On Episode #16 of the Retro Wrestling Re-View Power Pro Wrestling Podcast, Gene Jackson, Robb Helt, and Brian Tramel are back LIVE on Saturday morning to cover the August 1, 1998 episode of Power Pro Wrestling. And after weeks of Jerry Lawler humiliating Randy Hales, running the show, wheeling him into parking lots, and generally turning Power Pro into the King’s personal playground, Randy finally gets his revenge. Sort of.
This week, Randy Hales takes control again, but nothing about Power Pro stays under control for very long. Lawler is still trying to run the place, Brandon Baxter is dressed like Tojo Yamamoto, Stacey gets booked into a strip style “Back Alley Street Brawl,” Kid Wikkid keeps rolling, Heinrich Franz Keller gets some heat back, Corey Maclin yells about an am-buh-lance, and the whole show eventually turns into pure Channel 5 Rasslin’ chaos.
The main story this week is right there in the title: Randy Takes Control. After Jerry Lawler spent the previous week playing boss, Randy Hales gets back in the building, back on television, and back in charge. The problem is, this is Power Pro Wrestling, so “control” is a relative term.
The funniest part of the episode may be the ambulance material. Lawler gets beaten down, the medics show up and load Lawler into the ambulance, Corey repeatedly yells “am-buh-lance,” and just when you think Lawler is gone, he comes back DRIVING the thing HIMSELF. It’s ridiculous, it’s 1998 “Stone Cold” Jerry Lawler! (WHAT!?!)
Brandon Baxter continues to be one of the most entertaining characters in the promotion, especially with the crew now referring to him as “Tojo Baxtermoto”. Between Baxter, Randy, Stacey, Corey, Lawler, and Bruno, this episode has more personality than almost anything Power Pro has done so far.
Episode #16 is Power Pro at its most unhinged: Lawler in the control room, Randy in a neck brace, Stacey taking over production (which goes poorly due to the age of the tape we’re watching), Corey yelling about an “am-buh-lance”, Brandon Baxter as a real life “karate man”, Billy Joe Travis with his cab driver’s hat, and BT wearing an actual crown on top of his fedora while Gene and Robb sing the Diff’rent Strokes theme song.
That’s the Retro Wrestling Re-View Power Pro Wrestling Podcast!!
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