WWE main event tipping point getting closer?

['Foretold' Joker]

It strikes me that the wwe has a problem that is getting closer and closer. In trying to create a new Austin/Hogan a lot of wrestlers are getting a big push to the main title. These wrestlers are for the most part young and have no where else to really go.

At some point this is going to create a huge problem where lots of wrestlers should be top of the card but can't because wwe has overpopulated itself. Even with the occasional retirement it's getting larger.

Del Rio, The Miz, Sheamus, Orton, Cena, Mysterio, Big Show, Dolph Ziggler, CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, Jack Swagger, Mark Henry, Christian (Potential main event lurkers in Kofi, Ryback, Roman Reigns, Ambrose, Wyatt etc ...) + the old guard/part-timers of HHH, Undertaker, Batista, Brock Lesnar, Kane, Jericho and the Rock.

Plus I would imagine more are on there way. All of these non-part timers should be on the card in theory and will still be around for another 5-10 years at least, but you can't fit them all so what do they do? Not everyone can be Khali-fied into a comedy act.

I'll be interested to see in say another 3 years time what the wrestling landscape is like as in it's current state I imagine something has got to give. Even the wwe can't support this amount of top tier wrestlers.

[Sparkybob]

I don't see how having too much top level talent is a bad thing. Depth is needed in the WWE.

["Cane Dewey" Johnson]

I wrote this awhile ago, but I feel it applies here.

Nov 26, 2013 19:47:38 GMT -5 "Cane Dewey" Johnson said:

It's time for a changing of the guard.

By the time Bret Hart won the WWF title again at Wrestlemania 10, Hulk Hogan was gone. Andre the Giant was gone. Ted DiBiase was doing commentary. The Ultimate Warrior was gone. Randy Savage was working part-time, but he would be out the door soon too. Ric Flair was gone. All the top talent of the mid-to-late 1980s had moved on.

By the time Steve Austin won the WWF title at Wrestlemania 14, Bret Hart was gone. Diesel was gone. Sid was gone. Shawn Michaels was on the way out. Lex Luger was gone. Razor Ramon was gone. All the top talent of the early 1990s had moved on.

By the time Randy Orton, John Cena, Batista, and Edge won their first WHC/WWE title, Steve Austin was gone. The Rock was gone. Mick Foley was less than part-time. The Big Show would soon be gone. Goldberg was gone. The NWO was done. All the top talent of the late 1990s had moved on.

By the time Sheamus, CM Punk, and Daniel Bryan won their first WWE title, Batista and Edge were still around (but on the way out). John Cena was still around. Randy Orton was still around. Triple H and the Undertaker were still around winning the top titles. And when it came time for somebody to pass a torch to the next generation, it was the Rock who passed the torch to the guy who already had the torch, John Cena.

There are less differences when it comes to watching WWE TV in late 2013 when compared to late 2006 as there are when watching WWE TV from late 2006 when compared to late 1999, and from late 1999 when compared to late 1993, and from late 1993 when compared to late 1986. Something has to change. Change can only come from the top. The top guy leaves, everything below changes. Changing the guys at the bottom while the same guys at the top don't change doesn't affect the overall structure, flow, or presentation of the program.

As such, yes, John Cena IS a part of that problem. Should he go away entirely? No, not at all. But what reason is there for John Cena and Randy Orton in late 2013 to be involved in a television program with TWO world titles? Cena should be working a schedule like the Undertaker did on Smackdown from 2007-2010 or so. It's 2013 and WWE is still trying to get Cena over, and people are STILL trying to convince others to cheer for the guy. If it hasn't taken by now, it's never going to take. Bryan winning the WWE seemed like that moment when the guard would be changed. But WWE crapped all over that. Twice. Now Bryan's a two-time WWE champion who gets the best babyface reactions from the crowd, the crowd who seemed bored as all hell by John Cena last night, who will never have his proper crowning moment because it's already happened twice, and it was taken away as quickly as it appeared. Bryan's no longer special. He's just the really over guy who has great matches.

And rather than looked at the antiquated format of their television product or the completely sloppy, haphazard way they book and promote pay-per-views, they panicked when guys like Punk or Bryan don't kick off the next new Attitude Era and they ended up slotting in a rerun tape of a program we saw four years ago. I need to be strapped in because I can't contain my excitement. Hooray.

The one thing I will say in Cena's favour is that he's the only credible person on the roster right now who could have a great Wrestlemania match against the Undertaker. I could honestly almost forgive most of the bad booking since Summerslam if that match ends up happening. Short of that, well, what's the point, really.

[Bub (BLM)]

Part of the problem is the meaningless midcard titles. If the Intercontinental Title meant now what it did in the 80's and early 90's, guys like Sheamus, Christian, Del Rio, and Orton would have something to compete for without seeming like demoted midcarders.

[kidglov3s]

I can't fathom grouping Kofi and Ryback with SHIELD and Bray Wyatt.

[Magic knows Black Lives Matter]

It's bizarre. The company is freaking stacked talent wise but it feels so lacking in star power. Just emphasizes how terrible WWE is at creating stars nowadays.

[CATCH_US IS the Conversation]

Feb 2, 2014 19:34:48 GMT -5 Bub (BLM) said:

Part of the problem is the meaningless midcard titles. If the Intercontinental Title meant now what it did in the 80's and early 90's, guys like Sheamus, Christian, Del Rio, and Orton would have something to compete for without seeming like demoted midcarders.

And there are just so many "top stars" that "have" to be on TV/PPV every week that they end up crowding out the actual midcarders and there's no one to contend for the midcard titles.

[Bub (BLM)]

Feb 2, 2014 20:54:38 GMT -5 CATCH_US IS the Conversation said:

Feb 2, 2014 19:34:48 GMT -5 Bub (BLM) said:

Part of the problem is the meaningless midcard titles. If the Intercontinental Title meant now what it did in the 80's and early 90's, guys like Sheamus, Christian, Del Rio, and Orton would have something to compete for without seeming like demoted midcarders.

And even if you kept those guys at the top of the card, there are just so many "stars" that "have" to be on TV every week that they end up crowding out the actual midcarders and there's no one to contend for the midcard titles.

That's a time management issue. With 3 hour RAWs, there's room for just about everyone. WCW used to feature so many guys every Monday, because they didn't do endless skits and multiple segments for the same guys.

[Deleted]

The biggest issue I feel is that they spent so much time sacrificing the roster to placate John Cena, Randy Orton, etc. that when they then try to tell us we should care about the people they spent so much time making look like crap...we don't.

WWE has no one to blame but themselves for the position they are in.

[CATCH_US IS the Conversation]

Feb 2, 2014 19:14:32 GMT -5 Sparkybob said:

I don't see how having too much top level talent is a bad thing. Depth is needed in the WWE.

There are too many of them at the expense of everything else.

[Deleted]

I kind of wish they'd get someone ballsy like Heyman, like if he was taking charge of TNA "you're over 40, I lop your head off". Doesn't seem like good business, but things really need to get shaken up. They've got these guys that hang around forever now, like Kane/Show/Henry/Mysterio, then they keep bringing people back too, it's overkill. When there was competition, WCW would've offered those types of guys bigger contracts and WWE would've let them walk, and built up some new people. Now, they just stay, and WWE still tries to build up new guys because they've got a lot of talent, but there's no spots for them.

The roster needs to be thinner up top, they need about 6 legit main eventers and everyone else fighting to take one of those precious spots. That makes the midcard stronger by default, because they'll be right underneath this thin upper-card and feel closer to breaking through. There's alwayst talk of the "glass ceiling", right now that ceiling is about 50 feet thick and made of marble. How the hell can anyone really break through? Fans can only be expected to care about so many people, when there's like 4 real main eventers, 4-5 part time MEGA main eventers, then about 15 pseudo main eventers/former world champs, the rest of the card suffers big-time.

[mizerable]

I've felt this way for a while. Hell, they can't even do the Road to Wrestlemania with a new star anymore because the established star is right there.

With the exception of maybe 10 guys over the history of the last 30 years...most main eventers should have a shelf life of less than 10 years. Tops.

Triple H, Randy Orton, Batista, Kane, Mysterio, Big Show, Undertaker, and for the most part John Cena need to step aside. They're tired acts. They've done everything. Hell, they've all done everything multiple times. When you do the same thing multiple times in a short span of time...it feels like a repeat! Do you really want the fans to be thinking "this again?".

Now I know Undertaker only works one match a year, but it's a match that overshadows just about everyone else with the exception of the title match. Sometimes he puts on the match of the night, usually due to who he's working with (Michaels, Punk), but still...I think there's been enough done to warrant a legacy, obviously...and we don't need extra features to add to that.

Triple H is so f***ing tired as a character, I can't even begin to express my displeasure anytime I see him on screen, and I say this as someone who enjoyed the Reign of Terror for the most part. He still is made to made to look like a big deal, while downsizing his opponent at any cost. It's not really putting someone over if you're allowed to continually look superior on the mic before and after the match, even if by all means he's right. Looking like Lesnar's equal was the last straw for me and his heel turn hasn't swayed things either.

With Kane, I'll admit that during his Hell No phase, I really liked him. Before that and after that...he's been the same tired act we've seen for a decade. Seriously, since his loss to Taker at WMXX and his Hell No run, I can't stand the guy. Maybe it's the fact that he's one of the most repetitive guys in terms of his booking. "I'm a monster, I feel no pain, but I'll unleash pain on you." Then he proceeds to do the job most of the time...and there ya go. That's the last 10 years of Kane for the most part. I'm also annoyed to learn he's back to being shirtless...because the last thing I want to see is that outie. Now onto year 17, part 9, chapter 56. Can't wait for all those exciting new ideas with Kane. Oh, he's corporate now. Ooooh. It's like a totally different person!!

Batista had a great departure in 2010 and at the time, he was a great example of a guy putting in several great years as a main eventer and stepping aside. Of course, now he's back and looking worse than ever.

Mysterio's star has faded, but he's been in the game for far too long and putting over Del Rio multiple times isn't going to change things. Add to the fact a few years ago his kneebraces were scalping people in a way that would make George Armstrong Custer wince...yeah...it's time to go away before you're forced to be rolled away in a wheelchair. Booyaka Booyaka Step-A-side.

And then you have Randy Orton. Talk about peaking WAY too soon. I've said it before, but nothing about him tells me he should be a 12 time champion. And he's still only in his early 30's with absolutely no other projects to go to, so he'll likely be here for at least another 5 to 8 years. It's amazing that their love for this guy has practically killed him dead so many times because of overexposure and bad booking. Add to the fact he had multiple suspensions and at times a bad attitude, yet he's rewarded more for it than any other member on the roster. I can't wait for this joker to break Flair's "record".

Big Show's novelty act is just that...a novelty. Oh dear...how..oh how will Big Show be eliminated from the Royal Rumble?? Again, we've seen everything he has to offer and he's still around. Another example of bad booking off and on forever makes him hard to watch a lot of the time.

And finally, we have Cena. Now, out of everyone...he's the last guy on this list that should be eliminated. He still holds a purpose and there's still a lot you can do with the character. But that's the thing...they WON'T. He gets the same 2 stories in every single angle they do. Yeah, I know he's their number one guy, but you'd think a little diversity in his run would be nice. That's why I was initially excited about what he was doing with Ryder. I thought perhaps giving them a tag run would be a fitting way to change things up for him. Nope. Back to the tired Kane formula. Goddamn.

Even if you take 3 of those guys out of the mix, you're at least opening up spots where others can step up and try to fill the role. That doesn't mean they'll be as good or better, but shit...I'd prefer them trying something different so that I myself might be entertained for once.