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?



Edge has returned.

Realistically, I do not need to elaborate further about why this gets the Pop of the Week, but, instead of facing the ire of my Editor, allow me to break now some of the more nuanced points of excellence that surround it.

Firstly, and most obviously, the triumph over adversity. At forty six, Edge overcame what we all had accepted was a career ending injury. Yes, he went out as an undefeated WWE Champion, but this likely provided no solace for the lack of closure he must have felt. To see the overwhelming emotion on his face returning at the Rumble and Raw was just so heartening to watch. You cannot but help feel overjoyed for him.

Secondly, his clash with Randy was great for many reasons. Not only did we had the Rated-RKO nostalgia, rewarding long-term viewers for their habits, but were also treated to Randy turning into the worst version of himself. Of course, by worst, I actually mean best. Randy operates at his optimum level when he is being a true snake. He was teetering around as a sort of snarky face in his AJ Styles feud, but his heinous attack on Edge moves him firmly back to where he belongs.

A WrestleMania match is basically ironclad at this point, and I know that may disappoint some people who wanted to see him face off against new talent, but, with a reported three-year deal in place, there is still plenty of time for that later. Also, at the end of the day, a few months ago we never even considered this was ever possible.

Welcome home, Edge.



Knowing what we know about Matt Riddle recreational habits, perhaps there is no riddle over his recent strange behaviour. However, this time, there were some repercussions for it.

The former UFC fighter has garnered a fair bit of backstage heat recently for his twitter call outs to Goldberg and, more recently, Brock Lesnar. Neither man has been particularly amused by it, and Lesnar even fired back, warning young wrestlers not to tag him for things like this, as he is never going to work with them anyway. Ouch.

Ironic, as Riddle would have made a very believable threat to Lesnar, but Lesnar is neither impressed nor interested, and he was not the only one.

While pissing off the beast may have got him internet love, WWE bosses were less appreciative, and it is believed that Riddle’s forty-second elimination in the Royal Rumble was a punishment for his actions. Furthermore, NXT wrestlers are now being specifically told not to call out Raw or SmackDown superstars on social media. No prizes for guessing what sparked that addition to the lesson plan.

Thankfully, WWE has not been turned off him entirely, as there is no way that he would have won the Dusty Cup with Pete Dunn otherwise, but, will he ever reach main event status while Brock Lesnar is still around?

A riddle that I think we all know the answer to…


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!