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?


Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!

This past week on Monday Night Raw saw the end of the much maligned partner-swapping story.
It transpires that gossip site TMZ leaked Rusev and Lana's real life engagement a month back, and WWE saw fit to capitalize and bring the love square of Dolph Ziggler, Lana, Summer Rae, and Rusev to a sudden end.

It is fair to say nobody was feeling these faux-pairings, not least the superstars and divas.

Dolph Ziggler was shuttled in as Lana's boyfriend in a classic case of "just because" booking, and spent months looking like he would rather be elsewhere. Meanwhile, Rusev's focus was seemingly shifted from crushing to just having crushes, and losing most of his matches in the process.

But, on the plus side, Rusev proved he can more than hold his own on the mic, and at least it gave Summer Rae something to do during the Divas Revolution, so, at least there was that.

It seems strange that I am celebrating a poor ending to a lackluster story, but I think even WWE is grateful they had a reason to close it down. This angle felt flat from the start, and it only continued to deflate.

Of course, there are still some loose ends that should be tied up, such as how Lana and Rusev reconciled (in-story) but I think it is safe to say that the worst of it is over.

There will be no WWE wedding with cake in the face for Summer Rae, Ziggler can move on to something worthier of his talents, and hopefully, Lana will return to managing Rusev once again, and all it took was true love and a celebrity gossip mag. Bless.



Last week, WWE released the trailer for their latest film, "Santa's Little Helper."

Oh dear.

Traditionally, a trailer contains some of the best bits of a film as a means to draw in an audience—in which case, Santa's Little Helper looks (as expected) a little underwhelming.

The story revolves around a man (played by The Miz) who loses his job, and thus goes down the obvious route of trying to gain employment as Santa's assistant, but he has to compete against other elves to get it. Queue getting punched in the face a lot and some falling down.

Save a cameo from former WWE diva Maryse (Miz's wife) and Paige dressed as an elf, there was not much to get anyone excited.

Ok, I am not the target audience for this movie, but do remember that many parents are going to have to sit through this one.

I am not against WWE having a film division. In fact, I think it is great that they do. It gives superstars a chance to expand upon their acting skills, gives them a slight respite from the wear and tear of ring work, and allows them to make potential connections for post-WWE careers. Plus, if you are a fan of the superstar involved, it is fun to see them doing something so different.

However, given how fantastic WWE production values are and what excellent documentaries they can produce in-house, it is strange that they continue to invest in films with such weak concepts and scripts. It has mostly been an endless slew of overly generic action movies and groan-inducing comedies that you know can only hope to be average at best.

Santa's Little Helper is unlikely to be the gift that changes that.


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!