10 Totally Stupid Things WWE Has ALREADY DONE Since WrestleMania 33

1. United States Title Switcharoo

Bray Wyatt Randy Orton HOH
WWE.com

In a total shocker - and probably not in a good way - Chris Jericho defeated Kevin Owens for the US Title at Payback on Sunday. No complaints about the match itself - it was a very good sequel of a wrestling match, playing off and advancing the original effectively.

Altogether less shocking was the fact that WWE retconned the result 48 hours later when Owens won it back again on SmackDown. It was always going to happen. Owens has a new t-shirt and a new tron designed to put his new gig as the Face of America over. It's here to stay for a few months at least. Given that he's subverting John Cena's 2015 US Open Challenge bit, we probably know how it's going to end, too.

What did the switch accomplish?

Jericho was written off television in the aftermath of the rubber match when Owens brutalised him with a steel chair - but even though he "got his heat back", recovering his aura is a more difficult trick. What's dafter still is that Owens could have been put over the top as a winner and a b*stard by, say, interrupting Jericho's WWE farewell speech (everybody knows he's leaving anyway) to reconcile with him - before a brutal bait and switch.

But no - Owens moved two steps backwards and one step forwards. This 50/50 strategy never works. When will we see the end of 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!