Peter Rosenberg Reveals Why He Hasn't Been On WWE TV

Hot 97's Peter Rosenberg addressed his WWE status on the latest episode of his "Cheap Heat" pro wrestling podcast.

Rosenberg revealed that Michael Cole informed him at WrestleMania 35 time that the company had no place for him at that show, after he had already took some time off from traveling with the company. Rosenberg addressed his status with WWE following speculation on the future of his podcast.

"I think it's time to lay it all on the line and be real with everyone about what's going on, how I feel, and hopefully," Rosenberg said. "I've dealt with some challenges in life that I think, if you pay attention to the podcast, then you could hear through my voice in the last year, that I've not brought to the podcast and don't plan to, those challenges led to me deciding to take some time off of traveling from WWE. When I came back to WWE and was ready to work WrestleMania, those who make the decisions on those things, Michael Cole, were no longer interested in using me for that. So, WrestleMania came to New York City, where I've been promoting it for 4 or 5 months prior, even when I was no longer traveling, and they said we we don't have a place for you on WrestleMania. They couldn't even squeeze me on that Watch Along show that has 80 people talking at the same time, still didn't have room for me there. Didn't put me anywhere, OK?"

Rosenberg took more shots at the WWE Watch Along show, calling it an embarrassment to the WWE Network. He also detailed how the WWE situation "zapped" his love for the business.

"So, that's when you heard the bitterness kick in," Rosenberg continued. "I was honest with everyone a couple weeks ago, I had basically already covered that a couple weeks ago, my feelings towards that, so I will not be doing those. I had an amazing time doing it [working with WWE] and I'm thankful and I had so much fun doing it. And as much as it sounds like I'm even mad at Cole, not even mad at Cole. Cole and I were never super tight, he's got he way that he sees things and if I don't fit into that, I don't care. There's a lot of things that I don't... as you can hear, I think the Watch Along show is literally the worst... an embarrassment to the Network. So, we all have different views of how we do things. And by the way, that's not a veiled shot at Pat McAfee. I don't think anyone could do that show and make it good. You can't have 10 people talking at the same time, it's not good. It can be done well if it's small and put together well. Those ones we did on ESPN were pretty good, but even they were rough and that was ESPN producing it with much smaller groups of all broadcasters. So, that's no veiled shot at McAfee, and that's not a shot at Michael Cole. Cole h as the right to make the choices that he wants to make. But I say all of this to tell you why I already went from dealing with a lot of stuff to then being zapped of my live for the industry, momentarily. Even though I know over time I'll get over it."

Rosenberg then revealed that he will continue to do his podcast, but that the gloves are coming off. He made it clear that he was not looking to burn any bridges.

"And what do we do here? And I say that grateful for the last two years of great stories I was able to tell and relationships I made at WWE," Rosenberg continued. "And as far as I'm concerned, I consider my relationship with them and the Network to be great, and if there's an opportunity to do shows on the Network again, I would love to do it. I thought 'Bring It To The Table' could've been great and I think that there are other things that could also be great. So, I say all of that to say, what's the point of doing the show if I'm sort of working with WWE, which puts me in an awkward spot, and I'm less passionate about the product. How do you do a quality show if you're not inspired because the product hasn't been great and you're also connected to the WWE? What you then have is someone who's sort of compromised because you can't go all out, and someone who's not having that much fun because the product hasn't been good. The only way to have fun and make a podcast good on a week-in, week-out basis, is to take the gloves off, is to go no holds barred, is to say screw it, if I offend them, if Michael Cole's upset that I just said he's the guy that told me he didn't want to use me anymore, oh well, bummer. I have no intentions of burning any bridges, but if it does because I'm being honest or truthful, then that is what it is."

Rosenberg said the only way to move forward with his podcast is to change it a little bit. He admitted he has "kept the gloves on" in the past when it came to being critical of WWE because he had to go work one of their pay-per-view events the next week, saying he was being nuanced about his opinions. He named WWE running in Saudi Arabia as an example. Rosenberg also went on about how much free exposure he's helped WWE with. He then declared that this will be the "shoot era" of his podcast.

"I have shown love and support for the WWE for over a decade," the Hot 97 DJ said. "I've given them more free advertising in the #1 market i the world, than you could even add up. The amount that I've grown their brand in hip-hop, the amount that I've helped keep their brand hot in New York, there's no device or measurement to even say that, it's ridiculous between my two shows. And believe me, I know because I hear about it on the street every single day. I've done my part and I will always be a fan, and I will always be supportive, and I will always be grateful for the relationship I have with them. That being said, today does not mark the end of Cheap Heat, it can't because I thought about it and as bummed as I've been some weeks to do it, I would be even more bummed to not have the Cheap Heat Universe in my life, to not have. Not the end, but the beginning of the Shoot Era of Cheap Heat.

"And that does not mean I'm going to start gossiping about things that I saw or people that I met, I will not be doing that, that is one thing you're never going to get from me. I'm not going to do some tel-all on the talent that I've developed great relationships with. Never that. But what I am going to do is call it down the line every single week, and if you think I'm talking about just WWE, wait until you get to my AEW review in a few minutes because some of you probably aren't going to be happy with that."

Rosenberg also talked about how passionate he is about pro wrestling, and how he doesn't like the way it's become like a job and like work to him. He said the same thing has happened with his other passions – hip-hop and sports. Rosenberg said he's never made "life-changing money" in wrestling because it was always about the love, but it ended up becoming about work, ego and pride. He also admitted half of the comments he just made were about pride, but he was determined to not let ego and pride get in the way of his love of pro wrestling. Rosenberg said his podcast won't be personal or vengeful moving forward, but he knows he might get some phone calls from people in WWE, possibly asking him to tone it down. Rosenberg said he will now be able to be more honest with less strings, without worrying about financial or professional ramifications.

Rosenberg, a life-long pro wrestling fan, made his first WWE panel appearance at the WWE TLC pay-per-view in December 2016. It looks like his last panel appearance came at the WWE Hell In a Cell pay-per-view in October 2018. Rosenberg briefly hosted the "Bring It To The Table" WWE Network in early 2017 with Paul Heyman, JBL and later Corey Graves, and also appeared on Talking Smack and RAW Talk before they were pulled.