WWE Youth Movement: How To Utilize Them...

[the Albanian viper]

now we all know wwe is behind the "youth movement" and all. Also we know that the young stars like sheamus, morrison, otunga mcgillicuty kingston bourne (wwe tagteam champs) riley and miz are on RAW. On the flip side we know that Barrett Jackson slater and gabriel are on SMACKDOWN. My question is what about the guys that are not being used? Now i know wwe has NXT but that is mainly used to expose the FCW guys to the wwe universe. Now i have a solution to this the way wwe can utilize the remainder of their roster is why not bring back a show like velocity or heat (which wwe had back when they had TNN's station broadcasting it. They can easily put it on the internet or put it on usa or the score (up here in canada). I wanna know what do you guys think?

i understand there not great on the mic but for the rest of the guys that dont get a shot on tv what are they to do be sent down to fcw or be released. They wanna earn their money. Like the usos we see them for a few weeks and their m.i.a. I no there decent in the ring but they have sub-par mic skills. All im asking is what should they do with the remaider of their roster?

 

[Headman]

They should worry about finding ways to use people if they're not ready or worthy of being used. For every Sheamus there are 20 or 30 Heath Slaters who just aren't worthy of a real push. Most aren't even worthy of a spot on the main roster. Instead of finding things for all of these new guys to do, they should focus on building the right guys into stars. I think Barrett has a shot at becoming a major player and would like to see a Barrett vs Sheamus feud, but a lot of the other guys you named really aren't that interesting. And they're not good enough on the mic or in the ring in some cases to sell whatever storyline the creative department comes up with, no matter how brilliant said storyline is.

 

[Headman]

i understand there not great on the mic but for the rest of the guys that dont get a shot on tv what are they to do be sent down to fcw or be released. They wanna earn their money. Like the usos we see them for a few weeks and their m.i.a. I no there decent in the ring but they have sub-par mic skills. All im asking is what should they do with the remaider of their roster?

It's not just mic skills. Some of these guys aren't that polished in the ring either. I think the bulk of them should be paired up as tag teams, but honestly if they can't use them they shouldn't be on the main roster so yes they should be either sent back to FCW or released so they can become more polished and learn their craft elsewhere. Think of it like a rookie baseball player. Is it's in his best interest to throw him into the majors before he's ready or keep him in the minors until he can handle the job? And some guys have to leave the league altogether, maybe go to mexico or japan to improve. All of these options are available to pro wrestlers and they should take advantage of that.

Right now it's more important that the WWE find the guys with the "It" factor and get them ready for the big time. There's not even a handful of guys on the current roster who can be considered legit main eventers, and by that I mean people who can carry a show or sell ppvs. The old guard has pretty much retired so now the ball is in the young guys' court. They just need to step up.

 

[SmattyG]

I'm a big fan of Slater & Gabriel. Slater is a natural heel - he's not too bad on the mic and he's in ring skills are improving. He'll never be world champ but he's a keeper. Gabriel could be a huge face - like JoMo he's a bit rubbish on the mic, but he has the skills. Of course Sheamus and Barrett are the main guys in any youth movement. But let's not forget Derrick Bateman (turn him face again - he's a star waiting to happen), Skip Sheffield (likewise Yip Yip Yip) and Brodus Clay (either face/heel this guy has everything. And you do know that!)

I'd bring back the European Title so the up & comers have something to feud over and get some credibility before being pushed to the moon.

Oh, and throw in Trent Barreta and Tyson Kidd too. Amazing workers in the ring...

 

[DeathClutch]

Simple, Cruiseweight division and Tag division.

Smaller guys should be placed in that division bring in some new jazzy belt and hold a tournament, give the guys AMPLE time to show their skills and worth.

Bigger guys place in the tag division, and once they split push one in the IC division and the other can do his own thing.

Smatty said bring back the Europen title, in all fairness I agree the European title would be better suited but I don't see the European belt would do much unless it had some unique rule like only defended in europe against European guys.

But push guys in groups, cruiser and tag division and see their worth.

 

[Foshinzo]

My strategy for cleaning out the youth movement: sink or swim.

You've got all these young guys that were a part of Nexus who aren't going to amount to anything (i.e. McGillicutty), and I say just get rid of them. Why do Otunga-cutty keep getting on TV when the Usos, the best tag team they've got, can't get the time of day? I mean, it has to be something backstage because otherwise the E is just that bad at booking tag teams.

There are other things you can do: create uniformed teams out of some of these guys, bring back the Cruiserweight division (which they say they're doing), etc. But, why are you still, for the love of God, pushing Mark Henry? You mean to tell me that you'd rather give Henry, who I admit is doing well with this chance, a pointless title run when you easily could have given that chance to someone like Wade Barrett, who's been itching for a feud with Randy Orton on Smackdown? Why is Daniel Bryan still losing matches? If he's going to get a Wrestlemania match and possibly even a World Championship out of it, then why not go ahead and start building him up as an unbeatable shoot wrestler to get the kids behind him?

I think that if you want to sort out the youths, you use them and then cut the ones who can't swim. None of these guys are really doing anything. They fight each other, but are any of them actually making an impact? Would the show stop if Dolph Ziggler wasn't there? Would anyone wonder why Wade Barrett wasn't Smackdown this week, if he wasn't? Sticking to Barrett, they gave him a great window via the Nexus debut, and he lost matches, he never won clean, he never established himself at the top, and now he's just floating around the middle, because nobody ever pushed him once Nexus ended. These people need characterization; give them some depth so we can understand who they are as individuals.

 

[The Perfect Max]

I think this all the time. Every year the WWE has their Black Friday and release talent in which have no use to them i.e. they have nothing for them to do. So, why the hell is Tyson Kidd, Trent Barreta, Tyler Reks, Alex Riley, Michael McGillicutty, David Otunga, Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel amongst others still here. They aren't doing much, if not anything. I think everyone I've listed has a talent in the WWE somewhere, yet the WWE still don't use them. It pisses me the fuck off.

Like the guy above said: Sink or Swim. WWE need to sit down and think about everyone, bash around a few ideas for everyone to do in the near future, things that are fun, eye-catching and intruiging. Remember that the same company that thought of Kazarny also thought of the Kane/Undertaker feud in 1998. Point is this company has come up with some crazy shit, even for mid-lower carders to do, and now, they don't seem to give a fuck. Why? Why WWE? Why? Why? Why?

I look at the current roster and think to myself, it the mid-card was used properly, if the Tag Team division was reborn and used properly, if the Cruiserweight division was reborn and used properly and if they actually did something good with the divas, the company would be fucking awesome.

I don't mean every feud has to be on the level on Punk/Cena because it doesn't, but still good, fun and interesting. So much talent is being wasted, and I do see hope because something has triggered WWE to start rebuilding the Divas division with the Kharma angle when she returns, the Cruiserweight divison is returning, so I will get to see more matches like Daniel Bryan vs Sin Cara or Evan Bourne vs Primo, which are entertaining, and they are interested in many tag teams, with the posibility of the Kings of Wrestling making their WWE debut, the future looks sweet as.

But, the problem still remains. The mid-card. I recommend keeping Superstars, but also having Heat. Same format, 1 hour long, maybe on a Sunday again, with matches involving mid-carders and big-time stars, I mean, Sheamus and Alex Riley have been on recently, as well as Jack Swagger. Wow. They are doing something on a poor-man's show? See. The future is good.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

Here's the thing, in the past, you never knew anyone's ages... you never saw peoples ages in bios or discussed. The problem WWE has is that they have painted a lot of these guys into the "youth" corner... When in reality if you are good enough, you are old enough...

In the 80's guys like Bret Hart were actually older than guys like Akeem/One Man Gang or Big Bossman... Guys like The Rockers who were clearly young were pitched as such, but most other wrestlers it was never an issue how old they were... guys were simply "experienced"... the length of their careers was never discussed, they were simply "experienced" or veterans.

 

[Sin Jackal]

They should worry about finding ways to use people if they're not ready or worthy of being used. For every Sheamus there are 20 or 30 Heath Slaters who just aren't worthy of a real push. Most aren't even worthy of a spot on the main roster. Instead of finding things for all of these new guys to do, they should focus on building the right guys into stars. I think Barrett has a shot at becoming a major player and would like to see a Barrett vs Sheamus feud, but a lot of the other guys you named really aren't that interesting. And they're not good enough on the mic or in the ring in some cases to sell whatever storyline the creative department comes up with, no matter how brilliant said storyline is.

Agreed with the bolded bit 100%.

There's no reason to force some pointless "youth movement" when there's mostly just crap to work with. Instead, all they need to do is stop running the same main event storylines over and over with Cena and Orton either owning someone in a fued or losing the title via some cheap way then winning it back in a month. Add in more competition around the non world title belts so mid card dudes get more mic time and air time. . .and there's no reason for watering down the tv show events with garbage like Heath Slater. Heath Slater was even in the MITB match. WTF???? What next, putting him in an Elimination Chamber match too?

Also, make these scrubs tag team partners with someone better. There's like 2-3 tag teams right now. Make like 5-6. Pair up the scrubs together. That way we only have to see them half as much since there's just scrubs in one match instead of two. If they actually earn their keep and start looking good, break up the tag team and use them seperately. Problem solved.

I don't want to see no damn youth movement. Most suck. If newbs were dominating WWE, I'd stop watching. Kinda like when Nexus was dominating. Made for crap shows imo. Very unrealistic. These guys need to pay their dues. . .not get pushed hard as soon as they hit the show.

 

[jimmyrave]

I think the concept of the WWE youth movement is flawed, they just need to consistently push and maintain the next main event stars.

For example, don't push Wade Barrett into a main event storyline with John Cena and Randy Orton, only not to have him win the WWE Title, it make him look weak and turn fans off.

 

[The 1-2-3 Killam]

How could the WWE use younger talents that have been waiting their turn and constantly pumping out good material to minimal effort by the creative team? Well...

1.) Give a new, charismatic up-and-comer some high profile victories leading to an eventual run at a major title. Maybe have him win the Royal Rumble but not win his match at Mania. You want to build him up, but not pull the trigger too quickly. Let him build his own name after you kick down the door in front of him with that big Rumble win. Maybe give him Money in the Bank or something and THEN let him win a major title. Slow build to prove to the fans that they believe in this guys future instead of just being the current flavor of the month.

2.) Take a younger guy who knows a lot about the business, and put him in a huge feud against John Cena. Let him actually win the WWE title and speak his mind whenever he wants. The fans will get behind him for his honesty and controversial words. Especially the older teens and college students that love that kind of stuff... you know, the target age of the youth movement...

3.) Let's let a bunch of the younger guys play around in the tag division. These are guys we want to play with and see how they react. See how the audience reacts to them. Take some guys that have some experience, but haven't really gone anywhere yet and pair them up. The tag division is in the dumps anywhere, so let's just utilize younger guys and see if they're ready for the mid-card, eh?

4.) I think it's time a cocky 2nd generation star won the Intercontinental title and made it look really good. That will give him the platform he needs to prove he has what it takes.

5.) Along those same lines, let's put another young guy with the US title and see how he does. Make it somebody with unlimited potential that oozes charisma and could very well be the future of the WWE. If he shows progress with the title, we'll move him up the big leagues!

6.) Now, we've got most of the bases full. But what about those guys that have been in the main event, but are kind of wandering around looking for things to do? Yeah, let's put them together! They'll play off each other perfectly and help elevate each other until a spot opens up again in the main event scene! You want to keep them fresh and relevant, without losing their credibility on top.

7.) You know, we've got a bunch of other young talent too... Let's just put them in matches and see how they do! You can only have so many feuds going on at the same time, so let's let them perform and show off their skills, and then we'll use them when we can! Also, let's make a show jsut for them! Nobody will watch it, but they'll still have a platform!

Wait, what's that you say...? All of these things are currently being done by the WWE? CM Punk has been turned into a god? Various young under-card stars have been put in the tag division to be given time to improve? Dolph Ziggler and Cody Rhodes are mid-card champions and on their way to the main event? Sheamus is on a huge roll on Smackdown and is looking like a huge star every single week? Daniel Bryan and Wade Barrett are coasting, but still allowed to perform and show that they belong on top? The Miz and R-Truth are gold together? Alberto del Rio is the WWE Champion? Alex Riley, Kofi Kingston, Zack Ryder, Evan Bourne, the Usos, Heath Slater, Justin Gabriel, and a shit ton of other guys are getting weekly spots on WWE programming?

Jesus people, the youth movement is HERE! Yes, Mark Henry is on a giant killing streak and Triple H is the COO... There has to be SOMEBODY with a little credibility on the roster! If you're not realizing all the younger talents being used, you're probably not actually paying attention to the product. They have spent a LOT of time making some of the guys we've been bitching about for YEARS into relevant and entertaining Superstars. There is literally only so much they can do at one given time. Unless you're suggesting that Orton, Cena, Henry, and Triple H should just pack up and go home so Tyler Rekks and Chris Masters (oops...) can have a match...?

Watch Superstars. Stop bitching. The end.