Disqualifications during main event matches - a downfall for the WWE?

[Motor City Jeezy]

I have noticed a recent trend in the WWE, and I thought I'd get your opinion of it. Major matches during WWE programming have been ending in disqualification. The JeriShow/DX tag team title rematch, the Sheamus/Cena rematch, the Undertaker/Mysterio title match, the McIntyre/Morrison rematch, and Batista's beat the clock challenge are all extremely recent ones that come to mind. That being said, I'd like to pose a few questions for the forum.

How do you feel about the number of DQ's lately? Does it affect your expectations for WWE main events? Is this a valid method of progressing certain storylines?

For me, I pretty much have been fast-forwarding through title matches as well as main event matches that occur during the weekly programming lately. I hate the feeling I get when I'm watching a match and it's great and I'm really getting into it, and then BAM. It ends in disqualification. It's like I'm at the car dealership, and although what I want is a Ford Fusion, I've just been pre-approved for a Ford F-150 with the custom sports package. WOW this is awesome, I think to myself. And then we get to the nitty gritty, and bam. I can't even walk off the lot with a Ford Focus. I leave with nothing but a sick feeling of what could've been in my stomach.

Okay, it's probably not that serious as car buying, but I hope my attempted anology gets its point across. So. Thoughts?

 

[Razor]

It depends. We're talking about TV programming here, right? DQs on TV don't really matter as long as we're thrown a bone every now and again. Remember Cena/HBK a few years ago? An hour long, and everyone loved it. Then we had about a year of DQs before Swagger/Cena tore the house down at the 3 hour Draft. TV is historically not going to give us matches that have a finish as good (...or sometimes, as bad) as PPV title matches. PPV is where they throw out all the stops, TV is where they keep us trailing along to watch the PPV.

However, DQs during PPVs are completely shitty if they're overused. I remember some PPVs that seemed as though they had nothing but DQ finishes. Or when Cena/Orton seemed to love the "Cena went out of control" or "Orton hit the ref on purpose!" endings. People get annoyed, and fast.

What I'm trying to say is this. DQs on TV are no big deal, really. DQs on PPV? They get bad and overdone, fast.

 

[gtajoker01]

I agree.. Disqualifications do ruin a match and so does interference it completely ruins it. Its like they throw the matches together real fast and the thing i cant stand is 5 minute matches like how can they have a great match under so little time i really hope pro wrestling changes soon because this has to stop. i just like to see decent wrestling but no someone has to interfere or someone get's dq'ed, is that what pro wrestling is all about?.. or is that what it has come to?.

 

[Dagger Dias]

How do you feel about the number of DQ's lately? Does it affect your expectations for WWE main events? Is this a valid method of progressing certain storylines?

I think there's been too many DQ's lately. They don't bother me as much in matches where nothing is on the line, but in title matches or even in qualification matches.... I prefer that DQ's not be used. They make things too confusing and that's frustrating. If they were done less and used by heels rarely, it would draw more heel heat because the fans would not be expecting it. They don't effect my expectations for WWE main events because I don't really expect to see them much. It can be an effective way to further a feud because the face will want another shot at a heel who got themselves DQ'ed, but it should not be used often, otherwise things get too complicated when a clean victory would have been enough.

 

[Motor City Jeezy]

It depends. We're talking about TV programming here, right? DQs on TV don't really matter as long as we're thrown a bone every now and again. ...However, DQs during PPVs are completely shitty if they're overused. I remember some PPVs that seemed as though they had nothing but DQ finishes. Or when Cena/Orton seemed to love the "Cena went out of control" or "Orton hit the ref on purpose!" endings. People get annoyed, and fast...

See, and I don't feel we've been thrown that bone as much as we have been in the past. Three of the last five main events on SmackDown have ended in DQ. Last week's SmackDown had two DQ's. So did last week's RAW, even though RAW hasn't had constant DQ endings like SmackDown has. You're right in that DQ endings rarely happen in PPVs, which is great, and I'm glad they've stopped doing it after the rash of DQ's between Cena and Orton earlier last year.

I agree.. Disqualifications do ruin a match and so does interference it completely ruins it. Its like they throw the matches together real fast and the thing i cant stand is 5 minute matches like how can they have a great match under so little time i really hope pro wrestling changes soon because this has to stop. i just like to see decent wrestling but no someone has to interfere or someone get's dq'ed, is that what pro wrestling is all about?.. or is that what it has come to?.

I thought about this as I was watching the Beat the Clock challenge on SmackDown. The final time to beat was 7:19, right? Well, remember when RAW did the Beat the Clock challenge back in July? Cena won it in 4:28. I was absolutely positive that when CM Punk got his time of 7:20, it was easily gonna be squashed. Not the case. I'm not sure what that particularly says about either show, but I was pleasantly surprised. I think that the spam of DQ's and interferences are supposed to keep us intrigued, but personally I find it to be a big turnoff.

I think there's been too many DQ's lately. They don't bother me as much in matches where nothing is on the line, but in title matches or even in qualification matches.... I prefer that DQ's not be used. They make things too confusing and that's frustrating.

Perfect example would be SmackDown. John Morrison was screwed out of a title shot. What's going to happen there? Batista and Mysterio again? How much of this feud can be shoved down our throats?

If they were done less and used by heels rarely, it would draw more heel heat because the fans would not be expecting it. They don't effect my expectations for WWE main events because I don't really expect to see them much. It can be an effective way to further a feud because the face will want another shot at a heel who got themselves DQ'ed, but it should not be used often, otherwise things get too complicated when a clean victory would have been enough.

I think that's part of the reason why, in my opinion, Legacy failed to become as dominate as they should've been. Instead of Orton winning cleanly over his opponents, DiBiase and Rhodes were always there to prevent him from having real matches. You'll recall DiBiase's younger brother coming out during a PPV match to interfere. What was that about? Because of all that, Orton never really got "over" for me. I never saw him as a credible champion, even when he did win cleanly. At some point, someone at WWE has to stop and say, "You know, anyone can cheat, so we need to add credibility to our main eventers instead of bogging them down with DQ's and interference."

 

[Dave]

It definitely pisses me off.

It is not the fact that they are using the DQ's that bothers me. No, it is because of the sheer quantity of matches that they are using it in. As you say, it seems to be the current trend to end the main event matches with. To be fair though, the match on Raw featuring Sheamus and Cena had to end in a DQ. Cena made the promise to win until he won the belt and of course WWE will be trying to show that he is right. He couldn't lose that match if they were serious abour running that angle and it makes sense to have Sheamus get DQ'ed and then tear him apart. It is classic heel behaviour and is understandable.

However, I do get pissed off with it from time to time. It seems as though the WWE are using it as their get out of jail free card and it is completely unoriginal to my eyes. A fine example of this is a match from the past. The Undertaker vs Kurt Angle. If you can remember it, Kurt Angle went under the ring and when Taker captured him, it turned out to be another competitor and Angle came from nowhere to surprise Taker for the win. That is imaginative writing and took me by surprise. WWE just needs to freshen itself up a little in my opinion.

 

[JBK2008]

Dq's in the main event matches is down right stupid. It's the match everyone waits to see all night and for it to end in a DQ is shameful on the WWE's part. People pay had earned money to see a match taht is built up and when it ends in a DQ it hurts everyone and especially the wresters. How is their feud supposed to continue and build up if there's a count out or one of them gets disqualified? It makes no sense and it makes people not want to watch them wrestle the next time they face off.

 

[Shazam!]

Disqualifications are extremely anti climactic, especially when done the wrong way. It's ok if you do it with a short bout, but after a long and exciting match it just totally kills the atmosphere.

 

[Dowdsy McDowds]

I'm glad this has been picked up by other people because it was starting to drive me insane! Similarly, the WWE had a phase over the last couple months with counting people out when they are on the outside. Now and again it could be used well if it allowed a smaller guy to use his quickness to jump back into the ring before the bigger guy, but again with the DQ's it's pretty anti-climatic.

Perhaps a reason for this sudden rush of DQ matches could be that they don't want to risk injury to certain people leading up to the Rumble and Mania with a botched finisher or anything, but in a way it still feels like we're being cheated by seeing the same thing over and over when it rarely happened as much before.

 

[FreezeIzGAWD]

Boy U new fans R SPOILED! LMAO! Seriously DQ endings use to be a COMMON PLACE in wrestling! Check the stats and facts! Ppl use to SCREAM all the time th@ RIC FLAIR and the heel champs use 2 PURPOSELY get themselved DQed! That or they wuld just take the belt and lose on countout! it was part of wrestling and called one of the PERKS of being CHAMPION! U HAVE 2 BEAT THE CHAMP! THE CHAMP DOESN'T HAVE 2 BEAT U! Yeah it suckz when matches end in any other way then CLEANLY but th@ is just wrestling goes! Y do U think no DQ no countout matches use to be so SPECIAL?

 

[Ambiguous Turd]

If there would be a Disqualification in the Main Event of a PPV, that is one thing. But when you get a DQ on a Monday Night Raw, Smackdown, or ECW, that is a different story. The WWE is not interested in giving a bunch of free-loaders PPV quality matches on free tv. They want you to buy the PPV's for the better matches, and the more climatic endings.

So no, I don't think there is anything wrong with DQ endings done on Free TV, AS LONG as they are mixed in with other match finishes, and don't happen an astronomical amount of time. Right now, I don't feel that is the case.

A DQ is a match finish just like the other 3 primary match finishes: pinfall, submission, countout. The DQ is simply part of wrestling. And being that you aren't paying for the match, I think it's something people have to learn to live with and accept.

 

[dxparza]

I'm definitely not a fan of the DQ finish. it really hurts the product. if it happens every once in a while I wouldn't mind. but it seems like every week it happening. the finishes make it really hard to get into the product. I'm hoping tna comes out swinging on monday and wwe will be forced to change some of the ways they run their programing including the dq finishes.

 

[TNA Sucks]

DQ endings in a main event to me are very stupid since the fact that the champion is still the champion after he got himself DQ'd. Like the Sheamus vs. Cena match.... Sheamus pulled the ref. and he got DQ'd. BUT WHY THE HELL IS HE STILL CHAMPION IF HE GOT DQ'D WHY CAN'T CENA BE CHAMPION... then due to that rule WWE doesn't even need Championship matches if the champion will get himself DQ'd.

 

[The Brain]

I typically don’t mind a dq finish, but there have been an awful lot lately. I can definitely see why people are getting frustrated by them. What bothers me more than the quantity of dq finishes is the lame way they come about. What I mean is the refs are so quick to pull the trigger on a dq. That’s what’s annoying me. It’s an obvious dq if someone uses a foreign object or there is outside interference. Now if you simply touch the ref he’s calling for the bell. I know you’re not supposed to put your hands on an official, but a little discretion would be nice. Morrison vs. Mcintyre is a perfect example. I get it. The ref didn’t see that Mcintyre shoved Morrison into him. Through the ref’s eyes Morrison hit the ref. How much sense does that make? Morrison is in control of the match then all of a sudden he issues an unprovoked attack on the ref. The ref doesn’t suspect that something else might have caused this? That’s just a lazy finish. If you want to do something like that just have Mcintyre take a walk and loose by count out.

I’m watching Superstars as I type this (it’s airs on Sunday morning in the Chicago market). Vance Archer was disqualified for beating on Shelton Benjamin too much in the corner. This is another lame dq. I get the idea behind it. Vance doesn’t care about rules and can’t be controlled. Blah blah blah. It’s an ok idea, but it looks lame when the ref calls for the bell so quickly. To me it looked more like the ref was just an ass hole than Archer was the uncontrollable heel. I know you have a five count before the dq, but how much has this ever been enforced before this year?

Again the dq doesn’t bother me. It’s the lack of creativity behind the dq and the quick trigger on the ref to call for it. After watching wrestling for so many years it’s strange to see guys getting disqualified for things that have been common place for so long. If I were to review all the matches I’ve seen over the years with today’s rules in mind I could probably find a thousand matches that would end in dq today that didn’t back then. I’m waiting for dq ten seconds into a match when someone throws a closed fist.

 

[DeadManWalking]

Disqualifications do seem to be happening with more frequency lately, however in nearly every case they are being used to further a story line. If wrestling was simply about a 20 minute match yes they would be a cheap end, however story lines are being drawn out over months at a time, and you can't simply look at the end result of one match and see how cheap it is.

Sheamus vs. Cena: Cena promised to win EVERY match until he won the title. Who really thought that Cena was going to win the title on Raw? Cena made a promise just like Sheamus who said that he would not lose until the end of the year. Like it or not Sheamus is not going to lose the title until a major pay per view, probably Wrestlemania and by most spoilers to HHH.

D-X vs. Jeri-Show: In order for the current situation of Jericho having no "home" and being too big for both shows, Jericho had to either win that match or lose in a way that would allow for a more drawn out story line. If HHH had simply hit a pedigree and finished the match clean, Jericho would not have the option be "bigger than both shows". This result led to a great promo on Smackdown this week IMO.

Morrison vs. Ziggler: Ziggler wasn't going to drop the title so soon and on free tv. Morrison wasn't going to lose clean either. Morrison was screwed which allowed for the story line to continue... If he had lost clean he wouldn't have an entitlement to another rematch.

Batista/Rey story line: Personally my favorite of the DQ's recently... Furthers the story line by setting up a one on one match next week. I loved Rey being able to say that "It's his time". I loved that Batista wasn't allowed to just walk into another title. Batista toyed around the entire match, and then in the end his own arrogance allowed for Rey to screw him over. Batista turning his back on his friend months back is constantly haunting him, and it adds depth to the story line.

The Vance Archer: There have always been monster heels who in order to be made "monsters" had to appear to be above the law. In squash matches like those this isn't exactly an uncommon thing. The monster heel refuses to submit to a count and gets DQ'ed.

Basically yeah there have been alot of DQ's lately, but none of them have really been used cheaply. They have all been used to further story lines or develop characters. The DQ finish is going to happen, and it can be used in good ways. You just have to look beyond the moment and look into the bigger picture...

 

[RATED R CHAMPION]

How do you feel about the number of DQ's lately? Does it affect your expectations for WWE main events? Is this a valid method of progressing certain storylines?

Disqualifications are very important in certain ocassions guys, because if you have a heel champion who basically "stole" the belt some days before at a big event, and the main face babyface star is coming for his re-match or so, you will not put your main face star to lose cleanly, i mean, you have to find a way for the new champ to retain, without hurting your star's popularity and super-man "fame". Now lately yes, dq's have been overused, i think jeri-show could have lost cleanly to dx, but the other scenarios are just obligated to end in dq, why? because for example sheamus will not beat cena cleanly on raw that's for sure, McIntyre had already beaten morrison on smackdown not so cleanly but pinned him in the center of the ring, so putting those guys to win cleanly would not be the best against popular stars like morrison and cena, so i think dq's have their use.

Now what's important is where all this goes? i mean, if now McIntyre and Morrison develop their feud, then Drew can beat Morrison in a certain situation in the near future and pin him, as well as sheamus, which i think wwe "NEEDS" to give him a real wwe champion victory over Cena soon, because he's not credible if he doesn't wins over the former champion.

I dont get pissed when a bout ends in dq because i know their functions, and im a booker in a local company i have, and i use it frequently, as well as run ins and interferences, that's part of the job, which leads to another big time scenario, maybe like a no dq match in the future or steel cage or no dq-no count out bouts or street fights anything like that.

*DISQUALIFICATIONS HAVE THEIR FUNCTIONS

 

[kjb]

I have to agree with freeze on this. 20 years ago this was pretty much how 90% of all matches invloving 2 actual "big" names would end on free tv. You hardly saw a clean finish ever. Title matches, forget about it. Always dq, countout, or time limit. With that said, it was and still is kind of annoying, but its also a way to get guys over while not burying others.

 

[The Ultimate]

Although freezeisgowd has a point, I'm gonna have to disagree, I am one of the newer fans, and it really is tiring to see dq's and countouts all the time, ok sure, in non-main events it's fine, if u do it every now and then, but right now they are just simply overdoing it. Seriously, watching clean finished matches has now become a treat, when it should be something that we see regularly. Next time u see a main event on smackdown before friday or the spoilers come out, expect the dq, that way everyone won't be as disappointed.

 

[SUBMIT2GR8NESS]

In a way DQs help wwe with makeing storylines and feuds. Think about it when you see someone get disqualified and someone walks away with the title it makes you want to see a rematch. So the wwe makes a rematch and consumes the empty spaces on TV.

Also think about it like this DX only got disqualified to get rid of Jericho. And all the other people like sheamus and mcyintire got disqualified is because they're new in the business and like people said before the past few years mainevents have been repetative now that Hardy is gone, Edge is injured, and so on and so forth.

 

[JohnnyBlaze1986]

All these complaints about DQ finishes....my..my..my.

DQ finishes are a staple of the business. Remember how the NWA used to do it ALL THE TIME. Especially for Flair.

Yes, it is tiresome, but it goes to show you how unimaginative WWE creative is to use the same finish over and over.

But, to do it on TV, it's one thing: You're setting up a future match. But, when you do it on a PPV, then it's bull.