Episode Details

On Episode #24 of the Retro Wrestling Re-View Power Pro Wrestling Podcast, Brian Tramel is joined by Robb Helt and Scottie Wince while Gene Jackson is sidelined by illness, and the crew heads back to September 26, 1998 for another chaotic hour of Memphis Power Pro Wrestling. There’s Sid Vicious, the Road Warriors, Randy Hales trying to control everything in sight, Brandon Baxter and Stacey getting dragged deeper into Randy’s mess, Brian Christopher continuing to look like the biggest star on the program and Jerry Lawler spending a whole lot of television time talking about Jim Carrey and Man on the Moon while dressed like someone’s grandmother. 

The show wastes no time reminding everybody that this is increasingly becoming The Randy Hales Show. Randy has Brandon Baxter scheduled against Stacey with Jerry Lawler banned from ringside, while seemingly every angle on the program has Randy’s fingerprints somewhere on it. 

There’s also an eight man elimination match with $2,500 on the line, masked men wandering around ringside, and enough stipulations that even the podcast crew has trouble keeping track of exactly what everybody is supposed to be fighting for. Derrick King provides one of the wildest moments of the episode when a ladder comes into play and he takes a huge bump across the top rope.

Buddy Wayne continues pushing Sid’s case while Randy Hales insists that Sid isn’t simply going to walk into Power Pro and get whatever he wants. Randy lays out his terms: Sid will have to go through four opponents of Randy’s choosing before he earns the contract and opportunity he wants. 

At the same time, Power Pro drops another huge name into the mix when Randy announces that The Road Warriors are coming to the Mid-South Coliseum to face Jerry Lawler and a mystery partner. Even BT, Robb, and Scottie immediately perk up at the idea of Hawk and Animal walking back into Memphis. 

And that should be one of the easiest things in the world to sell.

Then we get back to Randy Hales.

One thing the crew agrees on almost completely: Brian Christopher is the star of Power Pro right now.

He looks like a star, carries himself like a star, and gets reactions like a star. Scottie names anything involving Brian as his “hit” of the week, while BT points out that even years later, whenever Brian Christopher appears in old footage, the audience numbers jump. 

By the end of the show, the big pieces for October 3rd are in place: Sid Vicious is coming, The Road Warriors are coming, Randy Hales and Brandon Baxter are headed toward a fight, and Jerry Lawler needs a partner for Hawk and Animal. 

The problem is getting there.

BT, Robb, and Scottie all come away feeling that there are good ideas underneath the clutter, but too much talking, especially Lawler’s extended Hollywood story keeps the episode from firing the way it could.

Still, one thing is becoming impossible to ignore.

Brian Christopher is the guy.

Power Pro may belong to Randy Hales on paper.

But right now, Brian Christopher owns the screen.