WWE Limiting The Age Of New Developmental Signees To 30
WWE is now reportedly looking to mainly sign talent under 30 to developmental deals.
While some have recently criticised WWE for the age of its developmental talent, it looks as if Vince McMahon’s sports entertainment juggernaut is now actively looking to bring down the age of its new signees.
As per the Wrestling Observer, WWE is looking to limit the age of its developmental signings to 30 unless it’s an exceptional circumstance.
For the most recent class at the WWE Performance Center, there are two notable exceptions to this ‘under 30’ rule – that being 38-year-old LA Knight and 37-year-old Taya Valkyrie.
Both Knight and Valkyrie are viewed as exemptions to this rule due to the names they’ve amassed for themselves elsewhere. That said, one could argue that such talents could easily be inserted onto the Raw or SmackDown brand straight away, rather than spending time in ‘developmental’…
The other school of thinking, is that somewhere like NXT - where, despite being talked up as a third brand, is very much about developing young talent - could be hugely benefitted by having some veterans in the fold to help the less experienced talent of today develop into big-name stars of tomorrow.