7 Most Insane Things Happening In Wrestling Right Now (March 3)
Insane - or DELIGHTFUL?
On RAW this week, WWE yet again wheeled out their most beloved and insane trope by having one of their champions eat a clean pin, all in the name of generating momentum for an upcoming pay-per-view.
The inherent logic of this entirely illogical strategy isn't that difficult to parse; having Nia Jax defeat Bayley in a tag team match was designed to create doubt over Bayley's ability to retain her RAW Women's Title at Fastlane...even though Charlotte wins every pay-per-view match she wrestles, and having her buck the trend before WrestleMania is too insane even for the massively capricious Vince McMahon to contemplate.
In an equally baffling Monday night development, Braun Strowman demanded a contract for his Fastlane match with Roman Reigns. WWE lore dictates that only really crucial, show-selling title matches are formalised at the last minute. Midcard attractions - the most important part of any show, clearly - are sewn up immediately. Besides which, Strowman's reasoning - that Reigns would "duck his tail and run," otherwise - didn't hold the water Cesaro was waffling on about balancing, or something, in his backstage promo with Sheamus. Reigns is a top WWE babyface and thus Never Backs Down From A Fight (TM).
That curious (read: nonexistent) proverb probably warranted an entry of its own, but there are aneurysms to consider.
7. People Are Up In Arms That Beth Phoenix Beat Chyna To The Hall Of Fame...
...even though it means nothing.
The WWE Hall Of Fame is a house built on marketing and the whims of Vince McMahon. That's it. Think of the names that aren't a part of it: Rikidozan. Mitsuharu Misawa. Kenta Kobashi. Bruiser Brody. Giant Baba. Even the founding father of the industry - and WWE architect - Toots Mondt isn't an inductee. Now recall who is: Koko B Ware. The Godfather. Rikishi. Tenure and politics overrides actual achievement, so it's no shock that Beth Phoenix has stolen a march on Chyna, even though the Glamazon followed the trail the Ninth Wonder of the World blazed by becoming only the second female Royal Rumble entrant.
Besides which, WWE rarely inducts more than posthumous performer per year, lest they call attention to wrestling's unseemly underbelly. If rumours are to be believed, Ravishing Rick Rude is set to meet that quota. Chyna will have to wait until the dark clouds of her drug-addled death and hardcore pornography career disperse. Even then, the abuse accusations she levelled at Triple H render the possibility remote at best.
Did Beth Phoenix have a Hall of Fame-worthy career, supposing for a moment that accolade means anything? She was a better performer than her swimsuit model contemporaries, for sure, but by that logic, Three Count deserve an induction for making 2000-era WCW a less depressing place.
WWE plans on celebrating women's wrestling at WrestleMania 33. That might have something to do with it.