I Listen So You Don't Have To: Steve Austin Show Ep. 293

Austin has the winner of his reality show on this episode
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: 293 (Jan. 26, 2016)
Run Time: 1:22:57
Guest: Ian Murphy (6:05)

Summary: Austin sits down with Ian Murphy, the reigning Skullbuster champion from his Broken Skull Challenge show. They open by discussing Murphy’s personal and sports background as well as his Attitude Era wrestling fandom before Murphy explains his brief foray into mixed martial arts. The vast majority of the episode is a step-by-step breakdown of Murphy’s appearance on the show and how he prepared for and executed the different challenges. At the very end, Murphy talks about his hobbies, including bow hunting.

Quote of the week: “I would view it as a competition — or a sport — instead of reality.”

Why you should listen: Fans of the Broken Skull Challenge will find this a pretty fascinating look behind the scenes of the show and especially into the minds of its strongest competitors.

Why you should skip it: If you’ve never seen an episode, nearly every word either man says will fly overhead like a Lear jet.

Final thoughts: I want to give serious credit to Austin for working hard to do interviews instead of relying on listener questions. That makes these episodes fresh instead of tired, and it can be argued that if he’s not all in on current WWE stories, especially this time of year, it’s best to stay away from anything resembling topical discussion. That said, the last two episodes have done nothing for me — but I’ll take that as a reflection of my interests and not Austin’s skills.