The madness of repetitiveness; it's maddening. However, it occurs consistently throughout life. Things have a way of flowing in circles and arriving back at a familiar point. Then the question becomes: where do we go from here if everything essentially leads back to this nothingness?
The concept of people "learning from their mistakes" is false. People find ways to slip back into old vices. The drunk who "found God" at the Alcoholic Anonymous meeting will eventually sip that sweet sauce once again. For the drunkard, a life of sobriety contains no fun, no excitement.
This is the vicious pattern: people begin to believe that what they were doing in a past portion of their lives was more tangible than their current circumstances. Habit is a harsh mistress and she is difficult to quit for her touch is the feel of spine tingles and blood-pressure-headaches.
In the vast and vicious world of WWE, repetitiveness is common. In fact, the company will often recycle storylines, characters, and concepts in hopes of repeating a previous success. Of course, more often than not, such is not the case as duplication in WWE can prove disastrous.
The following piece is an examination of this repetitive nature and what needs to come to an abrupt and serious conclusion. Those angles which have been overplayed throughout time. While certain wrestling scenarios will remain classic (Good vs. Evil, the underdog story) there are those which have completely run their course.
This is a look at some specific situations and storylines which WWE refuse to lose. One can argue that what is repetitive to an older WWE fan will feel fresh to a younger fan and while that does hold true to a certain extent, it does not excuse the lack of effort put forth at times by WWE.
These are the top 15 repetitive angles WWE needs to drop:
15 15. Lunatics
Mick Foley was once the WWE's resident lunatic and with just reason. To say Foley was fearless would be a gross understatement. Do you really think pretty-boy Shawn Michaels would have allowed The Undertaker to throw him off the Cell?
These days, we have Dean Ambrose. While a solid performer, Ambrose is at best Lunatic Light; it takes a hell of a lot more to get a buzz off Ambrose than opposed to Mick Foley. The Lunatic simply doesn't work in the current system.
14 14. Hot Potato Titles
Under certain circumstances, a short title reign can lead to a great storyline (Reference Daniel Bryan). However, championships in WWE lose their value when treated like a game of hot potato.
From late Summer to early Fall in 2011, the prestigious WWE Championship was bouncing around between John Cena, Alberto Del Rio, and CM Punk prior to Punk taking hold of the gold for 434 days.
Once again, Alberto Del Rio has been involved in a similar situation with Kalisto and the United States Championship. Title reigns are important to character development and need to be afforded the sufficient amount of time.
13 13. Anti-Heroes
The days of "Stone Cold" Steve Austin consistently sticking it to Vince McMahon are long gone. The biggest Anti-Hero in WWE history can never be duplicated nor can WWE mirror Austin with Roman Reigns.
Vince McMahon is stale on television; like that mouldy loaf of bread sitting on the counter that you have forgotten to throw away. Roman Reigns is not Stone Cold and should not be treated as such.
12 12. Family Betrayals
Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns are not related by any bloodline but after referred to as "brothers" on WWE programming. The writing is on the wall here: somewhere down the line someone (likely Ambrose) will turn on his "brother."
However, it has been done to death: Owen turning on Bret, Matt turning on Jeff, Christian turning on Edge (remember, they were fist billed as bothers), event The Bella Twins found beef with each other.
Family betrayals are tough as the believability factor is usually lacking. Nobody ever bought the hatred being sold between Matt and Jeff Hardy.
11 11. Non-Americans
The Leagues of Nations? Here we have a group of four non-American Superstars banding together to form a weird Irish/British/Mexican/Bulgarian Boys Club. When Sheamus was WWE World Heavyweight Champion, this group actually had a shot.
Where are they now? Stuck at mid-card level. The focus on the non-American aspects of a character never helps a Superstar. We can hear them speak; we know they are foreign. Why can't WWE just leave it at that? They hit an all-time low when they introduced the "Un-Americans" in 2002. They lasted a whole 3 months.
10 1o. Patriots
The flip side of the non-American issue leads us the patriotic issue. The American-loving Superstar who will wear and wave the Red, White, and Blue with pride while essentially "fighting for his country."
While this angle will always score cheap points with the audience, let's face facts: Jack Swagger is no Kurt Angle. The waving of Old Glory has been done and done again and then done again for good measure.
There's nothing wrong with Patriotic Pride but this is wrestling not the campaign trail.
9 9. Contract Signings
If you want to observe something in WWE that has been completely played out, look no further than the ever-too-often contract signing. The formula is simple: meet in the ring, talk some trash, sign the contract, fight.
If opponents are going to rumble prior to their scheduled bout then just have them throw fists without the unnecessary contract signing angle. Nobody watching actually believes that the match is not going to take place at the upcoming Pay-Per-View.
8 8. Arrests
Once again we revert to "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. When "The Texas Rattlesnake" was "arrested" during the Attitude Era, the concept was cool and felt as though such a scenario with such a character was completely plausible.
However, only a certain breed of Superstar can pull off the believable arrest and the Money-Manic-McMahon family do no fit this criteria. Stephanie McMahon "arrested" for assaulting Brie Bella?
Worse yet: Vince McMahon "arrested" on the final episode of Monday Night Raw of 2015? Enough of the faux police force.
7 7. Dancers
The entertainment aspect of WWE is understandable. After all the "E" is supposed to stand for Entertainment. However, fans don't want to watch Superstars dance; it's time to let disco die and put away the dancing shoes.
The kids in the crowd want Super Heroes, not dancers. The women want to watch the oiled-up boys beat on each other for a while and the men will get their dancing fix after the show at the strip-club around the corner from the arena hosting Monday Night Raw
6 6. Total Divas
If you don't actually watch Total Divas, you will know full-and-well when a new season is in progress as the Wretched Reality Show will spill over into WWE storylines. When Nikki Bella didn't like Natalya's painting, they actually incorporated that into Raw.
The newest victim of this crossover scheme has been Paige which is actually quite a shame considering her talent. However, Paige must stand alongside Natalya and fight Alicia Fox because this constitutes as "reality" in the unrealistic world of WWE.
One must wonder who convinced Paige to participate on this program in the first place? Perhaps money talks and Paige is not as Punk-Rock as she wants fans to believe.
5 5. Comedy Factions
Remember the Mean Street Posse? Shane McMahon's boys from Connecticut who served as frat boys lets loose on the WWE. Despite their rich-kid attitudes, the Posse were humorous together. (Uncertain as to whether of not that was the actual intention.)
Regardless, comedy factions have come and gone over the years and many fall flat in a flash. Currently, WWE fans are "treated" to the Social Outcasts; a group of four perceived misfits that are already dangerously close to their expiration date.
4 4. Unstoppable Monsters
The Unstoppable Monster goes way back through the history of professional wrestling. And the formula worked well for many, many years. Andre the Giant was a site and slayer of Superstars; nobody could topple the Giant until Hulk Hogan came along.
In modern years, the Unstoppable Monster has become a concept of the past (in spite of Vince McMahon may believe.) Wrestling has evolved and with this change, performance style has left the Monster behind.
However, WWE refuse to accept this notion. Braun Strowman - their latest pet Monster - is expected to receive a push that will ultimately flop (not to mention that he can't wrestle a lick).
3 3. Part-Timers
When The Rock first retuned to WWE in 2011, it truly was a fantastic moment. However, as time wore on and The Rock continued to pop in here and there, the so-called "electricity" was no long sufficiently heating households.
And this goes for every part-timer: how can you build a structure for the future when you refuse to tear down the dilapidated buildings of the past? In the '90s, WWE embarked on a "youth movement" while cutting out the aged Superstars. This is needed once more.
2 2. Evil Boss
Ironically, this piece is about to get repetitive as for the third time, we must reference "Stone Cold" Steve Austin who essentially - along with the Mr. McMahon character - gave birth to whole Superstars vs. Boss concept.
This longstanding feud was something new to the WWE audience. While the rest of the locker room were playing hard out on the field, Austin and McMahon were fighting somewhere out-of-bounds.
The problem here: Austin/McMahon set the bar too high. Therefore, no Superstar vs. Boss rivalry has matched in comparison ever since. However, WWE will never allow a fire to burn out as they continue to blow on this ember while hoping for a flame.
1 1. Super Cena
This is a strange predicament. While WWE still needs John Cena more than anybody else, they also need to not need Cena. Whenever Cena is away from WWE (at the moment) his lack of presence is felt.
John Cena is a main event player and that is not going to change. Whomever faces Cena will have an opportunity to glow in the main event light. However, said opponent needs go over on Cena.
John Cena doesn't need to win anymore. Meanwhile, the up-and-coming talent can transform into instant Superstars with a victory over Cena. It happened to Kevin Owens: overnight, the Quebec-born wrestling became a Superstar.
Then of course, John Cena would win their next two matches and take the series over Kevin Owens. Was it necessary for Super Cena to come out on top once again? No. However, the company cannot overcome their irrational fears.