If WWE Was Being Honest About Unhappy Talent

WWE cannot push every performer at the same time, and every WWE performer—or at least character—in this post-NXT environment is in the orbit of stardom. We are removed from even the old development days, in which a performer exclusively trained by WWE was promoted to the main roster, via vignette, and entered the system equipped with the knowledge that it would take years, if ever, to reach the pinnacle.

Those called up to the main roster have tasted success in NXT, and this success has created an expectation among their fans. Within the narrative infrastructure of the flagship, virtually every character is championship calibre. Many talents are in reality, too, creating an implacable roster that grows in number by the week. This elite roster of talent didn't join WWE to job, but somebody has to. The greed of the raid has forced WWE to regurgitate, and now everybody feels queasy.

It is chronically backwards.

You used to start at the bottom, and work your way up. Under this new framework, talents debut at the top, and race to the bottom. So much else is backwards, too, intensifying the malaise. A talent develops a set of skills with which they alert WWE in the first place; WWE strips away many of these skills via scripted promos and road agent regulation.

When a talent becomes a Champion in WWE, they lose.

Is this reaching its inevitable conclusion? Is WWE itself, once the only destination, the launchpad?

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