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 know that he is still green, I know that there is work to be done, but I could not but help be impressed by Braun Strowman this week.

When it all went down between Jeri-KO and The Shattered Shield (good, right?) he started attacking anyone he could lay his hands on and ended up looking rather dominant for it. Yes, we have seen him annihilate jobbers, but to get big blows in against the upper card guys is a good step up.

Later, when Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens tried to recruit Braun as an ally, he further did himself justice with his stoic and sullen responses. He had an unpredictable dangerous quality about him, and I feel that if WWE play this right, Braun Strowman could become their new (circa 1999) Big Show.

With more experience and good booking, Braun could become the sort of wrestler that a heel G.M would force a face into fighting as a punishment, and the sort of wrestler treated as a genuine threat by the rest of the roster.

This was the first time we have seen Braun feature so prominently throughout a single show, and it was a promising sign that he kept my interest in an otherwise below average episode.



WWE commentating is not what it used to be. Mauro Ranallo and Corey Graves have been excellent recent additions, but one of the most annoying expansions is the move to three-man commentating teams.

Trios can work well when done for storyline purpose (2 commentators plus a guest wrestler) but as a whole, I find that some of current breed spend more time talking amongst themselves than calling the match.

This is why I have some trepidation over Tom Phillips joining the SmackDown commentating team. This has nothing to do with Tom's ability, but unless he is replacing someone, this means that we have will have a four-man team! No matter how good they are, is this not a bit of an overkill?

We will just have to wait and see how it works out, but I can only hope that the excellent Mr. Phillips is actually going to get a word in edgeways under this new arrangement.


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!