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?



Raw and SmackDown Live has had its fair share of dismal times this past year, but even when the main cards have felt lackluster, the 24/7 title has been a consistent source of fun and intrigue. Yet, at a time where I would argue that the product is getting incrementally better, the green and gold belt still manages to stand out. For instance, take the madness of the 24/7 mixed tag lumberjack match on Raw. This would probably be an over booking for another division, but it works wonderful in the context of this title picture. Plus, having Maria win the title was a great idea. I loved that it is also intertwined with her own story with Mike too.

Who would dare pin a pregnant Maria? Frankly, it is a mystery that I am more invested in than who attacked Roman Reigns, and I am looking forward to finding out.

Not bad going for a belt that was once almost booed out the building.



Minus a few niggling exceptions, Monday Night Raw was an excellent episode all around. However, one of these problems was less to do with the show itself, and more about a growing issue on a wider scale.

Namely, the gauntlet match. Or, to be more specific, that poor Sami Zayn lost in alarmingly quick fashion to Rey Mysterio. Of course, losing to someone as accomplished as Rey is not the problem, but it does not bode great if this is how WWE is seeing Zayn. We are running the risk of casting Sami as a permanent loser. Week after week he seems to suffer similar losses, and WWE are doing little to stem the tide.

It looked like Sami had something of a good thing going when he came back with his new gimmick. Reportedly, this was Vince McMahon using Sami as a mouthpiece to vent his own frustrations, and one would have thought some attention from the big man himself would mean that this was actually going somewhere.

But, as many have said before, WWE is Vince’s toy box, and he will often change his mind about what he wants to play with that day. Let us just hope that Sami has fallen down the back of the sofa, and as soon as Vince finds him and dusts him off, we can do something positive with his anti- negative stance on fans.

That, or just let Paul Heyman have a go? We can trust him not to break him.


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!