"Cop Outs" in Wrestling

[Hoss]

Anyone else remember the Royal Rumble before WrestleMania IX where both Bret Hart and Lex Luger won? I was just contemplating that, reflecting on it, and that is such bullshit. Basically, WWE had two major stars that were primed for huge runs on top and didn't have it in them to make on slightly less legitimized or hurt them in any minor way by having them lose this one single match, even though there was 28 other options to have them lose to. No, instead, they both got to make it to the end and eliminate each other, forcing Yokozuna to defend his title twice in one night. What a load... The entire essence of the Rumble is seeing who can outlast everyone else and come out with a victory over every possible challenge. Not who all, but just who. There can't be two bests, just like there can't be two first places. Someone should have won that match, someone should have lost that match, and there should have been one title match at Mania!

And anyways, it wouldn't have devalued either to have lost that match, because they're still the second best, and really, if Bret lost to Luger, he would have just lost to a future WWE champion and i f Luger lost to Bret, he would have lost to a future WWE champion, so it's not a big deal. Not only that but you could have whoever didn't go over in the Rumble eventually take the gold from the eventual winner.

Anyways, what I'm getting at is that sometimes wrestling promotions completely insult us fans with idiotic booking meant to keep someone strong while also potentially pleasing us viewers. Such as Triple H forcing Earl to reverse the decision when Y2J first won the title. The domestic fans of Jericho were like 'hoorah he won the title' and the WWE corporate staff were like 'hoorah our biggest star is still invincible' but I was like 'fuck that, I'm not buying'.

Anyways, you got any examples of this happening that pissed you off, or would you like to argue that one of the above points, or something similar was not a cop out and instead a good call? Sound off...

 

[Fuji Vice]

Not going to argue that the 1994 Rumble finish was a good call but I will mention that Luger shouldn't have been there in the first place. He should have beaten Yokozuna at Summerslam '93 and when that didn't happen nobody I knew believed he had a shot at doing it again.

That being said, I didn't mind the booking because it led to Bret/Owen being booked for 'Mania, and as we all know that turned out pretty well. If Bret had won clean and got his shot at Yoko, we wouldn't have that brilliant opener to look back on.

 

[Citan]

I didn't mind both Luger and Bret winning the Royal Rumble.

What I didn't like is having Luger not having a non-title match prior to his match against Yoko. Bret had a match against Owen that night. Why didn't Luger had another match like Bret? Bret had one hell of an exhausting match against Bret, and Yoko would end up defending the title TWICE that night. Luger had it easy that night, so I'm glad he didn't win the belt.

 

[Fuji Vice]

What I didn't like is having Luger not having a non-title match prior to his match against Yoko. Bret had a match against Owen that night. Why didn't Luger had another match like Bret? Bret had one hell of an exhausting match against Bret, and Yoko would end up defending the title TWICE that night. Luger had it easy that night, so I'm glad he didn't win the belt.

If Luger had a non-title match as well then its possible he could have had to wrestle three times. The stipulation was that Luger won the coin toss, which means he got a shot at Yoko first. Bret was then given a singles match against his brother to make it fair (as Luger was already going to compete against Yoko). Then, if Luger had won, both he and Bret would have had to compete in two matches. Makes perfect sense to me.

 

[Sabretooth]

I have the perfect example. The Rock defeating John Cena.

 

[Horrorfan_1986]

I don't see the '94 Rumble as a cop out. The WWE just wanted to try something new. The whole story of that Wrestlemania was the road that the eventual WWE Champion would have to go on to leave with the belt. For Yokozuna, there was never a WWE World Champion that faced a tougher test at WM than himself. If he wanted to remain champion, he had to survive against two of the three top babyfaces the company had to offer. For Lex Luger, he had the toughest journey of any challenger at WM because he could win the belt, but then immediately lose it later in the night. Bret was faced with an unique challenge of wrestling a match he never wanted to be in and risk injury on the night of his huge World Title shot.

So it wasn't a cop out. Now, in hindsight, was it a good idea? Perhaps not, but you can't fault the WWE for wanting to try something new.

Besides, both men had easy outs for losing the Rumble. Bret Hart was injured from the match earlier in the show and Luger had to contend with the Japanese guys Mr. Fuji brought in exclusively to keep Luger from winning.

 

[Citan]

If Luger had a non-title match as well then its possible he could have had to wrestle three times. The stipulation was that Luger won the coin toss, which means he got a shot at Yoko first. Bret was then given a singles match against his brother to make it fair (as Luger was already going to compete against Yoko). Then, if Luger had won, both he and Bret would have had to compete in two matches. Makes perfect sense to me.

I wasn't aware of that. I guess it does make sense.

 

[Hoss]

I like the feedback, but does anyone have any personal examples?

 

[Sabretooth]

I like the feedback, but does anyone have any personal examples?

Yeah The Rock defeating John Cena.

 

[Smart Marx]

Yeah The Rock defeating John Cena.

Not that I wouldn't agree with you but could you please elaborate.


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[Sabretooth]

Not that I wouldn't agree with you but could you please elaborate.


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The Rock is a huge hollywood star. John Cena is the face of wwe. If The Rock lost the match, it wouldn't matter. He's staring in like 3 movies this year. After mania the rock isn't going to be on raw every night like John Cena will. Just like Cena said in his promo, Rock doesn't have to win he can go back to Hollywood. Wwe is everything to John Cena if he loses the match he gets his life taken away. That's what happened. Mr movie star won, appeared on raw the next night and now he's gone again and isn't going to show his face in wwe for another 6 months. John Cena is going to appear every week knowing that he was defeated and humbled by a movie star. I don't care if it's The Rock he's a movie star nonetheless. Not a wrestler. Long story short, The Rock didn't need the win John Cena did. I guess an interesting story could develop from this but The Rock shouldn't have won

 

[Fuji Vice]

The Rock didn't need the win John Cena did

Honestly, I think its the other way around. If Cena had won, everyone would be up in arms about how "old Super Cena" did it again. Instead, Cena came out of the match looking beatable (a situation that continued the next night on Raw when Lesnar kicked his ass). Considering a lot of people don't like Cena, this beatable side to his character should serve to make them think he's "freshened" up a bit. From The Rock's perspective, winning lit a fire under him which in turn gave him the inspiration to announce that he wants to go for the WWE Championship when he returns.

I'm not saying its the way I would have booked it, but I do realize the reasoning behind why it was done. Also, you can't define this as a cop out until you see the scope of the long term plans they have for it. The only reason EC can say he thought the Royal Rumble finish in 1994 was one is because he has the benefit of hindsight, something we do not have here.

 

[CrimsonTide]

Still not sure how that is a cop out... If anything they made things harder on themselves. John Cena has always been able to rise up and handle business, now there is a glaring example of him not being able to. They basically blemished their squeaky clean biggest star. That's not a cop out. Just because you don't like the results doesnt mean it fits in this thread.

 

[Fuji Vice]

Oh and to add to the list of actual cop out's, the entire Black Scorpion angle comes to mind. For months we were told there was NO way it could be Ric Flair and then when he was finally unmasked it was...Ric Flair.

 

[CrimsonTide]

Yeah the Black Scorpion was an awesome angle too. I remember being like 4, that shit freaked me out.