10 Ways WWE's Current Product Mirrors That Which Killed WCW

6. Popular Talent Stuck In The Mid-Card (AKA The Glass Ceiling)

In his recent interview on The Steve Austin Show; one of the more eyebrow raising comments by Vince McMahon was that nobody was grabbing the brass ring and moving up the card; he also said he listens to his audience. WCW was notorious for not elevating the talent in the middle of the card when they were over with the fans and it caused stagnation and contributed to the death of the company; many of the biggest stars of the last twenty years in professional wrestling (including the likes of Steve Austin, Mick Foley, Chris Jericho, The Big Show & Eddie Guerrero) had frustrating periods mired in the WCW mid card with no opportunity for upwards mobility and most of their creative ideas for matches and feuds shot down. Chris Jericho famously lobbied both backstage and on air for a program with Bill Goldberg; when nothing came of it his mind was made up to move on to WWE. The difference was that, back then, they had somewhere else to go; they jumped ship to WWE and became the stars that WCW should have made them. Nowadays there isn€™t a company of a close enough standing to WWE and talent don€™t want to lose their jobs despite their frustrations. Some talents, such as Kofi Kingston, have been so damaged by their lack of progress that, while they were once considered shoe ins to be the next main event star, it now seems that it would be impossible for fans to take them seriously in any situation above where they currently are. Even those that seem to have broken through often find it to be a false dawn; with five former World Champions that have headlined Pay-Per-Views as champion (Jack Swagger, The Miz, Dolph Ziggler, Sheamus & Mark Henry) mired in mid-card or lower feuds and, with the possible exception of Ziggler, not looking likely to reach those heights again. The number rises to ten if you chose to include names such as Kane, Rey Mysterio, Chris Jericho, Christian and The Big Show; and it's ultimately harmful to the product and devalues the achievement of becoming World Champion in the eyes of the fans. Your World Championship feud should ultimately be the main factor in driving buy rates, merchandise and ticket sales; the more damage you do to that scene the more damage you do to your company as a whole. Despite what Vince wants you to believe; there is a glass ceiling in today€™s WWE; just as there was in WCW.