7 Ways WWE Can Improve The Product This Year
3. Give Someone The Ball
What happens when you have a slew of talent but not enough trust in the roster to push guys? You have what we have now. You have the most mid-card talent in the history of the WWE.
This is not meant as an insult to the current roster. There is plenty of main event talent on it. The problem is most have never experienced that pressure, and as a result, you don’t have an abundance of characters who have the gravitas to now carry that weight.
Case in point would be Dolph Ziggler at the 2014 Survivor Series. Ziggler won for Team Cena in maybe the best match of his career, overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds to beat Team Authority. He was positioned perfectly for a big run. Only it never happened. Not only that, but the Authority was back in charge shortly thereafter. This was one of the most maddening instances of creative betrayal in some time. How could anyone know if Ziggler was ready for the big time if they didn’t give him a chance? A better question: How does the WWE plan on developing new main event talent if they’re reluctant every time someone new gets hot?
Here’s another example. Prior to WrestleMania, several big players went down. Cena, Rollins, Cesaro, Orton—all out with injuries. So here it is, a genuine chance to elevate someone (or more) to new heights and see if they can make something of themselves. And what does the WWE do? They put the belt on Triple H. This screams of a selfish ego-trip, and it directly hinders the development of a roster that desperately needs it.
Will some guys inevitably get the push and fail? Of course they will. But some won’t. And that’s the point. You have to put guys in spots to either succeed or fail on their own merits. Overreliance on part-time talent to fill voids during big shows is becoming more of an annoyance than a benefit. It’s time to change the structure. Shake things up…