10 WWE Elimination Chamber 2018 Impulse Reactions

5. DELETE This Match From History

roman Reigns
WWE.com

It speaks volumes that WWE's pre-match package for Bray Wyatt vs. Matt Hardy was comprised almost entirely of camera-facing promos. This feud has been defined by inactivity and nonsensical psychobabble, and after spending the past few months circling the drain, they finally swirled down the pipe and into the sewers below last night.

'Woken' Matt is beyond dead. His entrance barely registers a decibel, and fewer crowd members chant along with his "DELETE!" schtick every time he appears. Bray, meanwhile, has been WWE's least interesting act for a while now: a character so diminished by the creative team, he's not even a self-parody anymore, but a shipwrecked husk of a man.

The pre-match mindgames did nothing for the audience, who responded to Hardy's disappearance and re-emergence with silence. An insipid brawl followed. The duo worked headlocks and clubbering blows for what felt like an ice age, before Hardy eventually, mercifully, put his opponent away.

Wyatt vs. Hardy was a wet fart of a clash from a rivalry we dearly hope we've seen the last of, because in this state, neither man will ever be anything other than a sideshow.

Channel Manager
Channel Manager

Andy has been with WhatCulture for eight years and is currently WhatCulture's Wrestling Channel Manager. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.