I was watching old world war 3 footage from 1998 and it hit me. How many superstars does WWE truely have, and can they put on an event like this today? So I went to the website and checked each roster and added up the superstars that can wrestle. And what I got was only 65 and this is including hornswaggle, big dick johnson, jerry lawyler, josh mathews, and matt striker as well as other WWE superstars who are injured or not featured on tv so cant even be called a jobber. So then minus about 5 more there. So now with a total of 55 superstars does wwe have enough wrestlers on their main rosters to be featured over the 6 hours (sometimes 7 with a 3 hour raw) of programing. Looking back at even wcw had a roster of about 98 people in 1998 after you take away the the inactives. (refered to http://www.solie.org/wcw98.txt). This made me think even more about how dry WWE programing is because if you divide 55 into 3 rosters you only get a good 15-20 per roster. I feel that this isnt enough. In ECW you got too many superstars to get major tv time for anyone. On raw you dont have enough male superstars to give diffrent matches every week. On smackdown the rotation is becoming dry with the fueds. So my question is how many people feel WWE needs more people on the rosters (mamby not ecw but the other 2 shows) to provide a more intresting programing?
Does WWE have enough superstars?
- Thread starter markmeout
- Start date
To some point I think you might have a point there, some of the matches are featured over and over yes, but some of the feuds kinda have to have the two people involved at the same time, because it would make absolutely no sense having, lets say 30 wrestlers on raw, and giving a guy like Cena a new opponent every night, that would also make it seem like an odd thing if you ask me.
And then we need to put into perspective the fact that there's only "3" title's for the raw roster to fight for, the US, the tag titles (unified so counts as 1) and the WWE title, to that point there's already too many wrestlers for them to all get a proper push because you cannot have them all constantly feuding for the title, that would give absolutely no time for the wrestlers to have a proper feud which is basicly what many is asking for, I've read quite a few threads hoping the MVP / Miz feud drags beyond the Royal Rumble, and so on, which would thereby save that title for those two guys to feud over, and lets face it, a triple - fourway feud isn't exactly the most exciting thing if you ask me, it was boring when Kofi was champion, it won't work now.
The same basicly goes for all the other rosters, especially ECW (all thou you did mention they shouldn't get more superstars, but still) considering they only have 1 proper title to actually feud over, because, yeah like the tag titles is ever gonna be feuded between main eventers and up-commers.
Ao to answer your question, I don't think wwe needs more, they just need to utilize their current roster better.
And then we need to put into perspective the fact that there's only "3" title's for the raw roster to fight for, the US, the tag titles (unified so counts as 1) and the WWE title, to that point there's already too many wrestlers for them to all get a proper push because you cannot have them all constantly feuding for the title, that would give absolutely no time for the wrestlers to have a proper feud which is basicly what many is asking for, I've read quite a few threads hoping the MVP / Miz feud drags beyond the Royal Rumble, and so on, which would thereby save that title for those two guys to feud over, and lets face it, a triple - fourway feud isn't exactly the most exciting thing if you ask me, it was boring when Kofi was champion, it won't work now.
The same basicly goes for all the other rosters, especially ECW (all thou you did mention they shouldn't get more superstars, but still) considering they only have 1 proper title to actually feud over, because, yeah like the tag titles is ever gonna be feuded between main eventers and up-commers.
Ao to answer your question, I don't think wwe needs more, they just need to utilize their current roster better.
First of all world war 3 was the worst paperview ever. To answer your question yes the wwe has enough superstars. Too Many superstars was what killed WCW Every time Vincent, Laparka, or Fire and Ice came out I changed the channel or hit fast forward on my tape since I recorded wcw so I didn't have to watch the above or any of twenty other wrestlers nobody cared about.
I'd say the WWE probably has enough wrestlers, to be honest with you. I don't feel particularly overexposed to anybody, and there are still people like Chalire Haas who aren't on TV very often, but who are still actively employed. WCW's roster was huge and that led to angles going nowhere etc. I think the WWE has quite a decent turnover of stars, and there isn't anyone who never ever features, nor is there anyone who is forced to go on every single show. They could probably do with a few more people in the upper midcard, but that's more to do with pushing what they have rather than bringing in new people.
ramblinroy68
Occasional Pre-Show
I personally think you need 6 guys who could be main eventers and challenge for the World Title, 6 guys to go for the Mid Card, 8 guys to have 4 quality tag teams, and 3-4 regular jobbers for a two hour show. Out of the 12 guys in the singles ranks, 4 of those guys should be able to swing back and forth between the top and mid-card. Like CM Punk on smackdown. He is talented enough to be in the main event but is believable going for the IC belt. Since WWE doesn't value tag teams 15-20 guys should be enough when you throw in the ladies.
Enough? I think they have too many. In my view, one of WWE's biggest problems is the insistence on keeping RAW and Smackdown as separate brands. They need to combine the 2 rosters and trim a lot of fat. I'd also like to see them combine the world titles-both single and tag team. They could keep both the US and IC titles to give one more belt for the mid-card. But I would say the WWE has the same problem as many pro sports leagues-too much expansion.
THTRobtaylor
Once & Future Wrestlezone Columnist
Think this is coming with the new NXT thing... roster split has clearly run its course now, the 2 champion thing is getting old and its clear that WWF needs at least 4 new main eventers a year to carry it on... they can't keep up with that...
Do they have enough superstars yes... do they have enough talent yes... but the top guys are not superstars.. they are icons... that is wwe's problem... how do you create icons when your current ones are crucial to your business?
Things will come to a head in the next 2 years... Taker and Shawn will likely have to retire... they will have to put someone over for the sake of the company rather than the proper send off they deserve... lets just hope Vince picks the right people for it...
Do they have enough superstars yes... do they have enough talent yes... but the top guys are not superstars.. they are icons... that is wwe's problem... how do you create icons when your current ones are crucial to your business?
Things will come to a head in the next 2 years... Taker and Shawn will likely have to retire... they will have to put someone over for the sake of the company rather than the proper send off they deserve... lets just hope Vince picks the right people for it...
I disagree. I think WWE has enough, maybe too many, Superstars on their rosters now. My view is this. There is only 6 hours on TV per Week. Most people prob don't pay much attention to ECW and even fewer to Superstars. Therefore your now down to 4 quality hours of WWE TV per week. Then you take out of that commercials and your left with less then that. Point being...theres not enough TV time to feature more talent. The more talent you have, the less guys are feautred on TV. The same guys get TV time each week and its hard to break into that precious time. If they bulked up there rosters then guys like R-Truth or Mark Henry WON"T be on Tv each week or every other week. They'll be gone from tv completely until Creative comes up with somethen for them, then once that program runs its course they're back to doing nothing but house house until a new program which could be months later....losing any steam they had privously built up.
there's enough wrestlers on the roster but the problem is that they don't use them. you see the same wrestlers week in and week out and wonder what happen to the others. i even think they have to much because they don't use them so i don't see why you should have so many wrestlers if you only gonna feature and use just a few every week.
Calderownz
Brilliant Idiot
I think the WWE does. However, it's a matter of how you use that talent.
Take a look at someone like The Miz. He's being worked well. He's getting the right amount of action and talking in. However, you look at someone like Shelton Benjamin and he's relegated to ECW. And now, with the switch in shows on SyFy, who knows how they'll use a guy with Shelton's talents. Sure, Shelton can't talk at all, but you can give a guy like him a mouthpiece. It's just a matter of usage.
Guys like The Miz and MVP are doing well. John Morrison is.. okay, but he could be in better matches. Guys like Evan Bourne, The Miz, MVP, John Morrison, Sheamus, Randy Orton, Ted DiBiase, Cody Rhodes... they have the talent. It's a matter of how to use them and how they use them.
Take a look at someone like The Miz. He's being worked well. He's getting the right amount of action and talking in. However, you look at someone like Shelton Benjamin and he's relegated to ECW. And now, with the switch in shows on SyFy, who knows how they'll use a guy with Shelton's talents. Sure, Shelton can't talk at all, but you can give a guy like him a mouthpiece. It's just a matter of usage.
Guys like The Miz and MVP are doing well. John Morrison is.. okay, but he could be in better matches. Guys like Evan Bourne, The Miz, MVP, John Morrison, Sheamus, Randy Orton, Ted DiBiase, Cody Rhodes... they have the talent. It's a matter of how to use them and how they use them.
Good Days Last
New Member
There's been a great shift in how the wrestling business (WWE) is shown today.
We used to have a three hour show on Monday + a Thursday show + a Saturday show.
For 1 roster, that's alot and they wrestled more often than they do today. There is more
entertainment with WWE than actual wrestling time. So you've got less time than ever to have actual matches.
That means WWE doesn't need that many superstars. Like others have said, they need to utilize the talent better.
We used to have a three hour show on Monday + a Thursday show + a Saturday show.
For 1 roster, that's alot and they wrestled more often than they do today. There is more
entertainment with WWE than actual wrestling time. So you've got less time than ever to have actual matches.
That means WWE doesn't need that many superstars. Like others have said, they need to utilize the talent better.
Legendary_Undertaker
Who wants to Love me Sexy?
Honestly i think they have more than enough talent..hoowever I think that most of them are under used. I think The main Event stars are beginning to be over exposed especially seeing the same people in the same matches over and over again....With that said 55-60 people on the roster is more than enough I just think WWE sould spend a little more time giving exposure to everyone that isnt Orton, Kingston, Cena, HHH, HBK...so on and so forth.....
Honestly yes WWE has alot of superstars for right now.And really theres some that dont belong there they should get release and make room for some new superstars.Basically what im saying is that wwe has alot of unusedful stars that need to be release.people like knoxx,henry,evan,swagger really this star right here havent have any fueds for the past 3 months so there just jobb to anyone
Ok this is my first post on here so...
Do I think the WWE has enough wrestlers?
My answer is yes and no. I think they do have enough wrestlers that can be main event or at least midcard talent. What I think they do need to do is bring in the no names they used to have for these midcard and main event talent to wrestle against. The problem with doing that people might say is then someone who is jobbing now won't even get on TV.
To solve that problem how about going back to the "Pop up video" interviews that were used in yesteryear. They still allowed the characters to do interviews while also making the wrestling show about wrestling.
So again to answer your question Yes WWE needs more jobbers, and less interview and talking segments to make the product more watchable.
Do I think the WWE has enough wrestlers?
My answer is yes and no. I think they do have enough wrestlers that can be main event or at least midcard talent. What I think they do need to do is bring in the no names they used to have for these midcard and main event talent to wrestle against. The problem with doing that people might say is then someone who is jobbing now won't even get on TV.
To solve that problem how about going back to the "Pop up video" interviews that were used in yesteryear. They still allowed the characters to do interviews while also making the wrestling show about wrestling.
So again to answer your question Yes WWE needs more jobbers, and less interview and talking segments to make the product more watchable.
Ambiguous Turd
Mid-Card Championship Winner
First, let's look at the entire roster combined for Raw and Smackdown. Keep in mind that it is going to get bigger once ECW dissolves.
The rosters are color coded and the parenthesis indicate their Face/Heel status and how many of each type are assigned to each roster.
Main Eventers (8)
John Cena (F1)
Triple H (F2)
Shawn Michaels (F3)
Randy Orton (H1)
Sheamus (H2)
The Undertaker (F1)
Edge (F2)
Batista (H1)
Raw: 3 Faces, 2 Heels
Smackdown: 2 Faces, 1 Heel
Upper Midcarders (4)
Kofi Kingston (F1)
Big Show (H1)
Rey Mysterio (F1)
CM Punk (H1)
Chris Jericho (H2)
Raw: 1 Face, 1 Heel
Smackdown: 1 Face, 2 Heels
Midcarders (8)
Mark Henry (F1)
MVP (F2)
The Miz (H1)
John Morrison (F1)
R-Truth (F2)
Kane (F3)
Matt Hardy (F4)
Drew McIntyre (H1)
Raw: 2 Faces, 1 Heel
Smackdown: 4 Faces, 1 Heel
Lower Midcarders (9)
Evan Bourne (F1)
Chris Masters (F2)
Jack Swagger (H1)
Chavo Guerrero (H2)
Carlito (H3)
Finlay (F1)
Great Khali (F2)
Luke Gallows (H1)
Dolph Ziggler (H2)
Raw: 2 Faces, 3 Heels
Smackdown: 2 Faces, 2 Heels
Jobbers (6)
Santino Marella (F1)
Slam Master J (F1)
Jimmie Wang Yang (F2)
Kung Fu Funaki (F3)
Charlie Haas (H1)
Mike Knox (H2)
Raw: 1 Faces, 0 Heels
Smackdown: 3 Faces, 2 Heels
Tag Teams (3)
Legacy (H1)
Cryme Tyme (F1)
Hart Dynasty (H1)
Raw: 0 Faces, 1 Heel
Smackdown: 1 Face, 1 Heel
Divas (11)
Melina (F1)
Gail Kim (F2)
Kelly Kelly (F3)
Maryse (H1)
Jillian Hall (H2)
Mickie James (F1)
Maria (F2)
Michelle McCool (H1)
Beth Phoenix (H2)
Layla (H3)
Natalya (H4)
Raw: 3 Faces, 2 Heels
Smackdown: 2 Faces, 4 Heels
I think they clearly have too many superstars to maintain one large roster. But they have enough superstars to maintain two rosters ... even without the ECW talent that will be factored in soon.
Why I wanted to group the superstars according to their rank is to examine and see if there was a problem in not having enough superstars in a certain division. I have come to the conclusion that there are a couple problems. And I can sense that there are problems when watching their television, but unless you look at the problem critically and get it down on paper, you may not have your thoughts as organized as they should be.
1) There is not enough talent in the Upper Midcarder division. 5 wrestlers? Are you kidding me?
This is critical to have because these are your wrestlers you should be gearing towards future Main Event status ... and it has also been one of the key reasons WWE has lagged behind the past few years. They have not done enough to promote talent into this division, and ALSO have not done enough to establish credibility amongst the talent in this division.
2) There needs to be a much better balance of talent between Raw and Smackdown as there are large variances between both brands in a number of the classifications.
Some of the worst variances are:
Main Eventers- Raw has 5 Main Eventers and Smackdown has only 3. And only 1 is a Face. Smackdown needs at least one more Main Eventer from the ones we currently have.
Jobbers- Raw has 1 Face, 0 Heels, and Smackdown has 4 Jobbers. Send at least one of them to Raw.
Midcarders- Raw has 3, but Smackdown has 5. One needs to be sent to Raw from what is currently available.
And lastly .....
3) There are also too many variances between the number of Faces and Heels on each Brand:
Raw needs another Heel Main Eventer for a total of 3 and 3.
Smackdown has 1 Heel Main Eventer.
Smackdown has 1 Face Upper Midcarders, and 2 Heel Upper Midcarders
Raw only has 1 Heel Midcarder, and 2 Faces.
Smackdown has 4 Face Midcarders, and only 1 Heel. Ridiculous!
Lower Midcarders are okay for the most part.
Raw definitely needs a Heel jobber.
Raw needs a regular Face Tag Team
Smackdown has 1 regular Face Diva, 1 Part time Face Diva, and has 6 regular Heel Divas. Also a major problem.
So the problem is that after looking at this on paper and looking at it with a critical eye, WWE does have enough talent to support 2 rosters. The problem is that they are not organized with balancing out their divisions between Raw and Smackdown, and are furthermore not organized in balancing out the number of Faces and Heels in each division.
That is why we have Stale matches done repetitively.
WWE needs to actually take action to help Smackdown's Main Event issue, as well as work their asses off to bump people up from the Midcard to the Upper Midcard. They need to look at this, determine what their needs are in what they need in the division up, and give some people some pushes to fill the gaps.
It's all in the Organization, figuring out what your needs are, developing an action plan, and executing that plan to fill those needs.
That is what they are doing wrong. They have been entirely too lax with writing TV on the fly and not looking at the problem with a more critical eye. And that is why it has come back to bite them in the ass these past couple years.
The rosters are color coded and the parenthesis indicate their Face/Heel status and how many of each type are assigned to each roster.
Main Eventers (8)
John Cena (F1)
Triple H (F2)
Shawn Michaels (F3)
Randy Orton (H1)
Sheamus (H2)
The Undertaker (F1)
Edge (F2)
Batista (H1)
Raw: 3 Faces, 2 Heels
Smackdown: 2 Faces, 1 Heel
Upper Midcarders (4)
Kofi Kingston (F1)
Big Show (H1)
Rey Mysterio (F1)
CM Punk (H1)
Chris Jericho (H2)
Raw: 1 Face, 1 Heel
Smackdown: 1 Face, 2 Heels
Midcarders (8)
Mark Henry (F1)
MVP (F2)
The Miz (H1)
John Morrison (F1)
R-Truth (F2)
Kane (F3)
Matt Hardy (F4)
Drew McIntyre (H1)
Raw: 2 Faces, 1 Heel
Smackdown: 4 Faces, 1 Heel
Lower Midcarders (9)
Evan Bourne (F1)
Chris Masters (F2)
Jack Swagger (H1)
Chavo Guerrero (H2)
Carlito (H3)
Finlay (F1)
Great Khali (F2)
Luke Gallows (H1)
Dolph Ziggler (H2)
Raw: 2 Faces, 3 Heels
Smackdown: 2 Faces, 2 Heels
Jobbers (6)
Santino Marella (F1)
Slam Master J (F1)
Jimmie Wang Yang (F2)
Kung Fu Funaki (F3)
Charlie Haas (H1)
Mike Knox (H2)
Raw: 1 Faces, 0 Heels
Smackdown: 3 Faces, 2 Heels
Tag Teams (3)
Legacy (H1)
Cryme Tyme (F1)
Hart Dynasty (H1)
Raw: 0 Faces, 1 Heel
Smackdown: 1 Face, 1 Heel
Divas (11)
Melina (F1)
Gail Kim (F2)
Kelly Kelly (F3)
Maryse (H1)
Jillian Hall (H2)
Mickie James (F1)
Maria (F2)
Michelle McCool (H1)
Beth Phoenix (H2)
Layla (H3)
Natalya (H4)
Raw: 3 Faces, 2 Heels
Smackdown: 2 Faces, 4 Heels
I think they clearly have too many superstars to maintain one large roster. But they have enough superstars to maintain two rosters ... even without the ECW talent that will be factored in soon.
Why I wanted to group the superstars according to their rank is to examine and see if there was a problem in not having enough superstars in a certain division. I have come to the conclusion that there are a couple problems. And I can sense that there are problems when watching their television, but unless you look at the problem critically and get it down on paper, you may not have your thoughts as organized as they should be.
1) There is not enough talent in the Upper Midcarder division. 5 wrestlers? Are you kidding me?
This is critical to have because these are your wrestlers you should be gearing towards future Main Event status ... and it has also been one of the key reasons WWE has lagged behind the past few years. They have not done enough to promote talent into this division, and ALSO have not done enough to establish credibility amongst the talent in this division.
2) There needs to be a much better balance of talent between Raw and Smackdown as there are large variances between both brands in a number of the classifications.
Some of the worst variances are:
Main Eventers- Raw has 5 Main Eventers and Smackdown has only 3. And only 1 is a Face. Smackdown needs at least one more Main Eventer from the ones we currently have.
Jobbers- Raw has 1 Face, 0 Heels, and Smackdown has 4 Jobbers. Send at least one of them to Raw.
Midcarders- Raw has 3, but Smackdown has 5. One needs to be sent to Raw from what is currently available.
And lastly .....
3) There are also too many variances between the number of Faces and Heels on each Brand:
Raw needs another Heel Main Eventer for a total of 3 and 3.
Smackdown has 1 Heel Main Eventer.
Smackdown has 1 Face Upper Midcarders, and 2 Heel Upper Midcarders
Raw only has 1 Heel Midcarder, and 2 Faces.
Smackdown has 4 Face Midcarders, and only 1 Heel. Ridiculous!
Lower Midcarders are okay for the most part.
Raw definitely needs a Heel jobber.
Raw needs a regular Face Tag Team
Smackdown has 1 regular Face Diva, 1 Part time Face Diva, and has 6 regular Heel Divas. Also a major problem.
So the problem is that after looking at this on paper and looking at it with a critical eye, WWE does have enough talent to support 2 rosters. The problem is that they are not organized with balancing out their divisions between Raw and Smackdown, and are furthermore not organized in balancing out the number of Faces and Heels in each division.
That is why we have Stale matches done repetitively.
WWE needs to actually take action to help Smackdown's Main Event issue, as well as work their asses off to bump people up from the Midcard to the Upper Midcard. They need to look at this, determine what their needs are in what they need in the division up, and give some people some pushes to fill the gaps.
It's all in the Organization, figuring out what your needs are, developing an action plan, and executing that plan to fill those needs.
That is what they are doing wrong. They have been entirely too lax with writing TV on the fly and not looking at the problem with a more critical eye. And that is why it has come back to bite them in the ass these past couple years.
Well if you want to say that the WWE has too few, then I advise you to not bring up WCW in 1998, as they had far too many. They had angles that started, and never went anywhere. They had 15 guys in NWO who just stood there half the time. Unlike in WWE, where you have the angles going almost every week. They do get overexposed sometimes, so I wouldnt be sad if the WWE has about 8-10 more guys on the roster, especially when you have so many people going between brands a lot of the time. But the lack of available stars hurts that ability a lot of the time. WCW has a huge lightweight talent pool that did help soften the blow of 5 hours of weekly television.
Dysturbed
Under the radar
I’m in agreement with the notion of “better” utilization of the given rosters through such things as balance, variance, and in some cases presentation. Depending on how those things are done it's possible that some of the criticisms from fans whether they be common ones, random nitpicking, etc may lessen a bit.