WCW is paying you, you are barely getting used, and the only way to stay sharp is to keep taking bumps wherever a ring exists. That is the headspace we live in on this Ride Home, as Brian tells the stories behind his 1997 grind, from repeated old school TV matches to the moment he realizes the company does not even notice when he is gone.

We get into the real nuts and bolts of a WCW contract, the politics that decide who gets booked, and the kind of frustration that makes a wrestler say, “Fine, I’ll bet on myself.” Brian also explains how West Virginia wrestling starts to feel like his own territory project, built town by town without TV, and how that work quietly connects to generations of local indie wrestling talent. Along the way there is a reminder that the road can hurt you anywhere, including a freak accident that leaves him with broken ribs in a movie theater bathroom.

Then the swing for the fences: Brian cold-calls WWF, reaches GJ Strongbow, and turns a voicemail into a Shotgun Saturday Night booking, including a full circle match with Al Snow. We also talk gimmick match craft like street fights, Texas death matches, getting color, and why classic feud booking used to be a ladder of escalating stipulations. If you love pro wrestling history, WCW behind the scenes, WWF tryout stories, and the lost logic of the territory system, this one is packed.

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