There is a youth movement going on in the WWE currently. Whether it’s working or not is a tough call. On one hand we have new superstars in the title hunt. On the other, they don’t last long there or don’t feel like true main eventers. Clearly the youth movement needs to keep going. But we need to make stars, not just have new challengers for the WWE title.
To emphasize how important this is, we need to look no further than the Raw roster. In terms of top tier stars that can draw crowds and sell massive amount of merchandise, there are very few on the active roster. Raw has John Cena, Randy Orton, and…Who? The Miz is getting there, as is Wade Barret. Sheamus can be a good heel but his character keeps lacking definition. He has clean wins over HHH, but his title wins are all sketchy and he doesn’t hold the belt for long.
The Raw roster clearly doesn’t have a huge number of main eventers. Two people I left off were CM Punk and Christian. I think both are possible main eventers, but both are side lined with injury. Here in lies the problem. What happens if both Cena and Orton get injured in the near future? There would be very little left in terms of a main event scene. Couple with the fact the quasi-main eventers are all heels, and the product would get bland really fast.
While there are numerous mid-card wrestlers, the youth movement needs to make main eventers. This process takes at least one full year, maybe more. Even winning the title once or twice does make you a top star. Wrestlers have to earn it and get over with the fans. This won’t be accomplished simply by putting them in the title hunt. The older stars can help, but can’t be expected to give the younger stars everything.
I think there is an easy way to help build stars. It starts with the two biggest stars at the time stepping out of the title hunt for a few months. Cena and Orton are clearly the top two draws. They don’t need the title to get fans interested. Fans want them to win regardless of who they are fighting, they remain draws regardless of their opponents, and getting back on top is not only entertaining, but makes when they do make it back up that much more memorable.
Two perfect examples of this in practice are Chris Jericho and Kane. Jericho has been a main eventer since his win of the undisputed title. He is arguably the best mic worker in the business today. There is no question he is a top level main eventer. But he had dropped to tag team champion for a year and has helped put over people on NXT and Raw. He is a great example of what a true main eventer can do. Kane hadn’t won a title in ten years. Yet even with this much time between reigns, his recent win didn’t seem out of place. He has always been a dominant force. Maybe he isn’t as big a draw as Jericho, but it would be hard not to see him as a valuable asset.
Back to the WWE title and creating future stars, we need to have our two big faces step out of the spotlight for just a little. I would take one of them and let one of the most promising mid carders score a win. A clean pin fall or submission would do wonders for their careers. I’m not talking Cena falling through a table or Nexus interfering and giving Barret a win. I’m not even talking about Miz cashing in money in the bank. It would be in the best interest for a rising star to score a clean, legitimate win over Cena or Orton.
This instantly sets the tone whoever wins is clearly a great wrestler. After all, he beat one of the best cleanly and is now the champion. The most likely candidates would be the ones who have the skills, but need work on the mic and more recognition. I could see Morrison, Dibiase, R-Truth, Miz, Barret, or Ezekiel Jackson all pulling this off.
Their first opponent after winning the title should NOT be a rematch. It should be one of the other people from the list above, with Sheamus added since he has been a past champion. Now the obvious question is, who is going to buy a PPV featuring a WWE title match between Morrison and Miz? Well that one has obvious selling points…so say even Ezekiel Jackson versus Sheamus. Well the two are powerhouses. They would have a strong, intense match. The fact that they are not the top level stars makes the match that much more interesting as they would both have tons to prove. Both would be fighters and want to win badly.
We don’t have to completely ignore Cena or Orton this whole time. Cena and Orton can still have feuds and big ticket matches. The Cena and Barret angle would be interesting regardless of a title in the picture. Cena or Orton could feud for the US title. This would help another mid carder and make that title seem more prestigious. Bryan vs Orton would be a great match and a win for Bryan would push his career. Mathematically, following the idea above, we now have four mid-level stars getting a huge push. This is much better than the current one getting a push from Cena and Orton. We have three awesome matches fans want to see and buy on PPV. We have a better product and more stars.
Obviously there will be some hesitation from management and the top stars. Company executives might worry sales would dwindle unless Cena or Orton is the champion or in the title hunt. I argue they wouldn’t. The fan base won’t turn on a star simply because they aren’t champion. Edge is still arguably the most popular star on Smackdown and hasn’t had a title run in a long while. This wouldn’t change for Raw. Future profits would go up as there are now more stars. More stars equates to more PPV buys and more people to make merchandise for.
As for the stars, yes, they have worked their way up to the level they are at. They are definitely entitled to being in the spotlight. However, there needs to always be someone to fight for the spotlight. Nobody would care about Cena if his competition every PPV was Zach Ryder. He just isn’t a threat. No threats, no interest. It is also necessary due to potential injuries. Injuries happen in wrestling, there is no way to prevent them 100%. If one gets injured they need to have people hold that spot light until they recover.
So in summation, let a mid carder get a legit title win. Have his next opponent be another mid carder. Put the two biggest stars in feuds with other mid carders. Everyone grows. I realize this is all difficult currently since Wrestlemania is coming up. The perfect time for this to start would be after Wrestlemania. Fans would have their fill of the top level and their would be plenty of time to build for Summerslam and next Wrestlemania. Remember, even Orton and Cena started as mid-carders!
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