The Power of the Pin: WWE's use of zombies was horrifying, and not in a good way

So WWE WrestleMania Backlash has come and gone, and let's just say there was one segment on the show that was as cold as a corpse.

In a lumberjack match that was designed for lunacy, WWE attempted to have another monster mash of a mainstream money grab - to promote Dave Bautista's upcoming Netflix film, Army of the Dead. As many of you already know, the choice of lumberjacks was very questionable.

As Damian Priest battled The Miz, the ring was surrounded by actors made up to look like zombies. These creatures then eventually attacked The A-Lister and pretended to gnaw on him like a chicken wing at a Super Bowl party.

"The Lumberjacks are ZOMBIES!" 😱#WMBacklash Zombie #LumberjackMatch #ArmyOfTheDead @mikethemiz @ArcherOfInfamy pic.twitter.com/8t1buCdMzw

— WWE (@WWE) May 17, 2021

It would be easy to say that the pathetic pandering is one of the silliest stunts the promotion has ever tried to pull off. But let's remember, this is also the same organization that once staged an old woman giving birth to a hand.

This moment almost made it seem like WWE should stand for 'World's Worst Entertainment'. It was ridiculous and deserves to be mocked.

Needless to say, the stunt drew a firestorm of social media responses, as many panned the gimmick match. That said, some WWE sympathizers did defend it too.

As the promotion went out of its way to take the high and mighty stance of criticizing AEW for the recent Blood and Guts match that aired on Dynamite, many fans were quick to point out the hypocrisy of the biggest promotion in the world.

WWE: “AEW Blood & Guts set the wrestling business back 30 years!”WWE, two weeks later: “…zombies.” How are WWE fans gonna defend this one💀#WMBacklash pic.twitter.com/Er653ch464

— WWE Botches (Follow for more botches) (@BotchesWWE) May 17, 2021

These types of gimmicks have been used in the past, particularly in the Memphis territory, where Jerry Lawler would often use monster movie-style gimmicks and cartoonish characters. We were dealt everything from the Christmas Creature to Lord Humongous and Ninja Turtles.

And of course, no one can forget the time in WCW that RoboCop once accompanied Sting to the ring at Capitol Combat in yet another shameless attempt to get the 'rub' from something derived in Hollywood.

But, as S.E. Hinton once wrote, that was then. This is now.

While I'm sure this was a profitable endeavor for WWE, it has unfortunately continue to make their product look lacklustre while also alienating their longtime fanbase. At the end of the day, it made the performers involved look foolish and made them secondary to the 'show' that surrounded them.

The scary part of this whole thing wasn't the zombies. It was the fact that someone behind the scenes in WWE thought this was a good idea.

And that? That's what's truly horrifying.