WWE continues to confuse with Kevin Owens vs. Shane McMahon

Against all odds, a ladder match was chosen as the stipulation to cap off the Kevin Owens versus Shane McMahon rivalry.

Nowadays, lots of WWE pay-per-views or network events have stipulations as themes. Elimination Chamber, Money in the Bank, Extreme Rules, and even next month’s show, Hell in a Cell, highlight that list to just name a few.

Generally speaking, when you have a big rivalry going into one of those shows, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to have them settled using one of those stipulations. I mean I think that would only make sense, especially when the competitors involved in said rivalry have a history with the stipulation, or even just a solid motive for using it.

That’s just me though. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe you should have these stipulation shows, have a solid reason to use the stipulation the show is based on, and just shock everyone by doing the opposite.

That must explain why WWE made Kevin Owens versus Shane McMahon a ladder match on SmackDown, instead of a Hell in a Cell match.

Forget the fact that these two have a major Hell in a Cell match against one another in their recent history. It’s probably an irrelevant point that would have only distracted from the riveting legal drama were it emphasized too much in the announcement on SmackDown.

While we’re forgetting things, let’s just forget that Kevin Owens has been on the receiving end of interference during matches due to Shane McMahon’s cronies on multiple occasions too.

It’s probably better that the face has to overcome insurmountable odds anyways, even if it means sacrificing his intelligence.

Don’t even bring up the fact that the whole storyline is based around Owens’ ability to pull one over on McMahon at this point either. The legal drama that’s ensued over the recent weeks, and the general tone of this whole rivalry, should hold no bearing on whether or not fans should think Owens is capable of outsmarting his boss.

That would be absolutely ridiculous to assume.

The fact of the matter is that there was obviously a “corporate ladder” reference that needed to be made. With that analogy in mind, how could you go with any other stipulation, incoming pay-per-view theme or otherwise?

Besides, three hell in a cell matches would likely be one too many. It’s not like that’s a match type which ever leads to numerous different weapons being used, or has the potential for various death-defying spots, or even just has a history of innovative finishes. There wouldn’t be enough options for WWE to make each Hell in a Cell match unique, even if they got creative.

You know what? I think I just convinced myself now. This had to be the right call. We needed this twist of a stipulation to add to the list of numerous other elements which took a hot rivalry, and slowly but surely dragged it down to Earth.

It just makes sense.