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WWE Over the Limit 2012: Creative Team Must Utilize More Fatal Four-Way Feuds

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Photo courtesy of WWE.com

While the WWE title match between CM Punk and Daniel Bryan received plenty of deserved praise at Over the Limit, the fatal four-way match for the world heavyweight title was great in its own right and proved that the creative team should incorporate those feuds more often.

Sunday's match between Sheamus, Randy Orton, Chris Jericho and Alberto Del Rio saw Sheamus retain his title in a bout that certainly wasn't short on action. When you put four good-to-great workers in the ring together, the result is going to be positive more often than not, and that was the case at Over the Limit.

The original plan looked to be a one-on-one match between Sheamus and Del Rio, but whoever made the decision to incorporate Orton and Jericho was on point. Sheamus and Del Rio could have put on a good singles match and had a solid feud, but when you add in one of the most popular stars in the company in Orton and one of the best ever in the ring and on the mic in Jericho, it's a can't-miss endeavor.

It looks like this particular four-way feud has pretty much come and gone since Jericho and Orton are now more focused on each other, but the creative team should really consider crafting more storylines that involve multiple challengers. There are several reasons why such feuds would drastically improve the quality of WWE's product.



Better Matches

I have nothing against singles matches whatsoever, but it isn't very often that a fatal four-way match is particularly bad unless it involves four poor wrestlers. The Over the Limit four-way was perfect because everyone involved was an above-average wrestler or better. The match had some elements of a spot fest, to a degree, as every guy seemed to hit his finisher multiple times. However, that makes the match exciting, since you never know what might happen.

Morphing a singles match into a fatal four-way is a fairly easy thing to do, and it can spice up a rivalry in a big way. I understand that pitting two men against each other has been a tried and true method for decades upon decades, but times have changed. Sometimes a singles match simply doesn't cut it. I know that I would have been lukewarm about a contest between Sheamus and Del Rio, but Orton and Jericho made it that much better.


Better Utilization of Talent

Should the WWE increase the usage of Fatal Four-Way feuds?

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It's a complaint that pretty much every wrestling fan has, but there is no doubting the notion that the WWE creative team doesn't effectively use all of its talent to their merit. We continually see great wrestlers stuck in meaningless feuds and storylines because there isn't anything else to do with them. Three current wrestlers who come to mind immediately are The Miz, Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger. All of them are former world champions with great skill sets, but all of them are toiling in anonymity.

It wouldn't be that difficult to get one, two or all of them involved in a title scene of some sort, whether it be the world title or one of the mid-card titles. The mid-card scene is a wasteland right now, for all intents and purposes. Why not throw Miz, Ziggler and Swagger into a feud with either Christian or Santino for the Intercontinental or United States title, respectively? They have nothing else going on, so they might as well all be thrown into a meaningful situation.


Everyone Should Want a Title

There is no question that championships have morphed into props rather than important symbols. However, shouldn't the goal of every single person in the company be to win a title? I'm speaking in a kayfabe sense, of course. Nevertheless, if the fans are going to believe that titles mean anything, then there ought to be several contenders vying for each belt. That doesn't mean that every title needs to be defended in a fatal four-way, but we should be getting more No. 1 contender matches and things of that nature.

The way things work with the mid-card belts—especially now—is that one guy challenges the champion and that's it. The entire mid-card should be after those titles because they are supposed to represent a stepping stone to the world titles. The way things are now, it seems like the creative team could care less about the mid-card titles. Getting more contenders involved and having fatal four-way matches could certainly change that perception, though.


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