DANNY PICARD: We can’t do a wrestling podcast today without saying Rest in Peace to Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart, who passed away last week. What is your lasting memory of Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart?
JUSTIN BARRASSO: Lasting memory of “The Anvil”? I loved his dropkick. Then, SummerSlam in 1990, the two-out-of-three falls match with Demolition. That match is probably my lasting memory, with the Hart Foundation. May Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart Rest in Peace. I think his legacy, and rightfully so, will be that he was an important part of one of the most important eras in all time. So much of pro wrestling is presentation. How do you present yourself? “The Anvil” presented himself like a legit tough guy. Whether he was or he wasn’t, who cares? When he was out there, I believed that he was so tough, that he was so real, that he and Bret Hart worked so well together. I’m a huge Anvil guy. I loved his goatee. I loved his laugh. I loved the Hart Foundation. I loved the Pink and Black. Wrestling lost an important piece with the death of “The Anvil.”
DP: And it’s a reminder of how we’re in a time right now, where, it’s tough to find characters like “The Anvil.” You’ve got a lot of guys right now in pro wrestling, some guys who are stars, who just have a regular name. They don’t even have a nickname. They don’t even necessarily have a great personality. They’re just guys that maybe came up through the indy scene that the fans love, and he’s their sweetheart, and they love seeing him get the opportunity that nobody thought he could get. Sort of in an underdog role. And you see so many guys like that, I think we forget how many characters there were back in the day.
JB: And speaking of characters, I was just in Tokyo to cover the New Japan Pro Wrestling “G1 Climax,” which is this month-long tournament. It’s 20 guys, it’s two blocks, with 10 guys in each block. You only wrestle the guys in your block. And the two guys who win each block fight in the finals. I was there for the last three days of the tournament. And for those who aren’t watching the New Japan product, they have a lot of characters. My favorite is Tomohiro Ishii. He reminds me of someone I would have watched in the WWF in the 1980’s. There’s Zack Sabre Jr is a character, Naito is a character, Kenny Omega is overflowing with personality. And not that the WWE doesn’t have those guys, but New Japan reminds me so much of the WWF’s Golden Era and the Attitude Era. Both of those eras were overflowing with unique characters, and I think that’s what New Japan does well. And WWE, they definitely have guys that I love, but I think you’re right, there could be more characters in WWE.
DP: I’m glad you mentioned the G1 Climax, because as you know, I’m a big fan of New Japan Pro Wrestling. Now that they’re trying to make their mark in the U.S. by being on AXS TV, and Mark Cuban has some stock in it, and their partnership with Ring of Honor, you get to watch it a little bit more. But I’m a huge Kenny Omega fan. He’s been the best in the world for a few years now. And the winner of the G1 Climax faces Omega for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at Wrestle Kingdom in January at the Tokyo Dome, which is their version of WrestleMania. But you were over covering this G1 Climax, what was that experience like?
JB: It’s a difficult month for these guys. It’s a badge of courage for them, it’s a badge of pride to do it. But for me, it was so much fun. You’re not allowed to stand during the show. You’re not supposed to block anyone’s view. So, in terms of having a good view, no matter where you sit, you’ve got a good view because the person in front of you isn’t standing. And it was an older crowd too. There were more adults. I don’t know if that was better or worse. it was just different. The show started at 6:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and the show started at 3 p.m. on Sunday. The concession stands close at 6:30 on Friday and Saturday, and at 3 on Sunday. The idea is, when that show starts, what else would you be doing except watching? And you’re not allowed to video tape on your phone. Even I, as media, I wasn’t allowed to video tape on my phone, which is so fascinating because that’s such a big part of the North American experience, to get clips on your phone and then post them on social media. So it was just so different there.
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