The Strategy of replacing the beams with rotten timbers means, basically, that you change the rules. In order to neutralize or defeat an enemy, know exactly what the rules are, use them to your advantage, manipulate circumstances to accommodate your use of the rules, and outright change the rules when different rules would suit your purposes more favorably. This strategy is commonly executed in the WWE storylines, and it was executed flawlessly by John Laurinaitis and Alberto Del Rio this past Monday night on RAW.

In order to seem like Acting RAW General Manager John Laurinaitis was giving CM Punk a fair chance at earning a WWE Championship match at Survivor Series even after Punk disrespected him one week prior, Laurinaitis told CM Punk that he could still have the WWE Championship match if he defeated Mark Henry on RAW. Laurinaitis pretended to offer Punk a legitimate opportunity, but Laurinaitis apparently had a plan to “replace the beams with rotten timbers.” Punk accepted the offer. In hindsight, it seems that Laurinaitis had absolutely no intention of allowing Punk to emerge victorious in that matchup and receive his title shot. The match was a hard-fought match, but at the end, Alberto Del Rio and his ring announcer Ricardo Rodriguez appeared at the top of the entrance ramp. Del Rio gave Rodriguez instructions that Rodriguez did not seem too keen on following. At this point in the telecast, it seemed that Del Rio or Rodriguez would interfere by hitting Punk and then Punk would earn the title match by winning by disqualification. However, this was a rare case in which heel intelligence and discipline prevailed. In full view of the referee, Rodriguez attacked World Heavyweight Champion Mark Henry with a shoe, thereby earning Mark Henry the disqualification victory over CM Punk. Del Rio took advantage of the rule that any interference against Mark Henry would result in the referee penalizing CM Punk, even though the assault on Mark Henry had nothing to do with helping CM Punk. Del Rio effectively replaced the beams with rotten timbers and, for the moment, succeeded in avoiding to have to defend the WWE Championship against CM Punk at Survivor Series. (This outcome dramatically reversed itself because of CM Punk’s shrewd use of “Chen Huo Da Jie – Loot a Burning House” –a strategy about which I wrote a couple of weeks ago. Punk capitalized on a barely conscious Alberto Del Rio who had been knocked out in a losing effort against The Big Show later that night. Punk administered the Anaconda Vice on Del Rio until Del Rio agreed to defend the title against him in order to get Punk to release the hold). So Punk’s use of one of the 36 Strategies in the appropriate circumstance trumped Laurinaitis’ and Del Rio’s use of replacing the beams with rotten timbers.

A classic example of wrestlers trying to take advantage of the rules of a match was the events leading up to the First Blood WWE Championship match between Stone Cold Steve Austin and the Undertaker at Fully Loaded in July, 1999. (Tangent: the video package promo for that particular match is one of my favorites of all time…better than the first Hell in a Cell promo). Anyway, with the rules of the match being that the first one to bleed during the match is the loser, both wrestlers tried to soften each other up prior to the match and initiate some pre-match bleeding that would help their cause during the match. During Sunday night heat prior to the pay-per-view, the Undertaker attacked Austin, drawing blood. Later in the episode, Stone Cold returned the favor by attacking the Undertaker and cutting him open. While the heel Undertaker initiated the replacing beams with rotten timbers, Austin had the time, opportunity, and disposition to return the favor on his opponent, thereby cancelling out the Undertaker’s efforts. As a result, both men began the match nursing cuts that could potentially open up during the match. The end result was that Austin won the match by opening up the Undertaker. Austin was successful in mitigating Undertaker’s use of replacing the beams with rotten timbers.

A masterful example of manipulating the rules to gain advantage was the former Commissioner of the WWE, William Regal’s use of the Duchess of Queensbury Rules during his feud with Y2J at Backlash on April 29, 2001. Regal got Y2J to agree to Duchess of Queensbury Rules, probably because Y2J thought he could defeat Regal regardless of what match stipulations were in place. On the Smackdown prior to Backlash, Regal and Kurt Angle used Duchess of Queensbury rules to have a disqualification overturned, since obviously the referee did not even know what the Duchess of Queensbury stipulations entailed. At Backlash, the rules never became any clearer. As Y2J was pinning Regal, the bell suddenly rang, signaling the end of round one. Regal tapping out also did not end the match, since there were no submissions in a Duchess of Queensbury match (even though they were allowed under the Duchess of Queensbury rules on the previous Smackdown episode). Ultimately, since the rules could be made up as Regal went along and could also be changed throughout the match, this led to Y2J’s defeat at the hands of Regal.

In conclusion, replacing beams with rotten timbers is a commonly-used strategy by WWE superstars. Any time superstars choose match stipulations that they think will favor their victory, choose a guest-referee that they think will help them during the match, or soften up an opponent prior to a contest, they are replacing beams with rotten timbers. More often than not, they are successful.

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Source: wrestlingtruth.com