📼 THE YEAR OF THE CASSETTE 📼
What happens when someone sends you a box of wrestling cassettes from the 1990s?
👉 You turn them into a podcast.
We’re officially launching The Year of the Cassette, a deep dive into Cassette Wrestling News — the OG audio wrestling experience that “Stone Cold” Steve Austin once called the first ever podcast.
📅 Here’s how it works:
• Episodes will drop on the MAIN FEED every other week starting February 11th, 2026
• BUT… they’re available RIGHT NOW on Patreon — WEEKLY!!
https://www.patreon.com/c/shootintheshiznit
These cassettes were mailed to subscribers during the heyday of wrestling fanzines, featuring Jeff Osborne & John Seaton delivering zany fun, real talk, and raw 90s wrestling energy.
Sit back, hit play, and take a trip to the past with the usual gang of CWN.
📼 The Year of the Cassette has begun.
👉 Patreon listeners get it first.
https://www.patreon.com/c/shootintheshiznit
Cassette Wrestling News – Episode #18 (September, 1991)
(Originally released as Issue #57)
Episode #18 of Cassette Wrestling News documents the uneasy stabilization of the show following the chaos of the previous two issues, as John Seaton returns to the microphone alongside Jeff Osborne and attempts a public on-air reset—promising a more measured, informative approach while the wrestling world itself remains in full collapse.
The episode opens with confirmation of the Ultimate Warrior’s firing from the WWF, including backstage confrontation details following SummerSlam and speculation on Warrior’s long-term future. Seaton and Osborne debate whether Sid Justice has already replaced Warrior at the top of the card, while questioning WWF’s creative direction and reliance on spectacle over substance.
As the episode unfolds, attention quickly shifts back to the industry-wide earthquake:
Ric Flair officially signing with Titan Sports, with detailed speculation on his WWF debut, early programs with Roddy Piper, and the inevitability of Flair vs. Hulk Hogan
Discussion of WWF acknowledging Flair’s championship lineage—an unprecedented move signaling the gravity of the signing
Continued frustration with WCW’s decline, blamed on Jim Herd, Dusty Rhodes, and corporate indifference from Ted Turner
Reports of growing dissatisfaction among WCW talent, including Barry Windham and Bobby Eaton, and speculation about an exodus to the WWF
The show also maintains CWN’s hallmark independent and underground coverage:
Updates on Cactus Jack’s increasingly dangerous performances, including wild bumps on WCW television, Clash of the Champions, and live event reports
Ongoing coverage of Tri-State Wrestling Alliance’s Autumn Armageddon II, promoted as the most violent independent card in wrestling history
Detailed results and eyewitness reporting from Dennis Corluzzo–promoted supercards, including Terry Funk vs. Bob Backlund
Contributions from Dr. Mike Lano, offering insight into WWF’s private meetings with wrestling media and the evolving relationship between Titan and the “sheet writers”
Commentary from Brian Tramel, Vince DePalma, and other CWN regulars, blending reporting, opinion, and confrontational editorial segments
Episode #18 also captures a tonal shift within CWN itself. While Seaton pledges restraint, the underlying tension between nostalgia, anger, and disbelief remains — particularly as wrestling becomes increasingly corporatized, talent movement accelerates, and the last remnants of the territory system fade.
By the close of the episode, Ric Flair’s WWF arrival is no longer rumor but reality, symbolizing a defining moment in wrestling history and reinforcing Cassette Wrestling News’ role as a real-time chronicler of an industry in transition.
