Recap by: Christopher Jay, rajah.com
Please send all feedback to: jspodcast2020@gmail.com or @wrestlingfancs
Grilling JR 4/8/20: Dark Side of the Podcast Brawl For All
The producers on if they feel Bart Gunn is bitter: "I never got the sense that he was carrying any bitterness. There is in a sense that he is disappointed in how they didn't push him after he won the Brawl for All. He didn't really carry it around when we were with him. He had an end like quality to him where he has moved on from it. He seems to be really happy. I believe he is an electrician. I think he mentioned he works over at NASA as an electrician at times. He has grandchildren there and he seems pretty comfortable. I think from my advantage point is the thing he carried around more than his lack of push was the Butterbean thing. The Butterbean thing is something that does haunt him. Had he prepared differently, had he not gone to a boxing trainer, had he not approached the match like a boxer and actually approached it like a tough man contest, maybe he would have had a better chance. I don't know if the outcome would have been a different. I think that is the thing that ate away at him. Another interesting thing about that interview was he had told us that he had never seen the fight before. He had never watched the Butterbean fight before up until the day before that interview. That to me really just said this was a really hard spot for him to go back to because I think he did feel humiliated and he was very disappointed in himself and that is something I think he has been carrying around. One thing that did come to light last night, again on After Dark that was interesting is when he was sitting at home after he wins this tournament, and he is brooding about his career, he wrote a letter to Vince McMahon which he didn't mention in our interview, I don't think, but he actually wrote a letter to Vince McMahon spelling out his frustration about, you know, I won this thing, now where's my push. That letter that went to Vince went completely unanswered."
The producers on meeting The Godfather: "We got to the strip club the Godfather works at. He doesn't work there anymore. He had this windowless concrete building that's behind the strip club, he is the manager and that's where he works. We walk into his office. It's like a cloud of weed smoke. He has these 2 porcelain panthers on the side of his desk. He had the Scarface like camera monitors where he can watch everything going on in the club. He launched into telling us stories about his pre-wrestling career. He was smoking these volcano bags of some kind of weed vapor. We find ourselves smoking these volcano bags of THC vapor. He is pouring shots of Jamison American honey, not my thing. We are going shot for shot for hours. Godfather said, guys, I've done some bad shit, talking about his biker gang days. One of the stories that sticks out in my mind...This dude comes in to the bar he was working at and was bragging about the KKK to the Godfather. This guy showed him he had a knife with a KKK branding on it, some grand wizard stuff and Charles (Godfather) wasn't having any of this. He beat the shit out of this guy in the bar, and then stole his knife, and Godfather used to wear it around his neck all the time, like a trophy."
The producers on a tweet sent in by John Piermarini: The producers said they believe John worked in WWE in the last 10 or 15 years and John tweeted: "Incredible job with both seasons. A funny story. While in creative in either 2009 or 2010, Vince wanted to do another Brawl for All with the guys competing on NXT, in its original format. He had to be talked out of it."
@jasoneisener @evanhusney incredible job with both seasons of @DarkSideOfRing. Funny story - while on creative in either 2009 or 2010 Vince wanted to do another Brawl For All with the guys competing on NXT (in its original format). He had to be talked out of it.
— John Piermarini (@JohnAsHimself) April 8, 2020
