10 Times WWE Successfully Recycled Its Own Storylines
"Maybe it was two times, don't think it was three times, can't be more than four times..."
WWE delivered the best Monday Night Raw in an ice age after gifting the audience the wonderful news about Roman Reigns' retreating leukemia.
Storylines and matches made sense, characters behaved as if they had brains in their heads rather than overtly complex scripts they couldn't remember, and several smaller moments fed into an over-arching narrative that paid off spectacularly in a powerful show-closing storyline.
It was, out of the blue, a red brand with some direction again. There were echoes of a simpler (read: better) time where this sort of cohesion was the rule rather than exception because it drove the industry.
During his time atop the WWE power structure on Vince McMahon's right hand, Jim Cornette fastidiously kept notes on ticket sales and buyrates, as well as storylines and matches that featured on the main product. This ensured logical progression wherever possible rather than relying on hotshots and hot sh*t just to pop a town, a crowd or a rating. He also favoured the rule that something could only be reused after seven years, ensuring that enough fans will never have even seen something similar, let alone remembered it.
That's assuming the idea was worth retrying in the first place. To quote a non-wrestling boss first (and yet, probably a chilled out entertainer second), "a good idea, is a good idea forever". WWE aren't afraid of plagiarising themselves, especially when they get full marks all over again...
10. The Monster Among Men
For as long as he was able to feed them to Hulk Hogan (more on that later), Vince McMahon has put in faith in the mammoth men that stop travellers in their tracks whenever WWE's circus of stars traverse airports.
Braun Strowman was the most recent beneficiary of being born big-boned - 'The Monster Among Men' looked, to some relief, the perfect compromise between Vince McMahon's peccadillos and actual audience adoration. He was tragically steamrolled once too often by Brock Lesnar, but 'The Beast' had the boss' heart long before Braun stormed in.
Brock was the original "working" monster, obliterating greats and goobers alike throughout 2002 en route to his maiden WWE Championship victory over The Rock within months of his debut. Losing it to The Big Show in November wasn't something people saw coming, but they should have. Only a seven-footer could beat somebody six-and-a-half in his machiavellian mind.
Lesnar overcame Show en route back to the title (and after reclaiming it) to conclusively establish himself as the bull of the WWE woods. It was a role the company only stopped one step short of with Braun, all - oddly enough - due to the protection of 'The Beast'.