Here is every single match on Raw: 1. Worker #1 enters first. He stops on the entrance ramp and does his signature pose while the announcers talk over the fans just in case they don't react properly. 2. Worker #1 walks down the aisle and completely ignores the fans. He does not speak, interact, or touch any of those fans and instead gets directly into the ring. 3. Worker #1 looks at the hard camera and again does his pose before turning his attention to the aisle so Worker #2 can repeat the same thing no matter if he's heel or babyface. After that, the match becomes a series of both guys hitting their signature moves in the same order they hit them in every other match. Soon, one of the guys hits their finisher (or a surprise roll-up off of a distraction) and wins the match. Don't worry though, the other guy will get his win back the next week to even the odds and stick with the 50/50 booking model (except if you're Zack Ryder). I can hear what you're saying now and yes, there are great matches in WWE. However, the majority of midcard matches and the same cookie cutter crap that we've seen for almost 10 years and it's utterly boring. The major problem is that referees are no longer a factor in the matches. If there are no rules to break, then how are heels supposed to get heat? When was the last time you saw a referee get in a heel's face for using a closed fist? How about a referee catching a heel grabbing the ropes during a submission or pin attempt? The referees have been made completely useless and yet another way for heels to generate heat has been taken away. Jake Roberts described the situation the best: Let's say you're in an alley and here's this guy beating the crap out of a kid. Next to the guy is a police officer who is just standing around, doing nothing. Who are you made at? The police officer of course. Now, let's say the guy is beating up the kid but the police officer is attempting to stop the guy. The guy now shoves over the police officer and continues to beat on the kid. Who are you mad at now? The guy, which is how it's supposed to be. WWE has successfully stripped away any individuality and programmed fans to only pop for high spots and finishing moves. Very rarely does a match end on anything other than a finishing move and it has killed any near fall spots completely dead. I would say a total revamp of ring work needs to occur but the promotion is so set in their "WWE style" that that's never going to happen.
