double life. So, we follow Randall as he tries to balance life at home, in the classroom, and in the ring. The kicker, however, is that the show also served as something of a promotional vehicle for the pre-WCW National Wrestling Alliance, with many of the promotion’s wrestlers popping up in various roles.
This was a great episode for many reasons, as it’s our first with a guest, but it was also somewhat personal for me. You see, I discuss a familial connection to this era of wrestling that I don’t think I’ve ever written about or discussed elsewhere. It’s that connection that made the whole concept of the show that much more interesting to me. All said, we had a great discussion, and it ushers in a bold, exciting new era for the podcast. So, if you’re a fan of wrestling, bad 80s sitcoms, and/or podcasts about those 2 things, then be sure check it out here or wherever you get your podcasts!
PS: It’s worth mentioning that some sort of technical snafu leaves our guest sometimes sounding like he might have a lisp at times. We’re just gonna assume Chad was being possessed by the ghost of Dusty Rhodes, which would explain why he kept referring to himself as “The Common Man”!
