This year has presented huge problems for WWE due to a fiasco of injuries, walkouts and firings. CM Punk left following the Royal Rumble and Daniel Bryan was hit with injury after the Extreme Rules PPV in May. This immediately left WWE with two enormous holes in its main event picture. The later loss of surging talents Bad News Barrett and Roman Reigns also hit hard. On top of that, Alberto Del Rio was fired after a racist incident and both Dean Ambrose and Randy Orton have taken time off to shoot movies. This epidemic has thrown WWE's lack of roster depth into sharp focus. Beyond the usual main event stars, there are very few people who can actually step up to the plate to carry a pay-per-view main event match. This hasn't been helped by the fact that WWE Creative put the world title belt on part-time star Brock Lesnar, leaving the strap absent from a number of major events. If WWE were to build characters capable of working in the main event, then pay-per-views wouldn't feel so lacking in star power. Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins did an excellent job in the main event of the Hell In A Cell show, but that combination cannot continue to headline shows every time Brock Lesnar decides to miss a show. WWE needs to fill that gap with new stars. The same lack of depth is apparent in the tag division, where the same three or four teams have passed the gold around for the last few years. With the level of talent in NXT and the size of the WWE midcard, there really shouldn't be this issue with roster depth.
Freelance film journalist and fan of professional wrestling. Usually found in a darkened screening room looking for an aisle seat and telling people to put away their mobile phones. Also known to do a bit of stand-up comedy, so I'm used to the occasional heckle.
