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?


The Pop award for the past week must go to the Team Cena vs. Team Authority match at Survivor Series, but it would be hard to narrow it down to a singular reason, so here's three.


Dolph Zigger was—astonishingly—the last man standing. This is not a slight on Dolph, for there is no doubting his ability, endurance or charisma, but quite simply, the name of the team was Team Cena. Not only that, Ziggler was responsible for over half of the eliminations against Team Authority.

I don't think anyone would have predicted Dolph being given the glory like this. This is a man who has bounced between the upper echelons and the midcard for the best part of two years. It is a huge testament to the faith WWE must actually have in him after all.

More Dolph on the horizon? Always a good thing, not a bad thing.


The actual wrestling content of the match deserves a shout out, too. With a total running time of just under 50 minutes long, we saw a wide variety of moves due to the different size and style of the talent. Tags were fast, frequent and furious, so there was not much chance for the action to ever go stale. There was brawling, high spots, chair shots and more. Combine that with the drama and nail biting tension and you had yourself a hugely satisfying combination all around.


This one goes without saying, but it would be a short bullet point if I didn't. Sting made his long-overdue WWE appearance during the last few minutes of the match—just long enough put a stop to Triple H's cheating ways.

What made this so special was, quite simply, everyone knew who he was. That might sound odd, but in this day and age, it is almost impossible.

When Chris Jericho debuted in the summer of 1999, many wrestling fans knew who he was because of WCW. When Nash and Hall turned up in WCW, people knew who they were because of WWF. Wrestling fans knew who was who in two or more organizations back then. So, jumping ship always turned heads.

But today, if anyone else turned up from TNA, unless they were former WWE stars, I wouldn't know who they were, and I am sure many others would react the same.

We have had a few indie stars join WWE, some with great notoriety in ROH or abroad, but not to the extent you could have them doing a run in on a main event, and expect people to react to it.

So, to have that rare, "OMG IT'S THEM!" moment one more time? That was something very special indeed.



Following the dethroning of The McMahon-Helmsey Era 2.0, all eyes looked to Monday Night Raw with anticipation. Who would take control? Authority figures have been a key part to WWE storylines for over 16 years. The vanquishing of The Authority has changed the landscape of the WWE as we know it.

There were rumors Vince would step in for the short-term, but let's not discount Mick Foley expressing his interest in a GM role, too. Either of these would have been a welcome dynamic.

Sadly, neither of these came to be. Instead, we got another former power authority figure entering their second term—the Anonymous General Manager.

Despite being bizarrely revealed as Hornswoggle two years prior, it seems that the computer that dictates who does what is coming back. Is it Hornswoggle again? Surely, that would be just a tad too silly. But if not he, then who?

This is not who the WWE Universe wanted to see (not that you can).

It remains to be seen where this goes. It might become something interesting, but this was a chance to do something dramatically new or shocking. The Authority had power for nearly two years and many were delighted the reign came to end (I am not one of them..boo hiss….),  but to all The Authority haters, I must say, is this really better?


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!