It was supposed to be everything wrestling fans had asked for. The night was last Sunday. The place was Extreme Rules. And the main event of the evening? Not Roman Reigns vs Bobby Lashley as most had predicted and groaned about, but instead a 30 minute Iron Man Match for the Intercontinental Title between Dolph Ziggler and Seth Rollins. It was exactly what the audience wanted. At least, it was what the internet told us that the audience wanted.

And what happened? An embarrassment on multiple fronts. A crowd that was either unappreciative or uninterested. Disrespectful chants. And two performers in Ziggler and Rollins, both deserving of this spot, probably seeing any future main event opportunities evaporating away.

The cringe worthy crowd response to the main event at Extreme Rules proves two truths in wrestling today, though uncomfortable as they might be to accept.

Number one, despite what the “Internet Wrestling Community” might tell you, they do not represent a majority of the WWE audience. Not only are they not a majority, they don’t even comprise as large a percentage of the general crowd for a WWE show as they might want you to believe. In today’s world, especially with the advent of social media, it would be easy to think that most wrestling fans in 2018 are “in the know.” They scour the dirt sheets for news and rumors, are daily visitors to message boards, stalk wrestlers’ Instagram accounts, and follow anyone and everyone related to the WWE on Twitter. If that were the case, the Extreme Rules main event would have went over like gangbusters!

“Roman Reigns Sucks.”

“Bobby Lashley Sucks.”

“Why Isn’t The WWE Title the Main Event?”

“Seth Rollins Should Be Universal Champion.”

“Seth Rollins vs Dolph Ziggler Is The Only Thing Good About RAW.”

Every message board you might visit was littered with the same sentiments in the build up to Extreme Rules. If the keyboard warriors are to be believed, it is a dark time in wrestling right now. So what does Vince McMahon and the WWE do? They throw everyone a curveball and give them exactly what you wanted! Ziggler vs Rollins in the main event! Heck, Reigns vs Lashley was even in the mid card! It was a smart mark’s dream. And how did these supposed wrestling purists react to this? By crapping all over it. Why? Maybe there weren’t as many smart marks in the crowd frothing at the mouth for thirty minutes of Ziggler and Rollins as we thought there were. Perception isn’t always reality.

The second truth that last Sunday revealed, and perhaps hardest for a longtime fan like me to accept, is that Vince McMahon is right- audiences don’t know what they want. The highly vocal (though apparent minority) of wrestling fans will tell you that they want to go back to the days of true heels and baby faces. They want to see good, technically sound wrestling. They want to see developed storylines and feuds that last longer than two weeks and come to a decisive end. You had all of that in Ziggler vs Rollins! Ziggler is the cocky heel with the muscle in Drew McIntyre to back him up. Rollins is arguably the most popular face on RAW right now. They are two of the best workers in the company and had already had great matches between themselves previously leading up to this Iron Man blow off. Their feud had a background and a story, and was probably the longest running and most developed storyline of any match on the card at Extreme Rules. It was everything today’s jaded fan would want wrestling to return to, and yet it didn’t matter. If we are to believe that these were the things most wrestling fans yearn for, their reaction to getting exactly what they asked for was the biggest disservice they could have done for Ziggler, for Rollins, and for themselves. The crowd was more interested in getting themselves over than either of the superstars in the ring. And therefore, nothing got over. Nothing except for the notion that “Vince Knows Best.”

I’m a fan of both Ziggler and Rollins. I was happy to see them get this spot and opportunity, and it was unfortunate that the crowd reaction was what it was. It’s also unfortunate that so many wrestling fans today like to be negative just for the sake of being negative. It’s perfectly OK to have your own opinions about what you like and don’t like. But then when you are given an alternative to prove your cause and it is met with this kind of response, you are only assuring yourself of getting more of the status quo. But maybe, deep down, that’s really what you want. Because if things were to change, then what would you have to complain about?