Backstage News On WWE's Plans To Make Finishing Moves Matter
Raw Executive Director Paul Heyman is pushing for change on the red brand and beyond.
While recent WWE programming has been a majorly mixed bag, one of the few positives to come out of the past few Raw and, to a lesser extent, SmackDown episodes is the return of squash matches.
According to The Wrestling Observer, the main reason for the utilisation of shorter TV matches is to try and get wrestlers’ finishing moves over. Seemingly, this is a Paul Heyman idea, with the former ECW head - and current Raw Executive Director - keen to have wrestlers regularly winning matches with their main finishing manoeuvre so that said manoeuvres are taken seriously by the watching audience. Crazy concept, right?
Just last night, fans saw Erick Rowan involved in yet another squash match where he made short work of an enhancement talent thanks to his trusty Iron Claw Slam. Similarly, this week’s Raw had Asuka tapping out Deonna Purrazzo with the Asuka Lock in another short contest.
This last time WWE used shorter, squash matches in any major way was back when they were breaking out Braun Strowman as a singles act after he was split off from The Wyatt Family. After weeks and months of brief, impactful victories, the audience became familiar with Strowman’s style and his moveset – which ultimately bred a sense of familiarity which saw The Monster Amongst Men slowly work his way up the card and into the main event picture.