10 Gimmicks That WWE Milked Dry

Any time WWE has a themed PPV (which is most of them these days), fans can expect certain tropes to be abused in the weeks leading up to the event.

With Survivor Series, there is often an influx of multi-man tag matches and in-feuding. The Royal Rumble comes with teaser battle royals and performers aimlessly tossing their foes over the top rope on Raw and SmackDown. However, fans already know what to expect in both cases, so it isn't necessary to hand out samples. The concept works slightly better for Survivor Series, as the teams need to be established. On the other hand, there isn't much to explain regarding the Rumble, and the allusions come off as forced and often superfluous.

As time has passed, WWE has continued going to the well even though it dried out years ago. Heading into gimmick-match shows like TLC, fans often see a sudden influx of foreign objects, although avoiding such damage would seem to be in the participants' best interests. Hell in a Cell follows suit as well, with two main eventers often finding their way into the cell on the go-home shows (you'd think they'd stop setting it up early by now).

The act of demoing the upcoming PPV has long lost its luster and often fills time that could be appropriated elsewhere. Perhaps WWE could benefit from focusing more on the feuds leading up to the events.