10 Long-Term WWE Pay Offs You Should Be Excited For
Write a letter to your future self who won't change, and don't let the internet ruin your time.
WWE fans - actual fans of WWE, people that enjoy or want to enjoy that product - have it rougher than it may often appear.
Amplified by the early promise and (slightly) more logical approach of All Elite Wrestling, a vocal minority of anti-WWE wrestling fans have turned much of their online biliousness in the direction not of maniacal billionaire Vince McMahon and his often-sh*tty product, but those earnest fans that choose to try and find quality in a show that so often is short on it. NXT, by virtue of its entanglement within the WWE Universe hasn't been immune either - the Wednesday Night War discourse has often resulted in the black-and-gold brand undeservedly being tarred with the same brush as Raw or SmackDown.
And what of that brush, or that tar? Are the red and blue brands destined for a lifetime of this treatment thanks to decades of abuse from a schizophrenic leader and a team too terrified/over-worked/under-prepared/all-of-the-above to challenge him? Will fans of either show be forced into grading both on a curve forever, just to try and gain some enjoyment out of them?
Yes, is the answer. These questions are tragically not as rhetorical as they may appear, but if you're one of the fans that may feel marginalised or prohibited from simply liking what you like, this may just be the list for you...
10. KofiMania II
Hearts that had been pumped full of joy following Kofi Kingston's history-making WrestleMania 35 WWE Championship victory were broken by the October 4th edition of SmackDown as the New Day man lost his prize to Brock Lesnar in just eight seconds.
WWE have deployed 'The Beast' as something of a party-spoiling troll before, but this particular bit of booking felt damaging in the extreme - not least when Kingston appeared not to give a single sh*t a week later.
Two weeks later though...
In a very cute bit of character work that was either entirely improvised of a moment of careful foreshadowing from the company, Kingston did his best "everything is fine" whilst gritting teeth and crushing pancakes during a segment with Heavy Machinery. He's continued on as normal in the wake of some modest tag team success again alongside Big E, but where can his anger even go anyway? Brock Lesnar has disappeared off to Monday Night Raw, unreachable from SmackDown unless Kofi were to perhaps finally win a match he's mastered not losing.
The Royal Rumble has played host to his numerous wacky bullsh*t elimination escapes over the years, but what are they if not training for actually going the distance? Only then can he issue a challenge to the Champion and heroically reclaim what he lost, exactly one year on from doing it the very first time.