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?



Monday Night Raw saw Bayley turn heel, and about damn time too.

Following in the footsteps of her bestie, Sasha Banks, Bayley took to smashing a chair over Becky Lynch again and again after their champion’s showcase match ended in a disqualification. She would follow this up with a similar beating upon Charlotte Flair the next night on SmackDown Live.

Bouncy and huggable Bayley is lovely, but this felt a necessary change. Her title reign has not been bad, but it certainly has been a long way off the fever pitch level of Ronda vs. Becky. Charlotte. Maybe an unfair comparison, but it has been undeniably pedestrian.

Can a heel Bayley turn all this around? And How will this new persona fare long term? Especially up against Charlotte Flair, the ultimate female heel? All this remains to be seen, but that I am interested enough to wonder make this a positive start in my book.



The big whodunit Roman Reigns angle has finally reached its crescendo, and I am not entirely sure how I feel about it. So, why have I then put it as a Heat? Because wrestling, or wrestling angles, are meant to make people care one way or another. At the moment? I feel very little either way.

The mystery started strong with the inclusions of Samoa Joe and Buddy Murphy, but soon trailed off when the attacks stopped happening, and the only real suspect was Rowan. Of course, we all assumed that a big ruse or reveal would be the end game for the story, and that it could not really be Rowan, surely?

Nope.

We were briefly thrown a red herring in the form of, a Rowan lookalike, but, as funny as it was, it made no sense why it was never brought up again. There was also no explanation about why Daniel Bryan suddenly thought that it was Rowan, and not the doppelgänger, when he saw the footage.

The explanation Rowan gave for doing it was not exactly strong either. His turn on Daniel made some sense, but his attempted murder shenanigans somehow felt without true just cause.

Honestly? At this point, it would be more believable it if he had just done it for da Rock, but part of me hopes that it will somehow still turn out to be Daniel Bryan.


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!