August the 2nd has become one of the greatest days in RF VIDEO history. We were able meet and be apart of the Howard Stern show with the one and only Iron Sheik. Just a total mind blowing experience and we want to thank everyone over at the Howard Stern show, Eric Simms for making this happen, and Tom Brandi for being apart of a brand new amazing On the Road with the Iron Sheik DVD! That’s right, we got this all on video!
Where to begin? A few months ago we conducted an infamous shoot with the Iron Sheik which received a ton of attention. Anyone who has watched that shoot knows how memorable it was and it will definitely go down as one of our funniest shoots of all time… one that we thought could never be topped. UNTIL TODAY!!!
Everyone here is a huge fan of the Howard Stern show at the RF VIDEO and a few weeks back we established a great relationship with a few of the guys from that show. They got a chance to watch the shoot with the Sheik and, of course, they absolutely loved it. If you remember, on that shoot we said we should get Sheik on the Stern show. How’s that for foreshadowing?! We got a call about four weeks ago from Eric Simms , who had also been talking to the people at Stern’s office. Simms had Sheik on The Ferrell Show and after that happened Howard’s staff thought it was so amazing that he wanted Sheiky immediately on his show.
Soon afterwards we were contacted and asked if they could air our footage on the upcoming Sheik appearances on the TV show as well as the radio show. It would crazy to turn down that kind of PR, so we jumped at the offer. We were also told that Howard wanted Sheik on today and that we also personally invited to come to the studio as well. Everyone from Artie to Sal to Richard put our shoot interview over huge to Howard.
We decided that brand new On the Road DVD with the Iron Sheik was just what the doctor ordered, so that is exactly what we did for the past 48 hours, and trust me this might top the last shoot if that was even possible. We even added Tom Brandi to the mix, who just happens to be one of the most outspoken and hilarious guys in the business.
Our shoot started playing on the Stern show last week and continued to be played all week long. No one in the office could not sleep for the past few days as we were all so excited about doing the show. On Monday they played a lot more of the shoot, which got us a ton of great press. It was like living a dream. Then the entire RF VIDEO crew headed to New Jersey to stay overnight in a hotel with the legend that is the Iron Sheik. When we got there we were immediately told that the Sheik was in rare form. So we quickly went to Sheiky’s hotel room and captured over a hours worth of amazing footage of the Sheik talking about Ultimate Warrior and the convention footage of “the slap heard around the world.” Sheik also went off on Hulk Hogan for not calling him. Priceless. Sheik then broke down about the Chris Benoit tragedy and gave his views on this controversial topic. We also got Sheik to open up and talk about the incident in Canada where he got stuck in a car for five hours. FIVE HOURS. After a couple more stories we realized Sheik had been talking for so long that it was time for everyone to head off for dinner. We kept our cameras rolling the entire car ride and you will feel like you were in the backseat for the ride. You will hear wild stories on Bob Orton, Superfly Snuka, Randy Savage, Fred Blassie, Roddy Piper, Vader, Ric Flair, Bob Backland, and many more. Sheik started to cry after he heard about the passing of a true wrestling legend, Karl Gotch. After we got to the restaurant we were almost thrown out on our asses because Sheik was very loud and did not use the proper language with so many kids around. If you thought the Sheik was crazy wait until you just watch the first hour of this brand new DVD that is another RF VIDEO exclusive.
The next morning, everyone headed to the city at 5:30AM. Before we got to the studios, we stopped at Madison Square Garden so that Sheik could cut some promos for us that will be included on the DVD. This was legit some of the best stuff we ever filmed. Then it was time to head on over to the Sirius studios where we were quickly escorted into a green room before Ronnie came in to greet us. Everyone had to sign waiver for our appearance and we were in there with 30 Rock’s own Tracy Morgan. We sat in one green room before we were actually allowed into yet another green room inside the office area. As we walked to the green room, Sheik was already being interviewed as there were cameras everywhere and pictures were being taken like crazy. It was an amazing feeling and several people remarked how surreal the entire scene was. We got to meet Robin and Gary before we went to sit down and as soon as we were in the interview room we were greeted by Will and given some basic instructions. Artie Lange came into the room to talk to us and so did Bubba the Love Sponge. Bubba wanted to thank us for his wrestling footage from ECW and we talked about meeting Bubba back in the ECW days down in Florida when he worked Bill Alfonso in 1999 and 2000. Could there be a Hogan and Bubba shoot interview in the works? Time will tell. As the morning went on everyone at the Stern show were really cool with us as they let us go in the hallway and basically film anything we wanted as long as it wasn’t in the main studio. We ran into Richard and Sal who were dressed up like Randy Savage and the Ultimate Warrior. It was hysterical to watch them get ready for their bit. Artie was also getting dressed up like the Sheik and we were giving them all pointers on how to act as the guys they were playing. This was truly laugh out loud material and has to be seen to be believed!
When it was finally time for the big show it was like being on another planet. Truly it was one of the most intense productions since we witnessed a WWE PPV being put together. They had everyone running around like chickens with their heads cut off. Gary seems like he was always in control and everyone worked smoothly despite the chaos. Sirius had a great staff that went way out of their way for us and we were incredibly thankful. During Sheik’s official interview, we were allowed to chill with Sal and Richard in their office and everyone was there from JD to Fred and Benji. If it sounds a little like we are marking out… well, we are! Everyone is still on a high from being apart of this amazing day. A lot of the staff there were nervous about Sheik going crazy. In fact, Bubba was telling us before the show went on the air that he intended to put Sheik in his place for trash talking his friends like Hogan and Brian Blair. We were all on pins and needles knowing it was going to get heated, and boy did it ever when Bubba and Sheik went at it. Everyone at RF VIDEO also swelled with pride as Stern asked questions based on our very own shoot.
When the show was over we were allowed in the studio to meet the man himself, Howard Stern. It was just really cool to be in the studio and we all loved watching how everything was put together. Howard was a total class act with us and you could tell that he is a man with great power. Just to be around him was an honor and a privilege. Afterwards we got to meet Fred and talk to Gary some more and since the show was over for the day they had lunch brought in for everyone. Ronnie told us that we could help ourselves to their food, which was a great gesture. We ate with the staff and set up some HUGE projects down the line. You are going to see a lot more in the future of RF VIDEO teaming up with the Howard Stern show. We already have talks about doing something for upcoming DVD releases.
We also had Richard and Sal do a special interview for our On the Road with the Sheik DVD! And just wait until you see who else makes a rare appearance…
When it was all over, we left with a big smile that lasted all the way back to the hotel. We filmed even more of the road trip on the way back home where you will hear what the Sheik thought about Artie and Bubba. He goes completely off on both of them. You will listen to his recap of the entire morning and wonder how a man like this can truly exist in this world. Sheiky baby, we love ya!