The perils of WWE's formulaic booking in 2019
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and they do not necessarily represent the views of Sportskeeda.
Despite an underwhelming card on paper, it is safe to say that Stomping Grounds was a pretty solid show. The matches were pretty good, the right people walked away with a win, there were a couple of shock title changes and although the main event did rile up a large section of the WWE Universe, it did end on a good note and the underlying message (Becky Lynch being on par with Seth Rollins) that it gave was quite refreshing.
But with that being said, the match was pretty sub-par considering the talents involved in the match. Now, we know that Baron Corbin isn't the best worker in the company but he can put up a pretty solid show and has a good repertoire of offensive moves. Rollins, as we all know, is one of the best workers of this current generation and has had some of the best matches on the main roster over the past year and a half.
Corbin's announcement of Lacey Evans as the special guest referee whilst being shocking and logical (in storyline) didn't quite click from the get-go and by the time she stepped inside the ring, it was fairly obvious that Becky Lynch was getting involved in this match in some way or another. What followed next was a classic example of textbook WWE booking with a heel referee fast counting the heel's pin, slow counting or stopping the count when the heel is being pinned and changing the match's stipulations on the go.
The problem with that sort of old school booking is that in today's time it ends up turning the crowd against the match. The fans were put off by the proceedings in the main event and expressed their displeasure by chanting 'This is boring', 'AEW', 'CM Punk' and ' Daniel Bryan' during the match. One major criticism of WWE has been their over-reliance on relics of the past.
The company still believes that the things which worked in the late '90s and the Attitude Era would work in 2019. We have had the McMahons donning the black and white stripes and being the special guest referee on numerous occasions while they were a bunch of conniving heels. That might have worked in earlier times but wrestling has changed so much since the Attitude Era.
The main event of Stomping Grounds resembled the main event match on an episode of RAW or SmackDown, in our opinion. It was quite formulaic from start to finish and didn't justify being the main event of a card that had solid matches such as Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn Vs Big E & Xavier Woods, Heavy Machinery Vs Rowan & Daniel Bryan and Samoa Joe Vs Ricochet.
WWE, once again, failed to read its audience miserably. The introduction of Becky Lynch late into the match was a gross misstep in our opinion and by the time The Man arrived on the scene, the damage had already been done. The main event of Stopping Grounds will leave a sour taste on the mouth which is a shame considering how good the event was till that point.
We can only hope and pray that WWE learns from this mistake that they did during the main event and never ever go that route in the near future.