I listen to a LOT of wrestling radio via the internet both US and UK shows. I wanted to do a blog giving my views on the shows and what I think of them. For the US ones, as advertised on the page of thisblog site, I am a fan of the Don Tony & Kevin Castle show coming out of New York live on a Monday night 11:15 pm which is 4:14 am here in the UK or you can get the archive on the site or iTunes. Don Tony (Anthony DiBlasi) is a straight shooter, he won't beat around the bush, he'll say exactly what he feels, a lot of his opinions I don't totally agree with but that's OK, the way he does his shows make for good listening. His co-host, Kevin Castle is a different type of guy. Very knowledgable about the 'old school' product and this he will bring up during discussions about the current product. And another thing I like about Kevin is he like myself, is a fan of the shoot interviews and Kevin will do great reviews of the interviews on the DTKC show which is good for me because I am so far behind and need to catch up and if Kev reviews one and he puts it over, I know it's worth checking out. I watched one some time ago that was awful, shortly after, Kev did a review, I just wish I'd heard the review before wasting my time watching the shoot LOL. Overall, if you like outspoken presenters with a good knowledge of wrestling history then the DTKC show is for you.
Also on the same 'network' (www.wrestling-news.com) there are a couple of other shows, DT does Breakfast With Blasi live on a Tuesday night after WWE NXT (11:15pm/4:15am in the UK)and it is very much like the DT&KC show but different LOL. Also, DT does The Masked Maniac show with The Maniac who is USA Pro promoter Frank Goodman, I have not listened to many shows but what I have listetned to have been great. And finally, the guy who runs the site for the guys, Anthony 'Missonary' Thomas does The Wrestling Soup show with Joey Numbas and this show is great. Both guys follow the indies a little so the discussion is different to the DT&KC & BWB shows and Missionary has interviews on his show too. I love this show big time. If you are able to catch any of the shows live, which I recommend, then get in the chat room on the site because it is full of knowledgable fans, some say outlandish things sometimes which can be very funny, well worth it.
Other US radio shows I listen to; The Wrestling Observer site (www.wrestlingobserver.com) have 2-3 shows a day sometimes, OK you have to pay to be a subscriber for this service but other than the radio shows, you get archived shows aswell as Dave Meltzer's weekley Wrestling Observer Newsletter and Bryan Alverez's Figure 4 Weekly newsletter. Dave only appears 1-2 times a week, but Bryan is basically running every show, he'll have co-hosts too as well as Lance Storm on once a week and as anyone knows who reads Lance's blogs, he has a lot to say for himself.
Also, another one of my favourite radio shows is Pro-Wrestling Radio (www.prowrestlingradio.com) with former ECW ring announcer former CZW commentator Eric Gargiulo. EVERYTHING is covered on this show, WWE, TNA, indies and MMA Eric also takes phonecalls from the listeners each week. Overall, a very good show.
Eric is also part of a show called The Still Real To Us Show which can be found on the Real Guy Network on www.wheelhouseradio.com) the actual host is 'The Champ' Jeff Peck and is a big fan of pro wrestling. When Eric is not available, the guys from wrestlechat.net jump in and co-host the show with Jeff. I really like this show and it deserves more listeners, please check it out.
That's it basically for what I listen to from the US now let's move onto the UK shows.
It's no secret, I am a massive fan of Drop Kick Radio (www.dropkickradio.com) hosts Jeremy Graves & Martyn licchelli are big fans of pro wrestling and watch alot of stuff, not just WWE & TNA but indies too and Jeremy is a follower of the Japanese product which is just great because there are not many who host wrestling radio shows that watch that product anymore. DKR for me is the number 1 UK show because of it's content, for me it's the content tha gets my vote on wether something is number 1 or not. As the two guys cover more than just TNA/WWE it automatically makes it a better show than anything else in the UK, and the guys are real genuine guys, they don't have their heads up their arses. Please check out Drop Kick Radio, I'd be surprised if you were disapointed. Also, DKR has great interviews, a great chatroom, great competitions and often has phone-ins.
Now, the show that does think it's number 1 in the UK is Ministry of Slam, I don't want to give them any publicity but I need to comment on all shows. MOS is hosted by Lee Tyers & Andy Evans who before than did The Squared Circle show & The Legends & Champions show. I didn't hear any TSC really but I did hear the LAC shows and I liked them for what they were, shows basically reliving pro-wrestlings yesteryear. When MOS started, it was just the two guys and the show was OK, didn't really cover anything other than WWE/TNA but was OK. As time has gone on, they have added co-hosts to the show, they don't need to be named but one is a lead singer of a UK rock band, one is an editor of an XBox 360 magazine and one is editor of Fighting Spirit Magazine. Five guys basically doing the same show is not good radio in my opinion, and that's all it is, my opinion. What annoys me though about this show is they only cover WWE and TNA and the reason given "it's what's in the mainstream". So, because other wrestling is not seen by UK fans on TV even though UK fans see other wrestling on the internet or via DVD, then they don't cover it. And you can't say anything about this or they will spit their dummies out and toss their toys out the pram. So when something negative is said, rather than say "OK, we take that on board, we'll ask the listeners what they wants us to discuss" they will say something like "if you don't like it fuck off and don't listen" and people who read this blog and also listen to that show will know I am telling the truth. So narrow minded as a pro wrestling radio show in my opinion.
I stated earlier, DKR is the number 1 UK wrestlking radio show because the presenters are knowledgable and they cover more types of wrestling. MOS thinks they are number 1 because "the listener numbers prove it". No, what they prove is more people have been exposed to MOS than they have DKR. I am not going to lie, I listen to MOS live when I can, I join in the chatroom because I am a wrestling fan, no I don't like what they do with the show but should that be a reason not to listen, am I a hypocrite? I don't think so because, let's be frank, I'd say 99 percent of people reading this watch WWE's RAW, are you happy with the show week in week out? I am sure you are not, but does that make you think oh, this weeks RAW was rubbish, I won't watch it again? No it doesn't, you'll tune in and hope things change.
I am sure I'll get some heat for this article but it's a free world, these are my opinions and I value yours.
Thanks, Stu
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