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?



A few weeks ago, I criticized the somewhat light story Samoa Joe vs. AJ Styles had going into SummerSlam. However, the inclusion of Wendy Styles and AJ's daughter has really change the direction that this was going.

No longer were they mere abstract concepts, but real people whom Joe can use to really mock Styles and get him properly fired up. This has resulted in the AJ who is hot-headed and over emotional, and this is exactly what this feud needed.

You could not plan for the imagery created when Styles' daughter turned away from his embrace at SummerSlam, as if she did not even known him, but it fit so nicely into the picture Joe was trying to paint of his rival. It has shades of the Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio custody battle, elements from Randy Orton and Triple H’s 2008 feud, and touches of the pair’s previous feuds back in the TNA days. Clearly, a winning combination.

Joe getting a sneak attack on AJ and declaring to Wendy that Styles would not be back to tuck the kids in was a genius move, and this fine tuning of how it is being presented has absolutely made this everything that it needs to be and more.



Charlotte Flair might have attributed the line about being a diva in a women's world to Carmella, but could it not be argued that the term is far more fitting to The Bella twins?

The Bellas' return at SummerSlam was met with a clearly audible negative reaction, and it's not hard to see why. Their announcement that they were mostly focusing on such pursuits as reality TV, makeup, and their YouTube channel was never going to endear them to the type that would attend SummerSlam.

Yet, despite this vacuous response, WWE still saw fit to include them in Ronda’s title victory celebration, the coronation ceremony on Raw, and now possibly having Nikki main-event Evolution against Ronda.

Could there be someone less fitting or deserving right now?

People may have moaned that Charlotte showed up and immediately managed to get back into the title picture, but at least she has a strong body of work to prove why she can be trusted in such a position.

The very idea that WWE may go down the route of presenting Nikki as a credible threat who can give Ronda a run for her money is laughable. In addition, get ready for weeks of cringy commentary getting over how she helped revolutionize women’s wrestling and brought about this evolution.


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!