10 Things WWE Wants You To Forget About 2022
Vince McMahon did not retire from WWE. Instead, he...
WWE enjoyed an extraordinary year; finally, after decades of operating as the preeminent laughing stock of the industry, Triple H's stewardship changed the narrative.
In 2022, WWE became good. Acclaimed. To many partisan fans, it even became the hot promotion. It's not all bad news for Tony Khan; turns out, to thwart the "he needs help because the booking has fallen off" narrative, he just needs to be deliberately terrible at his job for 22 years and then make minor superficial improvements.
WWE don't just want you to forget about the dying embers of Vince McMahon's insanity (in fact, the opposite might be true); certain points raised here dent the 'Papa H saviour' narrative.
It’s not as if, as of July 22, when Vince McMahon “retired” via Twitter, everything was suddenly Giant Baba overhauling All Japan in the ’90s and ushering in a new golden period highlighted by a multi-dose injection of incredible new talent.
Despite a considerably improved product, the only thing Triple H’s WWE has in common with that golden age are the match lengths - but while Baba promoted epics in Budokan Hall to build the idea that winning the Triple Crown took everything a pro wrestler has, Triple H books 20 minute matches every Monday because he seemingly doesn’t know how to fill up three hours of Raw…
10. Drew McIntyre: Karaoke Star
Without becoming another AEW, an actual wrestling promotion, the idea of Triple H taking over WWE was at the very least meant to return us to the dramatic principles of wrestling as an emulation of sport.
WWE TV is WWE TV. The formula works, commercially anyway, and they like it. That's why they've done it for almost 25 years. Still, underneath the three camera sitcom dialogue, wacky props, and supernatural entities, this all has to mean something. The characters have to take the world seriously, even if the world itself is utterly exaggerated.
This was not the case at Clash At The Castle, at the theoretically heartbreaking conclusion of which Drew McIntyre cheered himself up by singing some songs. Despite suggestions that this was a production hiccup - which scanned more as bargaining - the very reputable Fightful Select confirmed that the karaoke segment was in fact planned.
Why?
He should have been devastated after losing to Roman Reigns. This was the culmination of his very life's work, in front of actual people and his "own" this time. This was meant to reverse the curse of both WrestleMania 36 and, as illustrated by a superb pre-match hype video, the failure of his original 'Chosen One' character.
Wins and losses have to matter. This was such a widespread complaint of Vince's WWE that an entire new mainstream competitor improbably sprang into existence in defiance of it.
Triple H's WWE isn't too dissimilar, is it?
Just sing. Just play the bingos.
Just have fun out there.