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4 Wrestling Tropes It Is Time to Retire

By Bobby Fisher

WWE, King Corbin Credit: WWE.com
WWE, King Corbin Credit: WWE.com /
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Evil Authority Figures

You know this trope from:

  • Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission Referee Bill Alfonso (ECW)
  • Eric Bischoff (WCW/The New World Order)
  • Referee Nick Patrick (WCW/The New World Order)
  • Vince McMahon
  • The Corporation
    • (Vince McMahon, The Stooges [Gerald Brisco & Pat Patterson], The Big Show, Mankind, The Rock, Shane McMahon, The Mean Street Posse [Rodney, Pete Gas, Joey Abs] The Big Boss Man, Kane, Sgt. Slaughter, Chyna, Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Test, Ken Shamrock)
  • Vince Russo (WCW)
  • Cyrus the Virus (ECW)
  • William Regal (WWE)
  • Eric Bischoff (WWE Monday Night RAW)
    • Assisted by 3 Minute Warning (Jamal, Rosey), Jonathan Coachman, Chief of Staff Sean Morley
  • Palmer Canon (WWE SmackDown)
  • Paul Heyman (WWE SmackDown)
  • Kurt Angle (WWE SmackDown)
  • John Laurinaitis (WWE)
  • Paul Heyman (WWE-ECW)
    • Assisted by The Basham Brothers (Danny Basham, Doug Basham)
  • Dixie Carter (TNA)
    • Assisted by Rockstar Spud, Ethan Carter III
  • Eric Bischoff (TNA)
  • Vickie Guerrero (WWE SmackDown/WWE Monday Night RAW)
  • Vince McMahon & Shane McMahon (WWE Monday Night RAW)
  • Mike Adamle (WWE Monday Night RAW)
  • Brad Maddox (WWE Monday Night RAW)
  • The Authority
    • (Triple H, Stephanie McMahon, The Big Show, Seth Rollins, Randy Orton, Kane, J&J Security [Jamie Noble, Joey Mercury] The Shield [Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns] The New Age Outlaws [Billy Gunn, Road Dogg] )
  • Shane McMahon (WWE SmackDown)
  • Baron Corbin (WWE Monday Night RAW)

This trope has a rich history, but the most commercially successful iteration gave us the iconic Austin/McMahon feud. Since then, the powers that be in professional wrestling have been trying to capture that same lightning in a bottle, but every attempt following Austin/McMahon has fallen woefully flat, oftentimes trying to put characters in boxes that they don’t quite fit in.

Was there any suspension of disbelief that WWE didn’t want Roman Reigns to be the face of the company?

This role more than anything is designed as a way to explain why matches are happening, who’s kayfabe steering the ship, and gives multiple faces and even tweeners an additional hurdle to overcome. The problem is the lengths to which it’s overdone. Instead of building and growing what makes faces and heels distinct, what gives their characters personalities, instead divides the roster into either the side of the rebellion or the bootlickers, with the rebellious faces having to constantly fight uphill against an evil empire.

Additionally, this trope more than anything else is guilty of leading to emotionally dissatisfying finishes, nonsensical swerves and gives too much time to characters we’re all sick of. An authority figure should be singular and neutral. Bring back the on-screen president of the company that’s seldom seen. A great example is the work of Gorilla Monsoon in the then-World Wrestling Federation in the early to mid-1990s.

A singular on-screen neutral authority figure can help explain cards, matches, dole out stipulations, and still be occasionally swayed by heels on technicalities or by faces on merit without hours of screen time devoted to their presence.

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