10 Part-Timers Who Screwed With The WWE Roster
10. The Beast Eats The WWE World Heavyweight Championship... And Has The Universal For Dessert
There was dancing in the streets when Brock Lesnar annihilated John Cena to take the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at SummerSlam 2014. Then reality began to set in again. Brock was a part-timer: he might be a regular fixture on WWE television, but 'regular' didn't necessarily mean 'frequent'.
Between SummerSlam and Brock losing the title at WrestleMania 31, there were thirty-odd episodes of RAW and six pay-per-view events (not including NXT specials). Lesnar appeared on very few episodes of RAW, and prior to WrestleMania 31, only defended the title at Night of Champions and the Royal Rumble - events that were four months apart. It was as if the newly created WWE Title belt had become invisible.
Why was this a problem? Well, from the opening promos to the constant replays and the main event itself, Monday Night RAW's story structure is based around the WWE World Heavyweight Championship and whoever is holding it. Removing the champion from the story doesn't just create space for a random 'someone else' to step up and fill it: it requires a character of equal or greater value to become the central protagonist or antagonist.
Brock Lesnar's weeks-long absence from the product simply threw into glaring focus how few characters on the roster were equipped to carry the thrust of the WWE narrative. This was suddenly a TV show without a main character, just a supporting cast fumbling around in his absence. The lack of depth on the roster was exposed. Actual stars Cena, Seth Rollins and Randy Orton were all competing over a number one contender position against an absentee champion, and it was months before any of their posturing would see fruition in that Royal Rumble title match. The only other potential star, Dean Ambrose, was too busy being frightened by ghosts and having televisions explode in his face.
Pay-per-views without Lesnar featured a hodge-podge of glorified SmackDown-style main events with worthless gimmicks attached. It was a shambles. Then, obviously, WWE repeated the entire trick with the Universal Championship for nearly all of 2017 and 2018, with the vague hope it'd finally get Roman Reigns over when the perennial contender took the belt back home. Surprisingly, it did not.