10 Things That Have Lost All Meaning In WWE
Wrestling continues to evolve, but much has been lost along the way.
Vince McMahon might be one of the most divisive men in wrestling history, but nobody else has done more to further the sport's evolution. For better or worse, the WWE Chairman's ambition and innovation hasn't just shaped his company's fortunes, but those of the industry as a whole.
He'll eventually retire with a long, storied list of accomplishments.
Ideas that might seem progressive don't always manifest as such in the real world, however. Creations like WrestleMania and the WWE Network have pushed the sport forward, but the company's single-minded "entertainment first" approach has been detrimental in a number of ways, and tarnished plenty of tools that were once central to WWE storytelling.
WWE programming increasingly feels like a light soap opera, where actions have little to no consequences, and fans are rarely rewarded for long-term investment. Without serious competition, the company can essentially do as they please, resulting in an increasingly safe, homogenised product.
Many things that once held serious prestige within the sport have been diluted along the way, and while several can be partially attributed to wrestling's natural evolution, each has lost its edge, importance, and impact...
10. The Royal Rumble
The Royal Rumble might be one of the most anticipated events on WWE’s annual pay-per-view calendar, but it hasn’t felt like a truly prestigious event in years.
Moments like Daniel Bryan’s exclusion in 2014 and Triple H’s crippling predictable 2016 victory have stripped the Rumble's lustre, and while WWE still love to push the idea that "anything can happen," the match isn’t even a reliable source of major shocks anymore.
The company haven’t used the Rumble to make a new star in years, and each of the past five winners had already established themselves as big-time superstars prior to their victory. This year’s incarnation was full of huge names, but produced no surprising returns. Randy Orton’s victory ultimately did nothing to enhance his status within the company, and his ensuing WWE Title run was utterly joyless.
It’s becoming increasingly harder to get excited for the Rumble. Pulled apart by years of predictability and uninspired winners, it does nothing to elevate the status of its participants anymore. The Rumble is no more than a shortcut to a title shot, and with the last truly great incarnation coming as far back as 2010, it’s hard to see things changing anytime soon.