'New Youth Movement', how do you do it?

[Ace Sleeper]

Lately with the 'new youth movement' like others have been bringing up, I want to start an actual discussion on the 'new youth movement'. There are ones that everyone likes to bring up, and talk about how they're being underused, and deserve to be pushed. Well here's your chance to explain how and why.

Now I want to make clear who the target superstars of the thread are. People like, Ted Dibiase Jr, Zack Ryder, Sin Cara.

So go ahead and discuss. How do you push one of these new guys to the top (not just the ones I mentioned above, any new guy), and how do you make them credible. How early do you put the belt on them, and who honestly deserves a push?

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

You have the past generation put them over. Otherwise instead of looking like "the next" they look like "the rest".

I would center Mania 28 around this. I'd have Miz vs Jericho, Rock vs Cena, Orton vs Austin (if possible) and something like Mysterio/Cara vs some team or against each other.

Throughout the year just keep giving guys a shot. I think Rhodes has WAAAAAY more potential than Dibiase. Dibiase is kinda bland and can only really do one emotion.

Guys need to get the rub. If cena, Miz, orton, etc get the rub from the other generational stars, then everyone Cena, Miz, and Orton go against also get elevated.

 

[Lucid]

How do you push one of these new guys to the top (not just the ones I mentioned above, any new guy), and how do you make them credible? Write stories where they win.
How early do you put the belt on them? When fans buy their merchandise and draw asses every eighteen inches.

and who honestly deserves a push? That's all relative to who is willing and able to execute whatever half-assed idea creative gives them and make it "work". I have no idea who is a wrestling machine or who is a political genius, what matters is connecting with the audience. If any of them can do that, push them.

 

[iamthegame]

I've been pretty big on Cody Rhodes for a while, I definately think he will get some singles success this year, probably IC or US title runs. Del Rio and Barrett should both get World title runs this year but it would not surprise me if they don't. You would think that McIntyre would get some sort of push soon because he's floating around doing not a whole lot at the moment.

I heard that the WWE were going to give Masters a big push after Wrestlemania but he's got nothing as of yet. I really think he has potenital to be a main eventer if given the correct push. I don't think people like R-Truth, Morrison, Kingston and Dibiase will win World titles this year but I could be wrong.

My favourite younger wrestlers are Cody Rhodes, Wade Barrett, Justin Gabriel and Husky Harris and I hope they stick around and get given a fair crack. Barrett needs to step out on his own soon and let his wrestling do the talking instead of his minions (even though the Corre are supposed to be equals).

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

I think you need to give guys roles. Guys like Husky will probably never main event. But I think a southern style brawl would be a shitload of fun. Like an APA era JBL.

Start them all out with established stars. I don't think the problem so much is with main eventers not being young enough to sustain, I think your mid card is pretty depleted though.

Put them in feuds with established stars and give the fans somethin to remember them by. Make Husky this insanely intense brawler, which he seems to do well. Push Barrett's catchphrase.

How they executed Rhodes vs Mysterio was perfect. He held his own, had his own thing going, being the pretty boy who's face got messed up, then they got real old school with the mask gimmick, then Mysterio put him over.

In a nutshell, that's how you make a guy legit. Put their faces on video games, cups, posters, magazines, etc, and you have a whole new crop of guys coming up.

If you want a detailed booking of how I'd get some guys over, I can do that too.

 

[sTyLnK]

The current young crop of rising stars can't sell out an arena or get PPV buyouts. The only way to strengthen these guys is to use them more. Put them on tv every week on Raw or SD and push them like crazy. Basically do what they did with the Miz. Give them a chance. People are going to watch, boo and cheer regardless of who the WWE puts out there so they might as well push them more. BTW I love Cody Rhodes' new gimmick. Watch out for this kid because he has some serious potential.

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

I wouldn't mind seeing Cody Rhodes vs Undertaker at next years mania if he keeps progressing. He's an excellent storyteller.

I think another good option is to create groups. Nexus, DX, Nation of Domination, Hart Foundation, Corporation, nWo, Horsemen they each got everyone else over simply by being in the group. I'd like to see more groups to get guys over by association.

 

[hollowpoint]

If I had to pick a younget star to get over I would probably say Jack Swagger. With the way things are going on the Roster, veterans are hard to come by so getting the rub from one of them isn't probably gonna happen. My scenario for Swagger would go something like this:

Try building him as a face starting at ER where Cole slaps him again for losing and he hits him with the gutwrench powerbomb. Now that he's over as a face, you put him in a feud with Sheamus with a pick on someone your own size type of promo and have him throw in something like since he's the All American American, he should be the U.S. Champion. Have a series of matches including a win and you get a shot at the title match culminating at MITB. Give him a clean victory over Sheamus for the title at the PPV and have him battle with the likes of the aforementioned Sheamus and Drew McIntyre for the next couple of months.

 

[Savior with faith 101]

ZACK RYDER!!!!

This guy seems to be working very hard tryig to get himself over outside of WWE via his youtube show. Seems like if hes working this hard now while he is getting buried, imagine how hard he would work if he was given the scent of a push???

Firstly to get him over i would be showing his show on Raw, use it to get the crowd really familiar with him, his goofiness would be good enough to get him a mild reaction next time he appears. Have him get a few wins on Superstars and promote that through his youtube show which would then be shown on Raw. He would start getting a bit of credibility so he could then step up to the main roster and challenge towards a mid card title.

WWE should take advantage of this guys work ethic and the work he has already done...a nice cost effective push which would only take up 5minutes every week on Raw until he re-debuts...

 

[nxtgeneration]

i would love to see the WHC title picture as alberto del rio, cody rhodes, drew mcintyre. have wwe title miz v morrison at first. but i think the best way to really kick in the youth movement would be a new "ECW" or another show with a third world title, and have guys like sheamus, swagger, ryder, primo, dibiasie, all these guys who can be main event material, but arent quite there yet, and really give them a chance to shine. have the title defended every week, introduce a rankings system, etc.

 

[SmattyG]

Okay stay with me here...coz I've thought about this a lot.

First thing you gotta do is bring back the European Title. The US and IC Titles are for the upper mid carders and there's nowhere for the development talent to go to try to get over with a belt. Give the belt to someone like Brodus Clay. Have him in matches with guys like Tyler Reks, Tyson Kidd, Zack Ryder etc and put it on Smackdown every single week. Wanna elevate Brodus while giving someone else a crack? Triple threat match - something like Brodus V Skip Sheffield V Alex Riley. Have Brodus lose without being pinned and move him up to IC/US Title level. Repeat repeat repeat with new guys.

Second - get that Fortunate Sons stable together. Have David Hart Smith and Ted DiBiase as it's leaders and give them the tag titles. Add Wes Brisco, Brett DiBiase, McGillicutty and Harris with new gimmicks, and Richie Steamboat. Bring in Chavo as the comedy relief as the guy who so wants to join. As DHS and Ted eventually argue over who is the leader, pick the next best two to challenege for the tag titles in an attempt to get them all on the same page. Have those two win - instant elevation while DHS and Ted move on to a PPV feud. Have the new tag champs go against Heath Slater/Justin Gabriel and Curt Hawkins/Trent Barreta and put it on TV every single damn week until the tag team belts mean something again.

Third - give them a decent Nexus/Corre/Whatever faction to brawl against. Include Mason Ryan, Jackson Andrews, Skip Sheffield, Slater & Gabriel, and of course Wade Barrett. Push one of these to IC level (which they have done with Barrett now).

Fourth - Get Derrick Bateman on either Raw or Smackdown. Often.

Fifth - Don't just rely on JoMo and Ziggler - keep pushing Swagger, Drew McIntyre, Daniel Bryan, Sheamus and Cody until they are genuine main eventers like Miz now is. Have them win CLEAN over Cena, Orton, Kane, Big Show etc

Sixth - Make Kozlov a monster again and push him as the new Kane

Seventh - make Alberto Del Rio champion from right this very minute until next Wrestlemania and pick the next big babyface to challenge him (probably Daniel Bryan - that match would be amazing)

Eighth - Let both Sin Cara and Seth Rollins move between all three levels of the belts (and by the way, can we start calling them belts again?) for some amazing matches.

Ninth - Use the mainstays sparingly. Cena, Orton, Trips & Undertaker matches are more special if they're not on tv every week - WM27 just proved that.

Tenth and finally - get a storyline for every single character on the show. The Attitude Era we all loved so much wasn't just about Rock and Stone Cold. It was about Val Venis shagging Ken Shamrock's sister; about Crash Holly and his scales proving he's a super heavyweight; about the Chyna love interest between X-Pac and Kane etc. Everyone had a storyline, a gimmick and a reason to be on tv. Not just, oh Kofi Kingston is up against Drew McIntyre again for no reason...

Trust me - by WM28 you'll have Alberto V Daniel Bryan and Miz V JoMo for World Title matches; and a very strong youth movement undercard with four other titles on the line including European. You can still have your Cena V Rock, Orton V CM Punk II etc - just keep them the hell away from the title matches.

Just my thoughts...

 

[Derf]

Ultimatly, it's all in the crowd reactions. If the fans make noise, push whoever is the source of that noise. That's why Cena is STILL on top, because regardless of cheers or boos, he gets the most reaction easily, each and every night.

Obviously you've got to give these people something to work with. Give them actual feuds and mic time, not just thrown together matchs, and DEFINATLY not as jobbers to the big stars. This past Monday, once Orton was out of the match, everyone assumed Cena would win, because everyone else has been made to look like a jobber.

Which takes me to my next idea. PUSH THE YOUTH! You've done it before, give fresh guys more then they may be able to handle, and it's somewhat worked. Keep it up. Keep putting your "Youth Movement" in main event matchs, having R-Truth in the main event at the next PPV will definatly help elevate his charecter, getting him more over. And it will work with others too.

And finally, DON'T GIVE UP! I've seen SO SO many people getting huge pushs, they looked like legit near future stars. MacIntyre was the "Chosen One" and was hugely over, but they stopped pushing him, now he's barely floating. Vladimir Kozlov was being pushed to the moon, having title matchs with Triple H, now he's literally gone to the point of no return. His career went backwards, but it could have been much better then it ended up as.

 

[ahoyhoy]

How would I do it?

1. Move your awkward guys, your potential guys who haven't yet made it, your guys who don't 'look the part' over to Smackdown. Keep Raw for Cena, Orton, Miz, Jomo, Triple H etc.

2. Make the conscious decision that Raw is the show for more mainstream audiences, PG friendly and where the next handsome face superman character or whatever happens. Raw will sell merch, and that's great. But if Raw is where you make the next Cena, make Smackdown where you will see the next Mick Foley shine. Think of the stars who have been made by groups/gimmicks that you could consider mainstream friendly and the ones that are more awkward and 'edgy' and in my opinion, you get a rough 50-50 through history. WWE unfortunately doesn't currently have somewhere where a new brood, dx, ministry or nation of domination could happen organically like they did in the attitude era. But I suspect that if...

3. You encourage wrestlers to try and emphasise what makes them different or controversial, you could end up with more Triple Hs instead of Hunter Hearst Helmsleys and Stone Colds instead of Ringmasters. Look at Cody at the moment to see how perfectly it can happen.

4. Bring back an approach that will let wrestlers look different. Masks, facepaint, costumes. The only things that currently distuingishs between people these days is... whether they wear trunks or trousers, whether they are black or white. The best loved wrestlers are the larger than life characters, not people just trying to be like you and I. Hulk tore his shirt off. Stone Cold would ride in on a beer truck. Sting was a ghost. Undertaker was a horror movie. Ric Flair was a playboy. Ultimate Warrior was mental. Mankind was... well, you get the picture. And yes, I think a Ultimate Warrior would work today as there is so little done to get crowds hyped up or interact with them that they'd eat out of your hands for the guy who runs around high fiving kids and going bezerk at heels who go against the crowd or what they stand for. The closest you have today is Mysterio whispering something in kids ears, more like a guidance councellor than someone who is going to make the crowd go crazy.

5. Take away a lot of the hell in a cell, ladder matches etc. and instead of put an emphasis on proper wrestling matches with simple stories being told in a match, usually between good and evil. Watching No Holds Barred stuff with no blood or VIOLENCE just turns people off, imo, but make it a wrestling generation of actual competition to compete with MMA and you'd have a hook. Make matches last 30 minutes plus to establish stars to be reckoned with. Whoever fought Flair in those 60 minute ties instantly became a star, not how good they were at promos. If you saw Bryan or Cody or McIntyre go 45 minutes and make every second interesting, you'd be telling your friends. If they just shot a good promo, you'd like it but not enough to go shouting about it.

6. Bring back managers for obvious stars who suck at promos (hey John Morrison), make other wrestlers who can't talk take a backseat. Hell make them work on it, like take a local improve class once a week or something.

7. Bring back stables. It will instantly make the tag team division more interesting and give new guys a chance. The likes of The Rock, Undertaker, Kevin Nash as Diesel, Randy Orton, Triple H, Mr. Perfect, JBL, the Hart family - these guys became names under other people's gimmicks, stables and so on. It gives young guys room to learn, to see who rises to the top (look at Heath Slater compared to Wade Barrett) on who can hold down a team with promos and wrestling ability.

8. Reuse old successful gimmicks. Look at how great the long, sustained run up was with Goldberg. Give your funny rebels a DX. Del Rio is currently riding the DiBiase money train to success. How about Zach Ryder as a cocky heartbreak kid type? What about Drew McIntyre as the most dangerous man in the world ala Ken Shamrock? I'm not saying use the same tag lines but gimmicks have been essential in the past and could help so many people get over if they just let people play a character again.

9. Stick to storylines. If someone is a strong heel who doesn't initially get crowd heat, don't decide that is for a reason and have him be taken out. If you were to take the Goldberg route, say with Kong going through every female wrestler, have her do so until she gets the title and then hold on to it until someone else working hard for the push to take her out. Don't have the character fall before they hit that target (Del Rio has lost SO MUCH heat thanks to losing at Wrestlemania and crying about a broking window, that if one can afford 7000 classic cars, should not really be a problem).

10. Work with Sin Cara on learning English and not botching that trampoline thing.

11. Enjoy it.

 

[VinnieSunshine]

Work them more. Give them more exposure on PPVs and RAW/Smackdown. The main power source on those shows take up 90% of the show.

Gone are the days where multiple wrestlers were in storylines or contention for titles (and Im not talking about Nexus or Corre). Have multiple men in matches.

Create innovative ways to use guys like Evan Bourne and Sin Cara in matches that will mean something. TNA did it right with creating the X-Division. Bring back the Light-heavyweight title or use the Intercontinental title or US title more. A match with Kofi, Bourne, Sin Cara, and more high fliers would be amazing.

If you are marketing towards kids, make characters that are loved by both kids and adults. Make them cartoonish...but not so cheesy that adults would be turned off. Sin Cara is a GREAT example. Is costume is flashy for kids and they love his high fly moves, but adults love him because he is the second coming of Mysterio.

Finally...disban the Nexus and Corre because the days of them being powerful were overshadowed by Cena and now Orton. Make these guys a believable threat on their own.

There are more ways to help this movement, you could go all day trying to come up with things. The one thing I have learned...NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS, THE IWC WILL NEVER BE HAPPY!!!!

 

[xcoN]

Simple: Bring in new superstars, build them up, work on their mic skills, and let them actually wrestle and not so much focus around entertainment. Yes, the company is based on that but it doesn't mean you have to eliminate wrestling completely like WWE is trying to do. Ahem WRESTLEmania, Vince! Anyways, you need mid-carders and jobbers so not every young star will be main event but you can still push them and help re-create the Intercontinental, Tag, United States, and Woman's divisions.

Hype them up, give them a gimmick and see how the fans react. You can go either way as in turing them face or heel. Some stars just have that look to them where they could be a great heel and some have the attitude to work the crowd entertainment wise and wrestling and could make a good face. It also has alot to do with the older guys who have gotten chance after chance. They need to put over more and i'm not just talking about putting over the "big, muscular" guys that Vince and HHH like. After time and i'm talking months or so you could have a decent superstar who is new and fresh. No need to push someone right to the main event just so they can lose to someone whos had 8-9 title reigns and then end up getting buried.

If you followed this process you'd have an entirely new company. A better division, a better roster, more and better feuds and possibly new titles if you so wanted. I like what they have done with Del Rio the most. I considered him over-pushed IF he won at W.M. but he didn't. He still didn't move as fast as Sheamus but still. They pushed him, built his heel character very well, had him win the R.R. and feuded with a few mid-carders and main eventers. Rey did help put him over whether their last match was count out or not. Everything takes time, but you can't rush it. The older guys have had their chance, its time for them to either go or start putting over.

 

[stasheroo]

For starters, great idea for a topic. This is a big complaint of mine (the lack of variety and a consistant commitment to young talent).

First of all, I would hold the Billion-Dollar Princess and whatever she's assembled as a 'creative team' more responsible for the poor job they've done recently. I think that group has failed to do their part in helping young talent develop and get over.

What I would do secondly is be committed to the big picture. Stay the course for the long term and not panic when something doesn't catch fire instantly. They did it before with stars like the Rock and Steve Austin and it paid off spectacularly. And it will again.

Thirdly, give it a rest with the Orton and Cena show. They're both popular enough already without needing 75 % of each week's show dedicated to them. A big reason why young guys don;t get over is because they don't ever get the time to connect with the fans. I respect all the hard work that Cena puts in and what he does for children and I very much respect him for it. But oversaturation isn't good for anybody. Give the man a week off every once in a while! I mean the man was 'fired' and still got more airtime that anyone else on the roster!

Another thing that I feel needs to be done is to give the up and coming talent more of a 'hook'. Some identifying characteristics that differentiate them from the next guy (or girl). Something more than than the generic wrestler name that the WWE computer spits out. Tap into a mind like Matt Striker, who spits out identifiers and adjectives like a Pez dispenser.

And here's a small mention, but a big issue - put the Hart Dynasty back together and stop wasting two young talents while also ruining your tag-team division! And seriously consider firing whatever idiot thought to split them up in the first place!

 

[JGotzDaRemedy]

First you need to realize that although the current youth movement is working, it is impossible to push so many people at once. So if people are under the impression that these guys are being held back on purpose, that is not the case. It's a simple fact that WWE have over 40 guys who could qualify for this youth movement between RAW, Smackdown and development and it's impossible to make them all stars over night.

With that said, back on topic.

WWE need to bring in the guys who could impress from Florida Championship Wrestling. Tyler Black could draw, and I guarentee will draw over the next few years. People will bring up the, "they'll use him wrong" arguement, but in-truth WWE only used Kaval wrong. It isn't like Chris Harris was a great talent in the beginning anyway.

Mike Dalton, Richie Steamboat and the team of Epico and Hunico could all bring viewers to WWE television along with Black. Steamboat is one of the best second/thirs generation guys out there, he has more talent then guys like McGillicutty and DiBiase Jr, and hes shown it in FCW. Mike Dalton is being compared to a young Chris Jericho a lot, and seems to have the talent of getting people over.

While Epico and Hunico are from Mexico, something which could work in their favors with the debut of Mistico, where some people seem intrigued by the Mexican style of wrestling.

These guys to me should be the "new youth movement." Yes there is room for main roster personel like Ted Jr and McIntyre but the new youth movement shouldn't be the guys that have fallen at the first hurdle of the original youth movement, they should be the guys who are working to get their chance.

And I agree with a poster above. The Fortunate Sons stable would be a great idea. Guys like Ted DiBiase Jr, Husky Harris, Wes Briscoe, Brett DiBiase and Michael McGillicutty could all get over with this one stable.

 

[CuddleBuns84]

Exposure and great Promos are what help a good young talent.

The Rock got great exposure when he joined the Nation of Domination, and gave great promos.

John Cena gave great promos, and had some decent matches.

Orton and DB hung around HHH and Orton for years to get over.

It takes Exposure, reliable storylines, and good promos. Those are the things that get people to care about these characters. You don't really want to throw the guy in main event, have him win, and just hope it works out.

Got to build the guy, with promos, good storylines, and good matches.

 

[IvanBarrera531]

There are more ways to help this movement, you could go all day trying to come up with things. The one thing I have learned...NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS, THE IWC WILL NEVER BE HAPPY!!!!

THIS ^

The IWC won't ever be happy. When Miz started to come on the scene with the US title and his charisma, people couldn't wait for him to pop into the title scene. Then he wins Money in the Bank and everyone says, "Well he hasn't had any memorable matches yet, he can't be a main eventer until he does." When Morrison was going up against Sheamus at TLC for the No. 1 contender spot, everyone was rooting for Morrison. Then he wins it and everyone says "His mic skills aren't good enough, he can't be a main eventer."

But now on to address the thread, pretty much all that has been said in this post is good. Market the guys on posters, cups and DVD covers. Get them in mainstream media much like Miz and Cena are always doing. Give them meaningful and suspenseful storylines, go all out. Go back to where you started, if you have to. Let Barrett take over the Nexus again and have him go over CM Punk. Let Sin Cara continue to fight in the name of justice (because that's what it seems like hes doing). STOP putting Mysterio over McIntyre, I'd never believe that a short Mexican guy could beat a guy as intense as McIntyre. Why can't McIntyre go back to being a rough houser, and eventually demand a world title shot from Teddy Long? This guy has too much to offer to be jobbing to Mysterio. Mysterio puts guys over, can't he put this guy over?

 

[Smartie]

It's a good question.

How would I do it? I'd do it by concentrating on the content, not on the stars.

Let's face it. It would be way too difficult for WWE to get someone like DiBiasie over. They should just try to evolve the content of what each superstar is doing. The Miz got over by using catchphrases and that kinda stuff. Ask your writers to come up with new things, new ways of getting over, new ways of connecting to fans. How would those ways be? I don't know. It's not my job. WWE pays a handful of writers so they can come up with ideas and the best they can do is DiBiasie and Maryse? Ask them to use their brains. Ask them to create new catchphrases, ask them to design new ways for a superstar in order to help him connect to fans. It's not end of the world. We still can have people electrifying as much as the Rock. All WWE has to do is to ask the creative to get creative. You can't expect Morrison to get further than where he is now by doing nothing. Give him a character, ask him to do things that can catch people's eyes.

When there's a discussion on how the youth movement should be done, everyone is always saying top guys should put them over, or they should get more time. But the time or winning big matches won't do anything special. Take a look at Barret or Sheamus. They were main eventing last year but right now they are midcard champs who have nothing special. Because they didn't provide anything new. That's the problem with them. Nexus was a new thing. It kinda worked for a couple of month.

And at last they should work on characters way more than what they are doing right now. Miz character born three or four years ago. They stuck with it, gave it opportunities like Dirt sheet or his early 2009 work with Cena, and now you have him as a credible WWE champ. On the other hand they turned JoMo face and he's done nothing after that. His spider man thing that started at Rumble and continued at Chamber was something noticeable but once again they ruined it and blew it off. Give characters more depth, add details to them and give them a cutting edge, it'll work. I swear.

Of course we should not forget that's it's too hard to do all those things and we shouldn't expect everything to get fixed by 6 month or a year, it takes time; but it also takes to things I mentioned above.

 

[streicher187]

Would give one of them a manager not a t and A manager but a real one like Bobby Heanan or Paul Bearer. I would put together a tag team with 2 of the young guys and maybe bring back sunny until they get over and have one turn on the other. A team like Swagger and Mcintyre..

I would take John Morrison and have HBK give him a rub telling him he sees a lot of himself in him but that Morrison needs to calm down the high flying a bit before he has to retire early from injuries. Maybe have some videos of HBK giving him tips on dealing with the crown and in the ring even showing HBK teaching him the Sweet Chin Music only to have him use it on HBK and allow him to have an I'm better then everyone ego and when he talks only talk about how good he is.


I would say the days of seeing a hogan or flair go forever are done the life span of todays wrestlers are about 5 or 10 years and it will be very rare to see guys going strong in the late 40's or 50's both because of injury and because they make a lot more money.

 

[iwinulose]

the new guys need to be worked into it, but the wwe would have to be willing to do that put them in matches where both wrestlers put each other over and have them go after small championships and stuff, though ted dibiase jr really isnt that talented.

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

Simple: Bring in new superstars, build them up, work on their mic skills, and let them actually wrestle and not so much focus around entertainment. Yes, the company is based on that but it doesn't mean you have to eliminate wrestling completely like WWE is trying to do. Ahem WRESTLEmania, Vince! Anyways, you need mid-carders and jobbers so not every young star will be main event but you can still push them and help re-create the Intercontinental, Tag, United States, and Woman's divisions.

I agree, book it exactly like ROH. That's how everyone in the attitude era got over so well. All those awesome straight up wrestling matches.....yea you don't get it.

Guys need to be CHARACTERS. I don't care if that's in the ring, on the mic, whichever is their strength, give the people something to remember them by. Look at each era that was hugely popular. You had distinct, unique CHARACTERS. A pimp, a pornstar, a redneck, madman billionaire, a zombie/cult leader, a horny black man, a horny old woman, a black supremist. Those are all characters that were around in 1999 alone. I usually don't praise the tude era much but from a marketing standpoint it was a field day. You had so many options.

What they did with Cody Rhodes was perfect. He was the guy with the face thing and because Mysterio put him over, he became a name. Give guys characters. Not just "I'm a good looking cocky guy" but you don't need to be like "I'm a turkey" either.

A lot of people have been saying "add this title" "add that title". Putting a title on a no name isn't going to do anything except for make the belt a no name belt. The European title didn't make val venis and D'Lo Brown, okay maybe D'Lo, but it didn't make Val. Having a highly entertaining character made Val Venis.