Remember back at Survivor Series on Nov. 24 in Boston when Eva Marie was eliminated in her tag match and instead of actually acting like she cared about having been defeated she smiled and yukked it up with fans on the way to the backstage area? And remember how she was criticized heavily for this?
Well, apparently, she wasn't necessarily being a bad pro wrestler. She was actually just doing what she's been taught.
Indeed, according to Dave Meltzer in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, WWE is now teaching babyfaces not to sell losses:
Another note regarding Survivor Series and our criticism of Eva Marie after being eliminated, when she was smiling and celebrating as she walked to the back, which makes no sense if you've just lost your match on a big show, this was not her fault. They are teaching new talent that if they are on the face side that when they leave the ring they should smile and engage the fans and play their character, and not sell the loss.
This seems counterproductive to the entire point of a pro wrestling match and beyond that, one could argue this breaks kayfabe in an uncomfortable way. Sure, there are just as many arguments that kayfabe is dead and was buried long ago, but that only holds up for storyline purposes.
The actual action in the ring must always be held to a different standard lest it lose all impact. After all, we're supposed to buy into what they're selling.
How can we do that if they aren't selling it anymore?
Then again, there is one wrestler who stopped selling losses long ago and he's gotten by just fine. You can probably guess who it is but here's a hint if you can't: his name starts with a "C" and ends with "ena".