Joe Gagne

Pssst...it's pronounced "GAG-knee." But given how Verne and Greg pronounce it, I can forgive the confusion.

This is something I post Fridays at the F4W board and figured I'd throw it up here too. Basically it's a take on the Podmass column at the AVClub, where I listen to all the wrestler hosted podcasts and tell you what's what. Basically, I listen so you don't have to. ------------------------------------------------------ No Art of Wrestling yet. Goldberg’s podcast isn’t up yet either but I’ll add it when I can. Also, this was a good week for podcasts. The podcast week in review, brought to you by MeUndies.com Something a little new – now and then I’ll throw in an Outlier, which will be a podcast outside of the usual coverage that caught my eye. Outlier Where the Big Boys Play: WTBBP is a WCW themed podcast covering the PPV’s, Clashes, and random TV. This is a big one as Chad and Parv are joined by Will (of Good Will Wrestling fame) to break down the notorious Great American Bash 1991. Is the show as bad as advertised? Plus, they run down the news at the time around Ric Flair’s firing and ask if it was justified. A very long show that flies by. The Usual Suspects Talk n’ Shop (8/9/14): Karl and Doc check in from the G-1 tournament. Good stories about independent promoting, Doc getting smashed before his PPV match with Kane, and the Bray Wyatt/Shinsuke Nakamura appreciation society. The “friends cracking each other up” vibe really comes through in one of the better shows they’ve done. THUMBS UP MLW Radio (8/10/14/14): Q&A with Konnan and MSL. I usually like that pairing best, but I don’t know if Konnan went to Iran too much or had Triplemania on his mind but he seems largely disinterested in most of the questions. THUMBS DOWN Piper’s Pit (8/11/14): “The Grappler” Len Denton is back on to promote his book. You can tell Piper really has fun around Denton, but they repeat a lot of stories from the Grappler’s prior appearance. They rehash the “Len didn’t get paid for working the Superdome” story that Dave Meltzer refuted, and I guess refute the refutation. THUMBS IN THE MIDDLE Steve Austin Show (8/12/14): Steve talks to “Superstar” Bill Dundee about his career. It’s an OK interview, but a lot of it felt rehashed from Dundee’s appearance on Cornette’s show. THUMBS IN THE MIDDLE Talk is Jericho (8/13/14): Jericho has a long chat with Chael Sonnen. Chael is very open (or at least comes off that way) about his trash talking mentality and recent drug suspension. MMA talk of course, but a good amount of wrestling as well, including a great story about Chael getting cold called by the WWE. THUMBS UP & BEST OF THE WEEK The Ross Report (8/13/14): Bully Ray is on the show this week, talking his time in ECW, WWE and TNA. They don’t get into the future of TNA at all, but Bully Ray is really a solid, well spoken guest. He has been on a bunch of podcasts, so while there’s some repetition, there’s also a lot of good conversation, and JR doesn’t steamroll Bully like he does most guests. THUMBS UP Bauer & Greenfield (8/1/14): Court’s on vacation, so Alex Greenfield steps in and acquits himself nicely. Greenfield admits he’s not an expert on things like New Japan, which is nice, and they run down the G-1, Summerslam, and Alberto firing. THUMBS UP Steve Austin – Unleashed (8/14/14): Mick Foley stops by and chats the early part of his career in the first portion of a 2 part interview. Pretty much all wrestling talk and they go a lot into about the mentality of Vince McMahon. A lot of the info is in Foley’s books, but I still enjoy hearing Mick talk wrestling. This would be the show of the week most weeks. THUMBS UP Jim Cornette Experience (8/7/14): The main crux of the interview is a talk with “Exotic” Adrian Street and talk of classic British wrestling, a very interesting topic that doesn’t get much play. Skip the beginning portion of the show where Cornette discusses the Robin Williams suicide and has embarrassingly outdated thoughts on depression (essentially “if you’re rich and famous why are you so sad?”), made even worse by the fact his co-host has apparently suffered from depression. THUMBS UP Talk is Jericho (8/15/14): Jericho talks to James Durbin, who finished 4th on the 10th season of American Idol. It starts OK, talking about the Idol audition process, but quickly peters out. The big news is Jericho takes some calls, and who should call in but Bray Wyatt? The two cut cringeworthy promos on each other (Actual Jericho quote: “You’re a big dark, black spider, filled with poison. And I know, I tasted that poison on Sister Abigail’s kiss many times.”) and probably cost the Network some buys. THUMBS DOWN

http://www.thecubsfan.com/jvstw/jvstw75.mp3 Joe vs. the World returns! This week, we’re joined by Dylan Hales of the Wrestling Culture podcast, as we run down the entire NXT roster. We go from A(drian Neville) to Z(ayn, Sami) and decide who stays, who gets called up, and who gets cut, plus thoughts on incoming talent, and who we would sign. Plus Bull Dempsey on Hey Dude!, what the hell are the Ascension?, nobody likes CJ Parker, and much much more! Over an hour of podcast power!