The faithful fans of WWE in Pittsburgh put a damper on what was an otherwise solid Iron Man match at Extreme Rules 2018 with their incessant chants for the countdown clock. Then again, could that have been their way of sending the company a message that the product is in desperate need of an overhaul?
The night's Iron Man main event between Seth Rollins and Dolph Ziggler should have been an instant classic considering the stipulation and the competitors involved. But due to overbooking and several falls being rushed within the first 15 minutes of the matchup, it failed to live up to the lofty expectations set by fans.
The Pittsburgh crowd was clearly attempting to entertain themselves during the dull points of the bout by counting down from 10 every minute for the full half hour, and although some saw that as irritating, it could have been the fans' way of relaying their disappointment with what they were watching.
Aaron Oster @TheAOsterIf fans are going to do this in every main event no matter what, the lesson WWE is going to take from it is just put Roman Reigns in the main event every time. #ExtremeRules
Another recent example occurred during Roman Reigns vs. Jinder Mahal at Money in the Bank in June, though the circumstances were slightly different. That was never expected to be anything above average, so the Chicago crowd took liberties in creating an exciting atmosphere by cheering for anything else but the wrestlers.
That could have been interpreted as resentment toward Reigns and even Mahal, but truth be told, they are not to blame for fans hijacking the show. Instead, the company should be blamed for giving the WWE Universe a match they never asked for in the first place, and thankfully, the feud was discontinued after that event.
Unfortunately, not all programs have had that same treatment. Despite the audience at WrestleMania 34 blatantly rejecting Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar as the main event of the show, WWE booked a rematch between the two just a few weeks later at Greatest Royal Rumble, and the reaction there wasn't much different.
Fans won't approve of everything WWE does, even if some of the decisions the company makes are indeed what's best for business. However, if WWE continues to make the same mistakes time and time again and the crowd reactions never change, then something should be said for fans wanting their voices to be heard.
It can be argued that WWE only takes notice of certain things when television ratings, WWE Network subscriptions and live attendance numbers are down, but Daniel Bryan was the exception to that in 2014. He was booked to lose a majority of his matches around that time, yet crowds were relentless in showing their support for him through chants.
That eventually caused WWE to change their WrestleMania plans with Bryan as the featured star, but only after several shows were essentially commandeered by crowds. On the flip side, if the chants don't serve a purpose and are annoying for the wrong reasons, WWE may be hesitant to give fans what they want in the future.
The post-WrestleMania crowds are notorious for hijacking shows and making the night all about themselves. Although it was a fun change of pace in the beginning (starting in 2013), it became a nuisance over time and has encouraged other crowds to follow suit.
Brooklyn was guilty of this at SummerSlam 2017, hindering an excellent Raw Tag Team Championship match between The Bar and Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose by bouncing beach balls around the arena. That hurts the brand and its appeal (viewers watching from home won't care about a show the fans in attendance apparently aren't invested in), but that is far from the majority of WWE crowds.
Most importantly, if WWE was delivering a hot product from week to week, fans wouldn't have a reason to want to hijack shows because they would be too busy being entertained by what's right in front of them.
Graham Mirmina, aka Graham "GSM" Matthews, is an Endicott College alumnus and aspiring journalist. Visit his website, Next Era Wrestling, and "like" his official Facebook page to continue the conversation on all things wrestling.
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