Are dark matches really necessary?

May 2024 ยท 2 minute read
I understand the reason behind dark matches, I really do.

Basically, you want the crowd to always 'go home happy', so if the televised show ended with the heels on top then you want to have a dark match where the babyfaces win and the crowd can 'be happy' with the result and leave, I guess, with positive feelings.

But, at what cost? I mean, does an entire MATCH need to happen for the crowd to go home happy?

Let's just say that the 'evil Wyatts' end Raw standing on top of the fallen babyfaces. The crowd is booing and kiddies are upset. Let's say Roman Reigns or Dean Ambrose is laying on the mat. Just have the Wyatts go over slowly and try to attack them one more time, but waiting a little too long to attack, so naturally, it gives the babyfaces enough time to 'wake up' and hit a signature move and boom, just like that... crowd should be happy!

INSTEAD of having an actual match where maybe the 8 or 9 thousand in the crowd actually see it but the wrestlers could get injured and it doesn't really need to happen.

I'm okay with dark matches if they are with up-and-coming wrestlers who have yet to really be on TV. Like when Dean Ambrose was first getting ready to be on TV, I heard he was doing a bunch of dark matches. And that's fine. He was working on his skills, timing, and character before much more people saw him. And, if he got injured, they could push back his debut.

But, I really don't like hearing about these dark matches after an ALREADY super long show like Raw which includes probably two Superstars matches, three hours of Raw AND THEN a dark match after that? It's too much! And it can all be solved by having a quick NON-match comeback by the babyface to send most home happy.

What do you think about dark matches? Are they really necessary?

AND, is WWE really so stubborn that they just keep pushing their talent further and further despite all these injuries and never change anything to potentially reduce the potential for injury due to being over worked?

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