I Listen So You Don't Have To: Cheap Heat Oct. 21

Undertaker is a topic of discussion 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: Oct. 21, 2015: “Bumping Old Men”
Run Time: 50:22
Guest: None

Summary: Peter Rosenberg, David Shoemaker and Stat Guy Greg are in studio this week to talk about the legends who appeared on RAW, the Undertaker and his collision course with Brock Lesnar, corporate structures and keeping kayfabe. The back half is Hell In A Cell predictions, which includes a few relevant digressions, notably thoughts about potential John Cena opponents and whether the Bellas need to take some time off TV.

Quote of the week: Shoemaker: “Sure it’s fun to see your favorites from the old days come back and cut a promo and do whatever, I mean, that’s fun — in a three-hour RAW, that’s as good a way to fill some of that time as any. But if I wanted to see Austin and Michaels and Ric Flair, I would go on the WWE Network. Which of course, you know, they’ve been pimping nonstop for the past however many months, years, and I would watch them in their prime, like do something good, right? I have this access now.”

Why you should listen: If you’ve been out on WWE weekly programming and need to sort of get back up to speed before Sunday’s supercard, you could do worse than this episode. Probably several written products are more comprehensive, entertaining and informative but hey, some people can’t read.

Why you should skip it: From a direction standpoint, this one was more aimless than most. Rosenberg opened alone for no apparent reason (why not just wait to hit record until everyone was in the room and spare listeners 90 seconds of vamping), then in the middle of the Hell In A Cell preview he just left the studio for a few minutes (perhaps use the pause button?) and the last bit is an addendum audio clip of Rosenberg doing a charity plug. And that’s on top of the obvious lack of plan besides “talk about RAW and the pay-per-view.”

Final thoughts: The lack of professional approach from folks who are otherwise quite professional, presented under a quality brand name currently hemorrhaging its quality talent, is disappointing to say the least. It’s quite obvious no one from Grantland listens to Cheap Heat or provides any sort of guidance. This could, and arguably should, be an elite wrestling podcast. Were it not for the host’s résumés and the Grantland imprimatur, and the all-too-rare flash of brilliance, this show would be completely irrelevant.