I Listen So You Don't Have To: Cheap Heat, Sept. 5

The guys talk about the early days of the nWo on the podcast this week Photo Credit: WWE.com

If you're new, here's the rundown: I listen to a handful of wrestling podcasts each week. Too many, probably, though certainly not all of them. In the interest of saving you time — in case you have the restraint to skip certain episodes — the plan is to give the bare bones of a given show and let you decide if it’s worth investing the time to hear the whole thing. There are better wrestling podcasts out there, of course, but these are the ones in my regular rotation that I feel best fit the category of hit or miss. If I can save other folks some time, I'm happy to do so.

Show: Cheap Heat
Episode: Sept. 5, 2014
Run Time: 53:03
Guest: None

Summary: There’s a bit of talk about RAW, a callback to last week’s episode focusing on obscure wrestling memorabilia, Peter Rosenberg explains how he’s been using the WWE Network to catch up on early nWo-era episodes of Nitro he missed experiencing the first time around and then the back half is devoted to answering listener emails.

Quote of the week:“Who the hell is Ice Train?” — Peter Rosenberg

Why you should listen: Thankfully the RAW talk is brief. It’s mildly interesting to hear Rosenberg react to Nitro with the perspective of a modern fan who never really lived through at least the first part of the Monday Night Wars. The listener questions are sort of amusing, if not particularly insightful.

Why you should skip it: Rosenberg lays on his heel shtick awfully thick. Any talk about the Labor Day RAW is too much talk. David Shoemaker is relegated to little more than an accessory role. And ultimately, because nothing in this episode will make you think about wrestling, past or present, in anything resembling a new way, which is supposed to be the point of hearing these guys opine on the topic.

Final thoughts: The best thing to say about this episode is it probably won’t make you angry, as other installments have been known to do. That said, you’ve almost definitely got better ways to spend 53 minutes.