Smark Out Moment

Do you have a question that you want to ask the minds over at Smark Out Moment? Our version of the WWE Inbox is the Smark Out Moment Mailbag. Once a month, we set aside some time to answer any of the questions on your mind, whether they be wrestling related, trivia to try to stump us, or just general questions to get to know Tony Mango and the other members of the team better.

Here are your submissions for this month:


Question: "What are your opinions of New Japan Pro Wrestling and what are your favorite matches and wrestlers?"

Answer: I actually have never seen anything from NJPW that I can remember. I've heard good things, though, so I definitely need to check them out when I can. One of the writers here, Oliver Court, is a big fan of NJPW.

Oliver Court's Answer: NJPW is my favourite promotion right now, since it focuses on the actual wrestling rather than talking or backstage stuff, and the wrestlers really deliver on every show. They also have a lot of potential to grow a western fanbase thanks to the Bullet Club. My three favourite New Japan wrestlers are Ishii, Nakamura and Ibushi, and any match with them is a must-see for me.

Question: "Opinions on Prince Devitt signing?"

Answer: Just like NJPW in general, Prince Devitt is someone that I'm not too familiar with. I'm all for trying out new talent, though, so if WWE sees something in him, I hope he'll be a big star.

Question: "If you could tag with anyone in the wrestling world, who would it be? What would be your name? What would be your tag finisher?"

Answer: As tempting as it would be to tag with Carlito and do some apple + mango combination, if we're assuming I'm not terrible in the ring but definitely not amazing, I'd like to tag with Mr. Perfect. We could call ourselves "Perfectly Adequate" and our finisher would be Hennig doing the Perfect Plex while I hit the guy with the chair or something illegal.

Question: "If there was an ultimate Royal Rumble with only the winners of all the past Rumbles, who would be the final four? Who would be the Iron Man? Who are the final two? Who wins?"

Answer: Credit to a lot of guys like Bret Hart, Batista, and Triple H who last a long time, but don't get there, the final four ends up being John Cena, Hulk Hogan, Stone Cold Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels. HBK is the Iron Man, having started off with Ric Flair (who also lasts until the final 10 or so). Sure enough, HBK gets eliminated, though, as he was always a workhorse who didn't win as many major matches as some others out there. Instead of having a final 2, I think this match ends with Hogan and Cena squaring off, matching strength, and Austin comes up and dumps them both over the top rope like an asshole—again, true to his gimmick and character and following suit with how he's won more Royal Rumbles than anyone else (especially if you include Mr. McMahon's win as his own, bringing him to 4 instead of 3).


Question: "My top 5 drama TV series would be True Detective, Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, The Shield and The Sopranos. What are your thoughts and reviews on those?"

Answer: Unfortunately, I haven't seen any of them! I've seen one episode of The Sopranos and nothing else.


Question: "Do you think life is predestined or do we make our own destinies?"

Answer: I struggle with not knowing this all the time. Certain things make me think that there's a plan, but without any solid proof, I'm too afraid to put any trust in that and then fail because I didn't push myself hard enough. Overall, I tend to think that nature and nurture prevail more than hope in a divine being, but it'd be nice to have that safety net...

Question: "What is the best and worst advice you have ever been given?"

Answer: The worst advice that I thankfully have never been stupid enough to listen to has been the crazy amount of times that people have tried to convince me to do drugs. It's never going to happen and I don't quite understand why anyone seriously thinks that that's good advice.

The best advice would probably be the times that people remind me not to sell myself short. I tend to beat myself up and not value myself as much as I apparently should and when I'm in the right mindset, I tend to be able to accomplish considerably more, rather than dooming myself to failure when I don't believe in myself.

Question: "What did you want to do as a career growing up and how does it compare to what you are doing now?"

Answer: At different times in my life, I wanted to be "a house" (yeah, I don't get that one, either), a scientist, a karate expert (Power Rangers influence lol), and then I stopped thinking about it for years. Eventually, I decided that I wanted to be involved in the entertainment industry in various different ways. I thought perhaps I would want to be a director or actor, then a writer, and although I still think I have some writing talent, I believe that my true skill set is in creative director rather than pure fiction writing itself. I like what I do now and if I could make solid money doing this my whole life with lesser hours than I put in now, I would be very happy.

Question: "Which do you think is the worst of the Seven Deadly Sins?"

Answer: Greed, by far. Sloth is not admirable in any sense of the word, but at least that isn't typically harmful. Envy is more damaging to yourself than anyone else. Pride can get in the way a lot, but that can also be a tool for good. Gluttony is almost out of date by today's standards. Lust has similar qualities to Pride and Gluttony, being somewhat out of date and somewhat a tool for good (to an extent). Greed, however, seems to be the source of everything that is bad in the world. It breeds chaos and disorder and power trips and wrath as a result and all sorts of other horrors.

Years ago, I wrote a post up on Out on Limbs about how I think some other sins should replace some of these or be added, including: Apathy, Fear, Dishonesty, Fatalism, Frivolity, Obsession, Foolishness, and Impatience.