10 Wrestling Matches So Annoying They Lose You In The First 60 Seconds
3. Papa H Starts The Empty Arena No Holds Barred Game - WWE NXT (April, 2020)
Returning to that period in time when WWE decided to go all in on the cinematic showdown as a way of getting around a pandemic-induced lack of live crowd, yet another sign of all things black and gold being on the decline reared its head on April 8, 2020.
Stuffing as much grittiness and seriousness as they possibly could into the foggy locale, the stage was set for a soap opera finale between long-time NXT rivals Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa.
But before the one-time D.I.Y. members could even lock eyes on one another, ol' Papa H suddenly popped into frame, crouched in the corner of the ring like a cocksure teen trying to look 'ard in front of his high school crush.
This excessive jock energy soon bled into the clearly vital opening monologue, too, with The Game reminding the pair that "it all ends here", "it starts in this ring, and ends in this ring", and the second he leaves the room.... "it's on".
And your reward for getting through that opening-minute collection of cliches and laughable gravitas? A near-forty-minute slog of a Final Beat that once again proved not everything Trips touches turns to (black and) gold.