Going Ringside With The Local Station News4Jax and Graham Media Group

A fascinating thing — from a wrestling fan’s perspective — happened at the Republican National Convention. The final night, which is the big one, was filled with stars from pro wrestling and UFC.
Specifically three primary speakers: Hulk Hogan, Linda McMahon and Dana White.
Why this matters: It shows the sheer cultural influence of these forms of entertainment.

In an unprecedented interview for pro-wrestling podcasts, we’re joined by former WWE owner Linda McMahon, who built the WWE alongside her longtime husband Vince McMahon.
But several years ago Linda McMahon stepped away from WWE to pursue a career in politics. Following two failed runs for the U.S. Senate in the McMahon home state of Connecticut, she was tapped by former President Donald Trump to head up the Small Business Administration and served in his Cabinet.
Linda McMahon stepped away from the administration midway through Trump’s term to take on other priorities but remained a large financial and political backer of Trump.
In this interview, I caught up with Linda McMahon at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, where she will be a featured speaker.

In 1988 no one ever suspected a young man named Mick Foley would be one of the greatest pro wrestlers in history.
However, by 1998 the world totally realized he was special.
After spending years wrestling around the world in the scariest of hardcore matches — including everything from barbed wire to flaming 2X4s — the beloved veteran captured the hearts of wrestling fans around the world.
In fact, his popularity soared so much that he was voted Time Magazine Man of the Year in 1998 by WWE fans who flooded the voting. Time Magazine actually disqualified Foley because they didn’t feel a pro wrestler deserved such an honor. Foley responds to that in this interview.

Seldom does one person affect an entire industry the way Eric Bischoff has. When Ted Turner owned World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in the early ‘90s he had a few different old-school bookers in charge like Ole Anderson and Bill Watts.
But when Turner changed things up and tapped a third-string announcer with a sales background as the new executive in charge of WCW, everything changed for the Atlanta-based promotion.
Bischoff’s first major move was asking for a primetime spot to go head-to-head with the World Wrestling Federation (today’s WWE). That was unheard of in the industry and quickly Monday Night Nitro was started on TNT. And the “Monday Night Wars” were underway.

On this episode of Going Ringside we’re joined by Bray Wyatt’s fiancée JoJo Offerman. Wyatt (real name Windham Rotunda) passed away last summer and Offerman opens up about life without him. Offerman of course was a WWE star herself for many years and is now still recovering after losing her fiancé and father to her children. In this very special interview, Offerman will discuss life now as a single parent and her plans for the future. Also, on this episode we’ll discuss the “Wyatt 6” Clan that has recently arrived in WWE.

In the history of women’s wrestling one feud sits above all others. On the men’s side we had The Rock and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin or Hulk Hogan and Andre The Giant, but for the women it was Trish Stratus and Lita.
The two mega stars redefined what it meant to be a female performer in the world of pro wrestling around the turn of the century. Stratus (real name Patricia Stratigeas) started with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1999. It’s today’s WWE. For much of her early career she was a valet and involved in a lot of on screen storylines with then owner Vince McMahon.
But as the years went by her star began to shine and she showed her athletic abilities and truly became one of the greatest wrestlers ever.