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?



Sometimes it is the smallest things that can make the biggest difference. For the past two weeks, Monday Night Raw's cruiserweight matches have not used purple ropes, but have been sticking with the tried and tested reliant red.

They were already going in a good direction by having Titus O'Neil's involvement with Akira Tozawa, but this one little change has made me care that little bit more about the matches and stories of the division. Purely psychological, but the purple ropes made fans feel that what we were watching was not actually part of the main show. It was almost instructing us not to pay too much attention, and that the outcomes had no bearing on the rest of the program.

WWE has either cottoned onto this, or decided that the changing of the ropes was getting to be too much hassle, but whatever the reason might be, this a very good step going forward.

By all means, keep it purple for 205 Live, but red on Raw is absolutely the right decision. Well, that and having more of Akira Tozawa going off on mad rants. Brilliant stuff.



This might seem an odd choice for a heat topic, especially given how much of a fan I am of his, but I cannot but help think that Chris Jericho should not have returned just yet.

It has been barely three months since we saw last him on a televised match, and Chris Jericho himself said that it would be a very long time before he returned. Of course, this could have just been him throwing us off the scent, but this does change that this was not the Y2J return that we have become accustomed to.

Where was the cryptic messages and countdown clock? The handful of times he has done this before have always been major talking points or done to massive pops. Between the subdued crowd reaction and weak response to AJ Styles being put on the list, something here tells me that this needed a longer break to make us fully appreciate his return. I would hate for anyone to ever take for granted that he is here, like what happened with the The Dudley Boyz.

Make no mistake about it, the United States title triple threat match on SmackDown Live was stellar stuff. Chris Jericho did a masterful job of putting the other two over, but I just hope that this not a rushed return, and there is actually a program waiting in the wings for him after Kevin Owens.

However, for all my grumbles over saving this for a bigger time, let us just accept that is he back, and drink it in while we can maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!


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!