10 Things That Have Lost All Meaning In WWE
3. Gimmick Matches
Gimmick matches used to be a novelty, but it’s hard to get excited about special match stipulations when you see them multiple times each year. It feels like every second WWE pay-per-view comes packaged with a specific gimmick these days, and the company can barely restrain themselves when it comes to slapping a wacky stipulation on their biggest bouts.
Good things inevitably lose their appeal when they become the norm, and that’s exactly what has happened here. Hell In A Cell used to feel legitimately dangerous, but then it became an annual event, with last year’s PPV watering things down to ridiculous new levels by presenting three HIAC bouts in one night. This is but one example, and it’s hard to think of a single match stipulation that WWE haven’t ground to dust over the past few decades.
These contests would have much more impact if the company exercised a little restraint, and only booked them once or twice a year, but that’s never going to happen. Gimmicks have become as homogenised as anything else in the company.
There’s nothing special about them anymore, and while they still produce plenty of good matches, their appeal has been greatly diminished.