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WWE Rookies: Too Green For Greed
March 28, 2005 by Stephane Lajoie

With WrestleMania 21 just around the corner, I just couldn't stop wondering where the WWE will be heading after the granddaddy of them all for 2005. With a huge chunk of their upper card wrestlers on the verge of retirement and with their younger days long gone, the WWE is reacting wrongly to the situation by overflowing both rosters with inexperienced wrestlers.

Without star power, the wrestling business can't shine. The WWE is still trying to patch the holes left by the numerous departures and hiatus of their most popular main-eventers three years ago. When Rock, Austin and Foley stepped away from the ring, it was the real three minute warning for the WWE.

But the McMahon family took their fans for granted. They put the popularity of the sport on hold, implanted a monopoly on American wrestling and simply piledrove themselves straight to hell.

The marketing and creative departments in Stamford should start freaking out just about now, because their three minutes are just about up.

TOO FAST TOO SOON

By skyrocketing rookies to stardom, they exposed the flaws of the wrestling business. By offering monster pushes to unprepared workers, the WWE put guys on TV who are huge on muscle, but short on talent. Just because you are getting in the ring doesn't mean you are a wrestler or ready for the WWE bright lights.

The new breed of wrestlers don't even have the time anymore to acclimate to the WWE style and make a name for themselves. Within months, they have a title belt around their waist and participate in high profile angles. They become champion without recognition; wrestlers with paper personalities.

Or, on the other end of the spectrum, they enter the big league with fanfare to only be relegated to dark matches after a couple of TV squash bouts. The fans don't care anymore. They are tired of having characters shoved down their throat. They don't like it and they aren't buying it either.

Seeing the new wrestlers showered with boos and boring chants, the WWE reacts by switching the belts, allegiances and storylines like hot potatoes. Entertaining matches, fierce promos and career building feuds aren't created between two pay-per-views or RAW shows.

How many WWE rookies have been involved in angles that just don't make any sense in 2004" How many WWE rookies will still be on the WWE roster five years from now and be major players"

You all know the answers.

Becoming a pro wrestling superstar should be a slow progression. Let the characters evolve; let the fans discover the new wrestlers. Give the boys two to three years to build confidence in the ring and on the microphone before making them champions.

What took years to accomplish a decade ago can be done in months in today's WWE. That trend can't be beneficial to the wrestling business. Young guys are washed up before you know it and it's also discrediting the accomplishments of yesterday's superstars.

It takes time for a wrestler to build a loyal fanbase but time isn't a hot WWE commodity right now.

On Monday Night RAW, Jim Ross said that the ring wasn't covered in barbecue sauce, so it couldn't possibly taste good. Well good ol' JR, the arena seats might be covered with a spicy one, because people don't bother sitting on them anymore.

by Stephane Lajoie..

Ascokev wrote:
some wrestlers are still getting what they deserve after years of hard work and for some development wrestling. Eddie guerrero last year and Chris Benoit. Batista is getting a title shot. But you are right about most of the superstars. For example,on raw, Christy is already getting a title shot. On smack down, john{cena} has been a big superstar but he already had a title going into the no. 1 contender tournament. Lots of superstars are getting some recognition but no title matches. In conclusion, if your gonna give a superstar the world title make sure he has three things, skill, experience,and momentum.

RuthlessGattman wrote:
Well, I do have to say this is a nice article, but really you can't blame WWE for what they're doing. They're taking anyone they hear the fans cheer for and hiring anyone they think will be impressive enough. John Cena, Randy Orton, Chris Masters.. these three come to mind when I say this.

With Randy Orton getting his Legend Killer push, it almost certifies him as a champion for the brand. Yes, he did becoem champion, but he was champion once and for about one month and hasn't been champion since. WWE seemed to have learned their lesson with Orton, yes the fans enjoy watching him and he had once of the best entrances. Thing is, he's getting stale. He says the same reptitive promos every week depending on who he's facing and he only has three or four moves that make him different than others. His signatures, RKO, Flying Cross Body, and the Backbreaker are all very overrated. The RKO is just a different version of the Bubba Cutter, Diamond Cutter, and Twist of Fate, plus is getting pretty old. As for the others, well, cruiserweights can fly higher and a backbreaker is a backbreaker, no matter what version you use. Yet this guy is being pushed for whatever reason and some fans have reason to believe his prime has already passed. We're tired of seeing an arrogant punk do the same stuff over and over every week. It's been fun, but it eventually phased out or beginning to phase out due to fans realizing just how overrated the guy really is.

John Cena is the Smackdown version of Randy Orton. With moves like the 5-knuckle shuffle and FU, fans cheer for them as though they were as exciting as the stunner from Stone Cold or Rock Bottom from the Rock. I guess if the fans like it, go with it. That seems to be Smackdown's choice. Since Angle has been champion so many times it's somewhat boring, Big Show's never been as big of a draw as he could have, and Undertaker nearing his retirement, Smackdown needed someone to beat JBL for the title. Someone that the fans seemed to enjoy, they chose Cena. I'm not the biggest Cena fan and I've never understood why people liked him, but I guess it's a snart move to go with the popular one. I dislike their use with Cena, however, losing the U.S. title to a newcomer, then beating him and having to get rid of it again. Then beating them and end up losing sometime later against a Jobber after going weeks without defending the title or beating opponents in squash matches to defend the title. Cena's good potential, but he's not the type a guy who should make JBL, Booker T, or Rene Dupree run away with their tails between their legs. His vocabulary skills are somewhat not very impressive due to repitition, but his flame is still there. He makes a ridiculous thing sound fun to say, I just wish he'd give that "ah-aaaah!" thing he does.

As for Chris Masters, a very green individual who should have been fired after that one mistake on Richards. No one cared about him coming into WWE and no one's going to care if he were gone from WWE.

Jonathan Ayres wrote:
I think this is a excellent column making some very good points. I think Orton and Cena have potential, but both are being pushed too fast too soon and dont really have what it takes to be main event guys at this time.

The whole problem is the lack of talent which has been stretched on two different shows. With this system WWE really has no choice but to push young stars quickly to keep the show going. And with the likes of Brock Lesnar, the Rock and Austin leaving you have massive problems.

I mean its shows how desperate the WWE is when they use a former tag team partner who was under used then making him your champion from out of no where! (JBL btw) And the fact you have Triple HHH being champion for so long because at the end of the day you really don't have anyone else to use.

I totally agree with the fact that wrestlers need time to develop. Look at the likes of Foley, Triple HHH, Austin, The Rock, Angle they all took time to develop their characters. The likes of Orton and Cena have just been shoved in the light cos of the desperate need to create big stars, which they just aren't at this time.

The WWE needs to have a massive rethink and stop fussing around and basically put both shows together again cos at the end of the day at this rate the WWE is just gonna be a wrestling joke.

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