10 Part-Timers Who Screwed With The WWE Roster

Nostalgia. It’s not what it used to be.

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WWE.com

It's the perennial debate every year when WrestleMania rolls around: the rights and wrongs of WWE legends and part-timers returning to slide into the upper reaches of the card over the full time roster, who invariably take a back seat. The subject has become even more relevant as the company has decided to bin off their current roster to appease the whims of Saudi Princes throughout 2018, despite the men involved being less mobile than a church.

Now, the argument 'for' is that the involvement of stars from the past boosts the buyrate and the gate, meaning bigger business and more money for the participants. That's just a one night cash grab, though. Had WWE concentrated on building up their roster, they'd have contemporary stars to fill those roles. The fact is, when business was booming, it was due to contemporary stars. The '80s' Golden Era and the '90s' Attitude Era didn't rely on nostalgia acts and middle-aged wrestling legends to sell tickets. They had their own stars: amongst them Hulk Hogan, Steve Austin, The Rock, Triple H, The Undertaker.

Nowadays we have those stars too: the exact same stars, that is. Like legends of heroes past that proclaim they'll return in our hour of need, every time Vince McMahon needs a WrestleMania buyrate out come the big guns. The big, old guns.

But it's not just WrestleMania. Due to years of shortsighted booking, WWE's star power is so slight that they're paranoid they can't sell out even the mid-size events. The focus today might be on the brand, yet where's the confidence it can get bums in seats for a rare appearance in, say, Australia?

There is none. And so the wrinkly weekend warriors are called in again. The booking is as shortsighted as ever, no new stars are made and the cycle continues. WWE have been allowing part-timers to mess with the people that work for them full time for years.

Contributor
Contributor

Professional writer, punk werewolf and nesting place for starfish. Obsessed with squid, spirals and story. I publish short weird fiction online at desincarne.com, and tweet nonsense under the name Jack The Bodiless. You can follow me all you like, just don't touch my stuff.