The Ron Fuller Podcast (Studcast)

[Matt D]

Five episodes in (and one other one that I heard later on after the change in co-host), and while I'm not going to say that this is the best pro wrestling podcast ever, it pretty much is. It's a straight up narrative of the Welch/Fuller family and their history in wrestling, starting from Roy (and the people who trained him) all the way down. It goes slow and takes its time, is full of stories, is primarily Fuller talking with very few questions. He's an amazing storyteller who can just go and go and go.

 

Obviously, we, as wrestling fans, are taught to not trust the Welch family (isn't that sort of funny? But we've heard it multiple times from multiple sources, from Gary Hart on down), but it's just wildly compelling and Fuller is so amazingly charismatic and gracious as the Southern Gentleman.

 

As I said, I leaped ahead. The first episode I listened to was about Fuller leaving his first territory and going to Florida, why he went there, and how, as a booker, you dealt with talents coming and going, so it was a mix of autobiography and wrestling philosophy. The earlier ones have primarily been history laced with first-and-second-hand stories. The earlier ones have co-hosts I don't know that get a bit more involved, though never fully get in the way. The one on Floridia I heard had Last, but he just kept admirably out of the way.

 

I'm surprised that people here haven't talked about it more.

[Al]

That sounds really interesting. Thanks for the recommendation.

[SomethingSavage]

What's the general run time of these episodes?

 

I may have to scope some of these out.

[Matt D]

They're around an hour and fifteen minutes, I think. Very easy to listen at 1.5x speed too.

[Johnny Sorrow]

Why the fuck would you listen to audio speeded up? That's insane and an insult to people doing shows.

[El-P]

I read some of the posts at 1.5X speed too.

[BigBadMick]

Why the fuck would you listen to audio speeded up? That's insane and an insult to people doing shows.

Really doesn't take much to set you off, does it?

[WingedEagle]

Why the fuck would you listen to audio speeded up? That's insane and an insult to people doing shows.

 

Why sit through commercials on shows you DVR? Why go to the bathroom during commercials? Not everyone can allocate the same amount of time to all pursuits. If someone wants to pay me to listen to podcasts at any particular speed I'll certainly consider any offers, but comments like this that let people spout knee jerk, consequence free hostilities is exactly what is wrong with the internet.

[Matt D]

I'll say this: if Johnny wanted to run a con on me in real life, I'd be in trouble, because I'd only be able to recognize his voice at 1.5x speed.

 

But seriously, this is about the Fuller podcast and people should listen to it.

[flyonthewall2983]

Why the fuck would you listen to audio speeded up? That's insane and an insult to people doing shows.

 

Some of these podcasts are pretty long, so I would see the need for it that way. I've actually tried it out on a few apps and it isn't like they sound unintelligible either. You can make out what they are saying but it just goes by pretty fast.

[Al]

Just finished episode two. I think there's some cognitive dissidence decrying Vince McMahon taking over professional wrestling when you just spent an hour describing how your grandfather built a wrestling promotion by literally assaulting people.

[gunder]

On 5/8/2018 at 12:52 PM, Al said:

Just finished episode two. I think there's some cognitive dissidence decrying Vince McMahon taking over professional wrestling when you just spent an hour describing how your grandfather built a wrestling promotion by literally assaulting people.

I  did notice that. But hey, I'm sure he'd have a different take if Vince circa 1984 was going into dressing rooms threatening to stretch Verne Gagne and Ole Anderson! Different world.

 

I'm currently on episode 36.  It really is tremendous.  Even the stuff about his college athletics days in the 60s is interesting. My BS meter for wrestling is pretty high, and I haven't come across a lot to look askance at. The perspectives you get on Georgia and Florida at the beginning of his career (and his dad's booking) you won't get from anywhere else.  There's one hilarious story somewhere about a cocky heel in Georgia, who lived the gimmick, that everyone in the dressing room hated (as Ron repeats numerous times just for context!) who was speeding to a show one night and got pulled over.  He actually tried to bigtime the officer: "Hey boy, don't you know who I am? I'm Mr. Confidence!"  

When they get to the late 70s and 80s- his heyday as a promoter and TV booker- I trust that Brian will ask the right questions.

[BigBadMick]

I listened to the Atlanta episodes. As much as Fuller's a great storyteller - and this is especially the case listening to several shows back to back - he can be a bit longwinded and repeat himself. I'm sure Last knows his audience has a strong grasp of fundamentals and could politely speed Ron along when he's over explaining things.

 

That said, very good shows. I'll dip into the archive here and there.