One of the features of WWE over the course of the last 15 years has been high-profile and popular matches being turned into Premium Live Events.
Hell In A Cell, Elimination Chamber, and Money In The Bank also started life as matches on other shows before becoming standalone events of their own. In the past, WWE have also run TLC and Fatal-Four-Way events, although these now seem to have been dropped.
This led to criticism from some fans that stories were forced so that those matches could be involved, while the matches themselves became overused. Even aside from those events, gimmick matches and speciality matches have become more common place.
The days of gimmick matches being seen as just special attractions are long gone, with hardcore style matches now a regular feature on wrestling television.
WWE Executive Admits Gimmick Matches Are Overused
Interestingly, a WWE Executive has now admitted that that gimmick matches are overused. Speaking on his Something to Wrestle podcast, Executive Director for Raw and SmackDown, Bruce Prichard compared today’s wrestling to that of yesteryear.
“I think they all have been. I think that overall gimmick matches are overused,” Prichard said. “In the old days, you got a cage match maybe once, maybe twice a year.”
Prichard placed the blame for this shift at the feet of ECW, and their heavy use of hardcore matches. Prichard said that this “nothing means anything” type of wrestling created an overreliance on gimmick matches.
It has previously been reported that Triple H intends to move WWE away from offering gimmick-themed Premium Live Events in the future. However, Money In The Bank will remain for at least another year after it was announced that the event is heading to London on July 1st, 2023. The show will be held at the O2.
H/t to Wrestling Inc