9 Things We May Never See In WWE Again
Banned moves, forgotten matches, and some staples of the Attitude Era...
Wrestling’s changed an awful lot over the years, and while much of that has been the result of a natural evolution, some of those developments have been rather less organic.
I guess that’s the beauty of being predetermined - promoters, producers and the powers that be have the ability to manipulate the way in which the business manifests itself. Kind of like Nineteen Eighty-Four's Ministry of Truth, but in soap opera format and with spandex.
So nothing like it at all, really.
Either way, this ability to “play God” has meant that over the years, and for a variety of reasons - from attempts at watering-down the product, bids to implement safety measures, or simply good old-fashioned WWE censorship - we’ve seen a number of tropes seemingly disappear from WWE for good.
Tropes that include all sorts of matches, moves, as well as the more nuanced tricks of the trade, many of which will be covered here in this article as we count down nine things that we may never see again in WWE.
9. Bra & Panties Matches
Ten to fifteen years ago, Bra & Panties matches were a staple part of the WWE diet. And even before then, we were often treated to very similar stipulations such as those Evening Gown and Gravy Bowl matches that punctuated the preceding Attitude Era.
However, by my calculations we haven’t seen a match of this type since way back in October of 2006, when Maria defeated Candice Michelle, Torrie Wilson and Victoria in a logistically challenging Fatal 4-Way Bra & Panties match.
Since then, WWE would of course begin toning down its programming before officially implementing a PG television rating in the summer of 2008. That in itself was, essentially, the final nail in the coffin of the Bra & Panties match, as I’m not sure glorified cat fights with guaranteed half-nudity quite fall into the parameters of PG.
On top of that, this Women’s Revolution that we’re currently seeing has marked an even greater departure from the days in which female wrestlers were solely used as eye-candy. While wrestling purists rejoice, teenage boys all across the globe begin to shed a tear at the de facto death of the Bra & Panties match.