Cheap Heat Podcast – Royal Rumble Preview Show (Jan. 21, 2016)

Cheap Heat Podcast
Hosts: David Shoemaker & Peter Rosenberg
Release Date: January 21, 2016

DIRECT LINK TO LISTEN/DOWNLOAD

Recap by Corey Freedman

Top Newsworthy Items

– The hosts discuss the death of “Iron” Mike Sharpe
– Rosenberg reads the betting odds for potential Rumble entrants and the hosts offer their thoughts on each
– The hosts discuss many possible winners, but seem to agree Triple H or Roman Reigns are the most likely. They also agree that some WM32 matches should be clear after Sunday (especially for Brock Lesnar and Reigns).

Subjects Covered (w/timestamps)

0:00 – Introduction
6:35 – Iron Mike Sharpe
17:20 – Royal Rumble odds (person by person breakdown)
54:10 – Predictions
57:55 – Conclusion (Flair, potential returns, Tough Enough winner heat)

Show Highlights

Introduction: Rosenberg starts the show by thanking Greg for the gifts he brought them from Belize. He gives Greg a John Cena thrown hat in return. Shoemaker brings up listening to Rosenberg’s wife Alexa’s podcast and that it is really good. Shoemaker talks about attending an event for Lennox Lewis with his girlfriend. Rosenberg says his girlfriend’s podcast is called “Datt’s What She Said.”

Mike Sharpe: The hosts talk about the death of Mike Sharpe. Rosenberg says he used to call jobber type wrestlers “dog-meat.” He talks about his brother remembering Mike Sharpe from memory even though he hadn’t watched wrestling in years. Shoemaker brings up that Sharpe used to own a wrestling school. They go on a brief digression about memorabilia. Rosenberg talks about getting a 1997 Survivor Series shirt as a gift, but it was too small. He then searched for a bigger version online and found an XL version on eBay that he bought. This leads them to talk about Sunny selling her Hall of Fame ring and the racist rant she went on recently on social media. Back to Mike Sharpe. Shoemaker talks about Sharpe’s early career before the WWF. Greg reads a fan email that suggests fans watch Mike Sharpe vs Steve Gray on the WWE Network. Gray spends most of the match trying to keep his hair piece on his head.

Royal Rumble: Rosenberg starts off the Rumble talk by mentioning the segment from Raw where Reigns was named the #1 entrant. The host wonder what the joke was supposed to be with Vince McMahon not being able to open the containers. The hosts wonder if the WWE has 30 healthy participants. Shoemaker jokes that this should be the time WWE gives C.M. Punk 10 million dollars to come back. Greg brings up A.J. Styles possibly debuting on Sunday.

Rosenberg reads odds for the Rumble. The New Day are at 40/1, and the hosts agree that they are probably slotted for a tag match at WM so they almost assuredly won’t win. Shoemaker says that Jericho actually has a chance to win. He says they tried to make him look important on Raw this week. They talk about the chances The Rock will wrestle in the Rumble. Rosenberg wonders how much money it would take for him to wrestle on Sunday. Rosenberg doesn’t believe Finn Balor has a chance to win even though his odds are better than some. Shoemaker thinks Sheamus’ odds should be higher than 20/1 mainly because he was just in the Title picture a month ago. The hosts agree that A.J. Styles debuting will be a big deal but it would be very surprising if he won.

Rosenberg brings up that the Royal Rumble this year will be going up against the NFL Conference Championship games. Shoemaker thinks he might have to watch the Rumble on delay because he wants to watch football. They talk about The Undertaker possibly entering this year, and at the very least, setting up his WM feud with an elimination during the match. Shoemaker talks about how often people get super excited for surprising entrants which leads to many letdowns. They discuss the possibility of a portion of the match being several people in a row against Reigns (e.g. Rusev, Sheamus, etc).

Rosenberg asks what is going on with Wade Barrett. He talks about how he is often on shows, but he doesn’t seem to take many bumps or talk much recently. (He’s injured.) They discuss the possibility of Randy Orton being healthy for the Rumble. Shoemaker suggests that the Wyatt Family will be feuding with Lesnar for WM32. Greg says he would hate that. He talks about how the Wyatts have no been built credibly recently enough to be taken seriously against Brock.

Rosenberg asks if anyone besides Reigns has been built to face Brock. Kevin Owens is one name tossed around. The hosts agree the League of Nations vs. Brock would be more interesting/credible. Daniel Bryan is 12/1. Lesnar is 5/2. Reigns is 2/1. Triple H is the favorite. Shoemaker brings up that Hunter has not been on TV since he was taken out by Reigns.

Predictions: Rosenberg picks Hunter. Shoemaker talks about Reigns losing here so that they at least have the main event of Mania somewhat decided after the Rumble (as opposed to Reigns winning and still not knowing the opponent). Rosenberg says that if Reigns were to overcome these odds, even by WWE standards, it would be ridiculous. Shoemaker gives us his fantasy booking scenario for the Rumble. He would have the Wyatts remove Lesnar to set that feud. Then with a few people left, Hunter enters, possibly even stealing someone’s spot, to try toeliminate Reigns himself. Daniel Bryan enters at #30, eliminates Reigns, but shakes Hunter’s hand and jumps out of the ring allowing Huner to win. He says they could spin it that DB helped Hunter because he cleared him to return.

Conclusion: Shoemaker talks about Ric Flair giving an interview and being asked if he can criticize the WWE. Flair says he isn’t legally allowed to but wouldn’t anyway. Rosenberg plays the themes of some returns that would get huge pops (such as Punk, Carlito, A.J. Lee, Taker, Batista, The Rock, and Hulk Hogan). Greg brings up Becky on Raw saying that Ric Flair never backed down from a fight. He wonders if Becky ever watched Ric Flair. They discuss the situation with Josh, the winner of Tough Enough, getting some heat over a tweet about the Social Outcasts. Shoemaker’s last thought is to mention John Cena, of all people, could recover from an injury fast enough to return for the Rumble.

Score and Review

Score (9.5): I loved this episode. They spent nearly the entire show talking about the Royal Rumble, which is all I would ask for the go-home episode of Cheap Heat. They spent a solid portion of the show going through betting odds for the Rumble and talked about nearly every single potential entrant and their situation going into the Rumble. This show was very well structured and no nonsense. If you like Cheap Heat, or just listening to people talk passionately about wrestling, this was an excellent episode. Enjoy.

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