I Listen So You Don't Have To: Cheap Heat May 27

The Cheap Heat lads have a lot to say about Owens 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: May 27, 2015
Run Time: 1:00:41
Guest: None

Summary: It’s another guest-free studio show this week with David Shoemaker, Peter Rosenberg and Stat Guy Greg. Everyone is buzzing about Samoa Joe’s first NXT appearance, which bleeds into a conversation about the strength of NXT’s women and a look at Kevin Owens. After Rosenberg raves about the 1998 RAW episodes he’s watching on the Network, they discuss which TNA performers might have a role in WWE. The show ends with reader questions and some corrections from Greg.

Quote of the week: Rosenberg: “The best people that they ever had doing any of it, whether it’s Gorilla Monsoon on commentary or ‘Mean’ Gene Okerlund, they really had their own thing to it. And guess what? In the case of ‘Mean’ Gene, he came there from somewhere else, had already built up what his style was, brought it there and it was amazing. There’s something negative about always cultivating people just to do it your way. And I guess we deal with the same thing with wrestlers. That’s why it’s interesting to see what these guys who are established indy talents, a guy like Kevin Owens, they may coach them to make them more WWE ready, but they don’t strip them of everything that made them a great indy wrestler. Otherwise what’s the point?”

Why you should listen: This episode is heavy with love for NXT standouts. There’s almost no mention of an utterly forgettable RAW, and Shoemaker explains reasonably why he’s significantly more excited for the afterthought Elimination Chamber show than most of the planned PPVs of 2015. Stat Guy Greg crushes his role here, chiming in just a little and ending the show with useful information that puts a bow on the hour.

Why you should skip it: As excited as the guys are about the high points of the NXT Takeover: Unstoppable, they spend very little time actually covering what happened during that show. And with the Chamber special just a few days away, there’s nary a prediction or card breakdown to be had. The “which TNA expat should WWE hire” stuff comes off like a retread, and it didn’t seem a particularly strong batch of listener questions.

Final thoughts: If you want to get real opinions on the RAW episodes Rosenberg is watching these days, you should be listening to the What A Maneuver podcast instead (of course, you already are listening, right?). This show gives more love to NXT than the other podcasts in my rotation, but it’s clear to me now they’ll never treat a Takeover with the same respect as a main roster special event. So if you calibrate your expectations, this one comes across pretty OK.