The Goldmine: Is WWE Stifling Top Performers?

Before I begin, let me say that this is only my humble opinion. Just when I believed WWE Creative was getting back on track . . .

Roman Reigns is not plastered in every main event match. Elias is the poster-child for creative genius. Heck, he even articulated his genius earlier this week when he slammed Seth Rollins’ nicknames, which quite frankly make no sense whatsoever. The possibility that Elias might defeat Seth Rollins and capture the Intercontinental championship at Money In The Bank, well, that is just icing on the cake. But when WWE Creative stifles perfectly great characters in-the-making, one wonders, is it self-sabotage on some level?

I’m not alone in wondering why some top performers with the greatest potential are not being fully actualized. Last week Forbes’ journalist Blake Oestriecher speculated that “WWE seems intent on making sure stars are big enough to keep the company thriving but not so big that they leave and take their talents elsewhere.”

In the alternate universe where I run WWE’s creative department, Baron Corbin is christened “The Baron of Armageddon”. He is a bad-guy straight out of a Mad Max movie, or hell, bent on destruction and claiming the WWE title. I hire a seamstresses to create an engaging pair of “high-waisted” tights. Side note: There is nothing more annoying to a wrestler than having to constantly pull up their tights. It’s a reality folks, not everyone on this earth has a bubble-butt. Some need higher-waisted pants to get the job done.

However, having Baron shirk his entire motorcycling bad-ass gimmick to walk out on Raw last night as one of WWE’s latest corporate puppets reminded me of “Corporate Kane”.

How do you go from being a dominant hell-riding monster to a suited and booted everyman yes man?

Baron Corbin Entrance - New Look: Raw, June 11, 2018

My second issue is with Drew McIntyre. McIntyre, much to my chagrin, is being wasted. I use the term “wasted” because none of us are getting any younger. Drew McIntyre has been in the wrestling business for more than a decade and worked his butt off to return to WWE (a former NXT World Champion, I might add). He powerfully entered the Raw fray a few months back, and now is wrestling tag-team matches against The Fashion Police? Nothing against The Fashion Police, but McIntyre belongs in main event matches. Apparently Drew is now on a new mission to clean up the tag team division? A few weeks ago his aim was to clean up the entire WWE.

Why the demotion?

Breezango vs. Dolph Ziggler & Drew McIntyre: Raw, June 11, 2018

If up to me, Drew McIntyre would officially be dubbed and introduced as “The Horseman”. The Four Horsemen would reform, with Drew as the leader. The remaining Horsemen would include Jinder Mahal, Braun Strowman and Roman Reigns (finally in a role that might just get over with fans). The Horsemen would dominate the WWE big-man landscape. They would be bad-guys through and through and on a juggernaut mission, like Drew’s original mission, to make WWE superstars great again. They would be shining examples of what real WWE main eventers can be.

Then there is Bobby Lashley. This is a man who should be “lashing out” with fury and vengeance at WWE’s big men, like Drew McIntyre. Lashley could have run in on the Lesnar/Reigns match at WrestleMania 34. He could have interfered in that match and then gone on to feud with Reigns before finally getting his hands on Lesnar at SummerSlam to capture the Universal Title. Alas, those were not WWE’s plans for Lashley.

Instead, he is a big man trapped in a little man’s world:

Bobby Lashley ends Sami Zayn's disrespectful hoax: Raw, May 21, 2018

https://youtu.be/nOQxBSp563M

I honestly felt that WWE would pull out all the creative stops given the overwhelming success and further rise in popularity of NJPW, Bullet Club, ROH and All In. After NJPW’s cutting edge Dominion event last weekend and its increased presence within the U.S. market, WWE is officially on notice.