10 Bell Pod

On the season 5 finale we wrap up our coverage on the great Terry Funk.Terry Funk didn’t just wrestle across generations, he evolved, understood and embraced. Today we continue to prove that the Funker became the connective tissue of professional wrestling history: a performer who thrived in the territory era, reinvented himself in the chaos of hardcore wrestling and still found ways to shape the Attitude Era and beyond.From helping launch ECW to influencing legends like Mick Foley & Brian Pillman, to working with our very own Man Scout Jake Manning, Funk’s career reveals something deeper than longevity. He grasped the core truth of wrestling: that the business is about emotion, risk and evolution. IMPORTANT LINKS:Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/10bellpod⁠⁠⁠Reddit: ⁠⁠https://www.reddit.com/r/10BellPod⁠⁠Patreon: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/10BellPod⁠⁠⁠⁠ProWrestling Tees: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.prowrestlingtees.com/related/10bellpod.html⁠⁠⁠⁠PayPal Donation - ⁠⁠9BHDW7Y2KMBTY⁠⁠Discord: ⁠https://discord.gg/64GdAqEG⁠Terry Funk wasn’t just a great wrestler, he was one of the most influential figures the industry has ever seen.He helped connect multiple eras of professional wrestling: from the territorial days of the NWA, to the violent innovation of ECW, to the mainstream boom of the Attitude Era. Along the way he inspired generations of wrestlers, including Mick Foley, Tommy Dreamer, and countless others.For many fans and wrestlers alike, Terry Funk belongs on any serious Mount Rushmore of professional wrestling.What We Cover In This EpisodeTerry Funk’s role in the early days of ECWHis brutal FMW and IWA Japan death matchesThe infamous King of the Death Match tournament with Mick FoleyHelping elevate stars like Sabu, Shane Douglas, and RavenThe chaotic ECW chair throwing riot Funk’s WWF Attitude Era run as Chainsaw CharlieHis feud with the New Age OutlawsBehind the scenes influence on wrestling personalities like Brian Pillman’s Loose Cannon gimmickLate career appearances across WCW, ROH, TNA, and the independent scenePersonal stories about meeting Terry Funk and why he was beloved across the wrestling world

Part two of our Road Warriors series is less about wins and losses and more about what happens as the roar fades.After reaching one of the highest peaks in pro wrestling, LOD goes through tough times, weird times and weirder times.This is what happens when legends collide with addiction, corporate politics, ego, changing eras, and their own mortality.This episode is about legacy. About partnership. About how hard it is to separate the unit from the individuals. And about how two men who once felt larger than life were still human underneath the paint.IMPORTANT LINKS:Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/10bellpod⁠⁠⁠Reddit: ⁠⁠https://www.reddit.com/r/10BellPod⁠⁠Patreon: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/10BellPod⁠⁠⁠⁠ProWrestling Tees: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.prowrestlingtees.com/related/10bellpod.html⁠⁠⁠⁠PayPal Donation - ⁠⁠9BHDW7Y2KMBTY⁠⁠Discord: ⁠https://discord.gg/64GdAqEG⁠

WELCOME TO THE C0-MAIN EVENTThis week on 10 Bell Pod, we’re not just talking about a tag team, we’re talking about a force: The Road Warriors.Hawk and Animal were 2 bar room bouncers from Minnesota who didn’t “play” tough guys on television. The spikes and war paint and made characters, but they were as real as it gets. The fact is, Hawk and Animal were drawing at Hulk Hogan level without needing Hogan. That they were selling out arenas in Georgia, Minnesota, Japan, and the Carolinas while Vince was still figuring out what to call “sports entertainment.”We dig into what made them different.The legitimacy.The look.The Doomsday Device.The promos.They weren’t just another hot act. They reshaped pro wrestling. IMPORTANT LINKS:Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/10bellpod⁠⁠⁠Reddit: ⁠⁠https://www.reddit.com/r/10BellPod⁠⁠Patreon: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/10BellPod⁠⁠⁠⁠ProWrestling Tees: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.prowrestlingtees.com/related/10bellpod.html⁠⁠⁠⁠PayPal Donation - ⁠⁠9BHDW7Y2KMBTY⁠⁠Discord: ⁠https://discord.gg/64GdAqEG⁠

In this episode of 10 Bell Pod, we tell the full story of Jay Briscoe.This is not just the matches, not just the titles, but the man, the contradictions, the love, the mistakes, the growth, and the legacy that refuses to stay quiet.From a chicken farm in rural Delaware to blood soaked Ring of Honor main events. From backyard VHS tapes to Japan, CZW, and two decades as the backbone of indie wrestling. We talk about what made the Briscoes different. Why they weren’t just a great tag team, but the standard. Why every era, every promotion, every hot new team had to go through them to be taken seriously. Why Ring of Honor does not exist in any recognizable form without Jay Briscoe.We confront the tweet. The fallout. The punishment. The growth. The way a single moment haunted a man for the rest of his career, and how he chose empathy, accountability, and change instead of bitterness or doubling down. This is about how people fail and what it looks like when someone actually tries to be better.And then we get to the ending.The crash. The loss. The sadness.This episode is grief.It’s gratitude.It’s anger.It’s love.It’s about a man who never needed a bigger stage to be legendary.Reach for the sky.IMPORTANT LINKS:Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/10bellpod⁠⁠⁠Reddit: ⁠⁠https://www.reddit.com/r/10BellPod⁠⁠Patreon: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/10BellPod⁠⁠⁠⁠ProWrestling Tees: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.prowrestlingtees.com/related/10bellpod.html⁠⁠⁠⁠PayPal Donation - ⁠⁠9BHDW7Y2KMBTY⁠⁠Discord: ⁠https://discord.gg/64GdAqEG⁠EPISODE NOTESJay Briscoe: Jay Briscoe was a worker who embodied what independent wrestling actually was before it became a pipeline. Through Jay’s life and career, the episode examines wrestling as labor, the value of authenticity over polish, and how entire scenes survive on people willing to give everything without guarantees.The Briscoes were infrastructure, not talent experiments. For over two decades, Jay and Mark were the backbone of Ring of Honor and the East Coast indies, consistently elevating opponents, legitimizing new acts, and holding promotions together when money, visibility, and stability were scarce.Indie wrestling used to be faith-based labor. Jay worked dangerous matches, drove brutal hours, and held real jobs because the work mattered, not because there was a promised next step. There was no safety net, no TV deal waiting.Jay was trusted because he made things feel real. Whether tagging, wrestling singles, or leading a locker room, he brought credibility, emotional weight, and violence that never felt performative.The tweet mattered, but so did what followed. Jay said something harmful, faced real consequences, apologized repeatedly, changed his behavior, and spent the rest of his life proving growth through actions, not branding.Great wrestling creates community, not content. Jay’s work helped define why people cared deeply about Ring of Honor, AEW’s spiritual roots, and wrestling as something worth believing in.

On this episode of 10 Bell Pod, Nickohlessa, Tyler Wood, and The Man Scout Jake Manning dig into the life, career, and tragic end of Mike Awesome.From his rise as a foundational monster in Japan’s FMW, where his size, speed, and brutality made him a legend, to his turbulent runs through ECW, WCW, WWE, we talk about how timing, injuries, politics, and bad creative repeatedly undercut a generational talent. It’s a full scope look at a wrestler who redefined what a “big man” could be, helped reshape modern wrestling’s pace and spectacle, and whose story ends with a sobering reminder about mental health, CTE, and the quiet struggles even the strongest people carry.IMPORTANT LINKS:Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/10bellpod⁠⁠⁠Reddit: ⁠⁠https://www.reddit.com/r/10BellPod⁠⁠Patreon: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/10BellPod⁠⁠⁠⁠ProWrestling Tees: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.prowrestlingtees.com/related/10bellpod.html⁠⁠⁠⁠PayPal Donation - ⁠⁠9BHDW7Y2KMBTY⁠⁠Discord: ⁠https://discord.gg/64GdAqEG⁠EPISODE NOTESMike Awesome: Timing, Violence, and the Cost of Being Built for the Wrong SystemFramingThis episode exists to explain Mike Awesome as more than a highlight reel or a cautionary tale. From the Florida indie grind to FMW superstardom, to ECW chaos to WCW and WWE misfires, the episode treats Awesome as a wrestler whose body and instincts were perfectly suited for one ecosystem and fundamentally incompatible with the others. It’s a story about timing, labor, and what happens when an industry can’t translate excellence across borders.Core TakeawaysJapan made Mike Awesome a legend: His FMW run as The Gladiator wasn’t a side chapter. It was the peak of his career, built on trust, pay, and a style that rewarded risk.Highlight reels hid the cost: Awesome thrived in clips and car-crash matches, but the same fearlessness that made him spectacular accelerated injuries, heat, and long term damage.American systems failed to adapt him: ECW, WCW, and WWE all wanted the spectacle without the infrastructure, protection, or commitment that made him work in Japan.Money promises broke careers: ECW’s contracts and WCW’s chaotic politics turned momentum into resentment, pushing Awesome into survival mode instead of stability.Violence without a safety net ends badly: Years of deathmatches, untreated mental health issues, and career instability formed a pressure cooker with no release valve.What Usually Gets MissedMike Awesome didn’t “fail” in the U.S., the American wrestling system failed to understand what kind of worker he actually was.This episode frames Mike Awesome as a generational outlier: a big man ahead of his time, trapped between promotions that wanted his body but never learned how to protect his future.