Smark Out Moment

Welcome to another edition of Cheap Pop and Cheap Heat from Smark Out Moment! Each week, we break down the world of professional wrestling and examine two of the polar opposite ends of the spectrum: one thing that was by far the worst thing (Cheap Heat) and the best thing (Cheap Pop) to happen over the past 7 days in sports entertainment. So, what went down this week that we loved and hated about the business?


Last week on Monday Night Raw, J & J Security finally stood up to their boss, Seth Rollins.
The result? Well, according to the WWE Universe — they've still got it!

Ever since their inception last autumn, the once proud Cruiserweight champion and his 3-time tag team champion comrade have been portrayed as stooges, bumbling around ringside, trying to gain their boss victories via sneak attacks and distraction techniques. Forget about getting a beat down from these two, for the APA 2.0, they are not.

However, as Noble so proudly declared, they were basically The Shield 2.0. A questionable statement, perhaps, but the crowd did not boo them for a potentially sacrilegious statement. Instead, the crowd seemed behind the notion.

And why not? Mercury has often been called the 4th member of The Shield. As the designated agent for many of the stables matches, Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, and Dean Ambrose all cite him as being a major reason for the success of The Shield. His work as a producer is well-known, so to label him as a stooge—while funny—is far from accurate.

Older fans will know of their respective legacies, but to younger fans they will only have ever known them as incompetent idiots. Sure, they have been in sporadic matches these past months, but always playing down their considerably talented ring work.

Having them go over on Rollins was a well-deserved call of respect for the duo, and even caused social media cries for them to now chase the tag team titles! As both are semi-retired from ring work, that is a unlikely occurrence, but one can never say never in WWE.


Last week, we learned the sad news that the last Hart Dungeon graduate, Tyson Kidd, is reported to have suffered a spinal injury in a dark match loss to Samoa Joe.

It is not yet clear how long he will be out, but what does this mean for Tyson and Cesaro's careers if long term?

The Canadian/Swiss duo has been on fire these past months, and their work in the past two pay-per-views have helped make some stand-out matches. On his podcast, Steve Austin called their 2-out-of 3 falls match with The New Day at Extreme Rules his favorite match of the card, and their participation at Elimination Chamber bout was undeniably solid.

If it is only weeks that Kidd is out, then they will be able to regain momentum, but if it is months, I have concerns WWE will dissolve the team and forget it ever happened as they have done in the past.

Some may say this is Cesaro's chance to shine, but I cite WWE's track record with pushes for the Swiss Superman as an example of why it is not. Yes, Cesaro is hugely over, but as was he before, and this made little difference to WWE's management of his previous push. What did winning the first Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal actually achieve? Yes, he became a "Paul Heyman guy", but we all know that went nowhere.

Both men had floated for too long prior to their pairing, and this team has been one of the best things to have happened to them in years. Of course, give Cesaro something to do in the meantime, but breaking them up indefinitely will serve no long term benefit to either man.

Fact.


So there you have it, my two choices for the week. What do YOU think are the Cheap Pop and Cheap Heat this week in professional wrestling? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!