10 Ways WWE Are Destroying Their Own Roster
5. Hokum & Hogwash
Vince McMahon has always had a fondness for the supernatural, but while The Undertaker's Ministry Of Darkness antics were at least palatable in the Attitude Era's bold, colourful landscape, wrestling has evolved far beyond such themes.
This is supposed to be the 'Reality Era.' The internet and social media have pulled the veil further back than ever before, making suspension of disbelief incredibly difficult. Yes, wrestling is pantomime, and everything we see onscreen is scripted and staged, but it's no longer acceptable to expect audiences to buy into something that clearly isn't real.
The zany, over-the-top supernatural characters of old look laughable through this lens. Nobody epitomises this more than Bray Wyatt, who debuted as an intoxicating cult leader, but become a laughing stock when he started summoning ghostly apparitions and projecting bugs onto the ring apron. It's now impossible to take him seriously. Had he emerged in the '90s, 'The Eater Of Worlds' would've certainly stood a better chance, but in 2018, he's a goofball cartoon character.
WWE have buried Bray beneath a mound of hokey hogwash, and we'll likely see the same with Woken Matt Hardy, whenever his character evolves beyond that laugh.