Triple H and Undertaker re-hauling the WWE Talent Department

[The Max Attack]

From Wrestlezone main page.

I have learned from key WWE sources, and it has been reported on in article by Examiner.com, that The Undertaker may be taking a new position with WWE.

As his schedule of wrestling has greatly decreased and his active career as an in-ring performer is drawing closer, it is believed that he will take on a role with talent development.

Several people, including Sean Waltman in a recent video, have confirmed that The Undertaker was at FCW recently taking a look at talent.

As one source told me "It would be hard to find an opinion that is more respected when it comes to who can make it in this business than The Undertaker."

WZ was the first to report several months ago about how HHH is in more control than ever and looking to overhaul the developmental system in WWE. The addition of The Undertaker being involved in scouting or working with talent would certainly fall in line with overhaul and improvement of developmental.

Could this lean towards a better WWE in the long run, or the same group of what we have been getting now? Thoughts?

 

[H33LTurn]

Its going to lead to a better WWE, no doubt about it. These guys know the business in and out and are more concerned with keeping the business going than keeping the money flowing. While Vince might bring in a couple guys who have a convincing look and would ignore the fans pleads in favor to whats gonna get him a spot on ESPN Taker and Triple H are going to look for guys who have the well rounded capabilities that they have. Triple H and Undertaker didnt rise to the top like Cena or Miz, making TV appearances or changing their characters to something more attracting to the general media, so I'm pretty sure they're going to take the more traditional route with developing their talent. Vince has been making some questinable moves as of late, so I think the Triple H/Taker takeover is the fresh starts that WWE needs backstage to step it up again.

 

[93178]

I think Taker being involved in with scouting/talent development can only be a good thing for the WWE. Taker is one of, if not the best at building a Character in Wrestling and getting it over. Takers gimmick is not one that really should of lasted as long as it has since it is really out there yet he ran with it and got it to work for so long and knows how to build a gimmick of his own.

To many of the new guys being brought up now have the same look and talk the same and no one really has a real or good gimmick anymore thats different. Taker being involved with the new guys could and will hopefully see an improvement in getting more unique talent into the WWE so everything isn't the game. Also like the report says, Taker is so respected by people in the wrestling world, not only in the WWE so having him working with the new talent is a really good thing to have.

 

[Chess]

I really do not know how this will play out. Whilst I like both of these wrestlers, HHH more in his twilight than in his early years and Taker forever, I think they know more about the politics and entertainment side rather than the wrestling side.

With that said it simply will be down to what people prefer. I personally like to see great wrestling and if they can also provide stellar promos all the better.

I think both HHH and Taker will be able to spot stars from an entertainment stand point but I hope they can get someone else to assist with the wrestling side of things aswell, perhaps Bret Hart. I would also fear that HHH will continue to only be interested in meat head steriod bodies rather than in ring ability, but we shall have to wait and see.

In the end it cannot be any worse than it is at the moment as whoever the Corre (not Barrett) and Nexus could be stars is just crazy. Also have you seen the guys on this years NXT and Luke who will win tough enough, can you say bland.

I hope we get more guys like Brodus Clay, Big Zeke, Daniel Bryan (please let him wrestle), Seth Rollins and other guys who have some decent in ring talent rather than more John Cena's.

 

[sTyLnK]

Well it can't get any worse. Right? 2 legends who know the business very well and this will more than likely lead to more motivation with the wrestlers in FCW. Imagine if you were being watched by Taker, Triple H and guys like possibly Xpac in person? You would want to try as hard as you could to show them you belong. This will no doubt lead to wrestlers busting their tails off even more to prove themselves. I see nothing but positives by these moves.

I'm not sure how much Vince looked at FCW and all of that, but that is one less thing to worry about moving forward for him. He can spend more energy and time working with WWE Raw and story lines etc.

It might be the reason we've been hearing the rumors of Vince making sure this past Raw that everyone knew their lines over and over and making sure everything in the show was perfect.

One less thing to worry about means less weight off his shoulders. In turn he's in a better mood? Who knows.

 

[FlairFan2003]

The problem with developing talent is no one has ever done it before. When wrestling was largely a "territory" based business, wrestlers could break in with a promotion learn their ctaft, and if they needed extra development they would be "sent" to other neighboring territories where promoters were on a friendly basis or they could pick up extra work in their time off doing short stints in other territories.

In the 1980's as Vince McMahon & Jim Crockett began expanding their regionally based promotions nationwide, they began pillaging talent from smaller promotions, guys who already learned the basics and many cases developed a character toiling for smaller companies. This process lasted into the 1990's although there were fewer places to steal talent from by then (although both WWE & WCW stole talent away from ECW).

Think about the biggest names in WWE in the 1980's during their national expansion...Hulk Hogan (AWA), Randy Savage (Mid South), Ted DiBiase (Mid South), Curt Henning (AWA), Roddy Piper (Mid South, NWA), Ricky Steamboat (Mid South, NWA), Greg Valentine (Mid South, NWA), Road Warriors (AWA, NWA), Ultimate Warrior (UWF), Kerry Von Erich (World Class, AWA), Rick Rude (World Class, NWA), Tully Blanchard (World Class, NWA), Arn Anderson (NWA), Bobby Heenan (AWA), Jimmy Hart (mid south region).

Move into the early 90's and you have Scott Hall (AWA), Sid Justice/Viscious (Mid South), Ric Flair (AWA, Mid South, NWA), Shawn Michaels (AWA), Kevin Nash (WCW), Lex Luger (Florida, NWA), Steve Austin (Mid South area, WCW). In more than a few cases McMahon took talent from his main rival NWA/WCW, but a lot of top stars came from smaller promotions. Likewise, the NWA in the 1980's benefited from Flair (AWA), Rude (World Class), Road Warriors (AWA), Jimmy Garvin (World Class), Luger (Florida), Sting (UWF) among those they took from WWE like Mike Rotunda, Barry Whyndam, etc.

By the late 90's there was no more ECW and the smaller regional promotions were all gone. For most of the past decade WWE has relied mostly on guys from previous decades still wrestling like HHH, HBK, Undertaker (who started in WCW), Flair, etc. There simply are not as many places for young talent to learn and almost no where they can work in front of crowds with experienced wrestlers like there was before. It's the downside to national expansion, WWE & WCW grew exponentially stealing each other's talent while raiding smaller promotions with promises of higher pay days and national exposure. Once those competitors were vanquished, the "feeding system" or "training ground" for new talent was eliminated. It makes finding new stars much more difficult, although having those like Brock Lesnar, Goldberg, Batista, & The Rock all leave the industry in their prime to pursue new careers has not helped.

Putting people who understand the nuance of building a character as well as performing in the ring will be needed to run training schools like "Tuff Enough", maybe Taker and HHH can do that.

 

[Mustang Sally]

I think they know more about the politics and entertainment side rather than the wrestling side.

It would be interesting, that's for sure. Although we've been reading about Triple H's career path for years, this is the first I've heard that Undertaker had an interest in what goes on behind the scenes. Just because he's been around for years doesn't mean he has a mind for the business end of things. The most prominent example of this is Hulk Hogan announcing that he taught Vince McMahon the wrestling business, which was one of the most absurd statement I've ever read. Hogan was a great self-promoter, but I never gotten the notion he had an understanding of the inner workings of a wrestling company. Still don't.

Another example of this type of thing is Bill Russell becoming the coach of an NBA team without ever having coached previously at any level. It was presumed that he would be a great coach, simply because he was a great player. But what soon became evident was his frustration in dealing with players who weren't able to do the all-time great things Russell was able to do during his playing career. He was looking for the next Bill Russell, and he never found him.

So, now we have Undertaker. Is this alleged position in management an honorary-type job in appreciation of all the great things he's done for WWE......or has he really been studying the business all these years? Can't wait to find out.

 

[sabataged]

I dunno if I was a new and upcoming wrestler I would rather take advice from the cream of the crop (ie HHH and Taker) then people like Bill Demott or Danny Davis. The fact that the WWE lifers are wanting to give back to the company can only mean good things.

 

[shooter_mcgavin]

I am uncertain of Undertaker's talent input from the WWE. However as far as I can recall he did recommend the signing of Kronik back in 2001, now it could be just a one time blunder on his part but it could very well be an indication this might not a good idea as others think.

 

[ECWDanSelby]

I think he wanted him/Kane to fued with them if I remember rightly.

There were decent workers but it just didn't click, and they had some real bad matches with the two.

I seem to remember it was then Taker asking for them to be released, at least perhaps realising his own mistake

Selby

 

[Jack-Hammer]

It's definitely an interesting development. On the surface, I think it's natural to feel a sense of security having someone like The Undertaker helping to rehaul how the WWE develops talent. Taker's a legend and is arguably the most respected American wrestler in the business today.

Of course, if you look deeper, then it's natural to wonder just how much Taker knows about stuff like this. Even in this day and age, The Undertaker is still one of the talents that we know the least about. Almost everything that doesn't involve his character or a feud is kept very very close to home. We really don't know how much he knows about the business apart from simply being a wrestler.

 

[rge2010]

I think he wanted him/Kane to fued with them if I remember rightly.

There were decent workers but it just didn't click, and they had some real bad matches with the two.

I seem to remember it was then Taker asking for them to be released, at least perhaps realising his own mistake

Selby

If I seem to remember correctly it was Kronik who wanted release and they got it. I can remember them and didnt think they were that bad. Both had decent wrestling backgrounds as Crush and Adam Bomb.