8 Ups & 13 Downs For WWE In 2021
11. Damian Priest Vs The Miz, WrestleMania Backlash
In 2016, Natalya cut a promo on Monday Night Raw about staying in shape that instantly revealed itself to be product placement spot for Subway.
The branding was visible in the background, before the conversation brought it right to the front anyway. It was also just 30 seconds in the middle of a three hour show, but it felt egregious in the extreme nonetheless.
Nostalgic for "simpler" times of 2016 - that's the impact of this specific sh*tshow. A singles match derived from one of the bigger moments at WrestleMania, The Miz Vs Damian Priest was supposed to conclude a feud that had featured a Bad Bunny Canadian Destroyer at the 'Show Of Shows'. Instead, it was an out-of-nowhere 6:57 commercial for Army Of The Dead, as if all of Raw isn't that most weeks anyway.
This, ironically, would have worked just fine during the boneheaded cinematic nadir of 2020. Presented one year on and after WrestleMania itself had shown that reality was just around the corner, it was yet more sacrificial audience alienation in the chase of some desperate dirty dollars.