WWE Midcard Purges

[The Chief]

I brought this up in another thread and some thought this would make a good topic, so here we go. Every now and then you have a transition year on the WWE roster where you look at January and December and it's like a completely different company. 1996 is a good example. TONS of new talent brought in at the beginning of the year and a lot of the "New Generation" stalwarts were phased out. 1997 probably would have been really weird if you still had Tatanka, Bigelow, Hakushi, Mabel, etc still around. A more recent example is in 2010 when you got rid of a lot of the mid-2000's guys like Shelton, Mickie James, Carlito, even Batista to make way for all the NXT kids. I was watching Raw the other night and started thinking about how insanely long characters are on TV these days. Example, Kofi Kingston has been on WWE television non-stop for almost six years! In the exact same role! Not that babyface JTTS is a bad role, but couldn't it be time to put somebody else in that role? Especially if they're not going to do anything with Kingston. So what I'm asking is do we need a midcard purge right now?

 

I don't want this to turn into "Khali sucks, he needs to go" or anything like that because yes he does suck, but I'm sure he's useful to the company in promotional ways like reaching out to the Indian market. I'm thinking of guys who whether you think they're good or not, you just don't see them ever being in any different position that they're in right now. And yeah, it sucks that options are limited as to where else you can go to learn these days, but I don't want that topic to overtake this one. Here's a handful of guys I thought of:

 

Kofi Kingston - The first one to come to mind, he's in the exact same spot as Shelton Benjamin or John Morrison, very athletic guy who shows up to do cutesy high spots in multi-man settings once a year and does nothing of note the rest of the year. Every five or six months throw him a secondary title and an uneventful reign. I could see TNA being all over someone like Kofi and that's probably the worst place somebody of his "style" should go if they ever wanted to get better, but I think it's time to cut Kofi. I would actually like even more if they got rid of this "rotating secondary champ" role in general, see also:

 

Dolph Ziggler - Never saw the love for him, tries to put his bumps over more than his match and has horrible offense. What's his character even supposed to be anyway? He's supposed to be a show-off, but that never really comes off in his interviews, or even his ringwork. I don't care for RVD much, but he certainly plays a "show off" much better. Dolph will occasionally throw some sit-ups into his matches. I honestly think in his mind he thinks his goofy bumps are what makes his "show-off" character. I honestly think they've done all they can with him at this point.

 

Jack Swagger - I think he's been hurt by half-assed World Title reigns and half-assed World Title pushes more than anyone in recent memory. I was glad that Sandow didn't win with his cash-in for this very reason. If they didn't shoot him to the top with zero plans he might not have the loser stigma he carries now. And does anyone even remember he was in the Mania "Main Event" earlier this year?

 

Wade Barrett - For similar reasons as Swagger. They brought him back as a legit tough guy then proceeded to job him for 20 straight matches. That's not how a tough guy is booked. It may be possible to rehabilitate him, but I think too much damage has been done and he's never been much more than vanilla in the ring or on the mic.

 

Sin Cara - There HAS to be some sort of contractual reason why he's still around since such a big deal was made of his signing. I'm actually surprised that more people didn't make memes of him breaking his hand on a dive and immediately calling for the ref to stop the match. I actually thought that was worse than the Kevin Nash incident. Use Hunico in a similar gimmick if you need Rey to groom a replacement. Hunico is GOOD.

 

Drew McIntyre - He's young enough to where he can come back someday. And he's good enough to where he can transcend the gimmick that he's in, but right now he's toxic. WWE booking has killed him dead and he could really benefit from staying out of sight for a year or two.

 

Layla - She's the most tenured Diva on the roster. Think about that. I'm honestly surprised she's been around as long as she has after LayCool split, but she's still here, doing nothing. You can't even use the "she's on the reality show" excuse for keeping her around. Get rid of Alicia Fox for the same reasons.

 

JTG - I enjoyed the later Cryme Tyme stuff. And I think he's very charismatic. But he's now a Scotty 2 Hotty who isn't even on TV. And isn't the point of a Scotty 2 Hotty to job him to your guys? On TV? Don't see why he's still around.

 

Is Evan Bourne still alive? He's not on my list, just honestly curious...

 

So what do you guys think?

[anarchistxx]

I've been calling for one for ages. Far too many homogenous, bland wrestlers that have been pushed and depushed too strongly and are effectively ruined if they stay hanging around making up all the spare hours of television needed for advertising, losing one week and winning the next and who are never going to get to the level needed.

 

The problem has been rectified with some workers; Jack Swagger has a nice niche in the tag division now and a fairly over gimmick. There are also now guys like The Shield and The Wyatt Family who have distinguishable looks and personalities, whether you enjoy the work or not.

 

Dolph Ziggler is still pretty over - he makes a good, solid mid card performer providing he is booked right, which he never is. Only last December he was getting a landmark victory over John Cena, only a few months later he had an insanely over cash in to win the belt. Then in the ensuing months he gets battered by Del Rio over and over and ends up drifting, losing to all and sundry. They should give him a female valet, give him a lengthy run with the intercontinental title and more than anything put him in some proper feuds. Are WWE incapable of booking more than one feud at a time? Midcard feuds can be really fun, you can be more experimental with the writers, give the performers some leeway and take a chance on making a new star.

 

Who I would cull:

 

Brodus Clay

Curt Hawkins

Curtis Axel

Damien Sandow

David Otunga

Drew Mcintyre

Primo

Epico

Ezekiel Jackson

Fandango

The Great Khali

Hornswoggle

Jinder Mahal

Heath Slater

Justin Gabriel

JTG

Kofi Kingston

The Miz

R-Truth

Ricardo Rodriguez

Santino Marella

Tensai

Sin Cara

 

Jesus, they have some deadwood. How much are they paying these guys?

 

More controversially I would also bin Alberto del Rio. This guy isn't over at all, especially in comparison to his push level. He has little to no charisma, seems utterly forced and fake, cuts awful, at times cringe worthy promos, isn't believable and his matches are often boring as well. I don't like his look either.

 

Vicki Guerrero should also be culled; she has been getting X-Pac heat for years. Everything she does is awful, and not in a 'being a good heel' way. Honestly the most annoying, horrible character they have ever put on television, and she's been there for nearly a decade! Unbelievable, she has to have something on them.

 

That would freshen shit up.

[Coffey]

Kane, Christian & R-Truth are the first ones that came to my mind. Probably Jerry Lawler too. Although they're damaged goods right now, I think Drew McIntyre, Dolph Ziggler, Wade Barrett & Jack Swagger are salvageable.

 

I would launch Curtis Axel into the sun. That dude is never going anywhere. How has Teddy Long had a job for so long? He doesn't even DO anything...

 

Looking at the roster on WWE.com, I'm surprised some of those people are even still around. Plus, why does it list Los Matadores & Epico/Primo both? Just to make the roster bigger? Half the people on there are non-wrestlers or guys not around anymore.

 

Seriously, look: http://www.wwe.com/superstars

 

The roster is DREADFUL. There's like, no star power at all. It's all jobbers, non-wrestlers & guys like Rock, Taker, Brock that are never around. Think of how many scruds are going to be in the Rumble early next year. Holy crap...

 

EDIT: anarchistxx replied while I was typing. I would put Heath Slater in the Dolph Ziggler role. Slater makes dudes look great. Break-up 3MB, put Slater in that role, push Drew Mac as a mid-card heel again & can Jinder. I still have faith in Gabriel, think there's a place for guys like Santino, Ricardo, Clay & Otunga but really struggle to defend the other names. What is Sandow ever going to do? What is The Miz ever going to do at this point? It's just like when Jericho comes back now. I mean, why? It's the Christian spot.

[The Chief]

My thoughts on Swagger are that yes, he's been rehabilitated somewhat, but that team is ALL Cesaro. You could put anyone else in that spot and have the same effect. Cesaro is getting super over and you can tell management realizes that, eventually he's going singles. Swagger will go right back to where he was before. When they put Swagger with Dutch, there was interest for about three weeks then he was back to being the same old un-over Swagger. He's just cursed to be not over.

[Tim Evans]

If you got rid of all these guys, who would replace them? Only a handful of the NXT guys are really ready for the main roster and would take months to get over. Getting rid of Santino is ridiculous as he's more over than most of the main eventers these days.

[Alucard]

They should give him a female valet, give him a lengthy run with the intercontinental title and more than anything put him in some proper feuds.

They already did those things. He had Vickie for two years then after that immediately got AJ which was abysmal. He got the IC title for a 160 day reign back in 2010. They should've never stuck him with AJ. The only time he was on track to be a breakout singles guy was after splitting from Vickie late last year then he suddenly gets back to back pinfalls over Orton and a PPV match with Cena. All downhill after that.

[The Chief]

If you got rid of all these guys, who would replace them? Only a handful of the NXT guys are really ready for the main roster and would take months to get over. Getting rid of Santino is ridiculous as he's more over than most of the main eventers these days.

I'm no Santino fan, but I didn't list him for that reason. There's always a spot for niche guys like that. I was thinking more along the lines of guys who have been around a long time and just don't really have much else to give, through their own fault or bookings. We usually have one of these "cull" years every four years or so, I was thinking 2014 might be one of those years.

 

If we could get four or five decent call-ups that could be considered a successful replacement. I will say this, they've gotten a lot better with debuting new guys over the past year. Thank god we're past the sink or swim stuff like the "New Talent Initiative."

[Dylan Waco]

I really like a lot of the mid-card acts, but some of them probably would be better off leaving and attempting a comeback down the road after working indies or Japan for a while. Barrett seems like the most obvious example of this, though I think Swagger has been badly damaged by booking and without Cesaro and/or Zeb would be DOA. Kofi is not any good and I don't want to see him wrestle, but at least he's over.

[Bix]

I'm not sure Kofi's even over anymore.

[MikeCampbell]

Would this even be necessary if they still had the brand split, and actually treated RAW and SD as separate entitites? Instead they have five hours of TV a week, and only showcase the same handful of names.

[cheapshot]

If you got rid of all these guys, who would replace them? Only a handful of the NXT guys are really ready for the main roster and would take months to get over. Getting rid of Santino is ridiculous as he's more over than most of the main eventers these days.

I really like a lot of the NXT roster, but Tim is right, I don't think many of them are ready yet.

 

From the top of my head, the ones I think are ready are: Adrian Neville, Oliver Grey, Sami Zayn, Sylvester Lefort & Paige.

 

I have no idea what to do with them however! I am going to assume many of the smaller guys may be used for a new TV show for the network, as I have heard rumblings of this recently.

[cm funk]

If you got rid of all these guys, who would replace them? Only a handful of the NXT guys are really ready for the main roster and would take months to get over. Getting rid of Santino is ridiculous as he's more over than most of the main eventers these days.

Exactly. Anarchistxx would cut half the roster and replace them with.....who exactly? And isn't he someone who admits to not watching or liking the product? So forgive me if your opinions don't hold much weight with me. If you think almost the entire undercard is deadweight odds are WWE isn't for you, because they'll just fill the same slots with different people, rinse wash repeat

 

Some of these names are just silly:

 

Heath Slater is really entertaining and a great bumper and job guy. He's a perfect lower midcard stooge heel. 3MB is a fun act too. Jinder has improved in the ring (I used to think absolutely nothing of him but he's become a perfectly acceptable tag guy who's still got youth on his side) and it's been a good role for Drew

 

Santino? Khali? Tons of Funk? Hornswoggle? These guys aren't "deadwood". They're over with kids midcard comedy acts who serve a purpose on the roster.

 

Sandow has a lot of potential in ring and as a character and he isn't close to being stale or buried yet. He's coming off the best match of his career with Cena and you'd cut him?

 

Swagger? Like others have said has found a niche with The Real Americans. He might be in trouble when they break Cesaro off, but you can at least have him put Cesaro over before you toss him aside. I also think he's a really good tag guy, so you can always find another partner for him (a developmental callup perhaps)

 

Fandango? Over midcard heel act and hasn't even been on tv a year yet. Nowhere close to stale.

 

Kane has had one of the most entertaining 12-16 months of his career, first in Hell No and now with his corporate character

 

The three stalest guys to me who'd be my first cuts:

 

Kofi

R-Truth

Miz

 

All these guys have been on TV forever at this point, constantly and in basically the same exact roles, and they need breaks. They're never going to move up and will probably never move too far down. Maybe they could come back and be fresh down the road, but right now it's time to give all of them a breather.

 

After that it's guys like JTG and Curt Hawkins who are just hanging around and not even used on tv, Sin Cara who's a failed experiment, and Zeke who aside from being a big, tough looking guy never showed me anything in the way of charisma or in ring.

 

I think the Divas need an overhaul as well. Layla seems to do a lot of promotional work and goes on all the foreign/military trips so doubt she'd get cut. I like her too, but her best days as a performer seem to be behind her. Fox and Aksana don't bring much aside from being attractive. I'm already tired of the Bellas again but obviously they won't be going anywhere. Natalya could use a break. AJ, Kaitlyn and Summer are all good and still fresh, and they have some girls with potential in NXT like Paige and Charlotte (Ashley Flair). I'd like to see them use a few girls who are more substance than style as well, but I know that's unlikely to happen.

[Stiva]

I agree that Miz needs to go away for a good while so he can come back a few years down the line fresh. Unfortunately, there's nowhere for him to go aside from trying to carve a TV career out. I think once Evan Bourne is back, they'll put Kofi with him again and they'll have a decent run as a tag team.

 

I remember an idea being floated on DVDVR that they should get a couple of Attitude Era acts who are still in good shape and have them work on the undercard. Billy Gunn seems to be in decent shape, throw the New Age Outlaws out there for 6 months for the nostalgia pop. Are there no guys out there who have been away a while who are good for a comeback? MVP? Benjamin? Burke? Masters?

 

But there's also guys that they just aren't doing anything with. Where's Yoshi Tatsu? Every so often, they have El Locals and I know they've just debuted a masked team but why not throw Tatsu under one of the masks and utilise the dude? Drew McIntyre is good fun in 3MB but it really comes across like he's been supremely wasted in that trio.

 

Is Regal rooted to NXT or could he not join the main roster for a few months to freshen things up?

 

Would this even be necessary if they still had the brand split, and actually treated RAW and SD as separate entitites? Instead they have five hours of TV a week, and only showcase the same handful of names.

I definitely agree with this. They have 3 hours for Raw which is fair enough, they can fill that reasonably well but when it comes to booking Smackdown, they need to repeat matches just by the nature of having so much time to fill. I was a bigger brand split apologist than most as I really liked the hard split (when it lasted) and the idea that guys would only show up on the other show around Mania season; it made for fresh(ish) matches when Punk came back to ECW to work against Finlay or whoever.

[Sidebottom]

The biggest problem with the WWE midcard is that everybody beats everybody on any given week. Nothing matters! You watch a match and you have zero interest in the outcome as you know it doesn't matter, and chances are there will be a rematch on Smackdown which will be as equally redundant.

[Matt D]

I still think Swagger has a patriotic face run in him. Part of me wants to think that Kofi has a heel run in him too but I have no idea what that would even look like.

[Steven]

. Part of me wants to think that Kofi has a heel run in him too but I have no idea what that would even look like.

[vicious&delicious]

I blame most of the roster issues on poor booking. I would divide the roster into five categories.

 

1. -Who has not had a feud in a year.

2. -Who has not cut a promo in a year.

3. -Who loses a lot and has lost credibility.

4. -Who suffers from 50/50 booking.

5. List of guys I do not find entertaining.

 

When I went through the roster, its obvious that most of the roster has been gimmickless and directionless for over a year. Sometimes being fed to the main eventers to fill up tv time. Other times trading wins/losses I see talent in a lot of these guys and most of them are redeemable. It just takes (wait for it) a gimmick, direction and some protection of their credibility.

 

 

1. List of guys who have not had a feud on Raw/Smackdown in the last year:

◾The Great Khali

◾R-Truth

◾Kofi Kingston

◾Zack Ryder

◾Justin Gabriel

◾Alex Riley

◾Brodus Clay

◾Yoshi Tatsu

◾Sin Cara

◾JTG

◾Hornswoggle

◾Drew McIntyre

◾Heath Slater

◾Jinder Mahal

◾Hunico

◾Camacho

◾Primo

◾Epico

◾Hawkins

 

 

2. List of guys who I have not heard talk on Raw/Smackdown in over a year:

◾Kofi Kingston

◾Zack Ryder

◾Justin Gabriel

◾Alex Riley

◾Brodus Clay

◾Darren Young

◾Yoshi Tatsu

◾Sin Cara

◾JTG

◾Tensai

◾Hornswoggle

◾Drew McIntyre

◾Heath Slater

◾Jinder Mahal

◾Hunico

◾Camacho

◾Primo

◾Epico

◾Hawkins

 

 

3. List of guys who lose all the time and are no longer credible:

◾The Great Khali

◾R-Truth

◾Kofi Kingston

◾Zack Ryder

◾Justin Gabriel

◾Brodus Clay

◾Yoshi Tatsu

◾JTG

◾Dolph Ziggler

◾The Miz

◾Tensai

◾Ryback

◾Alberto Del Rio

◾Jack Swagger

◾Wade Barrett

◾Drew McIntyre

◾Heath Slater

◾Jinder Mahal

◾Hunico

◾Camacho

◾Hawkins

 

4. List of guys in the mid-card who suffer from 50/50 booking.

◾R-Truth

◾Kofi Kingston

◾Darren Young

◾Titus O’Neal

◾Cody Rhodes

◾Dolph Ziggler

◾The Miz

◾Alberto Del Rio

◾Fandango (?)

◾Jack Swagger

◾Wade Barrett

◾Primo

◾Epico

 

5. List of guys who have never entertained me.

◾The Great Khali

◾Darren Young

◾Sin Cara

◾Curtis Axel

◾Jinder Mahal

◾Erick Rowan

 

 

Not on my lists:

◾Jey Uso

◾Jimmy Uso

◾John Cena

◾CM Punk

◾Daniel Bryan

◾Randy Orton

◾Christian

◾The Big Show

◾Kane

◾Triple H

◾Brock Lesnar

◾Mark Henry

◾Antonio Cesaro

◾Roman Reigns

◾Seth Rollins

◾Dean Ambrose

◾Big E Langston

◾Luke Harper

◾Bray Wyatt

◾Goldust

◾Sheamus

◾Undertaker

[anarchistxx]

If you got rid of all these guys, who would replace them?

You don't need to replace most of them. Half of these workers aren't even on television most of the time, the ones who are just make up filler roles. Shorten Raw would be the obvious solution, but since there is no chance of that happening then invest more time in the ones you have left on the roster. Less squash matches, less pointless matches and more actual feuds, well written, well booked that play out over a few weeks.

 

The roster is unbelievably bloated, and really needs some fresh blood. Give some young wrestlers a chance, and introduce them properly and slowly, rather than push them to the moon and then job them out to the moon which is the current ridiculous cycle.

 

I'll respond to some of the more specific points later.

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

I see the staleness of the roster as a creative problem, so why punish the wrestlers, most of whom perform above expectations given what they have to work with. The midcarders are only defined as such because they're the guys who go from getting beat by the main eventers, to trading wins amongst themselves. Utilise the whole roster. What's wrong with feeding your real low-end guys to someone like Kofi to give him some momentum. It's win-win because you give the impression that Kofi is someone on a hot streak, and you also give guys that never get on tv the chance to do something and maybe catch the eye. There are guys, like JTG for example, who will probably never get above that level, but someone like Yoshi Tatsu could probably get over by working a few flashy sequences into a short match with a guy like Kofi, or just through sympathetic selling. Then, if he does get over, you can think about shuffling him up to the next level.

 

When was the last time a midcard guy ever went on a hot streak, winning matches for a couple of months straight? Anytime someone gets even a glimmer of momentum, it seems they are fed to a main eventer. This is kinda an obscure reference, but it's one that has always stuck with me for whatever reason, but I remember several years back on Smackdown they had Big Vito doing the dress wearing gimmick, and one week the GM (probably Teddy Long) booked him in a match with world champ Booker T for the following week, as punishment for something Booker had done. In reality, it was nothing more than a main eventer going against a midcard comedy guy, but because Vito had been winning matches for several weeks at that point, I was actually interested in seeing the match, and bought Vito as a threat. Before that run, Vito was Nunzio's lackey, which is about as low on the totem pole as you could get. The rough equivalent today would probably be Drew McIntyre or Jinder Mahal. Can you even conceive of buying either one of those guys as a threat to Randy Orton two months from now, or even thinking that's a worthwhile match to watch (outside of Drew markdom, which I share)? I kinda went off on a tangent, but my point is that if you utilise the full roster, it benefits everyone. Problem is, it's a long-term commitment and a change in booking philosophy that we'll probably never see. So, that said, fire the Miz, I guess?

[Coffey]

Kane has had one of the most entertaining 12-16 months of his career, first in Hell No and now with his corporate character

And he's sucked for twenty years. Kane was the first name that came to mind when I thought "If I could get rid of anyone, one single person, who would it be?"

 

Mask, no mask, heel, face, serious, comedic...it doesn't matter. He's done it all & it's all tired at this point. We've seen him shock Shane McMahon's testicles with a car battery, set Jim Ross on fire, use a voice box to tell people to "suck it!", cut a "Kanenites" Hulk Hogan promo, wrestle a technical match with Big Show for some reason, do the Hell No therapy comedy skits & "hug it out." His entire career is ridiculous. He's always just been a second-rate Undertaker at best & an unfunny, lumbering goof at worst.

[Matt D]

Kane has had one of the most entertaining 12-16 months of his career, first in Hell No and now with his corporate character

And he's sucked for twenty years. Kane was the first name that came to mind when I thought "If I could get rid of anyone, one single person, who would it be?"

 

Mask, no mask, heel, face, serious, comedic...it doesn't matter. He's done it all & it's all tired at this point. We've seen him shock Shane McMahon's testicles with a car battery, set Jim Ross on fire, use a voice box to tell people to "suck it!", cut a "Kanenites" Hulk Hogan promo, wrestle a technical match with Big Show for some reason, do the Hell No therapy comedy skits & "hug it out." His entire career is ridiculous. He's always just been a second-rate Undertaker at best & an unfunny, lumbering goof at worst.

 

Dude was a royal dentist and fake fake trucker too! Someone should make a bingo card.

[Loss]

I think the human element sometimes get overlooked when talking about releases. I'm not saying WWE has a moral obligation to employ everyone. They don't, and they of course have to release people they have no plans for. But I don't celebrate when someone loses their job either. It's a necessary evil, but it's cruddy.

[mookeighana]

Looking at the roster by age (who wrestled in WWE in the last year - some of these folks have already left..)

 

You've got the veterans camp (38 and older): Rey Mysterio Jr, Christian, Tensai, the Great Khali, the Rock, the Big Show, R-Truth, Mark Henry, Chris Jericho, Rob Van Dam, Triple H, Goldust, William Regal, Kane, Paul Heyman, The Undertaker and Zeb Colter. Only person I'd get rid of at this moment would be R-Truth. Tensai at least can be an old hand to do some jobs. Khali is atrocious but the kids still love him.

 

34- 36 years old: Santino Marella, CM Punk, Ezekiel Jackson, Sheamus, Tamina, Yoshi Tatsu, Brock Lesnar, Layla, Alberto Del Rio, Hunico, John Cena, Titus O'Neil

Big Zeke, Tatsu and Huncio ought to go.

 

32-34 years old: Alex Riley, Fandango, Daniel Bryan, Justin Gabriel, Antonio Cesaro, Mike Mizanin, Wade Barrett, Dolph Ziggler, David Otunga, Randy Orton, Brodus Clay, Tyson Kidd, Rosa Mendes, Luke Harper, Curtis Axel

Rosa can retire.

 

28-32 years old: Zack Ryder, Drew McIntyre, Roman Reigns, Curt Hawkins, JTG, Brad Maddox, Eva Marie, Summer Rae, Darren Young, Nikki Bella, Brie Bella, Heath Slater, Camacho ,Sin Cara, Ted Dibiase Jr, Primo Colon, Damien Sandow, Natalya Neidhart, Aksana, Epico, Mason Ryan, Jack Swagger, Ryback, Erick Rowan, Kofi Kingston

I'd drop Ryder, JTG, Mason Ryan and Aksana.

 

25-27 years old: Cameron, Naomi, Bray Wyatt, AJ, Kaitlyn, Hornswoggle, Jinder Mahal, Alicia Fox, Seth Rollins, Ricardo Rodriguez, Big E Langston, Dean Ambrose, Cody Rhodes, Jey Uso, Jimmy Uso

Mahal should go. No point to Ricardo anymore (even as El Local).

[anarchistxx]

I don't see the point in releasing Kane, unless he is on obscene money. He is so established right now, and people will be more excited to see him on a house show than the likes of Jack Swagger or R-Truth. He sucks, but you have to have well regarded veterans like him to put over the new talent.

 

I'm no Santino fan, but I didn't list him for that reason. There's always a spot for niche guys like that.

His schtick is pretty embarrassing, though. It is something that would really turn off a new fan, or an old fan trying to get back into the show. Surely there are better ways to do a comedy character than that?

 

And isn't he someone who admits to not watching or liking the product? So forgive me if your opinions don't hold much weight with me.

I've watched a fair amount of the product this year. Why is my opinion worth less than yours just because I dislike the product and you like it? The whole point of a cull would be to freshen the product up for those like myself dissatisfied with the company and who have been drifting away for years, so in that respect my opinion is important as someone who wants to see a change to get invested in the product again.

 

. If you think almost the entire undercard is deadweight odds are WWE isn't for you, because they'll just fill the same slots with different people, rinse wash repeat

Not true; the undercard in 1988 or 1998 or 2004 was far more interesting and compelling than the undercard today. Most of the people I would cull are completely, irretrievably bland, void of any charisma, obviously playing a role. The prototypical WWE produced wrestler of today. The slots should be filled by people with originality.

 

Heath Slater is really entertaining and a great bumper and job guy. He's a perfect lower midcard stooge heel.

Why do they need job guys? The last industry boom coincided with the lack of squash matches on television. Slater is serviceable from what I've seen, but he would surely benefit from going on the road, getting experience, freshening up, coming up with a new angle for himself? What is he achieving at the minute?

 

3MB is a fun act too.

A fun act who has lost every single match they have been in. I had decent hopes when they were introduced, it seemed a fun, entertaining midcard gimmick. It ceased to be so when they became jobbers. Why invest in them? 2 Cool worked because they actually won matches. 3MB is effectively dead as a gimmick with the way it has been handled, they might as well be off the roster.

 

Khali? Tons of Funk? Hornswoggle? These guys aren't "deadwood". They're over with kids midcard comedy acts who serve a purpose on the roster.

'Tons of Funk' are just a rehash, yet another attempt to capture the 2 Cool/Rikishi dancing/comedy thing. And again, they job every single week, barely getting any offence in. Someone new could do just as well in that spot, or even better they could try a fresh gimmick. Brodus Clay and Tensai are prime examples of people ruined by the ridiculous booking tropes; both brought in as monsters, defeating everyone in their paths, not getting over and now jobbing out to everyone. Where is the consistency? They are irredeemable deadwood.

 

Hornswoggle is prime example of someone who turns a lot of people away from the product. You can run that kind of character when you are hot for a short while, but when it extends to years and years when the company isn't exactly firing on all cyclinders, it ends up taking away from the overall product and making it seem like its embarrassing junk for kids. There are ways to have kids characters without endangering the adult audience.

 

Khali once again is someone ruined by booking, and the fact he can't work for shit. Typical WWE not knowing what to do with a guy, so they have them dance or read poetry or other comedy crap. WWE is useless at comedy.

 

Only a WWE mark could love these characters, surely? What would be lost by The Great Khali leaving? A victory over him means shit, his matches are rubbish, he isn't particularly over. If he makes money in India, fair enough, but we are talking about increasing the quality of the product rather than increasing international revenue.

 

Sandow has a lot of potential in ring and as a character and he isn't close to being stale or buried yet. He's coming off the best match of his career with Cena and you'd cut him?

I'd certainly repackage him. His gimmick is stale, old fashioned, restrictive and he isn't even over. He's too similar in style to so many people they have.

 

Fandango? Over midcard heel act and hasn't even been on tv a year yet. Nowhere close to stale.

It's an act that isn't going anywhere, isn't especially funny or entertaining, isn't believable. Why keep him on? He was stale from the moment he debuted. Bad, inconsistent booking, a cavalier attitude to wins and losses - a familiar story.

 

All these gimmicks as 'dancers', 'blue bloods', 'rugby players', 'Japanese princes' etc they are so outdated. When has that type of thing ever been especially entertaining ir drawn any money?

 

I think the Divas need an overhaul as well.

Agree with this. As a casual fan I can't differentiate between any of the Divas except for AJ Lee. To homogenous. They need to get distinctive looks and personalities. Chyna. Lita, Ivory, Jacqueline, Trish Stratus - they might not all have been great workers or characters but you could tell between them. Again, it is all homogenous - they all look similar and work exactly the same style.

 

They would also benefit from bringing two or three people back who are over and will help elevate new stars. Jeff Hardy is perfect to bring some life to the main event but he is probably too messed up and I haven't seen him for years, has he gone to pot? If they could get Batista back it would be a great move. They should keep RVD on, but if they do he needs some wins to keep him strong or it means nothing beating him. Rey Mysterio coming back would help. Kurt Angle working part time. The problem with all this television is that everyone faces each other so you can't build a fresh match. Outside guys coming in helps with this.

[Big Rob]

You'd keep Camacho but not Hunico? And you'd keep Khali citing popularity with the kids, but not R-Truth? Dude is over like a motherfucker still, at least with kids.