Should the WWE send wrestlers on excursions?

[Urethra Franklin]

I was listening to WOR today and Meltzer and Alvarez were talking about how much Hiromu Takahashi had improved after leaving NJPW for three years abroad before coming back.

He left as Kamaitachi, a comedy job guy, and returned as the linchpin of the junior heavyweight division.

I'm wondering why the WWE doesn't employ a similar system. Send guys to Mexico and Japan to cut their teeth before bringing them back to the main roster.

They used to do similar things in the past when they would send guys to ECW or Smoky Mountain or Memphis back in the day, but if they were to do that now, I think it could be pretty beneficial for guys stuck in holding patterns, no?

[This Player Hating Mothman]

Because the homegrown guys who don't already have non-WWE expieriences are the kinds of guys WWE wants to keep completely in-system and trained only in their style. It doesn't help that the mega stifling intent in recent years of having nobody bigger than the brand and mostly just having everyone be pieces fit together uncomfortably and poorly means that letting guys go to other companies and excel is at odds with the current philosophy where nobody exceeds the size of the brand, and someone like Roman, who they see as the guy probably in large part due to the fact he's an entirely WWE creaiton, as the sort of star that will be "better" for being a 100% WWE creation, rather than ever having the influence of anything else.

Like, they totally should. But they won't.

[ANuclearError]

I think there are some talent who would benefit from following Juice Robinson's example and just going on an excursion themselves. I have a ton of respect for Juice making the decision he did, and his current feud with Naito is really winning people over.

[kidtamagotchi]

Of course they should, but what is the point if WWE is going to severely limit what they do in-ring. I guess the wrestlers could learn how to connect with a crowd better if they went abroad.

[Fundertaker]

Apr 27, 2017 16:18:48 GMT -5 Urethra Franklin said:

He left as Kamaitachi, a comedy job guy, and returned as the linchpin of the junior heavyweight division.

No. He left as Hiromu Takahashi, young lion and returned as Hiromu Takahashi, Ticking Time-Bomb. He was Kamaitachi between that.

[Mayonnaise]

I think this is one reason why Hunter is pushing stuff like the UK Tourney and the rumored All Asia tourney. Eventually, he'll have shows in US, Asia, UK and probably Mexico that he can send people to so they can learn what works in those markets, while letting us follow along on the Network.

[Facetious]

It seems as though lately if they find a prospect, they'll send them Gabe's (Evolves) way. Matt Riddle has been going everywhere and has grown tremendously.

[This Player Hating Mothman]

Apr 27, 2017 20:02:39 GMT -5 Facetious said:

It seems as though lately if they find a prospect, they'll send them Gabe's (Evolves) way. Matt Riddle has been going everywhere and has grown tremendously.

The problem is that the indie standout guys aren't the ones who really need the travel and experience because that sort of thing comes from working the indies. It's the homegrown guys who really need the training and special spark in them to find something special.

[Brandon Walsh is Insane.]

They already ship guys to Smackdown...

[Facetious]

Apr 27, 2017 20:34:27 GMT -5 This Player Hating Mothman said:

Apr 27, 2017 20:02:39 GMT -5 Facetious said:

It seems as though lately if they find a prospect, they'll send them Gabe's (Evolves) way. Matt Riddle has been going everywhere and has grown tremendously.

The problem is that the indie standout guys aren't the ones who really need the travel and experience because that sort of thing comes from working the indies. It's the homegrown guys who really need the training and special spark in them to find something special.

I get what you're saying, but Riddle wasn't an indie standout when they sent him Gabe's way. Thanks to that he was able to get the seasoning he has obtained instead of pissing away potential in the PC.

[This Player Hating Mothman]

Apr 27, 2017 20:58:56 GMT -5 Facetious said:

Apr 27, 2017 20:34:27 GMT -5 This Player Hating Mothman said:

The problem is that the indie standout guys aren't the ones who really need the travel and experience because that sort of thing comes from working the indies. It's the homegrown guys who really need the training and special spark in them to find something special.

I get what you're saying, but Riddle wasn't an indie standout when they sent him Gabe's way. Thanks to that he was able to get the seasoning he has obtained instead of pissing away potential in the PC.

Fair, and I do agree, but the indies in general are the kind of seasoning that you used to get in the old days that is so desperately missing here. Evolve was a big step in getting him out there, but it's WWE saying "Do all this stuff, come back, we'll take another look at you when you've gotten out there". I think without WWE's involvement he would have found indie success anyway, and would have received all that experience in time, but he's still treated as an "outsider" for it. WWE needs to look inward more. It's unthinkable that WWE would ever send Roman Reigns to Mexico or Japan because they want him to be WWE Man, and New Japan has just as big a hard-on for Okada and they were willing to entrust him to Dixie f***ing Carter.

[fw91]

but isn't that what nxt is for?

[bootytea]

I see this argument a lot and don't see why WWE would wanna do that.

Its similar to McDonalds sending talent to a fine dining restaurant despite their success being a result of using an effective system.

WWE knows what their target audience wants and will program people to behave in a manner that will satisfy that need. This is why they invested so much into the performance center and NXT.

What WWE really needs more than ever is to give a lot of these new recruits some character.

[Ricky Nightshade]

But everything you need to be as a sports entertainer is in the WWE Performance Center. /shill

[Big Bad Kahuna]

Heard Bahamas (wait no...JBL lives there) and the Maledives are nice places

[Mozenrath]

It's got some benefits, but also can lead to shit like, whoops, place you sent them is poorly run, or oopsy daisy, severe injury. You also have to keep in mind that many talents will not want to take on the risk of being out of sight, out of mind for that long. You can make them do it, but you're going to hurt the incentive of signing on with WWE in the first place if guys signing on just get shipped to bumf***, nowhere.

Also, you now don't just have to watch and monitor progress on the main roster, NXT, and the road shows, you also have to keep an eye on things in sattelite promotions you have deals with, and that's a lot of increased workload, ultimately.

[Allie Kitsune]

Something something hard camera...

[ronin705]

cody.

[Allie Kitsune]

I'm also leaning no, only because if someone gets better/more over in the other promotion than they did in WWE, Vince will bury them out of spite when they come back.

[Vice honcho room temperature]

Like for dinosaur fossils and ancient treasures? I think we should leave that for archeologists