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The right way to push new talent


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What is the right way to get the most out of fresh talent you have coming into the company?

 

(1) Shove them to the top of the card. Don't have them lose at all if they're new because the fresh stars shouldn't be putting over the stale ones.

 

or ...

 

 

(2) Force them to pay their dues with the crowd and work their way through the ranks.

 

Each point has merit, but it seems like in many cases, by the time WWE decides a wrestler is ready for a big push, they're no longer fresh and a lot of the novelty is gone. I think of guys like Rob Van Dam and Chris Jericho that should have been pushed hard immediately and weren't and suffered for it, but on the flip side, I think of guys like Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar that were pushed super hard immediately when they weren't really ready for the spot they were given.

 

So what's your take?

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Pushing talent isn't rocket science, listen to the crowd and adjust accordingly. Is the new guy who's in the mid card getting a buzz from the crowd? Push him up the card. Is the guy you want to be in the main event getting X-Pac heat? Slide him down a peg and try to find a way to rebuild his heat instead of forcing him on your paying customers.

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Guest Spaceman Spiff

It's kinda hard to say. Back when WCW & ECW were around, bringing in a hot talent from 1 of the companies (i.e. Jericho, RVD) should have been a no-brainer "push right away" situation. Fans have seen them in action already, their moves/catchphrases/whatever are already popular, so it's easy to predict what kind of success they'll end up achieving.

 

However, without those competing companies, fans aren't familiar w/ new guys coming in, so they'll naturally be reluctant to react. For every Lesnar that turns out good, you've got your Heidenreich/Mordecai/Kenzo/Masters/Nathan Jones/etc. who flop. They call up guys who clearly aren't ready for primetime, and the fans can pick up on that.

 

They seem to be going the correct route w/ Ken Kennedy - he's getting some mic time, showing off his personality, and getting wins in the midcard to give fans a chance to get a handle on him.

 

I'll echo Tim's response. Give new guys a small push in the mid-to-lower card, with wins over guys who are "expendable" (i.e. your Scotty's, Bob Holly's, Stevie's, etc., not guys like Booker, Christian, Jericho), see what connects & what doesn't, and take it from there.

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