If WWE Was Being Honest About Unhappy Talent

EC3 Buried
WWE

That may read as utterly absurd, but the most critically acclaimed singles and tag performers on the planet, Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks—objective draws in an industry that can barely calculate what that means anymore—opted not to sign with WWE earlier this year. The Revival; Tye Dillinger; Mike and Maria Kanellis; The Club; Dean Ambrose: all have officially or allegedly elected to or demanded to leave before this week’s want-away trio scorched social media.

They are all acutely aware that progression is impossible. Investment is futile for fans and talent alike. Beyond WrestleMania 35, which we’ll get to, when did you, as a WWE fan, last share in the triumph of a main roster superstar?

Triumph isn’t in the plan. Or perhaps it was, until the last-minute rewrite, and it’s gone. Vince McMahon just bumped you off the show. So much of what has happened in 2019 feels ancient. Andrade was building momentum, in his firecracker programme with Rey Mysterio, and it’s gone. Chad Gable and Bobby Roode turned heel on the post-WrestleMania RAW, but then Gable moved to SmackDown in the Shake-Up, and it’s gone. EC3 was managed by Drake Maverick on a post-‘Mania SmackDown dark segment, teasing a partnership and an arc, but then Maverick didn’t show up by his side on Monday, and Braun Strowman straight up killed him, and it’s gone. WWE implemented a one-save rule in the tag team division, and it’s gone.

Vince’s increasingly impulsive, inexplicable bullsh*t just adds to the spiralling catastrophe.

WWE has created a gridlock in which every name act, the genetically superior moneyed heel, the extraordinary luchador, the Demon, the heart-on-sleeve babyface, the massively-muscled MMA marine—all wildly different, credential characters are indistinguishable in quality, appeal and purpose.

CONT'D...(3 of 5)

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Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!