WWE Creative Should Not Protect Every Top Superstar from Clean Defeats

Can you remember the last time the main event of Raw finished cleanly?

It’s pretty much an established assumption now that the final moments of WWE’s Monday-night programme will feature a count-out, disqualification, run-in interference or some combination of those outcomes.

A clean finish is a real rarity, and this is starting to feel detrimental to the product.

The WWE is currently in the midst of a transitional period, both in front of the cameras and behind them. Reliable old champions and icons are on their way out, leaving a void in the main event picture that WWE Creative is aiming to fill with rising talents such as Roman Reigns, Cesaro and Bray Wyatt.

There are also backroom changes taking place as Vince McMahon begins the passing of the creative torch to his daughter Stephanie and son-in-law Triple H.

This transitional period has placed the booking team in a difficult position. It is being forced to assemble a new main event scene from scratch while maintaining the integrity of current top talents like Randy Orton and John Cena.

With this in mind, it is understandable that there is a growing pool of performers the company wants to keep from laying down for the three-count.

Unfortunately, this desire to protect everyone is leading to enormous anti-climaxes on screen.

Almost every week features a huge, multiman main event on Raw involving the current main event players in the company. Nine times out of 10, it is almost a guarantee that the Superstar(s) absent from that match will make their presence known by muddying the final result.

The best recent example of this is the bout between Roman Reigns and Rusev on the July 11 episode of SmackDown.

It was a clear attempt by WWE to create some hype around their oft-neglected B-show, capitalizing on the enormous pop for the two Superstars’ showdown in a Battle Royal on the June 16 episode of Raw.

There was certainly hype around the match, but the two performers are being protected so strongly by Creative at the moment that there was never a chance of the match finishing with a clear winner and loser.

The fact that the match ended in a DQ win for Reigns due to Orton’s intervention left both men walking away without a dip in momentum. It does also mean that Rusev’s winning streak now comes with a huge asterisk.

WWE simply needs to have enough strength in its convictions to let its talent lose.

Superstars are not hurt by taking losses to top-tier competitors. On last week’s Raw, Orton beat Dean Ambrose cleanly in a fantastic singles contest. Ambrose is one of the most over babyface acts in the company right now, whereas Orton is struggling for momentum as a heel in the shadow of the Authority.

The victory did wonders for Orton going into the WWE World Heavyweight Championship match at Battleground and made no difference to the perception of Ambrose.

It also created a satisfying conclusion to the match.

It seems that the WWE bookers are worried about hurting their new stars’ momentum in any way and are therefore wrapping them in cotton wool.

Perhaps they are concerned about how business-savvy fans react to wins and losses? It’s very common to see certain parts of the Internet Wrestling Community erupt with cries of “buried!” and shovel memes whenever a rising star is beaten by an established talent.

With this in mind, it’s easy to understand why WWE doesn’t want to knock down the building blocks of its new generation.

Creative is in a very difficult position now. The writers are struggling to create satisfying finishes to matches that also preserve the new talent. However, they have to learn that it is impossible for them to protect every Superstar every week.

Certain match combinations create no suspense because it is obvious that neither performer is going to be booked to go over strongly against the other.

As much as it’s fun to see occasional matches descend into frenzied punch-ups, sometimes it’s far more satisfying to watch a referee count a pinfall.