Is WWE building towards the future enough?

[radiantsilvergun]

There's always been this notion that wrestlers that came into the WWE after years on the indies/international circuit have a short window for their WWE careers. This is sorta backed up by looking at guys like Guerrero, Benoit,  Bryan etc. for example whos careers have been cut short by health problems (not including the deaths of the first two, but in general.) 

At this point WWE is bringing in tons and tons of these guys. Is doing this a safe investment looking towards the future, or should they only be brought in as a temporary stop in the road? Guys like Zayn and Owens have been built up as pillars of WWE's future so far during their early careers, despite having ALOT of wear and tear and miles on them from going full throttle every night. 



Should WWE fall back on their homegrown talent such as Bray Wyatt, Roman Reigns, Baron Corbin, or the seasoned veterans they're bringing in as of late looking towards the future? 

[Sicho100]

I guess it depends on how long they should lean on one guy. I'd say around 5 years should be the limit for a guy as a prominent act (then they can be lower on the card to help younger guys move up, work backstage, work on the indies, etc.). For that, guys with 10+ years of experience should be fine. If they instead are looking for the next guy that can be on top for 10 years like Cena (a huge mistake, imo), then a Reigns or Wyatt is probably the guy to go with.

[Hit Girl]

Nope.

[Dub H]

They keep making the same mistakes over and over

So no

[Deleted]

[MrBRulzOK]

Potentially yes, they have. The problem is all that potential has been wasted. NOBODY is in a better position right now then they were back in NXT. And Kevin Owens comes the closest and even with him he's kind of mired in midcard hell right now.

WWE has all the talent they could ever ask for, and then some, but until they learn to utilize them instead of cutting everybody's legs out from under them just because they don't fit their rigid mold of what a star should be... then honestly, the future looks pretty bleak to me.

[Deleted]

Forget the future, WWE will be dragged kicking and screaming into the present.

[Deleted]

They already have the talent of today and tomorrow, but they keep bringing in the talent of yesteryear to knock them down the card.

[魔界5号]

I've been saying it forever. By focusing on just one small pool of guys (Cena, Rollins, Reigns, Undertaker, and Lesnar), they leave the rest of the main roster hanging. The only feuds usually worth a damn are the main event ones. This means talented younger guys like Neville, Owens, Ambrose, Ryback, Kalisto, Stardust and more just trade wins with each other forever and occasionally get a short title run.

It does seem that they're making the IC Title the focus of Smackdown though so it's a start.

[Chiral]

If WWE were farmers, they'd be salting all the dirt except for a few patches that have been around forever and not producing as much, as well as only one new plant that they're prepared to water too much. If any plants managed to start growing where they didn't want them they are immediately cut down and stamped out.

[Dr. Bolty, Disaster Enby]

The ideal scenario, I think, and what I think Triple H is planning for, is:

Roman Reigns is the "stable" main-event talent. Top-flight indy and international talent is brought in with the intent of having major, memorable feuds with Roman Reigns. Said talent being a little banged up means that not all of them will stick around for a whole decade after their main event run, meaning that there are better feuds at the top and also less of a problem of too many "former main eventers" floating in the midcard.

Basically, building a stronger overall main event scene by taking advantage of candles that burn twice as bright for half as long.

[RBD]

If anything, I think this highlights the need for WWE to use their top guys more sparingly and not have them wrestle in pointless matches on Raw every week. Even homegrown WWE guys have had health issues, especially if they have been in the midcard rat race long enough, such as Dolph Ziggler. They just need to be more mindful of the total mileage these guys are clocking up with these aimless TV matches.

For every Bryan there is an Edge, who clocked just as much damage in a WWE ring.

[Reflecto]

Yes, because the answer IS no and No, because the answer is yes.

Stars HAPPEN, they aren't made. It's the same as in any other form of entertainment except for legitimate sports (a meritocracy- if you're the best player, you'll get the featured role and be a star) or maybe reality TV: No matter what you do to turn someone into a star, you can't snap a finger and instantly someone is a huge star. The truly great stars are the ones who show up and grab the world by the short hairs and make themselves get some momentum, then they get that momentum to become legitimate stars.

That leads to the problem where both of those things are true. WWE doesn't build to the future enough, and that works because no matter how hard a person is pushed, star quality shines through whether they get pushed or not. This also leads to the problem, since when someone DOES have their star quality shine through, WWE is desperate to make sure that the star quality happens, but on THEIR terms with someone they decided would be the star.

[Abdullah]

Jan 22, 2016 2:28:38 GMT -5 Dr. Bolty, Disaster Enby said:

The ideal scenario, I think, and what I think Triple H is planning for, is:

Roman Reigns is the "stable" main-event talent. Top-flight indy and international talent is brought in with the intent of having major, memorable feuds with Roman Reigns. Said talent being a little banged up means that not all of them will stick around for a whole decade after their main event run, meaning that there are better feuds at the top and also less of a problem of too many "former main eventers" floating in the midcard.

Basically, building a stronger overall main event scene by taking advantage of candles that burn twice as bright for half as long.

But I guess the question is in these threads - who is up there with Roman specifically and the Shield boys generally?

Owens is the only one who comes close at this point, with people assuming that Zayn, Balor, and Crews would also do well on the main roster.

[MichaelMartini]

No, because every time they have a future endeavor spree, it's a glut of the younger guys. They've been culling the mid card almost annually. So many of their main event players are so close to retirement. The few young guys they have pushed have already faced off a million times. What's the future hold? More Reigns/Bray Wyatt matches? WWE is only still in business because they've been able to pick up established talents in the past. Almost every big name came from another promotion.

[sportatorium]

I don't think Bret Hart was a star that just "happened". He was a great wrestler who knew how to connect with the fans, but still had to be elevated from being in a tag team to a Main Event singles guy with a ton of stuff in between. If you take Reigns, Owens, Wyatt, Harper, Cesaro, Zayn, Balor, Ambrose, New Day, Rollins, Rusev etc you have an awfully good Main Event/Upper midcard scene. If you add Styles, Nakamura, Daniel Bryan, Gallows, EC3 as guys you could possibly have for the first time or back in the fold, you get even more depth. In the meantime, Taker, Sheamus, Cena, Orton, HHH, Del Rio, Big Show, Jericho, Dudleys, etc should be losing to the above guys at this point.

They have built a great roster, they just aren't booking with any foresight.

[Deleted]

When Vince went "young" in 1992/93, he didn't slowly phase out the old guard; he tossed them aside. That's really the only way they can do that again. He's not going to job out his older big names (Taker, HHH, and now Cena/Orton fall into that category). Eventually they are going to have to retire or move on so that Vince can move on as well.

With Vince you almost have to leave him no choice in order for him to change/adapt. With the monopoly going on in the business today that's not happening any time soon.

[Deleted]

They're barely building towards the present.

[willyjakes]

Oh, come on, Edna! We both know these wrestlers have no future!

[The Ichi]

There is always a bunch of speculation this time of year wondering what Taker/HHH/Rock/etc are doing for mania, which is proof positive that no, they aren't.