10 Mistakes WWE Never Recovered From
9. HEAT
Heat is an integral part of professional wrestling. Much of this is built on watching the good guys struggle in the face of evil, as villains break every rule in the book to stay on top. As kids, we all screamed at the referee as the flippin’ Mountie held the ropes while his opponent was in an abdominal stretch, we implored the man in stripes to turn around as The Beverley Brothers double-teamed Marty Jannetty, but the referee was more interested in keeping Shawn Michaels out of the ring. When The Mountie eventually lost and Jimmy Hart got his comeuppance, all was right with the world.
The heels are supposed to lose. The good guys are supposed to win. That’s the point.
Somewhere along the way, WWE forgot this. The shows became a conveyor belt of heels winning out as one hero after another was proven toothless in the face of villainy. Where does that leave us? Well, if you can’t beat them, join them. WWE killed the concept of the true babyface, and it killed its entire function in the process.