By Rick Morris
We have something truly gargantuan for you right here. This is the largest individual project in the five-year history of The FDH Lounge: The 9-Part Kyle Ross History of WrestleMania Series.
For those who are newer to The Lounge, let me back up a minute and explain how this came to exist. Consider these the "liner notes" for this “box set,” if you will.
When Kyle was on the old Sunday Night Submission program at The Sports Talk Network alongside the FDH crew, he and I got to be good friends (and why not, fellow Ohio Bobcat alums!) and I had a lot of fun sitting in on SNS on odd occasions (fifth Beatle of the show, yo!). I’m not too proud to admit that SNS was a big influence on The Lounge when we conceptualized it; we wanted to capture the same spirit of smart people not taking themselves seriously at all.
When SNS ran its course, I lost touch with Kyle for a period of time. I knew that he was very busy at work – one of the main reasons SNS ceased – and I just figured there would always be a time to get back in touch later. Well, I then became aware of a very tough time that Kyle was going through and I reached out to him (to his surprised delight – there’s a hilarious inside story there that I need to leave as an inside story!) and when I floated the idea to him to get back into broadcasting through The Lounge, he graciously accepted my invitation. Let’s face it, the world is not spinning correctly on its axis when Kyle Ross does not have a mic in front of him. He is a broadcasting natural.
He participated in some of our shows during our remaining run on STN and when we took control of our own distribution last summer, he has been the FDH Lounge Dignitary who has done the most roundtables with me – by a wide margin, actually. We come up with ideas every month and we execute them. Time flies when you are breaking it down with this guy.
He pitched me on this WrestleMania series and I quickly accepted. I am cognizant of how much the old SNS listeners who have found us appreciate both his knowledge of pro wrestling and the fun manner in which he goes through it all. Plus, although the hours were going to be long, I knew it was going to be a blast. And I was right.
How long were those hours? Just a shade over 16 hours and 20 minutes in all. But the feeling of satisfaction is tremendous, I have to tell you. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the definitive, year-by-year history of WrestleMania as only Kyle Ross could bring it to you (with a few notes here and there by me, but make no mistake, I was the broomstick he was carrying to a five-star match!). It’s a review of what the WWF/WWE was aiming to accomplish with each year’s card – what worked, what didn’t and what happened to shape the next year (and sometimes, the next era) based on that year’s card. If you are a “smart mark” or even someone just looking to indulge in a little nostalgia, this series is the one for you. This is The FDH Lounge at its finest as we turn loose our pro wrestling expert to tell you the year-by-year story of its biggest event: The Kyle Ross 9-Part History of WrestleMania Series.
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