Careful with the transition .... Make the mid-card relevant

[jeffrey9800]

I'm having a small problem with what we are seeing right now in WWE,

Crowd is hungry for fresh faces, fresh stars, doesn't mean they need to be world champion before achieving rookie status on their skylines points card.

I compare this to a drinking party,

If you drink your 12 beers, one shot, within 30 minutes : You have fun for a short time and than your night is over, you get sick and don't remember that the night even existed.

If you drink your 12 beers strating early, a steady pace throughout the night, you enjoy yourself more and don't screw it up by being sick the next stay and remember what happened.

So here's my point, most of the stars that had major success were stars that were awesome from the beginning but didn't directly go for the world title, they were in teams, were in gimmick storylines, went after the IC, the European championship, etc....

We all remember when Rocky was IC champ, it was awesome ... the belt was relevant it was cool, the storylines were awesome and the belt meant something, because WWE didn't feel like : "If someone gets over he needs to go for the WHC directly (Or be in the main events)"

Why put Cesaro in the elimination chamber? Have him fight a program with Big E for a while, People wouldn't like Cesaro less, on the contrary, they would grow to like him and follow him on his journey,

Why have Bray go for Cena less than a year after he started, that's complete BS, Cena is seen as the top guy, what happens if Bray wins? What if he loses? It's doomed to fail. Have him fight with BIG E, go after the IC title, or give the title to Reigns and have them fight together in a program that will lead to Summerslam, why go directly for Cena. It's all about transition! We need to follow them in their journey to the top,

Between 1990 and 2007 no world champion went from main event status to the mid-card; Undertaker, Bret Hart, Yokozuna, HBK, Trips, Batista, Austin, Rock, Angle etc etc.

It gave them importance, relevance, they were main eventers and we knew it, they had a journey to the top

In the past 5 to 7 years : Del Rio, Ziggler, Miz went from the main event, to fighting Kingston for the IC title, or whoever, it deminishes their credibility as main eventers, who will believe one of the 3 as world champs with their current gimmick, now they're obligated to revamp themselves if they want to go back to main-event status, I use to chant "Miz is awesome" or "We want Ziggler" .. now we hear crickets when Ziggler's music hit and there was some boring chants when Del Rio was fighting a few months back...

And I'm only talking about World champions here, not even talking about guys who were "main-event part-timers" like Ryback or Curtis Axel!! After 5 months of squash matches Ryback went for Punk who was the champ at the time WTF!!!! Prove yourself, don't go lose 5 months in and be burried right after, it's ridiculous, now he's losing to the USO's... my god!!! "Feed me more shit matches that brings me nowhere"

I want to see epic feuds for the IC title, Cesaro vs Ziggler would be a good start, and it's not because one wins that he needs to go beat Cena, Lesnar and Taker at Wrestlemania in a handicap match, take your freakin time WWE, present us with good mid-card programs and we'll buy into it.

Instead of burying guys you put on top too fast, take your time, we'll take ours, we'll watch, have fun, and follow a guys journey to the top.

I'm scared for Bray and Roman, they're over quickly so they need to elevate them, and elevate them does not mean good storylines and great matches like before, it means : fight with main-eventers.

 

[NaptownMVP]

I totally agree. The IC title is my favorite titles, and some of my favorite feuds come from the IC days, and most every one of my favorites start at least in the IC ranks, if not the tag ranks, and work through the years together up to the main event.

The problem is, I don't know if the FANS are patient enough. Bryan, Cesaro, Big E, Bray, Dolph, and Miz could create a KILLER IC division. But I don't see anyone wanting those guys to feud over that title. Everyone wants their guy hotshotted straight to the top.

 

[CrucifiedRaven]

I agree.

And I think it was beneficial for The Shield to hold the US and Tag titles as they did, even if the US title is rarely defended. It helped ease them into the programming and let them naturally evolve. But if/when they split, they shouldn't skyrocket Roman Reigns to the main event picture. He should be the next to hold the US or IC championship, and there should be a nice, 4 or 6 month long feud over one of those titles with Dean Ambrose. And even factoring in Seth Rollins into the picture... They could get an entire year long feud with these three guys all getting their turn with the championship, and all trying to be better than the others. After that.. then you can elevate the most over guy to the main event scene.

Similarly with the Wyatts. I don't think they should ever be going for titles. Bray Wyatt is a bit of a supernatural character, like the Undertaker when he debuted. I know Undertaker had a brief run with the World Championship shortly after his debut, but after that it was something like 4 or 5 years before getting his hands on another title. It didn't mean he wasn't always a special attraction, or a main event level draw. It just wasn't part of his character to want to go after titles. I see Bray Wyatt in a similar light, and he should get booked accordingly. Maybe Luke Harper and Erick Rowan, but as a tag team they're kind of like an edgier version of The Godwinns or something.

 

[enviousdominous]

I agree that lately they've been knee-jerking when it comes to trying to legitimize their favorites as popular main event mainstays, or even get with the times by pushing someone to the stars when they may have only been fresh for a week.

I look at it like playing a game of chess against a horrible opponent who thinks they're a grandmaster. On one side it's your typical fan who doesn't have an absolute favorite, they just enjoy the show and want to see some consistent story telling. Playing against him/her is WWE creative, the entire time you're playing WWE creative and he/she keeps smirking arrogantly at your last move and in a smug tone saying "this will be over in a few more moves" before yawning. WWE Creative makes a move, only to have to withdraw the move setting up a free advantage for you, pushing Ziggler only to suddenly stop investing any creativity into him for example. After we've defeated WWE Creative and they've thrown the board across the room in a fit of rage, we realize that figuring out their game really isn't anything to be proud of. Their blind faith in their ability to win us over based on our assumed stupidity leaves them unaware of what their strategy actually is.

They try to work with what each week brings them in terms of crowd reaction and whether or not Vince was impressed with their ring work. Betting on a performer like Joe Hennig or even Dolph Ziggler the way they did was fucking stupid because each push assumed that either man's past work was good enough to warrant a push. There's also the possibility that WWE Creative didn't even get that far in their reasoning and found themselves losing faith as quickly as the fans did.

If you do what you suggested by keeping them in the mid-card long enough to grow on us, you can give them memorable moments in and out of the ring that legitimize any amount of faith in their ability to be main event mainstays.

 

[LuckyLouie]

I agree with what you are saying, there is no need for top level validation without some dedication.
But I dont think its a bad idea sometimes for a new face to have a match for the title. Not like Ryback, but something like the Shield or Wyatts having a title match to look strong yet lose.

 

[L@RISANO]

I'm having a small problem with what we are seeing right now in WWE,

Crowd is hungry for fresh faces, fresh stars, doesn't mean they need to be world champion before achieving rookie status on their skylines points card.

I compare this to a drinking party,

If you drink your 12 beers, one shot, within 30 minutes : You have fun for a short time and than your night is over, you get sick and don't remember that the night even existed.

If you drink your 12 beers strating early, a steady pace throughout the night, you enjoy yourself more and don't screw it up by being sick the next stay and remember what happened.

So here's my point, most of the stars that had major success were stars that were awesome from the beginning but didn't directly go for the world title, they were in teams, were in gimmick storylines, went after the IC, the European championship, etc....

We all remember when Rocky was IC champ, it was awesome ... the belt was relevant it was cool, the storylines were awesome and the belt meant something, because WWE didn't feel like : "If someone gets over he needs to go for the WHC directly (Or be in the main events)"

Why put Cesaro in the elimination chamber? Have him fight a program with Big E for a while, People wouldn't like Cesaro less, on the contrary, they would grow to like him and follow him on his journey,

Why have Bray go for Cena less than a year after he started, that's complete BS, Cena is seen as the top guy, what happens if Bray wins? What if he loses? It's doomed to fail. Have him fight with BIG E, go after the IC title, or give the title to Reigns and have them fight together in a program that will lead to Summerslam, why go directly for Cena. It's all about transition! We need to follow them in their journey to the top,

Between 1990 and 2007 no world champion went from main event status to the mid-card; Undertaker, Bret Hart, Yokozuna, HBK, Trips, Batista, Austin, Rock, Angle etc etc.

It gave them importance, relevance, they were main eventers and we knew it, they had a journey to the top

In the past 5 to 7 years : Del Rio, Ziggler, Miz went from the main event, to fighting Kingston for the IC title, or whoever, it deminishes their credibility as main eventers, who will believe one of the 3 as world champs with their current gimmick, now they're obligated to revamp themselves if they want to go back to main-event status, I use to chant "Miz is awesome" or "We want Ziggler" .. now we hear crickets when Ziggler's music hit and there was some boring chants when Del Rio was fighting a few months back...

And I'm only talking about World champions here, not even talking about guys who were "main-event part-timers" like Ryback or Curtis Axel!! After 5 months of squash matches Ryback went for Punk who was the champ at the time WTF!!!! Prove yourself, don't go lose 5 months in and be burried right after, it's ridiculous, now he's losing to the USO's... my god!!! "Feed me more shit matches that brings me nowhere"

I want to see epic feuds for the IC title, Cesaro vs Ziggler would be a good start, and it's not because one wins that he needs to go beat Cena, Lesnar and Taker at Wrestlemania in a handicap match, take your freakin time WWE, present us with good mid-card programs and we'll buy into it.

Instead of burying guys you put on top too fast, take your time, we'll take ours, we'll watch, have fun, and follow a guys journey to the top.

I'm scared for Bray and Roman, they're over quickly so they need to elevate them, and elevate them does not mean good storylines and great matches like before, it means : fight with main-eventers.

I agree with the majority and, completely with regards to your point about the "rush-push" of guys to the Main Event.

This has been a topic done in different ways in numerous threads, and in all it is fairly obvious that the WWE's downfall has been the fact that the Mid-Card scene seems to be all about random matches, and nothing storyline wise involving pure mid-carders which people can get into except the very very popular Stable War(Shield vs Wyatts)....


Yes, there are Midcarders who get stories such as the Wyatts. the Shield,etc. but usually it is only if it is with Main Event calibre guys like Bryan and Punk in programmes with the Shield and the Wyatts.

The IC title has nothing going for it. It is never portrayed as a title superstars are interested in fighting hard for. Just a no.1 contender match, new no.1 contender, PPV match....feud Done.

Whilst the US title.....less said the better....


If anyone can remember; when Stone Cold Steve Austin started his feud with Mr.McMahon; Which title was that era's Primary Face going after? I'll give a hint: It wasn't the WWE title!

With babyfaces especially, the push has to be done in conjunction with how the fans are responding to a guy. Obviously, the WWE top brass would also have to be invested in such a guy, but going too quickly with the push and not easing the new fresh Babyface will result in that Superstar being a flash in the pan, who goes stale in a short period.

However, with someone like Bray Wyatt, I think he required the strong booking he got, because his gimmick/character called for such. Wasting that type of gimmick in Mid-Card makes no sense, as it is a fast-track gimmick in itself.

One thing I didn't agree with the OP about was Cesaro being in the Elimination Chamber. Cesaro has gotten over purely on his stellar in-ring work, thus having him against some of the best current Superstars in a Multi-man gimmick match like the EC was good booking as it allowed him to get more over than he would fighting in a somewhat stagnant mid-card. I think thus far he has been handled well in that he is now in a feud with Swagger and Big E also, so I don't think he is being pushed too quickly atm. We'll evaluate him after Mania shall we?

As for Roman Reigns; I sincerely hope he is pushed slowly in the Mid-Card and allowed to bide his time, maybe with a Mid-Card title run initially for most of 2014. Then, get another good Rumble showing, and maybe be put into the EC like Cesaro was. In that time, I do hope he improves steadily like he did in 2013.

That said; putting these new fresh guys with the Main Eventers too often,too quickly, is something I also fear and hope that WWE doesn't rush them too fast and bury them or make them too stale too quickly.

 

[WarroBODFan]

I agree with most of your points to a degree, and a very well thought out post.

But I'm with Larisano when it comes to the booking of Bray Wyatt. I'm unsure how to take a heel with a gimmick as individual as Bray Wyatt seriously if his main targets to feud with are mid-carders. He's being buried before he even gets the chance to show exactly what he's made of if that's the case. Sure, he'll still cut some great promos, but the opposition/target of such feud is so important to help us take him seriously.

I know The Great Khali is just a gimmick 'wrestler' now, but when he first came in as a monster heel, what better way than to get the character noticed than to beat up Taker? How seriously would we really take him if he's swatting around mid-carders? The "pick on someone your own size" line would really ring true then. I mean he had the look. They gave him some spotlight and for the time being it worked. Obviously Khali has too many deficiencies to make it as a main eventer, but it generated a reasonable amount of interest and curiosity at the time. Bray Wyatt has so much more going for him, so I have no problem with him poking his nose in the business of the main eventers.

I actually like what they're doing with Roman Reigns right now, as I actually anticipated the face turn even earlier than this, but I do agree I'd prefer to see a slow burn in his case. He's improved tenfold in my personal opinion since his main roster debut. Much improved on the mic, and is certainly getting deserved props for is work in the ring. They're certainly teasing us with his dominance during the 6-man tag elimination match at Survivor Series, and getting down to the last two of the Rumble match. But they've still not handed him all the riches yet, so I'm hopeful the slow burn will still happen. I mean DB will surely have a fairly lengthy title run. I'm unsure they'll put Reigns in that picture just yet, especially if he's turning face.

 

[jeffrey9800]

Guys thanks so much for the comments and feedback, love it,

Just wanted to mention that I forgot one name in my list of irrelevant past world champions, : Wade Barrett