Why It's Time To FINALLY Kill The Worst Trope In Wrestling
WWE needs to stop besmirching the name of one Marty Jannetty.
By the very nature of the wrestling business, there are plentiful tired tropes that are revisited with frustrating frequency.
Like any form of entertainment, sports or general business practice, when something works well, there's a habit to replicate that something time and time again to achieve further success. The danger there, though, is that the more you copy an idea, the greater the risk you have of diluting what was so great about the concept in the first place - particularly when it comes to pro wrestling or, to appease Vince McMahon, sports entertainment, pal.
WWE isn't the only promotion who lazily fall back on familiar tropes of yesteryear, but the market leader is the worst culprit for rehashing moments from the past and for attempting to put a fresh spin on something that previously worked. More specifically, WWE likes to hammer its audience over the head with narratives that may not necessarily be entirely based on truth.
On that front, here we're exploring one of the most unfounded, inaccurate tropes that WWE has slapped its audience around the face with numerous times over the decades. To be exact, this is a trope that originated on an episode of WWF Wrestling Challenge which aired on 11 January 1992...
7. The Rise Of The Midnight Rockers
Throughout the late 1980s and into the early '90s, the World Wrestling Federation had a tag team division that was forever stacked.
Across those years, tandems such as the Hart Foundation, Demolition, the British Bulldogs, Strike Force, the Brain Busters, the Killer Bees, the Nasty Boys, Money Inc. the Natural Disasters and, of course, the Legion of Doom were pivotal parts of company programming. And then, well then there was the Rockers.
Made up of Marty Jannetty and Shawn Michaels, the Rockers fully arrived in the WWF in June 1988 - following an ill-fated cup of coffee with the promotion the prior year - and soon began mesmerising audiences with their frenetic, fresh, high-flying style.
The pairing of Jannetty and Michaels first came together in NWA Central States Wrestling in 1985, and '86 would see the duo land in Verne Gagne's AWA and become the Midnight Rockers. At this point, Marty had just turned 26 years of age, and Shawn was approaching his 21st birthday. In a promotion filled with various veteran talent, the Midnight Rockers were brought in as hot young act for company.
Tag Team Title success would come twice for Jannetty and Michaels during their time under the AWA banner, and their eventual 'proper' arrival in the WWF continued the white-hot momentum of these high-fiving, granny-kissing babyfaces. While they didn't officially win any gold during their time together in the WWF, the now-renamed Rockers were forever serenaded by excited shrieks and screams as they made their way to the ring as a true all-timer of an entrance theme played throughout WWF venues.
As ever in wrestling, though, all good things have to eventually come to an end...