One MIND-BLOWING Secret For Every WWE SummerSlam

9. 2017 | Tag Team Dream Match Becomes Scrapped Throwaway

The New Day
WWE.com

What happened to WWE in the late 2010s really was a disgrace. Countless wrestlers, who later proved themselves demonstrably capable of building awesome legacies, were not even over on Vince McMahon’s main roster. The Revival were over and considered a modern great tag team in NXT. After a seminal AEW run, FTR are now considered one of the very best tag teams of all-time. Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood are in many, many fan top 10s. Between those stints, they were shaving each other’s backs and scooching their burning anuses across Vince’s ring in woeful segments. 

In any other promotion, FTR/the Revival Vs. the New Day - whose ability to get over under that version of Vince is grounds for a Hall of Fame induction alone - was and remains a dream match. 

The mid-to-late 1980s was the Golden Era. Then came a decline, after which the misunderstood greatness of the New Generation unfolded. The Attitude Era reversed WWE’s commercial fortunes. After that, it gets a bit murky. Was Ruthless Aggression really a thing, or just something that Vince McMahon said for a few weeks? PG probably warrants the new era label, but that ‘Reality’ business of 2016? What’s that? 

From 2017 onwards, Vince McMahon had brain worms. That’s the only explanation, and that’s the only appropriate name for the era. In 2026, AEW will likely book FTR Vs. The New Day, and everybody will rejoice. In 2017, per Dave Meltzer, it was going to be randomly tossed on the SummerSlam pre-show before an injury to Scott Dawson scuppered the plan.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick (Creative Writing BA Hons) is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over a decade of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential UK institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!