10 Times "Best For Business" WWE Decisions Sucked

The phrase "best for business", popularised on-screen by The Authority when they were doing their level best to keep Daniel Bryan from the top of the card, is one that is probably heard fairly regularly during WWE board meetings.

Yeah, that Neville guy is having some nice matches, but is pushing him really best for business?

Nakamura vs. AJ at WrestleMania has a ring to it but, I dunno, is it best for business?

The answer, invariably, is no. Anything that the fans are itching to see is the sort of thing that could potentially leave the company in financial ruin. Only things that they absolutely hate are good for business, because reasons.

Obviously, that's not strictly true: the fans - although not always of the dyed-in-the-wool vocal online type - ultimately have a large say in what is and isn't regarded as a shrewd business move (even if it doesn't always feel like it).

But there have been one or two occasions when what's best for business hasn't necessarily been what's best for fans - or, not for those types of fans we just mentioned anyway.

The decision to discontinue Talking Smack earlier this year was almost universally unpopular, so much so that even a few WWE wrestlers themselves expressed their dismay via social media (albeit in a way careful not to rock the boat with any of their superiors).

Renee Young's post-SmackDown panel show was one of the highlights of the wrestling week, giving stars a rare opportunity to script their own promos and let loose (with one exchange - between Daniel Bryan and The Miz - standing out in particular).

The show was canned, not just to troll the fans (although that was probably part of it), but because WWE was looking to cut its production costs after falling behind operational targets during the first half of 2017.

Total Bellas, however, is still going strong.