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?


While there were many negatives to this week's Raw (see below), one thing I did enjoy was the formation of The League of Nations.

In recent columns, I have advocated the idea of formally aligning the friendship of King Barrett, Sheamus, and Rusev. Adding Del Rio seemed a little strange, especially given his belief MexAmerica is greater than all the other countries, but given the week we have had, let us just take what positives we can.

I have always enjoyed King Barrett's ring work and promo skills, so it is a shame he has been stuck midcard since the crushing of The Nexus at SummerSlam 2010. While I am under no illusion this stable will send him personally to the top, at least he gets to be part of the main event scene for a while.

The same can be said to Rusev, who has grown to become an entertaining performer this past year.

Factions were a big thing in the '80s and '90s, and it is great to see their coming back into fashion like this. Now, if only we could have less time to see them in…….



I cannot quite put my finger on it, but now, more than ever, do I wish Raw was two hours again. There seemed be a collective agreement across social media this week that the 3-hour shows are just getting too much.

With a seemingly endless ream of padding and filler dilutes good moments, this week I really felt myself watching out of habit, rather than because I was enjoying the show.

Three hours is a very long time to spend in one sitting every single week, not to mention there also being SmackDown, NXT, Main Event (pass), and original programming from the WWE Network. It is hard to keep on top of it all.

If the three hours were all quality content, that would be a different story. There have been episodes of Raw that far surpass the pay-per-views, but these are getting to be a rare occurrence.

The ironic thing is Triple H himself does not want it to be three hours! He said as much on Stone Cold's podcast.

As far as I am concerned, the sooner he takes control of the reigns, the 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!