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?



In wrestling, the best told stories are those with elements of truth, and it is partly because of this that I feel the Daniel Bryan heel turn works. Initially, I was skeptical of the idea, as it seemed almost impossible someone like Daniel Bryan could be heel again, but this past week helped remind me just how good he was as one.

By incorporating his journey to return to wrestling, we got an explanation for a heel turn that actually fits his character. Plus, as noted by Bryan, the fan momentum was strong upon his return, but a slew of largely poor booking soon saw it starting to fade away.

The New Daniel Bryan, as he is now calling himself, was easily the best part of the show for me, and this change of pace feels like an exciting way to refresh his character.

He will have to work very hard, as WWE audiences rarely jeer who the company wants them to, but Daniel does not do anything in half-measures. He will commit to this, and do all that he can to make us hate him.

It is still a little early to tell whether taking the title off AJ Styles was the right thing to do, but this early indication leaves me leaning far closer to the positive side of things.



Could there have been anything more demeaning for the WWE tag teams than to have had their Survivor Series match not even count as part of the final score? Well, AOP losing a match so soon after winning the belts was not exactly useful in rebuilding the diminished division’s reputation.

Between AOP’s manager peeing himself, winning the titles in a handicap match, and losing an exhibition match clean so quickly after winning the titles,  I cannot take AOP serious as champions, and I am not sure if WWE does either.

In fact, I get the impression that they are already thinking about having Bobby Roode and Chad Gable taking the titles off of them soon.

Sure, why not. It is not like any other team has momentum.

I am not saying that SmackDown Live does it perfectly either, as their champs also lost this week, but at least it was just in a six-man tag silly gimmick match.

To think that division once housed the likes of E+C, The Hardyz, and The Dudley Boyz...


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!