10 Awful WWE Clichés That Refuse To Go Away
6. Contract Signings
Few professional wrestling concepts are more contrived than the in-ring contract signing. As soon as two wrestlers take to the ring to make their match official, you know exactly what’s going to happen. Tempers will flare, the authority figures will struggle to contain the situation, and a brawl will inevtiably break out. There’s no straying from the formula, and you might as well skip to the end.
WWE only pull this cliché out of the bag a few times a year, but that doesn’t diminish its worthlessness. Each participant cuts a quick promo, somebody flips the table, and somebody gets beaten up. It’d be a relatively effective means of building heat if there was a little variety here and there, but there never is.
Besides, 99% of WWE’s match contracts are presumably signed backstage without any hullabaloo. Why would WWE staff choose to book an in-ring signing knowing that it’s going to descend into chaos, and leave them with a mess to clean up? Surely the authority figures want to keep the show as smooth as possible instead of creating deliberate flashpoints between two opposing wrestlers?
Apparently not. Contract signings outlived their usefulness many moons ago, and should be tossed in the bin immediately.