I Listen So You Don't Have To: Steve Austin Show Ep. 228

Austin fields listener questions
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 — Unleashed!
Episode: 228 (June 11, 2015)
Run Time: 1:25:27
Guest: None

Summary: Austin is on location filming Broken Skull Challenge, so he opens with a few stories from his trailer and takes email questions from listeners. It starts with the wife of a listener recounting the 10 things her husband indirectly taught her about Stone Cold, then leads into talk about Sasquatch, UFC 187, why some wrestlers wipe their feet just outside the ring, his football memories, wrestling lingo, toast toppings, the potential influence of NXT on RAW, his history wearing earrings, Broken Skull Challenge, ranch maintenance and Internet trolls.

Quote of the week: “There’s some stupid motherfuckers out there that get these damn Twitter accounts, and they’ll start fuckin’ tweetin’ all this ridiculous stuff at you, and it’s just absolutely amazing to me why someone would create a Twitter account just to directly go out and hassle the fuck out of somebody and send ’em all these nasty, stupid things that are insulting them as a hobby, or a way to get off, or a way to express themselves, or a way to enjoy torturing somebody. It don’t make no goddamn sense to me! Ain’t you got nothin’ better to do with your life than gettin’ on a goddamn contraption, typing up shitty messages and sending it to random people, or people specifically that you want to fuck with? It just don’t make a goddamn bit of sense to me, man. I mean, fuck, if you’re that fuckin’ miserable, there’s a goddamn problem, there really is!”

Why you should listen: It’s been a while since Austin did an questions show, and he’s done a good job picking questions that allow him to broach several new topics. Though he’s struggling with his voice, he seems invigorated a bit by being on location, and he peppers his diatribes with a lot of well-placed profanities. The first email is the best by a long shot, but it’s also fun to hear him tell stories about his earrings and unload on trolls.

Why you should skip it: If you weren’t a fan of Austin wrestling the fly or interviewing the BSR alligator, the Sasquatch bit won’t move your needle. The NXT/RAW question could be the basis of its own episode if Austin were willing to break down an entire episode of each to spotlight what works best in which setting, but here comes off as cursory. And I don’t know about you, but whenever Austin or Jim Ross start talking about UFC, my brain wanders rapidly off in a new direction.

Final thoughts: This feels kinda weird, but for as down as I was about the last glut of question-and-answer shows, I really enjoyed this episode. Perhaps it if turns out to be the first of a dozen over the next six weeks I’ll sour quickly, but as a change of pace — and especially with well-curated emails to use as launching points — this one landed pretty well and is a standout among some other episodes (Austin’s show and otherwise) of recent vintage.