Cheap Heat Podcast
Hosts: David Shoemaker & Peter Rosenberg
Release Date: October 14, 2015
DIRECT LINK TO LISTEN/DOWNLOAD ON GRANTLAND.COM
Top Noteworthy Items
– The hosts are generally confused by the Rusev/Lana engagement situation. They wonder how WWE could allow something like this to happen given that it has the potential to ruin a very long storyline.
– David Shoemaker wonders if the underwhelming Rollins-Kane feud, amongst others, is a response/preparation for John Cena’s pending vacation time.
– Peter Rosenberg believes that the WWE takes The Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar feud for granted, and that they don’t spend enough time building this particular match because they rely on the name value alone.
Subjects Covered (w/ Timestamps)
0:00 – Sponsor Ad
0:30 – Introduction
2:15 – Rusev and Lana’s engagement
10:20 – Monday Night Raw thoughts
16:20 – Brock Lesnar and The Undertaker
19:08 – Sasha Banks
21:35 – Random Discussion
28:30 – More Raw thoughts (Owens, Neville, Barrett/Sheamus)
34:40 – Michael Cole
41:40 – Women on commentary
45:00 – Greg Hardy (NFL Player)
50:40 – Stat Guy Greg reviews the show
54:15 – Sign Off
Show Highlights
– Introduction: Peter Rosenberg is back hosting the show this week.
– Rusev and Lana: Rosenberg starts the discussion by joking about how fans that want to believe in kayfabe will certainly hate this. He suggests that WWE was willing to let their real-life relationship be ignored before, but this news made it so they had to address it on Raw. Shoemaker posits that WWE could have ignored this until it got picked up by TMZ. Shoemaker doesn’t seem to have a problem with Rusev and Lana posting the engagement picture, but he has more a problem with WWE altering their plans based on real-life situations. He argues that everyone already knew they were a couple outside of kayfabe and it was easy to ignore because Raw is a TV show. The hosts seem rather tired with this whole angle regardless of how this situation played out behind the scenes.
– Raw: Shoemaker thought Raw was entertaining, but that nothing of consequence really occurred. Greg notes his displeasure with seeing Kane and Seth Rollins fight just 11 days before they fight on PPV. Shoemaker follows by wondering why Reigns vs. Strowman was given away on Raw when that probably could be a future PPV match as well. He also notes that he has been enjoying the current Kane storyline, and Rosenberg challenges him by asking if he believes that storyline is worthy of being the main one on the show. Shoemaker responds by saying that is a good point, but that it seems like this storyline, and others, are a reaction to John Cena possibly taking time off. He continues by saying that perhaps this comedy angle is a useful break from Rollins serious/match-driven storylines as a change of pace.
– Brock Lesnar and The Undertaker: Rosenberg brings up this feud by noting that the WWE takes the name value here for granted. He feels that the WWE thinks fans inherently care so much about the two names involved that they don’t have to put any effort into pushing the upcoming match. He also finds it weird that the feud appears to start at WM30 in all video packages, even though the two fought almost exactly 13 years ago inside of a Cell.
– Divas: Rosenberg brings up the Divas division by noting how weird it was that they had a Sasha Banks feature while other Divas were in the ring before a match that Banks wasn’t even involved in. Shoemaker senses that something is resetting or changing in the Divas division. He also mentions how popular Sasha Banks seems to be getting, especially the reactions she is getting when she is at ringside for matches she isn’t apart of. Rosenberg follows by suggesting that the WWE should keep her out of matches and let the desire for her to wrestle reach a fever-pitch.
– Random Discussion: Brief discussion about the Can-Am Connection, some cartoon shows, and some wrestling book discussion. The hosts share some brief stories and thoughts about Gino Hernandez and Hercules Hernandez. Shoemaker remarks how natural a heel Gino Hernandez was.
– More Raw thoughts: Rosenberg starts this topic by noting how much he enjoyed Kevin Owens this week (and every week for that matter). He also talks about how fun it is to watch Owens face luchador style wrestlers. On another note, Rosenberg points out how bored he has gotten with Neville, even going so far as to say that his matches are “popcorn matches.” Shoemaker notes how much he enjoys the pairing of Sheamus and King Barrett.
– Michael Cole: The hosts discuss the Michael Cole weight loss pictures. Rosenberg jokes that he looks “repug” in both the before and after picture. The hosts share some laughs about Michael Cole.
– Renee Young: Given the recent backlash over Jessica Mendoza doing commentary on MLB games, Shoemaker wonders if WWE fans would react similarly or more positively if the WWE gave Young a chance on commentary. Shoemaker believes that WWE fans would handle this type of change better than MLB fans. This leads to a brief discussion of broadcasters in all sports. The hosts seem to enjoy when announcers use a normal voice, rather than trying to sound like Marv Albert.
– Greg Hardy (NFL player): Rosenberg gives Shoemaker flack because his team, the Cowboys, employs Hardy even after his history of domestic violence. Shoemaker is obviously not a fan of Hardy and would prefer he were not on the team, but he does support the notion of people getting a chance to redeem themselves. This leads to a discussion about whether or not a heel could refuse to wear pink during Breast Cancer Awareness month or whether that would be considered going too far.
– Stat Guy Greg: Greg goes over some of the shows discussions to correct any errors. He mentions Michael Cole’s workout plan, the date of the Brock Lesnar-Undertaker HIAC match from 2002, and that the engagement pictures of Rusev and Lana appear to have been taken off their social media.
Score & Review
(7.0): Today’s episode was entertaining, but not a must-listen. Peter Rosenberg was back as a host this week and I enjoyed having him back in the fold for this episode. For most of the show, the hosts covered a lot of topics and had some interesting discussions. I enjoyed hearing the hosts’s thoughts on this week’s episode of Monday Night Raw, and their discussion of the Rusev/Lana situation was entertaining. There were a couple of times throughout the podcast that the hosts seemed to go way off-track, but I didn’t think those divergences distracted from the quality of the show too much. During a week with an uneventful Raw and not many mainstream stories, I thought this was an entertaining show that touched on a good variety of subjects. Overall, nothing crazy happened on this show, but if you are looking for an entertaining 55 minutes of wrestling discussion, Cheap Heat has you covered.
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