Absence makes the heart grow fonder

[gasM]

“That’s one of the problems of not having a territory system – how can I miss you if you won’t go away? Sometimes it’s time for guys to go home and come back in two years with a fresh look, new coat of paint, learned a new hold, and it used to be that guys could do that. Now unfortunately they tend to cling to that TV spotlight until it’s past their prime.”
That’s Jim Cornette on the Ross Report podcast when they discuss the death of the territory system and I think they couldn’t be more right. Guys like Hogan finding his babyface character in AWA, Kevin Nash forming the nWo after doing the Diesel thing, even Jeff Hardy returning to WWE after his first run in TNA, they all benefited from the momentum of a return and the opportunity to get outside of the box in order to find a new dimension to their work.
With that said, who are some guys in WWE who could do with 6-18 months time away? It could be to NXT, it could be to TNA or ROH or even out of wrestling altogether – but who desperately needs a hiatus to reinvent themselves?
The obvious one for me is John Cena. Off the back of a program with Bray Wyatt that has centred around testing Cena’s character and legacy, it could be beneficial to remove him from an on-air capacity altogether. When he returns, the impact of losing him would have been felt, and whether it’s a heel turn, new attitude or simply a tweak to his character, a hiatus could help maximise his considerable talent.
A slightly less obvious one would be Dolph Ziggler. His workrate is unquestionable, his mic skills maybe less so, but what is undeniable is that he isn’t succeeding. He’s floundering, rightly or wrongly, in his current role. To me, the butt shaking, the Show Off gimmick/catchphrase, the peroxide blonde hair – it all screams metrosexual heel. I think Ziggler needs to be repackaged or at least recalibrated; either go all in with the cocky, detestable (NOT “cool”) heel, or find a new dimension to make his babyface character more sympathetic.
Those are my picks for now: who do you think needs a leave of absence?

 

[JoeFromTomsRiver]

Stop with Cena. His merchandise sells 5 times more than the #2 seller. You and I may be bored with him, but he's still as "over" as he ever has been with a large portion of the audience.

As for Ziggler, I couldn't agree more. Everything about his presentation sucks. The faces he makes, the ass shake, the jeri-curl surfer hair, his hideous t-shirts. If anyone on that roster could benefit most from some time off and a complete makeover, its him.

And I don't mean that he just comes out with a short brown haircut and makes serious faces like he did for a week or two a few years back. Many people forget that even happened. It was just weird. Vickie introduces the "new and improved" dolph ziggler and he came out looking serious and stoic and looked different and it was so brief that it's like it never happened.

 

[MCMG]

This worked really well for Batista...

Leaving then coming back definitely works to an extent. It always worked for Jericho. It was brilliant for Christian and brought him great success. Jeff Hardy had to leave the WWE because he was a mess and, to be honest, not much changed upon his return but at least he got one solid run.

I'd say someone like Alberto Del Rio could benefit from a little break. He is a great wrestler but he is pretty damn boring. Also, we saw way too much of him in 2013 where he was in all but one PPV World Heavyweight Title matches. If he was to disappear for a few months and then return it could do wonders for him. I'd like to see what The Miz's absence can do for him. He has been stagnating for over a year now and he needs to get back to his 2010/11 level. Hopefully he returns as a heel and can get his career back on track.

I can't think of many others. Right now a lot the superstars are doing pretty well or are doomed. It could work for Ziggler but he is getting decent reactions everywhere he goes. People want to see more of him and would pay to do so.

 

[the green b@stard]

In my opinion the real problem is in wwe's recruitment and development program. WWF used to be a place where established well seasoned wrestlers finished their careers. Guys like thw million dollar man, irs, dusty rhodes and sid all come to mind. Guys would come prepolished and ready for the fresh face push that you now see guys that can bearly vote get....
WWE's system is that 30 is too old for a fresh face. They turn away guys like styles and steen in favor of someone the see a couple of decades out of. The problem with this is in most cases the guys are too green in the beginning and by the time their skill set has developed to where it needs to be their character is stail and the average wrestling fan is way past giving them a fair shake at getting over.

Lets say ryback or axel or McIntyre develops the total package over the next 5 years. It will be too late wwe and most fans will both have grown tired of them by then. Imo the old model where a team the rybaxel was developed for you by your competion and veterans like styles and steen got a short run in the big leagues makes a whole bunch more sense.

 

[Cena's #1 In My Heart]

In my opinion the real problem is in wwe's recruitment and development program. WWF used to be a place where established well seasoned wrestlers finished their careers. Guys like thw million dollar man, irs, dusty rhodes and sid all come to mind. Guys would come prepolished and ready for the fresh face push that you now see guys that can bearly vote get....
WWE's system is that 30 is too old for a fresh face. They turn away guys like styles and steen in favor of someone the see a couple of decades out of. The problem with this is in most cases the guys are too green in the beginning and by the time their skill set has developed to where it needs to be their character is stail and the average wrestling fan is way past giving them a fair shake at getting over.

Lets say ryback or axel or McIntyre develops the total package over the next 5 years. It will be too late wwe and most fans will both have grown tired of them by then. Imo the old model where a team the rybaxel was developed for you by your competion and veterans like styles and steen got a short run in the big leagues makes a whole bunch more sense.

Agreed. The likes of Styles and Steen are extremely over with the hardcore wrestling fan. I get pumped up before Styles or Steen walk out on indy shows... gotta get jacked! They are stars. They walk out to the entire building roaring and chanting their names, surely it would transfer over to the WWE, and I think that is why they don't sign them.

The fans have gotten very pushy. The Daniel Bryan and CM Punk stuff proves that. I think WWE wants to stay as far away from situations like that where the hardcore wrestling fan spreads his love amongst the casual audience and they all join in on the dream of seeing Bryan as champion.

Essentially saying WWE won't hire Styles or Steen because they don't want to book them as the stars of the company and they fear the crowd would demand it in a Daniel Bryan type fashion. Partially because they don't want to put over another companies creation as well. You know if they put those guys out there and jobbed them to the WWE roster a lot of fans would give the WWE heat and a headache from that.. so they don't really have a choice. Either sign them and let them be the stars they already are, or ignore them and develop your own stars hoping that the fans will get behind them just as much.

--

Now to get my post on topic with the OP... I don't think it's the right move to send Cena away.. he'd probably come back rustier and with Batista treatment if they tried to push him. They just need to take what they can from his character now, put over other stars... let Cena give some people a rub for once. If you wanted to get the WWE to look better though, they should honestly send Cena to Japan for a year, he'll become a better wrestler then. That's about the only good reason to send Cena away for, well that and to please people like me who just don't want to see him anymore. But I want to see him get jobbed out and beaten and put people over before he rides away.

Ziggler, eh, why send him away? I find him to be surprisingly over from time to time, they just need to book him and use him better.

I'd say they should send McIntrye away, I've always liked him in the ring, let him get away from the comedy shtick a little bit, yet he still has developed sort of a whacky rockstar touch to himself. So maybe have him get "injured" and have 3MB replace him or something and just not really care about his injury, have McIntrye return as a badass heel who lays out all three members of 3MB one night. I've always loved the aggression McIntrye has shown in the ring, but hopefully the 3MB thing didn't ruin his image like it has to Santino and Eric Young.

I'm just going to keep bringing up younger people who aren't really working out but could. Like Big E. Why are you trying to be a goofy loveable face like John Cena? You're not over, you don't have the right to act like that and garner badass fan support. Big E should just try coming across as more legit athlete badass type, sort of like a Brock Lesnar. Which means he needs to want to hurt people and not have a good time and joke around during his career.

Del Rio could use time off to give the fans a break and freshen up his character a little bit. I think he's gotten softer since joining the WWE, makes since since their in-ring product is pretty damn soft. If he can come back as the aggressive heel we once saw him as, he might be more interesting again.

Kane, (now I'm just naming anybody and putting them in situations where an absence could work.) Corporate Kane was like watching the pre-oddity version of Kurrgan. So Daniel Bryan can send Kane to hell one week, (it's about time Daniel Bryan does some legit damage to someone again. He did hit Kane 25 times with a steel chair one night on Smackdown while he was coming up as a heel. We haven't seen the vicious side of Bryan lately.) But yeah, Bryan can kick Kane into a flaming grave or something, send him away like he's dead or something. Then have him return out of the blue one night and decimate some people in the sick fashion we have known Kane for.

Cody Rhodes is stale and bland too me. Why not sort of just stop putting him in matches, like everyone is kind of forgetting about him and passing the idea along that his time to shine has expired. Then one day you can have Cody Rhodes show up as a vicious heel who is pissed that he has been cast aside. I don't think Cody can ever make it as a mega face until he does some more controversial stuff.

K I'll just stop there before any other names pop in my head and I end up writing a book here...

 

[Soulblazed]

The 2 people I pick to take a hiatus from WWE are Rybaxel. Ryback and Curtis Axel have plenty of potential. I think that if they took a hiatus from WWE and went to New Japan for 3 years, I think it'd do wonders for their careers whether they stay together as a tag team in New Japan or become singles wrestlers.

In interviews, Ryback said he always reads books, meditates, focuses on always having positive energy and says he has great cardio. If Ryback really does believe in using positive energy, then I think he'd take full advantage of a hiatus in Japan. People can talk shit about Curtis Axel, say he's got no charisma, etc. I've yet to see what Axel or Ryback can do outside of a WWE ring where they would actually have time to cut promos in order to develop their characters, have long, competitive tag matches, etc.

Think of it this way, it did work for Prince Albert in a sense. He went to Japan, shaved his back, got tattoos, became a national celebrity, improved his wrestling ability tenfold and yet after he returned to the WWE Vince jobbed him out in no time flat and now he's announcing on NXT. Now I don't think that if Rybaxel took a hiatus to Japan and returned they'd get fucked over like Albert/Tensai, though it'd still be worth a chance in giving them a hiatus in order to improve themselves.

 

[The Warlord]

Dolph Ziggler

He's a big time bumper that could also benefit from the time off physically. Im not buying his current gimmick, snd I dont think too many others are too.

He needs some serious repackaging. New look, new music, new attitude. He needs to have a more serious character. Cut that ridiculous hair. Wear some jeans and a leather jacket and show up on wwe tv after being gone 6-12 months ready to kick someones ass. It wouldnt hurt to take some acting lessons..,it would only help his promo skills.

He's a great talent that is being misused. Some time off would do him wonders.