Outside Interference

[Mustang Sally]

Back in the late 80's and early 90's, most televised matches were between a superstar and a jobber.....you knew who was going to win as soon as the contest was announced. The only times you saw matches between performers in which there was doubt as to who would be the victor, it invariably ended in unclean fashion; by count-out or disqualification.

The chief form of DQ occurred by outside interference.....and then, as today, it was a pain in the ass to see a good match end so often in that fashion. But there has seemingly been a change in WWE's handling of outside interference over the years.

In the past, anyone who entered the ring during the match caused someone to be disqualified.....unless the referee didn't see it, which has been a staple of pro wrestling since.....well, forever. But when the ref did witness someone attacking a wrestler in the ring.....either by climbing in themselves or belting a performer from ringside.....the 80's and early 90's saw the ref call for the bell. I remember a diva climbing to the ring apron and not doing anything, yet the referee DQ'ed the guy she represented.

Today, it's different. We watch people enter the ring in full view of the ref, directly affect the outcome of the match.....and no DQ is called for.

Two blatant examples: J & J Security. I mean, c'mon! How many times did we watch them climb in the ring and attack Seth Rollins' opponent....only to be chased out by the ref even as Seth takes advantage of the damage J & J has done? The result of the outside interference is totally ignored; the match continues.

Second, Nikki Bellas' match at MITB. When Brie replaced Nikki in the ring and got pinned, she immediately confessed to the ref that Paige had pinned the wrong opponent. The ref then allowed Nikki to attack the distracted Paige from behind and win the match.

Are they kidding? How could Nikki not have been disqualified for outside interference? If Brie openly admits she didn't belong there, how on Earth does the official allow the match to continue?

So, that's my question to you. Do you prefer it the old way, in which NO outside interference was tolerated and the match ended as soon as the official saw it........or should the ref just allow it, as we see too much of today?

Personally, I'd prefer someplace in the middle. The constant unclean endings of the old days took a lot of drama out of watching pro wrestling since they refused to show us clean endings to important matches.....yet the new way seems so patently unfair that it's often hard to watch.

 

[laodaron]

Personally, I don't mind outside interference.

So, the Bella twins thing, the end result is the same, Nicki keeps the belt. What SHOULD have happened is that when the ref realized that it was Brie, he should have DQed Nicki. THEN, Paige should have begged him to restart the match so that she could get a title shot, and when he did, that's when Nicki should have blindsided her.

J&J Security were perfect in their role. I loved watching Seth win matches thanks to TONS of outside interference, because we all knew he could go in the ring, and once he broke free of them, he'd be able to drop that gimmick pretty quickly.

 

[Fire Marshall Bill]

From a kayfabe standpoint, the ref could've thought Paige made an honest mistake and grabbed the wrong twin and pinned her. In his head maybe he thought that was enough to continue the match.

But yeah, I wish matches were called for interference a little easier. That or having smarter (kayfabe) refs and knowing when certain people come down, interference is pretty much a gimme and either call it immediately or throw them out before it's possible. But hey, we all should know by now common sense and logical thinking have very little place in professional wrestling.

 

[Max Headroom]

I'm glad to see this brought up, as I have always felt things like this, which kind of seem minor, are actually a bigger deal than we would think. The two examples you have given are great, the Bella one especially, as I found that to be absolutely absurd. The ref should have called for the DQ instantly. Nikki would have kept her title, so that wouldn't change anything & it would save Paige from taking an unnecessary fall.

What it all boils down to, is the referees should be enforcing the rules a lot more than they do. Overall, the rules should never be broken or thrown out just to suit a story, the story should be booked around the rules. The instant a non-competitor hops on the apron, they should be ejected, or the person they are with gets a DQ. The referees shouldn't look like morons. They know who's with who, as do everyone else watching.

While this seems like no big deal, it really makes things seem so much less legitimate when the rules aren't being upheld properly. At least make your show try to seem real & legitimate, because if you don't care enough to pay attention to detail, why should anyone watching be expected to care?

 

[chuckmdubya]

Great thought here. I always think about the good ole days when watching wrestling now. I really would prefer the old way. I think it adds an element to the legitimacy of the sport. Makes it seems like there are rules even though its not a real competition. Not only that its adds to the entertainment as well.
When a heel has to work hard to cheat then its more entertaining to see him find a way to pull it off. Also, the level of campy humor is greatly elevated. I remember guys like IRS choking the face with the ring rope while Dibiase would distract the ref. Or Jimmy Hart distracting the ref while Greg The Hammer Valentine holds a guy while Honky Tonk man swings a guitar and misses and nails the Hammer, just before the ref turns around to make the 3 count.

What happened in the ring was better back then. That was sports comedy theatre, and it was great, corny, and always gave you a chuckle.

 

[Mustang Sally]

From a kayfabe standpoint, the ref could've thought Paige made an honest mistake and grabbed the wrong twin and pinned her. In his head maybe he thought that was enough to continue the match.

Interesting thought, yet that would have made the referee a complete dunce, no? He knew Brie hadn't accompanied her sister to ringside, so what would she have been doing in the ring in the first place?

Today's wrestling is better than in the past, mostly because we get to see match-ups on cable TV that used to appear only on PPVs. Plus, I didn't like all the DQs we had to watch in the old days. Still, a bit of logic would be nice, and the J & J and Bella stuff is so off the wall when they don't result in DQs that it does make things ridiculous.

Next someone is gonna tell me the results are pre-planned!

 

[Fire Marshall Bill]

Interesting thought, yet that would have made the referee a complete dunce, no? He knew Brie hadn't accompanied her sister to ringside, so what would she have been doing in the ring in the first place?

Did you not read my second paragraph? Also, he could've always missed her coming down, be it from the ramp or the crowd.

Anyways, the refs are always booked beyond idiotic. Seriously, no human being who's not mentally challenged in some way is as dumb as they are. They get distracted countless amounts of times in their careers, sometimes working out for the heels and sometimes not, and yet they continue to turn away from the face while a heel associate is over by them. Any normal human being would've learned pretty quickly. As they say, fool me once...

Why do you think it's always such a loud cheer when a heel actually gets kicked from ringside? Besides being heel, it's just so rare the ref actually uses a brain cell or two and we get a fair match (in general but not always).

 

[Mustang Sally]

Did you not read my second paragraph?

Sure did!

Also, he could've always missed her coming down, be it from the ramp or the crowd........Anyways, the refs are always booked beyond idiotic.

Agreed, they're booked dumb. In the Bella situation, the ref had nothing else to be distracted by. Once Nikki was thrown out, the ref was looking only at Paige in the ring; there was no reason for him to be watching anything else. Then, as far as he could see, Nikki climbed back in. If he hadn't seen Brie coming down the ramp or from the crowd, he should have his eyesight checked......or his powers of concentration.

At any rate, once he saw both Bellas' in the ring, there should have been a DQ. In fact, the Bellas' pulling a switcheroo should have caused the ref to re-start the Nikki-Paige contest with Brie sent being back to the locker room.

 

[MC_Live]

They use it way too much. I agree that Nikki should have been DQ'd at MITB. Brie rolled up Paige in the match, which is a form of interference. And any form of outside interference should result in a DQ, no matter what.

But they use the distraction finish WAY too much. They literally have one (if not multiple) distraction finish(es) on every single show. Every episode of Raw, somebody gets distracted and beat. And they're not even good distractions. "Oh no, somebody hit their music and is standing on the ramp. I better stop now, because there's no way I can win this match if that guy is all the way over there." It's insulting to our intelligence. They need to tighten up the rules on outside interference, and start using it a lot less. At this point, if I never see a distraction finish on WWE again, I wouldn't complain.

 

[Navi]

I agree that the way it used to be was the best. We all knew that the heel was going to get some kind of help, but it wasn't as blatant at it is now.

Everytime J&J Security or Kane or Big Show even tried to enter the ring, the ref should have DQ'd Rollins immediately. Just the same as when a heel rolls out under the ropes and tries to walk away, like Sheamus did from Ambrose the other night. He picked up the MITB briefcase and headed off up the ramp only to meet Orton halfway. Why didn't the ref start a 10 count right away? DQ's and count outs are used when it suits the storyline, it's not a hard and fast rules anymore it would appear.

 

[Un-Bo-Lievable Jeff]

Wow, some heated comments about the DQ finishes.

If you had a ref follow the rules to the letter, most matches would end in a DQ/count out. Low blows are another which are quite obvious.

If you start to question the logic of a ref doing his job, you need to question almost every aspect of wrestling in general.

 

[FightOwensFight]

I am with Sally in the somewhere in the middle camp. Letting anything go like happens nowadays gets old but so did DQ'ing everyone and their brother.

That being said, I liked the overall way interference was booked in the "old days". As someone before me posted, someone like The Million Dollar Man would distract the ref in the corner (something in his eye/fake injury/etc) and his flunkie would do some damage without the ref seeing. That is perfect interference as it infuriates the crowd because the bad-guy is getting away with something. Eventually, usually in the blow-off match, the ref sees the interference and tosses the guilty party from ringside, to thunderous applause, the match continues, and good triumphs over evil.

The way it is now is just stupid as the heels do whatever they want and the only way to overcome the odds is to go all "Super-Cena" and that just pisses people off for other reasons.

 

[Headman]

One thing is for sure. DQ's may piss people off but they do help preserve the big money matches. Guys now days blow through programs at record speed, scoring definitive pinfall or submission victories leaving no reason for people to be interested in future encounters. Had the first 3 John Cena / Rusev matches ended in DQ, countout, double countout or whatever, people may have given a crap about their 4th match. So with the subject being do I prefer the old style where DQ's were more frequent I say heck yeah I do. Nobody likes a DQ finish, but that's the point. You don't leave satisfied. You want more. Now days it's like guy #1 loses via pin. Rematch. Guy #1 wins via pin. Rematch. Guy #1 wins via pin. Rematch. Guy #1 wins again via pin. And the fans were over it after match #2.

 

[LuckyLouie]

When the Bellas switched and got caught during the match, JBL, King and I were both shocked that it kept going. After a person not in the match put their hands on a wrestler. Pinned them. Its a damn move in WWE 2k15 that got me DQ'd, so it counts!

But the rules fit the story. JJ can get in and attack and its all good. Cena comes into the ring to save someone its a DQ. Its just whatever fits the story. I hope they can make it more consistent. The rules should stay thesame. And if they do muck up a match, rewrite it next week or restart it. But stupid rule botches like that make everyone in the company look stupid.

 

[JerichoStreet]

I used to love outside interference. It was great and did fit the storyline.

Now they can't work it at all, because the storylines are crap and no one knows if it's is DQ or not.

 

[MVP#1]

Another one i would love to point out is when someone is thrown into the ring steps or ring posts and doesn't get disqualified. This happens all the time right in front of the ref and the ref never calls for a disqualification. This is using a foreign object and is not a wrestling move, so why is it not causing a disqualification when it happens?

 

[Jeff Deliverer of Mail]

I don't mind outside interference when the performers in the ring are not really important or interesting. Also, if a match is boring already and you are sitting there waiting for something to happen..... Hulk Hogan vs Sid Vicious WM match comes to mind.

Now , on the flip side. I hate outside interference when it's the ONLY thing that creative can come up with. ( See NWO for three years. )
I also really hate it when a great match is happening and the interference ruins the whole thing , best example is Sting and Lex Luger vs The Steiner Brothers. They were on the verge of having a classic tag team clash when it was ruined by Nakita Kolov just to start a feud with Sting. Bah !