Cheap Heat Podcast on Grantland Sports – this week’s big topics (Mar. 9, 2016)

Cheap Heat Podcast on Grantland Sports
Hosts: David Shoemaker & Peter Rosenberg
Release Date: March 9, 2016

DIRECT LINK TO LISTEN/DOWNLOAD

Recap by Corey Freedman

Top Items

– The hosts rave about the New Day vs. Y2AJ match on Raw, and specifically note that A.J. Styles made everyone in that match shine.

– Greg breaks down the Hulk Hogan vs Gawker trial in case you haven’t been following. Greg doesn’t think Hulk’s argument (that Terry Bollea and Hulk Hogan are different people) can be proven in court.

– The hosts argue about who was the true heel/face in the McGregor vs. Diaz fight from UFC 196 this past weekend.

– The trio jokes about Shane McMahon’s weak punches on Raw, but they don’t seem to be put off by them.

Subjects Covered (w/timestamps)

0:00 – Sponsor Ad
0:20 – Introduction
2:15 – Chicago Raw
19:30 – WM32 weekend in Dallas
24:50 – More Raw thoughts
27:30 – UFC McGregor vs. Diaz
38:55 – Sponsor Ad
39:10 – Show resumes
40:05 – Hulk Hogan trial
54:50 – WM33 in Orlando and a physical HOF
56:30 – More heat on Lana
58:05 – John Cena officially out for WM32
58:38 – Hayabusa’s death
1:01:10 – Vince-Shane
1:04:10 – A.J. Styles
1:05:10 – House of Cards/TV shows
1:11:02 – Show ends

Show Highlights

Introduction: The hosts joke about being on the Road to Roadblock.

Chicago Raw: Rosenberg wonders if The Undertaker’s gong going off on Monday was a mistake or if it was just to piss the crowd off. Shoemaker thinks it was to piss the crowd off when Vince eventually came out. Shoemaker points out that it is noteworthy that Raw started with a video package dedicated to the Shane-Taker match. He says that package made that match feel big. Shoemaker enjoyed this episode of Raw because it felt somewhat like a go-home show to the Roadblock PPV. They talk about how odd looking Shane’s punches looked but they don’t seem to have a problem with them. Shoemaker said it looked like someone play fighting with their younger brother. Shoemaker jokingly wonders if Shane would have assaulted security guards at his corporate job.

They discuss the dynamics of a three-man commentary team, as Rosenberg points out that Byron Saxton generally plays the same exact role as Michael Cole. He asks if we are seeing the beginning of the end of Michael Cole as the lead announcer. Shoemaker says that it is pretty incredible that the Zayn-Owens storyline is basically just that they are friends/enemies for almost 15 years. They wonder if they will have a singles match for the IC Title at WM32. Rosenberg talks about booking such a large card, like WrestleMania, being a true art form given the difficulty level.

Rosenberg says that New Day vs. Y2AJ was a great match. Greg jokes that the best move the WWE made was to make and sell the Y2AJ shirts knowing they were going to split so soon. Shoemaker praises the 360 splash by A.J., but he derides Michael Cole’s commentary for calling the kick-out even though Big E. pulled Kofi out of the ring.

WM32 Weekend in Dallas: The hosts discuss their plans for WM 32 weekend in Dallas. They discuss the possibility of hosting an event that weekend. Rosenberg suggests that they skip the HOF ceremony this year because the weekend in packed with events.

More Raw thoughts: The hosts all rave about the tag match between Y2AJ and the New Day. They discuss the role the New Day is currently playing.

UFC 196: Rosenberg argues that McGregor was the “babyface” of that fight. Shoemaker and Greg disagree and suggest that both of the fighters were heels. Shoemaker says that Mcgregor turned face after the match with his positive response to losing. Shoemaker argues that pro wrestling is the only arena where true babyfaces are still even popular, as in most other arenas people like to cheer for the bad guy. Rosenberg suggests that Holly Holm should have avoided fighting until Ronday Rousey was ready for the re-match. Shoemaker relates UFC to WWE in that he says more wrestlers should look at the Titantron in order to see what’s going on around them. Instead of acting like they aren’t supposed to be looking at it, they can sell it in kayfabe as a form of strategy. Shoemaker points to a specific example on Raw when Jericho watched for Big E. to re-enter the ring via the Titantron. During this discussion, Shoemaker suggests WWE Divas wear street clothes more often because it makes them look tougher.

Hulk Hogan: Greg gives some background on the situation with Hulk Hogan and Gawker. Hogan is suing Gawker for posting a video of him having sex with Bubba the Love Sponge’s then-wife. He discusses the notion of Hulk Hogan and Terry Bollea being different people and how that relates to the case (Terry Bollea is Hulk Hogan’s real name). Hulk is arguing that Terry’s privacy was violated by Gawker trying to exploit Hulk Hogan. The scandal involving Hulk Hogan and the N-word stemmed from Hogan suing Gawker over this video. Shoemaker talks about Twitter being consumed with this trial. Apparently Hogan used John Cena as an example with his recent appearance having sex in a movie with Amy Schumer. The hosts try to figure out what original intent of the video was (why did Bubba have Hulk Hogan sleep with his wife?). Greg says that Hogan’s argument makes it impossible for Hogan to win. He says Hogan can’t actually prove a distinction between Hulk Hogan and Terry Bollea. He also argues that Gawker published the “Hulk Hogan sextape” not the “Terry Bollea sextape.” Rosenberg jokingly asks whether the Hogan sextape was better than the Chyna sex tape.

WM33 Orlando/HOF: Rosenberg does not sound thrilled to have to fly to Orlando for WM next year. They assume that they are having the event in Orlando because they are building a physical HOF there.

Lana: Shoemaker brings up that Dave Meltzer suggested that Lana has more backstage heat on her than even before. He jokes that this is the storyline that will never end. Shoemaker kind of liked Lana attacking Brie Bella on TV, but he doesn’t know what they will do with it going forward. He says they need a running scale for the amount of heat Lana has that week.

John Cena: The hosts are not surprised that Cena announced he will not wrestle at WM32. However, they think that Cena will be involved in the show somehow.

Hayabusa: Shoemaker praises him for innovating so many moves in pro wrestling. He says he was a man that literally gave his body to the industry. He highly recommends checking out some of his work online. He does caution that the footage of him breaking his neck in the ring is extremely graphic.

Vince-Shane: Shoemaker’s friend, Brian Fritz, got an interview with Vince after the WrestleMania Orlando announcement which he encourages people to check out on the Orlando Sentinel website. He asks Vince about Shane’s role going forward to which Vince responds “that will be determined by whether or not he wins his match.” The hosts all loved this brief moment of staying in kayfabe.

A.J. Styles: Shoemaker says that A.J. was his MVP of the week. He says that everyone in that tag match on Raw looked better because of A.J. Rosenberg chooses House of Cards as his MVP of the week.

Score and Review

Score (8.0): This episode covered a ton of ground. It was kind of all over the place, but mostly in a good way. There were the usual digressions, but in general I thought the hosts covered a wide range of topics and had some really funny/entertaining discussions about some of the issues. Their discussion about the Hulk Hogan trial was quite amusing. There weren’t any hot takes or particularly noteworthy commentary, but this was an entertaining wrestling discussion nonetheless.

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