Improvement of former indy wrestlers in WWE

[rovert]

What do people think of the idea of Prince Devitt bypassing development if (it seems more a case of when) he signs with WWE? Recipe for disaster?

 

The logic behind it to me seems that they are high on his work and that he probably wouldn't leave New Japan & relocate from Ireland for non-main roster money.

[Steenalized]

I can't imagine him wanting to stay in NXT for an extended time, so that forces the WWE's hand if they really want him. Plus, NJPW's not exactly down at indy level production values. I don't think it'll be a disaster.

[Matt D]

Question, slightly related:

 

Chris Jericho had a lot of complaints against him in 1999. The internet at the time screamed bloody murder about it. Were those complaints valid in retrospect?

[Loss]

Yes and no. Jericho improved quite a bit as a worker in WWE, but at the same time, I still think WWE deserves some criticism for not pushing him in spite of what they thought of his talent. He got over pretty big right away and it took a long time for them to do anything with it.

 

In retrospect, the points about his work were probably correct though.

[Migs]

Question, slightly related:

 

Chris Jericho had a lot of complaints against him in 1999. The internet at the time screamed bloody murder about it. Were those complaints valid in retrospect?

I think a lot of them were. Jericho's matches from the period are pretty shockingly sloppy and messy when re-watched. I think a lot of us were blinded because we loved Jericho's character and athleticism, but if he wasn't in there with someone like Eddie or Benoit to lead the match, it was basically a mediocre spot-fest. He was good at working a cruiserweight match, but if Jericho's goal was to be a main eventer (and it was!), he had improving to do before he got there.

[W2BTD]

What do people think of the idea of Prince Devitt bypassing development if (it seems more a case of when) he signs with WWE? Recipe for disaster?

 

The logic behind it to me seems that they are high on his work and that he probably wouldn't leave New Japan & relocate from Ireland for non-main roster money.

He's in a good spot, so I would imagine that if they want him bad enough, they have to play ball with him to some extent. I'm sure he's not hot on the idea of rotting a year of his career away in Orlando when he probably enjoys his lifestyle as it is right now and doesn't need the risk of wasting a year and then possibly flaming out when he gets called up. At that point he's two years older and the landscape could be drastically different in New Japan.

 

If I were him, it would be main roster or bust, unless it's his life long passion to make it there, in which case you do what it takes.

[kjh]

Question, slightly related:

 

Chris Jericho had a lot of complaints against him in 1999. The internet at the time screamed bloody murder about it. Were those complaints valid in retrospect?

I think a lot of them were. Jericho's matches from the period are pretty shockingly sloppy and messy when re-watched. I think a lot of us were blinded because we loved Jericho's character and athleticism, but if he wasn't in there with someone like Eddie or Benoit to lead the match, it was basically a mediocre spot-fest. He was good at working a cruiserweight match, but if Jericho's goal was to be a main eventer (and it was!), he had improving to do before he got there.

 

I wouldn't disagree with this, but his work wasn't so bad that he deserved to be jobbing out to the dross of the WWE mid-card, given that on day one he showed he had breakout star potential.

[Strummer]

It's funny because when he first debuted and he was in there with someone like Road Dog you could see how much better he was athletically than him but the matches were wishy washy because he struggled with the WWE bumping and selling style. And of course there is the famous story of them programming with Kane so he could learn how to work their style

[Matt D]

It's funny because when he first debuted and he was in there with someone like Road Dog you could see how much better he was athletically than him but the matches were wishy washy because he struggled with the WWE bumping and selling style. And of course there is the famous story of them programming with Kane so he could learn how to work their style

Did Kane have better matches than Chris Jericho in the WWF in 1999?

 

I mean, it's possible right? What was Kane doing that year? Tagging with X-Pac?

[Matt D]

Now I want to see the Kane vs X-Pac and Jericho vs X-Pac matches and compare.

 

Kind of.

 

You have to figure that there are Kane/X-Pac vs Jarrett/Owen matches that are better than anything Jericho did in 1999, at least. Anyone remember how the D-Lo/Mark Henry tag was. That was on PPV at least.

[goc]

EDIT:Apparently he's already banned so there's no point.

[Hollinger.]

I haven't read all the way through this, but for the people saying they like Bryan & Cesaro's indy stuff better than what they are doing in the WWE, I say this: if they went back out on the indies or to Japan now? They'd would kill it compared to the stuff they were doing before. You may not enjoy the style they are working right now, but as workers, the things they have learned working WWE would improve their indie matches a ton.