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?



It would be fair to say that Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens were a hindrance more than the direct cause behind SmackDown Live's loss at Survivor Series, but the continuation of their story is undeniably good.

Firstly, the promos between Owens/Zayn and the authority figures are always well done. Ok, Shane O'Mac can be a little on the over-egged side at times, but Zayn and Owens bring a natural realism quality that helps balance it out.

Secondly, the involvement of the entire locker room being annoyed with them lends strength to the importance of winning Survivor Series. Raw's focus on the in-fighting overshadowed the fact that they won, and that, sadly made the victory seem almost pointless.

Lastly, this is not entirely predictable to see where it is going. Is this somehow leading to a Daniel Bryan heel turn? He seemed far less concerned on punishing the turncoats than Shane. Or is it leading to a power struggle between Shane and Bryan? Stephanie certainly hinted about the idea on Survivor Series.

Oh, and let us not forget that Rusev and Aiden English have made their allegiance to Owens and Zayn clear, too. I love these two as a team, and cannot wait to see how they might fit into this.

Wrestlers vs. Wrestling Authority may be as old as the hills, but SmackDown Live should be congratulated for doing it in a way that is keeping it fresh, and still keeping us guessing.



WWE is often guilty of finding something that works, and then repeating it again and again to the point where it is no longer special.

This past week was a prime example of this trend, but rarely do they repeat the same trick across both SmackDown Live and Raw within the exact same week.

It started on Monday with the return of Paige and her new posse of ex-NXT women who began wreaking havoc on the established Raw superstars. This makes sense as a standalone story. Paige is angry about getting no credit in the revolution, and is determined to put everyone on notice that she is back. Meanwhile, her groupies get to bask in the spotlight.

However, then SmackDown Live happened, and we saw almost the exact same thing happen with Liv Morgan, Ruby Riot, and Sarah Logan, but with the only difference being that they have no established WWE leader.

One school of thought is that there will lead to an NXT vs. WWE women story, but given that these NXT women are now actually WWE stars, this concept is a bit redundant.

Is there a connection to these stories? Or are they just being lazy? I would like to believe that there is a far bigger story at work here, but given that Survivor Series is the only time of the year that Raw and SmackDown Live superstars go head to head in direct competition, I do not see this being the case at all.

Shame.


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!