4. Jim Cornette
Yes, much has been made of how much Jim Cornette may not see eye-to-eye with the McMahon Family (or TNA's Carter and Jarrett families, ECW's Paul Heyman or ROH's Sinclair Broadcasting...pretty much anyone that has attempted to run a professional wrestling company in the past two decades), he is a literally walking repository of wrestling history. With the investment in the WWE Network, WWE is acknowledging that it sees the history of professional wrestling (which it owns a significant portion of in video form) as being of great potential worth. With its love of second-screen interactivity (see the WWE App, as well as considerable Twitter engagement in their weekly broadcasts), imagine Jim Cornette using Twitter and Instagram as a storytelling device to literally tell the story of the matches you're watching on WWE Network. Between being able to showcase a program from Starrcade '84 on Instagram to tweeting a story about the pro-wrestling training of Brock Lesnar, or even providing free content for the WWE's Youtube channel about matches/classic shows available on the network that ultimately drives traffic to sign up, he is a signing of great potential worth. Classic fans of pro wrestling who are turned off by the modern product should be courted as seriously by WWE as they currently do court the 13 and under demographic. One of the most entertaining Twitter follows is ex-journeyman veteran and current Ohio Valley Wrestling trainer Rip Rogers. In a manner similar to what Cornette would do for WWE in this scenario, Rogers very rarely ever discusses anything happening in the current on-screen product. Rather, his tweets concern old stories, and breaking down the art and craft of what the pro wrestling industry once was (and in so many ways currently is not about). In hiring Cornette (who is still known, respected and oftentimes beloved by the once-fans), his work would solely be targeted at discussing the history of the industry, and would give WWE considerable brand extension as they attempt to monetize the voluminous history of professional wrestling.