I Listen So You Don't Have To: Cheap Heat March 30

Cheap Heat discusses this moment and more Photo Credit: WWE.com

If you’re new, here’s the rundown. We 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 many wrestling podcasts out there, of course, but this feature largely hews to the regular rotation we feel best fit the category of hit or miss. If we can save other folks some time, we’re happy to do so.

Show: Cheap Heat
Episode:“Go Home RAW, You’re Drunk” (March 30, 2016)
Run Time: 56:29
Guest: Bryan Diperstein (35:05)

Summary: Peter Rosenberg and David Shoemaker quickly discuss their Dallas travel plans — Stat Guy Greg is on the phone from Texas — before looking at Monday’s Brooklyn RAW, including their lack of interest in the world title match and Shane McMahon’s leap. They divert into considering the recent spike in WWE’s mainstream publicity, then wonder why New York crowds are weird. Diperstein makes a useless phone call, interrupting any semblance of flow. Rosenberg then recounts his personal WrestleMania history and recounts a recent meeting with John Cena. Somehow that leads to talk about suits. Shoemaker brings it back to Shane McMahon then segues into Dean Ambrose and takes a sidetrack into the Stephanie McMahon-Test wedding. They end by discussing more Dallas plans, including a listener meetup.

Quote of the week: Rosenberg: “But I gotta tell you, I don’t know how much to say right now, because I can’t tell based on the conversation I had with John Cena, whether or not he was telling me this information, or expressing himself, because he was working me and he wanted me to turn around and say this information, or whether he has gotten to know me over the years and felt really comfortable just saying these things in front of me. Here’s what I’ll say … If I said exactly what he said, yes, it’s a scoop. I’m not going to say exactly that. You can read into it what you will. Is that fair? So I don’t violate him? … He seemed very disappointed that he’s not being used at WrestleMania 32, that he’s not part of the card.”

Why you should listen: Are you headed to Dallas and want to hang with the Cheap Heat crew? Then most definitely pay attention to the last 15 or so minutes. Otherwise… uh… maybe you need to hear this one to get excited for the episode they’ll release later this week after conduction interviews at WrestleMania’s radio row.

Why you should skip it: This episode continues a disturbing Cheap Heat trend wherein the guys attend a WWE show then have virtually nothing of substance to say about the experience not even two days later. While they do at least indicate excitement for getting to see Friday night’s NXT show, it remains a mystery why they wouldn’t spend more time actually previewing the show, especially since everything else on this episode is likely to be functionally obsolete once they release this week’s second episode.

Final thoughts: My most frequent criticism of Cheap Heat is how a the weekly schedule often yields results like this, where they’re clearly hitting the studio out of obligation as opposed to having something to say. It’s even less excusable this week when we know what’s likely to be a fantastic show is just a few days away. With WWE’s main roster headed for a reboot of sorts following this weekend, Cheap Heat fans should hope the podcast takes a cue from the only show it really seems to follow.