WWE: 5 most overused booking tropes employed by the company

3. WWE’s use of heel authority figures

To be fair, WWE hasn’t turned to the heel authority figure trope nearly as much as they have in the past, but it’s still something the promotion turns to whenever it finds itself in a creative bind.

Ever since the Mr. McMahon vs. “Stone Cold” Steve Austin feud ushered in WWE’s ’90s renaissance, the company has tried to recapture that magic. While many talented wrestlers (John Cena, CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, Eddie Guerrero, Roman Reigns) and on-air characters (Paul Heyman, Eric Bischoff, Kurt Angle, Vickie Guerrero, Triple H, Stephanie McMahon, Vince on a few other occasions) occupied both roles to the best of their abilities, they couldn’t reach those lofty heights.

But that won’t keep WWE from trying, even though literally every other promotion on the planet has moved on since the turn of the 21st century.

Without dynamic performances or the ideal conditions to make the storyline work, all the heel authority figure trope does is invite fans to dissect the numerous plot holes that pop up once they have a chance to think about what they’ve just seen. Sometimes, it doesn’t even take that long.

As of Oct. 11, WWE is using this trope to build the Naomi/Sonya Deville feud, which finally gives Naomi a storyline of substance, but also comes with the usual concerns associated with the gimmick. If WWE is smart, it will use this to transition Deville into a full-time wrestler role and put the heel authority figure character in a lockbox for at least a couple of decades.