I Listen So You Don't Have To: Steve Austin Show Ep. 155

Diamond Dallas Page is on this week's clean version of the Austin show Photo Credit: WWE.com

If you're new, here's the rundown: I 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 better wrestling podcasts out there, of course, but these are the ones in my regular rotation that I feel best fit the category of hit or miss. If I can save other folks some time, I'm happy to do so.

Show: Steve Austin Show
Episode: 155
Run Time: 1:40:28
Guest: Diamond Dallas Page

Summary: Stone Cold is still in Georgia, but this week he’s invited old friend DDP to his lake house for an in-person interview. They talk a bit about life in LA, Page’s diet and fitness regimen, his current approach to the rare wrestling appearance, how he passed the Diamond Cutter to Randy Orton, and his first time leaving WCW. He also shares stories about life on the road with Jake Roberts and Rick Rude. Then he responds to listener questions about his favorite opponents, more talk about Roberts as well as experiences working with Bam Bam Bigelow, Kanyon, Kevin Nash, and Scott Hall. DDP picks the match of the week — Austin’s WrestleMania 13 bout with Bret Hart.

Quote of the week: Page on the culmination of what was supposed to be a three-week story with he and the Outsiders: “It was taken off the sheets eight weeks in a row, not even put on the ninth. So by the 10th week, going into New Orleans, dude, I’m so pissed off at this point. I’m ready, I want my release, I want to go to New York. I just want out. Cause I figure I’m never going to get the opportunity here. And that’s when we did the deal. It was supposed to be 12 minutes, got cut down to four. … On the way in I’ve got 12 minutes, it becomes 10. By the time I’m stretching, now 10 becomes eight. By the time I get up to my curtain, now we’re at six. Now I’m livid. It’s six minutes for everything. And by the time Nash gets there with Scott, it’s four minutes for everything.”

Why you should listen: There’s no monologue this week, there’s even less yoga talk than on Page’s appearance on Art Of Wrestling last week — which I thought Colt Cabana managed to subdue fairly well — and though DDP makes a passing reference to working with Randy Savage in 1997, he doesn’t retell his well-worn story about their Spring Stampede encounter. The segment on Bigelow and Kanyon is especially revealing, as is his frankness about the mechanics of an effective appearance at a local promotion.

Why you should skip it: As noted in the AOW 217 analysis, you’ll never get away from DDP being his own No. 1 fan. That “self high five” thing now comes off as even more appropriate than we knew. If you can’t get by the recurring air of humblebragging, you’re going to have a hard time making it through all 100 minutes.

Final thoughts: Austin hasn’t had a must-listen episode since his sitdown with Paul Heyman on Aug. 28. After almost an entire month of mostly skip-worthy content, he ends September with a bang (pun very much intended). It may not be the best DDP interview you’ll ever hear, but even if you listened to his talk with Cabana last week, this serves as more complementary than redundant. I’ve yet to listen to this week’s Ross Report with Magnum TA, that probably should be the best show of the week. But Austin and DDP set the bar far higher than I expected.