WWE Pushing young stars to the moon

[RomanReignsWWE]

WWE has been pushing talent to the moon.The new ones anyway.Roman Reigns for an example the guy will be a legend in like a couple of years if his push continue to be the way it is.He has the most eliminations in RR and SS match history.He has arguablly got the best spear and arguablly the most popular signature ever with the superman punch.Bray Wyatt,Bray and the family has been dominating lately.Bray is headed to Wrestlemania against a damn Hall Of Famer (in about 2017 anyway) in John Cena.Cesaro same goes for him he's beaten Randy Orton on numerous occasions.He took down the IC champion on Raw he can sure be a canidate for best signature ever along with Reigns.Cesaro had the greatest Raw match IMO against Cena on Raw last week.Daniel Bryan,some don't see it but look at this guy 3-time world champion,MITB winner,tag champs with Kane,in one of the greatest stables of all time,he will face either Triple H or Batista and Orton or even HBK(Most likely not) at Wrestlemania,and has beaten the likes of John Cena,Randy Orton,Kane,Christian,too name a few.He is also Arguablly the new (temporary face of the WWE).As like Reigns if his push continue like this as well he will join the all-time greats in about 3 or 4 years.Sheamus:RR winner 3 time world champ beaten the likes of Cena,HHH,Orton,Kane,Show,Jericho etc. He is also on that list. Ambrose One of the longest reigning US champs.Big E. IC champ for 3 months.Dominating on TV and PPV.Far as I know he is yet to lose on PPV.Do you think it is good that they are.Are is it too soon to fast with the exception of E. and Ambrose. Thoughts?

 

[AhSpicyDrop]

Reigns' push is probably as close to a moon push as they've gotten since Brock Lesnar(and maybe Sheamus to an extent, but they kinda stabilized him quick). With Reigns they've given him two huge moments thus far with Survivor Series, and then breaking the elimination record at Royal Rumble... But then they pulled back on him a little bit and had him take the fall versus The Wyatts at EC. So they're giving him a sustained build.

I think WWE is smart to avoid the moon pushes because then you get yourself into a situation where one guy dwarfs the entire company, and not everybody is as dedicated as John Cena. The last thing WWE wants is to create a megastar and have him stolen by another media venture.

Your argument for Ambrose is pretty weak. They've pushed him the least out of the Shield, hands down. He's mostly made me forget about the US title because he's defended it so infrequently, and I can't remember the last time he defended it without there being an un-clean finish to end the match. He usually loses by DQ or count-out to keep the belt, and while that's a heel tactic it's not exactly a "moon push".

Bryan hasn't been a moon push by any stretch of the imagination. He's been the definition of a guy paying his dues AFTER paying his dues if you ask me. Yeah, he's had some world title wins but they haven't given him any kind of sustained run with the title like they did with Punk, or relied on him to even somewhat carry the company. He got over organically and in spite of WWE, which is what more talent should do. But to say WWE has pushed Bryan to the moon is just wrong.

 

[Eddie Menuek]

I don't think you can make a single decision for every case; you have to judge it on a case by case basis.

Cesaro, for example, I think is absolutely ready for a top spot. I'd argue the same for Sheamus as well, but he's been around for a good while and when he had his initial push into the WWE Championship spot I didn't think he was ready at all; fast forward four years and I'd say he's one of the most entertaining talents on the roster. These are big characters who can back up what they're doing in the ring and hang with the best of them. Daniel Bryan is another case where you certainly can't say it's too much too soon; he's had a progression from a midcarder with very little investment behind him up to the brink of being a very top guy, which seems to be becoming rarer to see with the instant investment of certain guys from the moment they step up from NXT these days.

Bray Wyatt's gimmick is enough for me to justify where he's at on the card. It's a pretty compelling gimmick but only really works if he's going head to head with compelling opponents. There's no value in the leader of a cult trying to take down a host of midcarders. His gimmick has pretty much fast tracked him to the position on the card that he's in and, so far, he's backing it up in the ring.

Roman Reigns is the most interesting push going on for me at the moment. The guy obviously has the look, he can talk pretty well and undoubtedly has been entertaining over the past few months (nothing gets me hyped at the moment like when he 'cocks' his fist for the Superman Punch). That being said, since The Shield debut he's seemed to be involved in very few singles matches - I'm assuming that might be for a reason - and the ones that do come to mind are versus opponents with the talent of the likes of CM Punk or Daniel Bryan. It's going to be an interesting few months for Reigns when he breaks from The Shield.

 

[L@RISANO]

I don't think you can make a single decision for every case; you have to judge it on a case by case basis.

Cesaro, for example, I think is absolutely ready for a top spot. I'd argue the same for Sheamus as well, but he's been around for a good while and when he had his initial push into the WWE Championship spot I didn't think he was ready at all; fast forward four years and I'd say he's one of the most entertaining talents on the roster. These are big characters who can back up what they're doing in the ring and hang with the best of them. Daniel Bryan is another case where you certainly can't say it's too much too soon; he's had a progression from a midcarder with very little investment behind him up to the brink of being a very top guy, which seems to be becoming rarer to see with the instant investment of certain guys from the moment they step up from NXT these days.

Bray Wyatt's gimmick is enough for me to justify where he's at on the card. It's a pretty compelling gimmick but only really works if he's going head to head with compelling opponents. There's no value in the leader of a cult trying to take down a host of midcarders. His gimmick has pretty much fast tracked him to the position on the card that he's in and, so far, he's backing it up in the ring.

Roman Reigns is the most interesting push going on for me at the moment. The guy obviously has the look, he can talk pretty well and undoubtedly has been entertaining over the past few months (nothing gets me hyped at the moment like when he 'cocks' his fist for the Superman Punch). That being said, since The Shield debut he's seemed to be involved in very few singles matches - I'm assuming that might be for a reason - and the ones that do come to mind are versus opponents with the talent of the likes of CM Punk or Daniel Bryan. It's going to be an interesting few months for Reigns when he breaks from The Shield.

Just have to say, Roman Reigns' singles action has increased gradually in the past couple of months.
Has had 2 matches vs Mark Henry(One was a pure squash), vs CM Punk and just now,vs Bray Wyatt(a preview of a possible titanic top feud for the future a la Cena-Orton/Austin-Rock).

I'd say the future looks great as long as the Main Event scene doesn't become too clustered and due to that, every guy's Real Main Event push is a start-stop event, which results in John Cena leaving and there is no definite person to take over as the Ultimate "Face of the company" or anything close to that.

 

[OYDK]

Roman Reigns and Bray Wyatt are getting the strongest pushes for young guys I've seen in a LONG time, and it's just what is needed. The main reason the product was so bad from 2007-2011 (roughly) was because the roster was so stale. There were no new people getting pushes it was same old crap for the longest time (Cena, HHH, Michaels, Batista, Big Show, Kane) and what made it even more frustrating was that they had the talent to push (Benjamin, Haas, Carlito, Kennedy). I'm glad to see WWE isn't making the same mistake this time around.

Sheamus shouldn't really be in this category because he has already cemented his spot as a main eventer, no real need for a push.

Ambrose and Big. E are getting strong pushes as midcard champions but I think it will be a while before you see these guys in the main event picture (Wyatt and Reigns seem to be ahead of them in the "power rankings") and idk what they're going to do with Cesaro.

I think the 3 guys you will see being pushed the hardest at this point will be Reigns, Wyatt, and Cesaro.

 

[hollowpoint]

In my opinion, there is only 1 way to get the push to the moon. And that is:
Beat the Undertaker at WM. All the other pushes like Reigns and Wyatt are big pushes, or even mega pushes, but they always seem to even out. Same will happen here.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I don't really see any of them being pushed "to the moon" really and, for the most part, I think that's a good thing. When I think of someone being pushed "to the moon" the name that immediately springs to mind is Brock Lesnar. Within 3 months to the day, if I'm not mistaken, of Brock Lesnar's WWE TV debut, he won the WWE Championship for the first time. He won the title a total of 3 times, he won King of the Ring in 2002 and the Royal Rumble in 2003. It's pretty obvious that Vince considered Brock Lesnar to be THE future of WWE as he was damn near everything Vince could want in a wrestler. And, let's be completely honest, it's not as if Lesnar didn't demonstrate sufficient ability to warrant such a push. The problem with Lesnar is that he had no real love for the company and left in less than 2 years. Lesnar thought he could handle the intense touring schedule of WWE and, as a result, figured he'd make some big & easy money. He liked the fame & money just fine, but wasn't so crazy about the notion that he'd actually have to work his ass off day in & day out for the vast majority of the year to earn every red cent.

Since then, NOBODY has gotten pushed like Brock Lesnar has. Not even John Cena's initial pushes came close to what Lesnar got. For all the griping that's aimed Vince's direction for liking only a certain type of guy, which simply isn't true because every major star in the company would be north of 250 pounds & look like they were chiseled out of stone, he's not nearly as carried away by the image of a wrestler the way he may have once been. Look at the careers of Ezekiel Jackson or Mason Ryan as examples of that. Roman Reigns has been on WWE television for close to 1.5 years now, but he's not utterly dominating the place. When it's all said & done, it's all really about how much the fans are interested in you. They're the ones who spend the money, after all. That's majorly important, obviously, but what might be just as important is displaying that you're willing to work your ass off for the company. The only way to tell that with any wrestler is to give them time.

 

[sTyLnK]

They aren't pushing squat. For some years now the company has been preaching it, but when you look at it overall, there aren't any main event guys other than Daniel Bryan and even he's getting held back. Yes, they're creating new talent, but aren't utilizing them at all.

If it were up to me, I'd have had a ton of guys in the main event by now and this would have happened a few years ago. Swagger, Ziggler in the past just to name a few.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

They have learned the "rocket ship to the moon" doesn't work... it hasn't since Hogan 30 years ago in reality. Anyone of any substance in the last 30 years has had longer, more sustained build up...through the gears and outside of the dreaded "treadmill".

Most regular readers of my posts will know this one, but even now it's still there... It started with Bret and Shawn, basically there is a fixed trajectory that is Tag Team or debut to Mid Card title and if you haven't won the world within 2 years of losing that midcard title you are a failiure. Almost every main event guy in the last 20 years has gone through that treadmill... Kurt Angle, Rock, Booker, Benoit, Jericho, Punk, Christian, Edge, Miz, Jeff Hardy, Cena, Batista, Orton even Bryan.

The exceptions are the guys like Austin who was given a sustained build over 20 months. Guys like Mark Henry where it took 15 years for him to break through, Foley and Triple H who got where he did through connections.

Then you have the rocket ship guys who invariably failed other than perhaps Taker and to a lesser extent Sheamus who is still a viable main eventer even now. Guys like ADR, Lashley, Brock, Khali, Hassan, even Warrior all failed.

So they've gone back to the drawing board with the Shield and particularly Bray Wyatt... They made sure Wyatt was the finished article before bringing him up, spent money on the song, the presentation like the vignettes (although they are starting to miss the individual promos each time they come out...the "we're here" thing could hurt them) and rather than just feeding talent after talent to them, they have been VERY selective with who Wyatt gets in the ring with, yet he has beaten them all... not easily, but enough to make him dangerous to anyone. For him to be facing Cena less than a year after his debut at Mania is a joke to some, but it's how the great heels of the past were built... no rising through the midcard, holding the IC and then facing the champ or the big names... guys like Bundy. Piper and the like didn't toil in the midcard...they had one or two select feuds and went straight to Hogan.

With Shield it's slightly different in that there are 2 can't miss talents in there and one who WWE would "really like" to get over as well... Stables are always about the guy who MUST get over from it, the 2nd guy who you want over from it and anyone else is a "would like". With Evolution, Orton was the MUST get over and Batista the like to... for the Shield most thought Ambrose was the must and on balance it probably still is... they wanted Reigns over and that has happened so focus may have shifted slightly but Ambrose is well on his way to 4th longest running US champ in history while Reigns has his 2 "landmarks"... they're pretty even. Rollins is "on paper" lagging behind but he was also Tag champ for most of the last year and will likely get a very big moment when he gets to "choose a side" on RAW. Logic says he goes heel but I actually see Ambrose joining the Wyatts so Rollins is perhaps gonna stick with Regins to begin with.

The interesting thing is they have announced the Ladder match for NXT and I think that's where we see the next "push to the moon" begin with Adrian Neville... I think he is gonna win the title from Dallas and that will make his name so to speak - Rey is pretty much gone so they need a new high flyer and Neville coming to the main roster in 3 months or so makes a lot of sense. Does he merit it over others, I think so cos he will offer something relatively unique... Sami Zayn is gonna me more of a longer sell, especially as he looks like Sheamus' little brother.

But forget this myth that they can't create talent cos nobody can... they can mould it, and give opportunity. But the biggest reason guys like Ziggler, Swagger and the like failed is their own flaws, be it arrogance, stupidity or in the case of someone like Barrett just sheer bad luck. All are almost redeemable except maybe Dolph who is too far into the concussion mire now, one more they have to retire him. Swagger is showing signs of being interesting again, as is Barrett - only thing holding him back is the dodgy arm he got courtesy of Dolph. He got a push to the moon too and warranted it... if Dolph hadn't tried to twist mid air, Barrett would probably be headlining 30 by now.

 

[enviousdominous]

From what I've seen, the current short list of potential main event mainstays are getting their big moments in gradual doses. I think that's a much more intelligent way of producing their next number one guy.

Roman Reigns owned at the Royal Rumble, but he didn't win the Royal Rumble. While I wasn't happy to see Batista win the damn thing, it still makes sense to keep Roman Reigns in the mid-card mix so he can display a new facet of his dominance with each match he competes in. When he powered out of Sister Abigail, that was a very memorable spot. If he had been stuck in the doldrums of waiting for his main event at Wrestlemania, he probably wouldn't have had that. Not to mention how over The Shield vs The Wyatts ended up being.

I look at Sheamus and Del Rio as a couple of guys who got their top spot way too early. Sheamus got his WWE title in a fluke win by putting John Cena through a table, Del Rio got his WWE title in a fluke win by *ugh* "cashing in" his money in the bank briefcase. They didn't grow on us as world champions, and they had to mix it up with opponents who were not willing to make them look good.

Bray is being allowed to fight an actual match with John Cena, and no belt is on the line. This is a very good thing because while this is a chance for Bray to try out some new spots in a high profile match, John Cena is probably going to go out of his way to put Bray over in that there's no belt to coerce his ego. Win or lose, I see the WWE using this as an opportunity to make Bray look more dominating.

Daniel Bryan isn't just being portrayed as an underdog, he's being portrayed as an underdog whose only flaw is that most everyone on the roster wants to keep him down. If he's forced to lose a match, he's allowed to lose while showing that nothing short of interference can keep him down for a pin.

I see them pushing their favorite performers gradually and responsibly, which is making the mid-card a hell of a lot more entertaining.

 

[Mustang Sally]

It's the age-old debate in the sports entertainment industry, isn't it? Push the young? Push the old? Try for a balance between the two?

Ironically, the notion of advancing the young talent flies in the face of the tactics adopted by TNA four years ago, when they virtually cast aside their home-grown talent to push a bunch of "name" guys, mostly older performers imported from WWE. The younger company (TNA) embraced the past while the older company (WWE) looked to the future. That's irony.

Yes, I think WWE is pushing the new guys hard, but not "to the moon." So often in the past, members of wrestling forums have complained about leaving the new guys "to gain experience" before they would be pushed, leading others to point out the: "How do they gain experience if you don't use them?" adage that we "regular" people have often used when interviewing for jobs.

But I see no problem here. Sure, you can prove anything by citing individual examples of a performer whom you think has been overused or underused, but on the whole, I think WWE is doing a fine job of boosting young guys while still keeping the Cenas, Ortons and Big Shows in the picture. Too, there are guys like Daniel Bryan who, while hardly a newcomer, has seen his time arrive and is receiving one of the biggest pushes ever seen. (Never mind whether he's the world champion; it's a massive push whether he wins that or not).

But that guys like Roman Reigns, Bray Wyatt and Cesaro are getting the benefit of the WWE machine's best efforts are exactly what a large part of the wrestling community has been clamoring for all these years. Give youth their chance to shine.

I think it's great.

 

[MCMG]

It helps that there is a lot of talent. The Shield, Big E and Bray are all incredibly talented guys. Add to that Rhodes, Cesaro, Bryan and Harper and we can see how good the current group of younger superstars are. Age is irrelevant when you can perform like The Shield and Bray. Giving them a strong push is expected because these guys are all probably future World Champions. You'd think one of these guys could partially replace John Cena but who knows.

However, just because there is a lot of talent doesn't mean they will all be a success. Who is to say that in a couple of years Seth Rollins will be released? Extremely doubtful but Shelton Benjamin, Morrison, Kennedy, Dibiase, Carlito were all meant to be top stars. Not one world championship between them and all still pretty young to this day. Personally, I'm a huge fan of Rollins and his work in The Shield with some of the top guys have made him look great. Undoubtedly his push has helped raise his status and overall standing.

Right now there is a lot of ability. It must be said that we will never, ever, see anything to rival the OVW 02' class. Cena, Lesnar, Orton and Batista. It's incredible that one batch of developmental wrestlers can create one of the greatest faces of the company and a legitimate draw who has only had one bad match in pro wrestling (and became a UFC Heavyweight Champion) In addition, Randy Orton and Batista, awesome.

All these guys got pushes pretty quickly. Cena and Orton left their first Wrestlemania's as mid-card champs. Batista, like Orton, with a win over The Rock and Lesnar as WWE champ. Why? Because they were all extremely talented.

While these guys don't have the same talent as the 2002 group they should all be a success in the WWE. The pushes of Sheamus, Bryan, Bray and The Shield are all just. They all have ability are helping the overall quality of the product.