WWE Needs New Stars Badly (Spoilers)

[FailedGimmick]

Edge has retired, Undertaker is being held together by duck tape at this point, and doesn't have much left in him, and according to PWInsider:

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}

Michelle McCool's final match is Sunday.

That's leaving quite a few holes in the roster. Edge's left such a big one that they had the draft two months earlier than planned.

Undertaker's been a mainstay for the company for a long time, and even through he's not a permanent fixture in the main event, he's one that can bring instant creditability to any match he's in.

And McCool, while not a favorite of the IWC, is one of the better actual workers in the Divas division, and like Edge, her leaving will leave a big hole.

So, where does WWE go from here? Are there those on the cusp that can realistically be moved up into the main event? Or has recent booking shot themselves in the foot?

[#RUDO Coco Del Rio]

Notice how all of them are SmackDown stars. I wouldn't worry too much about it. It's practically the breeding ground for stars.

[FailedGimmick]

I would not complain if this got Daniel Bryan up the card, but would really hate if it took people retiring due to injuries to make it happen.

Didn't Cena have the same surgery that Edge did that ultimately caused his career to end? I think Edge may have been a little rougher on his body than John is, but there's still the "what if?" factor.

[Kay Faban]

I don't believe Cena had the same surgery, I think Angle did though.

[Andrew is Good]

Apr 30, 2011 2:40:47 GMT -5 Kay Faban said:

I don't believe Cena had the same surgery, I think Angle did though.

Angle didn't. He opted out of the spinal fusion. Steve Austin did though, which was why I was so surprised he was taking bumps and actually working a match on Tough Enough.

Rhino I think did the spinal fusion thing as well. As much as we bash TNA (for obvious reasons), Rhino may've saved his career from early retirement thanks to his schedule in TNA and taking different indy dates.

[EoE: Well There's Your Problem]

In all my time as a regular fan (from about 2004 onwards), I've never seen such carnage on the main event level of the roster over a 1 year period.

I mean, this stat is really telling of this transitional era... Out of the 3 main events of WM26 just over a year ago (Shawn Michaels v The Undertaker, John Cena v Batista and Edge v Chris Jericho), only one is still on the full-time roster, that being Cena.

In addition to that, Triple H is no longer wrestling full-time, solid upper midcard/midcard guys like Matt Hardy, MVP and Shelton Benjamin were let go and arguably the two main focal points of the women's division in recent years, Mickie James and Michelle McCool, are gone and on their way out respectively. And let's not forget the rumours about Rey Mysterio and now CM Punk.

There is going to be a lot of change between now and WM28, me thinks.

[FUNK_US/BRODUS]

This really is the time for guys to show their ruthless aggression.

[Oh Cry Me a Screwball]

Of course, this is somewhat balanced by the rise of Alberto Del Rio and The Miz, and we have guys like Morrison, Truth, Swagger, Cody, Ziggler, and others. At least two of them should become true main eventers.

[Ash Kingston]

Apr 30, 2011 3:17:00 GMT -5 EoE: Well There's Your Problem said:

In all my time as a regular fan (from about 2004 onwards), I've never seen such carnage on the main event level of the roster over a 1 year period.

I mean, this stat is really telling of this transitional era... Out of the 3 main events of WM26 just over a year ago (Shawn Michaels v The Undertaker, John Cena v Batista and Edge v Chris Jericho), only one is still on the full-time roster, that being Cena.

In addition to that, Triple H is no longer wrestling full-time, solid upper midcard/midcard guys like Matt Hardy, MVP and Shelton Benjamin were let go and arguably the two main focal points of the women's division in recent years, Mickie James and Michelle McCool, are gone and on their way out respectively. And let's not forget the rumours about Rey Mysterio and now CM Punk.

There is going to be a lot of change between now and WM28, me thinks.

...what we don't know is that WWE has been sinking millions of dollars into robotics and brain mapping to create Cybertaker. If that works, well... 300-0 Streak!

[keezy]

Michelle McCool isn't a big star, Layla and Beth Phoenix are as popular as her, perhaps more by now, besides all the divas are midcarders by default, so getting a diva over as a champion is as easy as any midcarder, huge contrast in comparison to finding a new Undertaker or Edge.

[Nic Nemeth]

Seriously even if Triple H quit, Taker's knees were blown off, Cena decided to be a full-time movie star, and Orton chose to stay at home with his family...ZACK RYDER STILL WOULDNT BE PUSHED!

[noleafclover1980]

I read that in the Gauntlet voice.

[Toates Madhackrviper]

KOFI FREAKING KINGSTON

[potpie]

Why do they need new people? They have all they need right now. Besides, I don't want another Edge, HHH, Batista- I want something different. If creative hadn't spent so much time milking 5 cash cows over the past 5 years and instead used a fraction of the time on booking good, up-and-coming talent (or character development of such people), then they wouldn't be in switcheroo panic mode.

[Wolf Hurricane]

Apr 30, 2011 5:23:37 GMT -5 Toates Madhackrviper said:

KOFI FREAKING KINGSTON

Ahem, let me also add:

DOLPH FREAKING ZIGGLER

AND

WADE FREAKING BARRETT

[Phosphor Glow]

Apr 30, 2011 5:23:28 GMT -5 noleafclover1980 said:

I read that in the Gauntlet voice.

You and me both, man.

"MMM! I LIKE SUPERSTARS!"

[Junkenstein]

The stars are there though, at least potentially. There's no reason why all the names brought up in this thread can't be main event mainstays.

It's up to the WWE to build and push the guys properly, and stop this current booking trend where they'll shove the guy in a major feud or angle, watch him get over, then get cold feet and suddenly lose faith in them - ahem, Sheamus, Barrett, Swagger... I could go on. Last year they built foundations for a lot of guys, which was good. But 2011/12 is the year they should be serious about establishing a batch of genuine new main players, especially when the old guard seem to be dropping like flies.

[VINTAGE GRIDLOCK!]

wait, you spoilered that about McCool and then referred to it later?!

[Bo Rida]

Apr 30, 2011 4:31:19 GMT -5 Oh Cry Me a Screwball said:

Of course, this is somewhat balanced by the rise of Alberto Del Rio and The Miz, and we have guys like Morrison, Truth, Swagger, Cody, Ziggler, and others. At least two of them should become true main eventers.

I agree but they really need some more faces, that's why I don't want Christian or Bryan to turn any time soon.

[Rolent Tex]

WWE has tons of Superstars that can take over those main event roles. The problem is they all get the slow burn build and then their pushes fizzle out so that when the time comes to push them to the main event, they look like they can't hang with the likes of Cena and Orton.

Sheamus - Two time WWE Champion, ran from Nexus like a sissy, went on a losing streak, got squished by HHH who isn't even wrestling year round. Current United States Champion.

Wade Barrett - Was so over as a heel to the point where he and Cena could have main evented Wrestlemania this year. Instead, he was buried (literally) under chairs, thrown out of the group he founded and had two feuds dropped with no notice. (Taker, Nexus) His team lost to mere minutes to the WWE Midcard Squad at WM. Current Intercontinental Champion.

Dolph Ziggler - He got to hold the World Heavyweight Title for a minute or two, now on Raw forced to lose the look that made him unique...oh ,and he isn't even good enough to get his entrance to come out and lose pretty decisively to Randy Orton.