10 Thrown-Together WWE Acts That Made No Sense
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Blame Vince Russo.
That opening gambit may sound familiar, and he sometimes gets more stick than he deserves, but the 'tag partners that don't get along' device was all his fault. Like many of his go-to tropes, Russo made a success out of his early attempts with the angle, before beating the gimmick to death in front of audiences still optimistically tuning into his brand of pro wrestling. Now an accepted storyline device, fans of other organisations get to see the corpse p*ssed on for diminishing returns.
Shawn Michaels and Steve Austin were barely able to stop fighting each other in between fighting for the WWE Tag Team Titles in 1997, but the fans went wild because they loved both men regardless, not because they were scrapped as well. In any storyline, the investment is with performers fans have an emotional connection to, rather than the angle itself. It's why Samoa Joe making veiled threats to AJ Styles family resonated, but JBL giving Eddie Guerrero's mother an actual heart attack did not. It's why Austin and Bret Hart fighting about the merits of America and Canada transformed WWE's year in 1997, but Jinder Mahal mocking Shinsuke Nakamura's face sunk them both 20 years later.
It's why Stone Cold Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels didn't trigger confusion and mockery from the crowd, but Drake Maverick raiding his parents' wardrobe did.
The 205 Live General Manager wasn't the first put in this spot. He wasn't even the first this year...
10. Seth Rollins & Jason Jordan
Seth Rollins was a victim of the injury bug biting yet again in early 2018, but for a change it wasn't 'The Architect' in need of a rebuild.
A late-2017 Sheild reunion was snakebit from the off, with a Roman Reigns mumps attack being followed up by Dean Ambrose's first significant injury since debuting on the main roster in 2012. Having only just reunited with his 'Hounds Of Justice' comrades, Rollins was left chasing his tail in the tag division until Kurt Angle's surprise son rocked up to save the day to eventually build to a WrestleMania singles clash.
Jordan's unceremonious dumping from the Survivor Series main event by Triple H had projected something of a wider disinterest in his character at the time, even if he was just starting to come into his own as a disingenuous d*ck. Chapter One of their story had barely been fleshed out before Jordan too went the way of Roman and Dean, rendering the entire Rollins arc moot and 'The Kingslayer' yet again without anybody to crown at the 'Show Of Shows'.