Vicious Vincent and Brian's Bar Mitzvah

Vicious Vincent and Brian's Bar Mitzvah was one of the earliest stories on the Superpodcast, in which Brian revealed that Vicious Vincent - a persona developed by pre-wrestling Vince Russo - was a guest at his Bar Mitzvah alongside his compatriots The Mat Rat and Skull Von Kruss (later stylized as Krush, known as Vito LoGrasso) from his 1990's radio show Vicious Vincent's World of Wrestling.

## Origin

The beginning of the Bar Mitzvah story is referenced in Episode 2, in which Brian and Bix discuss various call-in radio wrestling programs from the 1990's in their youth. Brian mentions that he was an avid listener of Vince Russo's radio call-in show called Vicious Vincent's World of Wrestling, which he got into in the summer of 1992 when he was 12. It was "really cool if you were a kid who hadn't discovered the Observer yet," which was seen as a beginner route into the world of wrestling, book-ended by the fact that Russo had access to WWF talent for interviews, but were the "boring" and "long-winded" ones of Kayfabe. Brian mentions that it wasn't totally "insider" but you'd get a small glance at some inside information. Vicious Vincent would frequently take bus trips paid for by his fans, and they would go to events in Philadelphia or New York. Ironically, the one good way to "get in" with Vicious Vincent was to do a resounding Ric Flair "WOOOOO!" when you called in to his show, which was humorous given the eventual hostility between Flair and Russo when Vince actually got into the wrestling business. Vince's two sidekicks on the show were the Mat Rat, a high pitched character who loved all the babyfaces, and Skull von Kruss, a somewhat nazi-sympathizer heel, played by future mainstream wrestler Vito LoGrasso.

In Episode 3, the rest of the Bar Mitzvah story was recounted. Eventually, Brian put forth to his parents that he wanted a wrestling theme for his Bar Mitzvah. Mrs. Last tried calling the WWF to get a quote on Ric Flair - which was, according to Brian, something around $10,000 - but instead, decided to go with Vicious Vincent. At the Bar Mitzvah, they pulled Brian into the kitchen to go over what they were going to do in front of the crowd (with Brian feigning ignorance and shock regarding their appearance since he always knew.) Brian describes Vincent as wearing "a cowboy hat, black leather jacket, and gloves - all with flames sewed onto them," Mat Rat's attire consisting of "zubaz pants, a shirt and tie, and wearing a du rag to cover his balding head," and Kruss' attire consisting of black "nazi-esque" leather attire.

After discussing what was going to go down, Vicious Vincent goes out from the kitchen onto the floor, and starts addressing everyone on the mic to let them know who they were. Brian is then led out by the Mat Rat, with his arm around him, and they state that they have someone there who really wants to meet him, to which Kruss comes out and proceeds to walk around the venue sizing people up and glaring at them.

Skull von Kruss goes back to the front and says "you want action? I'll give you action!" and leans into Brian to whisper some directions. Brian then ends up pushing Kruss a few times, to which Kruss then picks Brian up in a press position and starts walking around with him over top of his head for a few minutes before putting him down. Afterwards, Von Kruss put on a track suit and "danced the night away" with the others on the dance floor, with Brian humorously mentioning that Vicious Vincent was doing the Electric Slide and "Hands Up". Mat Rat was also decked by Von Kruss in the middle of the dance floor, with Von Kruss delivering a stiff elbow drop to the groin of the Mat Rat.

TGBL eventually asked his parents afterwards how much the trio got for their services: they were paid $500 each with access to the open bar and a free meal. TGBL's family also printed photos for them to sign and give away at the event. The story of the Bar Mitzvah is also mentioned in Vince Russo's book *Forgiven*, which mentions that he - as Vicious Vincent - performed at a Bar Mitzvah.

## Notes / Miscellaneous

The origin of Akeem Bixenspan was also referenced in Episode 3 during the beginning of the Bar Mitzvah story, to where Bix asks Brian if he knew any weird distant relatives that came, unbeknownst to him, which was referencing an event from Bix's Bar Mitzvah with his distant cousin Akeem. Brian is stunned and incredulous to this fact, and upon trying to ask Bix more, accidentally calls him "bitch".

Mentioned in Episode 3, TGBL mentions that his mother had hired a woman to make some centerpieces for the various tables at the Bar Mitzvah, which had tremendous amounts of detail involving miniature cardboard stands, faux wrestling rings, and pictures / clippings from various wrestling magazines. The Ric Flair centerpiece was put on the 6:05 Superpodcast Facebook page, and can be seen below: