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?



I had concerns over the dissolution of Selina Vega’s faction. I feared that doing so was a mistake, and that they were better off together.

However, while the split did happen, it did not go down as expected, and everyone may end up better off for it.

I had assumed that all three of Selina’s boys would go their separate ways, but, as far as we know, it seems that Angel Garza and Andrade are still a unit with Vega, and it is only Austin Theory who got the boot after accidently costing his friend’s a match.

As a big fans of Vega’s management style, I am happy with this as an outcome, and feel that the trimmed down version has the potential to do just as well.

Moreover, what happened next was even better, and did not leave Austin Theory as directionless as I had predicated.

Austin Theory would stay at ringside in a dazed and despondent state, that is, until Seth Rollins reached out with a single black gloved hand. Theory did not need much persuading, and would gamely followed his new leader’s instructions to aid in a beat down. It might have been a carbon copy of Murphy's resurrection, but that is no bad thing.

Aside from giving Theory new purpose, this move reinforces the Messiah character, and revives the cult of Seth Rollins angle that was so hot a few months back and I cannot wait to see where this goes next.

Though, unlike The Authors of Pain and Buddy Murphy, can we please keep him as Austin Theory? Theory does not quite have the same ring to it…



Like everyone else in the wrestling world, I was saddened to hear of the death of former WWE star Shad Gaspard this past week.

While not decorated in the traditional sense, Shad was an extremely memorable part of WWE during his tenure, and it was, ironically, criminal that Cryme Tyme never got their just dues as Tag champions. I know that having such a title means little in the grand scheme of things, and has no impact on who he was a human being, but it is, for some reason a natural thought that wrestling fans have over the death of a superstar who was, perhaps, not as celebrated as they should have been during their life.

Regardless, the title he will always be given is hero, and there are few who ever come close to that. Shad was known to many fans and friends as gregarious, and his actions, from stopping an armed robbery, to his last act, ordering life guards to save his son first, are testament to that.

Shad may have pulled many hustles as his gangsta styled screen persona, but, that he is gone so young, before his time, ended up being the biggest crime of them all.

Our thoughts are with the family of Shad Gaspard at this horribly difficult time.


Extra Heat: That I am mentioning Hana Kimura's suicide in the extra section of this column makes it no less important than the death of Shad, but simply that I did not expect to have to write about another tragic death so close to publication. This is the part of wrestling, or any fandom, that I like least. The negativity of fandom that goes beyond just dissecting a show, and becomes venomous and causes real life repercussions of an irreversible nature. I only hope that this may serve as a grim reminder to those that engage in this behaviour, and that you really need to think before you tweet. R.I.P Hana Kimura.

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!