10 Biggest WWE Creative Mistakes Of 2018

6. And NEW Rag Team Champion: A Bairn

Sasha Banks Bayley
WWE.com

A creative decision so lame and so degrading that it effectively killed an art form and any investment within it, Braun Strowman, in a balls-on-the-table "absolutely f*ck tag team wrestling lol" gesture selected a small child as his partner at WrestleMania 34. He was told to do this because he couldn't win the titles all by himself. He did, of course; young "Nicholas" never tagged in.

Minoru Suzuki was in the audience, man. Why couldn't we get Minoru Suzuki? Why would WWE embarrass themselves in front of Minoru Suzuki?

A symptom of a wider malady, this decision was consistent with WWE's total dismissal of tag team wrestling. From Nicholas to the summer-long reign of the clueless comedy act the B-Team, who stumbled arse-backwards into victories because it is that easy, especially against acts (The Revival) that aren't passionate specialists or anything, a two-month feud between Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre and Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins restored integrity. And quality.

And then Drake Maverick literally took a piss on quality and integrity by becoming a manager, with urinary incontinence, who decided the outcomes of AOP matches that went, yes, 50/50. Reminder: AOP once destroyed all in their path. That was the premise of their act.

This wider malady was itself a symptom of a wider malady, a sentence that makes about as much sense as everything you see on Monday nights: Everything has to be funny now.

Tag team wrestling, big men - even, for Christ's sake, deeply personal blood feuds...

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!