Bee Gees References In Pro Wrestling with Guest "Trapper Tom" Thomas Leturgy

Bee Gees (And Me)

It’s Wrestlemania season, baby! For those of you who don’t know, Wrestlemania is the biggest weekend of the year for professional wrestling. The WWE holds a huge shows all week long, culminating in Wrestlemania, which is like the Super Bowl or World Cup of wrestling. It’s the biggest show, on the grandest stage of them all.

So since it’s Wrestlemania, I wanted to do a wrestling themed episode of Bee Gees And Me podcast, because there’s some fun references and influences that the Brothers Gibb had on wrestling over the years. I asked my good friend “Trapper Tom” to be my guest this week, because not only does he work for an independent wrestling promotion based out of Pittsburgh, PA, called the Keystone State Wrestling Alliance, not only is he a wrestling historian, having taught a college course on professional wrestling, he is also a Bee Gees fan.

Of course, I am a huge fan of wrestling too. I’ve actually been a wrestling fan for longer than I’ve been a Bee Gees fan. I started watching as a kid in the 80s, during the Rock & Wrestling era of colorful over the top characters like Andre The Giant and The Macho Man Randy Savage. Much like any long running form of entertainment, it’s evolved over the years. So stars like Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels replaced them, then along came Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock. Now, a whole new generation of wrestlers like Roman Reigns and Bobby Lashley entertain the millions of fans of this billion dollar industry.

But, despite all the success and popularity of professional wrestling, there are still people who sneer or judge the performance. People throw around the “F word,” that in the wrestling industry is the most offensive thing that could be said. “Fake.” For some reason, because this athletic performance is scripted, it carries this stigma of being a joke. People look down on it as a lesser form of entertainment. Television shows are scripted, movies are scripted. But nobody is leaving a movie theater complaining about The Avengers because none of it was real. Yet, wrestling doesn’t use CGI or stunt doubles for their action. It’s men and women not only acting as characters, but also doing all the physically demanding and extremely athletic moves to tell a story. When done right, it’s some of the best live theater you can experience.

So over my years as both a wrestling fan and a Bee Gees fan, I’ve been reminded time and time again that something I love is either fake, or dumb, or phony. There’s a chip on my shoulder for being shamed as a wrestling fan in the same way as there’s a chip on my shoulder for being a Bee Gees fan. When in reality, wrestling is awesome. And the Bee Gees are awesome. And I unapologetically love each of them. And sometimes, those two worlds intersect, and it’s exciting for me to see two of my passions share a moment like a shooting star across the night sky.

And my friend Trapper Tom and I will talk about some of those times on this episode of Bee Gees And Me, continuing just after this.