WWE Developmental Assesment

[Brick Killed a Guy]

I was looking through the Superstars section of WWE.com and noticed some interesting stuff.

Like how every current champion on RAW either came from WWE's developmental system (OVW) or went through it at some point. The only exception you could make is Mickie James since she had already wrestled for years before joining OVW

Meanwhile on Smackdown!, Bobby Lashley is the only one who currently holds a belt (US). Londrick does not count since both (like Mickie) had more history with other leagues before going through OVW.

Here's a list of the current members of each roster that mostly developed in OVW, along with their biggest accomplishment in WWE to date:

Smackdown

Bobby Lashley - US Champion
Batista - World Heavyweight Champion
Boogeyman - beat Booker T at WM22
Doug Basham - Tag Team Champion
Gunner Scott - beat Booker T, got Benoit's respect
Jillian Hall - manager to JBL
Joey Mercury - Tag Team Champion
Ken Kennedy - mid to upper midcard, soon to get a rumored push
Randy Orton - World Heavyweight Champion
Sylvan Grenier - Tag Team Champion
Mike Mizanin - host of Smackdown

RAW

John Cena - WWE Champion
Shelton Benjamin - Intercontinental Champion
Spirit Squad - Tag Team Champs
Armando Alejandro Estrada - manager to Umaga
Charlie Haas - Tag Team Champion
Beth Phoenix - accompanies Trish Stratus
Carlito - Intercontinental Champion, US Champion
Chris Masters - feud with Shawn Michaels, Masterlock challenge
Danny Basham - Tag Team Champion
Eugene - feud with Triple H
Johnny Nitro - Tag Team Champion
Lance Cade - Tag Team Champion
Melina - manager to Tag Champions
Rene Dupree - Tag Team Champion, feud with Cena over US Title
Rob Conway - Tag Team Champion
Trevor Murdoch - Tag Team Champion

Now, some of these are too new to judge right now (i.e., Estrada, Phoenix), and most of them have "Tag Team Champion" as their biggest accomplishments to date...

But from this, what I get is that most of those who do get the callup to the big leagues from OVW will either A) not be completely wasted, B) receive a push in the form of a title or feud with an established veteran, C) be pushed to the moon.

Plus, even those who haven't had a monster push have still managed to garner a following (i.e., Carlito and Kennedy). And while the merits of their wrestling abilities can be argued (especially with guys like Cena, Orton, Masters, and Batista), most of them have proven to be marketable.

So overall, I'd say the WWE has done a good job of using their developmental talent. So if the day comes when they do call up guys like CM Punk or others, they will get an opportunity to make themselves known.

[Deleted]

Well, Mickey James did indeed go through OVW and some of the other talent was trained somewhere else before they arrived at OVW, like Joey Mercury, Carlito, Cade (trained by HBK and the other trainers at the San Antonio school) and Murdoch (trained by Harley Race and his assistant trainers). Also, Brock Lesnar went through OVW and accomplished alot in the WWE and their are probably a few others that could be put on your list that have since left the WWE.

OVW works well for the WWE, it's just that often people are brought up before their ready for wrestling in the "big leagues".

[bruteshot79]

uncivilized82 said:

I was looking through the Superstars section of WWE.com and noticed some interesting stuff.

Like how every current champion on RAW either came from WWE's developmental system (OVW) or went through it at some point. The only exception you could make is Mickie James since she had already wrestled for years before joining OVW

Meanwhile on Smackdown!, Bobby Lashley is the only one who currently holds a belt (US). Londrick does not count since both (like Mickie) had more history with other leagues before going through OVW.

Here's a list of the current members of each roster that mostly developed in OVW, along with their biggest accomplishment in WWE to date:

Smackdown

Bobby Lashley - US Champion
Batista - World Heavyweight Champion
Boogeyman - beat Booker T at WM22
Doug Basham - Tag Team Champion
Gunner Scott - beat Booker T, got Benoit's respect
Jillian Hall - manager to JBL
[glow=red,2,300]Joey Mercury - Tag Team Champion[/glow]
Ken Kennedy - mid to upper midcard, soon to get a rumored push
Randy Orton - World Heavyweight Champion
Sylvan Grenier - Tag Team Champion
Mike Mizanin - host of Smackdown

RAW

John Cena - WWE Champion
Shelton Benjamin - Intercontinental Champion
Spirit Squad - Tag Team Champs
Armando Alejandro Estrada - manager to Umaga
Charlie Haas - Tag Team Champion
Beth Phoenix - accompanies Trish Stratus
Carlito - Intercontinental Champion, US Champion
Chris Masters - feud with Shawn Michaels, Masterlock challenge
Danny Basham - Tag Team Champion
Eugene - feud with Triple H
Johnny Nitro - Tag Team Champion
Lance Cade - Tag Team Champion
Melina - manager to Tag Champions
Rene Dupree - Tag Team Champion, feud with Cena over US Title
Rob Conway - Tag Team Champion
Trevor Murdoch - Tag Team Champion

Now, some of these are too new to judge right now (i.e., Estrada, Phoenix), and most of them have "Tag Team Champion" as their biggest accomplishments to date...

But from this, what I get is that most of those who do get the callup to the big leagues from OVW will either A) not be completely wasted, B) receive a push in the form of a title or feud with an established veteran, C) be pushed to the moon.

Plus, even those who haven't had a monster push have still managed to garner a following (i.e., Carlito and Kennedy). And while the merits of their wrestling abilities can be argued (especially with guys like Cena, Orton, Masters, and Batista), most of them have proven to be marketable.

So overall, I'd say the WWE has done a good job of using their developmental talent. So if the day comes when they do call up guys like CM Punk or others, they will get an opportunity to make themselves known.

Mercury wrestled in ROH and several other indys before coming to WWE.

[WarriorWarrior]

Carlito wrestled in his dads fed.

[Deleted]

Yeah, Mercury went by Joey Matthews and wrestled in ecw and, as The Serial Thriller said, in several other indies.

[bruteshot79]

Haas wrestled in JAPW and several other indys before coming to WWE...

[destrucity]

Since the WWE destroyed all the territories, they need to create new stars themselves in some type of farm system.

['Sweet n' Sour' A. A. Estrada]

Can Estrada wrestle? Or is he purely a manager?

[HMARK Center]

Every single one of these guys wrestled in a bunch of other places before signing with OVW, since that's the only way OVW could find out who they are.

The problem isn't so much that the guys come up and don't get a push; rather, it's that they bring them up too early, push them too hard, too fast, and then drop them as soon as "creative doesn't have any ideas for them".

They have a boatload of talent and potential in OVW, but like to screw with it as much as they can.

[kevinhardy]

most have been in the indy circuit for some years before getting into OVW.