What was the "lost generation" of the WWE?

[wildojinx]

I've seen this term come up several times, especially on this forum. Which era was that exactly?

[ChitownKnight]

Then Punk/Kofi/Kennedy/MVP/Ziggler generation, which it seems that 3 out of those 5 are former world champs...

[Allie Kitsune]

2006-2010, IMO.

Associated most with the likes of Carlito, Kennedy, Masters, and Shelton.

[thecrusherwi]

I always thought it was loosely the generation between the last big OVW group (Cena, Orton, Batista, Lesnar) and The Shield. Basically a 10 year period where they didn’t make any main event level stars other than Punk.

["Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay]

Yeah the OVW clone factory from about 2002-2010 when they started signing indie guys on a wider basis.

[Slingshot Suplay]

The lost generation were the guys that were recruited during Johnny Ace's reign as head of talent relations. The OVW group with Cena, orton, brock, Batista and sheldon were JR's crop of recruits, and JR worked along well with the developmental groups in order to use the call ups effectively. When Ace took over, there was a breakdown of communication with the wwe, OVW and Deep south and the eventual creation of FCW happened. Guys were getting called up way too soon and the guys that were ready to get called up could only go so far because there was too much talent at the top of the main roster. Guys like mvp, miz, Morrison, punk, Kennedy, along with Jr recruited talent like carlito and Benjamin were firmly stuck under the glass ceiling and had no room to grow, and most of them would never reach their potential in the wwe.

[Bad Moon]

It wasn't just the CAWdy Rhodes clones that defined the lost generation, let's not forget that it was also the era of Tough Enough, Divas Search, early cringey talent show period NXT and a whole lot of other bullshit.

[Abdullah]

This era is making a case for itself. Consider how many on the roster they just don't use. It's that whole battle royal, pretty much, and more on the way.

[Deleted]

I'm glad this era has a name. The era of Carlito, Mr. Kennedy, etc. is one that went a long way toward my current mindset of "everything WWE does is instantly forgettable."

[Deleted]

Here's my old thread on it if you wanted a look but if not here's what I said

After Cena's class and before The Shield's class there was a group of superstars in this company who were in a weird spot. Couldn't take over with Cena's class dominating, couldn't take over with The Shield's class given they didn't have their type of infrastructure.

Most people I've seen here call them "The Lost Generation."

There's 6 stars that standout from that class however who refuse to stay down. 3 who had a life when Cena's crew were stomping and now today they stomp with this new class. 3 who were picked early to become something and they became legends. All 6 stars of these stars define their generation. Their longevity and the fact they roll with the punches and continue to standout, make them memorable. Surprisingly, these 3 still haven't reached their peak yet and they have chances to elevate. The other 2 have reached the top, 1 still with the company and the other left. The last is cemented already in a great position.

Give it up to these 6.

- Bryan
- Miz
- Kofi
- Sheamus
- Ziggler
- Punk

officialfan.proboards.com/thread/578702/lost-generation-6-best-class

[Final Countdown Jones]

It's referring to this whole broad spread of time where the roster was, for several reasons, completely unable to grow a credible base. It had its standbys and its successes of the time; Ziggler, Kofi, Punk, and a few others were able to reach heights and get over to varying degrees. But it's also referring to a lot of people who came up and accomplished nothing. Or people who came up and worked for like a month before falling off the map entirely. Tons of people who weren't trained properly, given runs with big goals, and then died off before even reaching those heights because Vince got bored or realized they suck. Roster management might be bad now with all these token call-ups and aimless ideas for people, but the mid-late '00s was an absolute mess for everyone.