10 Reasons Why WWE Needs To Fundamentally Change Everything About The TV Product
4. Intra-Match Commercial Breaks
Last week, the kayfabe debate raged again over Twitter.
Whether or not you're able to reconcile what you see in the ring with how performers behave outside of it is up to the individual - but what isn't is what the essence of wrestling is. It's there to emulate and control the thrill of sport, allowing fans to get lost in the moment of it.
Forcing commercial breaks in the middle of matches makes that suspension of disbelief impossible. It's something we see on every episode of RAW and SmackDown, and it never gets less irritating. It's like your headphones falling out of your ears just before the chorus kicks in. The #...dive debate has replaced the kayfabe war this week. Is it a spectacular move, or has excessive use rendered it expendable? One thing is certain: it's WWE's new go-to move to signal a commercial break, and it peels back the curtain of the entire enterprise. You know what you're seeing can't be real because the dive more or less confirms that it's time to hear from the sponsors. It's totally contrived. Fake.
It's not as if there is a network mandate that stops WWE from airing fifteen minutes of footage uninterrupted. The opening promo invariably goes fifteen minutes. Why not eat into that?
There is a reason why, in the UK, sitcoms are traditionally the preserve of the advert-free BBC. They rely on momentum to work. Wrestling is no different.