I Listen So You Don't Have To: Steve Austin Show Ep. 320

Austin is still recovering from surgery this week
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 — Unleashed!
Episode: 320 (April 28, 2016)
Run Time: 1:29:38
Guest: Ted Fowler (7:24)

Summary: Steve Austin is still laid up, so he calls his old buddy Ted Fowler. Austin gets Fowler up to speed on his recovery from shoulder surgery, then they commiserate about technology issues and Austin recounts his most recent (and most unpleasant) MRI experience. Then they talk about fishing and Fowler has some stories about the different ladies he’s hired to clean his house. Turning to the Broken Skull Ranch, they ponder the future of wild turkeys on the ranch and ponder a reality show about their winter work. After Fowler hangs up, Austin praises the Eagles documentary available on Netflix.

Quote of the week: “You know, I was an athlete, and it’s like, dude, computers, really? Fuck that, man. That’s an easy three credits, you go in there and you fiddle fart around, I’m never gonna do this, I’m never gonna be bothered by it, does not pertain to me, you know and now, you talk about an Achilles heel. I mean, I can’t, you know, upload, download, you know, defrag, none of that — all that stuff is Greek to me. It’s like, dude, and I gotta pay some cat to come over with his 1970 porn star moustache, you know, to come over and sit down at my computer for 20 minutes, do his thing and give me a bill for 80 bucks, and he’s like, ‘All right dude, you know, try to lay off the porn. You know see you in, you know, six weeks.’ Like dude, really, how did you do that stuff? I mean, I can build anything, I can’t unlock my computer.”

Why you should listen: As Fowler’s episodes go, this one was pretty decent. Perhaps that’s because Austin is in the driver’s seat for stories about his recovery and MRI experience, whereas other topics are even conversations or Fowler simply responding to questions. It seems weird to admit, but I’d actually missed hearing about the current state of ranch affairs, and it was nice to get the update. Somehow I’m looking forward to deer season, and I love more than 1,300 miles away.

Why you should skip it: We’ve already heard the story about Austin spilling wine on his computer. Fowler does get to go off on a few tangents, and if you’re not super into his tales of softball, intoxication and womanizing, those segments will not trip your trigger. Also, if you only come here for the wrestling, you’ll have to come back a different time.

Final thoughts: Austin set out to deliver a much lighter show than Tuesday’s episode. It had been a while since he’d uncorked a truly unleashed interview, and the heavy tone of Tuesday combined with the absence of a guest made this offering the perfect change of pace. On its own, it’s entirely inessential. But in context, it fits very well. You can feel safe skipping, but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad effort in any sense.