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?


Remember when SmackDown was a show that you could skip without worrying about missing key plot points?

This week saw Randy Orton sever his alliance with Kane in order to allow Bray Wyatt the victory. Why? The reason is still not 100 percent clear, but Orton gave a short mysterious post-match interview in which he alluded to joining The Wyatt Family.

While Randy Orton has a habit of turning on groups (Evolution, Legacy, The Authority), never has he turned on an ally in order to join another group. This really did come out of nowhere, and it is moments like this that, in my opinion, make SmackDown a superior show to Raw—unpredictable turns that create anticipation for the following installment.

But has Randy actually joined? Ignoring that his beard is nowhere near Wyatt Family standards, does he even fit? Is this merely a ploy like when Daniel Bryan briefly joined in 2014? I think that the SmackDown producers are smarter than repeating that story verbatim, so I have high hopes that this  is going to take some intriguing turns.



What on earth was up with that promo by Paul Heyman on Monday Night Raw? In sixteen years, I have never seen Heyman deliver a promo that is anything less than stellar, which is why this one was so noticeably underwhelming. The normal energy was just not there.

Initially, I thought that the stilted bored delivery was some sort of clever ploy by Heyman, making it intentionally uninteresting to spite Brock's home state, but as the promo went on, it merely looked as if he was struggling to recall a script.

In addition, Heyman trying to make Brock the heel in his hometown was not a great idea, for try as he might, the crowd were reluctant to go along with it.

The whole piece did nothing to enhance my anticipation for Goldberg vs. Lesnar, and given it is unlikely that we will see either on a weekly basis till Survivor Series, it is imperative that Paul Heyman is there playing his A-Game to string the narrative along.


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!