9 Exact Moments WWE Booking Stopped Making Sense

1. NXTNAAA

John Cena CM Punk
WWE

There's nothing inherently wrong with some cross-promotion once in a while, and a WWE that actually welcomes in the odd appearance of a wrestler from another company - let alone acknowledging that said company even exists - is still a new and novel thing in the post-Vince McMahon era. 

But after a spell as a growth product and surprise success story of the most recent boom, NXT has now become something of an experimental anything-goes arena for so many different performers and promotions that the original purposeful lines have been completely blurred. Development in the developmental brand has been stunted by a new need to serve other masters. There are Triple A Premium Live Events to promote since the WWE purchase of the brand, TNA wrestlers to figure in thanks to grabby title changes designed to elevate that company enough to get a television deal and stymy AEW's future across other platforms, and even main roster stars to accommodate for empty ratings boosts in place of telling coherent - if wacky - stories instead.

It's not as though the same things don't impact Raw or SmackDown, but the volume is such that it's often hard to who on NXT is actually there to be on NXT, and who's there to simply pass through on the stuttering ship powered by WWE's monolithic and vain thirst for industry-wide control.

When fantasy gets trumped by reality, the fiction stands no chance of standing up the facts

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 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 over 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 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana 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