The Times I've Seen Zack Sabre Jr. Wrestle Live!

Zack Sabre Jr has been one of my favorite wrestler for over a decade, when I first saw him in Progress and PWG.  As I do when I find a wrestler that I like I look for more matches watching him hone his craft in NOAH, WXW, and indies.  You can even read my blog post from December 2015 about some of his matches: Random Wrestling: Zack Sabre Jr.

I love Zack's style of wrestling and the most unique submission moves I've ever seen.  It's been a pleasure to watch his career grow over the years and although he has captured numerous championships, and I have to admit I did get emotional watching him win the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship.

In this blog we will look at the matches I have seen him compete in live and in living color!!  

January 30, 2016

Limitless Wrestling American Legion Hall         Orono, ME

Zack Sabre Jr. pinned Chris Hero in 24 minutes 10 seconds

I still can't believe this one happened! In the weeks leading to the show Zack Sabre Jr. was announced first. I couldn't believe it, quite frankly that he was coming to an indie show Maine. We've had names in Maine on indies in the past, but before Limitless it wasn't a regular thing. If having Sabre on the show wasn't exciting enough, a couple weeks prior Chris Hero was announced. Randy stated it really was last minute how it all came together.

Then we got the graphic that they were facing off against each other and I just couldn't believe it! We are getting on of the hottest matches in the world, in the middle of small town Maine at an American Legion hall on, what turned out to be, a stormy January night.

At that time they were in the middle of what would turn into an tremendous run of matches in an 18 month period. From June 2015 to January 2017 they faced off in 9 matches singles matches (okay 1 was an elimination triple threat) in Evolve, PWG, WXW, & AAW and every single time they tore it up going hard for 20 plus minutes every time.

At that time I was used to "headliners" coming into Maine and just "getting their shit in" and I had accepted that because that was independent wrestling in Maine. On this night ZSJ & Chris Hero set a standard in Limitless Wrestling that has kept going to today. They gave it their all and put on a caliber of a match that was equal to or even greater than they had done or would do anywhere in the world. After the show I got a photo with both of them, it still ranks as one of the greatest matches that I have ever seen live! You can read my post about this show here: Limitless Wrestling: Under Fire

He signed this card for me at the show, I ordered this card from the UK at the beginning of the month after I learned that he was booked to appear. Released in 2014 by Resurrection Magazine, I feel positive that this is Sabre's rookie card.  Sabre was impressed that I had the card and I told him I ordered it from the UK when he asked where I got it.  He signed it for free because he said I already paid for the card.

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April 4, 2019

WrestleCon Supershow Hilton Grand Ballroom Manhattan, NY

Zack Sabre Jr. submitted Shane Strickland

In 2019 my buddies Jay, Mikey, & I traveled to New York City for WrestleMania weekend. We didn't attend any of the WWE events instead hit all of the independent wrestling that we could. This show was match 1 of 3 that I saw Zack compete this weekend. If you would have told me that April evening that we were seeing two future World Champions squaring off I would not have believed you.

To me the match was just okay, I felt their styles just didn't mesh well. To be frank I thought Zack outclassed Swerve that night. You can read about this show here: Indie Mania 2019 Part 1

I got these cards signed on Thursday April 4th before the Wrestlecon Supershow.  The first card is from the 2016 PWG Battle of Los Angeles set and the second from the 2017 PWG Battle of Los Angeles set.  I have a rule about not getting the backs of the cards signed but we were talking about his trip to Limitless Wrestling and he signed them quickly.  I wasn't going to ask him to sign them again, although I just might if I meet him again. 

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April 5, 2019

Revolution Pro Wrestling Hilton Grand Ballroom Manhattan, NY

British Tag Team Champions: Suzuki-Gun: Minoru Suzuki & British Heavyweight

Champion: Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi & Will Ospreay when Sabre pinned Ospreay

What a match!! We had front row for this amazing UK based REVPro show. Look at the 4 competitors in this match! ZSJ, Suzuki, Ospreay, & Tanahashi!! WILD! This match went almost 22 minutes and they laid everything in, stiff strikes, great submission wrestling, practically flawless story telling. Truly amazing match worth the price of the ticket for this match alone on the show. It was the best match of the weekend for me, and considering the number of high quality matches that we took in, that is saying something!

You can read about this show here: Indie Mania 2019 Part 2

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April 6, 2019

New Japan Pro Wrestling / ROH Madison Square Garden         Manhattan, NY

G1 Supercard

British Heavyweight Champion: Zack Sabre Jr with Taka Michinoku defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi by submission

The last show of the weekend for us was also our biggest event of the weekend. For the first time in nearly 60 years a wrestling show happened at Madison Square Garden that was not promoted by a McMahon / WWE saw New Japan and ROH team together for the G1 Supercard. The show was Sold Out and stacked with amazing wrestlers. The ROH portion of the show, for the most part, fell VERY flat for me. The New Japan portion was tremendous.

The 7th match of the Main card saw the RevPRO British Championship successfully defended by Sabre submitting Tanahashi. Thinking back New Japan has a working agreement with RevPRO for years and it's very cool that RevPRO was presented as this historic wrestling card at MSG.

I was in the balcony and couldn't get any great photos, but here is one of the Great Muta and Jushin Thunder Liger in the ring that I took.

You can read about this show here: Indie Mania 2019 Part 3

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April 16, 2023

NJPW: New Japan Pro Wrestling 2300 Arena                 Philadelphia, PA

Collision in Philadelphia

Team Filthy: Tom Lawlor, Royce Isaacs, & Jorel Nelson defeated TMDK: NJPW Television

Champion: Zack Sabre Jr., Shane Haste, & Bad Boy Tito

Much like MSG, the former ECW Arena, now called the 2300 Arena, is a venue that I had to see wrestling at live. I was the prime demographic for ECW and would have LOVED to go to one of their shows, but it was not to be.

I had mentioned to my buddy Mikey that when my wife and Wesley take their annual April Vacation trip to Ocean City, Maryland if there was a big show in the northeast we should go. As luck would have it, NJPW announced Collision in Philadelphia during that weekend!

We were supposed to have front row at this show, however they moved our seats back and put the announcers and commentators directly in front of us on the fan side of the guard rail. It was cool to have NJPW ring announcer Takuro Shibata right there to get this video, but we paid a lot of money for front row and traveling to the ECW Arena for the first time, it was frustrating to not have the front row seats we paid for. When we selected our seats they did not have the announcers list as being here.

Zack competed in a six man tag team match falling short to Team Filthy. It was very cool to see him at the NJPW Television Champion and of course to see him tie his opponents up with his signature style.

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November 8, 2024

NJPW: New Japan Pro Wrestling    Memorial Auditorium                            Lowell, MA

Fighting Spirit Unleashed

Shota Umino & Tomohiro Ishii defeated TMDK: IWGP World Heavyweight Champion: Zack Sabre & Boy Dude Tito when Umino pinned Tito

When this show was announced I wanted more than anything for Sabre to defeated Naito for the World Title and come to Lowell to defend the Championship. Well, most of that came true, he won the title and came to Lowell as Champion, and a few days before the show was announced to be in a tag team match. Slightly disappointing, but I got to see Sabre has champion so it's all good.

I was very excited when they announced a Meet and Greet with Sabre, I had met him before at Limitless and at WrestleCon 2019 but I had to get a photo with him as the Champion.

The meet and greet was awesome, Sabre took his time with to talk to everyone, no one was rushed it was very nice experience. We chatted about him winning the title, his time in Maine with Limitless, which perked right up for talking how much he loved the experience and he remembered very specific details. Then we chatted about the ridiculous cost of tickets.

The show was extremely good, our first time sitting in the balcony here and I would again in a heartbeat! The view was phenomenal the matches were excellent and the crowd was very vocal!

Sabre's match was excellent, it was awesome to see him walk out and be announced as champion. They furthered a lot of stories tonight including the build between Sabre & Umino for WrestleKingdom.

I can't imagine this will be the last time I see Sabre wrestle live, but I guess you never, never, know.

Thank you for reading, please leave a comment, check out my other posts, and if you want like my blogs Facebook page.  You can also head over to Amazon and pick up a copy of my book the 2024 Limitless Wrestling Almanac, or any of my other books.

Until next time!

Live Report: Limitless Wrestling 1/24/2020

Limitless Wrestling kicked off their 2020 season in a big way Friday January 24th in Yarmouth, Maine with Flirtin' With Disaster!

Roy meet me at my house and we drove down together.  We met Mikey and Carolyn at the show

From the moment the name of this show was announced it reminded me of the Molly Hatchet song of the same name.  Every time I saw a new post or notification of the show the song popped into my head.  If Randy didn't open the show with this blaring over the speakers it would be a crime.  Well the didn't start with a recording of the song, it started with Ryan Curry rocking it out on the guitar and Rich Palladino belted and awesome rendition of the track!  What a way to start the show!

This show was amazingly fun with so many surprises through-out the night.  The crowd was amazing and the place was sold out, even the standing room only.  I heard they had to turn away about 40 people at the door.  Stinks for them, but good news for Limitless, people shouldn't hesitate to grab a ticket when they can.

I didn't get many pictures because my phone had low battery.

James Drake vs. Brian Pillman Jr.

The second generation star making his Maine and Limitless debut and he couldn't have drawn a tougher card than the blue collar bad ass and fan favorite James Drake.  I personally am a huge fan of Drake, he is a guy that would have thrived back in the day with the likes of Hansen, Brody, Murdoch, and others of similar ilk.

To say this match was hard hitting would be an understatement to say the least.  These two beat the tar out of each other with Pillman taking the brunt of the punishment.  Including a wicked foreman right into Pillman's mush.

Junior busted out a couple his his dad's signature moves including the springboard clothesline and cross body block off the second rope.  Drake hit the vader bomb and his always impressive moonsault.  Drake walked away with the win.

After the show I spoke with Pillman and he stated that this was the first time that they had ever wrestled and they had never touched before in the ring.  That adds so much to the match and I can't want to watch it back on IWTV.

"The Prize" Alec Price vs. Danhausen

Price has got some heat with the audience and Danhausen is beloved.  This was a good match, the crowd was into it which always helps.  Danhausen worked in his no swearing, tequila, and teeth spots.  In the end though a low blow while the referee was picking up teeth and that step up kick the back of the head that Price uses for a finish gave him his first win the Limitless Wrestling.

Legit Price is a face of the future not just in Limitless or New England, but in the world of professional wrestling.

"Red Death" Daniel Garcia vs. Oswald Project

Garcia getting that big time heat from the moment he entered the ring.  At first he seemed to be the reluctant heel but by the end of the match he was embracing the hate.  I'm still not overly impressed with Oswald, we saw a lot more of what he could do in this match than the last but that still wasn't  a lot.

Project spent the majority of the match getting ass handed to him while be begged off not wanting the fight, then when he decided to fight he busted out some interesting offense.  In the end Garcia locked in the sharpshooter and leaned back far enough that he even hooked Project around the head getting the submission win with a nasty move.

Post match Garcia got on the mic and said that this is what happens when someone who gets in the ring isn't prepared the fight.  That he wanted real competition and issued and open challenge that lead to....

"Red Death" Daniel Garcia vs. Kris Statlander

Kris Statlander with the unadvertised surprise appearance.  I thought for sure after November's Last Creature Standing match and with her signing with AEW we had seen the last of our favorite alien.

This was an excellent match!  Statlander is one of the best wrestlers of any gender in wrestling today.  I don't care who she is wrestling Statlander gets a good match out of them.  Not that she needed to work that hard with Garcia who is excellent as well.

Near the end Stat was going for big bang theory when Garcia reversed it into a roll up and the two rolled back and forth exchanging a couple dozen two counts.  In the end though Kris Stat picked up the win.  Post match Garcia attacked Statlander until Ashley Vox made the save.

Ashley Vox vs. Tasha Steelz

This was a good match.  My first time seeing Tasha Steelz live.  Vox worked her fish hook finish through-out the match going back to it several times until finally getting it sunk in good and getting the submission victory.

Maine State Posse: Danger Kid & Aiden Aggro vs. The North: "Walking Weapon" Josh Alexander & "All Ego" Ethan Page

This was announced as a non-title match as The North are the Impact Wrestling World Tag Team Champions.  Mikey and I attempted to start a Monster Mafia chant, but were not successful.  I like that name much better than The North.  This was Alexander's first time in Maine whereas Page has been here a bunch.

As one would expect that was a tremendous match!  Posse continues to get better and with teams like The North coming in to work with them they will continue to get better.  Page and Alexander brought their A game tonight but it wasn't enough as Aggro stole a cradle pin from Alexander giving MSP the upset victory.

In April Limitless is presenting the Prom and an eight team tag team tournament.  I would love for Monster Mafia to come back for this event.

Fatal Four Way: Josh Briggs vs. Jody Threat vs. Alexander Lee with Our Friend Joey Eastman vs. Kevin Blackwood

This was the first match back from intermission and they did a fantastic job bringing the crowd back up from the extended break.  They tried to stick to 15 minutes but Pillman and Statlander had long lines and I can understand the extension.

Alexander Lee came out to Ted Nugent's Stranglehold which is what Kevin Von Erich used back in his World Class days.  I'm probably the only one that noticed though.  Even though she didn't win Jody Threat shined in this match including a blue thunder bomb on Josh Briggs.

Near the end of the match Brandon Kirk walked to the ring surprising Joey Eastman who ran.  He then skewered the head of Lee and then piledrove him on the ring apron taking him out of the match.  He then chased Eastman to the back.  Briggs got the win pinning Blackwood.

Puf vs. Jon Silver

I'm not a fan of Puf, people love him and he's a nice guy, I'm just not a fan of his in ring.  Puf got the pin on Silver, then post match they reconciled drinking a beer together.  I really wanted Silver to take the beer and then beat Puf down.

JT Dunn vs. CJ Cruz

This was a great match!  The two meshed together very well with Dunn continuing to tell Cruz that he wasn't worthy and Cruz proving him wrong.  Cruz went for the BDE: Best Dropkick Ever, but Dunn side stepped him his DBE: Death by Elbow scoring the three count.

After being declared the victor Dunn continued the punishment on Cruz.  Dunn knew even though he got the pinfall he didn't prove what he set out to do which was show that Cruz couldn't hang with him.  When referee Kevin Quinn attempted to pull Dunn off Cruz, Dunn shoved Quinn to the mat.  Quinn then reversed the decision awarding the contest to CJ Cruz.

Dunn continued the beat down on Cruz and Rich Palladino tried to get Dunn to stop the assault when Dunn shoved Rich to the ground.  Well that move pissed off the entire Limitless crowd jumped to their feet letting Dunn know that, that was not cool.  Sincerely you could feel the hostile tension towards Dunn for his actions, and Dunn could too as he wisely left the ring returning to the back.

Let this be a warning to all, keep your fucking hands off of Rich Palladino.

Limitless Wrestling World Championship
"Retro" Anthony Greene vs. Christian Casanova vs. Ace Romero

The world championship match closed out the show, as it should.  Before and throughout the match dueling chants were busted out for Casanova and Acey Baby with Greene being left out of the adulation.  I tried to get the chant going for him but my lone voice wasn't enough.

Scary moment right near the beginning of the match when Ace went to powerbomb Casanova on the ring apron but only the back of Casanova's head made contact.  The crowd was silent while the referee attended to Casanova.  It was a legit unsettling moment.

This match was very hard hitting and high impact.  One moment saw Greene trying to suplex Casanova off the top rope and Ace powerbombing Greene at the same time.  It was wicked.  Greene stole the pin after Casanova his his ax kick on Ace from the top rope and Greene tossed Casanova out of the ring pinning Ace.

Post match Casanova and Greene brawled with Casanova demanding another match against Greene.  Again this match was fantastic, lots of action and some great offense from everyone.  Casanova will be champion someday, just not while Greene is holding onto the gold.

I bought a couple packs of the Series 2 Limitless Wrestling trading cards and managed to get a few of them signed as well.  I detail this in a coming post.

It was a wild and crazy night with some awesome wrestling and fun moments.  I loved the surprise of Kris Stat and the return of Brandon Kirk.  The announcements for the next show at awesome, I'm already excited about next month.

Limitless Wrestling returns Saturday February 22nd at the AmVets in Yarmouth with Anthony Greene defending against "Dirty Daddy" Chris Dickinson and the debut of Trevor Murdoch!! I super stoked about Murdoch coming in!  Tickets on sale Friday January 31st at 7pm.

Thanks for reading, please leave a comment, read my other posts, and like my blogs Facebook page and while you're at it check out my weekly podcast The Wrestling Insomniac on the Nerdy Legion Podcast Network.

Until next time!

Let's Wrestle Rumble Live Report 01/11/2020

On Saturday January 11, 2020 Let's Wrestle returned to the American Legion Post 84 in Orono, Maine for Chapter 12, the Let's Wrestle Rumble! 

 

Mikey joined Canaan and myself, as well as my nephew AJ for our first wrestling live event of the year.  This is actually my nephew's first ever Indy show and also part of his Christmas present as he asked me to take him to wrestling.  I had taken him to WWE last July.

We parked at the venue then walked next door to have dinner with Roy at the OHOP before heading back to stand inline at the venue.  Because Maine winter can be very dumb at times it was 52 degrees so waiting outside for the doors to open wasn't all that bad. 

I had bought front row seats for use and Mikey was going to buy as General Admission at the door, but someone was trying to give away a front row ticket they had and Mikey was the lucky recipient. This is the third time in the last four shows he's been too that he's gotten a free ticket.

Fatal Four Way: Winner get's the number 30 spot in the Rumble match
Aiden Aggro vs. Davienne vs. Scotty Wild vs. "The Prize" Alec Price

Solid opening match with all four wrestlers giving it their all.  The action was fast paced with his great high intensity.  The crowd was really into it as well.  Aggro stole pin on Wild after Price hit his finish on Wild and Aggro threw him out of the ring.

Devin Blaze vs. Danger Kid

I haven't seen Blaze in a while and post match Kid allude to the fact that Blaze hasn't wrestled in two years.  I thought the match was very good with both guys showing us some good technical wrestling before picking up the pace.  The crowd was super quiet for this match and I can't figure out why.  Multiple times though-out the night it was be as quiet as a library in the building kind of threw me off. 

Finish came when Kid was on the apron and Blaze was suplexing him into the ring and Kid reversed it into a small package for the three count.

Post Match: Aggro came out and Kid asked General Manager Torres and Eric Johnson come to the ring.  Essentially MSP challenged The Stigma to a tag team championship match, they said that Johnson trained them, but he hasn't wrestled them in years and as they are now.  Match was made for the next show on February 8th back in Orono.

DL Hurst vs. CJ Cruz
This was a fantastic match and I'm not surprised.  Both of these guys are two to watch here in New England as these guys are going to have a big 2020.  I'm a fan of both of them, but I was hoping Hurst was going to pick up the win.

Again a fantastic match that went back and forth no one having the clear upper hand but both getting in some great moves.  In the end Hurst fell victim to that beautiful missile drop kick that Cruz has.  I don't know what he calls it but Cruz Missile would be cool.

Fan's Bring the Weapons match
Let's Wrestle Champion: "Classic" Kalvin Strange vs. "Mass Hole" Mike McCarthy

Some decent weapons including an umbrella, a couple kendo sitcks, 7 lbs of used staples, and some ass hole that brought a Dolphins helmet.  To the surprise of no one the match quickly got physical with the weapons coming into the play.  To me though the most violent spot in the match was when McCarthy was standing on the apron and suplexed Strange who was standing in the ring onto the floor.

He then  dumped the blob that was the seven pounds of used staples on the floor and bodyslammed Strange on them.  It was wicked!  The match continued back in the ring where Strange for the upper hand with a cane shot to the head and then a headbutt to McCarthy while wearing the Miami Dolphins helmet.  At this point the Mass Hole was busted open.

Strange would have been wise to keep the helmet on because in the end McCarthy jumped off the top rope finishing Strange with a DDT capturing the championship!

We then had an intermission while the ring and ringside area were cleaned up.  AJ got his photo taken with the Maine State Posse.

Ava Everett's Birthday Bash Open Challenge
Limitless Wrestling World Champion: Retro AG vs. Ava Everett

It's Ava's birthday and the open challenge was answered by her boyfriend AG who gifted her a cake that said It Is Your Birthday and a title shot for the Limitless Wrestling World Championship.  Ava used every dirty trick that she could use and cheated as much as she could, but it wasn't enough for her to win the championship as AG retained with his corner pull up piledriver. 

I know what you are thinking, there is a cake at ringside, whose face did it end up in? Why Eric Greenleaf. 

KenneLee: Alexander Lee & Kennedi Copeland vs. Harris County Club: Bret Ryan Gosselin & Malik Logan

Fun tag team match with KenneLee coming out on top when Alexander Lee pinned Logan after a splash off the top rope. I appreciated the fact that Harris Country Club wore their old school matching gear.  I've only seen Copeland live a few times over the years but I must say that she has gotten better and continues to do better.  I really dig the tag team of KenneLee.

2020 Let's Wrestle Rumble
"The Prize" Alec Price won last eliminating CJ Cruz

I think overall this years Rumble match was better than last years.  Mikey was convinced that D'Lo Brown was going to be a surprise entrant, I even brought my cards just in case, but he wasn't.  Mac Daniels was the number 1 entrant and he brought someone to watch his back just in case one of the referee's tried to get one up on him, Jon Alba.  The crowd was pissed!

We got an entrant every 90 seconds, the ring never filled up too much and once it built up kept a good number of people in the ring at a time.  Mac Daniels lasted the longest in the match with Danger Kid lasting the second longest.  Sara Teller has the distinction of lasting the least amount of time.  Daniels eliminated the most competitors with 6 eliminations.

The save of the match went to Alexander Lee who body surged over Eric Greenleaf to avoid elimination.

I loved when Cruz entered the match and he and Price squared off continuing their feud. It was also cool that it came down to the two of them.  I'm very excited that Price got the win,   I think he and McCarthy will have some great matches over the championship. 

The rumble match built two new opponents for Mac Daniels with how he eliminated Greene and how he was eliminated by Cruz. 

Order of Entry
1 Mac Daniels
2 Retro AG
3 Antoine Nicholas
4 "Iron" Rip Bison
5 Sean Vegan (not sure I got this one right)
6 Ava Everette
7 Lil Blay
8 Davienne
9 Sara Teller
10 Channing Thomas
11 Ike the Bite
12 Danger Kid
13 Jeff James
14 "The Prize" Alec Price
15 Doug Wyser
16 Alexander Lee
17 BA Tatum
18 Jacob Drifter
19 Murdock
20 "Bulldog" Dave Dyer
21 Eric Johnson
22 Bret Ryan Gosselin
23 Malik Logan
24 Dojo Student (didn't catch his name)
25 Kalvin Strange
26 Kennedi Copeland
27 Scotty Wild
28 Jon Alba
29 CJ Cruz
30 Aiden Aggro

Order or Elimination
1 Sean Vegan by Ava Everette
2 Sara Teller by Davienne
3 Rip Bison by Daniels
4 Antoine Nicholas by Thomas
5 Lil Blay by AG
6 Ava by Price
7 Ike by Daniels
8 Jeff James by AG
9 Davienne by AG
10 AG by Daniels while Alba was holding AG's leg
11 Thomas by Danger Kid
12 Doug Wyser by Murdock
13 Murdock by Eric Johnson
14 Jacob Drifter by Dyer
15 BA Tatum by BRG
16 Dojo Student by Dyer
17 Dyer by Johnson
18 Logan by Alexander Lee
19 Alexander Lee by Wild
20 Kennedi Copeland by Wild
21 Scotty Wild by Daniels
22 Kalvin Strange by Johnson
23 Eric Johnson by 7 guys left in the match
24 Jon Alba by MSP
25 Danger Kid by Daniels at the same time as Aggro
26 Aiden Aggro by Price at the same time as Kid
27 BRG by Daniels
28 Mac Daniels by CJ Cruz
29 CJ Cruz by Alec Price

Let's Wrestle returns Saturday February 8th in Orono with Maine State Pose vs. The Stigma for the Tag Team Championships and pick your poison as Mike McCarthy and Alex Price will choose each others opponents.

Also Limitless Wrestling returns January 24th in Yarmouth with Flirtin' With Disaster in Yarmouth, Maine.

Thanks for reading, please leave a comment, read my other posts, and like my blogs Facebook page and while you're at it check out my weekly podcast The Wrestling Insomniac on the Nerdy Legion Podcast Network.

Until next time!