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?



Who would have guessed that Rusev would be the number one contender this time last week? That is not a knock on the man by any means, as I see him having all the potential in the world, but months of strange booking decisions have always given me the impression that WWE were not as hot about him as the fans so passionately are.

Despite being a merchandise mover by the truck load, and being cheered for in segments that he is not even in, WWE has rewarded his and Aiden's popularity with multiple losses, failed tag title attempts, and a teasing of breaking up the act entirely.

His winning the gauntlet match on SmackDown Live was not unlike Jinder Mahal becoming the number one contender last year, but this time people actually wanted it to happen. Like it or not, and maybe someone backstage finally does, but Rusev is the total package. He is an agile big man capable of comedy and carnage, and he absolutely deserves this chance. Plus, let us not forget that he endured that love quadrangle with Dolph Ziggler, Summer Rae and Lana. They owe him!

I am not entirely sure how WWE are positioning this feud, as Rusev is only a heel by name at this point, but I am looking forward to seeing how this one develops in the coming weeks.



Just two days after his money in the Money in the Bank match, WWE reported that William Morrisey (Big Cass) had been released from his contract. Shock aside, what was incredibly noticeable was the brevity of the statement. No good luck with is future endeavors, and certainly no thanking him for his hard work and time.

Maybe WWE had been contemplating this for a while, and were simply waiting to the Daniel Bryan feud to end before pulling the trigger, but this initially came as something of a shock release.

Big Cass had come back from injury with a considerably improved set of mic skills and ring moves, and certainly had the potential to be developed into a very decent mid-carder at the very least.

The reason behind his release appears to be a myriad of causes, but one of the main factors stems from Cass having some backstage heat for beating up mini Daniel Bryan when he had been explicitly told not to. Couple that with rumblings that he, not unlike Enzo, was not the most popular guy thanks to his lewd public behavior, and it now starts to make sense why this went down.

While his pairing off against Daniel Bryan will likely be looked back on as somewhat lackluster overall, it did at least give us some of his best performances in and out of the ring, and even backstage officials were said to be impressed by what would end up being his final showing.

Could he have grown to become everything WWE once wanted him to be? Maybe not quite, at least not without further experience, but nobody can deny that he and Enzo were extremely entertaining during their peak as a team.

We wish him well with is future endeavors.


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!