10 Times The Competition Totally Embarrassed WWE

3. Being The Elite > WWE RAW

Steve Austin Samoa Joe
Being The Elite

Being The Elite isn't the show it once was - it's still fun, but it's d*ck joke fun, not actually great episodic storytelling fun - and one can make a convincing argument that it's still a better pro wrestling show than WWE Monday Night RAW.

But that's because virtually anything is, even being buried alive.

In 2017, before a bad RAW show descended into this atrocity of a thing, Being The Elite was still far superior to the flagship as an entertaining show that effectively promoted star acts and kept viewers on the hook with various mysteries.

In 2017, on RAW, the Bayley character was killed off when she was repackaged as a timid, feckless wallflower.

On BTE, Adam Cole was killed off to get Marty Scurll over as the new 'Villain' of the Bullet Club. Scurll's horrific, confessed sexual misconduct has of course tainted those old memories, but he was undeniably over as a result of the twisting, well-crafted plot.

In 2017, on RAW, WWE teased a mystery centred on Kurt Angle's shameful secret. It was revealed that Jason Jordan was his son, in a development that nobody bought and didn't even make for perversely entertaining TV. Why didn't he cheat and get over as a d*ckwad heel knowing his General Manager da was going to overlook it?

On BTE, the Elite teased a mystery centred on Kenny Omega's penis. This resulted in an hilarious rib at the expense of Seth Rollins, further getting the Elite over as sh*t disturbers.

In 2017, on RAW, WWE was so bad at building stables that the Miztourage turned into the weirdest rogue's gallery ever at TLC.

In 2017, on BTE, the Elite got so over that the fractured dynamic of the group resulted, at Supercard of Honor XII, in ROH's biggest ever house.

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Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!