Mick Foley Remembers Barry Blaustein

0:03Peter Rosenberg! Shout out to that guy. The Major League. Oh my goodness. It's professional wrestling. The King of Kings. 24 seconds. Stick your chair. 100%. Confirmed. Not Major League. Stay mage and enjoy yourself.

0:27it's cheap heat with peter rosenberg featuring stat guy greg and dip yes ladies and gentlemen welcome welcome welcome to cheap heat live on pro wrestling nation 24 7 uh peter rosenberg your forever 24 7 champion i am here on long island this week which is a very very appropriate we'll get to that in a second joining us in uh los angeles it is uh 38 at 35 dipperstein well there's something interesting going on with the with the hair yeah right i know it's i don't know what's going on something's up yeah there is something going on right it's taking a dip it's taking a dip i don't know what's what's going on here at the front something's going on it's interesting though.

1:16That's better, right? Something I had to futz. It required a futz that I didn't have time to do. And if you don't have time for a good futz, you're doomed for the rest of the morning, at least. I'm impressed. Either way, no matter how you put it, there's something going on with the hair, and I'm enjoying it. It's like your headphones. SGG, his headphones are like lost in the middle of his head. It's like they're sticking in. You don't even know what they're going into. That's exactly what it is. I they need futzing with too I'm a great futcher one of the great futchers what it's what it's reminding me of is do you remember when Kurt Angle had his head shaved but then he put on like a toupee with the headgear what that's what how dare you what a terrible guy by the way that is a great take SJJ that is it man that's exactly what it's giving you've been taking shots at us for years so so it's about time you had beautiful hair this whole time it's about time yeah no one shot no one feels bad about our jokes about your full head of hair sorry dude um and speaking of bald he is the physically bald stat guy greg yeah and i want to amend my statement from a couple of weeks ago when i said i'll be back in a week i think it's more like two months in two months i'll be back it's it's i gotta tell you scg it's getting worse it's somehow somehow scg it's going the wrong direction it's it's like It is.

2:39Like, I don't even know how you ever had a full beard. Like, you better really. Are you sure you 100 % want to do this? Do I want to get the full beard back? Yes, I'm 100 % sure I want to do that. So nothing has grown on your face in a full week? Barely. Barely. Wow. I feel like you shaved back down and got the shadow back in the time that I'm still struggling to get back to where I was. That's exactly what happened. I shaved yesterday. Yeah. And that's why I don't feel bad about what I said. Wait, Dave. What's your name? Dave. Brian dip. You. You. Hold on. I confused. I confused dip and shave and called him Dave, which is incredible.

3:22But wait, hold on. Dip. You literally shaved. What did you shave with yesterday? I use an electric razor that gets me. That gives me. But it wasn't skin. It wasn't skin yesterday. It was. I'm not doing skin anymore. I'm done with skin. No, no. wants to do skin it's terrible i'm done with skin because i was going to say sug if he had done skin yesterday and was back to where he is now i would have said that dip is officially homer simpson like he shaves it it just pops right back like that's how would dip is it i would take an absence until i come back until i could come back all right well ladies and gentlemen welcome to the program we did we spent a lot of time on uh beards and moustaches recently um we have a lot of things to talk about today, including I am very much looking forward to, even though it's going to be difficult and sad, I am really looking forward to paying tribute to the great Barry Blaustein, who all of us had a different relationship with art-wise and otherwise.

4:19And we are going to have a conversation with, I think, probably the best person in the world to talk about his talent and importance, and that is the hardcore legend Mick Foley, who's going to join us at 12.30 Eastern Time. So Mick is going to come on. Obviously, Mick was a centerpiece of Beyond the Mad, but then they stayed friends for the last 30-some years. So Mick Foley will join us in a bit, and we'll talk to him about the great Barry Blaustein, who we lost this week. So, but let's start the show then, guys. with a little bit of recapping, of backlash. I thought that Jacob Fatu and Roman Reigns was excellent.

5:09And if anything, I'll start with you, Dip. If anything, I think Jacob's performance may have shown us why exactly it would have been incredibly cool had he shocked the world and taken the title off of Roman. For sure, for sure. I mean, we all look, we all we went into this pay-per-view knowing that that was not going to happen. So I, you know, with just that, just living on a tiny bit of a prayer that it could. But it's all right. Look, man, Roman Reigns is Roman Reigns. You know, what can you say about the man? I can say I can't beat him. He can't. Well, Roman had to cheat to beat him, to be clear.

5:47He did cheat. He did cheat. Did they, did that, was that addressed enough this week on, on, um, SGG? Was that addressed a lot on TV on Monday that Roman had to use the turnbuckle to, he had to rip the padding off the turnbuckle to beat Jacob Fatu? I don't think that it was. I'm like a little confused by that. Like, I was a little, like, I was the only person bringing that up on the post show and it just doesn't feel like it's been talked about. Whereas like, listen, I don't know what it is to produce a wrestling match. None of us do. That's why we're Hackadoodle-Doo fans and not producers. But like, SUG, I would assume that when you take someone who's as impactful, important, and always winning, with the winning percentage of Roman Reigns, if you have him intentionally grab, or maybe you could argue it wasn't intentional, but clearly for the story point of the match, he grabs the pad pulls it off and then in the end throws jacob into the exposed turnbuckle before spearing him in any like sg doesn't that have to be a pretty big story point like that's very very intentional the way they framed it is that roman was desperate which sure you know desperation is good it's a good little story wrinkle but i like the dastardly angle more I think you mean that he was actually just saying, not just desperate, but underhanded.

7:11Yeah. Well, they like that more. Well, we are, we are obviously going to get them to run this back at, at clash in Italy. I was listening earlier this week to Tommy, I believe it, talking about how he expects there will be some sort of stipulation. They won't just run back the exact same match that we already had. And I would, I would think that would be right. I would think so also. And we'll see. But I just want to give Jacob his props. Regardless of where they decide to go with the story, that was the biggest moment of Jacob's career. And I thought from a match standpoint, guys, I thought he was absolutely awesome.

7:54He, to me, completely delivered in a big spot. I had a really interesting conversation privately that I'll fully expose because I don't think he would care at all. But I was talking to Jimmy Uso earlier that day about Jacob and the match. And one thing that this is just such a great little bit of insight that I don't think any of us would have thought of. He was saying how important it is for Jacob to be in great ring shape because the kind of character that he is late in the match has to dig deep and do the whole and go crazy. and he was saying how hard it is to muster up that sort of energy late in a match is like, you know, we're not thinking about that literally him just flailing back and forth up and down after a 20-minute workout and then going crazy and then maybe having to hit some crazy moonsault, all of that stuff, just how difficult that is.

8:58But I thought it was interesting, Dem. I yeah I he really has has morphed into a non-schlump uh recently and and I would assume the Hulk up as a schlump is not an easy thing to do but anyway regardless I always every single time I see Jacob Fattu come out to the ring in a big match in a big moment or whatever I think this is the thing if I could choose any theme song to be my theme song if I were a a WWE star and the presentation of Jacob as he approaches the ring, it would be, this would be my choice. Really? I love, yes, the who, who. It's pretty mage. I love it, and I love the fire. I love a big fire thing.

9:41His fire is tremendous. Perfectly timed. Whoever's timing the fire. I want to know who the fire guy is. He's a genius. There's a fire guy. I know there's a fire. I've never met the fire guy. No, no, you never will. I've got to be honest, you're never meeting the fire guy. I'll never meet the fire guy. No. They keep the fire guy hidden away somewhere. You're hobnobbing with the talent. You're not meeting the fire guy. Please. I'm telling you right now. I'm declaring I'd like to meet the fire guy. Ask Ben Brown if he can introduce you to the fire guy. What is Ben Brown is the fire guy? It's very possible.

10:14He's a many things guy. He does a lot of. He does a lot of things. I don't think he maintains fire. That's not a fire. I will nitpick now just a bit.

10:31So we spent the entire week, brilliantly I thought, breaking down the impact of the Tongan death grip. Okay. Did we need Roman to talk right after he was attacked with the Tongan death grip? He was dead. You mean on the ramp? Yes. Well, the Tongan Death Grip is like a Samoan headbutt. It still affects the people of that community. But if it were you or I that got hit with the Tongan Death Grip, larynx gone, Ricky Steamboat, all of that. But I think because Roman is Samoan. You know what? That's actually a good point. It's like the headbutt where it does still have some impact. Well, a lot of impact.

11:15A lot of impact, yeah. But not the same as it would be. All right. You know what? The Moans have. That was the best response I've heard to this so far. You're actually not wrong in storyline. What you just said makes sense. Can I throw another one at you, though, and see what your Sam Roberts shilling defense will be for this one, though? Please do. So see if I can get full contort. Yeah. Yeah. See if you can contort for this one. So Jacob completely lost his mind after the match. He threw Adam Pierce to the ring. He kicked Hurricane. He's attacking Jamie Noble. Everyone's getting destroyed. death grip after death grip after death grip.

11:53I don't know if in that spot we have to have him hit the full catchphrase to end his spiel. Like, shouldn't it just be he's getting dragged off and is out of control, not stops on the ramp to be like, and by the way, here are all my catchphrases lined up. Isn't there like a time and place where we can like just pull back a little bit? Because we already had gone. Guys, I said this on the post show. Roman should have seen something familiar in Jacob Fatu. His dad. That was full on Sika lost your mind attack. Roman's foaming at the mouth. Jacob's lost control. SGG, what do you say about then following it up with the full United I mean Fatu?

12:47I feel like, you know, that's become his exclamation point. You don't necessarily want to forego that. The fans came to hear that, quite honestly, on top of what they saw from Jacob Fatu. But also, that lets you know that there's going to be more to come, right? Because people had been wondering just before that match, right? The week before, it was Roman's taking a break. He's not performing in June, blah, blah, blah. So right after that match, Jacob hits his catchphrase. And that's the to be continued on all of this because then they release Roman's schedule. We found out that he is performing, even including at Clash in Italy.

13:24And then Jacob challenges him on that Monday, complete with the Usos beat down. Dippy, you got to give credit where credit is due. This man is a lawyer. That was actually a good response because had he not done the catchphrase, you could believe they're actually going to suspend Jacob, take him off TV and end this thing. And that Roman's gone. The title's hostage and then fans are in an uproar complaining before we even see how it plays out. But when he says the catchphrase, but once he says the catchphrase into the camera, you're like, no, no, no, this is just, we're going to keep going. This is not over.

13:58This is chapter one of what could be great. If we let it be, I know there's, I know there's oral Roberts university dip. I think actually you went to Sam Roberts university. I'll be honest. Cause this is, this is some good explanation dude yeah they're both really good at just talking to themselves for long periods of time about about wrestling yeah just going on and on yeah i heard sam this week make a case and this is what makes him a great host i heard sam make a case that the thing that makes sense if hayman and cody get together the thing that makes sense there is for hayman to become a babyface.

14:37I heard him breaking that down. Come on. And I'm like, dude, the world is begging for Cody to be a bad guy. And you would take the guy who's 97 % of the time a bad guy and can make it. Literally, Heyman is so good at being a bad guy that all it took was him sitting next to Roman Reigns to reinvent his career as a bad guy. And yet, we're going to force it the other way and have Heyman become a good guy? And here's why that would be disastrous. Let's just go through it historically, right? How many babyfaces, as popular as Cody is, and as formidable on the microphone as Cody is, have ever needed a manager, period?

15:24And the ones that did, you can think of like, you know, Macho Man and Miss Elizabeth, where she was basically mute. I didn't know what her voice sounded like in the 80s at all it was i heard her say she was gonna marry him and then that was that's really all i could think of um maybe faces as good as cody don't don't need managers it would come off as forced and and then that would probably force a heel turn i gotta tell you i a heel cody with a heel hayman all of a sudden like i mean he's he's associated with so many people at this point you know in the last you know year or so it's it's kind of changed the the wise man has changed hands in so many different capacities.

16:04And the vision has changed so much, yeah. True. And that's a function of that, of course. But if he were to if we were to finally get the Cody turn with Heyman, something plus. That's the thing. That's why I agree with you 100%. Because like A, it's doing two things. It's like A, you're getting you're finally getting heel Cody. And then you're getting them together. It would be such a double whammy. I just why would we be fighting why are people acting like Cody is going to be John Cena he's not he's not he's already a he's hinted at it in interviews because Cody bears his soul and lets people know where he's leading we know he wants to do it at some point like it's not like there's a part of it John was always just like I want to do what the company wants me to do Cody is very much like nah I hear the crowd that you know there could be another side and also he's done it like he already has done it he was a he was a heel in AEW he's been a heel in WWE and I've said this a million times and I'll say it again he looks perfect he dresses perfect there's so many things about him that lend himself to being the ultimate he could be the Ric Flair of 2026 why are we fighting this it would be great i would like to see i would i would like to see him be the corporate champion he's the rock in 2001 whatever that year was he's paul hayman is his manager triple h make sure he's can make sure he's on top and he's like the corporate champion and only wears dark colors and just and and he's just you know now you want to make it a cop now you want to make a macabre Cody Rhodes.

17:56Yeah. I don't know if you're getting him in dark colors only. Although, you're right, it would have changed him because he does wear a lot. That is a man. Is there a man you know in the world who dresses as well as Cody Rhodes and wears light suits as often? It's crazy. He wears light suits. He wears a lot of light suits. Very colorful man. In real life, most mortal humans cannot wear light suits. Not a thing that's true. We don't go there. Remember when Obama wore the light suit? Oh, my God. I'll never forget that moment. By the way, he looked fantastic But let me just say You got the two Rhodes Nephews that are coming up on the Indies right now Who are, you know, about as WWE looking as money could buy And you have them To be the heaters, you have Cody turn Heel, you have Heyman Be the manager, and all of a sudden you got You got the new corporation It's beautiful Would that be more like new Bloodline though?

18:51Sure, Bloodline meets Bloodline meets the corporation. Also, please don't skip over my boy from the Nightmare Factory, Max Abrams on Evolve, who is moving along quickly and is a really heelish, terrible guy and was trained by Cody. There's a lot of fun people to go to. Apparently, when he changed his name to Max Abrams, I looked around the day they announced it. I'm like, I made the joke on the air. I know. I was like, he sounds like an Upper East Side dentist. I mean, it's a crazy name. He's like, and he's such an awesome, like, shit-eating, you know, just this annoying face and shaggy hair and big smile.

19:39He gives no Upper East Side dentist at all except for the name Max Abrams. My brother chimed in with a great point. He was shocked with the amount of hair talk that we had at the beginning of the show that we did not talk about MJF's current situation. what about it it's beautiful what about it it's on the line it's never going away what do you mean the whole thing what do you mean that man is that man would never ever lose his hair uh no but it's on the line the whole show is about it his hair is i'm well aware i'm well aware the balds the thing that segment on wednesday when he's walking around seeing everyone backstage that was bald i'm like oh my god this is fantastic i loved it i loved it it was very curb it was curb it was curb It was Kurt.

20:21And by the way, the amount of balds that they had. SGG, you should have felt like you got a phone call. Yeah, I feel slighted. I feel like I'm the most prominent, aside from you, of course, one of the most prominent bald people they could have called for this spot. You, me, Kurt Angle, superstar Billy Graham, Sam. Sam. But Sam's still a recent bald. You and Sam are both recent balds, I'll be honest. He hasn't vested his baldness yet? I think that's from here. I think it's it's getting there though it's on the right path alright we have to take a break we are going to talk to all of you about all the things going on across the world of pro wrestling including your thoughts on backlash where things are as we head towards clash backlash backlash where we are with the aforementioned MJF hair versus title match that's coming up but up next in just a few minutes we will talk to the great Mick Foley about the passing of his friend and absolutely devoted peckerhead and member of the Cheap Heat universe Barry Blaustein who we lost this week so we'll talk to Mick Foley next right here on Cheap Heat Live on Pro Wrestling Nation 24-7.

21:33It's all supposed to be fun. I think we touched a lot of people. It's not supposed to be real. Stop me. Drop me or something. But behind the scenes, it's a whole different story. It's been hurting too many times. You need a new knee now. Everyone feels like they got their money's worth out there. Beyond the Mat. We make movies. Rated R starts Friday, March 17th everywhere.

22:13Welcome back to Cheap Heat with your forever 24-7 champ, Peter Rosenberg. That's right, alongside Dip and Stat Guy Greg on this Friday, May 15th weekend. Happy to be live with you on SiriusXM, Channel 156, Pro Wrestling Nation, 24-7. And one of the real joys of doing Cheap Heat over the years was the different peckerheads that we met, the people who were a part of our little universe who came from different walks of life and found their way to cheap heat either when we were at Grantland or ESPN or The Ringer and now here on SiriusXM. And one person who had been there from very, very early on was the great Barry Blaustein.

23:04And at some point, I became aware that the director of my favorite documentary of all time was a listener of the show, and we ended up having some back and forth over email and then eventually became friends over text and would just chat about different things here and there, and he was always incredibly, incredibly loyal to this show. And then, of course, when Coming to America came out a couple of years ago, which he wrote on, as he did so many great Eddie Murphy projects, Barry came on the show, and I'm going to re-release that episode this week on Patreon if you have not heard it, but we talked about Beyond the Mat, about his writing with Eddie, and all of those things.

23:47So he had an unbelievable career. Before Beyond the Mat, you're talking about brilliant sketches on SNL. You're talking about creating some of literally the greatest American comedies of all time in Coming to America, Boomerang, The Nutty Professor, etc. And then he made this love letter to professional wrestling called Beyond the Mat, which I think is so a part of and hugely responsible for podcasts like this, a station like this, and adult fans who re-fell in love with pro wrestling because of the angle that Barry Blaustein brilliantly took in that film. and one of the key components of that film is the man who joins us right now, an absolute icon and close, close friend of Barry in addition to being a focal point of that film and that is our friend Mick Foley.

24:42Mick, welcome to Cheap Heat, man. Well, I appreciate it and I've got kind of a unique request for you. What is the number on SiriusXM? And I'm checking out at one, okay? I'm on Peter Rosenberg's show. He's big. They'll understand. They know. Trust me. It's Sirius XM channel 156. 156, because I'm texting with Barry's daughter, Casey. Oh, awesome. And yeah, yeah. So she wanted to listen. I wrote, you know, I think we might talk about the article I wrote. that's up on my Facebook page. I spent quite a bit of time on last night, and I sent it to her first. Like, I said, I'm going to post this tomorrow, but I'd like you to be able to read it first.

25:39And the feedback I received from her meant so much to me. Like, it is for everyone, but in particular, it's for Barry's family to know how much I appreciated him and how close our friendship was. and how much I loved him. My wife loved him, too. He was beloved in the Foley family. Let's start here, Mick, because if you haven't been to Mick's Facebook page, it is a beautiful tribute to Barry, and it included some things I did not know, even knowing both of you guys and knowing the film so well, and that is that when you guys originally met, it was prior to your WWE run, and he was originally going to use you as sort of a story of a guy working the indies.

26:27Is that right? Yeah, yeah. Like he had me penciled in as the guy who had, I mean, I'm just coming up with the phrase a taste of stardom. It was more than a taste. I had a nice run with WCW, but I was back out there on the grind. You know, I was trying to reinvent myself in the way of the Indies. And then everything obviously worked out differently as far as my place in the movie was concerned. But that original meeting took place in either late 94 or early 95, at least a year before I joined WWE.

27:17And it's clear in the film that you guys became close. That's one of the things that he shows, and he shows the voicemail that you left him when he was concerned about you. How quickly did you realize, oh, this is more than me just participating in a documentary. This guy and I are very much simpatico and are clearly going to be friends. Oh, very early on. Very early on. As a matter of fact, Peter, going back to what my role was supposed to be, I went to a signing. And sometimes comic book stores, they'll have photos that they have printed out. And there was a photo I'd never seen. And it was me coming down the aisle at ECW when I had my airbrushed Spaces of Fear shirt.

28:09You know, this is at a time when I was trying to play off of WCW and the kind of ill will they had with the fans at that time because they were bringing in people, giving them pretty lame gimmicks and pushing them to stars. So this is not a knock on the guys who were in the face of fear, more the way it was used. and I see this gentleman in the photo just to the left of my shoulder holding a camcorder with the biggest smile on his face. And I took a screenshot of it and I texted it to Barry Bloom, the gentleman who introduced me to Barry Blaustein. And Barry Bloom has been my manager for the last 26 years.

28:59I was like, this is Barry Blaustein, right? He's like, yes, it is. And look at that smile on his face. He really enjoyed being around you. So we got pretty close very quickly. And I included in the story a text message that my wife Colette had sent me about how special it was. We opened up our home to him, our lives to him. When Barry was in the process of doing this film, I thought, this is going to be the thing I'm remembered for. This will be the most important thing I've ever done. and to this day, 30 years after the fact, it's not quite 30, 30 years after meeting him. Yeah, it's definitely one of the most important things I think I've ever been part of.

29:47So I re-watched it this weekend, and I've seen it recently. I see it, I watch it every couple of years, but in sitting with it this weekend and thinking about Barry, Mick, I was like blown away by, and I brought this up with Dave LaGreca earlier in the week, it it's so incredible that this film happened um the time in which it happened you know in um biggie and i were speaking about it this week you could never do it now yes they do unreal and it's very cool but everything right now is such a clean different thing it's a huge corporate entity it was the perfect time because wwf was becoming gigantic but it still had the remnants of being this old school business and it's all in it with all the backstage stuff that that you see in the film mick that doesn't resemble the backstage that i've gotten to know over the last decade at all it's a totally different time and i'm i'm amazed at how vince at the time and and i know that and you talked about this in your tribute over time i know vince sort of changed his mind on the film but early on at least he seemed sort of into it almost like he was playing up for the camera like it he almost had like gave some michael scott on the office vibes where like he's very clearly aware that he's being filmed do you remember how vince responded initially as the filming started well i i remember barry uh giving me a call and saying um it didn't look like we'd be working together anymore because uh wcw was was the was going to be the participant they were going to be the big company.

31:32WIB very much wanted to be in this movie because of the competition with WCW. They saw it as a big deal, and it was a big deal. Now, as it turned out, I completely disagree with Mr. McMahon's take that it exposed them. You know, it took away from them magic. I thought it... I see the bigger... I try to see the bigger picture, and I don't know of anyone who watched that who came in with their own perception about professional wrestling is who didn't walk away with increased respect for what goes on both inside the ring and in the lives of the people who participate and so like I said in my article that was a big influence on me when I decided to write my own book because I realized I was, you know, I don't want to say exposing, but I was in a sense exposing people to a new, you know, a reality that they may not have been familiar with.

32:44And I thought, okay, I'm saying some things, I'm putting it out here. I do not want to insult anyone's intelligence because in the beginning I did have a ghostwriter. And for example, He was covering the babyface turn I had with Gorgeous Gary Young in Memphis. But he was writing it like Robert Fuller had genuinely turned on me in real life. He was like, I couldn't believe what Fuller did to me after everything we'd been through. And that was the way things were. That was the way the magazines were written at that time. everything was in, you know, was the storylines were, were, were adhered to.

33:28And I took a cue from Barry's movie and decided to be honest with the audience and with the hope and really expectation that they would realize there was so much more to professional wrestling than they had previously thought. That's interesting. I mean, that, that's, you know, that's one perspective. But when the camera was backstage and, you know, filming you walking back in the curtain and getting the stitches and, and having some, you know, like the camera in the face of the wrestlers at that time, how did some of the other wrestlers react? Did they have a similar opinion as you or what? Did some, did others react differently?

34:16I remember there were a few people who were very guarded, who were concerned. And I'm not going to name names because the one I'm thinking of is not with us anymore. And I just thought, like, for example, to the exception with the footage where we're seeing being given, I think we got draws at that time. I think you could still get a draw of$100,$150 a day against your cut. I don't think that's been done in decades now, but it was common practice at the time. And I remember thinking, I believe the audience understands we get paid. I don't think that's a bad thing to see$100 bills being exchanged.

35:06But there was definitely, you know, there was definitely a sense among a few people that this was different and change is not always seen as being good in a business like wrestling. Something I want to ask you, too. This is Greg, by the way. I'm a co-host of the show with Peter and Dip. I want to ask, how did your family navigate this? because especially with the I Quit match, and I'm thinking about the aftermath of that, you signed up for this documentary. You and Barry have been talking about it since 94. Noelle, I think, is either not born yet or she's one years old. And then fast forward to this moment, it's iconic, and the fans got one picture of it on WWE television, but then your family's feelings, they're just thrust into it in the documentary.

36:00And I'm curious about how you and Barry navigated showing that to the audience because you signed up for it. They probably didn't necessarily sign up to be that deep involved in the doc. Yeah, I didn't, you know what? I didn't, I didn't give much thought. I mean, that sounds crazy. It was, I mean, it's the idea that my children might not want to be in it. I think they both loved me. They both love being in it. It's funny. Noelle was probably 16 or 17 before people realized she was no longer four years old because she was an intolerable part of that movie. And to this day, the word nipples. Every child has to have a favorite word.

36:57She went nipples. Yeah. Yeah, they really enjoyed it. By the way, Tim, I'd like to say hello to Barry's daughter, Casey, who was listening to us. Oh, hey, Casey. Hey, Casey. Yeah, yeah. And I, hey, let's just make sure, I don't know if I answered that question thoroughly, but Peter, if it's the only thing we accomplish, I mean, we are accomplishing far more than that. I would really like to talk about the last time I saw Barry because it was really a great evening. Yeah, set that up for us because I understand that, and I wish I'd known about this, that there was a screening of Beyond the Mat on the big screen in Los Angeles, and originally Barry was set to have a Q &A afterwards.

37:50and then obviously with the cancer diagnosis things got very intense very quickly he wasn't able to do it and they reached out to you 48 hours ahead of this screening and said can you come to LA can you drop everything and come to LA you happen to have a day you could come you made it out to LA the only day I had off like in that two-week stretch I looked at my talent I saw May 8th I'm free and um you know there was no nothing talk of money being you know like that wasn't even on my radar hey am I getting paid you know like it was it wasn't you know and I would have uh I believe I would have refused it at least I would like to think I would have and yeah I did I made it it was such a great feeling to see that movie on the big screen again because Collette and I had gone in 1999 when it was released and I've only seen three of the things I've done on the big screen I've seen that movie I saw Peanut Butter Falcon and then I a couple weeks after the screening of being on the map, I saw my episode of Dark Side of the Ring on the big screen.

39:12And there's just something about that feeling of community. Fans did not know I was going to be there. I got there a little bit late. I sat in the back row. But they get the subtle humor. And it's a funny film. But it's funny in a way you don't fully appreciate until you share it with others. Like, this is a movie I think that's meant to be enjoyed at its best. I think you could argue that many movies are at their best when they're enjoyed in a community setting. But it was really rewarding to me to be there, to be able to fill in for Barry, to do that for his family. And then we decided that it had been decided we were going to visit Barry.

40:03and I went with Barry Bloom, my manager, his wife Lisa, his son David, who by the way portrayed a young Al Yankovic in the movie, in case you guys have seen that movie, that's David Bloom. Absolutely. And it was just, I don't know if this is the correct comparison, but it is the way I felt afterwards, the way I would feel after the maybe five to 10 best matches I'd ever had, where you don't want to go to sleep because you're replaying every minute. And you almost, you don't want to go to sleep because that that's the ending of the, of the evening. That's the way I felt when I left Barry's house, there was so much love in the air.

40:52It was the first time I'd seen his daughter, Casey, since she was probably 19. This is a young lady who I took along with her brother, Corey, to a Knott's Berry farm because they both like roller coaster. And, you know, mom and dad were not huge roller coaster fans. And I remember after that, after that visit, when I dropped him off, I'm going to Barry saying, thank you so much. And he said, you're a great friend. And I knew he meant it. Like taking the kids to Knott's Berry Farm just took the friendship to another level. But it was, I don't want to use superlative after superlative, but it was really a beautiful evening.

41:44It was like almost bordering on the magical. and it's one of the things I'm most grateful for that I had a chance to I had a chance to see Barry and then when I told Casey, his daughter that I wanted to write Barry a letter she said, Nick, it's days

42:08we're down to days so I wrote the letter that night I don't know if anyone's ever seen or heard of my chanted letters But, you know, when I sit down to write a letter, it's you can see that some work goes into the writing's nice. It's a really nice piece of paper. And I still believe in the power of the written word. And I sent it out next day air. And unfortunately, it arrived six hours after Barry passed. But but it's something they can hold on to something that's, you know, real. and Casey asked me last night if I wouldn't mind if she read it. I said, no, I would love it. I love having that little remembrance there.

42:56And hopefully the article that I wrote last night in our talk, I mean, it means the world to me that I'm getting feedback from Barry's daughter in real time. So she just texted me and said, the best day. And it was. It was the best. It was the best day. I mean, it was Barry, the smile on his face, just, it was, it was, he was beaming. He was really beaming. And I'm just grateful to have that opportunity. I'm, you know, I will maintain the dirtiest words in the English language or what if. And, um, you know, I'm sad. I'm very sad at the loss of Barry, but I'm, I'm not sitting here talking to you thinking I should have, could have, would have.

43:48So I did get to see him. I did, you know, had that time with him, you know, told him I loved him, you know, was there with the family and a few of his closest friends. and it was a beautiful day we talked not only about wrestling but about his SNL days when Eddie Murphy came back to Saturday Night Live he won an Emmy for that and it was Barry and Dave Sheffield again that's how highly Eddie Murphy thought of Barry that he brought him back all these years later to work on his stuff for Saturday Night Live I'm sure it would have been fine if the SNL writers had done it, but it was more than fine.

44:34It was amazing. And that's because Eddie, you know, trusted Barry and Dave to do, to, to do injustice. And they did. Yeah. It's pretty amazing. I mean, one of the things I've kind of really enjoyed this week through the sadness I've, I've kind of eulogized him. This is like my, like the fourth time that I've kind of eulogized him. When the news, when I found out on a few days ago on, was it Monday or Tuesday? I immediately, like later that day, I talked about it on my sports show. Then I did it the next day on my morning show. Then I went on with Dave LaGreca. And the one thing I've really enjoyed is that when I'm telling people who don't know about Barry Blaustein, when I lead with Beyond the Mat and they go, oh, Rosenberg's talking about a wrestling guy.

45:31I get such joy out of going, well, he did help create these movies you may be familiar with. And I love getting to show off just how incredible a guy he was. Did you ever get, and we got some stuff from him when he came on Cheap Heat and we promoted Coming to America, But did you ever, A, did you get the sense that Barry truly understood how loved Beyond the Mat was? And follow up to that, did you ever try to get him to just show off and tell you some good stories about making those classic Eddie Murphy films? We did talk about the Eddie Murphy movies. And also there's the behind-the-scenes tour that Barry set up for me at Universal Studios Hollywood.

46:28And we're driving in the golf cart, me and Barry. And I hear a voice going, forever, doing the Terry Funk, forever. forever. And I turned around and it was Eddie Murphy doing the Terry Funk forever. No way. Yeah. Yeah. So it was, it was really, you know, for Barry to introduce me to Eddie and for Eddie to say how much he had meant to his career. Like, you know, the, the, the night that followed the, um, the visit to Barry's house, I watched the Eddie Murphy documentary. And boom, five, ten minutes in, I've heard Bosty. I think in response to your first question, I think he did realize how beloved that movie was and how respected he was as the man who had changed the game.

47:31Really, yeah, it was really groundbreaking. and it holds up well to this day. If anything, it's gotten even better with age. And like you said, there's a lot of things taking peeks behind the curtain now. And in a sense, I think they're all trying to battle it out for second place because I don't think any movie's going to come along that has that type of power to it. There are so many fascinating stories within wrestling, but to have that type of power and also the connection with two of the people in the movie. I was very close with Barry, but so was Terry Funk. Mick, do me a favor. Do me a favor.

48:14We have to hit this top of the hour. Can you hang on for two minutes, and we'll close out with you in just two minutes? All right, hang tight. A couple more minutes with Mick Foley. Right after this, we are talking about the great Barry Bloustie right here on Cheap Heat Live Pro Wrestling Nation. Now available on DVD. Showtime. Step into the ring. Oh, my God! Feel the rush. Here we go! Own the action. This is the dance! The new ringside special edition of Beyond the Man. I've never seen anything like this. Get the true inside story from wrestling's biggest superstars. The Rock is the most electrifying man in sports entertainment.

48:48Now with hours of exclusive bonus footage, including an all-new audio commentary featuring wrestling legends Mick Mankind Foley and Jesse DiBotti Ventura with director Barry Blostein. Why doesn't Vince wear a tie? I don't think he knows how to tie a one. In the no-holds-barred movie, Vince McMahon doesn't want you to see. He's got a puke! Because the truth hurts. The new Ringside Special Edition of Beyond the Man, now available on DVD. We're joined by Mick Foley, friend of Barry Blaustein, and one of the focal points of the film. You were just bringing up Terry Funk as we went to break, so I wanted to give you a minute to speak about Terry, who you were also so close with.

49:28and your friendship is documented in that film, what it must be like for you to go back and watch that. And also, Mick, my heart just is ripped to pieces when I watch that Dennis Stamp scene. I think for any of us, for you guys who put your bodies on the line, and even us who just broadcast, he so embodies that sort of unspoken desperation that everybody has to get to be a part of the show. And to me, Mick, it may end up being the most touching part of the entire film. Yeah. Even after Terry offers him the role as referee, Dennis, like, plays hard to get. I know. He tries to guilt Terry. It's like he's trying to manipulate Terry Funk into feeling bad for him that he hasn't been previously asked.

50:26It's a good scene. I mean, it's like, he goes, hey, you never know when that phone's going to ring. And when he says it's been 10 years, it gets laughter. And it was so well known that when I was part of a roast for Terry, Dennis Stamf was there as a guest. And he got up on the dais. And the first thing he said was, well, I finally got booked. and it received that great response because so many people there were familiar with it. And you know what's funny is when Dennis Dance is saying, I know this is nothing against the guy that Dory's wrestling, but I know no one could have a match with Dory.

51:09Like I could. The guy he's talking about is Rob Van Dam.

51:15I hadn't even thought about that, who the guy was who had the match on the card. It was RVD. Yeah, yeah. So Dennis is saying he could have had the better match than RVD could. And Dennis plays a small role in it, but like you said, you remember it all these years later, and I don't want to take a knock at any of the other films that were up for best Academy Awards that year because Beyond the Mat was one of the 12 finalists. I don't know if they're going to hit this hard the same way and make you laugh and make you remember. I don't think if people, I don't know if people carry those movies close to their heart like they did.

51:57I mean, at the time, you know, there was a bias, I believe, that I think people needed, they needed the iron claw. They needed the wrestler, really, to give them approval to appreciate something or to talk outwardly with positivity. Because I think it was overlooked. But it's far more important that the movie is loved to this day, that the tickets for the screening went very quickly in Los Angeles. It was a sold-out event. Everyone who was there wanted to be there. Everyone felt like they were sharing something special. And that all goes back to Barry's vision. One thing is I had become such good friends with Barry that I would stay at the house.

52:52I stayed at the house on many occasions. And he had those storyboards in his office. And there was so much footage. And it was a matter of how do you bring this down to like the hour and 40-minute mark. There was so much stuff that had to be left on the cutting room floor. But yet he told so many great stories, even like the side story with New Jack. Even the little bit of China that's in there, you get a sense of who Joni was just by watching that movie. He accomplished so many things with a relatively small budget. And what a testament to Barry that we're talking about that movie to this day.

53:35Mick, he gets Cornette and Jim Ross sitting at the monitor together, analyzing the two kids trying out. You get Russo talking to Sable about selling the back. You get you and Rocky, which as you pointed out in your piece, is the first time that Dwayne Johnson is on the big screen. It has so many incredible nuggets in it. and I'm sure he has so much more footage that would be amazing. And Mick, if you'd be up for it, obviously this is way down the line, but I do want to talk to Barry's family about us at some point picking the right charity and doing a screening event for Beyond the Mat either in Manhattan or on Long Island.

54:21I would love to do that. Oh, man, yeah, I'm in. I'm in. You might have to work around my schedule, and I will move whatever I have to to be there. Yeah, I would love to be part of that. Yeah, I think that would be so cool. As we wrap up here, memorializing the great Barry Blavstein here with Mick Foley, what's the hardest part for you to watch? Because I won't lie, my wife and I were watching it, like I said, two nights ago and my wife has become friends with Noelle over the years as well. As you know, we're very close with her. She was at my wedding, etc. And we, you know, it's hard watching the scene where she's, you know, burying her head in your wife's arms.

55:02It's still to this day hard to watch. What do you find to be the hardest thing to watch about Beyond the Mat all these years later? The hardest thing for me, and this is really a credit to Barry, is when he came to my house in Florida to show me the footage. He was concerned that people would think I was a bad father. And that's not what he had taken from our time together at all. And so he wanted me to be able to see the footage. Because I remember him saying it was always powerful. And I kind of brushed it off because, no, this is really powerful. I guess in my defense, my defense, the kids were fine by the time I got back there.

55:52there's that line where noelle goes dad do you have a boo-boo i said it's a little boo-boo honey it's a little boo-boo and she goes daddy that looks like a big boo-boo like there was cuteness back there but i didn't see that i didn't see that going on um i i didn't see you know the tears the the sobbing i didn't even know they were done you know originally the finish was going to come by me looking at my children when I was handcuffed. And that was where the I quit was going to come from. And my fear was that I had done such a good job of convincing my children that I never got hurt, that they weren't going to look concerned.

56:38And that obviously wasn't the case at all, right? And you know, if you go back to the WWE archives, Hunter did a very similar thing within two weeks where there was an I quit match and someone had, uh, had Joni in jeopardy, China in jeopardy and he quit. So the storyline did get used and it would have been powerful, probably too powerful. Um, but that's the most, that's the answer to when I see that. and I realized, oh my goodness, I allowed my children to sit there for that. And then it's the other puzzler to me is that I guess I didn't even think anything was strange about having my children watching me get stitched up in the back.

57:30That wasn't even on my radar. But that was to the extent Barry thought highly enough of me to want me to see it. because he didn't want people having the, he didn't want people leaving the movie thinking that I was a bad father. And he was successful because Al Snow and I went to the premiere of Arnold Schwarzenegger's movie, The End of Days. And there were a group of about 20 women talking with each other. They were kind of like looking my direction and one of them came over and they said, we work for Universal. So we were part of a test group that watched your movie before it was available. And we just want you to know we think you're a great father.

58:17And that reflection may have been different had he not gone out of his way, made a separate trip to Florida. So I could see what he had captured on film. Wow. 30 year later, spoiler. I happen to know for a fact that you are a great father. I think we've all seen this now play over time. Okay, last thing I have to ask you because I just noticed this the other day, and tell me if I'm wrong. There have been things made over the years about how you felt about the chair shots from Rocky in it, and you guys have a brief discussion of it. Mick, I hate to let the cat out of the bag, but you are also known, you are one of the most beloved and nicest guys in the wrestling biz.

58:59But I do feel like when I paid closer attention to the conversation this time, you did sort of say to him, you know, you hit me here. I thought you were going to hit me here. And it felt like you gave him a little bit of a nudge there. Was I right in noticing that? And did you guys ever talk further about those chair shots? We did. And, you know, I think he left me a voice message just a few months ago mentioning it. By the time, you know, I mean, the deal was we're going to take five shots total, but I was still in the ring at five. Like, it took me longer to work my way up the aisle because every chair shot was far worse than any chair shot I'd ever taken.

59:52I speculate it's because I didn't realize your body can give with the blows to some extent in a way that it can't when your hands are cuffed behind your back. It's like a tension position. And it felt like a lightning bolt going down my body when that first one came in there. So these aren't just five hard chair shots. Nobody should be taking five unprotected chair shots anyway. Anyway, these are the five hardest chair shots I've taken in my life because I didn't have the ability to get with them. So we get up to eight or nine. I'm expecting the knockout blow from behind. And I see 20 guns running around me.

1:00:39It felt like a horror movie. but um years later years later um and i think this is this is what a friendship this is what holding on to a friendship is all about um you know friendship you know you don't dispatch your friends when you have your first sign of trouble you it's a valuable friendship you hold on to it talk things over. Scotty Tuhati made me aware that I could have been a little kinder to Dwayne when I did the 10-year anniversary voiceovers with Jesse Ventura. And he was like, he kind of buried him. I was like, yeah. So I don't know if Rock was there that week or the next week. I don't know what my role in the company was at the time, but I talked to him about it.

1:01:31He went back and watched it with his wife, Danny, his wife at the time, Danny. And he saw what Scotty meant, but then he also saw the point I made. And Peter, like, Brock and I have been really good friends ever since that talk. And it would have been easy to have, first of all, imagine how miserable I'd be if I was in a feud with Dwayne Johnson, knowing he's the most popular performer in the world. I was like, that wouldn't be advantageous to me at all. And so we had that talk, and we've been really good ever since. I just received a couple of voice messages from The Rock after I wished him a happy birthday.

1:02:16He pointed out that largely because of the This Is Your Life segment, where he said everyone knows The Rock's birthday is May 2nd and stupid, like SOB, that it's now etched in people's minds. Dwayne Johnson's birthday is May 2nd. Like, I think that's the primary reason people remember it. So, yeah, we did have a, you know, it did cause a little bit of friction. But in the end, it only, that experience only strengthened the friendship. Yeah, and that scene, for anyone who hasn't watched Beyond the Mat in a long time, just go back and watch it. There's a scene initially when they show you guys backstage and you and Rocky are talking and Shane comes over and Shane is sort of kneeling down talking to Noel.

1:03:02Then Austin walks by. Austin comes and says hi to Noel and says his daughter's in the crowd. It's just like too great for words that this moment in time was captured. Mick, thank you for coming on to celebrate Barry. And while we have here, I just want to say, I'm sure I'll get the chance to tell you again, but while we have the millions listening worldwide on Pro Wrestling Nation 24-7, you are such an incredible credit to the wrestling business. You are so loved by everybody. And there's not a person who has the faintest interest in pro wrestling who does not love Mick Foley from every one of the boys and girls in the business to my father-in-law who's a foreigner who the only thing he knows of wrestling is Mick Foley.

1:03:50That's all he knows is Mick Foley is pro wrestling. My wife just texted me and reminded me that that's how Shlomo sees pro wrestling. It's Mick Foley. But you are just so loved by all of us. You're so kind all the time. Your writing is beautiful. You show people that wrestling is more than this brute soap opera, but it can be brilliant and filled with people who are artistic and can write and be progressive and be brave about their views. you're just the ultimate credit to the business and we love you. Thank you for making time for us today. Thank you, Mick. Well, I really appreciate that. I want you to know, Peter, if you could extend an invitation on air to Casey because she was really excited about the idea of attending a screening.

1:04:34Yes, and Mick, please feel free to just shoot my number to Casey and have her reach out to me. I'd love to be in touch with her. All right, that sounds great. Thanks so much for having me on. I feel really good about it. I'm glad you invited me. Of course. Thank you, Mick. I'm glad you made the time. All right. All the best. Bye now. Bye-bye. The great Mick Foley. Listen, I didn't know we would do close to an hour with Mick, but when you have the opportunity to do that, I think you take it and you run. Man, isn't it crazy? Barry says in the film that he was, like, concerned about how Mick sounded on the voicemail.

1:05:11And I don't know, Dip, if we did the math. S-U-G, you're the stat guy. What's Mick when they were filming the movie? 30? He's 34. You looked it up? Yeah, he's 30, like 33, 34. I think I think. Yeah, around. He's about there because so is Paul Heyman. If you can believe that. In fact, it was one of the things I wanted to point out today. And 30 years later, Mick still has all these stories on deck. But I'm sorry, what were you saying? That was what you wanted to point out. That was Paul's age. Also, just a few things at that in that moment in that film, because I did watch it again last night and then I watched it again this morning to be honest with you when I couldn't fall I woke up very early I did like a 4 a.m.

1:05:54or this morning for some reason and I ended up watching it again just in preparation for today and the things that were going on don't forget Imagine Entertainment Brian Grazer produced this movie okay and Ron Howard which I completely forgot about until I just watched this movie again I this was the content give us the Hollywood context for that. I'm going to. I mean, obviously, they're two of the most famous producers of all time. Ron Howard is one of the most famous actors of the 50s and Ron Howard, one of the great filmmakers of our generation. At this time, this same production company was making Eight Mile and Beautiful Mind and Blue Crush and movies like that.

1:06:38They were in their prime as a production company. And then this credit comes around and it's beyond the mat. And it's a very well-known thing that Brian Grazer, who is one of the most famous film producers and TV producers now of all time, produced 24 and hundreds of 50 incredible films and many TV shows. He is obsessed with other areas of culture other than the film business. He has employed people that have over the years that have just been on staff to let him know what's cool so that he can explore different worlds. And so I would imagine, and I've never gotten to talk to Brian Grazer about this, but next time I see him, I will about Beyond the Mat.

1:07:22I wonder if at that moment when wrestling was hitting its second apex as an important cultural phenomenon, he was like, I want to be involved in this movie. I don't know how, maybe Barry Bloom had something to do with it, but I would love to know how Imagine got involved and Barry Bloom is an executive producer on the film. I would love to know how Imagine got involved. So that is an interesting thing. When we do this screening that I'm really going to work on doing in the next, I'd like to do it in the next several months. We should definitely have Mick and Barry Bloom there. To me, those would be the essential.

1:07:54Sure. I'd love to be there too. I think it would be totally awesome. I think you'll be invited. Well, you think I'll be invited? And by the way, part of me feels like we honestly should do it on Long Island. I think that like with both Mick and Barry being from Long Island I think it could be very cool we have such a huge I mean dude half our calls we get from New York are from Long Island like I think it'd be really cool to do it in Nassau County no it's true the other thing um that the movie was actually released in March 2000 and the other thing that happened three months later was my bar mitzvah wow wait it didn't come out till talk about beyond the thousand March 2000 I believe that came out.

1:08:31I looked it up this morning. A lot of the footage is from 99. That's probably why I thought it was. But some of it starts in 90. He has footage in 97 too. Well, he shot the movie over a three to five year period. He shot the film.

1:08:48No, no. Release date is, sorry, October 22, 99. So just before 2000. Where did I get March 2000? I don't know. You're a crazy person. Was it released wide? Something happened in March 2000. I'll look that up. Okay. You either. Yeah. WrestleMania 2000. Either way. It's very close. Also, I love that it has a mad dip. Think about the time that we were in. It has a Brian Grazer and imagine behind it. The budget for the film that Barry had to fight for is$500 ,000. Now I know. Now, are you saying dip? You think he already had it fully? Do you think he had it fully done before he went to imagine? Or you think during he went to them?

1:09:29Imagine probably paid for it. Like up front? You think they paid up front? It's possible. Maybe we can ask Casey about that as well. There is a producer on the film named Michael Rosenberg. It is not my father, in case anyone's wondering. Yeah, it's unfortunate. But Mick just mentioned it, too. And I guess now, we didn't even ask. I don't think we asked Barry about this SGG when we had him on the show. Can you imagine the other footage he had? It was released in theaters in March 2000. Beyond the math, Barry Blasting was released in the United States in theaters on March 17, 2000. While the film is often associated with 1999, its production year and early film festival screenings.

1:10:08Its wide theatrical release occurred in March 2000. Wow. There you go. I appreciate Dip not letting it go. No. Well, because I just read it this morning, so I was thinking like, what? So, yeah, I guess they're giving it a festival date here of October 22nd. That's weird. But I don't think we asked him about it, SGG, and I never asked Barry about this. I just wonder how much he probably has a whole other movie's worth of footage. It was three years of time. And I would love – maybe we can get some of the old footage to shoot. I mean, think about how much New Jack – New Jack's in it for five minutes.

1:10:40But he spent time with New Jack. New Jack was leaving him voicemails. Like, think about how much time he spent with these people. I mean, even just Mick Foley talking about in this article that he met him in 94 when he was in ECW doing things. And then – Yeah, I wonder how much more stuff there was. The two crazy things that I took from rewatching it that I hadn't remembered or noticed in the past because I was younger. I guess I haven't seen it in a while. I thought I had, but I hadn't. Spike Dudley is a completely normal guy who studied Shakespeare. It took me a second to remember that that was Spike Dudley.

1:11:13I thought he was a total freak. He's one of the most fascinating figures in wrestling ever. I would love to have a conversation with Spike Dudley. I would be incredible. And then secondly, the casting meeting that Barry took New Jack to is something of such a different era in Hollywood than current. I mean, people still meet with casting directors, obviously. But the idea that like he ran a few lines with the casting director and then they just stood there with him and sort of nodded and gave him notes. I mean, that is just a bygone era that just does not exist anymore. By the way, I feel like it was pretty cool.

1:11:51I feel like the version of the movie I watched this week did not have that. I totally forgot about that scene. How would I have missed that? I bought it on Amazon yesterday. I wonder if the version I watched didn't have that. And now that I'm in the movie. You blink and miss it, though. It's two seconds. It's two seconds, right? Yeah. I do have the special edition DVD downstairs. But we're definitely going to do an event for it. I just want to talk to Casey and his wife, Debra, and find out what the best charity would be. and then we find a theater. Because you know what? It would be really, it's one thing to watch it on like a big TV at some place, but getting it in a theater and getting to watch that on a screen would be super, super cool.

1:12:35So I do want to work on that. The other shocking thing is that in the doc, Jake Roberts is only 42, 43. I know. I know, dude. The ages of these guys. He looks 70 in the doc. He looks younger now than he did then. Do you realize the level of the depth of, there's a lot of documentaries, the conversation between him and his daughter, do you guys how frigging real that is? Yeah. The faces his daughter's making at him when he starts suggesting maybe he'll commit suicide, which, by the way, respectfully to the great Jake, and I know Jake has mixed feelings about the movie, I've talked to him about it before, you know ultimate wrestler manipulation by the way being like i don't know maybe i'll who knows what i'll do and she's like what it's just a crazy scene it is incredibly intimate and emotionally just wow i mean he got so much stuff in that movie um all right when we come back we're gonna take a break we're gonna take your phone calls if you want to speak about barry blaustein and beyond the mat what it meant to you please feel free we haven't gotten to really any of the wrestling of the week so if you want to talk about anything related to that it's all there for you as we close out uh the rest of the way here on cheap heat live pro wrestling nation 24 7 as the boldies make their way to the ring we're going to show you the movie preview that vince mcmahon and the wwf don't want you to see beyond the mat in theaters march 17th there's no script for what happens outside the ring puke is good it fits the wwf attitude if you're real proud of me mama i'm now known as puke it's all supposed to be fun if you smell what the rock is cooking it's not supposed to be real you're not gonna be scared right it's gonna be okay if you go back to the future you can do anything

1:14:49I don't feel like such a good dad anymore. But behind the scenes, it's a whole different story. I hope everyone feels like they got their money's worth out there. And for the first time ever, you'll know the real truth. He's got a puke! He's got a puke! He's got a puke! It is showtime!

1:15:14It's been hurt too many times. You need a new need now. My God, I could be mayor here next week. But what would it be? That's what really scares you. He stopped me. He dropped me with something. Somebody stop the mask! Uh-oh, injury timeout. Mixing your saliva so it looks a lot worse than it really is. Oh, there you go. All right. It's all about giving the audience what they want. Whatever it is. I think we touched a lot of people. Yeah. If you don't mind me saying it. I'm a very violent person, and I'll hurt you. And that's what I get paid to do. Yeah, you're right. We're too extreme. We're too wild.

1:15:53We're too out of control. We're too full of our own. Beyond the Mat. Did you have fun? Yes, we had so much fun.

1:16:12877-344-4893. three that is our phone number if you want to jump in on cheap heat live pro wrestling nation 24 7 right now i'm going to take your calls on everything but we'll let tim and charlotte get us started with some thoughts on beyond the mat what's up tim hey peter hey guys thanks for taking my call yeah i talked to dave on wednesday about um about the off the mat or beyond the mat thing and it's crazy if you go back and watch it and obviously everybody has watched it that Jake the Snake is still alive. I mean, you've got to give credit to him and DDP. I mean, he definitely changed his life around.

1:16:47And like you guys said, imagine the footage that he still has that nobody has seen. And great interview with Nick Fould, too, guys. Thanks, guys. Thanks, Tim. I'll tell you what. Yesterday I looked up after watching, and I tried to find my interview with Jake from a couple of years ago on GP. And I said that to him. I was like, I cannot believe you're alive. Like, can you believe that you're alive? And he probably hears that every day. Yeah. And he does. He should. He hears it a lot. And I think he like feels a lot of gratitude that like people love him so much and are so dude, when you watch Beyond the Mat, you are sure he's going to be dead within years of that movie being over.

1:17:33You're sure. Yeah. Yeah. So funny. after watching Beyond the Mat, it rolled into the resurrection of Jake the Snake movie. Oh, yeah? Yeah, and... He did not get it together in those years between those movies. What, like how long it took him in? I was just... The fascinating thing is the footage that was shot for Beyond... The footage that was shot for Beyond the Mat was in 1998, 1999, 2000, whatever. And... That was only five, six-ish years after the snake bite. Oh, yeah. Dude. I mean, it was two years after King of the Ring. There's only one part. Barry said one thing in the movie I disagreed with.

1:18:22He shows Jake at that event, the one where you see him taking a piss in the trough, and he brings that girl into the ring, the little girl. It seems like a sweet moment because he brings the little girl in the ring, and then it goes to his voiceover. and he's like it's a great time for her i mean you know she's probably gonna have seven kids with seven different dudes one day but she'll always look back and remember this like it's like that's a crazy moment there yeah he takes a really sweet thing and just ruins it by being just such a downer right but the one thing that barry says i disagree with is he's like this is as far considering he had just you know he had wrestled in front of 90 000 in 1987 this is as far down as you could go without starting over is what Barry says about that show.

1:19:12I remember that line. And the thing I disagree with is you could go much further than that show. Like that show still had like 500 people. Coco was on that show. Yeah, there were a bunch of people. There were a bunch of people on that show. Speaking of which, Coco's another guy who Barry interviews and includes in the movie for like five minutes. My guess is before Barry knew where it was going, he might have been planning on doing a lot with Coco. There's probably a lot of Coco. There's probably a lot of Coco. He could have easily been the indie legend guy that Terry, not Terry, that Jake the Snake ended up being.

1:19:48Oh, that Jake. Frankie. I don't know if it was still the same Frankie, but Frankie was looking fantastic in that time. Don't talk about Frankie. Did we tell that story on this show? Yeah. Alright. We didn't have Coco on the show, did we? No. Someone else told the Coco story on the show? I think Shoemaker told it. I don't know the story. It was a horrible end for... Honestly, I shouldn't even have brought it up. I didn't know. I don't know anything about it. Yeah, you don't remember? Another time. I don't. Frankie, it's a bad Frankie story. 877-344-4893. we could have had Coco if you didn't take away his Hall of Fame that Saturday Night's Main Event I think that's what that's what set us back more than anything we should still try by the way speaking of a happy story did you guys see the so I had this moment I saw Dan Spivey backstage at Backlash and I sent I didn't send it to USG it was a group chat with Nick and Dip that I sent them both the picture of Dan Spivey.

1:21:07And by the way, dip, Nick didn't really know who Dan Spivey was. Oh, how blasphemy. I know. I'm surprised. He's only been doing WWE. So he was bigger in W, but he had to come past. I'm surprised he hasn't read his book yet. I mean, for God's sake, but, but he, he caught up and, and we, we, we caught up on Dan Spivey, but I was saying that I, I sometimes when I see these legends backstage, stage, I like hesitate to go up and bother them. And then I like had this thought I went instead, I was like, what am I doing? They want people to bother them. Of course. Of course. So I went up and I'm like, can I take a, you know, and I'm obviously dressed up, you know, you can tell I'm part of the show, right?

1:21:45I don't know that he knows who I am, but I'm clearly dressed up and part of the show. And I took a picture, his wife took the picture and blah, blah. And I was saying, I was like, oh, I'm glad I did it. He, he, I'll post it. He like jokingly choked me in the, in the photo whatever do you see do you see the thing spivey put out this week yeah yes it was just so sweet if for people who missed it spivey put up this post that basically reached out to ps hayes and asked for tickets but didn't know that ps would put him backstage and everyone would say hello to him and you know and he had these great seats and he just was a legend yeah i know legend.

1:22:21But that's a thing too. And that's what Barry made me think about this. And I'm glad Mick let us know that he knew that he was the man and that he was loved. I hope these people know. I'm not in a position to tell everybody, but when Dan Spivey shows up and he gets to feel that, that's great. I'm hoping for that for Barb and Warlord. Well, I don't know about Barb and Warlord, but I did hear from Demolitions people. they saw the interview with Shawn Michaels from WrestleMania weekend, which obviously dipped it in here because he wasn't on it, but SGG probably did because he listens to the show.

1:23:02And I asked Shawn a lot about, instead of just talking about NXT the whole time, I was like, dude, can we talk about working with Demolition? And Shawn Michaels was just putting over Demolition, right? And how great they were. So apparently Demolition saw it and they were very happy. So SGG, I said, can we get Demolition on GP? Pete. So we're going to get demolition on GP. I don't know if I could do it. I think I'm going to be too nervous. I don't know. I understand. It's going to be tough for me. I'm going to tell you right now. I will be shaking. I know. For the record. There's still footage of me on the internet.

1:23:39You know, Brett walks in and I don't even know what happened. I don't know. One of the great things I've ever done. One of the great things I've ever done was surprising SGG with Brett Hart. oh yeah i i don't know whose hair is nicer mine or axes at survivor series 1990 right now you know the axe you're giving that though you're giving it's it's giving the same thing are you doing the giving thing you're you're in on the get you're doing the giving it's giving this it's giving that dip it's it's people have been saying it's giving for five years already i know but it's now. But you know what? It's giving like Gen Z vibes from you.

1:24:20Okay. I say, I say giving a lot. I do say giving a lot. I haven't heard giving. This is, this is new. The giving thing. It has to come up. It has to come up. It has to be in the right circumstance, but this was a natural. It was a natural spot for it. Yeah. Your hair is literally giving acts 1989 right now. No, 1990 survivor series when he had the beautiful hair, it was different. He changed his hair. you're saying what do you don't know this no there's like a yeah there was a sign for it recently and everything why was his hair what it changed from oh it changed from being slicked back to being poofed like there was just the one night because because he was like leaving the next day and he said screw you vince and i don't feel like doing it got it yeah and then recently there was a sign in the crowd that said why was axe's hair so nice at survivor series where have you been.

1:25:06Do you watch wrestling? You don't watch wrestling. When was the sign? Where did they have the sign? I don't know. It was like March, February? No, it was recently. What was the great sign? What was the great sign? No, it was like a year ago, Greg. Yeah. What was the great sign from like a few months ago when we ran a venue that we don't have it run in a long time? Oh, when we ran in Chicago for the first time in 30 years and someone said they were in traffic? The sign was like, was in traffic. Did I miss the match from Mania? From Mania, Chicago! That was made. Let's go to Matt in Hoboken for some Beyond the Mat.

1:25:52What's up, Matt? Hey, Peter. Hey, guys. Thanks for taking the call. Of course, dude. I watched the movie again this week, obviously after everything that transpired. Two things jumped out at me. One, uh you know i'm 37 years old this came out right attitude era time up until that point i think my life was kayfabe only and this really like changed how i viewed wrestling and i don't know if my fandom develops in the way it does without this movie so uh really important movie uh second thing that i thought was funny upon watching it this week uh dennis stamp saying there's nobody better to wrestle dory funk jr than him do you know who dory funk jr and mick foley just told you just Miss Mick Foley, tell us this.

1:26:33Oh, I missed it. I did not know it was RVD. I did not know. So good. All right, thanks, guys. Thanks, dude. Now, by the way, I will say this. I mean, RVD, known to be on the stiffer side, maybe Dory Funk would say he would have preferred Dennis Stamp. I mean, maybe RVD would have worked. Maybe RVD was very snug that day. We don't know. But I just love that he says that, too. He's like, I know the guy he's having a match with. By the way, that's another thing that's incredible at the movie. that Terry Funk retirement match which of course was nowhere near his retirement but that Terry Funk it was a good match though great match he gets Brett to come down as champion Heyman comes Dreamer comes ECW was promoted by ECW they promoted the actual show yeah was it considered an ECW event yes so it was a technical ECW event I want to say it was September 10th or 11th, 1997

1:27:37Let's see Let's see As good as it gets Terry Funk's WrestleFest September 11th, 1997 September what? September 11th, Greg History Week It's Greg History Week and it is a really good match Harry Funk's WrestleFest here's the full card kids and keep in mind that means also remember Barry is down there filming this entire thing there's Taz and Chris Candido while the Bushwhackers were in a match against the Youngbloods Balls Mahoney with the Sandman defeated Bubba Ray Dudley in a handicap match? Oh, Sandman was in the corner. Yeah. Shane Douglas over Tommy Dreamer. Dory beat RVD. Wow. Mankind over on Sabu.

1:28:44Yeah, come on. They got to give Dory. Listen, if you're going to have Terry do the job, Dory's got to get a dub. Mankind over Sabu. Brett. Brett was with Bruce Hart defending the championship. Yeah. With his title against Terry Funk with Dory Funk. Wow. As you know, as much as we talk about like Vince and how he does things now and like very, you got to be under the WWE umbrella. It's crazy that he sent his champion to another promotion and then let another guy film it all for a documentary and owns well he owns the footage now but he just he just let it happen it's it's pretty cool and it's funny you know things soured with Vince and they ended up then saying they ended up promoting it as the movie Vince McMahon doesn't want you to see that's right so it obviously and and And Carlos Herrera, a dear Peckerhead who loves the program, sent me his Beyond the Mat promotional poster signed by Barry.

1:30:06Oh. And, yeah, I'm very jealous, but I did immediately find a Beyond the Mat promotional poster and order it and, wait for it, a Beyond the Mat promotional T-shirt and ordered that as well. Why did I not already have these things in my collection? What was I doing with my life? I think you know people in this town. I know. You think you know people in the town, and guess what? You don't. All right. So I did – I wanted to close out with at least the really – there are two big bummers I had in addition to just losing Barry, the world, losing a great guy. Number one is Dip and I were supposed to hang out with him at Christmas a couple of years ago, and we ended up not.

1:30:48ultimately because, I don't know, I was doing something and was probably just being sort of like lazy and avoidant and being like, ah, you know, meeting someone in person is more complicated than not, you know, I don't remember what the reason was, but it wasn't a good one in my head to not hang out with someone who I'm so fond of and admire so much. And then number two is when I heard from Barry's wife on Sunday, she had sort of, it sounded like to me, hoped that we could do a segment of the show and talk about Barry and he would hear it still because he was not doing well but he was still aware and I was hoping that he would still be with us on Friday and he would get to hear us wax poetic about how great he was and I was extremely saddened to hear that he didn't even make it that long.

1:31:46So it was a month and four days from the prognosis of stage four pancreatic cancer to when they lost Barry. So we didn't get a chance. But just to all of you listening, particularly on the podcast, who have been with us for a long time, take a moment and think about Barry this week. He was truly one of us. Like, when I mean one of us, I mean like, I went back and was looking at our emails, guys. Barry was a hardcore, every week, peckerhead. like truly when I say one of us, one of the family, and wrestling will not be the same without Barry Blaustein. His contributions are immeasurable. Love you, Barry.

1:32:24You're the man. We love you, Barry. Thank you. Guys, great show. We're dropping a Patreon this weekend. We're going to put the Barry Blaustein episode up on Patreon as well. Thank you, Zach. Have a great weekend, everyone. Stay mage and enjoy yourself.