10 Awful WWE Clichés That Refuse To Go Away

10. Escaping The Cage

Steel cage matches are a great concept in theory. The gimmick debuted in Atlanta back in 1937, when the ring was surrounded by chicken wire to keep the wrestlers in the ring, force them to engage, and prevent interference. This remains the match type’s key narrative today, but cage matches have evolved immeasurably over the years, and they’ve now been diluted to the point of irrelevance.

The problems stem from the escape stipulation, and the fact that a wrestler can win either by climbing over the top, or by simply walking out of the door. The concept of “winning” by literally fleeing your opponent is absurd enough, and this is compounded when you consider the smaller details.

If the door’s unlocked and an official’s standing there ready to open it, why wouldn’t the heel just make a beeline for it as soon as the bell rings? If the idea is that these guys are supposed stuck inside the cage with each other, then shouldn’t this loophole be eliminated?

Furthermore, most cage match build-ups involve in the heel constantly running from the babyface, but inside a cage, there’s supposedly “nowhere to run.” Then the match happens, and the babyface wins by escaping the cage at the first opportunity… stupid, stupid, stupid.

There are three acceptable ways to win a cage match: pinfall, submission, or knockout. Everything else renders the stipulation pointless.