10 Things WWE Is Still Awesome At
3. (Selective) Acknowledgement Of History
WWE is famously averse to acknowledging its own rich history, at least in the context of the current flagship shows - possibly because they take us for idiots, even in the post-Network age of instant archive access. Or possibly because acknowledging Triple H's WrestleMania X-Seven bout with the Undertaker would have aged them, even though their belated sequel was billed as a clash of legends.
Who knows, really. The whims of Vince McMahon are inscrutable. He has made armchair psychologists of us all.
When WWE does do this, the result is often far richer and more absorbing storytelling. The budding reconciliation angle playing out with Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose is intriguing. Ambrose appears more as an actual human being, with conflicted, palpable emotions, as opposed to a prop comic. In acknowledging Rollins' history as a turncoat d*ckhead, the character actually resonates more. He's not suddenly and incongruously playing the valiant badass anymore. He's an actual human being.
This being wrestling, one of them is going to turn. Ambrose needs the reset, and his character has the motivation to do so - potentially creating a reluctant, genuinely wronged, dramatically interesting heel character. If Rollins turns again - and he might, his face act isn't catching on as much as was hoped - how much of a b*stard would he be?
How genuinely over would he be in an era in which heels can't really be heels?