Written by Mark Henely
1) Talk is Jericho – EP267 – Bayley
One major advantage that host, Chris Jericho, has with his podcast is proximity. Proximity cannot be underrated. As a member of the active roster, he has access to some of the wrestlers that fans want to hear from the most. The fact that he got Bayley on his podcast the Saturday before she makes her main roster PPV debut is a great feather in the cap of this show. They have a really good conversation where Bayley talks about forming a female wrestling character that isn’t built around sex. My favorite part is when she discusses how she met and cultivated a relationship with one of her really young fans.
2) The Steve Austin Show Unleashed! – Bill Burr Pt 1 – EP344
http://www.podcastone.com/pg/
I tell you what, I was pumped up when I saw the title of this episode in my podcatcher. Bill Burr is legitimately one of the top five funniest stand up comedians in the world and the best way to here him is in an “Unleashed” format.
And Burr doesn’t disappoint. It’s really interesting to hear a guy like Burr, (whose comedy is really all about tearing down bullshit and nonsense) talk about loving something as silly as professional wrestling. There is a part where Burr talks about loving a particular Ric Flair promo that I thought was really fun.
3) Art of Wrestling – EP310 Luther Ward
4) Talk is Jericho – Cosplay with Tanya Tate – EP266
Chris Jericho’s interview with porn star (and 10 time MILF of the Year), Tanya Tate, is not as scandalous as one might imagine. They don’t delve deep into the world of the porn industry. In fact, they don’t really delve very deep into anything. They have a very surface conversation about cosplay, porn, and making comic books. But, it is a pleasant conversation.
5) The Ross Report – Terri Runnels – EP 127
The Attitude Era was, in many ways, the most glorious era in the history of professional wrestling. However, it’s sexism is one of the hardest things for the modern fan to reconcile with. In fact, there is an entire podcast (the fantastic “Attitude Era” podcast”) that tries to find a context for everything that happened in that era. And in our modern era with our Diva’s revolution, it can be hard to take a look back at the career of Terri Runnels and really put it into context.
Host of the podcast, Jim Ross, doesn’t make it any easier. He jokes about her fake breasts and when Runnels admits that she doesn’t love everything she had to do to make a living in the wrestling business, Ross just reassures her that she did a good job with the material that she had. He has some empathy for her, but doesn’t ever take issue with the people who were making her do compromising stuff.
The low point of the show is when Runnels describes being verbally abused by her late boyfriend, Brian Pillman, and JR laughs it off as a good memory from a deceased friend. Truly bizarre.
6) Keepin it 100 with Konnan – EP3 – Teddy Hart, and Juicy for All? Masked Republic! Brock Lesnar!
http://www.podcastone.com/pg/
I’d been liking what I hearing from Konnan’s new podcast, but this episode didn’t have much for me to grab onto. There was a lot of filler and the parts that weren’t filler were uncomfortable. They had Teddy Hart on so that they could laugh at this weirdness, but it just comes off sad.
