I Listen So You Don't Have To: Steve Austin Show Ep. 291

Austin and Satin talk Bálor, Making a Murderer, and more
Photo Credit: WWE.com

If you’re new, here’s the rundown: We 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 many wrestling podcasts out there, of course, but this feature largely hews to the regular rotation we feel best fit the category of hit or miss. If we can save other folks some time, we’re happy to do so.

Show: Steve Austin Show
Episode: 291 (Jan. 19, 2016)
Run Time: 1:37:20
Guest: Ryan Satin (12:50)

Summary: Austin’s in-person guest is Ryan Satin, a former TMZ producer who recently launched a wrestling news website. They begin with Satin’s background with TMZ and his wrestling fandom, eventually explaining how he decided to found a website and podcast. Satin recalls his time at TMZ breaking stories like the death of Randy Savage and SpikeTV’s decision to cancel TNA Impact, as well as his brief experience as an on-the-street reporter. After discussing how WWE might debut the Bullet Club and the future of Finn Bálor, they get into a deep dive on Making A Murderer.

Quote of the week: “Just a place where I really hope you guys will check it out, exclusive wrestling news, for free, I’m not charging you any money, I just want to bring, um, I want to bring, more uh, honesty and truth and journalism to wrestling news, and I really hope that some of you guys will check out my website and see what I’m about, I really think you’ll find a bunch of stories already that are very interesting that didn’t get a lot of pickup because my site maybe isn’t as big as some of the others right now. But, you know, I promise you with my history of being an accurate journalist that I stand behind all my stories, they’re not rumors, and I really hope that you’ll give it a shot.”

Why you should listen: I’m not a Making A Murderer fan, or even a Netflix subscriber, but it seems this is the perfect episode for the people who like both that show and Steve Austin. Much like when Austin talks football or even MMA, it is kind of endearing to hear him be totally honest about his fandom and genuine appreciation for a non-wrestling product. As for Satin, the only times I enjoyed him were when he was being blunt about how TMZ operates and his own news-gathering process.

Why you should skip it: I’m not a Making A Murderer fan, or even a Netflix subscriber, so I was pretty lost for the entire second half. Neither do I intentionally consume TMZ content, so I’d never heard of Satin, nor do I have any desire to seek out his website, podcast or social media accounts. Perhaps he’s unfairly painted with the stink of TMZ, but it’s not as if he’s trying to actively disassociate from the outfit that made his career, such as it is.

Final thoughts: Kudos to Austin for pursuing a live guest. I wish it hadn’t been this dude, but I accept there are plenty of potential listeners who either care about Satin, TMZ or Making A Murderer. Perhaps even all three. More power to those people, but for me this was barely more than background noise.