I Listen So You Don't Have To: Steve Austin Show Ep. 203

It's an e-mail show this week
Photo Credit: WWE.com

If you're new, here's the rundown: I listen to a handful of wrestling podcasts each week. Too many, probably, though certainly not all of them. In the interest of saving you time — in case you have the restraint to skip certain episodes — the plan is to give the bare bones of a given show and let you decide if it’s worth investing the time to hear the whole thing. There are better wrestling podcasts out there, of course, but these are the ones in my regular rotation that I feel best fit the category of hit or miss. If I can save other folks some time, I'm happy to do so.

Show: Steve Austin Show
Episode: 203 (March 17, 2015)
Run Time: 1:35:24
Guest: None

Summary: Austin is flying solo this week and answering emails from listeners. Redneck Island surfaces as a topic, but the episode is heavily focused on wrestling, including discussion of Shane McMahon, the WWE Hall of Fame, ring psychology, Kevin Nash, the evolution of paid time off for injured wrestlers, the famous pre-WrestleMania X-Seven interview, Paul Heyman, the inspiration for his stint as a prodigious hugger, the beer-throwing timekeeper and the Bray Wyatt/Undertaker story. He also answers questions about leg days at the gym, beer, the paranormal, which wrestlers would be good zombie fighters and his current music tastes. The word of the day is “go home.”

Quote of the week: “But to bring him back, if the Undertaker does indeed come back, I think you gotta go over. I think it’s the rub that benefits Bray Wyatt. And, you know, if Bray Wyatt goes over, then you bring that back to SummerSlam where he’s gonna return the favor back to Undertaker, but I’m just not feeling an Undertaker loss on back-to-back Manias. I just think that takes away form how special his run was. And even though I was for staying undefeated, the fact that he got the one loss means that I especially don’t want to see him take two losses back to back. Unless, hey man, it was his idea, he’s down for it and he wants to prep this guy up. But I don’t see that being the case.”

Why you should listen: My usual complaint about Austin’s email shows is his chooses to answer questions he’s already addressed in earlier episodes. There’s a few such instances here (though sometimes it’s just Austin’s mind wandering by itself to a familiar story), but the balance is a pleasant amount of fresh material. As email response shows go, this is easily one of his better offerings.

Why you should skip it: Will you be upset when Austin questions the validity of the moon landing? (Don’t worry though, he doesn’t believe in ghosts.) Are you ready for another three minutes spent discussing the mechanics of catching beers in the ring? Perhaps you want a retelling of the unmemorable squash match Austin worked against Randy Savage? This may be one of his better email shows, but in the hierarchy of formats, this format is average at best.

Final thoughts: There’s not much to add at this point. It was a good time with predictable lulls, nothing revelatory (except maybe the moon landing stuff) and there’s a good chance he’ll reiterate most of these points on subsequent episodes. You can easily skip this show, but at least listening to it won’t make you angry.