10 Wrestling Moments That Broke The Internet
Glad-handing YES! men.
The events of Royal Rumble 2018 sent the Internet into something well beyond the descriptor "meltdown" since, wrestling being wrestling, it is often so much more fascinating behind the curtain than in front of it. The hardest of hardcores are an hysterical bunch - to such an extent that we throw around "Burial!" accusations as quickly as Stephanie McMahon is to take credit for the Suffragette movement. Moreover, WWE's dismal track record of late hardly encourages the optimistic wait-and-see approach. If you'd waited for WWE to push Daniel Bryan in early 2014, as opposed to impatiently and loudly convincing WWE of his main event credentials, you'd look like the bag of bones Vince McMahon always saw him as.
That hysteria was in full effect on 28 January - so much so that a certain portion of the fandom pretended to care about the career trajectory of Mandy Rose. With Ronda around, WWE can't push somebody we don't care about! Conversely, those predisposed to expect the worst suddenly and perhaps drastically changed their tune. Shinsuke Nakamura just won the Royal Rumble! That's the paradigm shifted, then. And not before time!
Until he is instructed to recite an endless, childish 10 minute promo, and the cycle begins anew...
10. Rowdy Ronda Pointer
It was very weird, Ronda Rousey's first proper WWE appearance - which no doubt contributed to the relentless conversation.
It was essentially a photoshoot masquerading as an angle, in which Ronda pointed, over and over again, at the WrestleMania 34 sign lurking in the rafters - before shaking hands with Asuka and Stephanie McMahon. It was a debut closer in spirit to Dolph Ziggler's than Brock Lesnar's which, despite WWE's superb track record of presenting major celebrities (as opposed to Jeremy Piven), led many to question what, to be blunt, the f*ck they were thinking. That WWE has paid for Joan Jett's Bad Reputation triggered the most cynical of cynics, too. They wouldn't do that for Mandy Rose, about whom we've just decided to care. Confusion, more so than excitement, broke Twitter. Are WWE's photographers that daft?
Michael Cole didn't seem to have a clue what was happening, either - which was merciful, really. He spared us from - ahem - pointing out the obvious by feigning ignorance, as opposed to treating his audience like absolute nimrods. "Guys, guys - does Ronda pointing at the WrestleMania sign mean she intends to wrestle at WrestleMania?!"