As I have written about in prior posts for Still Real To Us, wrestling podcasts are often more entertaining than the weekly television we have access to. But not all wrestling fans know what a podcast is; many wrongly believe that the WWE Network’s recurring Stone Cold Podcast is an example of such.
In turn, here are five recent podcast episodes from this month that are worthy of your time and attention:
1) Something To Wrestle With Bruce Prichard “Episode 48: Eric Bischoff In The WWE” – For me, the most consistent podcast of the past nine months or so has been Something To Wrestle. The podcast not only features little-known stories and behind-the-scenes insight revolving key events in wrestling history, but also the world-class impressions of Bruce Prichard. This particular episode focuses on Eric Bischoff’s years with the WWE, as host Conrad Thompson leads Bruce through many entertaining stories. Be sure to listen with the show’s unofficial drinking game in mind.
2) Bischoff On Wrestling “Ep 45: Table For 3” – Speaking of Easy E himself, Bischoff On Wrestling is another great MLW-produced program. Co-hosted by Nick Hausman, the show generally features a recap of big stories in the wrestling world, an interview and some mailbag questions. In this particular episode, Eric gives a behind-the-scenes look at the recent episode of Table For 3, which he taped alongside Michael Hayes and Jim Cornette. That leads to other interesting WCW-related discussion including why the show’s namesake does not like Vince Russo. For WCW diehards, this episode’s interview segment is a short clip of a chat between Eric and Sonny Ohno.
3) The Art Of Wrestling “AOW 353 Larry Zbyszko” – Arguably, the first notable weekly wrestling podcast is Colt Cabana’s The Art Of Wrestling. Someone who has been listening to the show for years may wonder who’s left for Colt to talk with, yet this edition with WWE Hall Of Famer Larry Zbyszko shows that there are still plenty of legends to be interviewed. Larry is from a different era than Colt, but he has interesting stories to tell about WCW, Bruno Sammartino and life in pre-WWF wrestling.
4) WTF With Marc Maron “Episode 812 – A.J. Mendez Brooks / Fred Stoller” – A.J. Mendez Brooks has been making the podcast rounds in support of her new book, Crazy Is My Superpower. The former A.J. Lee is not the first wrestler that Marc Maron has ever interviewed, as prior episodes have featured Mick Foley, C.M. Punk and the aforementioned Colt Cabana. While Maron is one of the stars of the upcoming G.L.O.W. series on Netflix, he is not a wrestling fan, so he gets A.J. to speak about a lot of things that she normally would not get asked about in an interview. Prior to the chat with A.J., Maron talks with comedian Fred Stoller, a former Seinfeld writer who is hilarious.
5) What Happened When “Episode 18: Mayhem 1999” – Similar in format to another MLW podcast, What Happened When consists of Conrad Thompson leading co-host Tony Schiavone through a trip down memory lane. While Conrad’s show with Bruce tends to be WWE-centric — although there have been episodes about TNA, GWF and the Houston territory — Conrad’s weekly podcast with Tony focuses on NWA and WCW history, aside from Tony’s short-lived WWF run in the 1980s. Mayhem 1999 may not have been one of the WCW pay-per-views that people are still regularly talking about, but it is interesting to hear what inspired some of the show’s creative. And yes, Vince Russo also receives his fair share of criticism within this episode.
