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?


Whereas a select few WrestleMania matches have not had great builds, the same cannot be said for the upcoming WWE Championship match between Shinsuke Nakamura and AJ Styles. Two faces in a real feud is a rarity in WWE, but it must be said that the handling for this oft touted dream match has been refreshingly different.

It is not based on beat-downs, hatred, snide tricks or even true jealousy. It is a simple story of two friends believing that they can beat one another in one on one competition with the grandest prize up for grabs. Yet, the slight cockiness to Shinsuke's demeanor makes this so much more, and AJ's passionate and emotional outbursts contrast perfectly to this.

Whereas Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns have taken every opportunity possible to hurt each other before they face off, AJ and Nakamura have barely touched. The handling of Shinsuke's language setbacks has hardly been an issue here either. They seem to have managed to finally strike up just the right balance for him.

While it feels like we have known the result of Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar since time immemorial, this one has been orchestrated with enough intrigue so to not make the victor quite as clear-cut.

Surely, exactly what you want going into one of the biggest match ups on the Grandest Stage of Them All?



It must be said that everything is looking rather spiffy for WrestleMania right now, and there are many matches that I am looking forward to. However, yet again, the one match that was put in place to honor a legend has felt like an afterthought in the build-up. I am, of course, talking about the Andre the Giant Battle Royal.

Who has benefited from this thus far? It was mentioned on commentary that Baron Corbin went onto to win the Money in the Bank contract, but conveniently missed out that the events did not happen in the same year.

WWE tried to halfheartedly drum up some last-minute anticipation with Goldust and Matt Hardy and an 8-man tag on SmackDown Live, but we have already been conditioned to expect that little to no push comes from winning this match. Why should we care when we know that WWE does not?

Also, we have had two teams now pledge to win the match as a pair, but how that works or why it would be allowed has not been followed up on. A clear indicator that WWE really is not that bothered.

At least in the women's version we have the Sasha and Bailey story to play out, but the men's has  nothing solid to pay off at all. It is nice that WWE has found a way to get everyone on the WrestleMania card, but it would be even better if they could do something to make it mean that much more.


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!