If WWE Was Being Honest About 2019
At Hell In A Cell, Vince McMahon bathed the Fiend in red light, conflated Seth Rollins' pro wrestling finish with a murder weapon, and confused the effectiveness and legality of a mallet and sledgehammer. As fans rejected this with chants of "Restart the match!" and "AEW!", Vince, per a report from Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp, laughed it off.
We are talking about a man who is as defiant to change as he is constitutionally incapable of effecting it.
In WWE, so many acts are just there. It's this weirdly insidious thing that just happens. One week, we are instructed to care about a performer, and then a few weeks later, that becomes impossible. Voices Of Wrestling coined this phenomena as 'JAG' booking. They are Just A Guys.
But how does this happen?
The new act is introduced, or reintroduced to TV via match or backstage vignette. The music isn't what it was, but it serves its purpose. It's loud and recognisable. Then, in absence of promo time - inexcusable, given how long RAW "rolls on" - the commentary happens. This is a hindrance. Somebody - doesn't matter who, it's Vince - waffles on in nickname speak and talk of "I spoke to such-and-such earlier today". No attempt is made to get over what is unique about their wrestling style beyond catchphrases and deadening repetition. We know Ricochet is a real-life superhero. But why?
What differentiates Ricochet from fellow super-athlete Cedric Alexander? A nickname? How does Ricochet train? How hard does he go in the gym to develop those skills? They're skills to admire, not superpowers to gawp at. It's ironic; WWE, in using the loftiest metaphor imaginable, is actually selling him short. We know nothing of Ricochet's sacrifice. What is his backstory? It's closer to "came into contact with radiation," looking at the subtext, than anything else.
He is, for all intents and purposes, a man who is simply quite incredible at what he does, and just always was, presumably. But it's more incredible how WWE fails to market how incredible he is.
The new act, on the evidence of "Paul Heyman's" Monday Night RAW, is meant to get over in defeat to an established star, but the gravity of the arc never resonates.
CONT'D...(3 of 5)