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 world groaned when Roman Reigns won the number one contender's spot for a shot at Brock's title at SummerSlam. Again? Why swerve us at WrestleMania if we were only ever delaying the inevitable? However, that being said, WWE did a very good job this past week on Raw to drum up interest in what would otherwise be a very tired feud.

It was very unique to have Brock Lesnar in more than a single five-minute segment, and to have him feature throughout the night was a great plot narrative to base the show around.

Also, in all the years of seeing Lesnar and Heyman, how many times have we seen the pair properly converse with each other outside the ring? It felt a bizarrely fresh concept.

Unsurprisingly, they worked extremely well together, and I felt sad for Heyman when Lesnar refused to acknowledge Paul as a friend. All the more remarkable when you consider that his character is meant to be that of a conniving sleazebag. Why should I feel sorry for him? Well, they managed it.

Adding to the intrigue is just how Heyman will play into this in the coming weeks. Are they together? Will he cost Lesnar the title? Not since Brock’s return to the company have we had reason to suspect Heyman might be a factor in a match like this.

I was apathetic towards seeing this match again initially, but how they have added little nuances to change the basic narrative has got me very curious indeed



The Miz and Daniel Bryan's promo this past week on SmackDown was largely excellent. Drawing on a feud that is, arguably, nearly a decade in the making, there is so much excellent material to draw from for this rivalry.

So, it is for this reason that I find it rather odd that WWE feel it necessary to add new threads to the tapestry with this baby nonsense. I get the connection is that they both had children a few months apart, but is that really enough to justify including this pap?

It was not funny, it was not actually humiliating to Daniel, and it just felt embarrassing to watch. It was one of those moments where you would struggle to justify to non-fans that wrestling is not as dumb as they think.

In addition, if WWE wants to make this reality based, as one might guess they are by having The Miz reference such things as Daniel’s contract, they should not then go ruin the immersion by including a here’s something I prepared earlier moment.

Daniel and The Miz proved on Talking Smack that they need no help to make us question what is a shoot and what is scripted, and they certainly do not need additional material of this nature!


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!