10 Totally Dumb Booking Tropes Wrestling Is OBSESSED With

When Kevin Owens hates WWE more than Dave Meltzer...

Finn Balor
WWE

Is wrestling inherently and irredeemably stupid?

Advertisers certainly seem to think so. If you ever wondered why it took so long for an alternative to air on major cable - despite WWE's concurrent impressive viewership and savage critical reception, which indicated that there was a market for it - it is because advertisers, for decades, even during WWE's mainstream visibility, deemed wrestling fans too stupid and poor. And, because they were apparently too stupid and poor, it was pointless selling ads in the slot.

Why sell cars to people too uneducated to get a good enough job to afford one?

This is how the advertising industry perceived you, the reader. They probably still would, if you weren't among the only people left actually watching television shows in 2023.

After all, you'd have to be as thick as hell to watch wrestling, with its puerile humour, unrealistic combat, and dire melodramatic acting. Do you even know it's fake? Of course you do, but advertisers thought you were that stupid (which they conflate with being poor).

Wrestling is tremendous at its best. Kenny Omega's dense storytelling. GUNTHER's ability to make his opponents struggle for everything. Kazuchika Okada's new pissed off veteran phase.

On the following evidence, however, the advertisers may have a point...

10. The Subplot In The Background

Finn Balor
WWE

"And the Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series goes to..."

"Wait!"

A member of the panel sprints towards the stage. They have just watched an entry submitted at the eleventh hour. They whisper in the celebrity presenter's ear before darting back to their seat.

"Breaking news, guys. The Emmy was going to be awarded to Succession, but I've just been informed that Nikki Cross has been lurking in the background of some interview segments with Candice LeRae, and as such, your winner is WWE Monday Night Raw!"

Triple H is besotted with this trope, which sometimes isn't too dumb in and of itself. The idea is to use TV time economically and tease a mystery.

It is however dumb for how clever he thinks it is. Triple H thinks it's a hard-to-spot easter egg, a subtle flex of his incredible booking prowess. The other unfortunate reality of the trope is that it never goes anywhere...ever.

Cross and LeRae barely appear on Raw at the time of writing. Additionally, Triple H teased a similar alignment between Finn Bálor and JD McDonagh recently. The idea that Finn was hiding in the background, already a stretch, was rendered all the more daft when he was bathed in the purple light of his Judgment Day stable. McDonagh went 50/50 on Main Event with Apollo Crews across July.

Hardly subtly brilliant storytelling, is it?

Contributor
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!