Author Guy Evans & Panera Bread's Stephanie Layou: Duke Loves Rasslin Week 203

[Music] love this podcast support this show through the acast supporter feature it's up to you how much you give and there's no regular commitment just click the link in the show description to support now you're locked in look at what we have here F to the only show that matters the cream of the copet Duke loves wrestling and there is no one that does it better than your host I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick out the Duke and I'm all out [Music] of hi this is Earl Oliver from so V wrestling this is Raj G with wrestling.com this is Sean Reed boxing Rider and undercover lowy rling fan and you're listening to us D Love rasling [Music] woo welcome back to the Duke loves wrestling podcast the show about pro wrestling and everything else hope everyone is doing all right out there I know we're trugging along here you know winter just doesn't want to let go for some of us I know our friends up uh North and Canada and even here in in Massachusetts you know I got a little bit of snow today which is just insane this late in April you know listen folks I promise you we are going to supply you with some great pro wrestling content today without a doubt but before I get to any of that I have a great guest who represents a national restaurant chain doing a fantastic job she and her team and I just want to highlight these folks so without further Ado welcome to the Duke loves rasling podcast the general manager of Panera Bread and quiny Massachusetts we're talking about Stephanie Leu how are you Stephanie good morning I'm doing great how are you well I'm fantastic and listen let me just tell you honestly on behalf of all of your your fantastic customers I just want to thank you and your team at Panera Bread and quiny and I want to thank Panera Bread in general during this tough time I mean we're dealing with this uh covid-19 p pic and there's been so many different changes and what have you the fact that Panera Bread has continued to be a constant in our lives continue to put out great delicious food and drinks and what have you offering up great service seriously I I really thank you and your team and and Panera in general for all that you're doing for us right now well thank you guys so much for choosing to order with us let me ask you Stephanie how is it that your team especially and you know I've really been paying attention to what you folks have been doing uh and I'm a I'm a guy you know I got a business background and I'm really big on customer service and things of that nature one of the things that I've noticed about Panera Bread and quiny Massachusetts is that there hasn't been a drop off in the quality of service the cleanliness of of your location and most importantly the quality of the goods I mean you know whether it's the drinks or the food or what have you everything still feels the way it did two three four months ago what do you attribute that to how are you folks continuing to stay so consistent in such uncertain times well I mean the consistency of the team and the atmosphere really comes from the standards that are set in the very beginning you know with our folks at Panera Bread yes we are a restaurant but this is the hospitality industry and our number one focus our goal our expectation is to consistently deliver an excellent guest experience um I have a great crew um you know we focus on building genuine and authentic relationships with our people with our community I can honestly say you know I love coming to work every single day I love working with my team they're very positive they're powerful they're charismatic and they truly and genuinely want to make each guest happy and they enjoy the work and they enjoy the commitment that we do you know in order to perform the higher standard for our valued customers one of the things that I've really appreciated is the fact that although Panera Bread is offering what's called a limited menu so it may not be the complete offering that you would normally see nonetheless there are some great options on this limited menu that you're providing right now share some of these delicious items and what have you what what are some of the things that folks can get from their local Panera Bread right now so our limited menu it still includes all of customers favorites we have all of our signature soups sandwiches and salads you can still order order your favorite breakfast lunch and dinner including the breakfast chipotle chicken avocado wrap for lunch we have the um chipotle chicken avocado melt bacon turkey Bravo we have our broccoli cheddar soup and I do also want to mention that strawberry poppy seed with chicken salad is back on the menu for all of you fans out there that love that salad that is a big hit consistently every summer so that is now available as well with a frozen strawberry lemonade wow I mean you're making me hungry now uh Stephanie I'm telling you right now folks we're talking to general manager of Panera Bread in quinsey Massachusetts Stephanie Leu we're talking about all the great things that are being offered right now by Panera Bread once again this is an essential business this is a restaurant that's providing an amazing service to all of us right now giving us the nutritious delicious foods and drinks and all these great things in fact you know Stephanie I received a pretty cool email the other day where Panera is is doing something called the the family meal if I'm not mistaken can you give some information about this this amazing family meal program that you have going on right now yes absolutely so right now we have the Family Feast for only $29 you can receive two half sandwiches two kids sandwiches a salad one family group mac and cheese and one French baguette which is really a great deal and if you also want to upgrade for dessert for only $34 We'll add four chocolate chip cookies to that order for you it's funny because I I was just talking to my bodyguard about this the other day I I had gotten some uh Panera cookies and I'll tell you right now and I mean this from the bottom of my heart Panera Bread has the best chocolate chip cookie I have ever had I mean legitimately I I I bought the the pack of uh cookies that come in a little plastic I think what is it like is it 12 of them in in there that they're the smaller cookies yes our mini petite pack cookies yes the mini petite pack and let me tell you something it is by far the best chocolate chip cookie I have ever I cannot think of a time where I've had a better chocolate chip cookie just really delicious so shout out to Panera Bread and anybody out there if you are a cookie connoisseur like the Duke is you better believe it get yourself your chocolate chip cookies get your your coffee or get your your other drinks or what have you go to Panera Bread I'm giving you the hookup right now I'm telling you that's right now I know that traditionally your location in quinsey Massachusetts does not have a drive-thru but Panera Bread you know even as a company you guys have really pushed the envelope in terms of figuring out Solutions figuring out ways to better accommodate customers especially during this this Global pandemic that we're dealing with talk to everybody about this Innovative uh these different ways that you're finding ways to to reach your customers especially when it comes to bringing food out to their cars and the the way you've done your drive-thru talk to us about some of these Solutions please yes so the number one thing is we want our customers to feel safe and you have the option to stay safe in your home or stay safe in your car and we have a couple new things so first of all uh we have assembled a popup drive-thru and and we have an associate outside with a kiosk uh in hand ready to take your order when you pull up you don't have to leave your car we will prepare your food and we will make sure your bag is sealed and we'll bring it right outside to your car so you can drive right in or you can order in the parking lot and we're going to bring it right out to your car for you um we also have another option when you order online it's called drive up ordering and you can just place your order right online it's going to prompt you to give us a brief description of your vehicle and we'll have the order ready for you and again we're going to bring it right out to your car for you you don't have to come inside and we will take care of you and I do want to uh mention as well that we also have free delivery going on right now at your Panera Bread location so you can go ahead and order select the delivery option and we will make this a contactless delivery for you whether you're at home or at work just give us instructions for example leave it in the lobby leave it on the front porch and we will prompt you and let you know your order has been delivered and it'll be wherever you have instructed us to put it wow another way that you're delivering great service during such a a challenging time for everybody and it's really appreciated and I'll tell you you know one of the things that I love about Panera Bread first of all the quality of food is topnotch so that's that's extremely important I mean just the the quality of food is always very very high you're not going to get you know for lack of better terms something crappy so to speak it's always going to be the best sandwiches and cookies and whatever it is that you're that you're purchasing there but what I also love is the personal touches and I can speak from experience I mean some of the things that I've witnessed and and have been on the receiving end of at Panera Bread especially in quiny Massachusetts it's just been tremendous I mean you know I I've even witnessed situation where some of our folks who are out there on the front lines you know you know our our medical workers and what have you have have been able to come in and you know the team will give them a complimentary coffee and a cookie and I understand that that may not necessarily be a a companywide practice per se but it's a personal touch and it's something that goes a long way and and just another way that you know folks especially your location letting the community know that you appreciate everybody and it's just a a small token of appreciation that is a big deal you never know what that could do for somebody's day uh just something as simple as a cup of coffee and a cookie so that's really want to shout you guys out for that so tell me now U Stephanie you guys have keos inside the restaurant so somebody can go in and they can order their coffee on the kiosk you have the app you have online uh they could also come in traditionally in order you've really done a great job been reducing lines during this whole notion of social distancing and doing the right thing and what have you I I've seen pretty much all of these different mediums being used at the same time which results in people being able to get in and get out easily and the drive-thru and all that good stuff I mean how do you do it how how are you you and your staff able to just keep up with all this stuff well we have adjusted to the current times you know know we want people we still want to feed people we want to feed our community and we want everybody to feel safe so uh assembling the popup drive-thru has really been key just having somebody out there with the kiosk ready to go right to your car to take your order um and like you had mentioned I still do have a a lot of guests that you know want to come in and they still want to order with us and you know have some light conversation and have some interaction with us and we'll get their food out and uh ready for them quickly as well we've just you know adapted to the current situation and we're doing the best we can here to provide for our community feed everybody and to make sure that everybody is staying safe for sure and I'll tell you right now it's just greatly appreciated because it's important to have a place to you can go to and for lack of a better term you can feel normal you know I could go to Panera Bread three months ago and get my coffee get a bagel get a sandwich and that experience was one way it was pleasant the people there were accommodating and friendly and you know customers that you could feel like it was a positive shopping experience it's still feels that way today and that's why I felt it was important to highlight Panera Bread and and to highlight Stephanie and and your team at the quiny Massachusetts location because legitimately what you've been able to provide the community and folks from all over not just quiny folks from all over pass through and end up visiting your location you've been able Pro to continue to provide normaly during a very very not so normal time so you know really appreciate that uh Stephanie can you please let everybody know what's the best way that they can reach Panera Bread especially if they you know I know that they want to find one in their location they want to get some of these great foods and what have you tag the website what have you let everybody know how they can reach Panera Bread please yep so you can go right to panerabread.com allow your current location and it'll give you a list of Panera Breads that are the closest to you and select your Panera Bread and we will be happy to take your order that's right so again panerabread.com folks also you can download the Panera Bread app something that I utilize on a routine basis it'll it'll let you know the nearest location as well you can put your order in ahead of time so when you get there it's ready for you and whether you know if they have a a drive-thru or somebody bring it out or if it's just going to be sitting at that that waiting location where you can just grab it and go so accommodating so many different great options and what have you listen Stephanie once again we really appreciate you the entire Panera Bread team Especially You Folks at quiny Massachusetts location Before I Let You Go I got a two-part question for you and this is a big deal here so so here we go I'm GNA put you on the spot number one if you could pick anything right now what is your favorite item on the Panera Bread The Limited menu right now what is Stephanie Leu the GM what's your go-to item on the menu right now my go-to is the Green Goddess cob with avocado salad it is delicious we housem make the dressing every single day with all fresh ingredients Blended together it is the best the Green Goddess cob salad okay okay I'm writing this down okay because I gotta I gotta try that dressing there now that you talked it up so much okay all right so so listen you're you're a GM so you know all the good stuff you know all the great ingredients you know what to get I'm gonna I'm gonna ask you another question here which may be a little tricky but I'm putting you on the spot I know that you that you have uh some kids you got wonderful kids there there and and shout out to them sharing mommy with the world and what have you really appreciate them what are your kids goto item on the Panera Bread menu right now what's the one thing that they can't get enough of that you got to order when they when they want their favorite what is it yes the kids favorite goto my beautiful twin girls have to have their mac and cheese that is the favorite so mac and cheese Panera Bread and and a lot of folks just say mac and cheese really oh yeah I'm telling you I I have had their mac and cheese it is delicious but you're saying that this is this is the kids favorite right here the mac and cheese yes mac and cheese that's what they want there you have it once again Stephanie Leu thank you thank Panera Bread you folks keep doing the great job that you're doing out there thank you so much and thank you to all of our customers and our Frontline Hospital workers and everybody who comes into the cafe and helping us stay in business we appreciate you and we are here to feed you thank you so much it is always a pleasure to speak to one of our folks who who are out there doing what's best for the community taking care of business and that's exactly what we had there and you know again shout out to Panera Bread and Panera Bread and quiny just great folks out there really appreciate them great food great drinks you know they're doing some Innovative things in this crazy world they're figuring out a way to continue to provide services to all of us so they get nothing but support from me because that's a big undertaking and I really appreciate it you know I'm always talking to folks um from around the world different age groups and what have you and you've heard a lot from the older folks so to speak right you've heard a lot from me and people older than me classic Stars you name it but we have a a great collection of of listeners and folks out there who are a little younger and you know their voice needs to be heard as well especially with so much going on in the wrestling industry today and you know on the heels of WrestleMania there's just a lot of cool stuff going on and it's like you know I want to hear from The Young Folks I want to hear what they have to say so I got a person on the line first of all this guy he he is this the son of the queen queen Jen okay so he already is royalty real good guy important person in the world so the fact that he's taken some time out to address the Duke loves rasling audience this is really really special without further Ado the man himself sir Peter sir Peter how you doing today there brother I'm doing good excellent excellent listen sir Peter tell everybody first of all uh how old are you I'm 14 years old so sir Peter is 14 years old I mean here we go and and you're a big wrestling fan right yeah now it's interesting sir Peter because I know that you're somebody who has followed the WWE uh in particular and there's one wrestler who has really appealed to you that you've looked up to pretty much your entire life why don't you tell everybody who that guy is John Cena what is it about John Cena that has captured your attention for so long that's made you uh care about what goes on with him it's because he kind of has this weird vibe he's not like everybody else he kind of shows shows like basic comic things in life like hustle loyalty respect isn't just like a brand it's like what he thinks in general Through The Years Peter I mean you've gotten a lot of John Cena merchandise what would you say is your favorite John Cena specific merchandise that you've ever had whether it was a shirt or shoes or hat whatever what's the one John Cena merchandise that if you could think back in general it's been your favorite uh the green wristbands that I got when I went to the Raw live or something like that in Boston they were just really cool because like it's like really cool to see that like I'm wearing something that the wrestlers also wearing and like I didn't know they sold them like that I thought you just like bought a shirt growing up being a pro wrestling fan was always something that you know I I I kind of had to be careful about because there were so many people who felt that well pro wrestling you know it's not cool and don't you know it's fake and all this other nonsense and what happen you but because I was such a big fan I didn't mind letting the world know and I was just known as the kid who loved wrestling tell me from your perspective Peter growing up in a more modern era here is it still uncool to be a pro wrestling fan or or is it finally acceptable for somebody around your age 14 years old and younger is it is it acceptable to be a wrestling fan these days I mean it is acceptable but people are always going to have their opinions on whether or not they like it but people are more into UFC now and like MMA they're more into like the cage fighting and all that per se that in my opinion that's interesting that's interesting because you know obviously things like uh boxing and other types of martial arts they've always been around so I can understand that popularity but you're saying that um you're seeing more MMA fans in your age group as opposed to say WWE fans yeah why do you think that is Peter why do you think they're gravitating more to mixed martial arts as opposed to pro wrestling like WWE I think it's because like people like con McGregor and like all those other like big guys that like fight and they like really have a lot of Brands and stuff that they follow and stuff they kind of just bring more attention to UFC and stuff and it's just been growing and growing and growing Fair Point Fair Point and and you know when we think about the popularity and the TV ratings and all these other things that go on uh you may have tapped into at least a glimpse into why it looks as if Pro wrestling's popularity is on a decline in fact you can answer an important question for me Peter when you watch pro wrestling do you generally watch it when it first airs on TV or is this sort of like a a DVR or online thing do you watch it a different way or are you still a traditional 800 PM Eastern Standard Time I'm gonna Park myself in front of the TV and watch it when it first airs I like just watching things live because based on like Bruins game and stuff you are you are to watch it when it's already on so you get like the first Glimpse great insight there I know that there's so many different ways to consume entertainment today that um so many different options but because you're you're a first run person you want to see it live that's that's pretty cool pretty cool to hear so so tell me Peter because we just had WrestleMania and one of the Marquee matches one of the most talked about matches really was John Cena versus Bray Wyatt Firefly Funhouse match and it was just completely unlike anything I've ever seen before so as somebody who's a lifelong John Cena fan sir Peter you're somebody who believes in the the hustle loyalty respect you're from New England so you have that kind of connection as well John Cena is from around these parts what did you think of his match WrestleMania 36 versus Bray Wyatt I thought it was a little bit confusing at first and then like got into like I understood what the concept was but the ending was still unclear but supposedly Bray Wyatt won that match according to WWE but I don't really see how because based through that whole match all I saw was Bray Wyatt I in my personal opinion I think he's gonna go back to the whole Sister Abigail thing but in John Cena he went through the whole stages of his career and like a couple different ones that weren't even involved with him a lot of folks have been trying to get John Cena to turn into a bad guy turn heel for many years they're sick of this good guy persona that he has on they're sick of the fact that he's the make A- wish guy he's always you know taking care of the the sick folks and He makes himself available to everyone and does everything what about you Peter lifelong fan do you feel we need to see more of an edgier a bad guy John Cena or do you still appreciate the the good wholesome values of traditional John Cena in my personal opinion I don't want John Cena to turn bad but I want to see more of like an edgy kind of Roman Reigns kind of feel to him but on the other hand I see why people wanted to turn bad because he's been good for so long that they like it's just they're getting tired of the good John Cena like the like can never do wrong kind of feel but like that's kind of what make John Cena John Cena it seems like you've thought about this before so that's that's a good answer there John Cena he follows me on Twitter uh he's somebody that because we have the whole Massachusetts thing going on we we know some of the same people and if John Cena was listening right now which he very well could be if he if he listens to this podcast and he hears one of his lifelong fans what is the one thing that you would love John Cena to know on your behalf what's something that you want to communicate to John keep up the good work don't like listen to other people kind of like you do you and you've been like my role model practically for my whole life so yeah let me tell you something man when I first met Ric Flair Nature Boy Ric Flair who is my hero my idol the guy that I looked up to as a young kid uh I froze I froze and and and broke out in tears and and I I let him know man that he was just so important to me and it was just a sural moment to have this person that you've watched your entire life on on TV and you read about and you followed their life story and to interact with them for the first time it's just a a tremendous moment and I hope that uh one of these days you get a chance to meet John Cena because from what I understand he legitimately is a good guy just like you are sir Peter so that would be a cool uh treat there for the both of you I think I think I think John Cena can learn something from you as well so you know we'll see if we can somehow way if the stars align make that happen there because that would be nice sir Peter I know you're a busy guy do you have any social media or anything that you want to plug is there anything that you want to uh put out into the world there where folks can follow you and see what's going on yeah I have an Instagram account it's called PG unor realore music and it's also PG uncore lore m s i well there it is folks so you definitely want to check out sir Peter on Instagram I mean this guy you know he has a lot of things going on with music he's a young man he's a talented young man loves his pro wrestling loves his music loves his mom that's right that's right listen sir Peter I really appreciate you joining us once again thank you for your Insight can we get you to come back on again the next time there's a big uh wrestling event happening in fact you know I know that SummerSlam is coming up and it's going to be here Boston so I may need you uh to help me do a preview of SummerSlam so maybe we can we can get that set up and and we can have you uh let me know your predictions for who you think's gonna win the matches come SummerSlam sure definitely I'd love to be on the show it's always fun to talk to young people I mean you know Peter real nice young man and definitely has some great opinions insightful Big John Cena fan so keep up the great work there sir Peter will be we'll definitely have him back on sometime in the future there okay we going to take a quick break and when I get back I have an exclusive interview with a man who has written a book that has just torn up the wrestling world it is so impressive because it talks about what really happened with WCW this guy did some work he really dug into it and I think you're going to like it this is Alexa and this is Brianna and we're sugar and SP we're sugar and spice and you're listening to CL wrestling folks you know that at this point right now we all definitely are finding different ways to entertain ourselves uh we're definitely home a little bit more so many stay-at-home orders and what have you related to This Global pandemic this covid-19 stuff and you can only play so many video games watch so many Netflix shows before it's like all right what else is they to do you know one of the things that I have reverted back to is picking up a good book you know reading something and and reading something that really captures my attention and and educates me in a in a different way and we're all pro wrestling fans we're all combat sports fans and what have you and we all come from different backgrounds as well I have a government and business background so when it comes down to the nitty-gritty of how certain concepts are connected and how they affect the very form of entertainment that we love the most pro wrestling you know I'm really really interested in that and I've been that way from a young age Our Guest this week is a person who has written a book that is widely considered one of the best wrestling books ever and especially because it talks about WCW and what happened there what really happened behind the scenes from a business standpoint that affected the entertainment and ultimately resulted in WCW no longer existing so without further Ado welcome to the Duke loves wrestling podcast author and really cool guy guy Evans how are you guy I'm doing good Duke I'm happy to uh be with you I know we've been trying to put this together for a while so it's great to finally connect the real problem here guys is that number one there's only so many hours in a day and number two this this Global pandemic that we're dealing with it definitely has affected everybody's schedule right correct exactly I mean uh you know there's there's no time like the present to uh to make sure that we take care of something like this you know when I knew I was going to be at home for a while one of the first things I thought was I have to get back to you duke because I know uh we had talked about this for for quite a while so looking forward to digging in with the uh with you about the book today and kind of revisiting what a wild roller coaster it's been over the last couple of years absolutely now guy please tell everybody the the name of the book because I want to make sure that people listening they get this right there's so many books on the WCW topic but this one in particular is the one I want everyone to check out what's the name of the book okay so it's it's a little bit of a m full so the full name of the book is Nitro the incredible rise and inevitable collapse of head Turners WCW now I think uh colloquially or affectionately it's just known as the Nitro book that's what everyone seems to refer to it as so if you just go on Google and type in WCW Nitro book or go on Amazon just type in WCW Nitro book it'll most likely be the first thing that pops up uh but that's the uh the official title of the book otherwise known as simply the Nitro book great stuff and I really appreciate you uh giving information on how to search for it on Google that is something that I think more authors need to pay attention to what is the easiest way to find your work if somebody randomly is searching it or or you know they didn't quite catch the name when they heard it but they know that it had something to do with Nitro so that's that's good tip there WCW Nitro book best way to find it guy you have done a tremendous amount of press surrounding this work and and you've had people from inside the wrestling industry outside the wrestling industry literally pick this apart so I want to take a step back here you've done it you've been reviewed you've been called out everything in between how do you feel about the work now now that it's out now that you've heard from so many different people about it what are some Impressions you have about the book today that maybe have changed a little bit since you initially wrote it and then put it up well I think not too much has changed in terms of my perception of the book I was very confident upon publication that this was as close to an accurate story that one could tell about WCW especially its relationship with t a broadcasting and as you mentioned ultimately what happened with the company I think the fact that I was able to speak to over 120 people who worked either for WCW or TBS the fact that I was able to gain access to a lot of company materials which had essentially been under lock and key for the best part of of 20 years um and and and put all of that together and and really try to present uh a wide ranging and fair picture of what happened you know I was I was very confident that um you know as much as humanly possible I try to remove my own sort of biases and preconceptions and and judgments about the story because I came at it from the perspective of you know who really cares what I think you know I'm just someone who watched the programming back then I never worked in wrestling i' I've never uh prior to doing this never had any contact with anyone in the business actually so for me to sit there and pontificate on here's what these guys did well and here's what they didn't do so well I don't think that would make for a particularly compelling uh story so I was very confident that this was going to be something um that would resonate with people that they would find not only entertaining but also informative because of a lot of the new aspects that have come out of the story what I didn't anticipate was just the Firestorm that was going to be created and I have to say it's it's as close to 100% uh positive in terms of the ultimate reaction um as could be achieved I think you know having done a book like this you know it just continues to amaze me that here we are almost two years after the fact and people are still talking about the book people like yourself are still kind enough to uh ask me on for an interview people are still reviewing it um putting other people onto it it's just it seems to be something that is like a snowball going downhill the longer time goes on you know you you think that uh you think that the chatter has died down and all of a sudden someone will talk about it on a show someone will tweet about it and it and it begins all over again so that's that's the aspect that has surprised me you know I I thought that it was going to resonate it was going to be received well um for people like yourself to say this might be one of the better books you know written on the on the wrestling business that certainly wasn't part of my mindset and putting it together so that that has been a surprise you know Eric Bishoff was the the man in charge of WCW of course he wasn't the owner as we all know at this point folks Ted Turner Turner Broadcasting they they owned WCW But Eric Bishoff was put in charge to run the show For Better or For Worse for you know a good portion of the run and again you covered all that there a guy one of the things that that really has fascinated me is the fact that your book at times was very open and honest about the things that bishof did that contributed to the ultimate downfall of the company you know of course you talked about the good but you really dug into some of these things and and especially you know personality and attitude conflicts and things of that nature which Eric to his credit has been very honest about you know on on his 83 weeks podcast he has been brutally honest about the fact that the things that you wrote about him in your book for the most part were completely accurate and if he could he wishes he could take some of these things back or or the way that he treated certain people at certain times he wish he could have a doover what do you think about that because he could have very easily gone on the attack and and and said that you know the book was a piece of crap and it's not true and you know threaten to Sue or something crazy like that but instead he actually has been he's praised the book let's let's be honest here he's put the book way over well how do you feel about that I think it's it's very commendable honestly because I think uh most of us if we were in a position with someone was writing a book about a company that we played a very important role in and they covered some ground that wasn't particularly flattering to us I think it's it's human nature to reject the entire project outright and say well you know this is a bunch of BS obviously the the author had an exor grind here you know I wouldn't believe a word of it and uh and kind of kill it there and then and you know again I think that would be the reaction of of quite a few people so I think for him to be able to separate his feelings about certain sections of the book from his wider analysis of the book um you know I I have to give give him a lot of respect for that and he's he's had some very kind things to say about it both in person to me uh and also uh on the 83 weeks podcast and and just in his interactions with with people online and conventions and so forth I hear hear that from people all the time that you know uh that when they've had a chance to to meet him at an appearance and talk about the book that he obiously discusses it in very positive tones and so I think uh you know there's there's a respect level there where he understands that there's an awful lot of work that went into this and I I really um tried to leave no stone uncovered and I didn't want anyone to say that they hadn't been contacted that they hadn't been approached I didn't want anyone to say that you know there's a a particularly big part of the story that had been left out um and so really you know my reaction is again uh it just just a uh a feeling of of uh gratitude I suppose that um he's been very fair-minded about it and uh and again being able to separate uh some of his feelings about certain sections from what he has said overall about the book wrestling fans have a habit of where we're in a bubble you know and we see things from that lens the the bubble of this entertainment medium the sports entertainment lens a lot of us and and I'm saying us because I've been guilty of this in the past myself and and it wasn't until I became a manager in business and and really digging into the Nuance of how corporate decisions can affect the what happens out there in in front of the public so to speak so I I kind of look at things from a different perspective now but folks who aren't necessarily tasked with that it's very easy to say well you know the company went downhill because they put the belt on David Arquette and that that that bad decision is what ruined everything we knew it was the end of everything because of that yet when you ask those folks about the AOL Time Warner uh merger they they couldn't tell you much about it because again this is business this is Corporate stuff it has nothing to do with the entertainment that they can see in front of them you know so it's it's hard to understand that there was a lot more going on outside of WCW that ultimately impacted what happened in the end in wcw's fate than what the average fan would ever understand so so tell me guy how are you able to capture that and break it down and and explain that stuff so effectively because that's a lot of information that you were able to condense down and and and put into your book there it is and I think you can't ignore the creative side because obviously as as fans that's the part of the story that we resonate the most with I mean if if given the opportunity to watch you know the Goldberg Hogan match or Peru's you know wcw's Financial State stats I think most people would say you know let me look at the match um but I think both things can be true in terms of their contribution to the overall demise of the company um the fact that there were many uh factors on a on a business side that did not ultimately helped wcw's chances of survival particularly in the last couple of years and and all of the uh all of the chaos and and and this organization uh with respect to the Turner organization certainly didn't help there but also you know although this is a subjective thing I think it would be very difficult for people to argue that the quality of the programming again especially in the last couple of years was anywhere near what it was during its peak and that's not to say there weren't bright spots that's not to say some people might say you know what there there were periods there that were my favorite part of of of the Nitro era but I think on the whole most people would recognize there was a drop off in terms of the quality of the programming as well so I I think sometimes we kind of fall into the Trap of analyzing one thing or the other where in fact both things can be true and I would also say if it was as simple as that if uh there was a a direct positive correlation between the quality of programming and the revenue or or or or income produced by a company you know I think one could make the argument that WWE probably would have gone out of business many years ago um because again it's a it's a subjective thing but you know I I think there's been long periods of time years at a time at least to my eyes where they've presented some programming that that hasn't been compelling at all yet due to the Loyalty of of wrestling fans and what whatever whatever other reasons there is you know people stick with the product um but yet they've continued to be you know more profitable than at any other time in the past so it's it's it's obviously you know you cannot draw an analogy between an independent wrestling organization you know that's maybe running once a week or once a month uh and and can very easily categorize its revenue and expenses and a huge corporate entity um that you know the the actual on screen or in ring product is just one part of that business so I think that's something that I really tried to capture in the book you know you brought it up and and you're talking about WWE for a second there when you look at their business model right and you compare it to what you learned through your research of WCW and what ultimately happened there once again WCW was not Standalone it was part of a much larger corporate structure with so many other moving Parts uh within it WWE its bread and butter is is its pro wrestling product so it may do other things but pro wrestling primarily is its go-to thing do you feel that that model and I mean I I guess it it's kind of proven itself but do you feel that that model is a little bit more sustainable just from a general standpoint absolutely I I think uh you know it's it's hard to sort of foresee a situation where a wrestling company I think especially back then because obviously the you know I'm speaking from an outsider point of view but the wrestling business has changed quite significantly but I think especially back then the idea that uh a wrestling company could operate as just any other division within an entity like Turner Broadcasting um that that's kind of why I have the word inevitable in the subtitle because I I think it was just a matter of time before that um particular Dynamic imploded so I think as you say that the WWE model um has proven itself to to be the most successful way um from a business standpoint over time what what what I'm getting at though in terms of um highlighting that the the in ring or or on camera component is just onepoke in the wheel for WWE is the fact that you know they they have the benefit um of being around in a time where there's certain uh Revenue generating opportunities for them that didn't exist back then so you think about the WWE Network for example the fact that they can have a million plus hardcore viewers paying $9.99 a month to access this huge back catalog um of content you know that that's a that's a huge uh a huge uh uh Revenue driver for the company the fact that now they're in an era because of the changes across the media landscape where they can command exorbitant rights fees for their programming which wasn't the case back in the '90s the fact that you have certain uh certain elements that no one could have predicted for example the the injection of uh capital from Saudi Arabia you know which was not on the radar back back in the late 90s so you know I think a cynical way of looking at it would be to say that they are uh to some extent sort of being propped up by by some of these uh some of these things and maybe if uh they had to operate based on the same conditions as back in the the mid to late 90s they wouldn't be as successful um but I think the the larger point that I'm trying to make is I think sometimes as as fans we think well if the shows are better and if the the matches are better and the story lines are better the company is doing better and that's for the reasons that I just laid out you know I think a lot of people in the business wish it was that simple but it's it's never that simple we're at a time now where WWE has a new kid on the block that's trying to challenge them uh all elite wrestling and it's interesting because we see all elite wrestling one of the first things that they've done is they've secured a deal with TNT right same place where Nitro uh aired so many years ago and even we got to a point now I'm not sure if you've seen this or not Guy where you know the president of all elite wrestling Tony Khan he's kind of taken some shots at WCW in the way the company was ran and said you know he's not going to be making those types of mistakes and things of that nature which Eric bishof has given rebuttal you know essentially saying that uh Hees he's not really impressed with anything that all elite wrestling has put out thus far and at the rate that they're going he doesn't feel they're going to last very long what do you think guy and again I'm asking you this as a person who has done all this research you you literally studied the ins and outs of WCW and ultimately what brought the company down what's some some information from your perspective that you would put out there for anyone trying to operate a wrestling business on the same scale as WCW did you know 20 plus years ago and then at the point where they're actually competing with WWE something that all elite wrestling is essentially doing today what what are just some things that come to mind when you think about what that would look like and and how that could possibly be successful or not so successful well I think think it occurs to me and I'm obviously not alone in coming to this conclusion that I think at the moment there's a certain ceiling that a secondary wrestling company seems to be able to achieve with respect to the size of its audience and and the size of its uh share of the pi so to speak you think back on some of the numbers that TNA were able to achieve going back8 nine 10 years ago uh you know they were consistent and even before that In fairness they were able to consistently draw you know a million to aill million uh 1.3 million uh viewers on a on a weekly basis and obviously it's a different time now but I think if you look at the weekly numbers for for aew I think it's fair to say they're somewhere in that 850 to 900,000 viewer range so obviously they have cultivated uh again an extremely passionate uh fan base they're selling it they've had the ability to sell out shows in in significant Arenas in a matter of minutes um you look at their presence on on the it's absolutely huge and uh having gone to you know a couple of their events as well I can say you know the the way that that audience looks at those those performers and the relationship they have with the company is just just extraordinary I think the the million dooll question is how do you grow beyond that audience how do you appeal to someone who um quite frankly doesn't care about wrestling or maybe was a fan back in the day or has an awareness on a general level of some of the biggest stars but maybe feels that you know that the programming has passed them by um that's the question I think a lot of wrestling companies have grappled with quite frankly since the era that this book focuses on so the ultimate question I think with aw is what what is the end goal is it to be profitable uh from what I understand they they already are profitable uh and I think with the uh again the servant nature of their fan base I don't think that that would necessarily be um particularly difficult um is it to really challenge WWE in which case I I I do feel that maybe there was a missed opportunity it's hard to it's it's hard to contextualize this now but you think about all of the buzz that existed for aw prior to them launching and the fact that WWE really at an all-time low in terms of the buzz that surrounded that company and just the numbers on on Monday night I would have loved to have seen aw this may not be a popular opinion now but I I would have loved to have seen them challenge uh Raw uh just to get an initial sense of of what that number would look like uh to begin with um so again is that the goal or is is the goal to uh try to drive another wave of mainstream awareness to wrestling I'm I'm not I'm not entirely sure of uh of what the uh of what they're shooting for and what they're aiming at um so I suppose that's a long-winded way of saying you know they have they have cultivated an extremely loyal audience they've obviously you know made made uh significant ways in the industry I don't see that you know coming to a halt anytime soon but again the question is can you go beyond that that ceiling of somewhere around a million viewers who who are going to consistently tune in and pay attention to wrestling this is why it was so important to have you on the show guy because again your perspective is very interesting you're not a wrestling guy you're you're you're a wrestling fan but it's not like you worked in the pro wrestling industry and what have you so some people would see that as a negative or what does he know well he's able to look at this from fresh eyes with fresh eyes and the level of detail that you've gone through with your book The the interviews that you were able to secure I mean interviews with folks that do not give interviews has not spoken on the record about this with anyone you you have so many people that you're able to do that with and that's why I feel that it's important for folks not only to read the book but then to listen to some of the things you have to say today about the current landscape and the more we talk about some of the parallels and the similarities hopefully the better the industry will be because it's like oh that looks like you're about to walk into a a pothole there you know be careful with that little move there that's what WCW did back then and you know unfortunately it resulted in X Y and Z so that's why I think that from a historical perspective the book is so important you know and and that's the way my brain works no I I appreciate that and I think you know the the the question is um is the the current level of mainstream awareness with respect to wrestling is that a function of just the fragmentation of media that we've seen over the past decade or two in other words was this the logical evolutionary step for wrestling that it was going to go from something that was resonating on a pop culture level and and was something you know I I've said this before it was very common back then you know even being on on my side of the pond growing up you would have people who were were fans of I hesitate to use this word but lack of a better word you know legitimate Sports who were also wrestling fans you know who would say yeah I watched the NBA NFL and I I also watch WWF or WCW you know that that was pretty common back then and I think it's much less so common today um you you tend to have people who are sort of one or the other that's not the say that you know those people don't exist by the way um but again to to return to my point I think the question is was that inevitably where wrestling was going to go once the competition ended once some of these Stars went away um and and once quite frankly a lot of forms of entertainment became so so Niche or or niche in terms of their focus or is this a result of decisions and strategies uh that have been made within the wrestling business itself so has wrestling put itself in this position where yes it has an extremely passionate fan base but that cannot seem to grow beyond that um or actually should the business be commended for for holding on throughout all of these changes as it as it has um and and cultivating this particular part of the marketplace and that's really uh a question and an issue that I'm fascinated with right now and and actually uh love to hear your thoughts on that dud as we say you know entertainment has just changed so much over the past past 20 years over the past 10 years I mean with on demand content in particular the ability to watch things whenever you want the ability to binge watch things it has put us in a position where appointment television is almost obsolete corre you know I don't have to be home at 8:00 pm Eastern Standard Time on a Monday night to catch raw I can watch Raw Saturday night when I have a little bit more time and I don't have to stay up cuz I got to work the next morning cuz I'm off on on Sunday so that how we consume the entertainment has changed so much and I think that has impacted what our appetites are today as well so I think you know a lot of people talk about the fact that this is such a boom period for pro wrestling I think we're in the complete opposite I think that it's a boom period for those who have enough money to weather the storm uh but for a lot of these smaller promotions you know and I have a lot of folks come on the show and I talk to promoters and wrestlers and what have you they're really not making the money guy relative to maybe where wrestling was five years ago you could you could make that statement that it's in somewhat of a growth period but to sort of have any sort of historical context and really analyze the times in in in the 20th century for example that wrestling really took off to suggest that today is anywhere in that that Stratosphere I think you know one would have a hard hard case to to make that argument and again that that's not to denigrate again this is just just my opinion is it's not to denigrate anything that that is going on today but I think it's just again just night and day when you compare the the cultural um relevancy and importance of wrestling during the time that this book focuses on to today you know the the stars of today are very popular and very well-liked and well regarded to wrestling fans but I think non- wrestling fans would have a difficult time you know naming the the large majority of of of those people and I think that's a problem for wrestling if it ever wants to get back to that that position of of cultural relevancy so it really depends on what standards are we talking about are we talking about um you know thing things moving moving uh uh towards a state of improvement and things growing and new companies coming on the horizon and and more people having an opportunity to make money or we really talking about uh a state of affairs that we saw perhaps in the in the' 60s the ' 80s and the '90s where the masses were really tuning into wrestling so I I think it depends on the parameters of the debate um you know going into the debate in terms of how you look at it let's tell everybody guy because again we've been talking about the book we've been talking about your perspective today and how the book has impacted that let everybody know first and foremost how can they find the book where's the best place that they can get it uh I know that you you're in the process of trying to get it um on audio version what have you please just give all the information let us know what's the best way to get the book sure so there's essentially two ways to get the book either you can go on Amazon uh and just type in WCW Nitro book that's probably the easiest way to um to come across it and that goes for whatever country you're listening to this in it'll pop up on Amazon alternatively you could just type in WCW nitr book.com uh and you can get the paperback version uh you can also get the audio version of the book uh at WCW nitro.com and as you mentioned there Duke uh we're in the process of of getting uh the book set up on Audible uh I think with uh everything going on in the world there's been a little bit of a delay you know on their end about that but we anticipate in the next couple of weeks uh the book will be available on on Audible as well and uh and obviously the Kindle version you can check out on Amazon as well so there's a number of different ways you can read the book or listen to the book and uh and as I say check out for that audible version as well and also guy please let everybody know how they can reach you online because I'll tell you you're you're another guy who when you're posting things and and what have you it's it's the conversation can get very very interesting because when you spend time researching something to the degree that you have researched it it's very easy for you to also help to spell uh things that just aren't true quite frankly you know what I mean uh which so that's that's one of the reasons why I really enjoy you as a as a follow online so please let everybody know how can they follow you online especially Twitter and what have you yeah so uh we have a Twitter account for the book which again is just WCW Nitro book uh and as you mentioned that you know often will'll post um clippings of documents and memos and emails and and some some clips from the WCW archives that um you know people haven't seen before um and so we we like to try to do that from from time to time just to um as you said maybe respond to something that's in the news or something that coincides with a particular date in WCW history um and you can also uh check us out on uh on Instagram as well again it's WCW Nitro or if people want to reach me directly you can actually do that uh through email which is Guy Evans WCW book gmail.com so that's another way you can uh get in touch with me directly guy I I really appreciate you taking the time to do this I mean you're you're my long lost cousin from Wales uh so I I really appreciate that let let me ask you one last question before I let you go if you could narrow it down to one or two what are the biggest takeaways that you would hope for for anyone reading the book what do you want people who may not have been as knowledgeable about WCW and the inner workings and things of that nature or or just don't know the truth behind how the company went from being the number one wrestling company in the world to no longer existing basically what are some takeaways that you would prefer people to walk away with after reading the book that's a great question I think uh more than anything else uh I can speak for what I sort of gained uh a recognition for in in writing the book is really understanding how important competition was in in all of this and I think if you look at what happened to the wrestling business subsequent to wcw's demise and obviously we can have an argument as to whether or not this still applies today with with aw but obviously there was a long period there where you essentially had an effective Monopoly in the business and I think the the performers suffered for it the content uh suffered because of it the fans suffered because of it and so uh I think I had a casual awareness of that going in but um certainly digging into to the week by week you know happenings within each company really gave me an appreciation for that but I think you know from the perspective of the reader what I would hope people would go away with um is an understanding of you know some of these cliches I suppose that we hear with respect to WCW the fact that you know the the merger changed the game or the fact that there were uh Executives with internal broadcasting that were not particularly happy with WCW being on the Airways and so on these were very real and tangible considerations uh with respect to how WCW conducted itself as a business you know any of us can can sit there with a piece of paper and say well you know in 1999 they should have booked the pay-per-views this way and they should have put the belt on this guy and uh here's what here's what I would have done for starcade that year the actual reality of doing that you know you mentioned I think the word before Duke uh the Nuance of the situation the the nuances and the complexities involved of getting to that Endo uh which just so numerous with with WCW that at times you have to sort of shake your head and Marvel at how they were able to do so well um for for as long as they did I think there's there's someone in the book that makes the point that a lot of times with the company it was you know they were building the the the rail track as the train was in motion and for a long period of time they were just staying one step ahead of of disaster um and I think some of that can be blamed on internal reasons and some of that quite honestly was due to the to the wider dysfunction that was going on with with Turner Broadcasting um as a whole so you know I I would hope that people would go away uh from reading this book with with that in mind and I think that helps to contextualize a lot of stuff that went well with the company and also so uh a lot of things that didn't go so well so that would be my answer to that and apart from that Duke I uh I really appreciate being on and anytime you want to do this again just let me know really cool really cool good good to talk to guy there and I appreciate that type of conversation is a little different from what you would hear elsewhere because as I said you know let's take a step back and let's talk about everything now that the book has been out and people have given their reviews and you know guys had a chance to answer back back to some of the uh positive and the the criticism that he's gotten for that work there it's interesting too because you know he he partnered up with Conrad Thompson and and Eric Bishoff and they did a panel which was really really cool so he got a chance to discuss it even further so good stuff good stuff listen folks I you know uh our friend Kim artlet she is down there in Florida and and she's got some things going on owns her own promotion what have you so I wanted to check in with her real quick so check out this this conversation that I just had with uh Kim artlett so the State of Florida has deemed World Wrestling Entertainment essential meaning they you know the the people who work for WWE they can travel back and forth and get to work and what have you they can assemble they can have more than 10 people in the building at a time I think they're still trying to practice social distancing you know as much as a wrestling show could possibly do but this is kind of an interesting concept that WWE literally just an entertainment medium would be considered essential so I thought about it I said you know something let me reach out to a good friend of the show somebody who owns a pro wrestling company in Florida so you know she may have some perspective on what the heck is going on I mean we talk about Florida man and we talk about Florida just in general this is the most Florida thing that has ever Florida in Florida history as far as I'm concerned so anyway without further Ado welcome back to the Duke cloves wrestling podcast she is the owner of ignite wrestling down in Florida Kim artlett what's going on there Kim well I'm still trying to figure out what the hell Governor danis is thinking because that is the most dumb dumbest you're right most Florida thing I've ever heard because a wrestling company right a wrestling company is on the same level as as a drugstore and a supermarket and a hospital let's just say they're in the same as a liquor store we'll just say wrestling is equal to getting drunk now I have I have friends that have businesses that you know uh a liquidation warehouse they're not deemed essential because they're not doing uh you know medication alcohol home repair and everything but you know how or what the WWE had to do and what positions they had to get into with the governor of the state of Florida I don't want to know because I don't want that visual in my head but it is the dumbest thing I've ever heard of but you know you got to look at it this way they own their own building they have a budget that far exceeds anybody down here in the Indies they can hire medical staff and cleaning staff and blah blah blah blah blah but do I think that they were essential enough to get a pass from the state hell no that's just money talking that's all that is plain and simple money talking well and it begs the question so here you are you know ignite wrestling it's it's a pro wrestling promotion in the State of Florida are you essential as well I mean if WWE is wouldn't that make you essential as well technically oh no Absolut we're an entertainment company but but I run my shows in someone else's venue I don't have the security and the sanitation and the level of stuff that the WWE can do uh I'm I'm pure I'm pure entertainment but I wouldn't be putting just myself on the line or my bu building that's someone else's venue their staff the fans the wrestlers and I can guarantee you that Brewery is not going to sanitize that entire Brewery to have us in there to film if they don't have the budget and we don't have the budget to do it so you know it's it's a matter of money talks and you know what they they they look the other way on but no I think it's absolutely positively um negligent because you're risking the wrestlers you're risking the support staff you're risking all the little students that think they're getting an opportunity only because they live in the Orlando area and will show up uh the film crew Everybody and they've already got Co covid-19 in the WWE employees why would you push the issue for for a video I mean you look at the sides of their their Library there is so many things they could do with their Library there are so many remote things that they could do and virtual and throwback and and best of but they're all about the almighty doll and that's what it comes down to and Indie wrestling cannot compete with that well speaking of competing I mean let's talk about it you have your promotion ignite wrestling it's it's an active promotion it's it's a promotion that people are very well aware of you've had a lot of big names there and what have you how are you adjusting to this new covid-19 world here I mean how what have you done with the company to kind of keep things going and and keep your name out there there of for everybody to know about well be honest ignite's not one of those weekly monthly companies we only run three times year so I'm built for this um we have um you know we've been on Roku we're on fight we're on pivot share we've been working our way to a to a a more virtual uh standpoint so we're not dependent in case a hurricane comes through in the summer in case you know something happens to the venue in case we have a global pandemic we're not I'm Not Dead in the Water uh and this isn't the end of me because I have you know 147 videos matches that people are looking for content and we're we've got a digital magazine we've got this we've got that there are ways that we can stay we're going to be treading water but we're going to we're going to be staying afloat one way or the other a lot of companies haven't done this they really haven't gone to websites they really haven't gone to platforms um you know near 60 68 78 companies down here in Florida we're we're either going to see a lot of companies go under or a hack of a lot of stimulous check matches in a briefcase coming up in about three months oh my goodness you just put it out there in the universe stimulus check match of the briefcase I I don't know I don't know if if that was Rudy Gonzalez that was talking about that it was somebody in wrestling that was talking about you know how U somebody was talking about how many you know stimulus check and a briefcase matches are we going to see and I'm thinking yeah I've actually seen people talking about doing that in groups and um toilet paper on a poll match that which actually happened that down I think in Louisiana or Mississippi or somewhere down there that match already happened but you know we're either going to come out with some really strong com companies or we're going to have some really Carny ass crap going on come fall and I'll be surprised I mean we run we're supposed to run in May I don't see us running in May uh we're supposed to run in September I'm 5050 that we'll be able to run in September I I think that we're dead the Indy scene for the most part is dead until uh you know winter I'll be surprised but I but there there are promoters down here and I disagree with and they think I'm an and I think they're being negligent I don't think we should be doing no ring matches or no audience matches and no ring matches and these minimal crew matches because you know nobody is that thirsty for your content that you have to make new content right now you have a library use your frecking library well and that's a good point I mean that's the whole point of storing the content cont that library is really and we've seen it WWE has proven that there is absolutely an appetite for older content content that's already been pre-recorded and especially if you have stuff that maybe didn't go out yet maybe you felt the match wasn't necessarily the greatest match or or you have a match from a different angle it was shot differently there's so many different things that can be done if people want to put the time in and get creative and it's something that you've always been on the Forefront of I mean you definitely are someone that understands how to take your content and get the absolute most use out of it and you know I really appreciate that because it's it's Innovative you know it's it's smart well there's no reason why we can't be repurposing stuff now like um on Tuesdays and Thursdays we're going to be playing the women every night I've got uh 16 18 women's matches that a lot of people haven't seen all of these matches I've got three years of title matches for the for the men's title that are going to be uh going out like on on Wednesdays you know so I'm I'm making a schedule and I'm putting it out there not that I expect to like make a killing on it but you know people there's a lot of people that may not know Dave Chris ever wrestled for me and may not realize that Leo Rush ever was at our show you know may not realize you know L dweller made an appearance but that's in our archive stuff so why not put it out there and you know give people something to watch um you know there's a lot of people looking for older matches and older videos um uh one of the ugly ducklings um Rob killjoy he was showing uh on his personal uh Facebook all the DVDs and videos that he's collected of any and in different companies over the years so there's there's definitely uh people out there watching and people looking and people studying tapes so you know why not get it out there yeah well said well said we're talking to Kim artlip she is the owner of ignite wrestling it's a great Indie promotion down in Florida you know always has some great content you definitely got to check out their YouTube channel what have you folks and follow them on Facebook and and Twitter the whole nine yards you know Kim again you're a person that is very Innovative and you don't put your eggs in one basket you always have something else going on you know and and I just I really appreciate that about you I can't say that enough one of the things that you do which outside of wrestling is really my favorite thing that you do you have a deals website uh the queen of chap.com right tell everybody about this website and why it's important for them to check it out out um years ago before the queen achieve I actually had a website and a lot of people may not realize this I had a website called the work atome Mafia so out of that you know people were trying to work at home and it kind of kind of became this transition into you know okay I'm working at home how can I save even more money and um I had some very sarcastic ands that because I love a great deal and they nicknamed me the queen of Chief because I don't want to pay full price if I get away with it so about 2013 I started the website and um kind of put it on the back burner focused on ignite and with everything that's going on people are trying to figure out you know how can I make money on laundry detergent how can I save money how can I get a deal where can I find stuff and I thought you know I still own this domain uh and and I still love a great deal so yeah I brought it I brought it back uh it's back up on Twitter and Facebook and the website and I'm slowly building it back up but um you know there's no reason why people should be ashamed and I'm and I had people say well don't you think that it kind of discredits you as a promoter no it shows that I'm not going to pay full price for stuff but you know there's no shame in in being a smart SM Shopper and that was always my heart a hashtag it was home with the smart Shopper so yeah with with everything that I do finding a way that I can save money and still work at home and still build the business and and share uh is really important to me what are some of the cool things that uh people can find on there because I know one of the first places that I like to go is specifically your freebie section I mean your freebie section has just been so awesome aome tell us about some of these these categories here well there there's freebies and I've been putting a lot of actually a lot of this free streaming uh where you can watch all these really cool channels fling's got some deals going on there's some Hulu deals going on the grand o Opry had an Easter show you can watch for free um there's a lot of things that you can get free access to there's a lot of places that you can since we are now doing drive-thru and carry out uh restaurants where you can get like a free uh a free Dave single if you use a mobile app at Wendy's buy any item and and add a free single you know so you can go to Wendy's get a Frosty and a single for $144 down here and that kind of appeals to me because um you know a $5 hamburger but um you know there's deals uh there's Amazon codes there's Walmart deals there's freebs there's surveys for people that like to do that uh there's some work at home stuff that we're putting up and we're going to start doing I'm adding in sweep steak that's kind of a new category that's coming but um yeah definitely the deals in the freebies because I love I love freebies and I like samples I'm I'm I love to get sample packs of stuff so if I can get like a sample box or you know uh whatever it is that's always something very cool yeah for absolutely and and what what's even cool too is that I've noticed you put up a few recipes so um I I like recipes and you know um a lot of people um and I hate to say this a lot of people are need that like an ongoing joke a lot of people are buying toilet paper because they're cooking for themselves for the first time they can't go out but um yeah there I recipes um I've got some recipes for like peanut butter pie everybody's got peanut butter right now and they don't know what to do with it which is kind of weird but yeah I love peanut butter so the the fact that you can take your peanut butter and and whip it up and make a pie out of it I never thought about that before now I'm going to be trying that I think I'm going to make them into bars instead of just a pie but it's going to be your recipe there yeah cuz every Everybody H everybody always has PE that's one of the Staples when hurricane season comes is we always down here get peanut butter and anyone that goes to a food pantry they give you peanut butter every month so everybody's got this big glut of peanut butter and no no idea what to do with it but you know we're we're we're also you know we're we're posting jobs because you know a lot of people have lost their jobs so we've got like an inde job board on there and you know and I'm looking I'm actually looking at the website uh right now while we're talking and like instacart instacart's hiring heavily down here uh and and all the shopping services so I mean people are looking for jobs they're looking for ways to save money they're looking for you know how they can watch stuff for free and they're looking for things they can entertain your kids with and you know that's one of the things that I'm trying to get up there is you know the free teaching thing the the the the downloads where you can your kids can play games and you know free magazines anything that you can do to distract yourself from what's going on because we can't sit on social media and read all this negativity that's the one thing we we just can't do right now we're dealing with real life in De situations right now you know some folks unfortunately they're they're getting calls that the last time they're going to speak to their loved one is going to be while a stranger is holding the phone and they're saying goodbye a nurse friend of mine posted something about that the other day and it's just like wow it really brings it home so things like your site the queenof che.com recipes and freebies and samples and ways to do stuff um it's such a positive it's such a great way to take your mind off of the the craziness in the world and it gives you something to do so I definitely encourage everybody please check out that website and also you know Kim plug everything let let everybody know how they can get some ignite wrestling in their life the social media the whole nine yards plug it all please um of course you can find ignite wrestling we're on Twitter Instagram Facebook YouTube uh Snapchat uh Fire TV Roku pivot share and independent Wrestling TV all at ignit wrestling and you can find the queen of Chief we are um and make sure you put the that's us the queen of Chief we're on Twitter we're on Facebook uh and we are coming to Instagram but definitely check out our website sign up for our newsletter because there are things that I send out in a daily newsletter that don't necessarily make it on the website because it's a little incentive to get people to sign up but yeah definitely check out our social media um like I said we've some some new streaming and some classic matches coming and I'm putting 20 30 deals and freebies up a day on the queen of chep so you have to you have to come back every day for sure for sure listen Kim artlp whether it's ignite wrestling whether it's the queen of sheep.com I just really appreciate all the content that you put out there always entertaining always informative before I let you go I just have one big request and I and I'm asking you this on the the air for the entire world to hear so you can't back out like you've been doing on me Kim so here we go now I need the recipe to your awardwinning chili and and the last time I asked you this question you completely ignored me you refused to to you you switched the subject so now I got to ask you on the air I'm putting the pressure on I need the recipe to your award winning winning Chile Kim art lip what's it going to be can you let me know right now please it is 93% ground beef it is it is fire roasted tomatoes peppers onions and egg night wrestling hot sauce is in it that's a secret recipe uh paprika Cayenne um kidney beans and fresh onions but it's the hot sauce and the paprika and the cayenne and cumin you've got to put the cumin in and red pepper flake so wait a second now the hot sauce okay that's that's with the secret re so how do we get the hot sauce I need the hot sauce so I can I can make my chilier I only have two bottles left uh we're on back order waiting uh and that's one of the things about the pandemic is the people that actually bottle our hot sauce are not are so backlogged and I'm not sure if they're an essential business to be honest uh as a bottling company but we're on back order waiting for hot sauce but uh off the air give me your address and I will drop you hot sauce in the mail today see that folks I'm telling you right there Kim art lip she comes through once again I just had to utilize all of you to put the pressure on her and it worked out for everybody Kim once again thank you very much I appreciate you thanks so much for letting me come on always a pleasure talking to Kim you know she's a firecracker man she without a doubt and she always has so much going on just a lot of irons in the fire all good stuff all good stuff there thanks again Kim and you know before I I wrap this show up this week um of course I have to mention the massive layoffs that just took place in the WWE something like over 40% of of their Workforce was just laid off and you know it's it's fresh it literally has just happened within the past 12 hours and it may still be happening to be honest with you so I don't feel like it would be appropriate for me right now to delve too deep into this I think we got to give it a couple more days give it another week and I'll have somebody come on the show who reports on this stuff who can really give us more detailed information about what the heck just happened today but I mean so many WWE Superstars and office people what have you were just laid off Rusev Lana Mike Bennett Maria you know linay Dorado you can just go on and on and on Zack Ryder just so many people it's it's really something else so I definitely want to talk about Kurt Angle who's working behind the scenes fit Finley all these folks laid off and some of these folks may not get a another opportunity to work on a major scale in pro wrestling again and who knows what the pro wrestling industry with the business is going to be going forward a lot has changed in this this new reality that we have here so I want to give it another week and then I'm going to delve deep into it I I'll dedicate more than half of the episode next week just about that topic because I think it it deserves that type of attention to detail and what have you um but I just want to make this point here I really ask respectfully I ask that everybody if you see somebody from the WWE you know one of the employees or what have you still there and they're defending the company in any way and saying hey let's not point the finger etc etc Seth Rollins did something like that just bear in mind please these folks got to pay their bills and who knows where that line is and for everybody it may be different and this isn't me saying that I agree with what WWE did I mean you're a multi-billion dollar company could you have continued to survive and carried your Workforce for a little longer and ride this storm out of course they could but for a publicly traded company is that the most responsible thing to do because at the end of the day they don't answer to the fans and they don't answer to their employees they answer to their investors now if there were a private Company still this whole situation probably would have looked a little different but because they're not at the end of the day they're going to make business decisions and this is something this a theme I've been talking about for since the beginning of this podcast it's a business there is no Love of the Game there is no love of just going out there to entertain the crowd and all this other nonsense that a lot of people would like you to believe it's a business if it was just for the love of anything they'd be doing it for free and that's not the case especially in the WWE that is not the case so but I I I want to focus more on the talent don't give these guys in in in ladies a hard time if you if you see them making statements that may appear like they're defending the company or they're saying focus on those who've been you know let go and let's celebrate them let's not point fingers hey as far as I'm concerned if you're still working there if you were able to survive these Cuts you you you tow that company line you say whatever you got to say you do what you got to do to keep that food on on your table and keep that roof over your head till we ride out this storm okay live to fight another day do what you got to do because working for WWE is gain full employment a lot of these wrestlers they own property and and and they have disposable income to buy nice things and I mean Zack Ryder was a toy collector he he spent something like $40,000 on action figures I mean come on that's that's disposable income right in my opinion it's an investment as well but my point Still Remains secure your position don't don't listen to these folks that want to talk this Love of the Game and how could you and all this other listen I don't care if you're a WWE Superstar if you're the person working at the mall store whatever this is a tough time for everybody and nobody's job is secure if you're working in the healthc care field and you contract covid-19 and you've used up all your sick time and and you you know you've given you've been given ample time to quote unquote recover but you still just ain't right how long are you going to they're going to keep you on the books before they stop paying you this is real situations we're talking about folks right so who are we to play This For the Love of the Game nonsense when we're when we're talking to people about their real lives they have families they have people that they're responsible for in addition to themselves you say whatever you got to say you maintain your job you ride this storm out and then when we get on the other side of this thing if you feel you know what this just ain't for me anymore then sure then you make your moves but live to fight another day it is tough to see some of my heroes get laid off just like it's tough to see my neighbors and family members and other folks get laid off it's tough but we as a as a world are dealing with these harsh realities right now and we just got to weather this storm man so again you know my heart goes out to everybody who has let go it doesn't matter the industry every single body including the WWE Superstars and let me tell you something that's going to happen in other promotions as well I mean you know Ring of Honor is not even operating right now does that mean all those folks are getting paid probably not and if you think all elite wrestling is suddenly gonna pick up everybody that the WWE just let go pick them up to do what they don't even know the next time they're gonna have a live event or what that even means anymore right some folks are saying that we won't even get Stadium concerts and things like that at least for another year because the residual effect of what this all means not going to see large crowds and things like that at at sporting events anytime soon or entertainment events anytime soon that's not going to happen and if it does it probably is not going to be the best idea yeah so we we we got a serious storm ahead of us folks that we're in we're in the middle of it so again I I say to you when you see something like what Seth Rollins said let's not point the finger I feel bad for everybody who who left but this now is not the time for the blame game it's just a terrible situation I'm paraphrasing but these are the things this is the J the the the gist of what he said I just ask that you have a little compassion and show a little Grace there if if that's what he has to say in order to maintain his job so he's not the next one to get cut by the company because it's not like they need him by the way so that's the other part of this with these cuts and and with WWE WWE is proven they don't need any of these these Stars they'll just put somebody else in that spot and if you're dramatically scaling down your business well hey whoever I say is a star is a star and people either going to tune in or they're not but that TV money is in the bank as long as you put something on TV every week so what do you do right so for everybody who's still with the company I'll tell you right now yes you you say whatever you got to say you keep that company line going keep a roof over your head keep food on your table Ride This Out that's right and as I said folks we'll we'll cover this in Greater detail next week I will definitely dedicate maybe I'll just dedicate the entire show to this topic and we'll get a couple of different perspectives on it um I know there's definitely some wrestlers out there who have some things to say there's some writers who cover this stuff we'll we'll make it a whole special okay so Len thank you very much to all our guests this week I wanted to give you guys a longer form show and know mix it up a little bit so was very happy to do that for you this whole WWE layoff thing just literally at the 12th hour it it happened and I had the show completed and ready a certain way and then that breaking news happened and I had a choice to make I could either just scrap everything else I just did and focus on a developing story or what I felt was more responsible was just to give you the show the way that I intended and put this little addendum at the end here and you know next week we we'll have something a lot more complete on the layoffs that's right that's right listen folks be kind to yourselves be kind to others I'll see you next [Applause] week Mr Tony chani and we're desperately out of time on Duke love wrestling