7 unpopular decisions made in 2018

Every week, the WWE needs to make countless decisions ranging from whom they want as their next champion to who they want to feud next to name a few. However, there could be a number of factors that could force them to make sudden changes, such as real-life injuries or illnesses. Due to this, sometimes the quick decisions made by the WWE aren’t always enjoyed by the audience.

Unfortunately, these can’t be helped and if anything, the WWE need to be lauded to an extent for being able to change a storyline due to special circumstances. One example is at the most recent Survivor Series, with Becky Lynch against Ronda Rousey was easily one of the most exciting matches for the pay-per-view until Lynch suffered a legitimate injury less than a week prior to the event. The WWE then brought in Charlotte into this match and considering the aftermath of that match, it was clear that everyone was still interested albeit going with a slightly altered storyline.

However, this isn’t always the case as the WWE have also made several bad decisions this year which can’t be defended and there are no real justifiable reason why they were decided on in the first place.

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#7 Brock Lesnar re-capturing the Universal Championship

Lesnar held the Universal Championship for far too long considering the time he was actually on the WWE

It can’t be ignored that Brock Lesnar is an exceptionally talented athlete. He first captured the WWE Championship in his rookie year defeating The Rock at SummerSlam 2002 and went on to become a three-time WWE Champion in just over two years. He then pursued a mixed martial arts career and won the UFC Heavyweight Championship in only his fourth fight.

Since his comeback in 2012, he has had more memorable feuds against the likes of Triple H, John Cena, CM Punk and even ending The Undertaker’s WrestleMania streak in the process. Another highlight is holding the Universal Championship for 504 days, becoming the longest primary WWE Champion in the modern era and the seventh longest in history.

Or is it? On closer inspection, since capturing the Universal Championship at WrestleMania 33, Brock Lesnar has only defended his title six times (equivalent to only once every 3 months), before he eventually lost to Roman Reigns at SummerSlam this year.

If you take into consideration that every other title holder in the modern era of the WWE defends their title considerably more often (or at least shows up on the weekly shows on a much more regular basis), this title reign has hardly been impressive. The fact of the matter is, even though Lesnar took out the likes of Samoa Joe, Braun Strowman and Roman Reigns, Lesnar has effectively held this Championship hostage.

Lesnar’s reign has marred one of the primary male Championships, as it has given the impression that any future WWE Universal Champion doesn’t need to appear on the WWE on a regular basis or represent the title. There were many opportunities when the WWE should have decided when Lesnar would drop the title earlier than he did, giving other credible wrestlers a chance to bring the title back some prestige that it had lost during Lesnar’s first underwhelming reign.

Finally, it is worth noting that having the Universal Championship around the waist of having someone that can appear on a regular basis adds value to Raw and the WWE, and would also be another goal for wrestlers to fight towards rather than just fighting to settle a feud or for the sake of fighting.

#6 The Raw Tag Team Championship being held by a 10 year old

Having a child as your tag team partner mocked the entire Raw Tag Team division.

Despite Strowman being a dominant force since he was exclusively drafted to Raw back in July 2016, he has struggled to turn this form into Championships with five failed attempts to win the Universal Championship including his Money in the Bank contract cash-in. The only title he’s captured so far is the Raw Tag Team Championship.

Like every other active title in the WWE, the Raw Tag Team Championship is a title a lot of wrestlers desperately try to claim at some point in their career. When Braun Strowman won a controversial battle royal to face The Bar for the titles at WrestleMania 34, there was a lot of speculation as to who it could have been.

It could have been a returning superstar like the Big Show, a new up-and-comer wrestler from NXT like Lars Sullivan, or even a ‘weaker’ wrestler, who are usually more on the losing end of matches (where Strowman would most likely be carrying in future tag team matches) like Curt Hawkins. The possibilities were endless.

Strowman shocked the WWE Universe by deciding to pick his partner as a random fan in the audience at WrestleMania 34, namely a ten-year-old boy named Nicholas. This was genuinely a poor decision for so many reasons. Firstly, by giving a child the opportunity to win a Championship at WrestleMania 34 over other tag-team talents like Gallows and Anderson or The Revival is borderline insulting to them and every other tag team on Raw. Secondly, the decision was wrong because it somewhat harmed The Bar’s credibility as both a tag-team and as individual wrestlers.

While it can be understood that the WWE wanted to portray Strowman to be even more of an unstoppable force, it doesn’t justify two wrestlers as successful as Sheamus and Cesaro (who have amassed over 16 Championships between the two of them, including 3 WWE Championship reigns) to be completely squashed by Braun Strowman in less than five minutes. Finally, the aftermath the following night on Raw was disastrous. Strowman and Nicholas relinquished the titles because Nicholas had school duties - in short, the whole match was pointless, to begin with.

Even though the likes of Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre have brought some prestige back in the Championships again since then, it still doesn’t ignore the fact that a ten-year-old child is going to be in the history books of this title alongside the likes of Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, The New Day, and D-Generation X.

#5 Bringing James Ellsworth back in another women’s match

Ellsworth needs to avoid any future women's matches for the sake of their entire division.

The WWE Women’s division has come a long way. In the last three years alone, they have main evented weekly shows on a regular basis, a couple of pay-per-views and just recently had their first ever all-women’s pay-per-view with WWE Evolution. They have also introduced first time ever matches such as a women’s Royal Rumble, Elimination Chamber, a Last Woman Standing match and the first ever women’s TLC match coming up.

With all the positive steps that the women in the WWE have taken in recent years, there are a few things that they will want to forget. The first women’s Money in the Bank match was stacked with five talented female wrestlers, yet the match ended in an underwhelming conclusion with James Ellsworth climbing the ladder and dropping the briefcase to Carmella, giving her the win and the briefcase. This was a bad decision as it gave the impression that a woman needed the help of a man to succeed.

One year later at Money in the Bank again, Asuka was trying to capture her first Women’s title against Carmella, until someone masked in Asuka’s clothes came into the ring, distracting her long enough to let Carmella take advantage and retain her title. When the masked person revealed themselves as James Ellsworth, it was déjà vu all over again, and unfortunately once again told a story that a woman needed a man to win.

The women in the WWE are doing fine by themselves and definitely don’t need a man (no less someone like James Ellsworth) to win any of their matches, so for that to happen again with the exact same person was simply a poor decision for the WWE and for women’s wrestling.

#4 Nia Jax briefly turning heel

The storyline ruined what could have been a classic feud.

It was only a matter of time until Nia Jax was going to capture the WWE Raw Women’s Championship so when she did it at WrestleMania 34, it was not only a crowning moment for Jax but also another indicator to the WWE Universe that a woman of any size or shape could be in the WWE, as long as you have all the other attributes to back it up.

After successfully ending her feud with Bliss the following month, Jax needed a new challenge, so when she randomly challenged Ronda Rousey to a title match at Money in the Bank this year, this had all the ingredients of making this a feud for one to remember for many years to come.

Despite Jax offering the challenge to Rousey in a sporting gesture on the 14th May episode of Raw, this storyline turned on its head when Jax starting mocking Rousey’s wrestling ability. What made it more confusing was that all of this happened at the expense of a local wrestler (who appeared to enjoy getting beaten up by Jax) and hindered what could have been a potentially interesting storyline. Even if the WWE had decided to go with this new segment, this storyline could have still been saved.

However, Jax then ‘injured’ Ronda Rousey’s friend, Natalya, the following week causing both Rousey and Jax tending to Natalya afterward, and instead of giving the feud a further boost with a confrontation or a physical fight breaking out, the WWE instead decided to turn Jax into a sympathetic wrestler removing any villainous traits she was portraying the week prior to this. Unfortunately, a calamity of errors buried any potential traction this feud was going to have and ultimately left everyone both confused and uninterested when they finally clashed.

#3 Shane McMahon winning the WWE World Cup

No one could have seen this coming or would have wanted to either.

When the WWE World Cup was introduced at Crown Jewel to determine the ‘Best In The World’, it had appeared the WWE had brought back a more modern version of King of the Ring, swapping a throne and crown for a trophy. Almost all of the wrestlers that were part of this tournament had to qualify from their own respective brands, so when the final eight consisted of a star-stacked line up with over 100 Championships won between them, this looked like it was going to be an event that could appeal to any wrestling fan, regardless if there were no storylines between the actual wrestlers.

What gave the WWE World Cup a bit more excitement was when Shane McMahon told the SmackDown qualifiers that whichever wrestler that got to the finals, and then lost, they would be fired from SmackDown.

At Crown Jewel, after 6 matches, it boiled down to Dolph Ziggler from Raw against The Miz from SmackDown to determine who the ‘best in the world’ is. However, after a brief start, The Miz suffered an injury and was no longer able to compete, leading to Shane McMahon stepping in as a replacement for The Miz to represent SmackDown.

When McMahon won in one of the most disgraceful results this year, it buried any credibility of winning the WWE World Cup for any potential future events (if any), if the inaugural winner can randomly insert themselves into the final, despite never having directly qualified for it.

Even though there is a debate of any wrestler wanting the title of ‘Best in the World’ in a country shrouded with negative worldwide press prior to the event, the WWE could have ended it in other respectable ways like having both wrestlers not answer a ten-count and then feuding back on home soil to reach a conclusion, or introducing a wrestler from NXT making their debut at the event destroying both finalists. Instead, the WWE opted to give the ‘Best in the World’ title to someone who isn’t even a full-time wrestler.

#2 Raw getting a whitewash victory at Survivor Series

Survivor Series should never have ended in a whitewash.

For the third consecutive year, the Survivor Series pay-per-view was going to primarily focus on the two weekly shows facing off against one other with the winner having the bragging rights of being the ‘A-Show’. Raw had won the last two pay-per-views, meaning that SmackDown had to step up this year and achieve a much-needed victory to get some redemption after the last two years.

However, it wasn’t to be and Raw won its third consecutive year against SmackDown. However, it wasn’t the fact that Raw won that is the issue, but it was the fact that it was a whitewash of 6-0 (as they didn’t count the Tag Team elimination match as part of the final count).

Not only did it undermine all the tag teams in the company, but the lop-sided score has also made it questionable if they could realistically do another Raw vs. SmackDown rivalry at Survivor Series. If the WWE decides to do it again next year, SmackDown will be heading on the back of not only an embarrassing loss last year but also three overall losses on the trot, so if they were to win next year, it would be somewhat of a hollow victory as they’ve still got a long way to catch up again.

Finally, this result has given the illusion to the WWE Universe that Raw is and always has been the ‘A-Show’, and the people on SmackDown are just not as strong and talented, which is simply not the case as they too have a stacked roster which includes but not limited to: Asuka, Charlotte, Daniel Bryan and AJ Styles.

#1 Not utilizing this years’ call-up of NXT Superstars

Cien Almas is one of many wrestlers underutilized since jumping on the main roster.

Going from the developmental show, NXT, to either one of the main weekly shows is a huge step, and as such not every wrestler gets called up. There are many wrestlers on NXT that either spend many years on NXT, or decide to leave and develop their careers somewhere else. This is why when the WWE does eventually decide that a wrestler is ready to make it to the main shows, it needs to be the right move for both the wrestler and the company.

In the past, some of the wrestlers that have made the successful jump from NXT include the likes of Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens and Charlotte Flair, who have now become household names in the wrestling industry. Unfortunately, this doesn’t apply to everyone that leaves WWE’s developmental program, as the likes of Tye Dillinger, Apollo Crews and The Ascension would tell you they are mere pawns to the WWE.

The reality of the ongoing problems with this is that the WWE are simply calling up too many superstars and not utilizing them properly. Unfortunately, with the exception of Drew McIntyre, this year is no different. This years’ call-up include the IIconics, No Way Jose and Sanity who have all done very little since their debut.

Even though there are people like Cien Almas and Ember Moon who are constantly performing at a high standard when they do get some screen time, due to the number of wrestlers and lack of feuds, they too are also lost in the shuffle. As for the AoP, it can be argued they are only the Raw Tag Team Champions due to how light the division is following events both in and outside of the WWE.

One solution to all of this is to lessen the number of wrestlers that are being called up, especially if they won’t be doing much. However, if the WWE continues to do this every year, then they need to address the structure of the weekly shows so that everyone gets utilized more effectively rather than having the same feuds go at it every single week until the next pay-per-view.

Arguably, this is the most urgent and important issue that needs to be addressed in the WWE today, because if the same trend continues, wrestlers from NXT may become reluctant to make the jump altogether.