10 Things WWE Can Learn From New Japan Pro Wrestling

6. Why Wins And Losses Matter

Something very strange started happening in late 2013 and early 2014 in WWE: there was a surge in frequency of dirty match finishes, which has since become a regular occurrence on RAW and SmackDown. Whatever happened to lengthy matches having a clear winner, without having someone else come in and ruin the match? Maybe it€™s because NJPW treats its wrestling like a legitimate sport, or maybe it€™s because WWE€™s creative team is afraid of making anyone other than Cesaro lose all the time. Either way, it€™s an incredible annoyance for fans to invest emotionally in a match, only for someone to screw up the ending. This kind of interference is rare in NJPW, and when it happens, there is a good reason for it. For the rest of the time, however, wrestlers win and lose, which are themselves important aspects of storyline progression. Tournaments are considered to be serious matters, and the traditional story of wanting to be the best in the company is still played out without over-complicating rivalries. Even if WWE considers itself €˜sports entertainment€™, it€™s not like they can€™t do a better job of making wins and losses mean something for the purpose of entertaining fans. WWE seems to believe that fans have such short attention spans that they€™ll forget what happened three weeks ago, which is insulting. Victories and defeats matter a lot in every other sport and in many contemporary shows as well. Imagine if, for example, in Game of Thrones, Joffrey himself was fighting the protagonists 1-on-1, was always about to lose, but every time his opponent was about to end the fight, someone would interfere on Joffrey€™s behalf, allowing him to win. Seeing this happen on a regular basis would certainly irritate or at the very least bore the fans. If WWE€™s top decision-makers can€™t grasp the simplest understanding of wins and losses like New Japan does, then maybe they need new leadership that does.