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Mid-card Talent and the WWE
Topic Started: Nov 9 2017, 12:12 AM (51 Views)
Crann

There's been a lot of rumours swirling about the Dub locker room following the departure of Neville and firing of Jimmy Jacobs. For those not familiar, Neville was fresh off a huge heel run as the face of the cruiserweight division (which he carried quite well for quite some time) and Jacobs was on the writing staff. The company also recently lost Austin Aries and decided to part ways with Emma (among other less-notable names).

It's a pretty consistent bleeding of mid-tier talent, and now there's talk of discontent with Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn. The scuttlebutt is that they walked out on a planned scene with the New Day in the U.K. where they were supposed to make the New Day look strong by taking a beating, and this caused the Dub to send them home from the European tour early. It's hard to say exactly what this is going to mean for those two men going forward, but it probably isn't a good thing that they're being disciplined in one of the most competitive eras the company has ever seen. There's enough hungry guys who are ready and willing to take their spots, and the Dub has shown that it doesn't much care about anyone except its top stars anyway.

Now, this is all part of a longer-term trend that the WWE seems to have where it really does not have a good reputation with the guys at the middle of the card. We can go through the list of disgruntled ex-employees who have had bad things to say about the company after their careers stalled just outside the main event: Cody Rhodes, Alberto Del Rio/El Patron, Ryback and going even further back than that there were guys like Shelton Benjamin and Drew McIntyre (in his first run); hell, you get the feeling that there are a few more guys in the locker room today who aren't happy with what they're doing and are basically just there for the paycheque. And then there's the guys like Shinsuke Nakamura and Hideo Itami who are some of the brightest talents the company has and they're just being squandered.

This feeds into the comment I made a few days ago, but it almost feels like the company is starting to think of these guys as expendable cogs in the machine, easily replaced with new stars from the indies. But with guys like McIntyre and (especially) Cody going out and showing it's possible to have massive success without the behemoth that is the WWE behind your name, there's less incentive for a lot of these guys to hang around. That's probably why Neville walked out, and you can bet others will likely follow suit. So the question begged to be asked: What does this mean for the WWE, and for the industry? Is the Dub burning through talent too quickly and putting itself in a vulnerable position? Are they taking the great athletes they have for granted? Or is all of this just a bunch of bullshit?
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Fauche
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History splits up wrestling into era. A golden age, the rock n' wrestling, whatever the fuck 1995 was, the attitude era, ruthless agression, pg... I feel like for a while now this has been a time characterized by a lot independent guys finally being given a chance in the WWE and making it work. Probably call it the indie or NXT era some day if they aren't already. I don't think that time is over yet, but 2017 has seen some big shifts that I think are leading to some monumental changes in the business.

Cody left and made himself as successful a wrestling star as anyone in America has been outside the WWE since WCW folded. Omega and Okada took NJPW to a whole new level for western audiences (just ask Stone Cold). The Bucks became DIY millionaires. And more and more you hear rumors about WWE's midcard looking over at everyone else in the world and wondering if they wouldn't be better off out there too. Hell, look at what Juice Robinson has done for himself.

I don't think every jaded mid-tier performer from the WWE is going to become a millionaire if they leave. Plenty guys fade in obscurity real fast. GFW can't afford them all, ROH has gotta be getting their fill of older talent (god willing), the UK companies aren't giving out exclusive contracts, nobody gets rich in Mexico unless they're living in Mexico and New Japan's standards are super fucking high (unless you're Billy Gunn. Fuck.)

So like, if Heath Slater walked out tomorrow, I don't see him in a Hammerstein Ballroom main event by June, if you know what I mean. But if Neville has a lot of success walking away too, that could be huge (also, can't forget about Callihan leaving and doing well for himself too). I think older guys like Joe and Roode went to WWE to retire, but talented guys like Apollo, maybe Sami Zayn, Cesaro, Rusev, Harper, the entire CW division - who's to say they wouldn't rather be a bigger fish in a smaller (but growing) pond? How much money would ROH dish out to The Revival to bring them in knowing that that's exactly the kind of match the company would need to finally do an arena show in Chicago?

Youtube and the rise of streaming services changed the game. The Bullet Club changed the game. Cody, McIntyre, Juice and Callihan have made a blueprint, and I definitely think more guys are going to follow suite. Daniel Bryan sure as fuck is. I'd say the odds are better for a guy if they were a name before they went to WWE, but Juice proved that doesn't need to be the case. And sure, its a lot of dude's dream job to be in the WWE and they'll settle for the spot they get and make a lot of money without the stress of being their own boss, and yes, I think WWE sees almost everyone on their roster as dispensable. They're only really invested in the top dudes (same with UFC and bleeding talent to Bellator right now too, actually). But that's gonna hurt them eventually. Hell, a poorly booked top-heavy product is already hurting them. They'lve got better talent than almost any other point in their history and nobody's watching or buying tickets.

I see more guys leaving, and I could see a few of them doing really well at that. I don't think this kills the WWE, but it could hurt, and hurting's the last think they want to be while they're on the verge of the decade that cable TV is going to die in. I think that for the first time since the monday night wars, it makes sense for guys to test the waters and bet on themselves. The era where WWE decided to take indy wrestlers seriously becomes a time when indy wrestlers realize they don't need the WWE anyway. That's fascinating. And it makes for some good watching.
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Crann

I've been wracking my brain about this one all day, actually, and I finally came to the point I think I was trying to drive at with that original post.

Current WWE is looking more and more like WCW in the two or three years leading up to its demise. It's top-heavy, invested far too heavily in a few big names and old-timers and that's coming at the expense of a ridiculously talented young set left to grind the mid-card, and there's this other force (in this case, there are other forces) outside of the company that are luring youthful talent with the promise of more success/prestige, albeit on a slightly smaller stage.

I think you're absolutely right that YouTube and streaming changed the game; the fact that I can now watch what for all intents and purposes are small-time promotions drawing decent names in places like Australia, or Asia, the UK or Europe via the Internet now means the WWE has less of my attention than ever. The Dub has all the talent to get that attention right back if it'd just make smart booking decisions, but the dinosaur at the helm is so stuck in his ways and so devoted to pushing his "WWE guys" that he's missing the big point.
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