I Listen So You Don't Have To: Steve Austin Show, Ep. 242

Austin's latest Unleashed is a Ted Fowler Ep. 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 - Unleashed!
Episode: 242
Run Time: 1:19:26
Guest: Ted Fowler

Summary: With Broken Skull Challenge on a brief hiatus due to part of its crew going on strike, Steve Austin has a lot of time on his hands, so much so that when it comes time to do a podcast, he brings on his friend Ted Fowler. Though he is by no means a celebrity, Fowler is a known figure on the podcast, having appeared in prior episodes. He is a renaissance man of sorts, if your definition of that is a guy that can do construction, work on motorcycles and tell you about different types of craft beer. Austin prefaces the podcast by saying we're about to hear two old friends just shoot the shit, and that is exactly what follows. Austin asks Fowler about his trip from his home in Rockport, TX out to see Austin in Los Angeles. They talk about trucks and motorcycles. They talk about beer. Toward the end, a couple of Austin's neighbors show up and it becomes a hangout session.

Quote of the Week: Austin - "Just the other day, my wife was going down the road and she read on her Venice 311 person she follows on Twitter that there was some lady walking around naked, and she saw the lady taking a shit over at the Shabbat Center, right in the middle of nowhere. So that's the wildlife we got, Teddy. We got a naked lady shittin' on the Shabbat Center."

Why you should listen: There obviously is a segment of Austin's listeners out there who like to hear intricate details about motorcycles and trucks. They know horsepower and all that stuff. Also, some of those people might like IPA's and drinking cool beer. Those listeners will find some fertile ground with this episode. This episode does give you some idea of what it sounds like when Austin hangs out with this friends. They're waiting for some pizza to come to the house, they're drinking beers, and that sounds pretty nice.

Why you should skip it: Ted Fowler is Austin's friend and nothing more. He owns a construction business, sure, but beyond that he is a zero of a guest. If the aforementioned subjects hold no interest for you, then this episode needs to be avoided like the plague. There is no wrestling talk, almost no talk of Broken Skull Challenge, and far too much focus on Fowler. Three minutes into the show, Austin is already asking him what hotel he's staying at, what he ordered at Jack in the Box, and how long it took to drive to L.A. No one cares. At all.

Final Thoughts: I couldn't run away from this episode fast enough. Ted Fowler is probably a nice person (actually, he's probably kind of a rich, multiple-car-owning asshole, but we'll forgive him for that). Just because Austin is friends with him does not mean we should have to hear an hour-long interview about nothing. There will be many more podcasts for wrestling fans to hit up this week, so stay away from this one and do something better with your time, preferably not riding a loud-ass motorcycle around your neighborhood and bothering everyone.