10 Reasons WWE Feels UNDERWHELMING in 2026
9. My God, It's Full Of Ads.
The match between Kendal Grey and Kelani Jordan at this year's NXT Heatwave showed the best and worst of WWE. The best, in that both women put on an instant classic. The worst, in that the match was hindered by the wrestling equivalent of VAR - Picture in Picture ad breaks.
Like VAR in football, PiP was designed to solve a problem - in this case, showing commercials without cutting away from the action. Also like VAR, it didn't solve anything and in fact made things worse. Now, rather than commercials occurring between matches or pre-planned breaks in the action, adverts dominate the screen while the match is going in full gear.
Unfortunately, this isn't even the biggest ad-related sin in the company. The modern WWE ring looks like someone stretched a NASCAR driver's outfit over the mat, as ugly, ostentatious logos cheapen the action on-screen even as they line the executives' pockets. Even Logan Paul - whose Prime energy drink provides the example in the above photo - has said the on-mat ads are problematic, as the paint used for them becomes dangerously slippery as the night wears on (via Fightful).
Buy hey, surely the extra ad revenue is making its way into the pockets of the wrestlers risking their wellbeing on these greasy deathtraps? Yeah, about that...