Podcasts

Yeah I lumped that whole group together.
Nothing left leaning about JRE.

I know Jim Cornette is a bit of a polarizing character, a lot of people don't like his political rantings or his perceived fuddy-duddy longing for a return to some degree of kayfabe, but I've really been enjoying his podcasts. Not unlike a giant plate of something approaching supernova on the scoville scale of spiciness, it can't be consumed every day, but I do get a craving from time to time, indulge said craving, and usually really enjoy my belly full of southern US wrestling stories and strong opinions about the current state of the business of pro wrestling in it's many current forms.

There was an interesting coincidence for me listening to Cornette's podcast yesterday. I tried watching a bit of RAW for the first time in ages (I think I saw Prince Devitt, so I stopped and watched to see what he was up to since I didn't even know he was on the roster.). I tried to keep an open mind, but the whole experience was incredibly confusing and disjointed. I didn't know what was going on, and I didn't really see any matches, just a lot of women in a pile of makeup talking in the back, then some sloppy six person tags with said makeup ladies, then a confusing affair with Devitt being tossed around by a very large, very jacked dude with about 0.8% body fat, followed by some bald guy wearing a button down shirt and dress pants, then Angle (he's still in the business?!?!) showed up, giant, batman like neck barely moving, and a bunch of other jazz until I was unable to wait for something to start making sense to me again.

Enter Cornette's podcast. He watched the same episode of RAW to watch something called "the revival". He summarized the show by segment, and it was refreshing to hear a seasoned veteran and insider admit being just as confused as I was with what he was observing. Corvette has an interesting view of things as he used to write and produce TV stuff, so it was interesting listening to him break stuff down in terms of how a promotion would USUALLY entice viewers and potential new fans, how they'd hype matches, new talent, and put heat on babyfaces and heels, and just generally get fans invested in the show. It was a cool episode to listen to in terms of explaining how the shows were used in the past to to hype business and how things have changed in RAW now. Really cool insider stuff, he does a lot of slagging off of the WWE product, but if you look past that if you're a WWE fan, it's an interesting look at how a wrestling show works!

Fan of golden age hip hop? Like DJ mixes and turntableism in general? If you’ve said yes to any of the previous questions, you should check out a podcast called Classic Hip Hop by DJ Friedz. Each episode is around an hour and has its own theme. There aren’t many episodes, but they’re well put together, bangin mixes that are great for long rides, workouts, or just chillin listening to good music. Favorites of mine include the DJ Premier vs Dr Dre one (Primo is my all time fave hop hop DJ), and the Heaters episode. Check it out if you’re a fan, you won’t be disappointed!

Stone cold is back from his six month break and he’s laid down three pretty cool episodes featuring Mark Henry (was never really a fan of his gimmick but he’s an interesting and funny guy with some cool stories and insights into the business), AEW’s Tony Khan (I think that guy breathes through his skin while he talks NON STOP! very passionate dude with some cool ideas for the future of pro wrestling), and Jim Ross.

The Jim Ross episode was really interesting. That guy has seen everything, and his goals and hopes for AEW are very realistic and doable. This podcast should be required listening for pro wrestling fans, and for people like me who have a really tough time nailing down specifically what it is they don’t like about the big dog in the yard, WWE. Really interesting interview with a veteran and a cornerstone of the business of pro wrestling who has seen it all, it’s a great listen, Ross is an amazing diplomat who gets his point across without trashing anyone and isn’t shy about putting creative control into the performers hands and taking it away from WRITERS who have no in ring experience. Between this and Jim Cornett’s more lucid, objective talks, I’m figuring out where my total apathy for what the WWE has to offer is coming from. Good stuff!

Checked out a recent SCSA podcast featuring Hulk Hogan, interesting insight into the early, Vince Jr WWF from his perspective as well as some funny stories from hogan’s early days. Condensed version of how his character came together and how he got started in the business. Not a bad talk from a history perspective, and you cannot deny Hogan is a business man first and foremost, and he makes no apologies for his decisions.

SCSA asks Hogan where his finisher came from, he said the boot was Andre’s, and no one was using the leg drop, so he grabbed that. The funny part was him discussing his finisher in Japan, because for some reason, in his words, they called Stan Hansen's move a clothesline, but hogan’s was called, and I am quoting phonetically here, “the axey boom-baa”. Imagine “axey boom baa” in Hogan’s surfer dude voice with no attempt on making it sound Japanese. He was totally mystified even after all of these years. Funny shit!

Just listened to the first third of Joe Rogan’s podcast featuring John Carmack, one of the creators of Wolfenstein 3D, DOOM, Quake, and other shit. Pretty cool so far, and I think gamers will find at least some of it interesting. Cool insights into the very early days of the FPS genre that is such a huge part of the industry. Rogan is not even thart baked and barely interrupts his guest. Maybe it’s because he’s a huge Quake mark. Check it out!

Just as an addendum to the SCSA Nash podcasts, the talk about WCW was crazy to me. Nash was hilarious in his description of happenings and the behind the scenes stuff, and it amazed me how bush league and bare bones he painted it all. I remember seeing WCW for the first time and thinking WOW, this is the big stuff! All of those dudes I’d read about but never seen, I discovered Guerrero and Malenko, rediscovered Benoit and Jericho, the Lucha guys, and a few Japanese guys were still showing up, too! It felt like a big deal, not all of the matches were great, but I was seeing so much new stuff and not everyone was a cartoon character or a 7 foot 300 pounder. It was also crazy when I found out that gravelly voiced guy with the lisp doing colour commentary was Dusty (I’d only ever seen that horrible WWF yellow polka dot travesty, and I’d never heard him talk!). It was amazing to hear the workings of that group laid out, and even more amazing to think WCW beat WWF in ratings for such a long span at one point with such a bare bones office (I guess Turner broadcasting was quite separate from WCW).