I had the chance to attend the weekend events for Starrcast V, known as Ric Flair’s Last Match. From the opening night of the Ric Flair Roast to Podcast Panels down to Flair’s last match, the weekend was full of events for wrestling fans from all generations.
The weekend festivities kicked off with the Ric Flair Roast, which boy did it start strong with some heavy-hitting jokes.
Ric Flair Roast Recap
The panel of wrestlers included DDP, Eric Bischoff, Torrie Wilson, Vickie Guerrero, Brian Knobbs, and Bubba Ray.
I’ve watched a ton of Roast throughout my time, whether it was William Shatner, Charlie Sheen, or Justin Biebers, and you know that these are no-holds-barred events, especially when it comes to comedians on the dais. I also know that with some wrestlers on the panel, they would have to be prepared to take some harsh jokes on the chin.
The show kicked off with Brad Nessler, our Roast Master of the evening, and the butt of quite a few jokes throughout the night. But, I will say this, whoever wrote Nessler’s jokes, did a great job because he did one hell of a job all night hosting the show.
Here are some of my favorite jokes from the night:
Brad Nessler: “If this group was any whiter, Jericho’s wife would storm the Capitol with it.”
Shuli Egar: “Ric Flair’s liver is so black, Hulk Hogan refused to come here tonight. I’m kidding, Hogan said he was one of the good ones.”
Dan St. Germain: (To Flair) – “How are you supposed to be a republican when you can’t even keep the Mexicans out of Charlotte?”
Overall: The show definitely had its highs and lows, with some non-comedians struggling to deliver the jokes written for them. The worst part of the show was when Bubba Ray forgot it was a roast and turned it into a serious conversation because he couldn’t take the jokes. However, while it was a tad long, I enjoyed the entire show because the hard-hitting jokes that were funny outweighed some of the lesser points of the night.
The Podcast/Panels
I wasn’t sure what to expect from the Podcast/Panels, but these might have been my favorite things to attend during the weekend.
You had a loaded lineup Saturday and Sunday.
- The Major Wrestling Figure Podcast (Matt Cardona and Brian Myers)
- Insight w/ Chris Van Vliet, who had Claudio Castagnoli
- The Sessions with Renee Paquette, who had special guest Bryan Danielson
- One Last Ride for the Horseman (with Flair, Arn, Tully, Luger, JJ, Windham)
- 30 Years Later with Bret ‘The Hitman’ Hart.
- Foley is Pod with Mick Foley
- Saraya: Turning the Page
- Kliq This with Kevin Nash
- What’s NeXT? with Johnny Gargano
- The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy
While I didn’t get the chance to attend every single one of them, the ones that I did attend were a blast.
The Major Wrestling Figure Podcast was an absolute blast. One of the most impressive things from the weekend for me was Matt Cardona, who is an absolute star. The years of seeing what we saw on TV pails compared to what this man is doing now. I was in awe of him from the podcast to our interview to his promo during the event. I am not sure many guys love this business as much as this man. The chemistry between him and Myers also comes off organic, making the duo worth watching in whatever they are doing.
The best ones for me came from The Sessions with Renee Paquette, who might be one of the best podcast hosts in the land. She reminds me of what Kevin Hart can do on his show with his guests to make them feel comfortable enough to sit down, relax and get beyond the surface of each of these wrestlers. The interview with Danielson was filled with funny, serious, candid moments. Paquette is also the nicest human being I’ve ever met. She was charming to everyone who came to her line to get autographs and pictures. Check out this clip below of me asking her about bringing out that vulnerability in her guests.
The best panel was the 30 Years Later w/ Bret Hart. Hart is one of/if not the greatest to ever step foot inside the wrestling ring. However, the authenticity and downright brutal honesty of this match, his career, and those around him made this show so good. I was blown away by how good this was, and Bret, call me, let’s do a podcast together.
The Convention Floor
Meet and Greats can be really fun, especially when you are watching fans from across the globe meet some of their favorite wrestlers from past and present. I loved watching the little reactions from people as they stepped up for their turn. Below are some of the highlights from the signings.
Meet and Greats can be really fun, especially when you are watching fans from across the globe meet some of their favorite wrestlers from past and present. I loved watching the little reactions from people as they stepped up for their turn. Below are some of the highlights from the signings.
- The longest lines of the weekend: Jeff Jarrett, Kevin Nash, Johnny Gargano, Arn Anderson, Matt Hardy, New Age Outlaws and Renee Paquette.
- The Ass Boys (Austin and Colten Gunn) were hilarious throughout the entire convention. They were positioned by the front entrance and had people laughing quite a lot.
- The nicest people I spoke with were Renee Paquette, Brock Anderson, Matt Cardona, Joey Janela, Killer Kross, Johnny Gargano and Brian Myers.
2022-23 Wrestling Showcase Championship
At Starrcast V, they revealed what the 2022-23 Wrestling Showcase Championship looked like. During the reveal, Matt Cardona and Brian Meyers had something to say about The Wrestling Showcase event that will be held on September 3 in Schaumburg, Illinois, and who will walk away with the championship that night. I had the chance to check this one out live and record the events that unfolded.
Overall:
I had an incredible time covering the weekend’s events—a big shout out to the team working this convention. Everyone was welcoming and got people pointed in the right direction. They had everything very well set up that you didn’t know where to go or how to get there.
A couple of huge shoutouts before I go:
A huge thank you to Derek and Starrcast for having me. My goodness, some of the best-handled Media stuff I’ve ever dealt with and I can’t wait to work with them again in the future. To all the wrestlers that were gracious with their time and gave me some fantastic answers to my questions, THANK YOU. I will have all these out throughout the week.
I am looking forward to Starrcast VI and you can be sure I will be there to share my coverage once again.
The Music City Drive-In 
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