PARKS’S TAKE: The mystery backstage attack is a booking crutch that needs to be tossed aside for a while

Perhaps it’s time to start permanently affixing cameras in the backstage area of arenas.

Recently, there’s been a rash of mysterious attacks that have taken out wrestlers both in AEW and WWE, all occurring at or in the arenas during shows. It began with Jade Cargill, apparently getting thrown into the hood of a car at Smackdown. It was soon followed by Kamille in AEW, Jey Uso on Raw, and Eddy Thorpe on NXT. Keep in mind: These have all happened within the last week-and-a-half.

It’s time for creative of both companies to open up the playbook and come up with some other ways to advance storylines (or cover for real-life injuries) beyond the now-hackneyed “mystery attacker” angle. I appreciate the attempts to create intrigue, which is one way to draw viewers, but it’s been overkill. Heck, the NXT parking lot has been one of the most dangerous locations in professional wrestling based on the sheer number of un-filmed attacks that have taken place there over the years.

Used sparingly, it’s a trope that can be effective and get fans online speculating on the whodunnit. At this point, however, it’s eye-rolling. There are a multitude of different ways that the same level of intrigue can be delivered to fans without constantly going to the same well over and over again.

This is part of the quality control that needs to happen in these companies. We often harp on AEW for similar things, but this is as much of a WWE problem as it is AEW. Once Cargill and Uso were sidelined, someone in NXT creative should’ve stepped up and pointed that out before the Thorpe angle was run on Tuesday. Of course, not everyone watches every WWE program, but certainly that’s the company’s goal. So why punish those who are consuming all three main shows by running the same angle three times in such a short time-span?

The mystery backstage attack is a booking crutch that needs to be tossed aside for a good, long while. Or, if you don’t mind the metaphor, it needs to be taken to the back of the arena and mysteriously put on the shelf for at least a few months.