Opinion
Cook Interview Series: Matt Brock
Steve Cook “sits down” with legendary satirical wrestling reporter Matt Brock!
Steve Cook “sits down” with legendary satirical wrestling reporter Matt Brock!
Throughout my years of writing about pro wrestling on the Internet, I’ve been lucky to make some good friends. Most of you know about my long association with the man behind The Chairshot, Greg DeMarco. He’s been a good friend for many years. Greg is one of many people I’ve met through 411mania and maintain contact with to this day. Most of them you can figure out through my posts on social media & their mentions in my various columns, but there’s one high-profile name who I’ve been in contact with through the years that I’ve kept quiet. Until now.
We’re talking about one of wrestling’s literary giants here.
A man that’s been writing columns for magazines for at least six decades. Maybe more. This guy has seen it all. For whatever reason, he sees a lot of him in me. Possibly it’s the knowledge of professional wrestling. Maybe it’s the heavy drinking. Whatever it is, whenever Matt Brock comes to town, we will meet up in an establishment and talk about the pro wrestling. It’s one of my favorite parts of my life, to be honest. Unfortunately, with the world being in the state that it is, we haven’t been able to meet up in an establishment for awhile. Even if establishments here in Kentucky are open, neither of us would venture to one because THERE’S A PANDEMIC. And there’s the fact that Matt Brock must be at least 100 years old, and old people should be especially staying at home these days.
I love to rip on his age. It’s how we relate. We recently got to catch up via Skype, and I will transcribe it here as best as I can. Matt’s a private person, he likes to fly under the radar. I’m shocked he agreed to be part of that Cody/Jack Swagger press conference on AEW Dynamite. He might not be happy I posted this, to be honest. But I think that an important part of everything that’s going on now is to gather up what actual journalists think of it all. There is not a more grizzled wrestling writer than Matt Brock, so I’m honored to present his opinions to you here.
Until I get sued, because this is satire.
SC: I’m honored to be joined here by the incomparable Matt Brock. Matt, tell us how you got started by sitting ringside for Hackenschmidt vs. Gotch.
MB: You son of a bitch. For God’s sake, I’m not quite that old. It was the 1960s! Bruno at the Garden! How could anybody not get wrapped into the show by Bruno Sammartino? The man was an absolute hero, a role model that today’s pro wrestlers can only hope to be a second-rate version of. I went to Madison Square Garden every month for two decades, and everytime Bruno appeared, the crowd went wild. I haven’t seen a better environment since.
SC: I believe it. You got into writing at that time, and ended up writing for Stanley Weston’s magazines. Pro Wrestling Illustrated, The Wrestler, Inside Wrestling, to name a few. That’s my dream job, and it had to be a dream for you as well.
MB: Absolutely. Weston sent me out on the road to cover pro wrestling. What’s better than that? I’d attend shows, write a couple of paragraphs about something, and about four of those made a column. It was amazing. That’s one of the things that I think you Internet guys are missing.
SC: Oh don’t get me started.
MB: We’ve talked about this before, you know I’m right. I can’t imagine how anybody can just sit at home in front of their computer and write about wrestling & be taken seriously. That’s my main knock against you Internet guys. I know it’s a lot easier to get published there, and the standards are much lower…
SC: WILL YOU STOP
MB: But if you’re somebody like me that’s been everywhere and has seen everything, you have a hard time taking an “internet writer” or a “podcaster” or a “YouTube reviewer” seriously. Sorry! I know it’s a sensitive subject for you.
SC: It is. You know my dream job would be to travel the country attending wrestling shows and writing about them, as you have for the past several decades. That’s never been an option for me. I’ve been allowed to sit at home and comment on things. I can’t get anything beyond that, believe me, I’ve tried.
MB: You were born six decades too late.
SC: OK, some old soul jokes. Nice. Anyway, let’s talk about the here & now. We both know about the #SpeakingOut movement and how it’s affected things for certain people & it hasn’t affected things for certain people. You were around back in those old days, can you give us some perspective from then, and what’s your personal feeling on the issue?
MB: I have to be honest with you. The stuff that David Starr, Joey Ryan, Mike Quackenbush and others are confessing to? They pale in comparison to what went on back in the day. That’s part of the disconnect between the old generation & the young. You guys get all worked up over these things, and frankly, I wish I had done that. I was taught a different way, and when I saw these things in pro wrestling I didn’t think anything of it. I saw a lot of stuff that people your age would question, and I didn’t think to question it. That’s a failure on my part. I’m not sure my acting back then would have made a difference, but on the off chance that it would have, I do feel bad about it. I know my colleague Liz Hunter faced plenty of shit back in the day.
SC: It must have been tough for her. It looks tough enough being a female in the Internet Wrestling Community now, I can’t imagine what it must have been like back in your day.
MB: Liz was able to get stories that people like me wouldn’t have been able to get. But that entailed a lot of nonsense that people like me wouldn’t have been able to deal with. I’ve always respected her, she’s a badass.
SC: Liz is one of two female writers in your magazines I remember well. What about your niece, Brandi Mankiewicz? She followed in the footsteps of rulebreaker followers like Eddie Ellner & Dan Shocket.
MB: I wasn’t surprised by that. Brandi’s always had a dark side. I always said that you & her would get along well.
SC: Because she had a pulse?
MB: It was funnier ten years ago, honestly.
SC: If we’re going down that road, I gotta ask you about your past. Plenty of speculation out there about you & the Fabulous Moolah.
MB: Nah, I was a Mae Young guy if you get my drift.
SC: I don’t.
MB: It’s all right. I’ve been a single guy forever, as my true mistress is professional wrestling. Never met “the one” that could get me away from all that.
SC: I can identify. So how did you get into that AEW press conference?
MB: I’ve covered Dusty, Dustin & Cody Rhodes. Cody respects me because of that. He knows I’ll be fair with him, just like I was with his father & brother.
SC: So you’re telling me I need to write for 50 years to attain any sort of credibility with these wrestling people?
MB: Well, you could use an editor too.
SC: Oh! Speaking of which! There’s a lot of speculation out there about you not being an actual person. People saying that Bill Apter, Craig Peters & others wrote for you. Any thoughts on that?
MB: Well, they actually did occasionally. I had a tough time meeting some deadlines. When you’re on the road covering pro wrestling and meeting up with wrestlers, sometimes you lose track of time & everything else.
SC: See, this is why you’re selling the Internet short. I know you’re a big fan of the printing press & newspaper ink & all that. But the Internet? They’ll post whatever you want. I’m just saying.
MB: Yeah, I know. You told me those bastards will post whatever you turn in.
SC: I didn’t call them bastards!
MB: Not recently.
SC: Fair point.
MB: The thing is, the experiences you & I both have as wrestling writers are completely different. I got to live a life on the road while reporting on the business. I never exposed the business because it wasn’t in my best interest. I probably should have at some point, but I didn’t, and I do apologize for that. As for you, well, have you experienced anything outside of a basement?
SC: We’d like to thank Matt Brock for speaking with us as part of the Cook Interview Series.
MB: So your answer is no.
SC: WILL YOU STOP!
About Chairshot Radio Network
Launched in 2017, the Chairshot Radio Network presents you with the best in sports, entertainment, and sports entertainment. Wrestling and wrestling crossover podcasts + the most interesting content + the most engaging hosts = the most entertaining podcasts you’ll find!
MONDAY - Bandwagon Nerds (entertainment & popular culture)
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THURSDAY - Keeping the news ridiculous... The Oddity / Chairshot NFL (NFL)
FRIDAY - DWI Podcast (Drunk Wrestling Intellect)
SATURDAY - The Mindless Wrestling Podcast
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CHAIRSHOT RADIO NETWORK PODCAST SPECIALS
Attitude Of Aggression Podcast & The Big Five Project (chronologically exploring WWE's PPV/PLE history)
TheChairshot.com PRESENTS...IMMEDIATE POST WWE PLE REACTIONS w/ DJ(Mindless), Tunney(DWI) & Friends
Patrick O'Dowd's 5X5
Classic POD is WAR
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Opinion
TheChairshot.com PRESENTS: WWE Bash In Berlin Immediate Reactions
Join DJ and Tunney for their immediate reactions to WWE Bash in Berlin. For the latest, greatest and up to datest, ALWAYS #UseYourHead and visit THECHAIRSHOT.COM
Join DJ and Tunney for their immediate reactions to WWE Bash in Berlin. For the latest, greatest and up to datest, ALWAYS #UseYourHead and visit THECHAIRSHOT.COM
Powered by RedCircle
@TheMindlessPod @PCTunney @ChairshotMedia
prowrestlingtees.com/TheChairshot – TONS of Great designs…MAKES A GREAT GIFT!
About Chairshot Radio Network
Launched in 2017, the Chairshot Radio Network presents you with the best in sports, entertainment, and sports entertainment. Wrestling and wrestling crossover podcasts + the most interesting content + the most engaging hosts = the most entertaining podcasts you’ll find!
MONDAY – Bandwagon Nerds (entertainment & popular culture)
TUESDAY – Musical Chairs (music) / Hockey Talk (NHL)
WEDNESDAY – The Greg DeMarco Show (wrestling)
THURSDAY – Keeping the news ridiculous… The Oddity / Chairshot NFL (NFL)
FRIDAY – DWI Podcast (Drunk Wrestling Intellect)
SATURDAY – The Mindless Wrestling Podcast
SUNDAY – The Front and Center Sports Podcast
CHAIRSHOT RADIO NETWORK PODCAST SPECIALS
Attitude Of Aggression Podcast & The Big Five Project (chronologically exploring WWE’s PPV/PLE history)
TheChairshot.com PRESENTS…IMMEDIATE POST WWE PLE REACTIONS w/ DJ(Mindless), Tunney(DWI) & Friends
Patrick O’Dowd’s 5X5
Classic POD is WAR
Chairshot Radio Network
Your home for the hardest hitting podcasts… Sports, Entertainment and Sports Entertainment!
Listen on your favorite platform!
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About Chairshot Radio Network
Launched in 2017, the Chairshot Radio Network presents you with the best in sports, entertainment, and sports entertainment. Wrestling and wrestling crossover podcasts + the most interesting content + the most engaging hosts = the most entertaining podcasts you’ll find!
MONDAY - Bandwagon Nerds (entertainment & popular culture)
TUESDAY - Musical Chairs (music) / Hockey Talk (NHL)
WEDNESDAY - The Greg DeMarco Show (wrestling)
THURSDAY - Keeping the news ridiculous... The Oddity / Chairshot NFL (NFL)
FRIDAY - DWI Podcast (Drunk Wrestling Intellect)
SATURDAY - The Mindless Wrestling Podcast
SUNDAY - The Front and Center Sports Podcast
CHAIRSHOT RADIO NETWORK PODCAST SPECIALS
Attitude Of Aggression Podcast & The Big Five Project (chronologically exploring WWE's PPV/PLE history)
TheChairshot.com PRESENTS...IMMEDIATE POST WWE PLE REACTIONS w/ DJ(Mindless), Tunney(DWI) & Friends
Patrick O'Dowd's 5X5
Classic POD is WAR
Chairshot Radio Network Your home for the hardest hitting podcasts... Sports, Entertainment and Sports Entertainment!
Powered by RedCircle
Let us know what you think on social media @ChairshotMedia and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!
Opinion
AJ’s Top 3 Favorite SummerSlams
AJ is back with his annual opinion article, and this time the SummerSlam buzz got him wondering about his personal Top 3.
It’s been a while since I have done any form of writing and SummerSlam is this Saturday. Of all the SummerSlams I’ve seen over the years; which ones are my favorites? While it’s not a revolutionary idea, I figured everyone loves to debate favorites of well, anything. Don’t worry though because this isn’t just going to be pure recency bias. I’ve watched the majority of them so with the ones I put on the list, it hit me more in some way shape or form whether it was story, a really good match or it just felt like a solid event.
At least this proves WWE is trending in a good direction for me, when it gets the ol’ brain juices flowing just because a show is around the corner!
#3: 2022 (Ol’ Brock Lesnar Has A Farm)
Starting off the show, we get Bianca looking for a rematch against Becky from last years SummerSlam and it was better than the 21 second affair that everyone claims was a squash. This time Bianca holds her own and beats the Man in a fairly decent match, good way to get the event started. Next up is the heat seeking missile, Logan Paul against the former heat seeking missile because, well he wasn’t cut out for it and wasn’t a guy in everyone’s eyes, The Miz. After they had their blow off at Mania with Logan coming out on top which… isn’t awful, I just don’t like Logan Paul because he has that dude bro aura and swagger to make him more hateable than any other person on the card. Which I suppose is his gimmick…so…kudos?
First Championship match is for the US Championship and it’s as expected that in Theory, he should never beat someone to the caliber of Bobby Lashley which is no surprise. Dominik and Rey still back when Dom wanted the good fight against the Judgement Day before joining them later. The former Colts players, which they hammered it dahn in this match up showed that the canal swimming, trash talkin’, podcastin’, current RAW Color Commentatin’ goofball we all love, Pat McAfee came out on top again Bum Ass Corbin.
Usos putting the Street Profits on lockdown in the penitentiary since I believe this was peak Bloodline with the belt collecting and running all of WWE. Liv beat Ronda Rousey which isn’t astonishing but it’s not something people had on their bingo cards for anything with WWE so it was a nice little shock factor. The most memorable part of the night is obviously the Main Event, Lesnar brings the tractor, Roman catching the Microphone and Brock stands on top of the vehicle. Damn good match that showed off what they do in the ring since Roman caught his stride as the main bad guy and Brock… liked people after all of this? That is still a weird statement in my head. Brock being a good guy people person. If Liv wasn’t on bingo cards for wrestling, that is not on bingo cards in any aspect of life really.
That is more of the event that had solid matches and story going for it. No weird double count out, multiple people involved, 5 tag matches on the card. Things made sense and weren’t convoluted, had shocking moments that were great to see like Liv actually getting a title defense and there were the results we all expected at the time like Theory losing in 4 minutes to Bobby Lashley.
#2: 2009 (Are You Ready for The Return?)
This event wasn’t that strong. It was strong with the star power involved in 2009 with guys like Rey Mysterio as Intercontinental Champion, Orton and Cena for the WWE Championship as it was becoming as stale as month old chips and CM Punk was facing Jeff Hardy before he ultimately returned to TNA at the beginning of 2010 after this PPV. For me, it’s not so much of the show itself, it was more of the memories because the Balai as our friends Chris Platt and Rey Cash like to call my brother and I, we were just coming back into wrestling and we were TNA Fans. We didn’t watch WWE that much really, it was just what came on after another channel had old ROH shows before they moved to three hours and swallowed the 8pm Eastern Slot. No, the reason why this has so many memories for me is three main reasons. First, Orton and Cena. They have had their rivalry since the beginning it seems, being each others foils like Hogan and Piper before them and there had to be a stipulation where if Randy was Counted Out or DQ’d, he’d lose the championship regardless. This was prime Viper Randy and the obvious joke we had of Super Cena where he very rarely lost, unless it was SummerSlam surprisingly enough.
Number two reason was CM Punk and Jeff Hardy. Hardys known for the Ladder and TLC matches in the past and this being the penultimate match for this feud and it was a banger of a match. If you didn’t know Punk before, it was a great introduction to his wrestling. I used to like Punk a lot because of this match because he could talk, wrestle… and not insanely personal with things in wrestling. In all seriousness, this was a great match. Ultimate risks, high reward for Punk grabbing the World Heavyweight Championship and he was given his next feud because of the final boss of SmackDown at that time. Thanks, Teddy Long.
The main and final reason though why this match gave me the memories flowing back is more of the fact that one of my closest and longest termed friends of 23 years, also loves wrestling. Back when we were younger, he’d do MoCap videos on YouTube with his figures. We’d have friends come over for parties at his house and we’d do the one thing WWE always told us not to do and that was try it at home. He was always stronger than me, I was always more charismatic. He had the power aspect and did things with brute force, I could talk my way out of trouble with parents if we did something wrong. There was always one thing that our respective mother’s always called us though… it’s on the tip of my tongue… oh right, ‘Degenerates’.
As soon as we were called that, we kind of parodied the DX line. I was limber enough to do the HBK pose and do a Superkick before it became the new DDT and he would just Spinebuster people and knew how to do the water spit. So what do you think was the main reason we even ordered this PPV for his 13th Birthday? I think the two guys we were pretending to be were set to return on a tank and toss out some glow sticks. The return of DX, Shawn Michaels coming back after Mania with Triple H to deal with the Legacy problem was an amazing return for them and made everything so much fun.
So we have the solid card and this one has a personal story… what’s my number one SummerSlam? Is it personal? Well yes but not going into that. Is it a good card? To me, it was a phenomenal card! Is it memorable? Seeing how wrestling fans still mention at least three matches to this day.
#1: 2005 (Octopus in the Washer, Lover’s Quarrel and Where the F%#$ is Vickie?)
Quite possibly some of the best matches I’ve seen and one that was just the most hilarious moments of overselling in wrestling history, I know why I love this SummerSlam but it’s also a really good card at the same time. Redacted beats Orlando Jordan in 25 seconds for the US Title and they made jokes about it like, he can make a coffee faster than he beat Orlando and stuff like that, it’s pretty funny. Angle getting sick of Eugene’s antics for his Gold Medal was also a great bit they had play up, the Year long feud of Randy Orton and Undertaker was still going on where Orton comes out on top this time around to get the win back from Mania, Jericho returning for the match with Cena in a whole promotional thing for each other’s groups, Fozzy for Jericho and the Chain Gang doing Bad, Bad Man for Cena leading up to a match for the WWE Championship. JBL won a 20 man battle royal on SmackDown to win the Championship…… Opportunity to face the newest member of SmackDown, Batista but the three main matches that a lot of people talk about to this day; Edge vs Matt Hardy, Rey vs Eddie for Dominik and Hogan vs HBK in the Main Event.
I have reasons to enjoy the Hardy/Edge match but it looked like a real fight, it really made us believe that Matt Hardy was going to kill Edge because real names were dropped during this tirade from Hardy. It wasn’t Edge and Lita, it was Adam and Amy. Matt was so dead set on beating the hell out of Edge that they made a situation into gold and it was a great moment for this match to happen, I believe it was also an Unsanctioned Match too which added the intensity until matt got concussed and knocked senseless that it looked like he couldn’t fight for anything but the build up was what made it seem like a marque match. It made it feel real, it made it feel awesome and it made it feel personal.
Eddie kept tormenting Rey Mysterio about Dominik not being Rey’s but Eddie’s for the summer. That’s all you heard from Eddie being the weasel he was is hanging out with Dominik, making the world believe it’s his son and what not (Let’s not do a fast forward to today where he has the mullet, mustache and everything like Eddie) but they settle this in a Ladder Match where the top of it is a document for the custody of Dominik and my god, this match is better than it should have been. I expect nothing else from Eddie because the man hated having a bad match, Dom got involved and stopped Eddie, Vickie was late and stopped Eddie. The whole match was good it was just very weird with the premise but was a great match. I wonder if Rey regrets his decision to win the match now…
Octopus in a Washing Machine… those five words have resonated with Shawn Michaels’ performance in this match, forever. It was supposed to be an amazing match up between Hogan and Michaels, Icon vs Icon it said and suddenly Hogan’s back gives out, can’t do a trilogy of matches so we can only do the one and then pull out of everything after. This match was set up to be a classic and instead turned into the most unbelievable sell fest ever. A Hogan big boot caused Shawn to tumble 3 or 4 times, getting crotched on the ropes had HBK bouncing higher than he should have, being tossed out of the ring made it look like Shawn never broke his back in 1998 from how much he flopped and flipped around like crazy. It’s bad… or maybe even good that a lot of current wrestlers watched this match that went, “I can sell like that, I want to be a wrestler” and did. So good or bad, I don’t know but for some reason this PPV has always had a place in my heart for how memorable it was.
Those are my top three SummerSlams so far but who knows, 2024 has potential to maybe bump something or at least get me to consider a shift. Should be fun to see how the show plays out! What are some of your favorite SummerSlams?
About Chairshot Radio Network
Launched in 2017, the Chairshot Radio Network presents you with the best in sports, entertainment, and sports entertainment. Wrestling and wrestling crossover podcasts + the most interesting content + the most engaging hosts = the most entertaining podcasts you’ll find!
MONDAY - Bandwagon Nerds (entertainment & popular culture)
TUESDAY - Musical Chairs (music) / Hockey Talk (NHL)
WEDNESDAY - The Greg DeMarco Show (wrestling)
THURSDAY - Keeping the news ridiculous... The Oddity / Chairshot NFL (NFL)
FRIDAY - DWI Podcast (Drunk Wrestling Intellect)
SATURDAY - The Mindless Wrestling Podcast
SUNDAY - The Front and Center Sports Podcast
CHAIRSHOT RADIO NETWORK PODCAST SPECIALS
Attitude Of Aggression Podcast & The Big Five Project (chronologically exploring WWE's PPV/PLE history)
TheChairshot.com PRESENTS...IMMEDIATE POST WWE PLE REACTIONS w/ DJ(Mindless), Tunney(DWI) & Friends
Patrick O'Dowd's 5X5
Classic POD is WAR
Chairshot Radio Network Your home for the hardest hitting podcasts... Sports, Entertainment and Sports Entertainment!
Powered by RedCircle
Let us know what you think on social media @ChairshotMedia and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!