Sometimes, one can describe a year in the WWE based on one of the most common attributes of WWE programming during that year. For example, 1999 could be described as the year of the title change, as every WWF title changed hands numerous times, including the World title, which changed hands 12 times in that year alone. In another example, 2003 could be described as the year of McMahon, as the entire McMahon family, Vince, Stephanie, Linda and Shane, were all featured prominently, and were often over-involved in WWE programming. So what distinction does 2014 get? The Year of Disqualification Finishes. More than any year in recent memory, 2014 featured more matches all across the card and both on TV and on PPVs that ended in disqualification. There have been so many matches, especially in main event matches on RAW, where outside interference led to matches ended via DQ. This is an example of a greater problem: the creative team and the agents dont know how the dynamic of a wrestling match works anymore. They seem to think that if a major wrestler loses clean, he or she loses all credibility. So to prevent this from happening, when two big stars face off, they have a good match, only for it to end due to outside interference. This has been especially notable in John Cenas matches as of late. Whenever he was in a main event match, if he wasnt going to win it was almost guaranteed that someone would attack him from the outside. That way, Cena wins by disqualification, and his opponent doesnt have to deal with a loss. The problem with disqualifications is that a) theyre supposed to be uncommon and therefore special; and b) it ruins almost every match. When Cena was facing off against Seth Rollins, the two of them were having a good match, until the Authority interfered, thus ruining the match. Thats why wrestling matches need to have clean finishes; a match can be great, but unless the finish is appropriate, it can really ruin the dynamics of that match. Hopefully this problem will become less common in 2015. Fans want to see main event stars wrestle in ordinary matches without unclean finishes.
Alexander Podgorski is a writer for WhatCulture that has been a fan of professional wrestling since he was 8 years old. He loves all kinds of wrestling, from WWE and sports entertainment, to puroresu in Japan.
He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Queen's University in Political Studies and French, and a Master's Degree in Public Administration. He speaks English, French, Polish, a bit of German, and knows some odd words and phrases in half a dozen other languages.
