Is it so hard to use all your talent?

[The Samoan Heritage]

We see the same guys every single week. Now I can understand Why wwe would want to use their more over talents every week, but would it really hurt if one or two of them wasn't on a show for a week?

Majority of champions in wwe lack other contenders, outside of their current feud. Why is it so hard for wwe to say, "We build these guys, who aren't being used, so our champions can have other challengers?"
Raw:
-Titus- His post-Raw sports-like interviews were a great idea, and could have been shown on Raw to build up the "Titus brand," instead it was used as a joke. He could have been racking up wins to eventually feud with Reigns for the u.s championship.
-Summer Rae- While Sasha and Charlotte make history, she could be (winning &) talking about how she made "The BOSS," as well as gave Charlotte the confidence to become "The Queen." Eventually Summer would be ready to feud with Sasha once her feud with Charlotte conclude.
Smackdown:
-Crews- with a little tweaking, he could've easily been in Ellsworth position, and been built up as a contender against AJ. (probably not as over, but a better option long term.)
-Swagger- Former world champion, and could have been gaining momentum to be Miz's next challenger for the Ic championship.
-The Ascension- change ring gear/appearance and they could join Kane in his fight against the Wyatts.

Don't judge the ideas too harsh, the point I am trying to make is that wwe should be using all of their talent. The talent is there, why not use it? Wwe goes all in with guys like Reigns, Rollins, Balor, Owens, etc. Support these other guys and give them a chance to sink or swim as well.
I'm not upset that wwe doesn't use the rest of the talent, but I think it would help to give the audience something different each week. Its pretty much the same Y2KO/New Day/Enzo/CWC/Sasha&Charlotte/Ellsworth/Wyatts/Miz&Ziggler segments every single week.

What is your opinion on the situation?
Do you get bored of seeing the same people every week?
Is there a wrestler you would like to see get more camera time?
Who do you see wwe's non usage of them as a sign of things to come in terms of being "future endeavoured?"

 

[AegonTargaryen]

Brilliant topic. You're spot on.

I've vaguely felt this for so long now, and wanted this, even before the brand split.

But ever since Summerslam, we've seen the same people involved in a feud, and the same matches over and over and over and over. They've also failed when it comes to intelligent booking, and seem clueless.

Here's a few examples:-

1)Usos Turn Heel. American Alpha should've been red hot, dominating the tag division. But what's really happening in the tag division on SD? Why are Rhyno and Slater champions? When was the last time there was an awesome 30-minute tag team match, a 2-out-of-3 falls match, featuring American Alpha, Usos and Hype Bros?

Exactly, NEVER. The only thing that has happened is BS.

Someone tell me how Rhyno and Slater being champions matters, where's the excitement? Conclusion being, NONE of the teams in Usos, AA, or Rhyno&Slater have gained anything in 4 months since the inception of the SD tag team championship belts.

2)Like the OP points out, instead of building Apollo Crews or Jack Swagger, we're watching James fucking Ellsworth week in and week out. But the former contenders make far more sense, long-term.

3)Titus O'Neil could've really been built and they could've done something. But all they do is focus on the same stuff to death, Charlotte vs Sasha, Y2J/KO/Rollins, New Day beating the Club or any other team over and over and over again.

The only two people I think they're booking well and have really "built" are Roman Reigns, and Braun Strowman.

Now they're building Sami Zayn up a little, but that's that.

I do get bored of it.

I want interesting feuds, fresh matches at times, and more importantly, I want contenders that make SENSE. I want novelty. I wouldn't mind Roman Reigns vs Titus O'Neil 3 times in a row because that's more interesting and novel than the Charlotte vs Sasha or New Day vs The Club for the 50th time.

I'd like AJ Styles vs Kane for the WWE title in a 15-minute match, on Smackdown, over that Ellsworth trash they've been feeding us, any day.

As for who could be "future endeavoured", Jinder Mahal, Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel come to mind.

 

[MoRtAnDaD]

I see where you are coming from, and theres some truth to your words, but at the same time, this is still a tv serie, an action weekly series.

You have your lead characters, your second most featured characters, and then you have the filling characters, that have some spotlight from time to time.

Its the nature of the beast, and it wont change. You make the most of your lead characters, always, and in the process try to elevate some new ones....some will succeed, some not.

You cant have all the mid carders on the spotlight....it wont work.

 

[Richard Blonoff]

The spotlight is only so big. They can't push everyone at once, so some guys fall to the wayside. It is just the nature of the business.

I don't want to be a dick and try to tear down your ideas, but some of the guys you mentioned honestly don't deserve much screen time.

Titus isn't that great. He is a weird case, he seems to have tons of natural charisma, but it just doesn't translate to his in ring persona. When he was feuding with Darren Young during the Make Darren Young Great Again push, he cut some truly awful promos. He also isn't great in the ring. Decent power guys, but is too often sloppy.

I believe Summer Rae is injured, but I could be wrong. She is solid though, I'll give you Summer as someone who deserves more time.

Crews is still learning to develop a character. He has all the athletic ability in the world, but he just can't seem to connect with a crowd. Even Miz couldn't get guys to cheer for him. You could argue he was called up too soon fron NXT, but in ring work isn't exactly his weakness.

Swagger is solid in ring, but his lisp makes it hard for him to get his words across well. I too have a lisp, so I feel for the guy, but he has been his own worst enemy at times. He was rumored to win the WHC from Del Rio at Wrestlemania a couple years back, but his DUI and possession bust derailed his push. That said, when he jumped to Smackdown they shouldn't have given up on his push so soon.

Then we have The Ascension. To be frank they weren't that great when they were in NXT, but calling them up just to do the job to a bunch of "legends" and haveing JBL constantly shit all over them on commentary didn't help their cause. I believe both guys have been hit with wellness violations in the past, so that isn't helping.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

In some ways, this feels like, at least to me, comes off like another "why doesn't WWE push these people?" type of thread and the reasons why they don't have been covered by Rainbow already.

There's only so much room in the spotlight and the spotlight belongs on those who consistently deliver week in and week out. A rotating door system where everyone gets to be in the spotlight for a little while before switching out so someone else can have a turn doesn't work, never has worked and never will work.

As to the people the OP listed, again, I think Rainbow pretty much covered it as I don't necessarily think any of these people are particularly worth the spotlight. When it comes to Raw, personally I've never seen anything special out of Titus O'Neil and it isn't as though he hasn't been given some opportunities in the past. He hasn't connected with the audience and there are other wrestlers on the roster who can do the whole powerhouse thing better than he does. Titus is also someone who got started in wrestling pretty late, comparatively speaking, as he was well into his 30s by the time he first laced up a pair of boots and, again, there are simply guys who have as much or more experience than he does and are simply better.

Summer Rae's career looks to be in question just based on what little I've read regarding her injury. I don't know the nature of it but the few messages that she's released online seem to indicate that it's career threatening. Also, in terms in-ring ability, she's well behind the curve when you compare her to most of the other ladies on the roster. She does have personality though and I wouldn't be against giving her a shot.

For Apollo Crews, the guy has no personality or charisma to speak of. He has tons of athleticism but, then again, so do tons of other wrestlers on the roster. Maybe he should be sent back to NXT and repackaged a bit, he wasn't in NXT all that long in the first place and he definitely needs to work on promos and developing some sort of persona.

Jack Swagger is pretty much damaged goods at this point. He's been around for so long and been in the midst of a number of pushes that just haven't really taken; either that or he's screwed himself by getting into legal trouble. I think Swagger is ultimately just one of those guys who's happy he has a job in WWE and that it's enough for him.

The Ascension were never all that good, in my opinion, even in NXT. One reason why they were such a dominant tag team is because NXT's tag team scene was really in its infancy. They were better in NXT, however, due in part because they weren't billed as or made to dress like poor man versions of the Road Warriors and Demolition.

 

[stingray11214]

A long time ago when I was a boy, I remember staying up until 1 AM on Saturday nights. Did this because Championship Wrestling was on Channel 9. Do you know what that show had? 6 matches, some quick and believable promos, and pretty good match calling. Guess what Raw has? 4-6 matches, some long-winded ridiculous promos, and TONS of filler.

Look, I also understand where guys might be out of their depths on the Main Roster. People like Apollo Crews and the Ascension are better off with an outfit like RoH. Hell, I can see Crews making a serious impact as Moose's replacement. The Ascension would be stars in a RoH/NJPW setup. Swagger should go to Bellator, or at least try to launch an MMA career. He would be far more credible than CM Punk was in UFC. Titus should do what Adam Rose did and go the Indy route. Rose is working more now than he did in WWE. Titus would be a hot commodity, especially amongst the Christian Wrestling promotions. Summer Rae is hurt, and she is just not that good.

To the OP: I feel you. I understand what you are bringing across, and you are not wrong in it. But, WWE is a TV show. Nothing more or less. In the old days, if Swagger had no opportunity, he would go elsewhere. Swagger is apparently happy with "pin me and pay me" than actually kicking ass on a weekly basis. You have a "creative" team that are VKM's "yes men", and really have no clue about booking. I mean, can you actually book something without watching it? It does NOT have to be this way. But, as long as you have two men who are very much behind the times and out of touch running things, you are going to get more of the head-scratching.

 

[King Patrick Star]

It is not hard to use all of the talent. This is exactly what Heat and Velocity was for. This is exactly what Main Event and SuperStars is for. This is exactly what NXT and 205 Live will be for. I think everyone should get a fair shot. The WWE, specifically Triple H, is giving quite a few shots to talent all around the World.

On the flip side, you wouldn’t start your bench and bench your starters, would you?? The SuperStars being used over and over again are the proven commodities of the company. They are the established names that the fans have paid to see. These SuperStars have the catchphrases people what to sing along to. These are the names on the poster boards the fans drew up. These are the faces and logos on the shirts of the fans walking into an arena. This is not the Gold brand. This is not the Purple brand. This is the Red brand!! This is the Blue brand!! This is the “Major” league, and the cream always rises to the top. It’s been this way since the beginning of time, in every sport and even in everything else in life.

If you really want to push the guys at the bottom up to the top, push them in Universe Mode in the WWE 2K games. That’s what I do when I see something I would change in WWE. It’s satisfying enough to see my ideas play out, without having to hear people’s opinions against my ideas. HAHA!!

 

[enviousdominous]

The WWE has the luxury of being able to present their show to a relatively fresh crowd for every single one of their appearances. Every crowd expects to be granted an experience that can be a little unique, but must adhere to most of their expectations based on what they love about the show.

The WWE seems to consider the novelty factor if they decide to throw a less over performer into a more prominent storyline. They've already tried their best -- which I'll admit can be a catch 22 in itself -- creative output to turn the performers you've mentioned into their next big stars, but circumstances forced them to walk back their faith. The novelty of those performers wares off, and they start looking at guys like James Ellsworth to turn heads.

Now fans expect that some part of their Smackdown experience will involve James Ellsworth causing trouble for AJ Styles, and unless he eventually transitions to 205 Live his novelty will ware off as well.

It's extremely difficult for performers who couldn't capture our imaginations to be able to turn around and reinvent themselves, Bray still deals with occasional spouts of Husky Harris chants. There's plenty of room for people to be mid-card jobbers or occasional comic relief.

 

[The Samoan Heritage]

In some ways, this feels like, at least to me, comes off like another "why doesn't WWE push these people?" type of thread and the reasons why they don't have been covered by Rainbow already.

It is but it isn't. I am not the biggest fans of the guys I listed, and the names I mentioned were just examples, they can be replaced with Alicia Fox, Neville, Axel, Hawkins, Breezango, Vaudevillians just about anyone who isn't being used at the moment.
What I am basically trying to say is that wwe should be thinking long term.

To piggyback off of what Renaissanceman mentioned, three months ago Kane was pretty much irrelevant, imo. Now in the last two months, he's beaten Bray and gained a few other wins, I wouldn't object to him being given a one-off championship feud/match against AJ. Kane isn't used every single week, but he's won enough to be seen as somewhat of a threat to him.

People have been negatively voicing their opinion of the long feuds between Miz/Ziggler, AJ/Ambrose, and Charlotte/Sasha, but honestly the champions don't have many other credible contenders.

-Once Miz finishes up with Ziggler, the only guy that's relevant enough to challenge him is Kalisto. That should not be an issue when you have other guys like Swagger, Crews, Hawkins, and even Harper on the roster.
-Reigns on the other hand doesn't have any challengers. He's the perfect example of wwe failing to build credible challengers, as the u.s title picture is pretty much non existent.

 

[The Samoan Heritage]

The spotlight is only so big. They can't push everyone at once, so some guys fall to the wayside. It is just the nature of the business.

I don't want to be a dick and try to tear down your ideas, but some of the guys you mentioned honestly don't deserve much screen time.

I completely agree with you, especially with your analysis of the people I mentioned, but I don't want them to be pushed in the spotlight. I want them to be on the side training, improving, developing so when they are needed, they will be seen as believable challengers.
Like you mentioned, the issue with Crews isn't his in ring work, its crowd response. With that said, how can he learn how to interact with a crowd on live t.v, if he's never on t.v?
wwe seems to have the mindset of, "if you're not in a championship feud or receiving a monster push, you aren't important." This mindset isn't only affecting lower talent, but talent like the Usos, Zayn, American Alpha, Luke Harper, Bayley, and the Club among others who should have more momentum than they really have at the moment. Obviously everyone can not be pushed at once, but they shouldn't be going from a 100 to 0 either.

 

[rmp0012002]

Not everyone can be pushed at once and some people are just meant to be mid-card talent. I also believe that creative can't come up with that many ideas and storylines and a lot would just be crap filler.

 

[stingray11214]

Not everyone can be pushed at once and some people are just meant to be mid-card talent. I also believe that creative can't come up with that many ideas and storylines and a lot would just be crap filler.

But, not everything HAS to be a storyline. If the object is to entertain, why not have an 8-man tag featuring the lower mid carders? Does Roman Reigns HAVE to fight the Top Tier every week? Why not put him against Tyler Breeze in a pseudo squash. Why not have Rusev squash Fandango? Look New Japan has over 70 WRESTLERS on their roster, and they find a way to use most of them. If you get rid of the filler, and insert matches, that roster would get reps every week.

 

[Fire Marshall Bill]

why not have an 8-man tag featuring the lower mid carders? Does Roman Reigns HAVE to fight the Top Tier every week? Why not put him against Tyler Breeze in a pseudo squash. Why not have Rusev squash Fandango? If you get rid of the filler,

If you don't call any of that filler, what else do you call it? That was rhetorical. That's all filler. Plain and simple. If it's not fulfilling some aspect of a storyline, it serves no other purpose.

 

[Un-Bo-Lievable Jeff]

Raw has a roster of perhaps 40 active wreslters.

Raw is 3 hours (180 minutes) minus say 20 minutes for add breaks throughout.

That would only give each active wrestler 4 minutes of air time each week. Turn that into an 8 minute singles match, or potential 16 minute tag match.

That's minus any promos, commentary spots, video packages.

That also means matches would be back to back, as soon as one ends, the next begins. No entrances, no celebrations, nothing.

Impossible to do something with everyone.....but that's pretty obvious I hear you say.

Yes it is, but to have some people not appear for a couple of weeks, you lose continuity in your story. The point to tuning in is to see what happens next week after Owens and Y2J screw over Reigns or Rollins. To not address it for 1-2 weeks is insane.

Good point by the OP and I understand what they are getting at, but it's just not practical

 

[Psykohurricane55]

Simply put, you have to go with what works and what makes you money in the end. That's business 101 so WWE looks at who's over with the crowd and by that i mean who his getting the bigger reaction and who's selling the most merchandise and then they decide who gets a push on their main shows and who doesn't. That pretty simple. Personally i would love to see wrestler like neville, apollo crews, jack swagger and the ascension getting push on a regular basis but those guys aren'T over at all so why would have push them. It makes no sense what so ever at the end because in the end they won'T make money for the company even if they have a five star match every week.

That what i think a lot of us in the internet wrestling community seem to forget, WWE isn't your local indy fed or even an indy fed like ROH, they are a business first and a wrestling company second, their goal isn't to put on great 5 star matches every week, it's to make money. If somebody like aj styles is able to get over with his wrestling ability and make money for the company so that's great but for every aj styles, they're going to be ten apollo crews so business wise is doesn'T make sense to push everybody on the roster. you can use them as job guys when you need a quick match but for some of them that all they are going to get is being a well paid job guy.

 

[FromGlasgow]

I agree with you partly, They can't push everyone to that main event level though but it feels like so many are lost in the shuffle and just having meaningless throw away matches except for a select few, I think everyone active on the roster should have something going on at all times, Back in the day it seemed like even the lower card guys were always involved in some kind of feud or storyline.

 

[Navi]

I agree with you partly, They can't push everyone to that main event level though but it feels like so many are lost in the shuffle and just having meaningless throw away matches except for a select few, I think everyone active on the roster should have something going on at all times, Back in the day it seemed like even the lower card guys were always involved in some kind of feud or storyline.

I have to agree with this. Even if they used them as fodder for the people in the main event scene, they were used. We haven't seen Darren Young in forever now, and Bob Backlund going batshit crazy was one of my favourite parts of RAW. Where are Breezedango these days? We only see them if there is a multi man tag team, and they are usually one of the first teams thrown out.

Yes the WWE is a business out there to make money and keep the fans happy, but look what happened last year when they were scrambling because of all the injuries. All of a sudden most of the high level guys went out for some reason or other and it was like they had no idea what to do. It's hard to elevate wrestler's or get the fans involved with them if they are rarely used, or we never see them.

I also thought with the brand split we would see more of these unused talent. They who show up, get dressed and stand around for a two second cameo in the back hallway. Always wondered why they do that. SD at least uses more of their roster than RAW does, and they have an hour less to do so.

 

[rmp0012002]

Regardless of talent, I think that if you're not hot right out of the gate and bringing in fans and money you will not get pushed very long. The WWE wants the next Austin or Rock every time they debut someone and they don't give very much time to do it.

 

[Richard Blonoff]

I completely agree with you, especially with your analysis of the people I mentioned, but I don't want them to be pushed in the spotlight. I want them to be on the side training, improving, developing so when they are needed, they will be seen as believable challengers.
Like you mentioned, the issue with Crews isn't his in ring work, its crowd response. With that said, how can he learn how to interact with a crowd on live t.v, if he's never on t.v?
wwe seems to have the mindset of, "if you're not in a championship feud or receiving a monster push, you aren't important." This mindset isn't only affecting lower talent, but talent like the Usos, Zayn, American Alpha, Luke Harper, Bayley, and the Club among others who should have more momentum than they really have at the moment. Obviously everyone can not be pushed at once, but they shouldn't be going from a 100 to 0 either.

I can totally understand where you are coming from. You have young guys who could be getting ring time, even in short matches, that aren't being used.

Crews is the best example, and I agree that a guy like him needs time in front of an audience to learn to connect. He was a hot indy ticket because of his in ring skills, but most indy guys don't have to develop characters or connect with audiences larger an a few hundred people.

I also agree that they need to stop the drastic depushing. I mentioned Swagger in my original post. I didn't expect him to get back to World Title contention, but he just sort of stopped being on TV. It was strange. Not everyone can be a star, there has to be some middle ground between main event talent and jobber.

What I honestly think a lot of it boils down to is the attention span of the average fan in this day and age. Most fans don't have the patience to build guys up slowly, so you have to push guys hard if they are hot and connecting. With a few exceptions, and I won't name specific names because we all know who I'm talking about, if you aren't over within a small window, you aren't gonna get the big money push in today's WWE.

 

[stingray11214]

If you don't call any of that filler, what else do you call it? That was rhetorical. That's all filler. Plain and simple. If it's not fulfilling some aspect of a storyline, it serves no other purpose.

Difference is that you are USING your talent. What is filler? Highlights from earlier in the show. Pre-taped chit-chat. Oh, look who is here for the umpteenth time. An actual match is never filler. It is a MATCH.

 

[kadroan]

We see the same guys every single week. Now I can understand Why wwe would want to use their more over talents every week, but would it really hurt if one or two of them wasn't on a show for a week?

Majority of champions in wwe lack other contenders, outside of their current feud. Why is it so hard for wwe to say, "We build these guys, who aren't being used, so our champions can have other challengers?"
Raw:
-Titus- His post-Raw sports-like interviews were a great idea, and could have been shown on Raw to build up the "Titus brand," instead it was used as a joke. He could have been racking up wins to eventually feud with Reigns for the u.s championship.
-Summer Rae- While Sasha and Charlotte make history, she could be (winning &) talking about how she made "The BOSS," as well as gave Charlotte the confidence to become "The Queen." Eventually Summer would be ready to feud with Sasha once her feud with Charlotte conclude.
Smackdown:
-Crews- with a little tweaking, he could've easily been in Ellsworth position, and been built up as a contender against AJ. (probably not as over, but a better option long term.)
-Swagger- Former world champion, and could have been gaining momentum to be Miz's next challenger for the Ic championship.
-The Ascension- change ring gear/appearance and they could join Kane in his fight against the Wyatts.

Don't judge the ideas too harsh, the point I am trying to make is that wwe should be using all of their talent. The talent is there, why not use it? Wwe goes all in with guys like Reigns, Rollins, Balor, Owens, etc. Support these other guys and give them a chance to sink or swim as well.
I'm not upset that wwe doesn't use the rest of the talent, but I think it would help to give the audience something different each week. Its pretty much the same Y2KO/New Day/Enzo/CWC/Sasha&Charlotte/Ellsworth/Wyatts/Miz&Ziggler segments every single week.

What is your opinion on the situation?
Do you get bored of seeing the same people every week?
Is there a wrestler you would like to see get more camera time?
Who do you see wwe's non usage of them as a sign of things to come in terms of being "future endeavoured?"

Titus is good on the mic but his moveset is so basic if you take away the power moves.

Swagger's been a multi world champ. It's time he put over some younger talent.

 

[The Yes Guy]

Most people in this thread have misunderstood what the OP is trying to say here.. "Pushing" and "Using" your talent are two different things.

Right now WWE has a 3 hr Raw, 2 hr SD with exclusive rosters. So using your 30 odd performers for each show should not be a problem..

Reserving 30 min each for the main eventers (Y2KO, Rollins, Reigns, et. al.), tag teams (New Day, Club, EnzoCass), mid carders (Rusev, Cesaro, Titus, Strowman, Bo, Neville, Sami Zayn) and the women still gives you 1 hr for the fillers and ads.
Same with SD.

 

[ShinChan]

I would love Summer Rae and Emmalina to get in the women title picture and refresh it. But Raw's women division is more about Charlotte, Sasha, Bayley(low) and Nia Jax. I do feel that Raw hasn't been using the talent it has, just for future programs I guess.

Tag Team Division is more about New Day. Shining Stars are nowhere near what their name signifies. Enzo/Cass are just waiting for the inevitable feud with New Day.

Swagger and Crews are talented but not sure about Ascension and Titus.