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On this packed episode of Going Ringside we’re talking a lot of politics. We start with the question of whether Dwayne Johnson is the best option for the Democratic Party looking to rebrand itself in the 2028 race for president.
As the party searches for a way to improve its standing with male voters, we analyze whether Johnson might be the best alternative for the party.
Going Ringside has followed Johnson’s flirtation with running for president for more than a year.
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There are very few wrestlers who took off out of the gate and enthralled the planet: Hulk Hogan, Steve Austin, The Rock ... and Bill Goldberg.
When he entered the pro wrestling scene for WCW in 1997, Goldberg’s unprecedented 173-match undefeated streak was like nothing the industry had ever seen.
Not only was a star born, but he has remained shining brightly three decades later. We caught up with Goldberg in Jacksonville where he was inducted into the Georgia-Florida Hall of Fame. He was a defensive tackle for the Bulldogs before being drafted in 1990 by the Los Angeles Rams.
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When you discuss the greatest professional wrestlers in history one name is almost always in the conversation: Shawn Michaels. The “Heartbreak Kid” joins us for an in-depth sit down interview at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando.
He was once the bad boy of WWE but now he’s the man in charge in a fashion. Michaels now oversees WWE’s popular NXT program which airs on CW Tuesday nights.
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This is not a story about a SmackDown main event in 2007 or a match at WrestleMania 23. This is about the presidential race in 2024 when the Undertaker and Dave Bautista are facing off once again over politics.
This hybrid wrestling-politics storyline started last week when former WWE Champion turned actor Dave Bautista went on Jimmy Kimmel Live with a video mocking former President Donald Trump. Bautista is an outspoken supporter of Vice President Kamala Harris.
Bautista has since put similar videos on his own social media platforms.
Then days later, word started to leak out that Trump had agreed to appear on the “Six Feet Under” Podcast hosted by the Undertaker, whose real name is Mark Calaway.
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The civil lawsuit against Vince McMahon has been put on hold while a Department of Justice investigation into the former WWE Owner is ongoing. (Going Ringside has covered this case extensively here, here and here). But the spokesperson for McMahon’s accuser Janel Grant is speaking out. Going Ringside Host Scott Johnson spoke with Kendra Barkoff Lamy, who’s also a former spokesperson for President Biden when he was Vice President and has joined Grant’s legal team.
We touch on many subject in this interview. They include Grant’s legal team pushing for WWE to release current and former employees from non-disclosure agreements (NDA’s), what type of high profile stars could be called to testify in this case and whether McMahon’s DOJ case could be dropped or he could be pardoned if Donald Trump is elected President. Trump has a close relationship with McMahon and his estranged wife, Linda that stretches back several decades.
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Wrestlers come into the company with all sorts of athletic backgrounds. For Oba Femi, it was shotput. For others like Kelani Jordan, it was gymnastics. But for Lola Vice, it was fighting. Also on this episode, Victoria Crawford is back to discuss numerous topics, including the new Vince McMahon docuseries on Netflix, the return of The Rock this past week and the new media deal for AEW.
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On this episode of Going Ringside it’s an episode of champions as we’re joined by NXT Champ Roxanne Perez and NXT North American Champion Kelani Jordan.
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The champion is here and the challenger is too. When NXT debuts on CW Network on Oct. 1, all eyes will be on the main event between champion Ethan Page and his challenger Trick Williams. On this episode, host Scott Johnson sits down with the two men at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando.
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On this special episode of Going Ringside we’re joined by All Elite Wrestling owner Tony Khan. Khan was profiled just this week by NFL Films for a day in his life. It detailed what it’s like for the man who lives between two worlds: Pro Wrestling and Pro Football.
The documentary which was featured on FS1 highlighted why he went viral at this year’s NFL draft for wearing a neck brace because he had been attacked in the wrestling ring the night before.
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In sports and music it’s Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift. In music alone it’s Beyonce and Jay-Z. And in the world of pro wrestling, the biggest power couple is Bianca Belair and Montez Ford.
“What a time it was,” recalled Ford about when he arrived in NXT at their Orlando studio in 2015. A year later he met his future bride, Belair. “In that first year I was at NXT in developmental learning myself as a WWE Superstar.”
“NXT is not just close to our heart because of wrestling,” said Belair. “It’s close to our heart because we met each other. So our life started in wrestling in NXT and our life together in NXT.”
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Matt Riddle knew how to fight before ever setting foot in pro wrestling. A dominant fighter in the world of MMA and UFC the transition to WWE was natural. “Well wrestling was my first love,” said Riddle. “But growing up in the late 90′s early 2000′s, I didn’t think I was big enough. And I started amateur wrestling, then started wrestling in college and then the natural progression took me on the route of mixed martial arts.”
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On this episode of Going Ringside we’re joined by pro wrestling FSU football legend Ron Simmons. Simmons made history as the first black world champion with WCW in 1993 with his historic win over Big Van Vader. That cemented him in the industry as a major player.
Following that Simmons was on the radar of the World Wrestling Federation (today’s WWE) and quickly was brought over to that company. Simmons was immediately thrust into a controversial faction called the Nation of Domination. That faction help launch the careers of stars like Mark Henry, D-Lo Brown, The Godfather and most notably Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson who had just entered the company as a rookie.
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She walked in late to the Going Ringside interview as Al Snow yells “Now business is picking up!”
In the art of pro wrestling, entrance is everything and Hollywood Haley J knows that. By nature she’s a heel, and by the reality of society she’s an overnight superstar. She’s one of the young wrestlers thrust into stardom when the juggernaut streaming platform decided to produce a show called “Wrestlers”.
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From their time gaining national prominence in the “Attitude Era” to AEW and beyond in the 2020′s the wrestling world has belonged to Matt and Jeff Hardy. The duo really cemented their legacy at WrestleMania 2000 against Edge & Christian and the Dudley Boyz in a tables, ladders and chairs match. The match was so well received it eventually spawned its own TLC Pay-per-view.
On this episode Host Scott Johnson is joined by A.J. Francis who wrestling fans knew as “Top Dolla’” to interview the brothers as well as take questions from fans. It was on a panel set up by River City Wrestling Con.
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The dynamics of politics and pro wrestling have been fascinating to watch this summer. First, the Republican National Convention was headlined by Hulk Hogan speaking where he endorsed Donald Trump.
Now, weeks later it appears the Democrats have a response with another very high profile ex-wrestler. Jesse “The Body” Ventura. Ventura did as much for mainstreaming the industry as anyone in 1998 when he was elected Governor of Minnesota. The former Navy SEAL is now endorsing Vice President Harris and Governor Tim Walz. This comes two years after Ventura, a self described independent endorsed Walz for Governor.
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On this episode we’re joined by Nease High School graduate and former WWE Superstar VIctoria Crawford. Crawford spent almost two decades in WWE under the name Alicia Fox where she won the world title.
Now Crawford is out of WWE and on her own traveling the independent wrestling circuit and the only black Divas champion for WWE. And she’s using her success in a new business venture for independent wrestlers. It’s called MastersOfTheRingAccelerator.com. It’s a free virtual event on Sept. 9-10 to teach new wrestlers skills like building a personal brand and developing a social media strategy.
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It was 1997 and the World Wrestling Federation brought in the closest things to a demon from the depths of Hell they had ever seen. Kane had arrived.
A character made famous by Glenn Jacobs to portray the brother of the famed Undertaker. “The Kane character was amazing. I’d had a couple failed runs then Kane came along,” said Jacobs who often gets confused as Undertaker’s real life brother. “A lot of people think we’re brothers outside the ring because we look alike. We’re virtually the same size.”
His iconic career spanned several decades in WWE but an image that could not have been more opposite from how he began was shown 21 years later. Glenn Jacobs, now with his hand on the Bible, was sworn in as the Mayor of Knox County, Tenn.
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A fascinating thing — from a wrestling fan’s perspective — happened at the Republican National Convention. The final night, which is the big one, was filled with stars from pro wrestling and UFC.
Specifically three primary speakers: Hulk Hogan, Linda McMahon and Dana White.
Why this matters: It shows the sheer cultural influence of these forms of entertainment.
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In an unprecedented interview for pro-wrestling podcasts, we’re joined by former WWE owner Linda McMahon, who built the WWE alongside her longtime husband Vince McMahon.
But several years ago Linda McMahon stepped away from WWE to pursue a career in politics. Following two failed runs for the U.S. Senate in the McMahon home state of Connecticut, she was tapped by former President Donald Trump to head up the Small Business Administration and served in his Cabinet.
Linda McMahon stepped away from the administration midway through Trump’s term to take on other priorities but remained a large financial and political backer of Trump.
In this interview, I caught up with Linda McMahon at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, where she will be a featured speaker.
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In 1988 no one ever suspected a young man named Mick Foley would be one of the greatest pro wrestlers in history.
However, by 1998 the world totally realized he was special.
After spending years wrestling around the world in the scariest of hardcore matches — including everything from barbed wire to flaming 2X4s — the beloved veteran captured the hearts of wrestling fans around the world.
In fact, his popularity soared so much that he was voted Time Magazine Man of the Year in 1998 by WWE fans who flooded the voting. Time Magazine actually disqualified Foley because they didn’t feel a pro wrestler deserved such an honor. Foley responds to that in this interview.
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