“CHEAP HEAT” PODCAST
HOSTS: David Shoemaker & Peter Rosenberg
RELEASE DATE: September 30, 2015
DIRECT LINK TO LISTEN/DOWNLOAD
Podcast Recap by Corey Freedman
Top Newsworthy Items
– The hosts are enjoying the Dudley Boyz current run and how they are being used. They all hope the continue for a while and hope that we get to see another heel run out of them.
– While the hosts are happy Summerslam weekend is staying in Brooklyn, they wonder how good a decision it is for the WWE to commit to one location so many years in advance. Specifically, Shoemaker wonders if NXT will be able to keep up its pace/popularity two years from now.
– In reference to the MSG Network Special, Shoemaker wonders if the WWE is promoting too many events and if that is watering down the overall product.
– The trio is not pleased with Mark Henry’s current booking and hope to see him have another strong run before he retires.
– Shoemaker is enjoying Kane’s current gimmick/storyline, but Greg and Rosenberg are not enjoying it at all.
– All the hosts mention how much they enjoyed the Bray Wyatt vs. Roman Reigns match from Monday Night Raw.
Subjects Covered (w/ Timestamps)
0:00 – Sponsor ad
0:30 – Introduction
3:10 – Raw Ratings trending downward/Opening segment discussion
12:15 – NXT Panel on the WWE Network
13:40 – Character entrances
17:45 – Use of the Dudley Boyz
19:45 – SummerSlam staying in Brooklyn
21:20 – General Discussion (Greg going to WM32/Tyga the rapper)
25:00 – Return to SummerSlam in Brooklyn discussion
28:15 – Mark Henry discussion/Big Show discussion
36:10 – Madison Square Garden Network special
38:10 – Kane
42:30 – Brock Lesnar’s Go To Hell Tour
46:15 – Back to ratings discussion
48:30 – Divas Revolution
50:49 – Wyatt vs. Reigns
54:20 – Emma’s Youtube cooking show
59:00 – Stat Guy Greg reviews the show
1:03:55 – Goodbyes and sign off
Show Highlights
Raw Ratings: David Shoemaker begins the conversation by posing the question, “should WWE be concerned about ratings dropping?” Shoemaker continues by saying that at the very least, people shouldn’t compare ratings to the Attitude Era because the television viewing experience is completely different (people can watch on DVR, online at their leisure, etc). The hosts also briefly discuss how Monday Night Football detracts from Raw ratings. Shoemaker wonders if John Cena opened the show on Monday in response to the low ratings. The hosts then discuss how much they are enjoying Big E.’s dancing. Rosenberg goes on to say that he really enjoyed the New Days work as a team on Monday Night to reiterate that they are heels, even though the crowd enjoys their antics. Rosenberg also loved the face tag team (the Dudley Boyz) coming to the aid of John Cena.
NXT Panel: Shoemaker starts by discussing how odd it is to see heels (Owens and Rollins) sitting next to faces (Balor) and casually discussing Dusty Rhodes. He also talks about how this panel gives you some insight into Dusty’s role in NXT from the perspective of those in developmental.
Character Entrances: The NXT discussion leads to the hosts talking about how much fine-tuning goes into an entrance before it is complete. Rosenberg wonders when wrestlers started doing such choreographed entrances (i.e. choreographed so that it is repeatable every time they enter). He posits that perhaps it was Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart.
Dudley Boyz: Rosenberg starts this topic off by saying how much he has enjoyed how the WWE has been using the Dudley Boyz since their return. He notes that it feels better than when the New Age Outlaws have returned. Shoemaker would predict right now that they will be involved in a match at WrestleMania 32.
SummerSlam in Brooklyn: The hosts seem to have mixed feelings about this. They all live in New York, so they are happy about the proximity, but they worry about the WWE putting on a great weekend this year and immediately trying to repeat it. Rosenberg also enjoys the trips to L.A. for the event, and that won’t be a thing for the next few years. Shoemaker says it surprises him that WWE would commit to Brooklyn two years in advance as he felts the luster with L.A. seemed to wear off in the last couple years. Rosenberg follows by saying this is a big commitment to NXT, specifically, because who knows if they will still be able to fill Barclays in two years. It’s hard to predict that they will be able to put on a show of similar quality two years from now.
Mark Henry-Big Show: The hosts discuss how Mark Henry has recently been getting squashed on a regular basis. They hope that he will have another solid run before he retires. Greg makes the point that Mark Henry had similar feuds/moments with the Big Show as Brock Lesnar so it is weird to see him getting squashed while they promote the Big Show and Lesnar. Shoemaker brings up the MSG event by saying how the WWE puts themselves in an odd position with an event like this because all of the booking needs to focus on it. For example, he bring up how they are treating the Big Show like a big deal only for the few weeks leading up to his match with Lesnar. He goes on to say that Paul Heyman’s promo with the Big Show on Monday was the first Heyman promo he hasn’t really cared about. Rosenberg relates this back to the Mark Henry discussion by asking how the Big Show ends up in a spot with Lesnar while Henry is jobbing each week. He worries that there will be no way for Henry to have a decent run again if he continues to lose in such quick matches. Rosenberg fantasy books a scenario in which The Miz transitions to the role of a manager to elevate Mark Henry again.
MSG: Rosenberg reads through the entire card. He mentions how much this card feels like a really fun house show.
Kane: Shoemaker starts by saying how much he has been enjoying Kane recently. Rosenberg and Greg couldn’t seem to disagree more. Greg has not been enjoying the constant flipping between Corporate Kane and Demon Kane. Rosenberg says all of this has been “one notch too stupid.” He wonders what the big payoff for Kane could possibly be. Shoemaker enjoys the constant flipping and the split personality gimmick.
Go To Hell Tour: Shoemaker starts by wondering how much WWE had to pay for Brock Lesnar to agree to this tour. He also notes that it feels like watering down the Lesnar gimmick by having him appear so much, especially at a house show. Shoemaker also wonders how much all of this is helping build Hell in a Cell. They play audio from a WWF Attitude commercial.
Ratings Discussion pt.2: Rosenberg circles back to ratings after they watch the WWF Attitude commercial. He wonders what it would take, in terms of the ratings nosedive, for things to drastically change in the WWE. Shoemaker follows by noting that Monday was the most he has fast-forwarded during Raw in a long time. This leads to a brief discussion of how long the Dolph Ziggler-Rusev feud has been going on.
Divas: Shoemaker brings up how nice it was to see Natalya involved in the Divas Revolution storyline. The hosts agreed that her with Becky and Charlotte was a nice combination. Rosenberg completely derails the conversation by playing Nikki Bella’s entire theme song.
Wyatt vs. Reigns: Shoemaker starts by noting how much he enjoyed the main event from Monday Night Raw. Rosenberg follows by saying that he is really enjoying the chemistry that is building between these two. All the hosts agree that Bray Wyatt is an excellent worker. Shoemaker follows by noting how much the ending of the show left him wanting more.
Emma Cooking: Shoemaker brings up finding Emma’s cooking show on YouTube. This leads to a brief discussion about how much they enjoy Emma. They play some audio clips from the show.
Greg Reviews The Show: The host have a brief conversation of Mike Tyson/boxers after discussing an episode of RAW he was on. Greg tried to find the last time Mark Henry won a singles match, and he thinks it was at HIAC last year against Bo Dallas. Shoemaker also talks about FCW fans.
Score & Review
(6.0/10): I struggled with a score for this episode. The hosts had some really interesting and entertaining discussions, but the overall flow of the show was not great. I thought they cut some topics short, and I wish they would have elaborated on fewer subjects rather than trying to talk about so many things. This episode also featured a few random discussions (such as the one about Tyga) that distracted from the wrestling. Sometimes those distractions are welcome and interesting, but they did not feel that way in this episode. I seem to always mention Rosenberg’s use of the sound board, and the one in this episode really bothered me. Shoemaker was in the middle of talking about the Divas Revolution and where Natalya fit in, and Rosenberg interrupted him to play Nikki Bella’s entire theme song. Shoemaker tried to talk over it, but that was not possible. Again, sometimes the soundboard stuff is funny and adds to the show. However, it bothers me when it is used to essentially drown out one of the hosts trying to provide insight into some major topics in the world of wrestling.
All of that being said, this was a fairly entertaining episode of Cheap Heat. They covered a lot of subjects, so listeners should at least be able to hear a point or two on some items they wanted to hear discussed. I would love for the hosts to organize the show better and try to limit the amount of random discussions they have. Perhaps that is just my opinion, but Cheap Heat provides some excellent wrestling discussion when they make that the complete focal point of the show.
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