After nearly a year of teasing, we finally got Ultimate Deletion. WWE allowed Woken/Broken Matt Hardy to present his wacky vision of wrestling in the main event of Monday Night Raw on March 19th. Reviews are mixed, skewing towards positive. Plugged-in fans knew what to expect, but many had no idea what they were getting into. It included much of weirdness and creativity that came with the TNA incarnation but with WWE’s flare for production value.
WWE has tried its best to avoid the new phenomena of “weird wrestling.” WWE’s brand of sports entertainment while hokey at times is still grounded in reality and as a physical contest. WWE wouldn’t have touched this type of match three years ago. There’s still a since that WWE (or at least Vince) doesn’t fully get it. Michael Cole introduced Ultimate Deletion by apologizing for fans for the “obnoxious” video they were about to see. Some people see that as Vince trying to ‘bury’ the segment. I view it as a way to prime fans who only watch WWE (aka 80% of WWE’s fans) for a type of wrestling that most of them had never really seen.
Fears of WWE not doing the segment justice were unfounded. WWE’s signature high production value was on full-display while still showing off some of the DIY elements that made the original special. It gave fans old and new something fun and even created a whole new story for fans to speculate on moving into the future.
Here are the best moments from ULTIMATE DELETION.
Vanguard 1!
Apart from Senor Benjamin (more on him later) and King Maxel no Broken character captured the hearts of fans more than drone Vanguard 1. The robotic minion of Castle Hardy is more than a weapon, he also has an attached camera used to revolutionize wrestling with drone footage.
The #GreatWar is OVAH, and @WWEBrayWyatt has been… DELETED!#RAW #UltimateDecision @MATTHARDYBRAND pic.twitter.com/W8Dmy8S5gr
— WWE (@WWE) March 20, 2018
Fireworks!
Perhaps the most insane part of “Total Nonstop Deletion” was the liberal use of fireworks both as a distraction and as weapons.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3aqP60MWvA
WWE is a little more safety conscious and as such decided not to use mountains of fire and explosives, but Bray and Vanguard 1 still pulled out the Boomstick.
https://twitter.com/totaldivaseps/status/975930836930396160
Senor Benjamin!
The Hardy’s loyal groundskeeper and henchman appeared at the end of Ultimate Deletion to deliver the final blow to Bray Wyatt. Throwing a globe and singing and off-tempo version of “In His Hands.”
https://twitter.com/totaldivaseps/status/975933826110193665
Benjamin then tried to fish Wyatt out of the Lake Of Reincarnation before announcing that he has been DELETED.
The Reactions On Twitter
People were not prepared for the segment. WTF was the most common reaction.
Reactions on twitter seem to mirror what the first deletion match's reception was. Half "brilliant" and half "WTF was that?" #UltimateDeletion
— HarryK5 (@harryk7551) March 20, 2018
WTF was THAT?!!!!!!!! #UltimateDELETION ?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
— David Ritter 🇺🇲 for 🇺🇦 (@jdritter2) March 20, 2018
#UltimateDeletion wtf this is just so bad that it’s awesome and WWE should do something like this every week, that’s what wrestling is made for jajajajaja
— Julio Rodz Moreno (@JulioRodzMoreno) March 20, 2018
Here’s how WWE legends reacted.
Make that well OVAH 2 hours that #UltimateDELETION has been the #1 WORLDWIDE TREND…
WONDERFUL! pic.twitter.com/mBBUkLnICp
— MATT HARDY (@MATTHARDYBRAND) March 20, 2018
My #UltimateDeletion@MATTHARDYBRAND has thrown me in thumbtacks,threw fireworks on me@JEFFHARDYBRAND
Swantoned my nutz@BenjaminSenor tried lighting me on fire@Vanguard1AAR tried killing me@RebyHardy whooped my a$$
And I love them all#DELETEhttps://t.co/3hQxwCl5kU pic.twitter.com/GWENUZvIym— Tommy Dreamer (@THETOMMYDREAMER) March 20, 2018
Outstanding!!! #UltimateDELETION
— Hurricane Helms (@ShaneHelmsCom) March 20, 2018
https://twitter.com/RealMickFoley/status/975934953090318336
https://twitter.com/HulkHogan/status/975943998530621440
THE #UltimateDELETION EXCELLENT BUBBA. MY BROTHERS THE @MATTHARDYBRAND @JEFFHARDYBRAND SHOW MY ENGLISH SAME GOOD AS THEM BUBBA
— The Iron Sheik (@the_ironsheik) March 20, 2018
But What happened to Bray Wyatt?
The match ended with Matt pinning Wyatt and throwing him into the Lake of Reincarnation, but when Senor Benjamin went to retrieve him, The Eater of Worlds was no where to be found. This set off a wave of speculation. Is Bray Wyatt the character dead? Will he return as Husky Harris? Is Wyatt set to become Brother Bero? We will see. Thankfully, this story is far from over so we will see more in the weeks and months to come, possibly at Wrestlemania.
What did you think of Ultimate Deletion? Share your thoughts.