One thing I used to love about WWE were matches that were obvious mismatches but featured entertainers so talented, that even if the audience knew it was one sided bout, it was still entertaining to watch. Most of these matches featured stipulations that provided a slight handicap in favor of the heavy underdog, but in the end just provided more hilarity. Situations like Kai En Tai and the Big Show versus Kane and Undertaker in a 3 on 2 bout, or Maven versus Kane versus Snitsky one week after Kane and Snitsky both heavily injured one another during a wild brawl, were memorable just because of the comedy factor.
I believe WWE’s current roster has a lot of very talented in ring performers, but I can’t remember the last time we saw them involved in obivious comedic mismatches. To pull off a great comedic mismatch, really says a lot of the diversity a talent can display. It shows more dimensions, to already multi dimensional athletes. It sends the message we could be athletic, but we could also be flat out entertaining.
The greatest comedic mismatch was the Rock versus Shane McMahon in a steel cage match for the World Heavyweight Title. There were so many memorable moments in this Monday Night Raw match, that it is hard to dismiss as insignificant in the Rock’s WWE career. Watching the Rock get poked and baited by Triple H (using a broom handle) outside the cage as Vince McMahon yells “That’s right! Poke him!”, is an incredibly hilarious moment that will probably never be enacted again.
Knowing that it takes a certain level of talent to pull off these kind of match ups, I believe an argument can be made in favor of more purely entertainment matches in the WWE.
[...] Here are two of my favorite articles I wrote when this blog first started, that I want to promote: -Five things that could enhance the WWE product -Can we have more purely entertaining matches? [...]