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

A big part of the podcast's quote of the 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: Aug. 21, 2014
Run Time: 1:00:10
Guest: None

Summary: The boys talk about SummerSlam, which they attended live, and the subsequent RAW, which they watched on TV. At the very end they announce plans to start a listener involvement portion of the show next week.

Quote of the week: David Shoemaker: “Paige defeated AJ, in what was a very, very good match.”

Peter Rosenberg :“I was out at that point. I missed that match.”

DS: “AJ had the match of her career and Heel Rosenberg was getting popcorn.”

PR: [Laughs like a total jackass.] “Listen — I’ll catch it on the Network. But yeah, I don’t like missing Divas matches. I like being someone who’s there to support the Divas matches. But I missed that one. Big pop for AJ in that stadium by the way. Not surprising, they were very into her.”

Why you should listen: You loved SummerSlam and want to keep reliving the experience. You need a bit of extra insight from someone who saw the show in person. You want someone to agree with you about JBL’s commentary during Jack Swagger’s match on Raw. You need to hear about Dusty Rhodes and Ric Flair attending a Bulls game together in outlandish street clothes. You want to ponder the immediate future of the Rusev/Mark Henry story and consider how it might involve Big Show and the Wyatt Family.

Why you should skip it: If you tend to be turned off by Rosenberg, avoid this episode like the plague. Absent a guest, his worst traits are magnified to the hilt. Perhaps he’s playing up a character, but even Shoemaker appears to get frustrated at points. If you already read Shoemaker’s excellent SummerSlam follow piece on Grantland, you’ll join me in wondering if Rosenberg bothered to do the same. You’ll also question how he could seem to have forgotten so much of the biggest show of the summer he experienced less than a week ago.

Final thoughts: I tend to be a Cheap Heat defender, but for those who question its relevance, this episode gives all the ammunition needed. Shoemaker already wrote brilliantly about the impact of SummerSlam and what it might spell for the future of the company, but his writing is almost taken down a notch by his inclusion on this show. For the most part, you probably could find a better “review” of SummerSlam and Raw just poking around YouTube.