10 WWE Matches That Were Spoiled Before They Happened
Never in doubt...
We, the always-wrong wrestling media, make the point of keeping a hand in the predictions game no matter how often a bunch of relatively educated guesses are swept aside by Sports Entertainment surprises. Pro wrestling booking is supposed to shock and delight in equal measure, with twists a reasoned expectation on a regular basis in order to furnish matches and storylines with satisfying conclusions.
The game shouldn't be up before the bell rings.
There are cases where it's absolutely vital the company deliver what they're theoretically promising - Lars Sullivan can't be booked against Kalisto and lose, nor would anybody want to see it. The Undertaker scared Shawn Michaels straight in 1998 not just to make a point to 'The Heartbreak Kid', but for the future of the entire company. Triple H had to lose to Booker T at WrestleMania XIX after all that bigotry and-
Anyhow, regardless of how obvious a result may be, it doesn't mean the organisation shouldn't try to find a way to make it seem a faint possibility - it's a failure of the promotion if they don't. Amidst changes so profound that the company doesn't even look like the one it used to, one of WWE's key tenets remains in tact - promote. Promote potential. Promote possibility. Promote promise, if it's required. Don't, as with the matches below, promote frustrating inevitability and give away the ending before it's even begun...
10. The Undertaker Vs Mark Henry (WrestleMania 22)
Few believed Brock Lesnar could beat The Undertaker's WrestleMania undefeated streak right up until the point he actually did. Treat yourself to the footage for the millionth time and consider how the crowd might have looked had they been frenzied over a finisher by Shawn Michaels, Triple H, or even a young Randy Orton firing off one of his most important ever RKOs at that point.
These were false finishes that temporarily allowed the audience to forget the near-impossible feat that faced Undertaker's foes. Brock's third F5 - despite WrestleMania's once-protected own three finisher rule - wasn't considered a death blow until 'The Deadman' stayed down.
Contrast that shock with the level of interest in the total formality that took place in 2006.
Mark Henry hadn't yet earned the good graces of the wider wrestling populace with his "Hall Of Pain" schtick. Undertaker hadn't yet evolved into the Superstar superworker he became just one year later. WWE hadn't yet tried to come up with something - anything - between them that signposted anything but another victory for the WrestleMania legend. Yet, for nearly 10 minutes, the audience were asked to believe the absolute f*cking impossible, and weren't even fed a pinfall for a payoff.