Every form of entertainment has a plethora of podcasts dedicated to it. Professional wrestling is no different with almost every retired performer having their own. People from Bret Hart all the way to Tazz to even Vince Russo are in the podcast business.
This week I’ll spotlight a few of them and tell you the difference between them and which ones stand out from the pack.
Talk is Jericho
Chris Jericho started his podcast back in December 2013 and recently reached the milestone of 400 episodes, the most recent one having Gene Simmons as his guest.
In terms of guests, he has a huge variety of them from different forms of media. Jericho’s been around and knows a lot of people, and those connections help with this podcast.
The early episodes are kinda rough, but as it went on Jericho became much better at interviewing his guests. He always has good questions for them and there’s at least a couple good stories that come out from an interview.
He doesn’t ask very many tough questions to the current WWE talent he interviews, but it is to be expected.
A gripe I have with the podcast is the ads. Jericho has a lot of plugs, sometimes four in one episode, and will interrupt the interview a couple times, which can get annoying.
Overall though, if the guest is someone you like or have an interest in, Talk is Jericho provides a fun, compelling show to listen to.
E & C’s Pod of Awesomeness
This is a more recent podcast that started in February of this year. Edge and Christian have fantastic chemistry as co-hosts and their banter together is funny.
In terms of guests, for a relatively new podcast they get some really solid guests. Goldberg was their first ever guest. Subsequent interviews are a good mix of current WWE talent as well as wrestling legends from the past and wrestlers from other companies like The Young Bucks.
They also get fans involved with the show, as they read emails and play voicemails during it. They also host voicemail contests for fans to participate in.
However one of the drawbacks to the show is the audio quality of the interviews. Most of them are done over the phone, and it can be hard to make out words at points. It’s a small quibble, but it needs to be addressed.
However, the Pod of Awesomeness is fun to listen to and provides some insight on whoever the guests are as well as the hosts.
The Art of Wrestling With Colt Cabana
I haven’t listened to a lot of this podcast, but it’s one of the oldest and more revered wrestling podcasts. Cabana is a storied independent wrestler and his podcast is for the ROH, PWG or NJPW fan who wants to know about their favorite wrestlers. He has had over 350 episodes aired.
The most famous podcast Cabana conducted was the 2014 interview with his friend CM Punk following him walking out of the WWE. This was where Punk dished the dirty details on his leaving, and was a very compelling listen.
If you can stand the strong Chicagoan accent, you’ll enjoy the conversation between some of the biggest names in independent wrestling.
The Steve Austin Show
One of the biggest stars of wrestling ever also has his own podcast, and it’s been going on since early 2013. As one of the most successful wrestlers in the business, Austin always adds some nice insight to the current product and gives current roster WWE wrestlers advice.
Austin is one of those people that have a voice I could listen to all day, and he provides a lot of funny moments just hanging around the Broken Skull Ranch.
He mostly interviews wrestling personalities, and they’re always insightful and interesting to listen to.
OSW Review
Then there’s OSW Review. I don’t know too much about them and have only heard one of their podcasts, but they are popular and a lot of effort is put into it.
The three hosts, Jay, OOC and V1 review events from wrestling’s past, and will review a series of events in sequence to tell a complete story of a certain time period.
It’s done in roundtable format, with relevant video playing over the audio. They’ve done 66 events and many other segways into other forms of entertainment like movies.
The little bit I’ve heard is promising, and it’s pretty funny.
The Lapsed Fan
The Lapsed Fan is my favorite wrestling podcast, but it is not for everyone. Each episode can be from three to six hours long, the hosts laugh at many of their own jokes (but they are funny) and the humor can get pretty dark.
Jack Encarnacao and JP Sarro are the hosts of the podcast, and are two long-time friends who share a passion for wrestling.
Each episode is based on a single wrestling event, and they do incredibly in-depth coverage of the before, during and after of the event. They use interviews and books written by those involved with the event to give all the details needed for the event. They mostly focus on 80’s era to the end of The Attitude Era.
Sarro does many great impressions that find their way into the podcast, and his Vince McMahon is fantastic. The chemistry between the two hosts is fantastic.
Sarro is a stage actor and Encarnacao is a successful journalist, so both are very good at presenting a podcast and organizing thoughts into a narrative. That professional touch they have make the six hour shows fly by.
If you are a die hard wrestling fan or a novice fan that wasn’t around during the 80’s and 90’s, The Lapsed Fan gives a complete picture of some of the biggest events of those time periods, while making your sides hurt from laughing too much.
These are just a few of the many wrestling podcasts out there, and there are so many more for fans to explore. This was just a primer on a few of the most popular ones.
Henry Wolski
Executive Editor