10 Times WWE Totally Changed Its In-Ring Style
1. Cinematic Matches, Various
Vince McMahon is fond of the "attraction"; the man has obviously promoted straight professional wrestling matches, countless incredible ones, but the greatest professional wrestling promoter ever is cognisant of and was once exceptional at selling over-the-top bombast.
The past tense is a deliberate choice because the cinematic matches he has promoted amid the global crisis consistent with this approach have sucked sh*t.
The Boneyard drew earned raves, and the Firefly Fun House match was worthy of them, but the closer these things get to wrestling - and they must, else they become just diminished, wretched monstrosities of TV - they become awful. The Money In The Bank match was a staggeringly awful attempt that betrayed its escapist premise by reminding the audience - twice - of WWE's warped and wildly counterproductive onscreen power dynamic.
Look!
There's Doink!
Except it doesn't look a f*cking thing like Doink, and he's not doing anything except being Doink, except he barely looks like Doink. Sh*t. Absolute sh*t. The unique environment didn't inspire any creative wrestling, because there was barely any wrestling in it. The players mostly walked and brawled to the next rubbish sight gag. One Final Beat would have been cringeworthy melodrama, were it not so inadvertently funny. The clip show skit WWE presented at Backlash was an affront to the craft of comedy.
The upcoming Swamp Fight will most assuredly be awful. Maybe they can get Erick Rowan to appear in it because he isn't working and might do it.
Heartless pricks.