10 Wrestling Moments That Couldn't Live Up To The Hype
And that's the bottom line...wait, THAT's the bottom line?
Pardon the indulgence and plug, but a few weeks ago your writer penned a piece for this site about the ongoing Bayley/Sasha Banks storyline that appeared to be destined for an explosive contest at SummerSlam over 'The Role Model's SmackDown Championship.
The wrestlers were working extremely hard to get some fairly decent booking over in what had started to feel like a passion project. These are often the best case scenarios in pro wrestling - performers and creatives in perfect harmony with a plan they'll see through via carefully mapped logical storytelling worked backwards from the payoff and lol this isn't 2000 anymore.
As the article notes, it was as important to enjoy the journey as it was happening rather than pine for the destination or any of the booking outlined above. WWE functions on the fly by default now, driven by ratings or rights fees or whims or whatever bothered Vince McMahon that morning. Chaos, change and drastic adjustment seem to be protocol, certainly more so than seeing something through to a natural conclusion
More fool WWE for abandoning that aspect of the process too. That's how both hope and hype form. Without those things, an over-reliance on surprises becomes necessary. Hype was once everything, and in most other companies remains currency. Even when the payoff cannot possibly deliver on it...
10. Cody Vs Shawn Spears (AEW ALL OUT 2019)
An average match that couldn't live up to sensational hype, the showcase clash for Shawn Spears (and, tacitly, Cody's desire to be the company Ace he has gradually grown into) ended where it began - as a mistake.
August 2019's ALL OUT was the last AEW pay-per-view of the pre-Dynamite era, with the setups for major matches coming through prior events and the company's often-excellent YouTube platforms. At June's Fyter Fest Spears annihilated 'The American Nightmare' with a chair to the head. The scene was an ugly reminder of wrestling's past before a grim reveal that the (gimmicked) chair had bust Cody's dome wide open.
Spears had seethed at a throwaway remark from Cody that he was a "good hand, player coach figure", justifying the assault and a newfound bond with legendary Rhodes rival Tully Blanchard. An exceptional promo from Brandi Rhodes elevated the programme beyond the original horror, and Cody had seemingly gone full Dillon from Predator in going and being the son of a b*tch to get this thing over.
But his worked remarks were right. Spears is an excellent hand and presumably a great player coach, but their contest's overthought structure revealed a certain insecurity about it translating to a featured role. In comparison to the Tully reveal or Brandi's words - seriously click that link and let it kick the f*ck out of you - it just didn't hold up to scrutiny.