10 Wrestling Matches That Pissed Off Fans

8. Roman Reigns Vs. Samoa Joe - Backlash 2018

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WWE.com

The worst thing about WWE is that the company isn't objectively incompetent.

It would be easier or at least funny if they did bad things naively, but Vince McMahon isn't Tommy Wiseau. He's lost the plot, mostly, but he once had knowledge to lose, and he can still use what remains of that knowledge to create a specifically antagonistic product, which he's inclined to do because he won and you're a mark.

As part of what felt like an endless crusade to get Roman Reigns over as a babyface, Vince took this cynical route at Backlash 2018. In response, large pockets of the crowd took the quickest route home before the match even finished.

The premise was thus: instead of a dynamic monster mash, in which both explosive men would lob bombs at one another in a charged sprint, Samoa Joe was ordered to grind the match to an intentionally, criminally boring halt. So little happened in the first 10 minutes because the idea was that you were going to get behind Roman when he actually f*cking did something.

Seriously: they booked an intentionally dull match to make it seem better when it wasn't dull. Joe was cast as - let's just say it, Baron Corbin - to make Roman look like he'd saved you from boredom.

He only saved you from the traffic.

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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!