It’s a funny old business, professional wrestling. Broken down to it’s raw bones, it is grown men pretending to hit each other. But there’s a lot more to it than that, which is why if you said that to a wrestling fan, chances are they would hit the roof (and then maybe after hit you with a steel chair and ask you how real it felt). The majority of fans take this pantomime sport very seriously indeed, to the point of being scary. Many Podcasts on the subject reflect this ideology that this very comical “sport” is enjoyed by stoic supporters. So it’s nice to find a group of lads who don’t take it too seriously. Even the show’s hammy title suggests that they’re just having fun. Rocketbusta Radio offers up weekly pro wrestling news, views and a good old-fashioned laugh along the way.
Over the past two hundred episodes, the line-up has changed many times but two of the original “Fatal Four” have stood their ground throughout; the show’s official host and straight-man William R. Washington, and the show’s resident jester Nick Marsico. The other half of the four-way showdown is the quick-witted Jason Gallop and the dry-as-a-bone Paul Griffin. Wrestling fans all, these guys spend two hours a week talking about all the latest news from the wide world of professional wrestling, along with analysis of wrestling television and pay-per-views.
What makes this show stand out from the rest is apparent from the very opening. Washington, the producer of the show, has put a lot of time and effort into making the imaging sound so slick that it puts many radio shows to shame. How your Podcast sounds when people aren’t talking is as important as how it sounds when people are, and Will has that covered perfectly.
Despite his funny quips, Paul Griffin is the weakest of the four presenters when live, but the work his does behind the scenes on the website makes him a vital part of the show’s success. Jason Gallop seems to be forced to pay ten dollars every time he speaks as during the show it’s easy to forget he’s there. Yet when he does get involved he is either offering something incredibly insightful or bringing everything to a halt in tears of laughter, audience and presenters alike. Nick Marsico, one of the founding fathers of Rocketbusta Radio, has an incredibly polarising effect on the audience. Nick is the wrestling talk show Marmite; you either love him or hate him. When Nick gets bored it’s very obvious as he will spend his time tripping on words, talking over his fellow presenters and driving in-jokes screaming into the ground. Many have criticised Nick for his tangents on the show, claiming it speed-bumps the discussion, but the same volume of people claim that Nick is the best part of the Podcast with his destructive reaction to tedium.
Comedy aside, Rocketbusta Radio is extremely well researched and passionate about the product they discuss. Some of their best moments have come when opinions are divided clean down the middle on a particular subject. CM Punk proved to be a lightning rod for arguments in the Summer of 2008, and consequently made for interesting listening all the while. And talking about the errors of TNA Wrestling also brings out the best in the Fatal Four. In past episodes, the hosts have been joined by some very notable names from the world of wrestling including Chris Jericho, Rob Van Dam and numerous upcoming independent workers. It’s also worth giving a listen to their interview with Batista…or rather, with Batista’s representative on the “appropriateness of questions”.
With a sport like professional wrestling that leaves its fans so open to mockery, thank goodness for Rocketbusta Radio which provides fans with weekly wrestling talk from four very down-to-earth guys who don’t take the art of grown men hitting each other too seriously. Whilst I wouldn’t expect a non-wrestling fan to sit down and enjoy this, I see no reason why every wrestling supporter who can see the funny side of their chosen fandom shouldn’t download this Podcast.
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