10 Unbelievable Wrestling Fan Theories

7. WWE Built The ThunderDome To Put RETRIBUTION Over

Lilly Sister Abigail
WWE.com

The Redditsphere was adamant that two separate - and suboptimal - developments unfolded in parallel last year.

In the summer of 2020, WWE debuted the RETRIBUTION stable - a gang of disillusioned radicals intent on gutting the established order. T-BAR et al. proceeded to lob molotov cocktails at power generators and mess with the lighting (at rather convenient times) to realise the plan.

And then, with ratings in free-fall, WWE revealed its ThunderDome concept - an expensive plan to emulate the arena scale of pre-pandemic WWE, albeit with a virtual crowd to get around restrictions.

A gang of vandals.

A costly and extravagant production set-up with lasers and LED boards.

This was it.

With the desperation for stars as urgently felt as it ever was, WWE was going to go all in, and book RETRIBUTION to destroy the ThunderDome. They almost had to lay waste to the thing. This was the modus operandi of the entire group.

T-BAR scanned the Zoom call writ large and thought to himself "Looks quite pretty, this ThunderDome gimmick...would be a shame if...a group intent on destroying WWE as you know it would take a chainsaw to the whole thing..." "

"No, actually, it would be a shame. A lot of money went into this. Let's just sign an exclusive deal with RAW because SmackDown is fair. They're giving Cesaro a push and everything!"

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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!