10 Bad Habits WWE MUST Kick

A peek behind the curtain for a second: this article's point of origin was January 2018, a time in which the company reversed a wretched December with such fervour that publishing such a piece would have been an insult to an organisation firing on most (if never all) cylinders.

An expertly-booked and worked Royal Rumble pay-per-view didn't leave reason for bereaving or appeasing outside of admitting that WWE had done a grand job with both battle royals and began a Road To WrestleMania that promised much if even half the card delivered. Which is exactly what it did.

The 'Show Of Shows' was another smash hit, for the most part. The noticeable decline during the mammoth event's second half took it out of 'all-time greatest' conversations, but some choice early efforts ahead of Ronda Rousey's magnificent debut lodged it in the top bracket early doors. Even Greatest Royal Rumble - in all its problematic pomp - had a 50-man Royal Rumble as its suitably grandiose main event.

And then there was Backlash.

The fragile ice upon which the company had been skating cracked yet again following a storming opener pitting The Miz against Seth Rollins. The pair waged a thrilling war over a knee injury sustained by 'The Architect', before his immense heroism eventually won out. Punters should have made for the doors after that, rather than half way through the main event...

Picking apart the latest Roman Reigns catastrophe seems almost unfair to a 'Big Dog' never more reduced in stature than he is right now.

A man once forced to weep amidst the streamers that had just seconds earlier been for him. A man twice robbed of his WrestleMania anointment against Brock Lesnar. A man thrice defeated in pay-per-view matches in 2018 alone despite still allegedly being the priority project of WWE for most of the last decade. It just doesn't hang together anymore, and more closely resembles Vince McMahon's infamous souring on Lex Luger than any other main event run in company history. Only longer.

Luger barely worked a day as he shot across America on a comical bus tour before snaring a laboured count-out victory over Yokozuna in the first of only two WWE singles main events he'd pinch during his troubled tenure. By contrast Roman is all over the f*cking product and is now detestable enough for the audience to hit the road themselves to beat the traffic rather than stick around to watch his matches.

Never has a top talent needed an injury more. There was a time when such reactions would lead to a reaction from the company to try and protect their investment. Currently? Just more more more as fans continue to snore.