I Listen So You Don't Have To: Steve Austin Show Ep. 273

Austin gabs beer and rasslin this episode Photo Credit: WWE.com

If you're new, here's the rundown; we 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 our regular rotations that we feel best fit the category of hit or miss. If we can save other folks some time, we're happy to do so.

Show: Steve Austin Show
Episode: 273 (Nov. 17, 2015)
Run Time: 1:20:18
Guest: Rob Croxall (17:22); Court Bauer (48:00)

Summary: Steve Austin is finally back at the Broken Skull Ranch. After a bit of chatter with his wife, Austin goes to a phone interview with Rob Croxall of El Segundo Brewery to discuss the creation and launch of Austin’s new IPA. After the break, it’s a different phone all, this one to Court Bauer, who opens talking about the high-impact style of modern wrestlers. That leads into discussion of how Rusev and Lana were misused over the summer, the evolving role of managers, Ronda Rousey’s stunning defeat and Billy Gunn’s dismissal from WWE.

Quote of the week: Bauer: “When you’re facing a Heenan’s Family or a Dangerous Alliance or a Devastation Inc. or whatever it is, you’re facing a cause. And they can throw a million guys and you can overcome those guys, but you’re still facing that cause until you beat the cause, that story can go on forever.”

Why you should listen: Croxall appeared way back in July on Episode 237. While that was a deeper dive on brewing in general, his return appearance should be illuminating for anyone wanting to go beyond the surface of “Stone Cold has a beer now.” The Bauer portion touches on areas of current WWE news that Austin didn’t broach during his Episode 272 call with Wade Keller, and it’s fresh with reaction to the Rousey fight.

Why you should skip it: Because dude, this episode is Capital B Boring. I could not bring myself to be interested in the beer half, especially the reminiscing about the launch party, and Bauer might want to have someone come in and check for a pulse. I don’t disagree with most of his talking points, but the approach seemed more suited to a typical Jim Ross whine session.

Final thoughts: Maybe I wasn’t in the right headspace or whatever for this one, but the best part was Austin and his wife catching us up on life at the ranch. I’m really glad he’s continuing to make the effort to have real guests and stay current, despite traveling across the country, but with that comes accepting that some of the guests just aren’t going to deliver great entertainment. Still, we’re streets ahead of reading a bunch of Uberfacts tweets with a tipsy Kevin Nash, so it’s not all bad.