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Turnbuckles & Stogies Sunday Slam · Military Broadcast Radio | MBR Talk

• 0:00
  Messages from the US Department of Veterans Affairs Did you know
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  veterans enrolled in VA Healthcare can use over 4000
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  urgent care locations across the country to treat non life
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  threatening conditions? It's easy and free.
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  Just show your Veteran Health ID card, get the best care for
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  veterans, sign up at va.gov or visit your nearest VA Medical
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  Center. Y'all ready for this?
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  Watch this. We are the warriors who learn to
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  love the plane. We come from different places
• 0:36
  but have the same name, 'cause we work, 'cause we work, 'cause
• 0:40
  we were 'cause we were born for them, we were born for them.
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  We are the broken ones who chose to start the plane.
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  Watch as the fire rages. Our hearts are never changed,
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  'cause we work, 'cause we work, 'cause we work.
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  We were gone for this. We were gone for.
• 1:02
  This hard work pays off. Dreams come true.
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  Bad times don't last, but bad guys do.
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  On the web at MB radio dot. US want to make it clear that
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  the views expressed by our hosts are not considered the official
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  stance of MBR views. Remember, this is all about
• 1:33
  having fun and enjoying the ride.
• 1:35
  Turnbuckles and stogies. All right, he We are back.
• 2:41
  It is me, the old. Yo, what is up?
• 2:48
  What is up? Ladies and gentlemen, this is
• 2:52
  Turnbuckles and Stogie's pod. You got boss talk.
• 2:56
  You got my man, the Vanilla Gorilla and the OG cigar tender.
• 3:00
  And guess what? We are now on our new network,
• 3:04
  the Nest Network on Roku TV. Make sure you check us out,
• 3:08
  baby, because it's we're already there.
• 3:10
  Oh, we're there. Ready.
• 3:11
  Today's the first day. Today's the first day on Nest
• 3:16
  Network on Roku TV. Make sure you come and check us
• 3:19
  out. And on that note, so gentlemen,
• 3:23
  how's everybody doing today? Good morning, boys.
• 3:26
  What's up little? Tired little little little
• 3:30
  dragged out. But it's OK.
• 3:32
  So we're we're here for the people.
• 3:34
  So we have we have a couple of sponsors BAMF Cigars, JB Cigar
• 3:40
  Lounge and last night I was hanging out with my man Kenny
• 3:44
  from the Legendary Fanatic Cigars and guess what this is
• 3:48
  what he gave us. He said I'm a spider man the
• 3:51
  middleman so we also have Fanatics Cigar Lounge in Lodi
• 3:56
  NJ. Make sure he don't he's.
• 3:58
  Coming on the podcast. He's coming on the podcast in
• 4:00
  May. Nice.
• 4:04
  Yeah, nice. We got a lot of going on.
• 4:07
  And and this all goes back to our producer in Colorado, my man
• 4:11
  H Shout out to NPR Radio. Yes.
• 4:14
  If it wasn't for him, we ain't going to be where we were today.
• 4:18
  So for me, you guys wanted to screw it up already.
• 4:21
  On the new channel. Sorry about that messed up.
• 4:23
  Guy. We're here to keep things
• 4:27
  interesting, but now there there's there's, there's before
• 4:32
  we get to our our guest of the day, right?
• 4:35
  There's a lot that happened last night that I I caught when I
• 4:38
  came home as I was sitting in bed scrolling through the
• 4:41
  Twittersphere Instagram. So I'm wrestling.
• 4:46
  Yes, so, so New Japan had their battle in the Valley last night
• 4:52
  and that was, I believe, if I'm right, that was Will Osprey's
• 4:57
  last match against Okada on his New Japan contract.
• 5:01
  If I'm wrong, his last match with the United Empire in a cage
• 5:05
  versus the War Dogs would be his last match in February.
• 5:10
  So I'm wrong. Now with that being said, last
• 5:16
  night Jungle Boy showed up in New Japan.
• 5:21
  Whoa. With his AW contract in half,
• 5:26
  laid out Humano, I believe his name is, laid him out, put the
• 5:32
  scapegoat armband on his arm, looked into the camera and said
• 5:36
  you're too busy on Twitter to answer my phone call.
• 5:40
  Whoa what? Does that mean?
• 5:43
  Shots fired, Shots fired. Well, busy on Twitter because
• 5:48
  it's going to get better after this because TNA, on their first
• 5:52
  pay-per-view back as TNA Wrestling had hard to kill last
• 5:57
  night. You have a new world champion in
• 6:01
  Moose, so Alex Shelley lost the title to Moose.
• 6:05
  Again. No, this is he's he's this is
• 6:08
  his first run as Atna World champ.
• 6:10
  I believe. Actually, no, I'm wrong.
• 6:13
  I'm wrong. He had it beforehand now.
• 6:18
  Hammerstone debuted for TNA last night.
• 6:20
  He's not officially signed. Then you had a new TNA Knockout
• 6:27
  debut last night. Who's that?
• 6:32
  Ash to Excellence, Formerly known as Dana Brooke.
• 6:35
  What? He debuted last night and now I
• 6:39
  don't know if you saw it, but I saw it.
• 6:42
  Did you see who else showed up last night?
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  Again, again. Nick Nemeth, formerly known as
• 6:50
  Dolph Ziggler, showed up Moose last night after Moose won the
• 6:55
  title. I did not hear that.
• 6:57
  Not only is he wrestling in Japan for New Japan, he's
• 7:01
  wrestling in TNA. And I mean the best thing for
• 7:07
  him and for Mustafa Ali as well right now is to not go right to
• 7:12
  AW, in my opinion, because there's so much out there for
• 7:16
  them to explore. You know, Dolph never had that
• 7:20
  shot to go to any of these companies beforehand because he
• 7:23
  went, I believe he did a little bit of Indies and then went
• 7:27
  right to FCW and became. Yeah, I knew something was up.
• 7:34
  Dolph didn't get into it, but he put out a, you know, one of his,
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  I don't remember with Twitter or Instagram or whatever, he put
• 7:43
  something out about, you know, not being in with the WWE and
• 7:47
  now new opportunities and all that stuff, He's.
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  Been he's been to Japan, which is wrestling David Finley for
• 7:54
  the the new title they debuted last month.
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  It's a good. Smoke so the.
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  Middleman. He's wrestling Finley for that
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  title, I believe next month. But I he he beat up David Finley
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  in the press conference and he held the title.
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  And I'm not going to lie to you, he he looks pretty good with a
• 8:20
  New Japan title in his hand, Sure does.
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  He looks like a bad ass. So I mean, I wouldn't be
• 8:27
  surprised if you do see him and his brother pair up as A tag
• 8:30
  team. That would be cool.
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  Whether it's Japan, whether it's TNA, whether it's a W, I I
• 8:37
  wouldn't be surprised if they pair together as a team because
• 8:41
  I think that's something they've been trying to do for a long
• 8:43
  time. Yeah, I'd be OK with that.
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  I wouldn't be mad at that. I wouldn't be mad at that at
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  all. Not at all.
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  I wouldn't be mad at that because Nick is more of the the
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  seller and the the guy that makes everything look good,
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  whether it's even the moves he does.
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  And then his brother is more of a almost more of a powerhouse,
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  but not built as big as a powerhouse.
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  Yeah, one one's a talker, one's the enforcer.
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  Yeah, we know who the talker is. Oh yeah.
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  Stealth. I'm sorry.
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  Nick. Nick.
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  Now. Now.
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  What I did see, also on Twitter was Matt Cardona challenged Nick
• 9:29
  to a match. He told him to stop running from
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  him. Uh oh.
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  But that's another match that I'm not opposed to seeing either
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  because. Not at all.
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  Not at all. That would be fun.
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  Both sides. That would be fun.
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  That's going to be a very good match.
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  It's going to be interesting. I'd like to see the non
• 9:49
  sanctioned match is what I'd like to see.
• 9:52
  You got, you have to get there. You have to get to that.
• 9:54
  Yeah, but there's there's a lot that is is going on in in.
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  In the wrestling world. I mean right now you're getting
• 10:04
  all of the the guys that were released, you know 90s almost
• 10:10
  100 days ago at this point. I know also in TNA debuted last
• 10:14
  night was top dollar AJ Francis. He showed up last night there,
• 10:20
  he's got a show on the 29th for GCWI Believe wrestling Joey
• 10:24
  Janella. I mean, he's he's doing a lot as
• 10:27
  well as Mustafa, as actually Mustafa Ali is going to New
• 10:30
  Japan now too. So I want to give a.
• 10:32
  Yeah, I would just. I just had the article up here
• 10:34
  in front of me. I was just reading it.
• 10:37
  That's I I'm happy. That would be good for him.
• 10:40
  Listen, I want to give a yeah. That'd be good for him.
• 10:43
  I want to give a shout out to my child to the I know a family,
• 10:48
  yo. I hope Pops is doing well in the
• 10:50
  hospital. I hope he's doing OK.
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  So, Lloyd Rakishi, everybody. Yo, my heart's to you brothers.
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  We pray for for Pops, the greatest tag team champions that
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  ever graced the WWWE. It started out WWWF.
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  I'm sorry. So shout out to Pops, Pops.
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  I love you dawg. I hope you're doing well.
• 11:19
  Thank you. Oh man.
• 11:22
  I mean there's there's a lot that's that's went on over the
• 11:24
  last couple of months. There's a lot.
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  I mean there's you know WWE is kind of stuck in the same little
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  rut. I mean they're they're getting
• 11:34
  out of it. I know there was a stoppage on
• 11:37
  Smackdown the other night because during the Carmelo Hayes
• 11:40
  and and Austin theory match because there was a scary what
• 11:46
  up looking you didn't see this. You didn't see it?
• 11:48
  Yeah, it was. It was.
• 11:49
  Fly and it looked like theory either landed on the top of his
• 11:54
  head or his neck bent completely wrong.
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  They stopped live TV. They stopped the match.
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  Wow, I didn't see that. Yeah, it was.
• 12:01
  All it was, it was it was an awkward landing for sure.
• 12:05
  It was scary. But that I don't think.
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  I think they both landed wrong. I think they both landed a
• 12:10
  little a little wrong, but that was a scary looking, scary,
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  scary looking. Right now I can't find any
• 12:21
  update on it either. You probably won't, Which means
• 12:24
  that's a good thing, right? That's.
• 12:27
  But it it definitely it was. I think it was a real moment
• 12:30
  though. I don't think it was, you know,
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  any type of, you know, work or anything like that.
• 12:36
  I think that was a true misstep, like you said, on both parts.
• 12:43
  Yeah, I I definitely think it was.
• 12:46
  As far as that stuff goes, I'm like 95% sure it was a it it you
• 12:52
  know what it it you can't even say it was a misstep, A
• 12:55
  miscommunication. They might have under, they
• 12:58
  might have under judged it or one of them might have not
• 13:02
  jumped off far enough. It it's a variation of different
• 13:05
  things. It's just something that you
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  know it's scary when you see it happen.
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  But being that there's no update, that's a good thing
• 13:15
  because no update is a good update.
• 13:19
  No news is good news. Yes, it's 100%, absolutely 100%.
• 13:26
  Well guys, listen we'll we'll touch back on the wrestling now,
• 13:30
  but let's introduce before we take any type of break, let's
• 13:33
  introduce our guest of the week who we got Big Dawg.
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  Yo, we got from BRTC Mr. Frank, the Alessandro.
• 13:50
  I say it like that. That's how we do this today.
• 13:52
  So that's close enough. But it's, you know, I'm Italian,
• 13:56
  so you got to get it right. It's Delicio.
• 13:57
  Whoa, whoa, whoa. Whoa.
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  Italian for 30 years, OK, she's an Italian.
• 14:05
  Longer than that, she's an. Italian.
• 14:06
  Longer than that. So, Frank.
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  You've only been here. Let.
• 14:10
  Me ask you this, Frank? Yes, let me ask you this.
• 14:13
  Before we get into the interview, we're going to cut to
• 14:18
  a quick commercial break and then when we come back, we're
• 14:22
  going to get into our interview with Frank from BRTC Cigars.
• 14:27
  Whatever producer says. OK, he's the.
• 14:30
  Boss. He's the boss.
• 14:33
  I'm just here. But we'll be back everybody
• 14:37
  after this quick commercial break can't keep.
• 14:46
  That space for you. Yo, what is up?
• 19:59
  What is up? Yo, we are back here on Roku TV.
• 20:04
  I can't believe we are on Roku. TV and obviously we're back on
• 20:07
  all of our normal platforms as well.
• 20:10
  Our Facebook, Our Twitter or well, no, not Twitter.
• 20:13
  I didn't put it on Twitter, but we got Facebook, YouTube, I
• 20:16
  mean, you name it, MB Rs. Video app, MB Radio, Facebook
• 20:21
  page, their Twitch, Their Twitter.
• 20:23
  Their Instagram. Right now shout out to the
• 20:25
  Instagram universe. How you guys doing so early for
• 20:28
  us today? But we're here, we are back here
• 20:31
  with us guest today, the 1st guest on Roku TVBRTC, my man.
• 20:39
  So how you doing today, Frank? I'm doing great.
• 20:41
  How about you guys? We're doing.
• 20:43
  Well, fantastic. How you doing OG?
• 20:47
  I'm great, man. I'm just happy to be here having
• 20:49
  a great time. Good morning, everybody.
• 20:52
  You got to step up. You're like lagging.
• 20:57
  I mean, I'm waiting for this to kick in.
• 20:59
  I got this to kick in here. If you like one of these, it
• 21:02
  might kick in faster. Five.
• 21:04
  Our energy drinks do amazing, but I'm up to taking multiple of
• 21:07
  those. I do it. 1 doesn't do it.
• 21:12
  I feel it down like that. I normally.
• 21:13
  I normally just light a really strong cigar and I'm wide awake
• 21:16
  in 5 minutes. Hey and and OG and OG's defense.
• 21:20
  He wasn't out getting a Foo Foo drink.
• 21:22
  Just say it. Oh, oh, oh, oh.
• 21:25
  That was the. Producer Yeah, how's that?
• 21:29
  How's that Caramel Farpe latte twist?
• 21:32
  With whipped cream and some. Sugar, hey, hey.
• 21:37
  Oh, kind of guy, so don't whip whipped.
• 21:39
  Cream. Hey, whipped cream.
• 21:42
  And that's This is going to wake me right up.
• 21:44
  You notice I'm awake. I'm not lagging behind.
• 21:48
  You. Yeah, Well, he's drinking his
• 21:50
  coffee. So, Frank, that's with the
• 21:53
  whipped cream, not mine. That's with the whipped cream,
• 21:55
  Frank. Extra whipped cream so that when
• 21:57
  in the cone so much that it sticks out of the top so I could
• 22:00
  just lick it out of there, that's.
• 22:02
  That's right. This is not.
• 22:06
  Listen, there's nothing unmanly about that, because Starbucks
• 22:09
  does have some really good whipped cream with the cargo.
• 22:12
  You can't. How do you go wrong with that?
• 22:14
  Have some really good cold foam too.
• 22:18
  Touché ever. Drink there.
• 22:20
  I'm a one. I'm a 11 drink guy.
• 22:22
  That's it. That's all I ever did.
• 22:23
  So so Frank, here's here's, here's our question.
• 22:28
  So what's up, Mark? What's going on, Mark?
• 22:30
  So tell us about your business. OK, so the, the name of our
• 22:37
  company is the Black River Tobacco Company because Black
• 22:41
  River is kind of the area. Well, it is the area in North
• 22:44
  Carolina where we live. OK, So we said, well, let's,
• 22:47
  let's keep it simple. Yeah, right.
• 22:49
  Because people recognize the Black River name.
• 22:52
  So about a year and a half ago, one of my best friends, Ron
• 22:56
  Heiman and my daughter Victoria, she's she's well, she was 24 at
• 23:00
  the time. She started getting into smoking
• 23:02
  cigars. So, and I've been smoking cigars
• 23:06
  for probably, you know, probably about 1215 years.
• 23:09
  I didn't get into it until later in life.
• 23:11
  A good buddy of mine, Carl Macario up in Boston, he's been
• 23:14
  an avid cigar smoker his entire life.
• 23:16
  And so, you know, so we started smoking cigars and then we're
• 23:20
  talking and you know, the whole social realm of cigar smoking.
• 23:24
  I mean, I come to really love that.
• 23:25
  I mean, you know, everybody says, oh, you know, it's just,
• 23:28
  it's not, I mean it is about the cigar, but it's more about the
• 23:31
  experience of whether you're by yourself drifting off, thinking
• 23:35
  about life or environment like this with guys just talking
• 23:40
  about daily life, nothing too serious, you know, you don't
• 23:43
  want it to get serious. So.
• 23:45
  So we start talking. It's like, well, heck, you know,
• 23:47
  I I retired and I'm still working, doing some contract
• 23:51
  work. But I'm like, you know, I'm
• 23:52
  tired of that life. I want to get into something
• 23:54
  that I'm enjoying, something I'm passionate about and I and I've
• 23:57
  grown to really love cigars and the people more, more so than
• 24:00
  the cigars. I love the people, right?
• 24:02
  So we formed this company back in 2022 and we started doing
• 24:10
  mobile events and we traveled all around North Carolina going
• 24:14
  to Ferris festivals, whether it's Harley-Davidson, you name
• 24:17
  it, golf outings, we go there. And sometimes they're really
• 24:20
  successful and sometimes they're not.
• 24:22
  Because, you know, this younger generation got a lot of healthy
• 24:25
  people. They smoke cigars, but they, you
• 24:27
  know, they look at gender like, well, the hell with them anyway.
• 24:31
  So The thing is, is we. Want to have no fun?
• 24:34
  Right. You know we.
• 24:35
  Want to have no fun and enjoy themselves?
• 24:37
  Well, that's why they are what they are.
• 24:39
  So, so, so, so you know so going around, well you know about
• 24:47
  about eight months ago we decided you know what it's time,
• 24:50
  it's time for us to push to the next step which is to get into
• 24:53
  brick and mortar. Well, we've been trying and let
• 24:57
  me tell you it's tough. You know, one if if you're not
• 25:02
  from the South, you know, I I speak honestly they they don't
• 25:06
  really accept you in. I mean, I I asked the guy last
• 25:09
  night we were doing an event for the Bearded Goose which is a
• 25:12
  really, really nice barbershop like old timey barbershop.
• 25:15
  These guys are ties shirts and and and Biff is the owner and we
• 25:20
  he had his fifth anniversary you know and just just really nice
• 25:24
  you know really nice guys. In fact we're going to start
• 25:27
  selling cigars out of his shop three days a week just to start
• 25:30
  getting it out there. You know, that's great.
• 25:33
  Yeah. So gracious.
• 25:35
  And, you know, we we so we were at this event and, you know,
• 25:38
  we're just talking to some guys about, you know it.
• 25:41
  This is a funny story. The event ended about 9:00.
• 25:45
  So I got my I'm in my white ram, and it's got our logo on the
• 25:49
  back, right? And my wife's getting in the
• 25:51
  car. My daughter had left earlier.
• 25:54
  And I'm putting all the stuff in my truck.
• 25:56
  I go to get in my driver's side door and I close the door.
• 25:58
  This cop pulls up next to me. I'm like, God, Jesus, you know,
• 26:03
  I'm but I'm like, and I only had a couple beers.
• 26:05
  So I go, I'm not drunk. I go what the hell does he want?
• 26:08
  So, so I roll my window down and he rolls his window down.
• 26:12
  He go, he goes, is your is he goes is your company a cigar
• 26:16
  company. I go yeah, he goes We need one
• 26:19
  of those in this town which is Dunn, NC.
• 26:22
  So I get out of the car, I give him a coin, He gives me a coin.
• 26:24
  I mean just real friendly. I'm like OK, but the whole thing
• 26:28
  is down here there's so we decided when getting brick and
• 26:31
  mortar it's been tough to find a space you know down here.
• 26:35
  You know the law is a little bit different in North Carolina,
• 26:39
  right bro. I mean you talk about like so on
• 26:43
  the upstart of it. So if you guys, if I was asking
• 26:46
  you guys what do you think like a, a, an OTP license cost, like
• 26:52
  a license to sell tobacco products in North Carolina cost?
• 26:55
  Probably about 500 bucks I was. Just going to say probably about
• 26:58
  5-6 hundred bucks. What do you think, OG?
• 27:00
  Yeah, I think about the same. I would agree with that.
• 27:03
  So I got my retail license and our wholesale license $25 for
• 27:07
  three years. What?
• 27:09
  It's like look at all these places.
• 27:16
  Like what It's. The I'm talking my shit.
• 27:21
  You know the people the cigar you know I don't know what the
• 27:24
  tax is where you guys are our tax rates like you know 12.8%,
• 27:28
  you know so basically you're running you know with our state
• 27:31
  sales tax it's like $0.20 on a dollar is what you're paying
• 27:35
  which isn't bad and and you talk about like our liquor license
• 27:38
  down here so that so you know we want to do the cigar lounge
• 27:42
  liquor you know but we're not not nightclubby type deal you
• 27:45
  know bourbon, Scotch whiskey, some rums, tequilas, few beers
• 27:48
  that that that's all we want to go.
• 27:50
  You know, people come there probably, yeah, we'll have wine
• 27:54
  and and I'll tell you this so I know where you guys are.
• 27:56
  Liquor is expensive, right? License is.
• 27:59
  Oh, where's cigars? Yeah, so where's cigars?
• 28:02
  I know, 75% sales tax, yeah. How much is it?
• 28:05
  75% sales tax. That's why I don't live where
• 28:08
  you live so. Yeah.
• 28:10
  So that's why. That's why I shop in Jersey,
• 28:12
  Connecticut and Pennsylvania. So, so, so Frank, Frank on that
• 28:18
  note, On that note, so you know turnbuckles and Stogie's pot is
• 28:22
  about cigars. Yes.
• 28:24
  Hand down man, down man. Down what I what I will say is.
• 28:28
  What I want to ask you is this. Yes.
• 28:31
  So how long have you been watching wrestling?
• 28:35
  Oh my God, we That was after cartoons when we were kids
• 28:39
  growing up. I'm as old as you, so I mean.
• 28:41
  Slow down, kill. What Hold on.
• 28:44
  You were. You were.
• 28:45
  You were a couple of years older.
• 28:47
  Listen, once you hit 50, it doesn't matter.
• 28:50
  Everything starts dropping. You sit on your nut for the
• 28:53
  first time and you realize, holy Christ, that hurts.
• 28:55
  Wait. You sit on.
• 28:56
  Your nut. So listen, you guys, come on.
• 29:00
  I mean, you know, look, I tell you what, when I used to go to
• 29:05
  the gym, the YMCA in Youngstown, right?
• 29:08
  And they had the, the club at the top where all the old dudes
• 29:10
  used to go, it had the nice shower.
• 29:12
  So we would pay the extra that belong up there.
• 29:15
  I used to get so pissed. You'd be in the gym working out.
• 29:19
  You're getting changed. All these little dudes walking
• 29:21
  around naked for whatever reason, and then they always.
• 29:24
  I don't understand it in front. Of you, no matter what gym you
• 29:27
  go. To you could fucking box and
• 29:29
  like, come. On Put your clothes on.
• 29:30
  No matter, no matter what gym you go to, for some reason they
• 29:35
  feel the need to walk around naked and I don't understand it
• 29:40
  how you. Don't get it.
• 29:43
  When I would, when I would work out at Planet Fitness, I would
• 29:46
  change in the locker room because I would either come from
• 29:48
  school or be going to school. And I go, I go to change and
• 29:52
  they're walking around naked sweat.
• 29:54
  I'm like, dude, really? And then I take your selfies in
• 29:57
  the mirror. Oh well, I never noticed that.
• 29:59
  But because I don't hang around that long, I mean, like, I, you
• 30:02
  know, well anyway. But yeah, for watching
• 30:05
  wrestling, man, we used to, we used to watch wrestling, man.
• 30:08
  We used to go out and do all that.
• 30:09
  You know, we'd go out to this lake by where I lived and we'd
• 30:12
  be doing all the wrestling moves because the water would kind of
• 30:14
  break the pile, Driver and all that.
• 30:16
  All that stuff. Growing up, I mean, I wrestling
• 30:19
  is, is, is a lot of fun. But I I think back in the day
• 30:22
  when you go to like 80s, nineties, I think just the whole
• 30:25
  persona, the characters, the whole wrestling.
• 30:28
  They were larger than life. Yeah, yeah.
• 30:30
  I went to my. Life when I was.
• 30:33
  Like in my early like, well, hell, like early 20s up in
• 30:36
  Cleveland when Hulk Hogan was all the rage.
• 30:39
  I mean, it was great. It was great.
• 30:40
  I I don't watch as much anymore because it.
• 30:43
  Doesn't work for me, brother. It breaks down to me can't I
• 30:46
  can't follow. Here's my here's my thing.
• 30:48
  So I did a wrestling show in the Westchester County Center for a
• 30:54
  federation called Nawa, OK And our our commissioner at the
• 30:59
  time, God rest his soul, was Bruno Sanmartino.
• 31:06
  I met him like four or five times.
• 31:09
  What do you think of Bruno Sanmartino and give us your
• 31:12
  insight on on everything that you know about him?
• 31:17
  Well, well, one, he's my he's a distant cousin of mine from
• 31:20
  Pittsburgh. When my family all immigrated
• 31:23
  over from Italy, you know, we settled well, they started it
• 31:26
  actually started in New Jersey and then everybody moved over to
• 31:29
  Ohio because at the time, you know we dropped an S off our
• 31:34
  name and you know his, my grandmother is related to the
• 31:37
  Sammartino as well my obviously and you know growing up, I mean
• 31:41
  my dad was always like, you know, Bruno Sorrentino, you know
• 31:44
  the Italian strong guy, you know, I mean what do you hold
• 31:48
  like? Was that let me ask you a
• 31:50
  question. How do you hold a championship
• 31:52
  for seven almost 7 1/2 years? How do you hold this your?
• 31:57
  Brother you want? To know.
• 31:59
  Why? You want to know why?
• 32:01
  Yeah, 'cause. It 'cause it.
• 32:02
  Drew money well. Yeah, it was unbeatable.
• 32:06
  The only now now what a lot of people also don't know is the
• 32:10
  only time I think either Bruno was supposed to be beat.
• 32:14
  Or it was Hogan. The only person that was
• 32:17
  supposed to beat him was Brody. Really.
• 32:19
  Brody Yes. I think, I think it might have
• 32:22
  been. I think it was Bruno 'cause,
• 32:24
  that's right. When towards the the later end
• 32:27
  of Bruno's run is when Brody started to come in and he was
• 32:30
  doing shots up here and in Texas.
• 32:32
  And he, I believe was either supposed to beat, beat Bruno or
• 32:37
  was he was supposed to come in and lose the Hogan?
• 32:40
  Like they built him up to be this big, bad, unstoppable heel
• 32:44
  and he was supposed to come in. I believe it was Hogan, but I
• 32:47
  know he wrestled Bruno a few times up.
• 32:49
  Here he was. Supposed.
• 32:51
  To come in and lose to Hogan and Brody, being Brody drawing the
• 32:56
  money he did in Japan and in Texas and all through the
• 32:59
  territories down South, he didn't want to do that.
• 33:04
  Well, you didn't want to do that or at.
• 33:05
  Least lose that way, yeah. Yeah, I mean I and back then
• 33:09
  too. Back then, there wasn't.
• 33:11
  There wasn't social media either.
• 33:13
  There wasn't. You didn't.
• 33:15
  Have you didn't? Have TV.
• 33:16
  You didn't have any of that. So it took time for these
• 33:19
  wrestlers from to get territory to territory to territory.
• 33:23
  So Bruno's title reign naturally going to last longer than
• 33:28
  currently because all eyes are on everybody today.
• 33:32
  You can see anybody anytime, 24/7, 365.
• 33:36
  Back then, you had to wait for the circus to come to town
• 33:39
  before you can see him. Oh yeah, absolutely.
• 33:42
  They used to bring I mean you know from where I grew up as my
• 33:45
  dad would say wrestling was you know they all loved it.
• 33:49
  You know boxing was huge where us from you know we had you know
• 33:52
  boom boom Mancini was from there Kelly public from there.
• 33:56
  You know so sports in that part of the country or in that state
• 34:01
  really where you take Northeast Ohio West of Pennsylvania.
• 34:04
  I mean, football was king because that's what, you know,
• 34:07
  we so many great athletes and coaches and you know everybody
• 34:11
  have come out of that area, you know, so that's what it was all
• 34:14
  about, you know, so we just grew up watching every sport that
• 34:18
  there was, you know, including the wrestling.
• 34:21
  So let. Me ask you this, Frank?
• 34:24
  So what made you get into cigars?
• 34:29
  So did you guys ever read that article by Ray Lewis when he was
• 34:34
  talking about? It's a great article.
• 34:36
  If you haven't read it, read it where he's talking about how he
• 34:40
  got into like he started smoking cigars and I can't remember if
• 34:43
  it was his father or grandfather who smoked cigars.
• 34:46
  And he would always ask him why do you smoke cigars, why do you
• 34:49
  smoke cigars? He goes and he never answered
• 34:51
  them and he said he goes and ultimately he goes.
• 34:55
  I figured it out because the cigar he goes.
• 34:59
  Smoking cigars takes you to a place right, that really nothing
• 35:04
  else can take you to as far as self reflection.
• 35:08
  You know, just peace. Just, you know, just sit.
• 35:11
  Whether if you're by yourself or with your friends, you know it's
• 35:15
  generally something positive. So.
• 35:18
  It does, I mean. It does, you know, So I so I
• 35:23
  again, I start smoking cigars with with some of my buddies,
• 35:27
  you know, just getting into it. I didn't know anything about it.
• 35:29
  I mean, I mean, you guys know so much more than I'd ever know.
• 35:32
  But I but I learned because you know, so I started smoking
• 35:36
  cigars and I enjoyed it. Then I started to kind of figure
• 35:39
  out what kind of cigars that I like, you know?
• 35:42
  And so then how this thing kind of speed up for me was.
• 35:47
  I go on this this podcast called the Team House.
• 35:50
  OK And it's all you know special operators you know Intel people
• 35:55
  telling their stories this and that.
• 35:57
  You know the thing And Jack Murphy, we were talking cigars
• 35:59
  because they on their podcast, they smoke cigars, they drink.
• 36:02
  It's, it's it's great. I mean great entertainment.
• 36:06
  So I'm on this podcast. Live for like 3 hours.
• 36:09
  We're just talking about stuff, right?
• 36:11
  So at the end of it, at the end of it, he goes, he goes, hey, do
• 36:17
  you like cigars? I go, yeah, he goes, he goes, I
• 36:19
  got a great, he goes, I got somebody you got to be
• 36:21
  introduced to. And the first guy he introduces
• 36:24
  me to is Mario from Casa Caraballo.
• 36:28
  So we come from the same community and I call Mario on
• 36:31
  it. Just call him.
• 36:33
  And man, the next thing I know that guy, he's like a brother to
• 36:37
  me. So then he introduces me to Fred
• 36:40
  from Espinal Puro. And then he's he, Fred's a great
• 36:43
  guy. I love Fred.
• 36:45
  I call. I talk to him all the time.
• 36:47
  He's a funny, funny dude. And then I love.
• 36:49
  And his cigars are awesome too. I mean, you know, I, you know,
• 36:52
  Mario cigars, I mean, they're great.
• 36:54
  And then, and then, you know, they introduced me to the Ozzie
• 36:58
  at OM and then, then, then, then Adam.
• 37:05
  Hey, there we are. We're all back again.
• 37:07
  I'm talking. Nobody's.
• 37:08
  Listening. But that's OK.
• 37:09
  I'm listening. I'm.
• 37:11
  Not really at my house, so. You know they.
• 37:15
  But then. Adam the Adam down at Modi, That
• 37:18
  guy. You know the one thing I I find
• 37:20
  about this community, which I really, really like, right?
• 37:26
  I've been called asshole. Yet.
• 37:27
  So I'm OK. But usually I've been called.
• 37:31
  I've been called. Asshole.
• 37:33
  Knucklehead. Word.
• 37:36
  I've been called it all. Don't worry about it.
• 37:37
  We're good. But what I mean by that is if.
• 37:40
  Most people, they really go out of their way to want to help you
• 37:43
  and want to educate you and teach you and tell you something
• 37:46
  about cigars. And you know, I know some, but I
• 37:49
  don't know nearly as much as as what all these other people.
• 37:51
  So when people say you know what's your favorite cigar, I
• 37:54
  go, well that depends on the mood of the day you know and
• 37:56
  what. And I am finding seriously, you
• 37:59
  know there's all those legacy brands out there and and they're
• 38:02
  good. I mean they are.
• 38:04
  I mean, you can't take away, but I'm finding the more boutique
• 38:06
  cigars that I spoke, the more I'm liking, you know, the
• 38:10
  flavor, the construction, the way they burn.
• 38:13
  I mean, last night we we did this event down at the Bearded
• 38:17
  Goose, right? And I had Fred's cigars from
• 38:21
  Espinal and then I had and I had what you call it, I had a box of
• 38:27
  Mario cigars day 28. Some things weren't good to go.
• 38:30
  So. So when?
• 38:33
  We were talking about words we were called This came from
• 38:37
  Johnny OG. About him.
• 38:39
  Don't forget these words. Knuckle trailer Oh.
• 38:44
  Window. Well, I've been called.
• 38:46
  I'll share that one. With you, you know, another
• 38:50
  funny story. So we're down to Myrtle Beach,
• 38:53
  right? And this is my daughter's being
• 38:55
  politically correct. So I saw this shirt that said
• 38:57
  and it had a little yellow bus on it and it said I rock the
• 39:01
  short bus. So I bought it.
• 39:05
  You know, no, we all know what that.
• 39:06
  Is right my daughter wear. It at that races.
• 39:10
  I go, I'll wear. Whatever I want, I go.
• 39:13
  At least I didn't have the Styrofoam helmet on.
• 39:15
  But you know, I mean, everybody thinks everybody's so serious.
• 39:19
  You know, everybody's so serious.
• 39:21
  Well, so we're going. To we're going to pause right
• 39:23
  there for one second, everybody. We're going to take a quick
• 39:25
  commercial break. We're going to have another word
• 39:28
  from our. Favorite radio station and our
• 39:32
  commercial people. And our partners and everybody.
• 43:31
  So. So.
• 43:34
  Guys, we're back. Here on Roku.
• 43:36
  TV Our first episode on Roku TV we are back The OG, the Vanilla
• 43:42
  Gorilla, and your man boss dog AKA Big Dog and my man Mike
• 43:48
  right there. So yo, we have oh, Mike.
• 43:51
  No, that's great. So we we have a question that
• 43:55
  goes for that goes for us not like this one, this questions
• 43:59
  for the two of us, not not for you guys, it's OK.
• 44:13
  So, so the question of the. Week goes for for us, this week
• 44:17
  for the two of us. Here I'll let you and.
• 44:20
  It's from. It's from.
• 44:21
  Michael Hess. Michael Hess, it says.
• 44:23
  Who inspired you guys to wrestle?
• 44:25
  I'll let you start first. Well.
• 44:29
  So. I'm probably 1.
• 44:32
  Of the oldest fellas on here, I'm glad you.
• 44:35
  Realized that. Yeah.
• 44:41
  You see what I'm going through, Frank?
• 44:43
  Frank, you see what I'm going through here.
• 44:45
  So question Roy, except your. Age and age.
• 44:47
  Gracefully now it ain't going to change.
• 44:50
  Just get a good attitude about it.
• 44:52
  So who? Inspired you guys to wrestle?
• 44:55
  Well, listen, So who? Inspired you.
• 45:00
  I'm going to start with. The wild Samoans.
• 45:05
  I'm going to start with. Johnny Rods.
• 45:09
  And them guys. Back in the 80s.
• 45:12
  OK, so I have been I've been trained by the late, great Pete
• 45:19
  McKay. I've been trained by the Wild
• 45:21
  Samoans. I've been trained by Maniac
• 45:26
  Matt, born in Dallas, TX. So listen, Chris Adams.
• 45:32
  Chris Adams. I've been trained by a lot of
• 45:35
  people, and you know what inspired me to get into
• 45:38
  wrestling? I'm sitting there like it's who
• 45:41
  inspired you to wrestle. Who inspired me?
• 45:43
  That would be the Samoans. Because I love the gimmicks.
• 45:49
  I love what they do. And guess what?
• 45:53
  That was like. One of the greatest things I
• 45:56
  ever went to was WXW and in Hazeltown, Pennsylvania.
• 46:02
  And guess who? Guess who trained me?
• 46:04
  Billy Kidman. Billy freaking Kidman.
• 46:08
  So you know. I I I'm.
• 46:13
  I'm still there. I'm still part of the family, so
• 46:17
  shout out to everybody that's been trained by WXWI.
• 46:23
  Was sitting home one day and I said to my mother, God rest his
• 46:26
  soul, that I want to do that for a living.
• 46:31
  My mother came to. One of my last matches in New
• 46:35
  England. Yes, I was there for.
• 46:37
  That one we were at the VFW. It was like going from here to
• 46:41
  there and this dude. No, that was.
• 46:45
  No, that wasn't the VFW. That was in the high school.
• 46:48
  Oh, that was in the Blackstone. Blackstone, MA.
• 46:50
  That was in the high school. 'Cause I remember, 'cause we
• 46:53
  were in the big high school gym and it was me, mom, Joseph
• 47:00
  Granny and mom's mom, kid Mike. I got you.
• 47:08
  Bro, we're going to wait. I'm.
• 47:09
  Answering that next, I promise. I got you.
• 47:11
  I got you. We're answering that now, so you
• 47:13
  know. So me being.
• 47:16
  In the wrestling world, 25 years, I've made a lot of
• 47:19
  friends. And let me tell you, the friends
• 47:22
  I've made, I will never, ever take back.
• 47:25
  Because you know what? The people I've I've made as
• 47:28
  friends are still my friends Now I call them.
• 47:31
  I text them and you know. And to be in the.
• 47:35
  Ring with my son, I got called out of retirement.
• 47:39
  I retired over like 10 years ago, but the phone call at first
• 47:44
  was. Really.
• 47:44
  For you, right. The phone call was for you to to
• 47:48
  come work for that company and then they had decided that not
• 47:54
  only did they want to bring him in out of retirement, but they
• 47:57
  wanted to put him with me so to be.
• 48:00
  Now with him was, Oh my God, it was like I've rejuvenated
• 48:07
  myself. So now now.
• 48:09
  To answer to the to answer the question of the week, which is
• 48:12
  right here. So his was the.
• 48:15
  The Samoans mine was obviously growing up around the business
• 48:20
  was was him my uncle who will be on on March 17th.
• 48:26
  You know there was there's just so many growing up around that
• 48:30
  business from the time I was a young kid, you know all the way
• 48:34
  through until now and then being able to become a part of the
• 48:37
  business as a commentator, you know, stuff like that, doing
• 48:40
  behind the scenes stuff now to having be able to wrestle with
• 48:46
  him is is great because for me it's it's living a a dream that
• 48:56
  that of mine, you know something something I've wanted to do
• 49:00
  since I was a kid and I'm not going to sit here and say that,
• 49:03
  you know I thought about it later on.
• 49:05
  No, I from the time I was a young kid.
• 49:10
  That was what? I always wanted to do.
• 49:14
  From the time I was a kid. That was what I wanted to do.
• 49:16
  And to be able to get that phone call and, you know, to be able
• 49:21
  to get the phone call and team with him, you know, for me was a
• 49:24
  no brainer. As soon as that phone call came
• 49:27
  through, he goes, I was at work, he goes, so I got a question for
• 49:31
  you. I said, yeah, he goes, you're
• 49:31
  sitting down. I said what do you need, what's
• 49:33
  up? Because you know, you hear,
• 49:35
  you're sitting down, you go, holy crap, what the hell is
• 49:37
  going on? He asks me.
• 49:40
  I'm like so. What are you calling me for?
• 49:42
  He goes well, I want to make sure you want to do it.
• 49:43
  I'm like, what are you calling me for?
• 49:50
  I'm like, hello, I'm like you should have just said yes.
• 49:54
  You know, and then I go I. I After the show is over, you
• 49:58
  know I I would be able to get my hands on the the video footage
• 50:02
  of the match. And to watch it.
• 50:05
  Back see, see, for me, being on the apron that night was
• 50:11
  watching him in the ring was like me being a kid again.
• 50:15
  You know, because I was looking. At it.
• 50:17
  And I'm going, holy shit, I'm like, this is the guy that I I
• 50:19
  remember growing up, You know, this is the guy I grew up
• 50:23
  watching. You know, I'm like, this is the
• 50:29
  guy. I woke.
• 50:29
  I grew up watching myself, so you know to.
• 50:33
  Be able to sit there and. Do it.
• 50:35
  And then it was like, as I'm doing it, I'm sitting there and
• 50:37
  I'm going, oh, wait a second. I'm supposed to do this.
• 50:43
  Now you know, it was like, now it's my turn and I got in there
• 50:49
  and. I've had people watch.
• 50:53
  That back that known him for years that have have seen me
• 50:57
  grow up and they all looked and we're like, you have that same
• 51:02
  type of movement, the same stare, the same straight stone
• 51:06
  face that he had, you know when when he wrestled.
• 51:11
  So, you know, it was kind of cool to hear.
• 51:13
  Like I I did adapt some of his. Mannerisms in the.
• 51:17
  Ring some of the, you know, the the the movements, the just the
• 51:24
  the overall presentation. Obviously I made it mine.
• 51:28
  I've taken it from everybody. You know, who I I watched
• 51:31
  growing up. You know, guys like, you know,
• 51:34
  obviously I I watch wrestling. We all know this.
• 51:37
  It's not a secret. I mean, I've gone back and
• 51:39
  watched 80s, nineties, Jim Crockett, WCCW.
• 51:44
  Like I, I I've studied my way through the business.
• 51:48
  Which is the right way to do it? And guys like.
• 51:53
  Ricca and Bruno and all those guys are guys that you know.
• 51:57
  I I watched and I studied, and I I learned from.
• 52:01
  The guys that came. Before me.
• 52:06
  And I was able. To make it my own and take
• 52:08
  little things from everybody. Nice.
• 52:14
  Nice. Awesome.
• 52:16
  Well, listen, I gotta you guys, you guys been asking Frank all
• 52:19
  the questions. I got one for Frank Frank in in
• 52:22
  preparation for coming on to the podcast here, you and I on
• 52:26
  Instagram chat. We we talked a little bit back
• 52:28
  and forth and we have something similar in common.
• 52:31
  My father's a police officer. Your father was a police
• 52:33
  officer. You mentioned about consulting
• 52:37
  earlier in the podcast Is Hard Knock School Schoolhouse.
• 52:42
  Is that the consulting you're talking about and kind of let
• 52:46
  everybody know about it, you know, kind of give the
• 52:49
  background about that? It's called the hard knock
• 52:52
  schoolhouse basically when I when I retired, you know, just
• 52:58
  real quick. I mean law enforcement's
• 53:00
  changing so much. You know it's gotten to the
• 53:03
  point of being risk adverse. You know, a lot these guys that
• 53:06
  are out there on the street today.
• 53:08
  I man, I'll tell you what I I don't know how they do it.
• 53:11
  You know I got a a good friend of mine there Koslowski.
• 53:14
  His son just became an LA County deputy and you know you know my
• 53:18
  daughter talking about that and I told her no, you see the the
• 53:21
  school our schoolhouse you know basically you know we we a lot
• 53:27
  of things. I mean you know most of it
• 53:29
  relates to you know undercover and you know in in behavior and
• 53:34
  things like that stuff that we we we had some training but not
• 53:37
  to the level that that we do. And you know and then you know
• 53:40
  we I still contract and do some training with you know various
• 53:44
  military components and some Intel agencies and it's across
• 53:48
  the board. But like I said, I've been in
• 53:50
  that business for you know in that realm for like 30-5 years
• 53:53
  And although it's you know it's a calling to do it, you know you
• 53:58
  to continue to be involved and help.
• 54:00
  I find myself starting to to drift away because the the whole
• 54:05
  reason I retired is people don't see things the same way.
• 54:09
  Everybody's afraid, you know, everybody's.
• 54:13
  Public will say or what's? Going to happen or how it's
• 54:15
  going to affect them versus how, you know, you should be doing
• 54:19
  the right thing, right. So it's political.
• 54:22
  It got too political for me. And I find you know talking all
• 54:25
  these guys and gals today, they're in, they're still in law
• 54:27
  enforcement arena. You know in the military it's
• 54:31
  getting tougher to do the job because you got everybody who's
• 54:34
  worried about what public sentiment is and you know what
• 54:38
  that are really behind don't give a shit what the public
• 54:40
  thinks. Go do your job to keep us safe.
• 54:43
  Go do your job to keep yourself safe.
• 54:45
  You know what I mean? Absolutely so.
• 54:49
  So that's. So that's the one side of it.
• 54:51
  But this is the side that now is the exciting part for me.
• 54:54
  I'm trying to break away and then.
• 54:56
  Get into this. Because it's a passion, you know
• 55:00
  it's something, it's a whole new realm, it's a whole new learning
• 55:03
  experience. So you know we're really pushing
• 55:06
  to get in our brick and mortar and and that is the end state
• 55:09
  that hopefully by summer we will find a place to call home.
• 55:12
  You know we we got feelers all out all over the place.
• 55:15
  So you know, that's very cool, so.
• 55:18
  So as we're winding down here, gentlemen, we want to thank
• 55:21
  everybody for tuning in today. Frank, thank you for coming on.
• 55:25
  We appreciate you, BRT Cigar. Oh, and by the.
• 55:29
  Way we are going to be in North Carolina to a bus May 25th.
• 55:35
  We'll be down there wrestling in New Bern, in New Bern on the.
• 55:39
  Coast, yeah. Awesome.
• 55:42
  We'll be down there wrestling in.
• 55:43
  New Bern. New Bern, The OJ, The OJ.
• 55:46
  Will be there too. The OJ will be there too.
• 55:48
  You guys make sure you. Make sure you send me the
• 55:51
  information 'cause if I'm if I'm here, I'm coming the the ticket
• 55:55
  thinks. You're getting ready to get up
• 55:56
  now. I was on with the the owner last
• 55:58
  night. You don't need a ticket, Frank.
• 56:00
  All that's coming up ready. To come to me.
• 56:02
  That's big because. That's that's, you know, Jim
• 56:05
  Crockett territory, you know, the Carolinas.
• 56:07
  That's all old JCP territory. So, you know, I'm, I'm excited
• 56:12
  to come down there. I'm excited to work down there.
• 56:15
  Oh yeah, wrestling's still. Man, there's all kind of show
• 56:17
  you see advertisements all placed down here for shows going
• 56:21
  on. Are you guys we're going to?
• 56:22
  Wind this showdown, Frank, thanks for coming on.
• 56:25
  We are pleased to have. And listen.
• 56:28
  Brother, we we will definitely. We will definitely book a date
• 56:31
  to have you back on because I'm sure we've just played the 3rd,
• 56:35
  so. Thank you to all.
• 56:36
  Of our spots and thank you to Ish DAMF Cigars ROCF Cigars.
• 56:41
  Go order them. Thank you to J&B Cigar Lounge
• 56:45
  and thank you to the legendary Legendary Fanatic Cigar House in
• 56:50
  Lodi, NJ. We appreciate and thank you,
• 56:53
  Roku. Thanks for having us, Roku for
• 56:56
  having. Us the Nest network.
• 56:58
  Thank you. We can't thank you guys enough.
• 57:01
  Make sure you follow us on all social media platforms.
• 57:05
  Go to our Instagram is at Turnbuckles and Stogie's pod.
• 57:09
  Follow us there. Click the link in the bio.
• 57:11
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• 57:14
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• 57:16
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• 57:21
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• 57:25
  This has been another episode of Turnbuckles and Stokes.
• 57:30
  Yo, shout out to the. Chiefs go Chiefs.
• 57:34
  That's the show for. Today everyone, thanks for
• 57:36
  listening. We'll be back next week with an
• 57:38
  all new show. And remember, you can listen to
• 57:41
  us again and again. The podcast of this.
• 57:43
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• 57:46
  the air tonight. Anywhere.
• 57:47
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