2011 a transitional year for WWE but is the future bright?

To get the ball rolling now that I am here how about we take a hypothetical look into the short term future of the WWE. I believe this year leading into 2012 is going to turn out to be a transitional year, and an important one at that! With HBK already retired, HHH and Edge both contemplating retirement soon (expected by 2012) and the Undertaker not having many gallons left in the tank WWE are going to be short of some big names. Of course there is still Cena, Mysterio and Orton but the three of them cannot hold up the WWE by themselves. I have read many people in the IWC complain about the lack of talent, or the creative restrictions that hinder the newer breed of WWE wrestler but I do believe the future is bright. With the ascendancy of the Miz to WWE champion late last year as well as Dolph Ziggler's rise to prominence on Smack Down, as well as Alberto Del Rio's Royal Rumble victory I believe that 2011 will be the year of the new generation. I anticipate that by 2012 these names will be credible main eventers that will be around for the foreseeable future.

Now I am not a fan of the Miz, never have been but his incredible push over the last year or so from US champ to Tag champ and now to WWE champ prove that the WWE are keen on him. But to his credit at least he is making improvements in the right areas, although he still needs to prove himself as WWE champ. I would not be surprised at all if Cena put the Miz over at WM27, but unfortunately as the road to Wrestle mania this year is proving there does seem to be a lack of forward planning. Nevertheless Cena putting Miz over would definitely establish him as WWE champion. As for the likes of Ziggler and Del Rio I believe their time will come very quickly. If I were booking WM27 I would have Ziggler enter into the MITB ladder match and win the contract, then would have Edge defeat Del Rio in a hard fought contest, only for Ziggler to immediately cash his contract in on Edge when he is most vulnerable. Thus in one foul swoop Ziggler has created a wrestle mania moment for himself and become the new WHC. Of course this may well not happen, and it could not happen anyway if there is no MITB match but either way I expect by the next big PPV after Mania (SummerSlam) that these newer generation of main eventers will be headling the show.

Then of course they also have CM Punk and Sheamus, two heels that have several years left in them as well as Jack Swagger and John Morrison both of whom if WWE right some wrongs could be main stay main eventers in their own right, not to mention Wade Barrett former leader of the Nexus. I believe Barrett has a bright future - he is tall, strong and has already gained experience feuding with the big names, but I do think he will need time before he dominates the main event spot light. I would expect either Miz or Ziggler to turn tweener or face, as for the time being Punk will remain heel as leader of the Nexus and Sheamus seems like a natural heel. I would also expect Cena and Orton to be putting these talent over more this year but not completely yet. Orton has already had a rivalry with Miz but Miz is still needing a clean victory to really put him over as a main eventer who can headline the big PPVs (this could be faciliated by a win at WM27 as mentioned earlier). However, despite WWE creative making some very questionable booking decisions regarding these wrestlers in the past I believe it is critical for the future of the company that they are begun to be booked strongly.

Anyway those are my thoughts about how 2011 will unfold, please feel free to express your own opinions, doubts and hopes for the year ahead.

Great article

Who will step up to the plate once the current crop of Taker, Trips & Edge retire?

Dolf needs to drop Vickie, its doing him more harm than good. Not just because I cant stand her, but as a credible champion in the future I think he needs to go it alone.

Del Rio has massive potential and im pleased they gave him the rumble victory as a step ladder to greatness. This guy has it all and a great future ahead of him.

Someone you didnt mention is Tyler Reks. He can almost be the new Goldberg, enter the ring do the business and just just leave. Doesnt even have to talk on the mike, just let his ability and power moves do the talking for him.

The important thing is though, how will WWE carry out the transitional period to these guys?

If WWE were to use him as a Goldberg type character then they need to act quickly. Goldberg made an impression when he debuted for WCW and they didn't miss the boat with him. However I question whether a Goldberg esque streak would work in today's environment. Goldberg seemed to work during the monday night wars, fans took to his athleticism, his stature and his resemblence to Stone Cold (bald, goatee, black pants ). But TNA is no competition to WWE, they are on separate nights; their PPVs don't clash and not even legends such as Flair and Hogan have managed to boost their ratings to the levels the WWE currently enjoy. If Vince thought an unstopple force would boost ratings further I am sure he would have done it by now. But it seems the WWE are content with producing half baked champions (or champions who are made to look weak). They did it with Sheamus, they did it with Swagger, they're doing it with Miz and they've just done it again with Ziggler. Or maybe its the fact that the UFC are killing WWE in PPV buyrates and a monster winning streak would just not be enough. Fight fans would see through it and not buy into it; I don't think another Goldberg would bring in more fans.

Maybe the competition with the monday night wars was the catalyst for producing mega stars such as Sting, Goldberg, Stone Cold, Taker and the Rock. Now I know some of those names were already huge draws before the monday night wars but it was the rivalry between WCW and WWF that forced both companies to up their game. In their time of need both companies found their heroes.

As for Reks I do think he has potential but I don't think the WWE will pull the trigger with him. His appearance at SS last year was random and even more random upon reflection since he has done nothing to build momentum.

Good article Bud.

I would love to see Tyler Black (seth rollins) come to the main roster this year and make a an impact without having to go through the whole NXT process,The guy has talent so why he is being wasted in FCW at the minute bugs me.

randy-poffo wrote:Good article Bud.

I would love to see Tyler Black (seth rollins) come to the main roster this year and make a an impact without having to go through the whole NXT process,The guy has talent so why he is being wasted in FCW at the minute bugs me.

there was an interview with Tyler Black while he was still in ROH about what he thought of NXT and he said that he wouldn't mind doing it. However I don't think WWE would put him on it unless he was going to win it. I do think he will main event shortly after debuting as I am sure WWE saw a lot of talent and potential in him as ROH champ. He drew a lot of heat in the end after it was made known he was going to WWE. He said his ambition is to one day main event wrestle mania and he has plenty of years left in him to accomplish that. He's a good height, athletic, has a good rounded move set, can be a great high flyer and was a credible champion. He has all the tools to make it.

He's basically having to learn the WWE way (ie operate like you're playing Street Fighter, punch, block, kick, special move, repeat then hit finisher).
I was hoping he'd have come up to the RAW roster by now to push for a feud v Daniel Bryan which everyone would love to see.

Hero wrote:He's basically having to learn the WWE way (ie operate like you're playing Street Fighter, punch, block, kick, special move, repeat then hit finisher).

:606laugh: so true!

How do you feel about some of the guys you mentioned now, after EC.

specifically, Barrett and Sheamus?

Hobo wrote:How do you feel about some of the guys you mentioned now, after EC.

specifically, Barrett and Sheamus?

Sheamus is getting buried because Kevin Dunn doesn't like him. Expect him to feud with Bryan for the US title.

As for Barrett, i think his in ring work is his biggest downfall but the WWE have dropped the ball, they had the chance to make him huge and bottled it.

Interested to hear how you think they could have made him huge Beer? I thought about this myself and not sure how I would have done it. Giving him the title I don't think would have worked as he just wasn't ready. Thought he did really well as leader of Nexus, I'd have him fued with Punk now as a tweener and both go over each other a few times.
As for Sheamus, I think the guy is great. Enjoy him on the mic, enjoy him even more in the ring. Thought he did really well as champion too. I don't think he will be out of the title picture for long as I expect him to have another title reign by end of 2012, don't think he will be a one hit wonder like Swagger

They could've given him the title, at one point he was a heat magnet, having him cheat to win the title and having Cena as his pawn would've been a great way to make him huge. Having Cena as his enforcer, making him do Barrett's bidding would've elevated Barrett, giving him the ability to grow into the title and become the biggest heel on the roster, people would then buy into him, it would also lead for the inevitable clash with Cena. It would also have kept Cena out of the title picture.

Hero wrote:He's basically having to learn the WWE way (ie operate like you're playing Street Fighter, punch, block, kick, special move, repeat then hit finisher).
I was hoping he'd have come up to the RAW roster by now to push for a feud v Daniel Bryan which everyone would love to see.

You are bang on.
And this is a huge problem with the current crop of "superstars" they are all moulded the same way and it becomes tedius to watch.And when they do sign genuine talent they are packed of to training camp to learn the five moves of doom.Instead of bringing in diffrent styles and broadening the range and at least getting a diffrent aproach to wrestling.

King Beer wrote:
Sheamus is getting buried because Kevin Dunn doesn't like him. Expect him to feud with Bryan for the US title.

Sorry for my ignorance but who is Kevin Dunn?

As for Barrett, feuding with the Big Show will do him no favours as it didn't Punk. I mean what did Punk get out of that feud? He was just made to look weak and the matches were boring. I don't find Big Show entertaining and quite frankly there is no one really big enough on SD for the Corre to do another Nexus. It just seems like they are in Limbo. If the Corre feuded with Nexus and eventually we get a Barrett v Punk feud that might be much better for his career, but again I don't think that would necessarily enhance Punk's career. Punk has been bidding his time being the professional, waiting for his next world title run. I hope that by the autumn Punk will be back into the title picture as it will be 2 years since he last held a world title.

Imo Barrett should try and recruit new members into the Corre leading to a rivalry with someone like Tyler Reks, Mcintyre or even Sheamus if he was drafted to SD in April. However that would then mean that Sheamus and Mcintyre would by necessity have to turn at least tweener if not face and I don't think they're ready for that yet. Either that or have the Corre implode and an internal feud develop between Barrett and say Ezekiel Jackson. However Corre haven't been together long enough yet and besides Barrett has stated he is not the leader but that they are equals. I just hope WWE creative have better ideas and know what they want to do with Barrett otherwise he will be 'wasted' talent


regarding the formulaic style of WWE wrestlers nowadays I think that is largely due to TV. If I'm not mistaken the action is deliberately slowed down to make it easier to follow for TV audiences. Sometimes there is too much selling involved and I would like to see more spot monkeying or no-sells. I know ROH is faster and more technical but sometimes no-sells make a wrestler look stronger and then once they have finally been beaten down sufficiently and they sell then their opponent is made to look really strong and tenacious. It all adds to the intensity and drama of a match. For example when Taker used to sit up or Hogan hulked up those were no-sells that made them look strong. Imagine if someone like Tyler Reks was double teamed by Slater and Gabriel from the Corre - the two of them work some nice combo moves ala MCMG and then Reks just shrugs them off and decimates them with a few power moves. I'm sure that would help get Reks over as a real force to be reckoned with and would set up a match with either Barrett or Jackson as the more powerful members, adding more anticipation and drama.