ESPN vs Netflix: The American Gladiators Documentary

[00:00:00] Intro: Welcome to Chilling With Ice with me, Lori Fedrick, or most of you know me as Ice from the American Gladiators. Thank you for joining me on this podcast where we're gonna dive in and go behind the scenes on the number one hit iconic show of the nineties. It's time to get up close and personal on what drove us to be gladiators, what challenges we faced, and how we overcame to reach all of our.

[00:00:28] Intro: I know in this first season, inquiring minds wanna know, was their drama fight hookups? Are we all still friends? What did we do in our personal lives? And how are we staying in such good shape years later? Well, stay right here and let's get into chilling with ice.

[00:00:47] Lori: Welcome back to Chilling With Ice, and I'm very excited about today's episode and I have my girlfriend April here with us today. Thank you so much for being here, and today's episode's gonna be a, I'm excited about it because we are going to be reviewing the E S P N 30 for 30 doc.

[00:01:05] Lori: Yep. And, um, we're going to, there's a lot of things that I wanna go over and clear up. And so let's, let's kind of start with one thing, and that is, I don't believe the Netflix documentary did this as well, and that is not one documentary actually even acknowledged the fallen gladiators. Well, we don't know that yet, but, well, we do know about Netflix.

[00:01:33] Lori: ESPN did not. I mean not ESPN did not. Right. Okay. So, which I'm surprised, I don't think the Netflix did either. To be honest with you, after talking with Dan. Yeah. I wonder why. I don't know. It's the most bizarre thing. Yeah. So l today's, um, the Fallen gladiators, I mean, this is like Shelly Beatie Siren. Um, Tanya Knight recently passed away.

[00:01:58] Lori: Gold Lee Rayman Hawk, and then Billy Smith Thunder. And that was like right after the ESPN documentary. So you would think mm-hmm. That at the end of that, it would say something like, you know, rest in peace. Something. Yeah. Not a word. Yeah. It was surprise. Just like crickets. Mm-hmm. I mean, all these gladiators were very, very big role models.

[00:02:25] Lori: I mean, they really were. Yeah. Um, Shelly Beatty Siren, I mean, it's just amazing her, her, her journey and how big she was in the American Gladiators. And then Hawk, I mean, come on. And then Tanya Knight Gold. She was, she was almost one of the originals. Mm-hmm. Um, and thunder. So yeah. I wanna acknowledge,

[00:02:45] April: well, especially because he was in the documentary.

[00:02:47] April: Yeah. You would think exactly to. Remember him afterwards. Right.

[00:02:52] Lori: But so that's, that's one thing I wanted to come in here and, and really kind of say that so that somebody does. Yeah. You know, I just wanted to say that really quickly. The other thing is, um, let's get into why, why are there two documentaries?

[00:03:11] Lori: Okay. Um, a lot of people don't know the story because it's never been told. The story's not out there. And that is, um, basically Johnny Ferraro, the creator of the show, called pretty much all of us one day and said, Hey, guess what? Really excited they're doing a documentary about me. Okay. And so, wa wa well, my first thought was really about you.

[00:03:39] Lori: About you. Who are you? Nobody knows who you are. Yeah. You know, so that was the big kind of red flag. And that is, uh, documentary's probably gonna be about us, Johnny. Yeah. You know, well, or it should be about us. So at that point in time, um, we listened to him and then at the end of the phone call, it was like, and there's no pay.

[00:04:03] Lori: You know, again, okay. 30 years later and there's no pay again. Yeah. And we know you are getting paid. We know you are going to be getting something off this documentary. Mm-hmm. So that was kind of like one of the biggest reasons we were just like, ah, I don't know. You know? And if the documentary is truly about you, then why would we be doing it?

[00:04:22] April: Well, and why was it called the American Gladiators documentary as well?

[00:04:26] Lori: Yeah. After watching the documentary, the American Gladiator documentary is completely the wrong name. Yeah. Okay. So, but let's go back there. And that is when he called all of us and said that, um, We didn't know really what was gonna happen.

[00:04:45] Lori: So then the producer from Vice Ben called all of us and kind of talked us into doing like, you know, let's do some interviews and see how it goes. We don't even know where we're going yet. So they didn't even know where they were gonna shop it and sell it. So we agreed to do the sizzle reel, which means like the really, you know, the quick footage to see if he can get it, you know, sold.

[00:05:04] Lori: Mm-hmm. And um, but we also said in absolutely no way can you use this footage unless we have a contract in front of us and we get paid. And then there was that whole, nobody gets paid for documentaries. Why? Who said that? Why? Yeah. You know, I had somebody say to me one time, well if, if I tell you the sky is purple every single day, pretty soon you're gonna believe me.

[00:05:29] Lori: And I guess that's what's kind of come down to the documentaries of why you don't get paid. I don't know. So anyway, um, we did that and then we didn't hear from him for like six months. At least six months. And then at that point in time, nitro, we didn't know this, but he was actually shopping another documentary in his story or whatever that may be.

[00:05:53] Lori: Mm-hmm. But he actually got Netflix on board and Netflix came along and said, okay, we wanna do the American Glad Eat documentary. And by the way, we're gonna pay you guys. So we're like, no brainer. Let's do this. Boom. Yay. We're excited. Mm-hmm. I kid you not, A week later, we got a call from Vice Ben and said, by the way, we sold it to E S P N.

[00:06:15] Lori: We're ready to rock and roll. And we're like, um, sorry, but it's a little too late. We already signed contracts with. Netflix. So there was this whole political, you know, kind of like hustle bustle. Oh my God, who do we have? Who do you have? Who do we have? The team got separated. Mm-hmm. And that is so unfortunate.

[00:06:36] Lori: Yeah. I was so upset and not happy about that. Um, just simply because of the fact we should have all stayed together as a team.

[00:06:43] April: Well, that wasn't the first time that's happened

[00:06:45] Lori: either, right? No, not at all. Right. So I wanna say almost three-fourths the team mm-hmm. Went to Netflix. Yeah. And that's the reason why is because nobody wanted to do the Johnny Ferraro documentary.

[00:06:57] Lori: We wanted the documentary to be the American Gladiator documentary. Yeah.

[00:07:01] April: And showed, you know, the energy of the show and, and Right. The whole nostalgia of.

[00:07:09] Lori: And as people, American Gladiators and people saw the 30 for 30, obviously, you know, documentary. Yeah. And after they saw it, they understood why we didn't do Yeah.

[00:07:18] Lori: The Johnny Ferraro documentary. Mm-hmm. And yes, the name should have been, Um, who the hell is do Johnny Ferraro Or,

[00:07:30] April: or

[00:07:31] Lori: the guy who, or the birth of the American Gladiators. Okay. Something. Yeah. But no, this is not the documentary about the American Gladiators, so I wanted to get that outta the way because that's why there's two documentaries, unfortunately. Okay. You know, um, let's get into it for a second and that is, Do you realize there wasn't one gladiator on that show on the 30 for 30 that went, oh my God, this is, that was the best time of my life.

[00:08:02] Lori: I had so much fun. It was just, I mean the, I was elated. There was nothing,

[00:08:09] April: it was pretty ominous. It was very dark. Yeah, it was like very dark. The dark side of the gladiators like. You know, it didn't show the how much fun you guys had and, well, it showed some of the clips. Well, a little bit, right? A little bit.

[00:08:23] April: But it was, it went dark pretty, pretty much

[00:08:27] Lori: the rest of the way.

[00:08:28] Lori: So I'm gonna be very transparent here and say, this is the second time I've done this podcast, or April and I have done this podcast, the re I came in here before to do the review of the ESPN doc and. Honestly, the first time I watched, I watched it one time, came in here, I jumped the gun, and the reason we're redoing this again is because the first time I saw it I was just like, oh my God, that was so cool.

[00:08:56] Lori: That was great. That was awesome. But here's the thing. There was two reasons why I said that. One, I got totally caught up in the nostalgia. Yeah, I know. Yeah. And the clips and seeing the bus tour and all the footage and how amazing our life was.

[00:09:14] April: Well, and he did, and they did a good job with the documentary, like overall the, well, they did a good job with it, even though it was kind of like not what.

[00:09:24] April: You would expect to see out of an American gladiator. Well,

[00:09:28] Lori: and the other thing is documentary. They did show that the side of Johnny Ferraro that mm-hmm. Ben did a good job on Yeah. Which

[00:09:37] April: needed really. Yeah. Which needed to

[00:09:39] Lori: be told. Right. Talking about that side of it and, and how he was and everything.

[00:09:44] Lori: Mm-hmm. So again, I got to see that. Yeah. You know, and so that's one of the other reasons why I was like, Oh my God, that was awesome. You know, and everything, because I wanted Yes. People saw that side of Johnny. Yeah. You know, and there's no love loss between him and I. Of course. Yeah. You know, you can tell on that documentary, he seems like a great guy, you know?

[00:10:06] Lori: Right. Um, but at the, it, it's, it's just unfortunate because, We Okay. Let's the, the backgrounds, the weird cosmic kind of like weird,

[00:10:22] April: the moon and the galaxy, right? What was, what was

[00:10:25] Lori: that? What was he trying to do with that? What was the purpose? I don't know.

[00:10:29] April: Showing the bigness of the show. I don't know. As opposed to the universe.

[00:10:33] Lori: I don't know. I dunno. And then they had like the weird backdrops, like he was in some kind of weird hotel. Yeah. And then it was like that big ugly orange chair they put him in. Yeah. Okay. You mentioned this like three or four times. What was up with his tie? Oh my god, I'm sorry. But that was the ugliest tie I've ever seen.

[00:10:51] Lori: It was horrible. It was terrible for TV especially. Yeah. I don't know who put him in that tie. Yeah, I don't know Johnny. Anyway, yeah, I did. Um, maybe he got it. Venice Beach. He got it. Where? At Venice Beach when he was walking on the boardwalk.

[00:11:04] Lori: Um, yeah. But just, you know, like you said, the overallness of it. I mean, it's kind of like the story, what, what was really, every time I was watching this and I'd, I'd be yelling at the TV or something. Like, why did they do that? You kept going to me. They didn't have you guys. Yeah, they didn't have all the gladiators.

[00:11:27] Lori: They had to come up with a story. Mm-hmm. You know, so I think maybe Ben had the story in the very beginning.

[00:11:35] April: Yeah.

[00:11:35] April: And it had to change because you guys decided not to do it.

[00:11:38] Lori: Well, think about it. He went out and he took the reel and sold it to E S P N. He sold the gladiators, all of us, to E S P N.

[00:11:48] Lori: And then when he came back, It was like, uh oh, I don't have any gladiators. Mm-hmm. What do I do? I just sold this show. So yes, he had to come up with something very quickly. Yeah. And make it worth, you know, ESPN's their while basically.

[00:12:04] April: Well, it's like what Electra said. Um, if you're gonna do an American Gladiator documentary, why wouldn't you have.

[00:12:13] April: You know, the most popular gladiators on the documentary. Exactly. So,

[00:12:18] Lori: and then when Johnny came and goes, we don't need ice, we don't need nitro. You know, um, oh, and by the way, that recording, that little Lori Ice Fed's own words, a, that was, that's not you, not my voice whatsoever.

[00:12:36] April: That was Chick from Wisconsin or

[00:12:38] Lori: something.

[00:12:38] Lori: Right?

[00:12:38] Lori: She had an accent. Yeah. That was not my voice. That was, you know, that was nothing. Um, I don't even, I, I might have said, I definitely have probably said those words, but not exactly like that. No, it wasn't your words. Your words. And I never said, I never said something like, he walked around like he was God and he is not.

[00:12:59] Lori: No, I, I don't, I've never said those words before. Mm. So they even elaborated on that a little bit, you know, which was terrible. Yeah. Um, So, yeah, didn't, didn't care for the background. Um, loved, loved the clips, loved the nostalgia, loved, I mean, that was my footage actually of the bus tour. Yeah. That was cool to see and all that, you know?

[00:13:21] Lori: Yeah, because Jim, yeah, that was mine. They actually bought that footage off me, which was great. Jim and his dancing. Yeah. Yeah. I loved it. Um, but even with the gladiators they interviewed, they were very, they seemed sad. They seemed sad, they seemed regretful, they seemed, um, at least Gemini. Let's go with Gemini for a minute.

[00:13:43] Lori: I mean, he seemed very sad and regretful. Yeah. And he said, you know, and I've even had, I've, I've read on some of the social media, like, oh my God, I feel so sorry for Gemini. And he missed out on so much family time, dude. Okay, let's clear this up. We filmed one month out of the year, one month. If he had a normal job, he would've missed way more shit with his family.

[00:14:10] Lori: Yeah, that's true. Autograph signings, we didn't have that many. We were fighting over the autograph signings, to be honest with you. To go out and get more exposure. Yeah. Um, but he. I don't know. It was just like so regretful, like I missed my kid's soccer game, you know? Yeah. He was, he was very emotional.

[00:14:33] Lori: Yeah. Now he did have a stroke. I have heard that. Mm-hmm. And I haven't heard that from Gemini, but I have heard that he had a stroke, so that could possibly play into it a little bit. I don't know. Mm-hmm. What he remembers, what he doesn't remember, but one month outta the year we filmed. That was the best job you could ever have for your family life.

[00:14:53] Lori: Let's put it that way. Okay. Now we did tour on, we went on tour for six months. Oh, maybe that's what he was talking about. Yeah. But let's put it this way, you made, he made so much damn money on that tour that it was gonna make it worth missing a couple soccer games. So I'm not quite sure why he was so sad and regretful.

[00:15:12] Lori: Yeah. I mean, that was probably, I, I look back on the footage and when I was watching him and it was like he was a big badass dude. Mm-hmm. And he looked like he was having the time of his life. Yeah. So I don't know what happened from, from now back then, from then to now. I don't know what happened. Well, and they made

[00:15:27] April: thunder look like, well, he, that, that he was that way because of the gladiator show though.

[00:15:34] April: Okay. So, which I don't think he was

[00:15:36] Lori: right on thunder. Um, Okay. See, I brought this, breaking this out. I brought this, and I wrote this down because of the fact that I was, um, talking with laser and laser was talking with, um, Thunder's wife, Francesca, and she was so pissed off. I'm not even gonna say upset.

[00:16:00] Lori: She was so pissed off the way they portrayed Billy because, I guess she wasn't there when they did the filming and they were like, you know, the producer and Ben was like, don't worry, I'm gonna take care of it, you know, and take care of him and show him in a good light, Uhuh. So this was, um, I'm gonna, I'm just gonna read basically really quick what she was so upset about.

[00:16:24] Lori: She said, uh, da da da da. Hold on, let's go see. Um, it says, um, Billy's wife was furious on how they portrayed Billy. Um, they really showed him. They hated though everybody, everybody hated all gladiators. Everybody hated the way they showed him. So absolutely debilitated and walking around. And she said that it was like two to three months before the filming that he actually broke his shoulder and his hip.

[00:16:54] Lori: That didn't come from gladiators. Yeah. So his walking around like that and she was pissed. It's like, yeah, they should have kept him on the couch and just did the interview. They shouldn't have showed him walking around. And so Debil debilitated, I can't even say the word debilitated on that, you know? And it says that they exploited his suffering as a side effects of the ag and his grief.

[00:17:17] Lori: Oh, and then here was the other thing. They made him out to be a really big drug addict. No, that wasn't Billy. That was not thunder. He was not a drug. I, I mean, of course the gladiators and the injuries were bad, and yes, he, her had seven herniated discs in in his back. I mean, come on, anybody's gonna be suffering with pain and give me any drug.

[00:17:39] Lori: I would be the same way. But the point of it is, is that she goes, the one thing they didn't say, and this is what I'm gonna say here, is it says, um, Billy was a businessman, a teacher, a mentor. He rescued many animals. And for a six hour, six hour interview, they never mentioned any of that. Yeah. They didn't mention, and I know Billy was like that because, um, I know on the tour, him and his wife or girlfriend at the time, Kathy, they were driving behind the, the bus because he was working.

[00:18:15] Lori: And he was like developing, I remember some kind of like supplemental line or something like that at the time. So Billy was a great businessman, you know, um, like she said, a mentor, a teacher rescuing animals on the farm. And they didn't mention shit about that. They just showed him suffering as a drug addict and then didn't even, and that was so sad.

[00:18:35] Lori: And they didn't

[00:18:35] April: even honor him.

[00:18:37] Lori: Yeah. They didn't even honor him At

[00:18:39] April: the end of it, he passed. He passed. Yeah. Um, Shortly

[00:18:41] Lori: after that. Very shortly after the, after the, um, yeah, 30 for 30. So that's one thing I wanted to say about thunder. You know, they didn't, they didn't really highlight his glory Yeah. At all.

[00:18:51] Lori: Yeah. They showed him it as a beaten down drug addict, debilitated, just socent. But that was Ben's narrative. That was the director's narrative. That was, look what the gladiators did. Look what the gladiator show did to the gladiators, basically. Yeah. Okay. So let's go with Malibu. Malibu only did 13 episodes, period.

[00:19:14] Lori: This documentary made him out like he did the entire season, everything, you know, and no he didn't. But the thing of it is, is that there's some things on there that didn't match up as well, and Jim Star pointed these out to me. So, by the way, this is also coming from other gladiators, you know, cuz they, I'm kind of speaking for them as well.

[00:19:37] Lori: And he was like, first of all, He was on the documentary and he said that, um, he got hurt on the human cannibal, and the doctor said, you cannot go back. You cannot go back, you know, because of concussion. Well, Jim was like, let's clear that up right away. That's a lie. I don't know. Maybe it's not a lie about the doctor, but it's not about going back.

[00:19:59] Lori: After 13 episodes, they stopped production. They got rid of Malibu because he wasn't a good gladiator, and he was losing all the time. They fired him. Hmm. Period.

[00:20:11] April: Maybe he, he was, he was a character though,

[00:20:14] Lori: and a warm him. He was a great character when he came around. Yeah. But what I did not like is that, again, Ben's narrative, you know, as far as what they were doing with gladiators and you know, what the gladiators did to them, they showed his home.

[00:20:29] Lori: Okay. And I'm sorry, but that's that. It's almost like they took some things out of context to where it's just like they made everybody look like a, they were super poor, so sad. I know. You know, they didn't need to show the room with the bunk beds where he lived. I mean, that was kind of, Be weird and bizarre all at the same time.

[00:20:50] Lori: Well, that could have been his house

[00:20:51] April: though, and like just a room.

[00:20:52] Lori: I mean, he said he had a roommate. I don't know, it was just, he could have just had a

[00:20:55] April: roommate though that in living at his house, like just, it was super bizarre. But it, it looked as though,

[00:21:00] Lori: it looked as though that was his room and he was living in a room with bunk beds.

[00:21:03] Lori: Yeah, I know. He right, I know. Yeah. And the house looked like a little box and I mean, they did the, the whole like zoom out, zoom in, and it's like, No, I wouldn't want that. Why would you show that? Yeah.

[00:21:17] April: Um, and it's a shame because thunder's not even gonna be, and then in the other one no, to not at all, you know, whatsoever.

[00:21:24] April: I mean, maybe in some footage, but I mean, right.

[00:21:27] Lori: Thunder will be in some footage, but you know, same thing with Malibu. He'll be in some footage and stuff, but, um, yeah, they just portrayed him like, he was just like, but again, they didn't have any, they didn't have any gladiators, so they had to use what

[00:21:41] April: they had.

[00:21:42] April: Yeah. I'm excited to see the Netflix one, you know, so hopefully they, did you guys be better Justice

[00:21:47] Lori: in the Netflix one? Oh, they get US justice, you know. Yeah, I know. They, I know they showed us in a whole different light, so. Wasn't happy about that. Um, Electra, I would've loved to seen more of her. Yeah. Her rock climbing.

[00:21:59] Lori: Mm-hmm. They didn't show anything behind the scenes with her. Yeah. Uh, Dallas. Amazing. On camera. Mm-hmm. They didn't use, she said they were there for six and seven hours. They didn't show any footage of her kickboxing and, um, her gem, anything outside of there. She's did a great interview, but at the same time, time, she's amazing on camera.

[00:22:19] Lori: Yeah. But at the same time it wasn't like Woohoo. Yes. You know? And she is like, out of all the GLAD Eats, this girl is like, she has a tattoo, she has a, she has an American Glad Eat tattoo on the back of her neck. So she is just like a diehard gladiator. Mm-hmm. You know, and then I remember Johnny and the, um, they did say something and 30 for 30 something.

[00:22:40] Lori: He didn't want her to speak maybe. I don't know. And she has nothing to do with Gladi Eats. She had everything to do with Gladi Eats. You know. Yeah. So they could have shown her more. They could have had great footage there. Um, and then Red. I love Red. I do. I wasn't happy with his interview. And you know what?

[00:23:01] Lori: He might have done an amazing interview, but they just didn't show it. Yeah. You know, they probably did a six and seven hour interview with him and they just didn't show the highlights of Red. Yeah. And there's a couple things. I didn't care about what he said, and it is what it is, what it is, and the whole thing about the sound bite they used.

[00:23:23] Lori: Which one? Johnny knows that nobody loves him as much as I do.

[00:23:32] Lori: I'm laughing. I'm sorry. I am laughing about that. No, I was like, what? Mm-hmm. Oh, thanks for reminding me. The only reason I say that is because, Um, I did get a little backstory on maybe why he does love Johnny is because maybe Johnny was the one that picked him up and brought him on tour. Mm-hmm. And then after tour he came on the television show.

[00:23:55] Lori: Um, maybe that's why he loves Johnny. But at the same time, I don't think Johnny stands for what Red's all about. And there's absolutely no way. I mean, not to go there, but I'm gonna go there for a second and that is, He'd introduce me as his only white friend, period. This is my only white friend. Really?

[00:24:18] Lori: What? Why would you say that? And maybe he was joking. I don't know, but I don't think he was, Johnny is the epitome of what Red's not about. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:24:29] April: Okay. Yeah, absolutely. Rich, white male. Yeah.

[00:24:33] Lori: Okay. And Johnny could give a shit about red whatsoever. Well, Johnny, he was just a money. He was just, he was just a money-making person for him and that was it.

[00:24:43] April: Well, yeah. I mean, Johnny cares about Johnny, right. That was very apparent to everyone, right. Watching it. And that's why also they did a good job showing, I. It was about Johnny.

[00:24:55] Lori: It was. They showed and he was, he was spot on when he said, yeah, you know, the document, the documentary's about me? Mm-hmm. Okay. We didn't believe him, but okay.

[00:25:05] Lori: It was, maybe it wouldn't have been if we were all on it, right? Let's put it that way. Um, so part one, kind of bizarre, kind of weird. The lighting made him look sad, ominous, dark, uh, not a happy moment. Part two of 30 for 30. I found it absolutely grueling to sit and watch it cringeworthy. Oh, I don't know that.

[00:25:36] Lori: Gimme something else that I could have rather done. I mean, who gives a shit about his childhood and where he grew up And it was, it was uncomfortable to watch. Like when he went into certain areas, like when he was back home and nobody knew who he was, he was just kinda like, don't you know who I am?

[00:25:56] Lori: Don't you know who're like I am? Who's that? No, not really. And it was just so uncomfortable. Even I was uncomfortable. I was uncomfortable for him. Let's put it that way.

[00:26:05] April: Well, that's why he wanted you to do his, his documentary. Oh.

[00:26:11] Lori: So people would know who he is. Look, the story needed to be told as far as the Dan Carr, the two creators fighting against one another, but at the same time, two hour and a half doc.

[00:26:27] Lori: Two hour and a half shows about that. Yeah. Yeah. Part two was just grueling for me to sit through, but I, I forced myself to sit through it. First of all. I mean, half the time I couldn't even watch him. I mean, remember that one scene, he was like sitting like back like this and he looked like a vampire.

[00:26:49] Lori: The way they did his makeup and the way he was sitting and the lighting and everything. They literally made him look like the vampire, and I was just like, oh my God.

[00:26:57] April: I like, I like the scenes with, um, I forgot his name. His opposing Dan. Yeah. Dan Carr. Yeah. Right. I liked, I liked his segments on him telling his side.

[00:27:11] Lori: Absolutely. Did like that. Like I said, that all needed to come out and be told. Yeah. Because that was complete utter bullshit. Mm-hmm. What Johnny did do now as gladiators. We all knew what was going on. We all knew who Dan was. So when they were going through, do you know who Dan Carr is? Do you know who Dan Carr is?

[00:27:27] Lori: And they were like, no, no, no. Dan who, Dan who bullshit every single gladiator, knew the story between Johnny and Dan. Mm-hmm. Every one of us did. I don't know. Um, so that needed to be told, and I'm super glad that got out there. Yeah. And as narcissistic as Johnny is, And yes, he is a narcissist. It's all about Johnny is.

[00:27:52] Lori: It was really strange because the story goes from, I don't give a shit what you think about me. Literally and they played the song. Mm-hmm. And I'm sure that he's sitting back at home watching that scene going. That's a great scene. When he was Mo Ben was mocking him. I know. Mocking

[00:28:09] April: him. Yeah. Because he was like, you're gonna tell the right story.

[00:28:12] April: Yeah. And Ben's like the right story.

[00:28:15] Lori: Right, exactly. Yeah. And then the whole weird song came on and we was walking around, but it's very strange how it went from, I don't care what you think about me and at the end. At the end of it, it was like, well, I hope everybody doesn't think I'm such a douche bag because I did the right thing by Dan Carr now.

[00:28:36] Lori: You know what I'm saying? Yeah. It was just like, are you kidding me? Yeah. Are just because you kind of, you, you think you came clean, which you did not because, um, on social media, I'm listening to all these things and every single person was like, He, he was pleading the fifth constantly. He never answered the questions.

[00:28:53] Lori: He did it because

[00:28:54] April: he was doing the documentary. There was no other reason. It seemed that he, if he would've done it like years ago or like mm-hmm. You know, but

[00:29:04] Lori: yeah, it was just something that just didn't, it didn't work, you know? But he probably sat back and went, God, this is a great documentary. Um, And then let's, let's go into like when he was just, he had no respect for glad years.

[00:29:24] Lori: He treated us like we were just disposable items. Like he even said in the documentary we could put helmets on him and it doesn't matter, and we're still gonna make the show and it's still gonna be a big hit. And he's talking about his brand. Mm-hmm. Well, at the very beginning of the documentary, I don't, I'm not quite sure who said it, but they were like, each Glad Eater was their own brand.

[00:29:47] Lori: Mm-hmm. And we were our own brand. Yeah. I was a brand. Mm-hmm. Nitro was a brand. Yep. Laser was a brand. You all had your own Z was

[00:29:54] April: had

[00:29:54] Lori: we all had own fans, our own personalities, our own fans. And so we were a brand within a big brand. Yeah. So when the little brands inside went away, It collapsed.

[00:30:08] April: Well, he was very protective

[00:30:09] Lori: of his brand and he was very protective of his brand.

[00:30:11] Lori: But the problem was, and that was the other thing that I hated, that Red said, well, would you let anybody play with your baby? It's just like red. Why would you even say that? You didn't know any of those circumstances. You knew nothing. And what was going on? We were trying to keep the brand alive. Mm-hmm.

[00:30:29] Lori: And since we were a brand, why would we do anything to hurt? The Glad Eater brand. Yeah. We wanted to enhance and we wanted to do good things because we were doing it for our

[00:30:42] April: brand. You couldn't even do autograph signings in your uniforms and stuff. No, I mean, no, they

[00:30:47] Lori: wouldn't allow anything like that.

[00:30:48] Lori: Yeah, that's nothing. Um, and then the other thing was, is that he acted as though he didn't give a shit about what he, he acted like he didn't understand why nobody liked him. Well, if he would've came across in the very beginning. Okay. Because he really had no say so on who they chose as Glad Eaters. He didn't have really any say so on who, what games they created once he literally not sold or licensed or however it works, the name mm-hmm.

[00:31:22] Lori: Of the show to the production company. Boom. That was it for him. He was just now getting paid. So if Johnny would've come across to the gladiators, like. Just nice. At least acted like

[00:31:35] April: Yeah. He was advocating for you guys somewhat in some way. Yeah. Right. But I instead he said, what'd he say on the bus or something like that to you.

[00:31:43] Lori: Oh, that was on the tour, but Oh, yeah. But before that he was, I mean, if he would just come across like, you know, Hey, I know that you feel like you're not being taken care of. Let me see what I can do for you. Even though he couldn't do shit, just pretend. Yeah. Because we would've liked you more. Yeah. If you would've actually respected us and actually just acted as though you liked us.

[00:32:05] Lori: Mm-hmm. Let's put it that way. And we weren't your commodity. Yeah. You know, we weren't that just selling and, and we don't, he didn't give a shit about us. Right. That attitude is why nobody liked him. Um, yeah, we were on tour and I remember standing backstage and he was standing next to me and we were probably like two weeks out, done.

[00:32:28] Lori: You know, cause we already toured for like five months or something like that. And he literally looked at me and said, you might have made a lot of money on this tour. But I got wealthy Who says that? Yeah. I don't know. That's, you know what I mean? Yeah. It's like you don't shove your money in the faces of people who aren't making any money because of you, but we're out there busting our ass.

[00:32:55] Lori: Yeah. Like a Scrooge. Big time. There you go. Mm-hmm. Oh my God. That's exactly what he came across is like Scrooge. Mm-hmm. Yeah. So that's, that's why nobody wanted to work with him. Nobody, you know, 30 years later, it's like, if he would've been the guy that we were like, oh, Johnny's an awesome guy. He's our creator.

[00:33:14] Lori: Yeah. We really like Johnny. If that documentary would've came around and he would've been like, Hey, you guys are doing a, we would've been like, oh, absolutely. We'd love to do the documentary with you, but because you have such a dick, you know, to all of us. Mm-hmm. Most of us. That, why would we wanna do anything for you?

[00:33:30] Lori: Well, it was cause he had

[00:33:31] April: his small little circle of, oh, a

[00:33:33] Lori: small

[00:33:33] April: little circle of friends, friends that only a douche bag would say. I know h I know a couple of those, those douche bags that actually said that. So

[00:33:42] Lori: here's the thing, and then let's go into, um, there was, um, I don't know if he was a producer or not.

[00:33:48] Lori: Aton. Mm-hmm. Let's clear this shit up real quick here. Aton came in and said, I walked into the gladiator locker room and there were syringes all over the floor. There's a drug fest. They were doing steroids, like massive to the mounts. You know, it's like that's not how, no. First of all, no, no, no, and no.

[00:34:10] Lori: Didn't happen. Flat out. It was like the worst, the

[00:34:13] April: orgy thing on the bus or whatever,

[00:34:14] Lori: the orgy thing on the bus. We'll go there in a second. But, okay. So yes, we do talk about steroids. Yes, A lot of Glad Eaters admitted doing steroids. But here's the thing. You don't bring your steroids to work with you and throw 'em all over the floor.

[00:34:27] Lori: Right here. Let me inject you in the, and the other thing is, it's not all steroids are injectable. That's the other thing. They's pill form. Mm-hmm. I mean, come on dude. Don't be a idiot. Yeah. You know? And don't, why would you lie like that?

[00:34:40] April: Made it made interesting TV for people to

[00:34:44] Lori: hear. Yeah. Yeah. The guyers were pissed when they saw that, about that it was just like such a lie.

[00:34:49] Lori: Yeah. Um, what was your question? Now? Before, before that you said something about, um, I forgot what you were sa talking about, and I said we'll go there in a minute, but, um, on the bus. Oh, on the bus. Oh, yeah. When, um, Brian Gudinski goes, There was gladiator and Gladiator and gladiator and contender, and they were all just having a big orgy.

[00:35:10] Lori: And then it showed, it showed Jim on the bus with his pants down. I mean, yeah, great timing, but no, Shane, there were no orgies. No, there was no orgies. Yeah, there were hookups. Come on. We're together for eight, nine years, you know, and there was hookups and gladi years were hooking up with the contenders and I mean, it is what it is.

[00:35:33] Lori: It, it just happens. Yeah. The,

[00:35:36] April: the what? You're in your twenties, you're in your best shape. Steroids are involved. Oh my

[00:35:41] Lori: God. Right? Like your sex drive is high. Yes. You look amazing. You're traveling the world. You're tour like rock stars. We're rock literally stars. Everybody loves us. I mean, come on. Why wouldn't we have the time of our lives, sex, drugs, muscles, and, and we did.

[00:35:57] Lori: Yeah, we did. No regrets. Hmm. I could say 99.9% of the gladiators have no regrets. Every one of the Gladi eats on my podcast, I talk about this and go, would you do anything different if you knew it was gonna end? And every single one says, no. No, because it was an amazing ride. And damn it, they didn't show that.

[00:36:21] Lori: They didn't say that they did nothing. Mm-hmm. So I'm hoping that, I think the Netflix documentary will show that. Cause we are excited as we are so excited to do that documentary. I know.

[00:36:31] April: Yeah. I hope they really told the story the way it should have been told for you guys. Oh, absolutely. Because you guys deserve it.

[00:36:37] Lori: Yeah. Okay, so I wrote some notes. I just wanna make sure that I hit on everything on this one because, We're not coming back to redoing this one. I refused to do that. Um, we talked about that. We talked about the best times of our lives. We talked about the aton. Oh, what was with the random big ass bodybuilders they were showing on the show?

[00:37:03] Lori: What was that? And who were they and who cares? I don't know. I have no idea. Was it? I think, I think they brought 'em on to prove the point. I don't know, something like, cuz they were talking about steroids

[00:37:19] April: they had, well they had to fill certain amounts of time so they had to throw stuff in. Who were they?

[00:37:25] April: Because you know,

[00:37:26] Lori: oh my God, that was annoying. And then the little old man that Johnny knew Johnny didn't steal the idea from Dan.

[00:37:33] April: Well how many of you were supposed to do it that didn't do it. Think about all that time they had to fill. And put stuff in 12. 12 of you

[00:37:43] Lori: were supposed to do it. 12 were supposed to be doing that doc.

[00:37:46] Lori: So

[00:37:47] April: they had to fill and 12 of

[00:37:47] Lori: us that much time left. And other to Netflix. Yep. Yeah, you're absolutely right. So I guess they had to get random bodybuilders here and there and go, Hey, can you talk? And then, uh, yeah, and I'm sorry. There you have it. I've gotta say this too. The gladiators were laughing. When they had Mike o Hern come on.

[00:38:06] Lori: And he was the alternate, and he was like, oh my gosh. He didn't, they didn't, they didn't want me in the show because they knew I would take his job or take one of their jobs or something like that. And we, and the gladiators sort of laughing. They were like, really? Mike? Okay. Mike's a good guy, but they weren't too happy about that one.

[00:38:26] Lori: Um, hit that, uh, let's see, what else did I not go over? We talked about his brand. Um, we talked about red, the birth of the gladiators. It's so funny. Um, what else did you see that as far as oh two scoops. Oh two scoops was funny as shit. I, I loved him. That

[00:38:53] April: was, that was a good part. A

[00:38:54] Lori: segment. Yeah. He literally was the only one on there that was like super happy and just like, You know, making jokes and shit.

[00:39:02] Lori: Yeah. I mean, and here's the, okay, that's what it is. Re I don't know what happened to red. I mean, I, 30 years has gone by a lot happens to a person in 30 years. But God, the red that I knew back on the, on the show and then on the tour, he was cracking jokes all the time. And he was happy and he was living life.

[00:39:19] Lori: And I remember that about him. And when I saw him on the dock, he just seemed like, so kind of like.

[00:39:25] April: Well, that's how they probably edited and portrayed him. Yeah, I guess so. Just like the rest of '

[00:39:29] Lori: em. Yeah, I guess so. You know. But that's not, I mean, I don't, I can't say that's not him because I mean, he could have changed over the last 30 years.

[00:39:37] April: Well, they showed him with two scoops and that was, that was a good story. I, you know,

[00:39:41] Lori: absolutely. I mean, two scoops, first of all, I didn't, not I, I mean, I didn't know about the car injury, about the car blowing up in him. Oh my God, that's insane. Horrible. I had no idea. Wow. But he was just an amazing contender along with him and Peggy Oda.

[00:39:57] Lori: Um, So his story was fun light. Yeah. I just so enjoyed it. Yeah. He, you know, I so enjoyed two scoops in his interview and, um, Mike, Adam Lee, Mike, Adam Lee was the heart and soul of this show. Mm-hmm. Literally. Yeah. And he got like, maybe, what, 20 seconds? Yeah. Come on. Yeah. And I know Mike's in a, in a bad position.

[00:40:20] Lori: I think he has dementia. Mm. And I know that it's probably a hard, he, it's hard to talk with him, possibly. I don't know. But I think, I'm sure they could have pulled together some more. I'm not quite sure if he's on the Netflix. I hope he is, and I hope they give him more time because Mike, Adam Lee was just.

[00:40:38] Lori: The shit. Yeah. You know, so I'm really kind of, I was really disappointed with, they didn't show anything like that. Um,

[00:40:47] April: the director was funny. What was, what's his name? Was he the dire? No, the director of the Gladiators or, um,

[00:40:54] Lori: oh my God. Um, levy. Levy. Levy, Bob Levy. He was funny. Oh, it was so random. They, when he came on and just started burping and everything is just like, what?

[00:41:10] Lori: But it kind of light funny. It was kind of light. Yeah. You know, it kind of lightened up the mood, I want to say. Yeah. I guess. I don't know. Um, he was, he was funny, but then it was kind of sad because it kind of made fun of him a little bit when he said I was, I was the only director in Hollywood that was having the most fun.

[00:41:24] Lori: Yeah. And I knew what he was talking about. Yeah. You know, but, um, yeah, he was, he was kind of funny, cute, and funny. But, um, yeah, you know, I was talking to, you know, some of the other gladiators and I said, Hey, this is what I'm doing. Do you have anything that you want to, you know, put your 2 cents in? And pretty much I, after looking at these notes here, I.

[00:41:45] Lori: Same thing. They all said the same thing. Um, I had people coming up into, coming up to me in the gym, just, it was yesterday, a guy comes up. Cause I, I posted a photo that Netflix put up of me, um, on the cover art. Oh yeah. You were coming soon. And I was like, yes, I made it. I made it. You know, and I'm working out in the gym yesterday and a guy comes up and goes, He, he just hands me his phone and my photos there.

[00:42:08] Lori: He goes, I am so excited about this. He goes, I watched 30 for 30. I didn't understand why you guys weren't on it. And now I do understand why. Yeah. You guys weren't there because you went to Netflix. Yeah, of course. They're not gonna say that on the Es. Right. 30 for 30. But you know, they made it sound like they didn't want us.

[00:42:24] Lori: Yeah. Xing us out. I mean, really.

[00:42:27] April: So it's kind of, it's kind of like good that ESPN was first and then Netflix is after.

[00:42:34] Lori: I don't know. That's, that's, I don't know. I, I thought it was gonna be kind of like the appetizer, you know, to the Netflix, but a lot of people are very still confused and they're thinking this was the only documentary there is.

[00:42:49] Lori: Well,

[00:42:50] April: more people are gonna know about the Netflix, cuz everybody watches Netflix. There's only like a. Probably a small, a way smaller percentage of people. Yeah. There's

[00:42:58] Lori: a handful of people that watch like the 30 for 30, and that was one of the, that was one of the main reasons why, you know, when I called the Glad Eaters together, when we were negotiating this whole thing and I said, do you really wanna do this documentary a no pay?

[00:43:14] Lori: We have no idea where they're gonna sell it. Let's hypothetically, at that point in time, let's hypothetically say they're gonna sell it to Netflix. How are you gonna feel when you're sitting on your couch? And millions of people are watching this documentary and they're lining their pockets with money, and you're like sitting on your couch and you could barely afford to pay your mortgage.

[00:43:32] Lori: Mm-hmm. Again, 30 years later, we should have been set up for life. Yeah. Being on that show for eight and nine years, you should have, yeah. And what we did, but then they said, you know, well we didn't want, you know, when they were talking about. Um, holding out. So that's one thing I will say. There was a handful of us that after we came back from the tour and we filled Madison Square Gardens and we filled Nassau Co Coliseum, we did realize how big the show was.

[00:44:05] Lori: And that's when Dan and Michael, um, Horton, Jim and I decided, Hey, let's call a meeting. We need to get merchandising rights. Okay. So they call, it was literally us three and I thought that they were, we were gonna try to get the whole team. Mm-hmm. If I would've known what I know now back then. I would've never held out with them.

[00:44:32] Lori: The reason why is because you can't take just three of 10 gladiators and hold out for money. You need at least six, if not seven. Mm-hmm. So I don't understand why they didn't go for the whole team. You know, they should have had laser zap. Um, there was Nitro, Gemini, myself, and I don't know, another one, uh, sky diamond, any of them, saber, any of those gladiators, they should have had at least six or seven of them.

[00:45:02] Lori: Then we could have had more, you know, clout to hold onto and we might have gotten merchandising rights. Yeah. You know, but I do regret that. Yeah. It's unfortunate. I would've never held out knowing that there was like only us three. You know, so it is what it is. Um, I, we all still stand by. We should have gotten something.

[00:45:29] Lori: Some, some kind of merchandise. We should've something. Yeah. But you know, they treated us just like, or at least insurance. Who cares? Oh, why now? Exactly. No insurance, no nothing. The most underpaid television show on the air, everybody knows that. The most

[00:45:43] April: physical and yeah, like, I mean, br breaking bones and I mean, it was real.

[00:45:49] April: It wasn't, you know, yeah. It was real like wrestling. It was, you guys were getting

[00:45:53] Lori: messed up. Right? And then when the N B C one came along and they tried to do the reboot, um, they didn't want anything to do with us. They should have had either kind of like, Well, and let's go there for a second because I, I've been listening to the UK podcast and it's, it's really interesting how it's like they're just falling in line with what's happening here in the United States.

[00:46:18] Lori: I didn't, I didn't realize that. And that is our show. When we ended our show, they went one year late, they went another year. Okay, so they extended their, their season another year. So they were on longer and then that show went away. And then they, when we rebooted here, um, N B C, I didn't know this, but they rebooted back in the uk I had no idea.

[00:46:43] Lori: Mm-hmm. And just like they had water here. They had water in the uk and apparently, you know, ours didn't last here. Neither did theirs. Hmm. Each one was, I mean, ours was only one season. I think they got two seasons out of theirs. But now here's the interesting thing. They're rebooting it again today.

[00:47:01] Lori: They've already picked all their gladiators. It's on social media, and I think they were supposed to do it here again, but that's when Vince McMahon kind of like something happened and he was supposed to do it with the the gladiators and it kind of went, didn't happen because he did something wrong. So I don't know where that's at.

[00:47:19] Lori: Right now, to be honest with you, but that was really interesting how they follow suit on that kind of thing. Now, I was listening to their podcast and there's all kinds of merchandising and everything, and they had more merchandising than we had. I don't know if they got anything over there. Hmm. I don't know if they got any merchandising points.

[00:47:36] Lori: Mees. I will, I'll ask Cause I'm gonna have Jet on. Mm-hmm. Um, on my podcast she agreed to do it, which I'm really excited about. Um, just fun, kind of compare the two, you know, versions mm-hmm. Of the UK and ours. But, um, yeah, that was kind of strange. I didn't realize they followed, they fell in, you know, side by side like that.

[00:47:57] April: Well, they should have them. Are they gonna have any of them on the show? On the

[00:48:01] Lori: reboot. Okay. That's the other thing there. Thank you. That's what they were talking about. And like, Um, there, you know, jet was like, They were like, well, would you wanna be a host? And I guess they already had two the hosts. And she's like, well, how about being a third host?

[00:48:14] Lori: And I could be with the GLAD Eats, I know the games, and I could talk about the games with the GLAD Eats behind the scenes. I thought that's a great idea. Which is what I

[00:48:20] April: thought they would do with the last reboot with you guys, which made sense. Right?

[00:48:24] Lori: Didn't want anything to do with us. Yeah. Whatsoever.

[00:48:27] Lori: It

[00:48:28] April: would've been really cool to have you guys on it. Right, right. And I think all the fans would agree. 100%.

[00:48:32] Lori: Yeah. You know, we've talked about that in, in the podcast before, but they didn't want anything to do with it. So I'm not quite sure what's gonna happen if they reboot it again. I mean, let's put it this way, anybody who wasn't any, anybody who wasn't on Johnny's documentary, the Gladiators, you're dead to him now.

[00:48:50] Lori: So basically, I mean, if there was any chance whatsoever, it's gone. Well,

[00:48:56] April: you were kind of dead to him to begin with. So I don't think it really matters about the sound of the way things went for you guys,

[00:49:02] Lori: but Exactly. He just, he didn't like me. And you know what? I didn't care for him too. Well, you know, is Yeah.

[00:49:11] Lori: It is what it is. But, so that's, that's my take on the ESPN doc. I think that, um, I was, I was, I was disappointed. After I sat back and really watched it a second time, you know?

[00:49:24] April: Well, I think a lot of the gladiators

[00:49:26] Lori: were, a lot of the fans were disappointed too, because they were like, um, we're the rest of gladiators, and why aren't they getting into their lives?

[00:49:33] Lori: Mm-hmm. Who, who cares about this man and the creator and his life? Yeah. And where he was born, and I mean, they really went into detail. They were like, wait, no, no, no, no. We don't know this man. We don't give a shit about this man. We're the gladiators. Mm-hmm. So, That's, that's, you know, they're gonna see that on the Netflix coming up on the 28th.

[00:49:49] Lori: Mm-hmm. So that's gonna be a lot of fun. Yeah. I'm excited to see it. I know. Did we miss anything? I don't think so. As far as the review,

[00:50:00] April: unless you had other reviews from other

[00:50:02] Lori: No, I mean, I think I spoke for, I mean, I said things that came from other gladiators. Um, I don't know. And then other social media.

[00:50:12] Lori: I mean, definitely social media. I haven't seen one good thing on social media. Um, everybody's literally apologizing to us on social media like, wow, we are so sorry. You had to go through that. We had no idea. Yeah. You know, it's not, don't feel sorry for us. I mean, it is what it is. It's the job. But again, we had the best time of our life on that show.

[00:50:36] Lori: Mm-hmm. Yeah. And I, we would all do it again. And even being my age right now, if they said, do you want to go back and try it again? Hell yeah. Let's try it again

[00:50:45] April: with all your

[00:50:46] Lori: injuries and everything, everybody. Oh yeah. I can barely my lower back. Get outta bed now, but hell yeah. Let's do it again. We'll take our fish oil

[00:50:52] April: and get out there.

[00:50:53] Lori: I know. Um, but going forward, I'm, I mean, the podcast, I'm really happy with the podcast, the way it's going and the Yeah. Interviewing the gladiators and that's been just so much fun. Yeah. Have, are there any episodes that actually stand out that you actually like? More so than any of them.

[00:51:14] April: I'm actually excited for Stephanie to come out.

[00:51:19] April: Okay. Well, Stephanie's

[00:51:19] Lori: not a gladiator, so. Well, I know, but you know what? She's just awesome. Okay. So what I'm gonna be doing with the podcast going forward is, um, yes, I'm gonna get, you know, a UK gladiator. Um, I have a couple other gladiator. You know, coming here, I gotta get Diamond, I gotta get Nitro. Um, they've been super busy, but what I'm gonna do is it's gonna start transitioning.

[00:51:46] Lori: Okay. And I just wanna start, you know, interviewing like literally fascinating people. Yeah. Um, I have, um, I meant. I'm in a girl that she said that she would do my podcast and she was on the American Idol. That was really cool. I have Stephanie Wolf coming up and she was my hormone. She is my hormone doctor and we talk about sex and hormones and mm-hmm.

[00:52:09] Lori: And all that kind of fun stuff. Yeah. You know, guys and girls. So it's kind of starting to transition. So I'm really excited about where the podcast is going. Yeah. So I just wanna let people know that as well. Yeah. It's gonna be good. Yeah. So, um, Hey. I think that we did our job here today and talked about it and it was fun.

[00:52:31] Lori: Yeah, it was fun as always. Yes, as always. I love podcasting.

[00:52:34] April: Yeah, you're good at it.

[00:52:35] Lori: Thank you. So tune in. Watch the Netflix documentary coming up on the 28th. That's my little 2 cents on the E S P N, 30 for 30 overall. Okay, good. Anything with Gladi Eats? I think it's awesome. You know, it just puts our name out there more and more, so thank you so much for listening to Chilling with Ice.

[00:52:58] Lori: Until next time, we'll see you later.

[00:53:01] Outro YT: Thank you so much for listening to Chilling with Ice, and don't forget to hit that like button. Subscribe and share wherever you listen to your podcast. Remember to follow us on Patreon and YouTube at Chilling With Ice and on Instagram and TikTok. You can follow me@lori.ice dot Patrick. I look forward to chilling with you next time here on Chilling with

[00:53:30] [Mic bleed]