WWE & The Future (Concerned)

[Maximus9000]

I thought I'd start a thread to gauge opinions on something I've been mulling on for a while....

Many of you complain that you're sick of Cena, but what concerns me is that Cena is a rare breed as the roster stands right now, in the sense of being the type of main eventer to headline Wrestlemanias...you catch my drift. A few years ago, this wasn't the case, because WWE had HHH, Batista, Edge, Undertaker in his prime and HBK. Granted, Orton has come a long way since then and Punk's getting there too, but who else is there?

It concerns me that I don't see the next Rock, Cena, Austin, HBK, Undertaker or Angle coming up through the ranks. When Cena debuted, I had a feeling he'd be big, but he benefited from having several established top draws to help put him over.

So looking at the members of the roster under 35, which of them are going to become the headliners of Wreslemanias? Ziggler, Sheamus, Kofi, Bryan, Cody Rhodes, Santino or Ryder even?

I think that Vince needs to find at least 2 more potential huge draws and he needs to do it soon. Cena is already in his mid 30's and perhaps has 3-4 more years of being able to perform at the same consistent level without succumbing to injury. Punk and Orton are slightly younger, but can they carry the brand alone?

Will Vince find himself in a situation where he is literally forced to rely on veterans and sporadic comebacks to keep the product viable, or is it maybe time for someone like Miz or Ziggler to step up to the plate and either become huge, or become epic fails?

What pisses me off about the calls for Cena to turn heel that many fans don't take what I've mentioned above into account. In an ideal world in which Vince had 4-5 guys who could easily steal the spotlight at a moment's notice, I'm sure Cena would have been turned already. In reality, there is simply no one there to fill his boots right now.

So what does the future hold for the WWE, given that I don't see any young breakout stars on the horizon as of now? At least none that could match the caliber of a Cena or CM Punk.

 

[AwesomeRko]

I think the potential is year, they just need the right booking, stroylines and your right the correct calibre of superstar to put them over. Guys like Miz, Ziggler. Rhodes and even people in developmental like Curtis etc could be huge if given the right gimmick and big opporunity.

With guys like Brock and Rock returning alongside Cena, Orton, Y2J and Foley there is plenty of star-power still capable of putting young talent over. Orton has been doing a tremendous job as of late, Y2J is renowned for it and I think a little down the line after all the dream matches etc Rock will do it too, he has always been very generous in that sense.

But yeah I see a bright future for a lot of guys so long as WWE handles them correctly.

 

[Maximus9000]

@AwsomeRko

I see a bright future for the wrestlers you mentioned too, but do you agree that WWE needs to really start pushing them NOW, while the likes of Cena, Jericho, Orton and Punk are still around and in their prime? When Cena rose through the ranks, we had Angle, Rock, Austin, Jericho, Undertaker, Edge and HHH in their prime. The best of the best is looking much thinner now and although Cena, Orton & Punk do a great job of topping a 2 brand show, a serious injury to one of them could be catastrophic.

I think that when Jericho is done with Punk, Miz should turn face and feud with Jericho (for example). I like Ziggler and feel that he should be the one to take the belt from Sheamus, not Del Rio. Orton could help elevate Bryan even more by feuding with him. I like Cody Rhodes, but I don't think he's quite there yet. I liked his "dashing" gimmick. He's seemed a tad lost since then.

Those are just some ideas, but I still somewhat fear for the future.

 

[whoopin' ass]

biggest problem wwe has right now it staying behind someone. they give them a push, get them somewhat established and then just abandon them. take Sheamus - came over to Raw, won titles quickly but what was he doing for the 6-12 months since he won King of the Ring and the Royal Rumble? he was losing all the time and to just about anyone. could you imagine them doing that to Austin or HHH? how about Miz? headlined last year's Mania, seems to be catching fire again the last little but but inbetween his career has been less than memorable. that's why we have so few people who seem like true main eventers - wwe hasn't treated them that way. part of that has been the quick pushes some people like Sheamus have received - the didn't spend 2-5 years building up their career on tv, they did that in a much shorter time and stuff that they would have done in that 2-5 year span gets done now. but really, i think if wwe pushed some of the younger talent properly, they would seem more credible as main eventers to us.

one thing they need to do as well is quit letting Santino beat people who they are trying to push. him beating Swagger and Ziggler yesterday was pathetic. how can you take either of them seriously when that happens? and before you say "it was just one match", it was a triple threat match - he should have lost easily. and who did he beat to get the title? it is hard to take those guys seriously as main eventers when they lose to someone like Santino and yet you can't take Santino as a min eventer either even though he holds a title.

 

[King of the Words]

I think we will continue to see this trend of returning big name guys for the next couple of years til mania 30, 31,32. Around there. At the same time WWE will quietly start building more star power. I think WWE are testing the waters with a lot of guys now such as Miz, Bryan, Rhodes, Sheamus, Barrett, Ziggler ect.. to see who can possibly be future giants in the business. I think they have a lot of stock in Sheamus, who I think will become the face of smackdown, beating orton eventually in a classic battle for Smackdown supremecy. Punk is being groomed as the face of Raw and the company, after Cena, and so far so good for the most part. I think Austin will be the very last of the older big names to return and after he is done I think a new era will begin with Punk and Sheamus leading the way with 2 or 3 other well established guys, maybe Barrett, Ziggler and Morrison. It is definetly time to start working on new big stars and hopefully it will be done right and meanwhile we will get to see a lot of our past favorites once more.

 

[3:16]

WWE has a future. They have a lot of good talent that they can bring up i.e Kofi, Rhodes, Ziggler but they need the right pushes from higher-ups. At the same time the up and coming need to show that they can be team leaders and bring a crowd whether to cheer for them or to see them lose. All it takes is the right pushes for and people to put them over and you will have the future.

 

[enviousdominous]

We obviously have very different expectations of a main event.

You seem to believe that there isn't a very healthy talent pool in terms of people ready to work a main event match. Love him or hate him, you think that Cena belongs in the main event because he's good enough to be there.

A main eventer is whatever person managed to find the happy medium between impressing the fans and impressing the powers that be in the back. Many people on the roster have already managed to impress the fans well enough to be taken seriously as a main eventer, their biggest obstacle is John Cena. John Cena happens to be one of the powers that be, he has political sway in that he was a top merchandise seller at one time and in that Stephanie wants to jump his bone. Cena's clean loss to the Rock was the first clean loss since a match with Randy Orton where he no sold the head punt kick.

I personally don't want Cena to go heel, I want him to take a vacation for a year or two. Who would fill his spot? ANY-FUCKING-BODY!! People don't buy a fucking ticket to boo Cena, if everyone who bought a fucking ticket heard over the loud speaker "John Cena will not be appearing tonight" you would hear the loudest pop of all time from any arena in the US.

Here's a main event to shut me up. David Otunga vs Heath Slater. Well at least I'm not watching Cena waddle around the ring like a fucking little rascal.

 

[Fansince1992]

It seems to me The PG Era is fading away. Jericho's assault with Bottles on Punk on Monday is a sign of the old "Ruthless Aggression" we used to see.(I don't think Little Jimmy who adores John Cena should see this type of act)
Perhaps WWE are slowly phasing out the PG Era. We might see blood again, more backstage brawls with weapons, Hardcore matches. Only time will tell.

The Problem is we have (from the full timers) John Cena then Punk and possibly Sheamus and Orton are the Viable Main Eventers (my opinion ofc). The Rest are just rare main eventers who mostly sit in the mid card. Daniel Bryan should honestly be pushed to the stars. He is getting amazing pops as a Heel. he can talk pretty well and is probably one of the best if not the best wrestler in the WWE. I would slowly have Sheamus become a heel again, as he is getting Boo's now from the 18 second Mania match. I always liked the Irishman better as a heel as he has become a bit corny as a face. A Bryan/Orton Fued would do Bryan wonders i think. These 2 could fight over a Title Match with Sheamus. Perhaps throw Del Rio in aswell and maybe have a 4 way thing for the WHC.

With Brock now back i could see WWE getting a bit of the Ruthless side back from previous years. This style would suit Brock down to the ground, and could even bring out a more Face type ruthless Cena. Brock could lead some of the others to become a lot more Aggressive in thier matches and promos. I think they may have started this off with Jericho glassing Punk. I really hope they use Brock as a pure fighter more than a Power Wrestler and we see him destroy people with pure Punches, Kicks, Elbows, Headbutts etc.

Will be interesting to see what sort of matches will be set. We are seeing Handicap matches already so i feel the future of the WWE might just become a bit more Hardcore than it is now.

 

[mb47]

Firstly to the OP Cena is 34, Punk 33 and Orton 32...They're not exactly much younger than Cena.

But on to the point of discussion.

Cena is a mega star in the wrestling world, he's huge and the problem is WWE has relied on Cena TOO much in the past 5-6 years that he's seen as stale and no-one else is up at his level on the current roster.

Orton should have been pushed as a mega heel while they worked Cena as a mega face. That would at least have given them 2 big mega stars on the roster. However time travel isn't around and so we can't change how things have gone.

CM Punk is a big name who if kept in his position against top guys and a good title run with some big clean wins then he can move close to Cena's level.

The problem is that they had a good selection of top guys when Cena was coming up through the WWE ranks and so they focused a lot of time on making Cena a future top guy while neglecting others as only one mega star was needed at the time. They've now hit the problem that those names have left or retired. This is the reason they've got a deal with Brock and why they've got Rock and Jericho back in.

Jericho is the platform for CM Punk to become a mega-star right now and I expect another high profile feud after, if not two. I see Rock vs. Punk happening and I really believe Punk vs. Taker will happen to end the streak if no-one else has stepped up to the main event picture by that point.

Brock taking on Cena is a realistic fit on paper but this is wrestling, Brock needs to put over a couple of younger guys even if it's a distraction and D.Bryan picks up a win over him for example.

Sheamus and Barrett currently have the ability to be huge but the problem is they're not. They both need to be on Raw and in longer feuds that really engage the crowds.

Orton is passed his chance to be at Cenas level in my opinion however he's well established and I like his current role just putting people over, it's not harming Orton but is helping others. Keep him in that role. Personally if he was to be pushed bring him back in his heel viper gimmick and use the punt kick and those sick looks again. During that time Orton was untouchable, he was the man in WWE and he made anyone and everyone look good while still making himself look better.

If WWE is shifting to be a little more edgy again then I hope we get that Orton back. Kane causing some destruction and putting over mid-carders would be a boost and Cena needs to stumble a bit and not pick up wins looking so strong. Fine have Cena be as he is now but have him only just scrap a win, no 5 move finale, no AA, just a roll-up for the win in desperation or something. It doesn't harm Cena and makes his opponent that much more credible as a top guy.

I could literally rant for hours about what they could/couldn't do but at the end of the day they have a direction they're going in and clearly they're looking to build a few more guys in to the main event picture using huge past names to do so.

All I know is people shouldn't be taking shots at Rock or Brock right now. You don't hear much bigger pops than those two are getting and remember Brock wasn't Attitude Era so that can't even come in to discussion. It just shows you that WWE has dropped the ball and they NEED these guys back for the time being because no-one (besides Punk at MITB in Chicago) have gotten pops even close to these returning guys.

 

[Ithil]

Firstly to the OP Cena is 34, Punk 33 and Orton 32...They're not exactly much younger than Cena.

But on to the point of discussion.

Cena is a mega star in the wrestling world, he's huge and the problem is WWE has relied on Cena TOO much in the past 5-6 years that he's seen as stale and no-one else is up at his level on the current roster.

Orton should have been pushed as a mega heel while they worked Cena as a mega face. That would at least have given them 2 big mega stars on the roster. However time travel isn't around and so we can't change how things have gone.

CM Punk is a big name who if kept in his position against top guys and a good title run with some big clean wins then he can move close to Cena's level.

The problem is that they had a good selection of top guys when Cena was coming up through the WWE ranks and so they focused a lot of time on making Cena a future top guy while neglecting others as only one mega star was needed at the time. They've now hit the problem that those names have left or retired. This is the reason they've got a deal with Brock and why they've got Rock and Jericho back in.

Jericho is the platform for CM Punk to become a mega-star right now and I expect another high profile feud after, if not two. I see Rock vs. Punk happening and I really believe Punk vs. Taker will happen to end the streak if no-one else has stepped up to the main event picture by that point.

Brock taking on Cena is a realistic fit on paper but this is wrestling, Brock needs to put over a couple of younger guys even if it's a distraction and D.Bryan picks up a win over him for example.

Sheamus and Barrett currently have the ability to be huge but the problem is they're not. They both need to be on Raw and in longer feuds that really engage the crowds.

Orton is passed his chance to be at Cenas level in my opinion however he's well established and I like his current role just putting people over, it's not harming Orton but is helping others. Keep him in that role. Personally if he was to be pushed bring him back in his heel viper gimmick and use the punt kick and those sick looks again. During that time Orton was untouchable, he was the man in WWE and he made anyone and everyone look good while still making himself look better.

If WWE is shifting to be a little more edgy again then I hope we get that Orton back. Kane causing some destruction and putting over mid-carders would be a boost and Cena needs to stumble a bit and not pick up wins looking so strong. Fine have Cena be as he is now but have him only just scrap a win, no 5 move finale, no AA, just a roll-up for the win in desperation or something. It doesn't harm Cena and makes his opponent that much more credible as a top guy.

I could literally rant for hours about what they could/couldn't do but at the end of the day they have a direction they're going in and clearly they're looking to build a few more guys in to the main event picture using huge past names to do so.

All I know is people shouldn't be taking shots at Rock or Brock right now. You don't hear much bigger pops than those two are getting and remember Brock wasn't Attitude Era so that can't even come in to discussion. It just shows you that WWE has dropped the ball and they NEED these guys back for the time being because no-one (besides Punk at MITB in Chicago) have gotten pops even close to these returning guys.

How about Bryan at this week's RAW?

His pops were as big as the Rock's, and continued throughout the night with him only being on TV for a few seconds.

There's a potential huge star, yet they won't capitilize on that, they'll ignore it because it's not the guy they want to get over. The fact that they even have the idea of only getting over guys they want instead of "everyone an anyone who CAN get over" is absurd.

 

[jsn_since89]

Interesting thread!

The thing I find with it all is the fact that a lot of people on other threads I've seen have bashed a lot of the new crop of talent purely on the basis that they've got no potential or personality etc.

For instance, Drew McIntyre is a constant debate amongst this forum.
I think with McIntyre or any other NEW era type guy at the minute (Ziggler, Rhodes etc.) its all about what Creative do with them that counts

"Doesn't matter what you say or how you look, its what you do that defines you..."

Austin had his 3:16 speech...

Triple H was part of successful stables...

Taker had the Mania record plus a whole host of other great storylines...

Rock brought the entertainment...

Them sort of things got them over with us; the "WWE UNIVERSE" so writers get ya thinking caps on

**

AND THAT'S ALL I GOTTA SAY ABOUT THAT!

 

[scomvp316]

I was a huge Savage fan but understood why he wasn't thrusted into the main event at the same level of Hogan consistently from year to year. Hogan loved doing all the PR stuff without alot of complaints where other talent just wanted to do the shows and then go home or party with the boys. We fast forward now with Cena and its the same case. If you were to put Cena and Punk in other promotions competing against one another just from wrestling and crowd reaction Punk wins hands down. Cena loves to do all the PR stuff with zero complaints cause he knows if he does that he is guranteed a main event status for a very longtime. I do think Punk and Savage have similar qualities much like Steamboat and Windham. I do think if Punk and Ziggler along with Bryan would consume their lives of WWE 24/7 within two years Cena would be a distant memory. Vince loves nothing but Yes men and right now until other guys step up outside of the ring Orton and Cena will hog the spotlight. I think cena is a WWE lifer but I can see Orton jumping ship within the next three years especially if Bisch is still in charge of creative for TNA. VKM will never change unless Raw goes below 2.7 every Monday for a three month period. VKM still believes wrestling isn't entertainment that the promos carries most shows. Would fans of today watched RAW back during the Attitude Era if we go by the module of the WWE programming philosophy!

 

[flawd101]

i think things are looking good for the road to summerslam
cena vs lesnar (rock vs lesnar vs cena?)
cm punk vs jericho (w/ mark henry facing cm punk at non ppv)
sheamus vs d bryan vs ADR (talk about future stars)
cody rhodes vs big show
kane vs orton (kane vs punk for summerslam???)
sanitno/clay vs laurenitis and vicky
kofi, the miz, christian, 619, and barrett also ready for push

i really want tensai w/ manager vs dolph w/ vicky and swagger to be a long fued with promos for the the us title. i think ziggler would put on crazy matches against the big man and tensai needs a big push to start. making tensai earn the title against vicky and dolph would be the only way for the title to recover from santino ans swag holding it.

epico/primo = chairs
kidd/gabriel = ladders
usos = tables
only way to save the tag division, then use fcw star in a tag team and give him the old school push like bret hart and shawn michaels got after their tag team success

 

[Maximus9000]

Gabriel - the guy has huge potential. I agree with you, he needs to be placed in the tag division. I like your other ideas for the tag division too, plus as I mentioned in another thread, I think that Riley & Ryder (R&R) would have massive potential as a tag team, both would help one another get "over more".

Bryan is quite an enigma. He's that popular that fans even chant for him when he's not there. I don't know how I'd handle that if I were Vince, other than to just keep doing the same and not try to give him a corny face turn as fans like the cocky, slippery heel that he is, in a similar way to how fans loved Eddie Guererro when he was heel or face.

I'm also eager to see Skip Sheffield return. A lot of good things have been said about him.

As for Cena, I am no fan per se, but he's done a good job following the departures of Rock, Austin and Angle, HHH and Undertaker adopting more part-time schedules. I think that part of the problem is that John has been doing the same thing for too long. I bet that if he were to take a break for 2-3 months, the fans would cheer like crazy upon his return.

All the complaining about him gets old though. There are plenty of other superstars to like and it's not like Cena takes up the whole 2 hours of Raw, barely even 10 minutes most nights.