On this episode, Immortal Storm is joined by his coach, veteran pro-wrestler and author Mike Quackenbush to discuss in depth the training aspects of pro-wrestling. Mike and Storm share their stories and difference in generations in discovering places to learn, and the challenges they each faced. Storm shares how he came to understand the art of pro-wrestling as a second language. Mike details the makings of different rings as he traveled across the world to different schools, and the physicality they bring. They also touch on the parallels between wrestling and other art forms like music and comic books.

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0:00 - Intro; catching up after a while, Mike’s record of teaching 107 seminars, founding The Wrestle Factory

2:46 - How did Mike find wrestling to learn? ; The 90s grind, working with zero training, unsafe working, wrestling promotions in garages and malls

7:56 - Healthy training environments and locker rooms in today’s generation compared to toxic environments of the past

11:35 - There is so much wrestling now, it is arguably more difficult to stand out; comparing the wrestling grind to music, independent success and exposure

13:51 - What triggered Immortal Storm to start training in pro wrestling; how Storm & Mike first met, Storm’s first day of training and spraining his ankle within seconds, the bizarreness of selling in training

21:19 - Storm began to understand pro wrestling as a language in itself; working with some who does not speak the same verbal language, working with the ring itself

25:39 - The discomfort that comes with wrestling; dealing with anxiety

29:00 - The physicality of taking bumps in a ring; the construction of a pro wrestling, the different builds of rings Mike has encountered around the world

33:46 - Mike’s travel to different regions of the world teaching; was there anything Mike learned himself

36:44 - Mike’s several different books and what readers might get out of them; non-wrestling books that Mike keeps in rotation, comic books and comparing them to pro wrestling

42:36 - Goals for 2025; Storm wants to visit more schools, Mike wants to visit many new countries, finding appreciation for travel

Immortal Storm and Nick reflect on their holiday experiences including Storm's trip to the hospital, and delve into the implications of AI and robotics in society, including sex with robots. They also discuss their 2024 PlayStation Wrap-Up stats, and reflect on Christmas as a child sharing their best memories. Storm goes on a rant about male podcasters as they recap 2024 "The Year of Hate," and they discuss some pro-wrestling including The New Day's heel turn.

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Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Holiday Reflections

03:26 Post-Holiday Health Struggles

20:30 Sex with Robots

28:06 The Impact of AI on Education

36:01 The Future of Robotics and Human Interaction

44:14 Gaming Experiences and Preferences

55:50 Christmas Reflections and Gift-Giving; Nostalgic Memories of Childhood Gifts

01:05:28 The Evolution of Music and Media Consumption; burning CDs and making mixtapes

01:10:34 2024 The Year of Hate, What do Storm and Nick hate? Vegetables, TikTok trends, social media content

01:19:32 Storm rants on male podcasters that hate women

01:25:44 Customer Service Experiences

01:35:58 The New Day heel turn

01:50:04 New Year's Resolutions and Personal Growth

The boys Immortal Storm and Nick are back, this time joined with a good old friend, Jose. The trio discus at length about video games vintage and current gen, artificial intelligence, and embarrassing childhood stories about inappropriate things.

0:00 Nick’s Superman hair

3:38 - The town we grew up in; scary parts of town

7:15 - Sparking Zero; PC gaming setup

10:44 - Nick & Jose have bought Storm games and he still hasn’t played them; Star Wars: Outlaws; Game Informer shuts down after 33 years

14:10 - Porn stories; VHS tapes, magazines, finding dad’s stash

16:48 - Gaming magazines; Game Informer, Nintendo Power, Pong, Atari, PS3 releasing at $700

23:44 - PS5 Pro; graphics, frames, waste of money, physical games; games changing with patches

29:13 - Memory cards for games back in the day, remastered games, Horizon, Breath of the Wild, Bloodborne

34:56 - Sequels to stories that finished, stories that don’t end, unsatisfying endings to shows, My Hero Academia, Jiu-Jitsu Kaisen, High School DXD

38:36 - Hating things you’re a fan of, writing MCU humor into everything

43:48 - Kids shows today are all loud brain rot, quality kids shows we grew up on; Elsa Gate, Cocomelon, Bluey

50:41 Vine ruined everyone’s attention span, the TikTok platform formula

55:09 The Simpsons’ latest season premiere; Tesla robots and ai taking over; Detroit: Become Human, Ex Machina; narrative decision based games

1:01:38 Ai2U, a game where you talk to an ai girlfriend

1:08:50 Nick thinks Storm should stream on Twitch; Streaming culture, Storm hates IRL streamers, playing a character to people

1:13:38 Vince McMahon documentary, brief mention; Storm is still fascinated by the whole Chris Benoit situation

1:20:32 Walking to Jose’s house to play games as a kid; customer controllers; Switch technology

1:29:49 The Wii and its best games to playing with the motion controller; Call of Duty, Spiderman, Resident Evil, Wii Sports; throwing the Wii remote at the tv

1:34:46 Storm wouldn’t go to Jose’s house because he didn’t have an HD tv; TVs with antennas, black and white; Sparking Zero

This episode was recorded back when Akira Toriyama passed away. We discuss growing up watching Dragon Ball Z, how does the character of Goku compare in popularity to other heroes in western media, and DBZ's influence on the world. We also share memories playing old Pokemon games, and pro-wrestling training.

Chapters:

0:36 Nick’s girl made him breakfast, while Storm woke up with the bubble guts; Storm has had bad bowels lately

4:36 Storm talks Pro-Wrestling Workout class; endless squats; Coach Danny attacks Storm at the end of class

12:35 Storm shows his grandpa his first practice match

15:33 Growing up watching Dragon Ball Z; watching Toonami

20:03 Akira Toriyama’s legacy; action figures

25:43 Toriyama’s characters; Stan Lee’s characters; Goku’s popularity in the western world vs. American superheroes; most popular characters in pop culture; Goku, Superman, Batman, Spiderman, Pikachu

31:24 Nerds & thugs bonding over DBZ and Pokémon; fighting Pokémon and losing money

37:43 The time Storm tried flying

41:48 Dragon Ball Z video games; Kakarot, Xenoverse

48:57 Fortnite

It's back to the future as we discuss the latest in rap and wrestling while reminiscing on the best of both worlds. We review Eminem's latest album "The Death of Slim Shady," and critique the worst albums from our favorite artists. John Cena announced he is retiring, so we share our first memories from when we started watching him wrestle. Finally, we run through Apple's list of the 100 Greatest Albums of All Time.

2024 seems to be The Year of Hate. We cover the entire timeline of the HipHop beef between Kendrick Lamar and Drake. Myself, Immortal Storm, and my friend Nick share our thoughts on every diss song between the two artists as they released. We discuss what impressed us, how invested we were, and break down everything track by track. The conversation eventually transitions to a dialogue with my friends Meelz & J5 examining the growing popularity of pro-wrestling.