Written by Mark Henely & Bill Bodkin
How2Wrestling – How2Chyna
https://soundcloud.com/
Chyna was one of the most controversial people in wrestling history. After breaking up with her fiancee, Triple H at the height of her career, she began a slow road painful into obscurity. This downfall saw her constantly denigrated by her appearances on “low brow” entertainments like The Surreal Life and pornography. Each new “embarrassment” was promoted gleefully by wrestling dirtsheets that need new content every few hours. The zeitgeist took Chyna, the only woman wrestler who was treated with real respect and gravitas during the attitude era, and turned her into a joke.
The odd thing about the controversy, for me, is that I have trouble understanding the hate. None of the things that Chyna did were actually despicable things. I don’t personally have a moral issue against women appearing in porn and while the Surreal Life will never be confused for Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, I am comfortable saying that I watched it and enjoyed it. I think Chyna gets a bad rap and that is what made this podcast so great to me. In podcast landscape where every wrestler over 40 is moaning about how Will Ospreay and Riccochet should learn to “sell” more, How2Chyna is the one podcast where the hosts, Kefin Mahon and Jo Graham, approach the wrestling business with positivity. They talk about Chyna’s legacy with excitement, forgiveness, and understanding.
The hook of How2Wrestling is that Kefin introduces his girlfriend, Jo, to different aspects and figures in the wrestling industry. Listeners get to hear new fan, Jo, take in all of Chyna’s accomplishments for the first time. Listening to it, you really get a good idea of just how unique Chyna was and will, hopefully, remember why we were all mystified by her at one time.
The Steve Austin Show Unleashed! – EP338 – Bill Goldberg Pt2
I wasn’t looking forward to this episode. Part 1 of this 2 part interview with WCW’s Bill Goldberg was very good, but Austin teased at the end of the last episode that this one was going to be about all of the cars the Goldberg has. I’m not a car guy and I don’t really want to hear people discuss cars on the radio, so this looked bad.
But, the episode ended up being great. They talk mostly about professional wrestling and their time working on Adam Sandler’s The Longest Yard. They even cover the one topic that everyone secretly wants them to cover most: the fact that they look very similar. Goldberg takes some funny shots at Austin over the comparison and the whole thing ends up being really fun.
Art of Wrestling – AOW 307 – RJ City
The mark of a great interviewer is his or her ability to make an unknown guest feel interesting. In this episode, Colt Cabana shows off his chops by taking Canadian wrestler, RJ City, out of obscurity. Colt does more with him than other podcasters do with bigger names. RJ City comes off very personable and insightful. Their discussion of the plight of the comedic wrestler (specifically, the cost of being funny in the ring) is especially interesting.
Talk is Jericho – EP 260 Scoobius Pip
http://www.podcastone.com/pg/
For the first episode of Chris Jericho’s podcast this week, he has on England’s Scoobius Pip for what ends up being a pleasant conversation. There was even a part in the show where they talked about all of the hard work and struggle that Pip went through in his career that was inspiring.
The Steve Austin Show – EP337 – A.J. Styles
This week’s episode is the audio from last week’s WWE Network exclusive special. It’s the same show, but it flows better in audio only form and you don’t have to look at the weird Sears photos of Styles with his family that the WWE kept showing in the background. You also get a decent opening monologue where Austin reminisces about his Wrestlemania angle with Mike Tyson.
Talk is Jericho – EP 261 Canadian Rock Show on Talk is Jericho
This episode is either going to hit the listener hard or it will be completely impenetrable. In this hour and a half plus conversation, Chris Jericho and his old friends from Canada discuss growing up in Canada and being a fan of hard rock and heavy metal music. The stories are fun, but all of the discussion of the differences between Canada and America are hard to relate to if you don’t know the differences already.
There is also a weird part where Jericho joyously reminisces groping girls asses at concerts when the lights would go down at the beginning of the show.
The Ross Report – Mike Tenay – Ep124
This week, Jim Ross talks to the “Jim Ross of TNA,” Mike Tenay. Ross and Tenay unfortunately spend a lot of time grumbling about current events (Ospreay vs. Riccochet, WWE Brand Extension, etc). Sadly, this is practically required for an episode the Ross Report at this point. It isn’t all bad though. There are some really good things in the episode. The part where Tenay talks about AJ Styles’ run in WWE thus far is really insightful.
And now a special run-in from Bill Bodkin…
The Writer’s Room, Part 1 with Dave Bautista
https://mlwradio.libsyn.com/writers-room-dave-bautista-part-1
He walks through a pit of a dangerrrrrrr….he’s walks alonnnnnnnnne. Dave Bautista was a special guest on MLW Radio’s “The Writer’s Room” with Alex Greenfield. Greenfield is a former head WWE creative writer, and the “Hunter S. Thompson of MLW Radio.” As a host, Greenfield is solid, but was often talking a bit too much about himself. Normally this would be fine, but we’ve got Big Freakin’ Dave on the show this week. Bautista held NOTHING back on this free podcast (the second half is behind a pay wall). This was an extremely insightful look into his 2014 return, which he absolutely hated. He goes in-depth about how he felt his comeback was wrong, how they wasted the Shield/Evolution feud, and how Triple H and Stephanie McMahon laughed at the potential of Guardians of the Galaxy. Bautista comes off great here, and honestly you’re going to love the guy after the podcast is over.
Marty & Sarah Love Wrestling
Marty & Sarah love wrestling — and I officially love this podcast. The creatives behind the mic are Marty DeRosa and Sarah Shockey. DeRosa should be no stranger to wrestling fans as he is a longtime cohort of Colt Cabana, and CM Punk. He has his own podcast, Wrestling with Depression, and is a pretty brilliant stand-up comic. Sarah Shockey is a commentator for Resistance Pro Wrestling, and a pretty damn funny human herself. This podcast is not for people who love interview-based podcasts, or news-based podcasts. No, this podcast is basically two fans getting together, having a good time, making jokes, and talking pro wrestling. Often times they “ship” romances between wrestlers, and will impersonate wrestlers regularly. Sarah’s Renee Young, and her “Mama Balor” characters are phenomenal, while DeRosa’s versions of all three SHIELD members will have you crying with laughter.
MLW Radio – “New Beginnings”
http://www.mlwradio.com/home.html
One of the best news-based wrestling podcasts in the world right now. The hosts are Court Bauer (former owner/promoter of Major League Wrestling, a WWE creative team member, and a guy who has worked with Ring of Honor, Lucha Underground, AAA, and various MMA promotions); Mister Saint Laurent (aka MSL – a commentator, and indie wrestler); and lucha icon Konnan. They breakdown everything in the world of pro wrestling, and have a good time doing it. Konnan is phenomenal on this podcast because he basically questions everything happening, and challenges his co-hosts to questions on how they’d run the WWE, or other promotions. He’s also high a majority of the time. MSL and Court have a great chemistry, as well as great insight into the world of wrestling, and sometimes MMA.
Sadly, this was Konnan’s last show as he’s off to do Podcast One’s “Keep it 100” podcast.
