7 Ups & 7 Downs From WWE Raw (Sept 13)

5. Bury Championship Contender’s Matches

It’s likely that Vince McMahon heard the phrase “#1 contender’s match” and recoiled, leading to the new, more WWE-approved “championship contender’s match.”

There’s just one problem: These matches never lead to an actual championship match when a challenger wins. Everything is set up that if the challenger wins, s/he might possibly earn the right to be in the conversation for a title match at some indeterminate time in the future. It’s not “beat the champ and get a title shot.”

So it’s not really a championship contender’s match. It’s a match that a champion is wrestling in, but the title isn’t on the line. That’s all it is. It means nothing. But WWE insists on using this term every week for these matches, which is quickly wearing thin. The gimmick is getting tired already, and WWE runs the risk of making eyes roll every time it comes up.

But hey, every match needs to have some title or gimmick to it, so we’ll just keep wandering down this weird path.