10 Confusing Wrestling Moments That Nobody Understands

5. When The Boss Tells You You're Worthless

A little while back, Kyle Johnson at the Wrestling Observer wrote a brilliant column about WWE's counterproductive way of having their heel authority figures bury their onscreen talent in promos, putting down their importance to the company, and failing to make it clear that said promo was the work of an arrogant villain mouthing off.

Specifically, in spring last year, Stephanie informed John Cena that he wasn't a special little snowflake and on the first RAW of this year, she told Roman Reigns that he was just 'the help'. That, ladies and gentlemen, is the de facto heir to the throne telling the world that WWE's top star and the man they're grooming to replace him are both interchangeable cogs in the WWE machine.

If the two main event level babyfaces on the roster aren't important to the success of the company, what on earth are fans supposed to think of the rest of the roster? It's an indirect burial of every performer in the company. Which is just staggering, really.

Again, had this been undercut by an obvious weakness on Stephanie's part, both promos would have come across as bad grace on the part of a horrible boss with no other leverage than calling people names. But Stephanie rarely allows her character to show that kind of weakness, and on both these occasions the segments were booked to allow her to speak unopposed, as if she was the babyface speaking truth to power, not the other way around.

The only reason that wins and losses aren't supposed to be important in pro-wrestling is that the story is supposed to be what gets people over, not the worked outcome. Mick Foley was a master at taking a secondary, losing role in a feud and coming out on top without having to politick or throw a hissy fit to get the outcome changed. It seems as though it's become a dying art.

When the boss tells you you're worthless during an uninterrupted promo designed to get herself over, the story is that you're worthless. So why are we supposed to pay to see you perform? What's the point?