10 Cancelled WWE Shows

When WWE's post SmackDown roundtable discussion show Talking Smack first debuted, few amongst us expected we'd be angrily mourning its inevitable demise. With the company's programming already as saturated as the sheets of a bed-wetting mermaid (and this before the iffy 'advent' of 205 Live!), the last thing most of us had any desire to do was endure another hour of heavily-scripted pretend 'analysis'.

But then The Miz talked the smack out of Daniel Bryan. And things changed.

Suddenly, a show which seemed as necessary to the world as throw pillows was now the source of the hottest angle in WWE. Scripts were filed directly under the heading 'shredder', and stars could let their natural charisma do the work instead of Mail Merge. It was the closest thing to 'real' the product was allowed to be, a refreshing after-dinner mint to the SmackDown main course.

Why Vince McMahon has now decided to scrap Talking Smack, save for post-PPV shows, is a bit of a conundrum. It could be that it's too raw for him - but is he only just realising this now? Perhaps it's a cost-cutting measure? Just how much does a table and some blue chairs cost?

It's nothing new though; WWE have never been lenient with the axe. If something on TV isn't working in the eyes of the Almighty - whether rightly or wrongly - there's no reprieve from a one-way trip to Archivesville.

Corey Graves is so cool, it borders on indecent. He couldn't be any cooler if he waltzed into a branch of Iceland in Reykjavik in his undies. We're talking -273 Coolness here: absolute cool.

So even though he's ostensibly a wrestling commentator, there's absolutely no reason whatsoever to believe Graves shouldn't be an authority on all things popular culture, a role he effortlessly slipped into as though putting on a slick leather jacket as host of one of the Network's Culture Shock.

Whilst traveling the globe as part of WWE's entourage, the effortlessly affable Graves extended his remit to sampling local interests, immersing himself in the culture, cuisine, or customs of whichever town the wrestling circus happened to be visiting. Graves's insouciant charm and questionable clothing belie a brooding intelligence and an open-minded incisiveness which made him just perfect for providing an insightful glimpse into global culture.

Unfortunately, it was possibly too interesting for the WWE Network, with struggling numbers inevitably placing the show on an 'indefinite hiatus'.