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WrestleMania is going to be a loaded card this year for sure. No doubt about it.
WWE's 29th annual year-end culmination is emanating from MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey on April the 7th. Since the company is having their biggest show in the Northeast this year, the demands of this portion of the WWE Universe faithful will be higher than the average paying audience.
So in this pomp and pageantry, Vince and company are going to pull out all the stops. Everything the WWE perceives in their year (fiscal and kayfabe) lies on this one night in time.
The full-time roster has a talent pool capable of generating a big show on their own. There are established main eventers like John Cena, Sheamus, Randy Orton, CM Punk, amongst others who can deliver in the upper-card. Mid-carders like Dolph Ziggler, Daniel Bryan, Kofi Kingston, Cody Rhodes, and others who are ready to have their break-out moment. A nicely planned four-hour extravaganza can easily be pulled off with nearly a million buys.
However, there are many part-time big-name talents who get called upon just to build a program in the hopes of popping a bigger gate/buyrate for the show.
In a way, this isn't a new practice. To prove this, let's take a look back at the first 'Mania.
Back in 1985 when Vince McMahon first conceived WrestleMania, he called upon many big names to appear. Celebrities like:
Mr. T
Cyndi Lauper
Muhammad Ali
Liberace with The Rockettes
Those people amongst others were contracted in the hopes of giving Vince's new creation national exposure. Keep in mind that since this was 1985, WWE didn't have the national vernacular that it would earn years later. It's understandable that a company must go all for broke in order to back a great vision and Vince wasn't going to back down. WrestleMania proved to be a great outing for McMahon as the heaping returns ensured the future of the company.
As the company became more comfortable with their big stage, the emphasis on celebrities extrapolating the buzz subsided. In a about-face, celebrities have actually asked WWE to be on their show. Whether it is for a promo or even a match, WWE benefits because they get to lure in the audience with the hinting of something additional. The major difference in this time compared to then is that the wrestlers do the sell job while the celebrities are the icing on the cake.
This all sounds dandy and good, but there is another problem to divert to. The selling of WrestleMania to consumers isn't done primarily by the full-time roster anymore.
Instead it is by the stars of yesteryear.
Superstars like The Rock, Brock Lesnar, Triple H, and Undertaker are sought in to help pop the buyrates. More than likely they will work with the full-time main event talent to help raise their legends while cementing legacies of their own.
The problem lies within not that they're with the WWE or even that they are in WrestleMania, but how much of the show they are taking away from the rest of the full-time roster.
Let's face it: most of these men are put into matches lasting at least twenty some-odd minutes. When you account entrances with other gimmicks, its not possible to see a particular segment of the show run nearly a full hour.
Now I know that's exaggerated for most programs, but it is not impossible. Those drawn-out portions affect other segments with the unintended potential of leaving advertised matches off the card altogether.
Like the 1980's, this has an effect on the talent as well. While most of the boys had really good paychecks, it was commonly known that they resented having outsiders take away time from their feuds. It was as if their hard work wasn't good enough to earn a spot in the biggest gathering of the year.
That is the problem crippling the mid-card of today's WWE.
Superstars like the aforementioned Dolph Ziggler, Kofi Kingston, Cody Rhodes, Damien Sandow, amongst others have had the talent to get to the next level. One thing or another has denied them all (although in Sandow's case he's been on the main roster a relatively short time).
For example, Daniel Bryan and Sheamus were given the shaft two years in a row. WrestleMania 27 saw their United States Championship match left off the show completely while their World Heavyweight Championship match a year later only went eighteen seconds! Both men were able to overcome these oversights, but their success is the exception not the rule. Sheamus is even a bona-fide main-eventer, but is not seen in the same league as a Randy Orton or John Cena.
You're reading this now thinking, “Gee, this seemed like a great history lesson delving into another WWE rant on the mistreatment of mid-carders.”
Well, not exactly.
What I am trying to prove is that WWE's philosophy on booking big events is not new. This may never change, but times are different and they shouldn't rely on gimmicks gone by to generate revenue.
As implied earlier, the major difference between 1985 and 2013 is that WWE in 2013 doesn't need a whole ton of help popping a gate. The World Wide Wrestling Federation evolved from a regional Northeastern territory with traces of NWA heritage to World Wrestling Entertainment, a global conglomerate whose business is the measuring stick for all other sports/entertainment companies to be compared to. WWE has also survived steroid trials, the Monday Night Wars, a name change, Chris Benoit, amongst other outrages. Almost anyone on any given street corner can identify WWE one way or another. Whether it is a classic Hulk Hogan moment, a Rock/Austin standoff, or even John Cena on a box of Fruity Pebbles, WWE has practically written themselves on the fabric of America whether us as fans know it or not.
Meanwhile, back at the proverbial ranch, it almost seems as if WWE doesn't have the confidence to allow the mid-carders to advance. Sure there are times where they are thrust into the promised land. Most of the time though it is either in a multi-man match or a throwaway episode of RAW/SMACKDOWN. It's hard to fathom there was a time not long ago where a match like Matt Hardy and Rey Mysterio convincingly main evented a show.
With how today's WWE has been booked, it can be easily depicted if that the superstar isn't a main event talent, they just don't matter.
That being said, as detrimental as it sounds, WWE had been doing a good job over the last decade of relying on their own talent to garner success. However, the WWE is falling into the “safe” arms of what is deemed marketable. The Rock is a movie star with several big-budget profit makers to his credit. Brock Lesnar was a UFC Heavyweight Champion, and UFC has proven to generate monster buyrates no matter who highlights the card. Triple H and The Undertaker as noted earlier are two men who have proven their worth on a full-time grind, but should really take a backseat to let their bodies heal. Let's also add that Triple H is now a corporate man whose decisions based on talent relations and other aspects could easily affect the company's future.
WWE has a talent pool that can easily put on a show that can earn the moniker of “The Grandest Stage of Them All”. The main-eventers are established with a mid-card waiting for their next big moment. There doesn't need to be a help in buyrates, and even a lower-than-expected number will generate profit for the company to easily run off of the entire year.
Even with a (not likely) lower-than-anticipated buyrate for 'Mania, don't feel bad about the long-term fiscal aspects. WWE has so many side-outlets and sponsors that the company's financial stability will be ensured for years to come. It's something that cannot be said of 1985, 1995, or even majority of the beloved Attitude Era. Say what you will about the PG Era, but it has allowed Vince and company to branch out with the added ability of ensuring consistent business.
In conclusion, WWE doesn't need outside attractions to headline a WrestleMania. The company doesn't live or die by buyrates, ratings, or even if a certain performer does well or not. This isn't the dark ages or even Attitude. This is an era where WWE is building a foundation focusing on that third initial of their brand name. Money will come in no matter how good/bad a certain event does. While it is nice to have nostalgia pops for men who can still go in the ring, this is not their time.
ADDITION: This doesn’t happen often but I realized I left something out. It needs to be addressed.
There is one more argument to the outsourcing topic and why it isn’t great for business.
The rest of the year!
Let’s face it: A regular WWE year sees action pick up big time either the week after, or maybe a couple weeks after the December pay-per-view.
Big angles are coming to the surface, and big names are teased.
January passes. Rumble happens.
February passes. Elimination Chamber happens.
March is more or less a build-up month. WrestleMania happens either at the end of March or the beginning of April.
The big names in question come in, say their peace, do their match, and leave.
Somehow, WWE has to adequately follow that up.
Extreme Rules, which will happen a little later than usual this year, is usually the synonym for “rematch”. WWE has a somewhat failsafe built into play.
As soon as that event is over, the business falls like a rock.
And I don’t mean Dwayne Johnson.
Ratings for the television go down. The general interest in the product goes down. And if the last five years were any indication, John Cena will dominate the airwaves more than the 1972 Miami Dolphins.
WWE bringing in all these guys for a short time unrealistically sets the bar for the rest of the year. And as more time goes on, these men are getting less effective at their jobs.
Look at The Rock so far going into the Rumble 2013. CM Punk has laid waste to him in promos and looks more convincing as WWE Champion. I’m not even saying that in kayfabe. I’m seeing that as two men with passion for the business, that one looks that much better than the other.
Undertaker’s promo abilities have been dreadful too. The last three or four years, week in and week out, it’s been the same promo about “Last Outlaw” this and “End of an Era” that. With his injury list a who’s who of contorted bones and structures, I’m afraid his last WrestleMania moment will be a suddenly stopped match with a legitimate stretcher job.
Don’t even get me started on Lesnar. Zack Ryder can speak better than him. Plus, Lesnar works so scarily stiff that I believe he will legitimately break someone’s arm in a match without meaning to.
Collectively, I’m burnt out by the notion these same guys will come in, do practically two months of work, leave, and rinse/lather/repeat.
I just wish WWE could take a page out of 1997-1999 and make the WHOLE ROSTER care again. Everyone had a distinct character, voice, and mannerisms. Perennial mid-carders like Val Venis and Godfather get pops back then that were consistent to those of a man in the upper-card today like Randy Orton or Sheamus.
To quote George Carlin: “I have no end for this so I take a small bow…”
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