10 Best Things WWE Could Do With The Crown Jewel & Saudi Arabia Money

7. P Y R O

Shawn Michaels
WWE

A simple pleasure this, but one that quite literally wasn't appreciated in its own time.

Pyrotechnics were both a blessing and a curse for WWE when they first experimented with over-stuffing their shows with smoke and mirrors (...and fire) in the mid-1990s. An overabundance of it in 1996 and 1997 resulted in many matches taking place with a cloud above the ring as if Vince McMahon hadn't taken his fathers company out of those turgid and tepid halls he'd demonised after all.

Investing in smoke-clearing devices, the company could then invest in more pyro. The special effects went from being main event set dressing to an expectation of the rank-and-file. Missiles and bombs greeted The Dudley Boys, Kane continued to walk through hellfire and brimstone even when blindly strolling into jobbing duties, and Alberto Del Rio made it rain gold even if his act didn't exactly shower the company in green.

It's a basic aesthetic improvement, really. Sometimes Raw and SmackDown can be really dull, and it's nice to stare, depressed, off into a middle distance filled with light and sound rather than the dark reality of yet another midcard snoozer.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett