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| This was a great swerve, but it was one of far, far too many in the era Photo Credit: WWE.com |
Truth be told, I used to be the kind of person who was enamored more with an ending that I didn't see coming, although it was a short period of time between my kid-fan, "I hope Hulk Hogan/Bret Hart/Lex Luger/[insert WWE babyface here] wins all the time" phase and the time during the Attitude Era where I got so goddamn sick and tired of seeing everyone swerve everyone else that I was mass-constructing effigies of Vince Russo for public incineration. It was a trial by fire, so to speak, but I grew out of my "swerve or it sucks" mentality quite quickly around '99/'00. I wanted substance. Rather than trying to guess who'd run in to end a match, I wanted a clean finish with either resolution or some way of continuing the feud that didn't involve yet another guy running down the aisle to distract/interfere/whatever. I wanted stories with the classic three act structure that provided finality, even if it was just as temporary as the moment between the end of the blowoff match and the spark of the next feud. I became less concerned with how the writers could shock me and more with how they could execute on tension, tropes, and exposition, even if it involved an entire story that I could see with my naked eye from space.
I understand that I'm but one person, but I also argue that wrestling is probably better off embracing more of a sports entertainment ethos rather than a "carnies trying to pull one over on the audience" one they've done since beginning of its worked history. We're all out in the open about how everything's staged and predetermined. Outside of the youngest fans, everyone knows it's a show where people aren't trying to hurt each other (trying being operative here), so really, what is there left to hide? I think the reason why plans are so shrouded in secrecy is because the carnies probably want something to hold onto their past since it was ripped from them with the Monday Night Wars era. It's funny that the transition between "pretending it's on-the-level" and "swerving everyone" not so coincidentally came during that time.
Of course, the mega swerves were eaten up like plates of chicken parm at Maggiano's Little Italy because that kind of culture was new. However, it wasn't sustainable at all, especially when the swerves were coming at dizzying speeds. The law of diminishing returns hit the quality of the programming so hard that now, people were conditioned to think that predictable was bad. Why? Because the show that they liked wasn't predictable, so these bookers had to swerve everyone or, at least in their minds, risk losing the audience. While WWE has gotten a lot better at cleaning up Russo's shit-encrusted wasteland of blank canvases, there are still times when they pull out a shock finish or a swerve that doesn't seem to have any sense behind it. It's a vestige from an era past. They still do it so much that when they do have a turn that has a lot of build behind it, like the one Ryback made on John Cena, it gets lost in the shuffle because it then becomes just like everything else they've done.
Again, this isn't a very good mode of operation. The name "sports entertainment" should mean that what WWE puts on as their bread and butter should be the matches (sport) and fulfilling storytelling (entertainment). They get the first one right, and they get the second part right at times, mostly when it's left to the wrestlers themselves in said matches. A sensible surprise here and there would still work. Shocking moments should shock though, and overusing them to the point where predictable is a bad thing in the eyes of some consumers just defeats the purpose.
Personally, I don't care if I see another swerve anymore. Yeah, well-done swerves like Steve Austin turning on the Rock and joining Mr. McMahon at WrestleMania X-7 are always well-appreciated, but my wrestling doesn't need them. I don't care if I see another spoiler, either. Spoil Smackdown for me all you want. I don't care, as long as the matches are good and the promos aren't boring. I think it's time for wrestling to evolve to a point where promotions, especially ones with intricate stories for teleplay, put their weight behind telling a good tale. Furthermore, it's about time for wrestling journalists to stop trying to get spoilers to report. No one's going to remember who leaked the next Money in the Bank winner as much as they'll remember who fucking won the briefcase. In fact, the overreliance on trying to get the goddamn scoop on who's going to win what is what gets us WWE giving the briefcase to guys who don't do anything before winning it and then schlepping around the shows with it doing even less than nothing before cashing it in.
In closing, just tell me a goddamn story. Let the characters endear themselves to me if they're good or make me want to see them get walloped if they're bad. Put on the best wrestling matches you can. Give me resolution. Make sense. DO all that, and I couldn't give a shit less if it's predictable. Execution is the key to a good wrestling show. Hell, it's a key to any good form of entertainment period. Surprises are the capstone, not structurally needed, but they look pretty all the same. But they're not foundation material for a reason.