...but there have been some subjective success stories.
As noted elsewhere in this article, Damage CTRL's failure in particular could be classified as "noble" without scanning as generous. As a group, they were given big wins and Tag Team Titles even if the rest of the booking was hollow. This was as big a commitment as any from WWE that the three are priority players.
Braun Strowman and Bray Wyatt were ludicrous releases in the first place considering their obvious popularity, Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae felt like big gets considering what must have been quite appealing about life on the other side of the divide, The Good Brothers are spectacular patter, and Emma might have more than her comeback loss to Ronda Rousey suggested.
Not all of them have been booked brilliantly as of yet, but none of them represent returns so egregious that the end point has been lost to an unexpected talent arms race.
Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 7 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back almost 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 60,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett
