A WWE SmackDown match has been called "embarrassing" after what appeared to be a stoppage in the middle of the match. The match in question, featuring Sasha Banks and Bayley versus Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross, showed the women standing and walking around the ring after returning from a commercial break. The ad break brought the tag team match to a halt, giving fans a glimpse at what future matches in WWE may look like during the COVID-19 pandemic.
There are potential positives that can arise from WWE holding its programming in empty arenas, but, for certain critics, stopping the match for a commercial break isn't one of them. While this criticism does carry some merit, these stoppages don't necessarily have to be a bad thing either. In fact, there are plenty of positives that can arise from them as well.
Most importantly, stopping these matches during a commercial break protects the WWE talent. Performing in the ring is hard enough on the body of a professional wrestler. Limiting the abuse the WWE superstars take can only add longevity to their in-ring careers. Increasing the risk of an injury and adding additional wear and tear on their bodies for empty seats is entirely unnecessary. This comes at a time where wrestlers need to be limiting contact with each other anyway. Pausing the action during a commercial break lowers the risk of injury and helps keep WWE Superstars coronavirus free. By stopping matches, WWE creates more opportunities for social distancing between the competitors, which medical experts have been urging.
While wrestler safety should always be paramount, this isn't the only advantage. Another great benefit to these mid-match stoppages is that the viewers at home don't miss any of the action. Sometimes when Raw, SmackDown or NXT return from a commercial break, there's a turning point in the match that the fans at home miss. Granted, these big momentum changes are usually shown via replay, but the viewing audience doesn't get to see them live. With these stoppages, no amount of action is missed, but, to be clear, this isn't a new concept.
Breaks in the action aren't exclusive to WWE. All the major sports have them. Calling out WWE for doing what all the other professional sports organizations have always done is unfair. One can argue that adding breaks in WWE programs can enhance the legitimacy of professional wrestling by enacting similar commercial break formats that the other sports incorporate. Fox Sports has been pushing SmackDown towards a more sports-oriented program, and this could be another step in that direction, which is what fans have been wanting.
Putting WWE on the same level as other major sports while pleasing sports networks like FOX and ESPN is not a bad thing. Fans should also remember that this stoppage implementation isn't even new to WWE. Vince McMahon pushed for stoppages during commercial breaks just as recently as last summer. In a surprising proclamation, the Chairman of the Board reportedly informed his staff that there would no longer be wrestling during commercial breaks. McMahon cited that no other major sports have action during their commercial breaks, and WWE should be presented similarly. Although Vince, in a way, is correct, there remained a legitimate concern to his edict.
While the policy was in effect, it killed the live crowd. WWE Creative struggled to come up with storyline excuses for these stoppages such as random Two out of Three Falls Matches, Elimination Matches, match restarts or singles matches becoming Tag Team Matches to make the policy work. Unfortunately, this didn't pan out, and the policy was quietly dropped. However, with the arenas currently empty, WWE doesn't have to worry about pleasing the live audience. Stopping the matches during commercial breaks gives Vince McMahon exactly what he wants and eases a struggling Creative staff from having to find reasons for them.
Yes, a stoppage can possibly hurt a match in certain ways. Interrupting the flow of a match or breaking kayfabe during these stoppages would be honest concerns. However, at least so far, this hasn't been the case. Fans certainly haven't seen anything that should go so far as to be called "embarrassing," and right now, the positives outweigh the cons. Still, WWE could go about their stoppages in a different way to curb the critics.
Fans have seen stalling tactics used by wrestlers before, whether it's a heel taunting the crowd or a babyface pumping them up. Even without the audience, similar techniques could be used to make these stoppages less obvious. Merely standing around aimlessly with the referee fixing the turnbuckles during the middle of a match, admittedly, make these stoppages appear worse than they are. If these breaks continue, WWE will need to make them a little less noticeable in the future. Having shorter matches or immediately restarting matches when the cameras are back on are simple solutions. There's no valid reason to suspend the action longer than needed for the commercial breaks, but let's not pretend these stoppages are ruining wrestling either. If this is the worst effect COVID-19 has had upon WWE, then the WWE Universe can chalk this one up as a much-needed win.