10 Reasons Why WWE Needs To Implement A Clean Win Only Policy
5. The First Direly-Needed Domino
It's impossible to remember any spots or story beats of note in, for example, the Roman Reigns Vs. Rusev Hell In A Cell match from 2016's event. But that's just one such match bleeding into the next; the overabundance of such retreads has long since stripped the attraction of its unforgettable mystique.
A match of that nature necessitates - or necessitated - a personal, bitter war in which the Cell acted as the only, last resort means of containing the frenzy. Nowadays, it's a date on a calendar - one mandated by it, creating scope for contrived animosity and the forced escalation that comes with it.
This overarching philosophy of clean wins should not be entirely prohibitive; much as ROH was brilliant in its talent breeding ground mid-2000s creative pomp, its narrow focus sometimes led to dry, one-dimensional storytelling. With this clean win-only philosophy in place, and the stakes raised organically, future Cell matches would go some way towards restoring its lucrative, unmissable aura.
There are multiple ways in which WWE could engineer the sort of gimmick match fans have been conditioned to expect; with the rematch trope "mostly dead", fans would be not be adverse to rematches altogether. Few complained about the awesome transition from In Your House: Ground Zero to Badd Blood.