Wrestling talk shows have a long history in the business, going back more than 30 years.

 

Are they legitimate talk shows along the lines of, say,  The Tonight Show? Of course not, although some in wrestling have tried to emulate that format. These are brief interview segments - some as short as a minute or two - that have aired on wrestling programs, live events and even pay-per-views.

 

Wrestling talk shows have been used as a tool to elevate talent, introduce new characters and further big angles; sometimes, they're even used to kick off a brand new storyline. And while WWF/E has been the primary home for these outlets, many other promotions have tried to host a talk show over the years.

 

For our purposes, if these segments have a name (e.g. MizTV), and are hosted by a wrestler or wrestling personality, they can be considered a "wrestling talk show". Our exclusions include the longer-format programs (e.g. TNT, Prime Time Wrestling, The Bobby Heenan Show); pre-taped interview segments used to hype upcoming live events (e.g. Face to Face); and the nameless, generic interview segments that CBW spokesman Mean Gene Okerlund and others conducted on elevated platforms or similar sets.

 

And even with those segments excluded, we still have lots of segments to choose from. In counting down the Top 50 Wrestling Talk Shows, Canadian Bulldog's World looked at the following criteria:

 

• Were the talk shows prominent parts of a wrestling show?

• Were they around for a significant portion of time?

• How many historically memorable segments happened on the show?

 

If you'd like to be a part of this conversation, Tweet us at @canadianbulldog using the hashtag #Top50, or leave a comment below.

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WWE Hall of Famer Larry Zbyszko was arguably one of the most hated heels in the dying years of the AWA, and he often used his legendary mouth to sound off against babyfaces such as Sgt. Slaughter and The Midnight Rockers. In 1985, he was given his own talk show segment which built him up further as a heel.

During the early days of NWA-TNA, when the company aired on weekly pay-per-views, Disco Inferno hosted a talk show segment in which he interviewed some of the promotion's wilder characters such as The Dupps. On one show, he interviewed movie star "Dean Baldwin", who was Shark Boy without his mask.