12 WWE Survivor Series 2017 Impulse Reactions
6. Ring Sting
In many ways, 1999 feels more like a hundred years ago than 18, but few could forget Stone Cold Steve Austin's incredible turn in a mid-show advertisement for the latest brand the organisation had gotten in bed with.
Wait, you don't remember?
Well, of course you don't, because it didn't f***ing happen.
Two years earlier, 'The Rattlesnake' had made himself a star in one of the company's greatest ever matches against Bret Hart. Since then, the world had gradually become his. The sound of glass smashing in sold out arenas could have been confused with a cocoon breaking as the stoic technician became one of the industry's most influential performers. The legendary WrestleMania contest was everything to him, and the company he helped restore to former glory.
Bayley had her own Austin moment in 2015. Listen to her appearance on his podcast for proof. The pair watch the match together, with Stone Cold as absorbed in her TakeOver: Brooklyn war with Sasha Banks as she probably was in the Bret match. It's a gut feeling. All the Michael Cole WrestleMania cliches are briefly actual truisms. Stars are born, legacies are made. The lot.
The last cliché is the saddest - things aren't what they used to be. Bayley, that iconic underdog come good is a conduit for awkward romance in a saccharine jewellery commercial. A break from the action then to celebrate Steven and Valerie's love is one thing. Divorcing Bayley further from the fanbase she carefully cultivated is quite another.