10 Pushes That WWE Ruined In 2022
Triple H isn't exempt from blame for the way some of these WWE pushes TANKED.
"Where's my damn push?!".
Iconic announcer Jim Ross regularly pokes fun at the humble pro wrestling push via his 'Grilling JR' podcast. The AEW commentator is often only having a laugh with co-host Conrad Thompson, but there's a deeper question at play: Is wrestling too obsessed with the idea of the almighty push?
Maybe/maybe not, but WWE can't hide behind that thought when looking back on some of 2022's horrors. Numerous workers looked like they were headed in the right direction before creative decided that...nah, they weren't worth all the effort put in for weeks (often months) beforehand.
Suddenly, these men and women found themselves in a stop/start funk they couldn't get out of. Some of them are still going through it as calendars tick down towards 2023. Another question must be posed here: What was the point in even pushing them at all if the writers had zero ideas to follow up on and Triple H didn't believe they were worthy to begin with?
All of these stars went from hot or potentially-hot situations to absolute crap in a heartbeat, and there's no excuse for it. WWE don't get a pass...
10. Damage CTRL
Yes, all of them.
Keep in mind that Bayley's bold new women's faction only debuted back in July at SummerSlam. Triple H had just assumed control post-Vince McMahon retirement, and the quick one-two-three punch of Bayley, Dakota Kai and IYO SKY seemed so fresh. Then, the booking rot set in.
OK, so Kai and SKY have regained their Women's Tag-Team Titles, but the pair looked like chumps when losing a tournament final to the random-ass Aliyah and Raquel Rodriguez combo in August. That was just one month after CTRL had formed too, meaning it was even more damaging to their momentum.
Group leader Bayley was also booked as a permanent punching bag for Bianca Belair. That would've been fine had the rest of Damage CTRL not been stumbling from one cowardly disaster to the next at the same time. Hopefully, things will settle down for the stable in 2023, because they can't keep going on this way in the new year.