The podcast week in review, brought to you by Dollar Shave Club, start your free month by going to dollarshaveclub.com/voices.

They Said It…

  • “In some way, you come to professional wrestling to feel reassured about this very important point: that ultimately, things will be OK. That given time, good will triumph over evil. That problems, no matter how seemingly complex, they do have a definite ending. And there’s something about that type of art that reassures us.” – Mike Quackenbush
  • “How are people going to know their hometown heroes are going to get beat at the shows?” – Marty DeRosa on Cesaro being left off the poster for a WWE show in Switzerland
  • “The old, more hand-to-hand combat strong style wrestling is being seeped and surrounded by a lot of flying… a lot of flying and not much selling, and I just think it’s a bad trend.” – Jim Ross on current employer New Japan Pro Wrestling
  • “They were throwing money into the ring after the match? Oh, that’s kind of like a different vibe from when you wrestled in WCW, because I remember a lot of fans were asking for their money back after you would wrestle.” – Disco Inferno to Konnan after hearing about fans throwing money into the ring after a great match

The Usual Suspects

Conversation with the Big Guy #14 (11/28/16): Ryback and Pat talk about Craft beer, Ryback looking for love, looking tough while applying chapstick, and a lengthy tale of Pat having a blind date with a girl in a wheelchair with a (dumb) twist at the end. No unifying theme on this episode, it just jumps all over the place with some funny stories and some middling ones. THUMBS IN THE MIDDLE

Deep Blue Something #9 (11/28/16): Mike and Bryce chat about Chikara’s history with Chicago, the origins of the Cibernetico and past incarnations, Survivor Series memories, a great story of a drunk fan deciding to enter a battle royal, and a potluck dinner at the Wrestle Factory. This has to be the most genial and welcoming wrestling show out there. THUMBS UP

The Card is Going To Change #22 (11/28/16): Another show on the road, as this time John and Chandler are at the Golden Nugget Diner in Chicago, and they’re joined by AIW alum Shiima Zion aka DJ Z. They swap some stories about his time in the company THUMBS IN THE MIDDLE

The Steve Austin Show #381 (11/29/16): UFC fighter Smilin Sam Alvey is the guest this week. Sam was recently a guest on the Broken Skull Challenge, so you get to hear about his experiences on the show and his strategy for, uh, lifting logs. There’s also some UFC talk, none of it terribly pertinent. Not much of a show. Steve sneaks Ted Fowler into the intro without warning anyone, the bastard. THUMBS DOWN

Killing the Town #6 (11/29/16): Cyrus and Lance talk about the fan reaction to Goldberg/Lesnar, their experiences working with midget wrestlers (which turns out to be a lot), Shane McMahon in the ring, Lance as a fence builder, a review of ECW #307, and a brutal burial of Disco Inferno, who Cyrus blames for the downfall of WCW. This was probably my favorite outing so far – the topics were interesting and the chemistry really clicked here. THUMBS UP

MLW Radio #254 (11/29/16): Marty DeRosa sits in the guest host chair this week as he, Court, and MSL break down the week’s news, which mainly covers Raw, TLC, Dory Funk Jr in All Japan, beating wrestlers in their home town, ROH and Final Battle, and more. The show has a much more comedic slant than usual, and while there are some funny quips, it’s not the best look for the show. Still not sure why they’re doing the revolving guest host gimmick when MSL and Court are usually fine on their own. THUMBS IN THE MIDDLE

The Ross Report #146 (11/29/16): A double dose this week, as first JR talks to Bill Apter about his book and wrestling. This was another one presumably taped at a convention, since the audio stinks and you can’t make out what they’re saying at times. Then it’s “Broken” Matt Hardy to talk the upcoming Total Nonstop Deletion special. Ross largely approaches this as a straight interview, asking Matt where he came up for this character and if he plans to go back to the WWE (he also squeezes in some bizarre New Japan criticism). Not a good show, but a weirdly fascinating one. [Apter’s interview starts at 11:16, Hardy’s interview starts at 31:53] THUMBS IN THE MIDDLE

VIP Lounge (11/29/16): A few days late, we get a different format, as MVP is on the road in England and sits down for several quick interviews. Up first is Paul London to talk mind-altering substances and struppers – this is not coincidentally the best segment. Hornswoggle is next to talk being a midget wrestler and life outside WWE, and last is Tommy Dreamer talking life on the road. The London segment is great, the other two fairly middling. THUMBS IN THE MIDDLE

Talk is Jericho #304 (11/30/16): The Disco Inferno talks to his new boss. The interview pretty much covers everything: the origin of his gimmick, his time in WCW, being on the booking committee, refusing to lose to Jackie and getting canned, and his philosophy on wrestling. Disco can be a polarizing presence, but I’ve softened on him recently and WCW fans will love this episode. [Disco’s interview starts at 4:38] THUMBS UP

Bischoff on Wrestling #17 (11/30/16): Kevin Nash joins his old boss for a chat. The interview covers a lot, from the state of Detroit, Nash’s time in the army, being a bouncer, the Oz gimmick, working in Japan, jumping to WCW, Hogan as the third man, and more. They go over a lot quickly, but Nash is always a good storyteller. Notably, TJ Santos is heard from in the intro making fun of Nick. [Nash’s interview starts at 22:47] THUMBS UP

Ric Flair Show #22 (11/30/16): Jeff Jarrett is the guest this week. They chat about Cody Rhodes, big things coming for Global Force Wrestling, the art of losing, the time he held up Vince for money, and whether or not Jeff was ever a Horseman. Jeff’s pretty boring and even he sounds like he can’t wait for the interview to wrap up, plus Ric was sounding a little off by the end. The other usual segments don’t really add a lot. [Jarrett’s interview starts at 18:30] THUMBS DOWN

Art of Wrestling #327 (12/1/16): Longtime independent wrestler Josh Prohibition makes his first appearance. They talk about Josh’s current teaching gig and if he regrets not giving his all to wrestling, jumping from CZW to XPW (with some amazing stories), gaining fame as a backyard wrestler, his straight edge persona, and the hold wrestling still has on him. I imagine a lot of fans probably passed on this one after a few weeks of big names, but this is a surprisingly entertaining episode. THUMBS UP & BEST OF THE WEEK

The Steve Austin Show – Unleashed! #382 (12/1/16): A roundtable of sorts features Steve, Teddy Fowler, and Steve’s wife Kristen. They talk about breakfast burritos, shopping for groceries, and Steve combating all sorts of insects. It’s more palatable than the usual Ted appearance, but absolutely nothing you need to hear. THUMBS DOWN

Jim Cornette Experience #157 (12/1/16): The description for the show only mentions a mailbag, but for the first half of the show Jim and Brian revisit some of their favorite topics: Vince Russo and Donald, Trump. Thankfully after that we dig into the mailbag, with thoughts on the finish to WrestleMania X, who the Ding Dongs were, Jim’s personal favorite wrestlers as a fan, and narcoleptics in wrestling. Back half is quite enjoyable. THUMBS IN THE MIDDLE

Keepin’ it 100 #22 (12/1/16): Konnan recounts a recent show in Tijuana (with plenty of Teddy Hart stories) and a recent Paul London interview, Shane Helms talks UFC, a bizarre segment where Juventud Guerrera joins the Breakfast Club (?), more on the beef with Killing the Town, a long discussion on politics (a bit better than you’d think), and finally Dave Meltzer comes on for a very brief (12 minutes) of all things wrestling. A bit of a mixed bag, but props for closing the show with Disco’s version of Konnan’s theme. [Meltzer comes on the show at 1:25:15] THUMBS IN THE MIDDLE

Talk is Jericho #301 (12/2/16): O’Shea Jackson Jr., the son of Ice Cube, is the guest this week. A good bulk of the audio is Jackson talking about portraying his father in Straight Outta Compton, having to audition and all the 80’s slang. Jackson is also a big wrestling fan, which is cool (although his favorite match is a Shawn Michaels/Shane McMahon WrestleMania match that doesn’t exist), but when they talk other topics like Star Wars I lost interest. [Jackson’s interview starts at 4:22] THUMBS IN THE MIDDLE

MSL & Sullivan Show (12/2/16): A long opening segment sees Kevin and MSL discussing the resistance to change in wrestling over the years, “cute” finishes, Les Thatcher, and 4 hour matches before digging into the mailbag to chat about the Cleveland Riot, wrist tape, Adrian Street, and putting the title on someone too quickly. No Nitro review, and there won’t be any for a few weeks, but in 1997 they’re going to cover a show a week on their respective 20th anniversaries. THUMBS UP

Something to Wrestle With #18 (12/2/16): The Rise and Fall of Sunny is the topic this week, covering everything from her coming into the federation all the way through basically the current day. The read extended excerpts from her book, which certainly has a lot of juicy details. And of course, you get a lot of digressions on things like Ron Simmons, the Syracuse incident, seamstresses, and Charlie Minh. But the topic is depressing but this is a compelling listen. THUMBS UP

Not enough podcasts for you? Here’s what the Voices of Wrestling team put out this week:

Shake Them Ropes #184 (11/28/16): Rob and Jeff are here, but not together. Rob candidly talks about his decision not to accept a job with FloSlam, which Jeff has some thoughts on  Takeover and Survivor Series.

New Japan Purocast (11/28/16): Colin and Damon give their picks for the second annual End of the Year Awards. Don’t forget YOU can vote until December 15.

BritWres Roundtable (11/29/16): Oli and Arn run down ICW’s historic Fear and Loathing show, the most attended British wrestling show in decades.

Lucha of the Hidden Temple (12/1/16): Chris and Miles discuss Sexy Star losing the LU title so quickly, and wonder what the point of it all is (the title reign, not life).

Shake Them Ropes #185 (12/2/16): Rob and Jeff reunite to preview TLC, ask what’s next for James Ellsworth, and present the next match in their top 100 countdown, The Rock vs. Steve Austin from WrestleMania X-7.

Burning Spirits #7 (12/2/16): The gang has a complete rundown of the recent All Japan Sumo Hall show.