THE STEVE AUSTIN SHOW UNLEASHED
HOST: “STONE COLD” STEVE AUSTIN
GUEST: JAKE “THE SNAKE” ROBERTS
RELEASE DATE: SEPT. 10, 2015
DIRECT LINK TO STREAM OR DOWNLOAD EPISODE
By Andrew Fiero, PWPodcasts.com Reporter
TOP ITEMS FROM SHOW
Austin and Jake discussion the infamous “Austin 3:16” promo
Jake Roberts discussing teachings from his father
Jake Roberts talking about wrestling psychology throughout podcast.
Jake Roberts reveals how being called “The Snake” originated
Discussion and humorous stories about blading
Discussion about “The Resurrection of Jake Roberts” and items from his childhood.
TOPICS DISCUSSED (w/Time Stamps)
(0:00) – Austin opens show
(4:40) – Austin discusses working with DDP
(11:00) – Jake “The Snake” Roberts introduced, immediately begin discussing the 1996 King of the Ring.
(14:35) – The two stars backtrack to Jake Robert’s beginnings with the business. Jake discusses learning from his father.
(33:50) – The two move forward to talking about the origin of the Jake’s “The Snake” moniker.
(43:21) – A discussion about the Art of Cheating, with both having similar “old school” beliefs on the topic.
(49:00) – A quick discussion regarding the importance of referees to a match.
(50:00) – The two talk about blading, their methods, and other stories on the topic.
(1:01:00) – The humorous story about how the DDT came to be.
(1:06:52) – The two talk about calling moves in the ring.
(1:09:58) – An interesting story of when Jake “The Snake” Roberts first started wrestling Andre the Giant.
(1:14:00) – In depth discussion about the documentary “The Resurrection of Jake Roberts”.
(1:22:10) – Interview concludes, Austin closes the show with his TWO matches of the day.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM DISCUSSION
Before talking about what seemed like a lengthy ad for a new television show that Austin is not directly involved with (titled “Live Free or Die” on National Geographic), Austin opens the show by talking about how he is in Smyrna, Georgia today, home of the DDP Yoga Performance Center. He shares a humorous story about moving in with DDP 11 years ago and how the two were just like “The Odd Couple” with Austin being a slob and Page being a neat freak.
Once Jake “The Snake” Roberts is introduced, the two immediately go into talking about the infamous 1996 King of the Ring with Austin very grateful about how Jake “The Snake” helped make “Stone Cold” Steve Austin who he was.
Big moment in the podcast has Austin saying “I basically owe my whole WWE run to you” with Roberts responding “If you owe me for anything, you owe me for sticking up for you in the [explicative] office.
There’s clearly a lot of respect between these two men which makes this podcast seem all the more important and personal. It feels less like an interview and more like two close friends talking behind closed doors at times. Jake has another great line of “I did it for you (referencing sticking up for Austin behind the scenes), wrestling needed you.”
Austin moves the discussion to Jake’s wrestling upbringing. Starting back from learning lessons from his father.
Jake moves to his training days, as he training with Buck Robely. Buck was big on a “less is more” approach.
There’s a major emphasis on “credibility” that remains throughout the entire podcast.
Jake surprises Austin by saying when he first got into the wrestling business, he was so bad the company made him a referee.
With credibility, the two discuss how it’s important to make every move count.
The story slows down a bit as he talks about various territories he worked including Japan and Calgary. While some stories are humorous, overall this section seemed a bit plodding.
The two discussing the birth of “The Snake” gimmick turns the podcast around and is a very strong section worth listening to. Jake telling Austin why Bill Watts didn’t like Jake’s idea of bringing a snake to the ring had Austin caught off guard. Watts suggesting he bring a hockey mask in the bag instead as an equalizer was very humorous.
Discussing how the name “The Snake” came into play goes a little further back than the gimmick and is a real humorous story involving Paul Ordanoff and activities outside of the squared circle.
As the two move onto ring psychology, Jake talks about as a heel, you need a solid finish to get over and how it’s very important to not say something you can’t do. Jake uses the example of a heel saying “I’m going to kill him” in a promo. Instead, he suggests “I’m going to make him wish he was dead” because that’s something he could do within the realm of wrestling.
The two talk about the art of “powder”. For those unfamiliar with the term, it’s when a heel (or babyface, as Jake discusses) rolls under the bottom rope intentionally to buy some time.
This brings the discussion to cheating as a whole. Jake believes cheating is simple.
Jake has an interesting line about credibility. Whilst talking about how hitting a wrestler with a weapon, Jake mentions that if the wrestler can get back up, it can ruin your credibility. Jake uses the odd example in saying ‘There’s no heat when you hit a guy with a sledgehammer.” While it most likely isn’t a veiled attack on the man, it’s hard not to immediately wonder if this is at all a reference to Triple H.
There’s a quick discussion about how referees are important to adding credibility as well.
The two talk about blading. Even with both wrestlers being of the old school mentality, it’s still shocking the two take some time on air to discuss their methods for blading. Granted, this is the “Unleashed” podcast. The two talk about the right and wrong way to do it and how they would prepare the blades before a match.
There’s a real humorous story about the first time Jake bladed. I dare not spoil it for you hear. This one is worth listening to.
Austin tells a story about a match in which both he and Dusty Rhodes bladed. Lex Luger came down to the ring during their match and apparently couldn’t stand the sight.
Talking about the DDT’s origin is another humorous story. Sometimes mistakes can turn positive, and this may be the ultimate example of one.
While talking about the DDT, Jake sidetracks the conversation with an interesting line about how when he was working heel, he would always listen to the audience. Apparently when working face, however, he wouldn’t listen for the pop. He was unsure why he did this.
The two talk about how Jake would barely call audibles in a match. This brought the conversation full circle as the talks went back to “Less is More”. By having fewer moves in his arsenal, He didn’t need to call the moves as much.
Jake reveals his favorite person to work with was Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat, citing the that he really knew how to sell.
The conversation moves to Andre The Giant with an interesting story about how Jake hated working with the big man at first.
The two talk about Vince McMahon being angry with Jake for not working the popular at the time squash matches correctly. Jake didn’t like squashing opponents, stating it wasn’t very snake-like if the DDT wasn’t out of nowhere.
The two close out discussing the documentary “The Resurrection of Jake Roberts”.
While Austin says wrestling is out of his blood, Jake says that it will never be out of his.
Jake states how the drinking and drugs were his choice and how those decisions caused him to hate himself. He hopes the documentary helps a lot of people. Austin mentions how watching it caused him to tear up, and how that was very rare for him.
Jake closes talking about how his promos came from his rough upbringing. This was a somber note to end on, but a powerful one nonetheless.
Austin signs off with two “Match of the Day” suggestions, neither of which he goes into a specific match between the two competitors:
Jake “The Snake” Roberts vs. Ricky “The Dragon Steamboat
Jake “The Snake” Roberts vs. “Macho Man” Randy Savage
SCORE & REVIEW
7.0 out of 10: This show will have different mileage for different listeners. While my personal rating for the show would be higher, those who are looking for more WWF/E related discussion will not hear it here. The discussion about blading was surprising to hear as the two might have pulled back the curtain too far on this aspect of the wrestling world, painting the listener far too clear an image on how to properly conceal a blade. Still, the story that this lead to regarding Jake’s first time blading is fantastic and causes Austin to let out a great laugh. The rest of this podcast is very enjoyable. Jake “The Snake” comes off as he always has, a true master of his craft. The two friends clearly share the same mentality on the art of wrestling, a mentality that they both seem to agree is missing in this day and age. As the two discuss various aspects of credibility, it’s hard not to be intrigued by the knowledge that Jake possesses. Jake remains the great talker he always has been known to be. For old school wrestling fans, this podcast is one that is worth listening to. For others, it might not be as enjoyable.
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