Cheap Heat Podcast (Oct. 8, 2015)

Cheap Heat Podcast
Host: David Shoemaker
Release Date: October 8, 2015

Recap by Corey Freedman

TOP NEWSWORTHY ITEMS

– The hosts loved the Bayley vs. Sasha Banks Iron Man match at NXT Takeover: Respect. They all had lowered expectations, wondering if they could top their previous match, and they were all pleased with the results. The hosts also agreed that this match was certainly not the main event in name only, but it was indeed the best match on the show. Shoemaker has the last two matches by these two in his top five for 2015.

– The hosts enjoyed the special feel of the MSG Network special and the show overall. Shoemaker spoke specifically about the subdued production of this show and how enjoyable that was.

– Shoemaker and his fill-in co-host, Greg, agreed that Seth Rollins may have set too high a standard for himself, so matches like the one with John Cena on this special simply don’t feel that excellent even though the quality is still very high.

– If the rumor of John Cena taking time off proves to be true, Shoemaker and Greg expect Roman Reigns to be called upon to fill the babyface void. They did not like Reigns’s role during the breast cancer segment on Raw, but they feel he could be ready for some main event storylines.

Subjects Covered (w/ Timestamps)

0:00 – Sponsor Ad
0:30 – Introduction
1:45 – Bayley vs Sasha Banks at NXT Takeover: Respect
7:50 – Beginning of MSG Special discussion
11:45 – MSG Special discussion: Brock Lesnar
16:35 – MSG Special discussion: Seth Rollins
19:11 – MSG Special discussion: Sheamus/Rusev vs. Orton/Ziggler (extended Rusev talk)
24:35 – MSG Special discussion: Kevin Owens vs. Chris Jericho
27:27 – NXT Takeover: Respect discussion
29:07 – The New Day/Cena time-off rumor (and what it means for Roman Reigns)
37:38 – C.M. Punk and Susan G. Komen
45:22 – Steve Austin boycotting WM32 rumors/Fabulous Freebirds
56:20 – Random Discussion
1:00:31 – Review of the show for corrections/errors
1:02:30 – Sign Off

Show Highlights

– Introduction: Shoemaker introduces his friend who will be filling in for Peter Rosenberg this week.

– Bayley/Sasha Banks: Greg and Shoemaker begins by saying how much they enjoyed this match. Greg notes that he feels Sasha Banks gets better with each match. Shoemaker says he was prepared to be let down, but did not feel that way after the match. Blake jumps in and wonders if this match will finally put an end to all the Divas Revolution “talk” and simply lead us to an actual revolution. Greg notes that this match wasn’t just the main event in name, it was the best match on the card. Shoemaker continues by saying that right now Sasha Banks and Bayley might have two of the top five matches of 2015.

– MSG Special: Shoemaker starts by saying that the MSG special felt very much like a house show but it still had the hype of a special event. He specifically noted the lighting of the event helping make the event feel special. Shoemaker and Rosenberg attended this event, and Shoemaker noted that he only noticed a few cameras/subdued production and he wondered whether that was due to the success of NXT’s events with less production. Greg caught Nikki Bella’s hat at this event. Shoemaker says the Brock Lesnar vs. Big Show match was “nothing to write home about.” This leads to a brief discussion about Lesnar specifically. Shoemaker wonders if part of Lesnar’s contract dictates that non-title/non-major matches are restricted to a certain length. The hosts wonder how much Lesnar is getting paid to do Steve Austin’s podcast next week. Blake notes that watching Lesnar live makes you question whether he is a real human being.

Getting back to the rest of the special, the hosts discuss the Rollins vs Cena cage match. Greg starts by saying that rating Rollins matches is a tough task because, he felt, this was a good match but nothing special by Rollins’s standards. Basically, he feels that Rollins has set such a high standard that sometimes it undermines his greatness. Shoemaker equates it to not always being in the mood to watch a Bret Hart technical clinic. Moving onto the Sheamus/Rusev vs. Orton/Ziggler, Shoemaker starts by saying he was glad they mashed these two feuds together because it leaves more time for other matches/storylines. He continues, however, by praising Ziggler and specifically Rusev for how great of wrestlers they are. The hosts wonder what Rusev’s accent actually sounds like. They move on to the Kevin Owens match, and Greg notes that they were sitting by Kevin Owens’s proud parents at the event. Shoemaker wondered if they would have Owens lose to legitimize specials on that are exclusive to the WWE network.

– NXT: Greg starts by noting how he has enjoyed Apollo Crews thus far. He continues by saying he enjoyed Asuka’s debut but was expecting more brutality. Shoemaker jumps in to note that Tyler Breeze always looks good losing, but he hopes that is not what defines his career similar to Dolph Ziggler.

– New Day/Cena (and Reigns): Shoemaker starts by saying that the ending of Raw was a huge moment for the New Day. The hosts discuss the rumored time-off for John Cena coming up. They all seem to really enjoy the idea of the New Day holding the Tag Team Titles and the U.S. Title at the same time. Shoemaker wonders if Cena taking time off means that Roman Reigns will be firmly cast as the top babyface in his absence. This leads to a brief discussion of how awkward Reigns was during the Susan G. Komen promotion during Raw. Shoemaker notes that if Cena and Brock are off TV after Hell in A Cell, that will leave a lot of time to fill in major angles. The hosts have a brief discussion of how the WWE painted themselves into a corner with Braun Strowman by booking him as such a monster.

– C.M. Punk/Susan G. Komen: They start this topic by reading an ESPN report claiming C.M. Punk’s UFC debut has been delayed due to an injury during training. The hosts don’t have a lot of confidence about Punk’s potential success in UFC given how long he has been training coupled with this injury report. The discussion then moves to Punk’s tweets about how the Susan G. Komen foundation is a scam. Greg brings up Punk having shirts supporting the same foundation back when he was in WWE. Shoemaker doesn’t take a stance on the issue, but he does mention that Punk should have provided more links/resources because just tweeting about it made him seem like a conspiracy theorist. To be clear, the hosts do not take a clear stance on this issue aside from supporting the fight against breast cancer.

– Steve Austin/Freebirds: Shoemaker explains the rumor, which is that Austin has said he will boycott WM32 if the Fabulous Freebirds are not inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. Shoemaker discusses how “off-the-field” issues, to a degree, shouldn’t change whether someone is in a sport’s Hall of Fame, but the WWE puts themselves in a tough spot by not having a voting committee. The hosts agree that the Freebirds should be in the Hall of Fame, though they obviously do not condone the issues Hayes has had in the past. The hosts discuss Michael P.S. Hayes’s indiscretions as it relates to them being in the Hall of Fame, and they note this conversation would be completely different if he had died. Blake wonders why this would be the major battle Austin would pick with the WWE. Shoemaker posits that perhaps it is because Austin’s story is one of redemption as well. Shoemaker doesn’t believe the WWE would take this risk unless Austin actually raises a fuss about it.

– Random Discussion: The hosts have a brief unstructured conversation as the show nears its end. Shoemaker starts by noting that he is excited for the Hell in a Cell PPV and that he will be attending the show. The hosts discuss whether or not the cage used at the MSG Special was a new type of cage. Greg brings up Tommaso Ciampa being on NXT and TNA on the same day (Wednesday). Shoemaker notes how interesting the wrestling world is now because there are many wrestlers who would have never been employed by the WWE in any other previous iteration. He uses Hideo Itami and Nia Jaxx as examples of this.

Score & Review

Score (9.0): I thoroughly enjoyed this show. There are times when Peter Rosenberg detracts from the show’s overall quality, so I was not surprised that I enjoyed the show more without him. That is not meant as a dig at Rosenberg, but this show featured zero soundboard interruptions, zero repeated catchphrases, and Shoemaker was never prevented from speaking on an important topic. For me, those factors enhance the show. This episode was a little over an hour of straight wrestling discussion. There was a nice flow to this episode and the hosts, Shoemaker specifically, did a great job of transitioning between the topics once he felt the major issues had been covered on each. I thought Shoemaker and Greg provided an entertaining discussion of the past week in wrestling, and Blake played a nice supporting role without forcing himself into the discussion too much. I would have liked the hosts to spend a bit more time on the NXT special, perhaps breaking some of the matches down in detail but without doing so they were able to cover a really wide-range of topics. Not quite a podcast that will shake the wrestling community to its core, but a truly entertaining hour of honest, no-nonsense wrestling discussion.