10 Absolute Worst Ways WWE Dragged Out Feuds

5. No Reason; Why Not?

Blue Balls
WWE.com

With hostilities initiated by Constable Corbin and his misuse of power, at Extreme Rules '18, the outmatched, smaller Finn Bálor scored a victory framed as a steal by using a sudden pinning combination of the sort that once decided World Heavyweight Title programmes. It was a fluke, they said, and so a display of wrestling skill became thin pretext for another match.

That match, on the July 30 RAW, was an atrocious paradox in that it was so remarkably, memorably mundane. Corbin applied rest hold upon rest hold upon rest hold over 20 (!) time-warping minutes, at the end of which he scored a clean win. So far, so 50/50. This, if literally nothing else, justified a rubber match, which WWE promoted at SummerSlam. Bálor's Demon alter-ego appeared in Brooklyn. Corbin was unprepared. Bálor defeated him in under two minutes. 2-1. That was that. The matches were painfully average, bigger guy dominates fare, but it was all over.

It wasn't. The Demon proved himself better than the Constable, but Bálor and Baron remained on equal footing - which apparently necessitated another match on the August 27 RAW. Baron won. This was the blow-off. 2-2, for those counting.

The Finn Bálor Vs. Baron Corbin programme, devoid utterly of heat, momentum, logic, and stakes - and, ultimately, no conclusion whatsoever - was WWE at its most nakedly pointless.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!