Another year has passed by and it felt like just yesterday Les Moore, Hugh Little, and Sealia Bloom were presenting the 2016 Sheety Awards. A lot can change in 365 days. Some of our favorite wrestlers can be exposed as someone you end up hating with a burning passion. TNA/Impact Wrestling might be put on life support for the millionth time. Chris Jericho could end up wrestling outside of WWE for the first time in nearly 20 years. Dave Meltzer might even rate several matches over six stars. All of those came true. Some things change and others stay the same. The one thing that remained the same with me is that my wrestling podcast listening has been insane. I have listened to more hours of podcasts than last year. On average, I probably listen to at least 25 hours of audio content per week. A quick match lesson for you all, that’s a day plus an hour per week! I don’t regret a single second of it.
2017 was a very strong one for not only wrestling in the ring but podcasts, websites, and more. Today, I’m here to help you get started on an adventure into the great sea of wrestling podcasts. Maybe you aren’t a fan of WWE, that’s okay. There are so many audio shows that cover wrestling outside of WWE. New Japan Pro Wrestling did tremendous business in 2017 and with that came more people talking about it in the form of a podcast. Do you miss hearing people talk about the good old days when Ric Flair was stylin’ and profilin’ at his peak? Maybe you’re interested in what’s going on in today’s independent wrestling scene. Who knows, some of you might even be interested in how wrestling promotions are doing financially. There is even a podcast for that.
Now, let me tell you all about the five wrestling podcasts you should be listening to in 2018!
5.) Lucha Talk
Kicking things off, we have a podcast that isn’t brand new. It’s a podcast that doesn’t get enough love though. Lucha Talk is a podcast series on the MLW Network hosted by Dylan Harris (@DylanZeroSky), Fredo Esparza (@therealfredo), and Microman Fever (@MicromanFever). The trio dives into the crazy world of Lucha Libre each week covering the happenings that only happen in lucha. Whether it be a luchador vandalizing a vehicle, Sexy Star shooting on Rosemary, or Microman being awesome, the boys got you covered! The trio covers promotions like CMLL, AAA, Lucha Underground, and etc. The gang does a tremendous job of reviewing the weekly shows, matches, promos are more. Microman Fever translates promos, which is awesome for those who don’t speak Spanish. If you want to get into the world of Lucha, I highly recommend this audio show!
Wrestling occurs in all parts of the world. The styles that are presented to us come in many different forms. You may like some, you make hate others. For instance, I’m not the biggest fan of wrestlers doing aerial moves constantly. I’d rather see two competitors just beat the hell out of each other with fierce strikes and impactful moves. That’s where this podcast comes into play. Wrestling Omakase is a wrestling podcast a part of the Voices of Wrestling Network that is hosted by John (@toshanshuinLA), a huge fan of puroresu. The unique thing about this podcast is that John doesn’t cover just one style of wrestling. He doesn’t cover wrestling in just one region of the world. He covers all regions and promotions. You might be asking yourself how he can watch so much wrestling? Well, he doesn’t watch all of these promotions consistently. John watches a ton of them though. Each week, he brings on one guest or more two help cover the topic on hand. The podcast series began in 2017 when John brought on guest Connor Dunphy (@isalrightnow) to discuss New Japan’s G1 Climax 27 tournament that was taking place at the time. He has since had various guests on his show to talk about promotions like WWE, NJPW, AJPW, ROH, NOAH, TNA/IMPACT, CZW, STARDOM, Sendai Girls, Oz Academy, and more. His guests are mostly great as they do a fantastic job of introducing the listeners to wrestling promotions or styles of wrestling they may not be familiar with. This is a must-listen podcast to me as wrestling continues to grow, John and his guests will keep you up to speed!
3.) VOW Flagship
This podcast is one that I always find myself anticipating throughout the week. Joe Lanza and Rich Kraetsch (@voiceswrestling) breakdown all of the news in the week of wrestling. Joe brings his hot takes and great analysis along with Rich. There is no telling what might happen in one week of wrestling, so Joe and Rich got you covered if you get lost. One thing is certain, Joe and Rich are passionate about wrestling. The duo breakdown all sorts of promotions like WWE, New Japan, ROH, Dragon Gate (sometimes), AJPW, and more. The podcast ranges from two to three hours of audio content depending on the week. They don’t only cover what goes on inside the ring. The two discuss rumors, contract situations, upcoming wrestling events, and wrestling media. If you want a podcast that discusses a wide array of wrestling, this is the one you’ve been looking for.
2.) Fightful’s Post-RAW and SmackDown Shows
Next up, we have two podcasts I’ve decided to group in together. Both shows a part of Fightful and hosted by Sean Ross Sapp (@SeanRossSapp). Immediately after RAW on Monday’s, he and Alex Pawlowski (@pawlowskithe4th) breakdown what transpired on the show. Sean and Alex bring humor and great insight to listeners. One thing about this podcast that is unlike many, you can watch it in a video format on YouTube. They have a live chat so you can give your input on the show being discussed. Tuesdays immediately after SmackDown, Sean is joined by Jeff Hawkins (@crapgame13) and the lovely Anna Bauert (@AnnaBauert) to discuss what just happened on SmackDown. Jeff brings his corny jokes and great insight to the table. Anna brings her not-so-corny jokes and great woman’s perspective to the table. All jokes aside, this is a wonderful panel of podcasters. Sean does a great job of steering the ship and giving updates coming out of the show too. There is also a live chat for this show to join in on the fun! Overall, this is the podcast for you if you want to keep up with the current happenings in wrestling!
Live Audio Wrestling was shutdown late last year after the Fight Network went through budget cuts. The likes of Dan Lovranski, Jason Agnew, John Pollock, and Wai Ting were released as a result. For a while, John (@iamjohnpollock) and Wai Ting (@waidecided to do a podcast covering RAW and SmackDown Live by using just a random host site. The fans continued to follow them even outside of the LAW umbrella, including myself. The time and effort that all of the LAW crew put into their work didn’t go unnoticed by the listeners. It wasn’t long until John and Wai began hinting at some sort of future beyond posting podcasts on a host site that wasn’t their own. John and Wai began posting vignettes on twitter that were identical to those that the Bludgeon Brothers from WWE. These videos led up to the eventual launch of POST Wrestling. John and Wai now have a new place to call home. On the day they launched the site, they also announced a patreon to help support them on their new adventure. In less than a week, the two were shocked to see they had over 1000 patrons. John Pollock and Wai Ting bring a chemistry that is unmatched in the podcasting world. John and Wai have started the POST Wrestling podcasts with two staples that were the same as the ones they did on Live Audio Wrestling. The two staples are now called Rewind-A-RAW and Rewind-A-SmackDown. Wai tries to find the good in bad segments and John gives amazing in-depth analysis.
