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?



Two years ago, I wrote a pop column celebrating a change in fortune for The Ascension. They had just paired up with Stardust to form The Cosmic Wasteland, but then for reasons never made clear, it was over before it began.

I cannot claim to have been their biggest fan, but I felt sorry for what they had been straddled with. You cannot just slap Legion of Doom gear on someone and hope to replicate that success.

However, something has happened over the past few months that has slowly changed the audience's perception of them. That something is, of course, The Fashion Files.

Now featured support characters, the pair play brilliantly off Tyler Breeze and Fandango, and their latest venture to try to be their best friends is comical WWE nonsense at its best. It works so well because it probably was never meant to work so well.

Nobody would have predicted that this was the way to revive them, but their forte clearly lies in being the opposite of what WWE wanted them to originally be.

Jinder Mahal and Brock Lesnar might not have been on my wish list for Survivor Series (see below) but a traditional Survivor Series match involving Team Fashion Files certainly is!



Rejoice! Survivor Series will soon be upon us! Home of such high-profile matches as the Montreal Screwjob, Team Authority vs. Team WWE, and the conclusion of WWE vs. The Alliance angle.

Typically, the main event concludes big long running stories, or has massive stakes on the line that change the WWE landscape.

But this year? Well, WWE has decided to do away with a decent story and tease that Jinder Mahal vs. Brock Lesnar is going to be the big draw of the night. It is assumed that neither championship is on the line, and there are no known consequences at all for losing to the opposing brand's champion.

I do not wish to hinder the Jinder, but my reaction to this match is one of pure apathy. This does not fall into a spectacle like his bouts with Goldberg, and neither does it have the big fight feel that the ones with Samoa Joe or Braun Strowman had.

I do not hate the idea, but just not hating something is not good enough for the main event of a Survivor Series card. Is this really the best that they could come up with? Their styles do not even feel like they would mesh that well.

Of course, Brock Lesnar has yet to accept, so things may very well change between now and then, but WWE rarely teases something like this and then lets it quietly peter out.

Still, The Singh Brothers being slaughtered is an inevitable perverse addition to look forward to if they do go ahead, right?


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!