Is the push-the-new-guys movement hurting the rest?

[The Yes Guy]

WWE seems to be doing it all to push some of the new guys.. The Shield, Wyatt family, Big E, Cesaro (to some extent).. That's a good thing.. I'm not against that. But what about the rest of the guys..?? They seem to have nothing to do other than job or even worse-have worthless matches among themselves with no storylines what so ever.

Alberto del Rio: Since losing his WHC to Cena, he's been almost lost in the crowd. It's sad to see a person who was a World Heavyweight Champion not so long ago being relegated to the midcard.. Feuds with Cara, Mysterio, being fed to batista, isn't great.

Sheamus: Tell me one credible thing he's done since his return. Feud with Christian.? Even when he qualified for the Elimination Chamber, the focus was on the Shield and the Wyatts..

The Tag team division: What really happened?? The tag division was growing to be quite good. Suddenly you take the Shield out of the equation.. The rest of the teams follow. Now its not the generic tag team action you get.. Everything is to make the shield look good.. Even the Usos, Brotherhood, have nothingto do. Bad.

Damien Sandow: I find the guy interesting. He's got the gimmick, decent ring ability, good mic skills. Still a jobber.. I really don't know why.

Cody: A brilliant guy who I think is just stuck there. I loved his feud with the Authority.. Why did it come to an end??

Kofi, Miz, Mark Henry, Dolph are some more people I think WWE has lost their interest in.

Is it fair on the part of these guys, Your Views?

 

[Zeven_Zion]

Why are you blaming it on the movement and not the writers? You can totally push new guys AND maintain the rest. If your writing team didn't suck, that is.

WWE has this stupid mentality where they take care of whoever's highest on the card and the rest get shit treatment. It doesn't work that way. Consistency - WWE's kryptonite.

They can learn a lot from TNA in this regard. TNA has its top storylines but EVERYONE has something going on.

 

[JoeyJoeJoe]

This is where I blame creative and the guys who flit into the business whenever it's WrestleMania season. Looking at the WrestleMania card I can see: Brock Lesnar, The Undertaker, Batista, The New Age Outlaws, and Triple H. Essentially, for most of the matches on the card, spots are taken up by guys who flew in right around the Royal Rumble (or later). The result is that matches like John Cena and Damian Sandow's incredible match this past fall have gotten Sandow no further up the pecking order because he was inevitably pushed down by the incoming semi-retired superstars.

 

[NxtBigThing]

In a short answer Yes. In my opinion some of the new guys are fantastic and are only getting started. Guys like the Shield, Wyatts (Bray is starting to be one of my favorites to watch promo/wrestling), and Cesaro are impressing with their move sets and in a few of those cases their personalities. About six months ago I could care less if I missed a RAW but with what is going on with a few story lines and matches I get excited to watch. Some of the guys either need to step up their game or get lost in the shuffle while a few (Shemus, Ziggler) just need a good story line since they are still needed. A person can only blame creative for so much while the rest lies on the wrestler developing a personality that the fans can get behind or hate and working and improving their craft. Sure some guys are being over looked (ex. Sandow) but others are stale or boring and need to step up their game or be pushed aside for someone who is more entertaining. As for the tag wrestling that is still a work in progress so give it time. I see a lot of posts about how tag team wrestling is not getting better. Well last RAW Shield vs Real Americans was a fantastic match and I've seen improvements in not only tag matches but air time.

 

[ComeAtMeBro]

I have to disagree with you on a couple of your points.

I agree that The Shield and Wyatt Family got major pushes (however, the fans like them and they can produce). Big E and Cesaro, though, are being developed and not just shoved in our face. Cesaro is still spending time in NXT doing big things and just waiting until WM season to come full blossom. Big E had the IC belt put on him and hasn't had any notable fueds. I don't really feel they are shoving him down our throat though, if anything he should get more time on Raw.

As for Alberto Del Rio... he needs to be repackaged or something. He went from a heel that could draw pretty legitimate heat, to a face and then back to a very stale heel. He can't hang with the Daniel Bryan's/Cena's/Batista's/Orton's of the company. He is someone who was given an opportunity to succeed too (winning the RR). His character is stale and really no one cares less if he is there or not.

Sheamus is another guy who needs to go back to being a heel. Either that, or rekindle the feud with HHH to bring a little more credibility to Sheamus. A feud with Christian isn't necessarily a bad thing though, Christian is a veteran who does a good job and making anyone look good.

The Tag Team Division doesn't necessarily need The Shield to be a part of it, they do need the Brotherhood to continue going though. If you look at the Tag Team picture there are some legit teams that have sprung up (i.e. Uso's, Real Americans, New Age Outlaws, Brotherhood, Los Matadores, Wyatt Family, RybAxel, 3MB, ect)

Sandow will always be a mid-carder

Kofi and Miz are going to be stuck in the mid-card for the rest of their WWE career

Mark Henry is about to retire

Dolph Ziggler will probably be a main event guy, just give it some more time

 

[BillAlfonsos_Whistle]

I don't really think it hurts anyone.
A lot of the top guys are part timers now anyways.
Right now is without a doubt a transitional period in the WWE much like the early 2000s post Attitude era.


The future is bright IMO
Tons of talent battling for the glory should breed some great mic work and in-ring matches. That's why Austin/Rock/HHH and even Hart/HBK worked.

 

[GeneralKarim]

Well we are close to WM season so the people that have not been pushed that hard lately, people like Del Rio. Ziggler , Sandow etc will not be given much attention.

Sheamus tbh hasnt done anything interesting since his debut besides his bad ass heel run. Every since he turned face he pretty much has been on jobber-crushing duty ever since with some completely meaningless feuds in between to fill up time. Ofc this is all up to the writting team and all that but Sheamus is what 36 and not getting any younger and he is over as a face to an extent. He is just a guy who can put on good, physical matches and kill jobbers at this point and have some feuds with guys that aren't doing anything and are not of any real importance.

And tbh you are saying "the rest". The rest being who? Still new guys? All people u have mentioned are pretty much new guys. Del Rio is relatively new and for a guy who was pushed so hard he is not over like he should be. While the Shield even tho they have been handled very good, they themselves have shown why they deserve the spot.

I'll agree with the Tag-Team stuff but I think that's more to do with the WM season and them wanting the Shield in a much higher position than fighting for tag titles. I think its pretty much a given they would rather invest in the singles feuds with the part timers and the veteran vs new-commers than tag-titles.

Not to mention, you can't push everybody. That's just a face. You cant push, especially in a WM season, Ziggler, Sandow, The shield, Wyatts, Cesaro, Big E. While still have important stuff for Cena and the likes.

Sure I feel very bad for Ziggler and Sandow because they proved they deserve to be way higher on the card, but it is what it is and we have to deal with it. Hell even to we have no Ziggler and Sandow, I'd rather look at the bright side of things and enjoy the fact that we have the Shield ( which basically carried Raw and Smackdown and Main event and probably every house show ) since they debuted, and Wyatt who is really thriving in his feud with Cena.

 

[Logisticalbooker86]

Alberto Del Rio cannot get over to save his life. Granted, much of that is WWE's fault. As a performer, Del Rio is top notch and is worthy of being on any card he wants to work. His character development has been lazy from the start (creative).

Not everybody can be in the main event. Sheamus will likely see a bigger role following WrestleMania. Dolph Ziggler should hope and pray that his run of good matches will keep him from teaming with the Miz. I used to enjoy Miz, but he faded faster than a fart once he got pushed down the card.

I am disappointed with how forgotten Damien Sandow has been. I thought his loss to John Cena would actually lead to a very bright future for him and I could not have been more wrong. He deserves better.

Kofi's athletic ability will keep him on the card. Though with only one world title around, I'm not sure how far he will go.

 

[AegonTargaryen]

Interesting thread. I was going to make a thread dealing with an exactly similar topic, devoted to Alberto Del Rio, and another one entitled "Wade Barrett and Damien Sandow-The fall and the future".

I agree with the view that the WWE is to be blamed here. While trying to push Daniel Bryan to the moon, and giving a major program with John Cena to a fat creepy wrestler. WWE has just conveniently overlooked so many others and now all they can do is give us a 30-man battle royal and for what? Because Andre the giant lived once? If not Kofi Kingston and the Miz, certainly guys like Alberto Del Rio, Sheamus, CHristian, and Damien Sandow deserve a whole lot better. I for one thought Damien Sandow has got it all, and doesn't even need a gimmick change in order to be considered a credible threat to the WHC. In fact, the smackdown after his Raw cash-in , it was one of the most awesome, believable and impressive promos I've ever seen by a WHC-contender ,delivered by Sandow. But now he's been losing to Camacho or Hunico or whoever that's playing Sin Cara.

Alberto del rio might not be likeable to many gimmick-wise or when it comes to mic skills, but I think it's established he's a solid worker, and is a better wrestler than most on the roster, and doesn't deserve this loud obscurity after just having held the WHC until Hell in a Cell. He deserved something better for WM XXX and otherwise. I wouldn't mind a one-on-one feud with some new guy, like Alexander Rusev, or with Big E for the IC title. Instead, they're all relegated to a lame battle royal and it's pathetic.

I do believe that it's because of WWE's limited ability in their long-term focus that prevents that to do anything considerable with so many other wrestlers. All they can focus on is Uncle Fester's lame schtick with Brock, and DB-HHH. The Shield-NAO-Corporate Kane feud has been lacklustre too, IMO. It's too easy to sign a decrepit shadow-of-his-former-self legend like HH and make him announce some battle royal and take it for granted that the audience is gonna give a shit. It's difficult to create interesting feuds. But really, how dumb can the WWE be to not wonder that Big E-Alberto Del Rio for the IC feud would be better than the obscurity Del Rio is facing? or even Luke Harper and the other bearded guy, Cody Rhodes and Goldust being in the tag title match instead of a bunch of uncharismatic losers like Rybaxel, or main event jobbers like Los Matadores? Pathetic.

 

[JJV]

WWE should push their younger talents, and should definitely maintain the main eventers like Cena, Batista and Orton. What they do tho, is destroy all the momentum of the younger talents and keep pushing the main eventers like f'n underdogs! Airing vignettes and bringing back Batista on the go-home show heading to Royal Rumble, and actually having him win the Rumble was a bad call. What if they brought him back at the Rumble as a surprise return, and had someone else win the Rumble? Someone like Punk or Bryan...the fans would have cheered for him. You see, stealing the show matters more than winning matches. That is the reason why HBK and Jericho are loved so much. Cena wins almost all the matches, and he didn't have a bad 2012; he defeated Brock Lesnar in his return match and yet, he talked about how bad his year was after losing to Rock and had him win the Rumble and defeat Rock at WM in a rematch. They made him look like an underdog. Why? Even if he didn't have a rematch with Rock, he would have still been in the position he is in right now. The second match was unnecessary and it wasn't even appealing. Hardly anyone was really interested in the rematch.

Main eventers don't always have to lose to younger talents. For example, Big E is the Intercontinental champion. Why don't they give him a good feud? Every time he defends the championship, it's against a guy who became the no 1 contender the previous week or on the same night lol. It's a good thing they're actually letting him defend the championship tho.

Damien Sandow cashed in on Raw against Cena. Instead of booking a rematch between ADR and Cena, they could have made it into a triple threat at the Survivor Series including Sandow. After that, he could have feuded with Big E for a few months before Big E begins a feud with Real Americans. Ambrose could have feuded with former world champ Ziggler as an Authority storyline last year instead of having a thrown together match at NOC. After returning at the Rumble and having a lame feud with Christian that didn't go anywhere (their matches were amazing, but with no backstory to it), they could have had him feud with Ambrose over the US championship. Throw in Christian as well and you could have had a great feud over the US championship.

Batista should have returned at the Rumble as a face, but immediately should have turned a heel the next night and feuded with Cena heading to Elimination Chamber (the reason why he left the WWE, kayfabe). At the Rumble, instead of Cena vs Orton for the umpteenth time, they could have booked Brock vs Orton. Big Show could have cost Brock the match and they could have build up a good story between the two heading to Elimination Chamber (which was at Brock's hometown I guess?), these guys could have talked about their history involving Paul Heyman. The Undertaker-Brock match could have been booked a lot better than how it is being booked. They could have used the UFC stare off, the fact that Taker has never beaten Brock and a lot of other things to make this feud intriguing.

It's not the "push-the-new-guys" movement that is hurting the rest, it's the creatives!

 

[The Yes Guy]

Not to mention, you can't push everybody. That's just a face. You cant push, especially in a WM season, Ziggler, Sandow, The shield, Wyatts, Cesaro, Big E. While still have important stuff for Cena and the likes.

If you look at my post, I'm not saying push these guys. I'm just saying give them something credible to do. We're about a couple of weeks away from Wrestlemania and the Midcard and the Undercard doesn't have any feud which culminates at WM.

I agree not everyone can headline WM, but putting them in some irrelevant Battle royal is Pure BS.

 

[Mustang Sally]

It's a valid topic, to be sure. Much of the answer lies in the idea that everyone can't be featured, nor is it a good idea to have designated guys who lose all the time.

A couple of folks in this topic bring up Alberto Del Rio, and he's a good example. When he was pinned cleanly by Dolph Ziggler a couple of weeks ago, I was really surprised because ADR has been a featured performer and Dolph has been on a definite downward spiral. When a match is about to start, I always make a "prediction" as to who will win, don't you? In this case, there seemed to be no question but that ADR would take it......but when he didn't, I realized it was a good thing because it not only brought an element of surprise to the proceedings......as it's always beneficial to not remain too predictable.....but it also boosted Dolph's stock and made me wonder if something good might be in store for him.

As for the notion of new guys being pushed, that's a good thing too, as long as it's tempered by giving the established performers some success in other areas. This is why I bring up Dolph Ziggler; he can be cleanly defeated by a Roman Reigns or Bray Wyatt to boost the standing of the newcomer; yet, as long as he can still win contests against established performers like Del Rio, everybody benefits. Even ADR, as his next match resulted in a decisive victory against Big E in a non-title match. I had wondered whether his loss to Dolph spelled the end of his days at the top; plainly, it didn't.

While it's true that everyone can't be pushed at the same time, good writing can boost the careers of the new guys while not fatally damaging the reps of the old ones.

 

[sabataged]

Part of the problem is that some time ago creative gave up on doing storyline for people in the mid card. They are always just thrown together match ups. Since having the WWE network you can go back and see during attitude era even the lower card had a storyline and made you interested

 

[whoopin' ass]

It is but I have to agree with others, the creative team behind it is to blame not the talent. It is far easier to bring someone new in than it is to write an angle for established talent - have them attack Cena and they are an instant heel where as you need to establish someone like Sandow as a threat which takes time. It is lazy writing. Truth is I think wwe should let a bunch of their talent go - guys like Kofi, etc as they are good talent but wwe is never going to do anything with them. Let them go and hopefully find their fortune somewhere else because they are never going to go any further in wwe. And wwe has no one to blame but themselves. The announcers will still bring up the feud Kofi and Orton had. How many years ago was that already? And what has wwe done with Kofi since? Can't blame the talent when creative just drops them.