7 Things WWE Can Learn From ALL IN
1. The Consequences Of Their Actions
Cody left WWE because he was being repressed.
Unhappy and held-back as Stardust, his employers ignored several requests for a new direction, so Cody bet on himself. He has since changed the independent game, working tirelessly to improve his all-round performance while evolving into a brilliant businessman, with him and the equally entrepreneurial Young Bucks the driving forces behind ALL IN.
The question, now, is this: how many more Codys are there on the WWE roster?
Guys like Rusev, Finn Balor, Asuka, the entire 205 Live cast, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn are all either held back or creatively stifled. Neville just left the company for that very reason, and if more of these guys start hitting the independent scene over the coming months and years, further movements like ALL IN are a certainty.
In strangling their employees' creativity, WWE are inadvertently creating a generation of held-back, ultra-talented stars ready to explode elsewhere. This might not mean an immediate threat to Vince McMahon's business, but with ALL IN 2 a certainty, and ROH/NJPW selling Madison Square Garden out, it isn't something he wants either.
Will this prompt a change in WWE's restrictive approach? It's unlikely, but it'd be welcome.