Lack of stars = Lack of interest.

Ive given this alot of thought and have finally come to a conclusion as to why im really not that interested in wrestling anymore. I've seen plenty of reasons on this board why the product is lacking - poor booking, insider promos, no title prestige, the list goes on. But for me the reason ive lost interest has nothing to do with any of this, the reason i dont watch much anymore is purely down to the underwhelming star power on the roster.

Shawn Michaels, Edge, Jeff Hardy, Batista, Chris Jericho, The Undertaker, Kane.

How can you lose all of these guys from TV within the space of what, 18 months, and expect to draw viewers by replacing them with The Miz, Del Rio, Sheamus, Wade Barrett and Mark Henry. No disrespect to these guys, its not their fault, they havent been pushed gradually up the ranks - they've been thrown right into the main event scene at some point over the last 18 months and quite frankly they were not ready to fill the boots of the guys named above, or atleast they havent been given an opportunity for the viewers to recognise them as legitimate superstars before ultimately being exploited as cannon fodder for the likes of Cena and Orton. It was over for them before it begun, so how can the viewers be expected to take them seriously as a superstar with 'star power' without any previously established platform?

The likes of Michaels, Edge, Hardy, Batista, Jericho, Taker and even Kane are all draws, they make people tune in. So as far as drops in ratings are concerned id be inclined to suggest the obvious - if next year at Glastonbury the headliners were One Direction and Olly Murs they wouldnt draw as much interest as U2 and Beyonce would they?

The 'new kids on the block' simply dont cut the mustard. You can try as much as you like to push Miz and Del Rio but as far as im concered they are flogging a dead horse. You've either GOT IT or you havent, and for me they havent. What has going over Cena at Wrestlemania done for The Miz? Thats right, not alot.

Im sure many of you will see it differently, but for me the reason ive rapidly lost interest over the last year or so is purely because of the lack of star power on the show. There is no one i want to tune in and watch anymore, apart from CM Punk.

That is all.

it's true that going over Cena at Mania has done nothing for the Miz whereas it should have catapulted him to main event stardom. The WWE have continuously dropped the ball with the development of main eventers. I think MITB is the epitome of what's wrong with the WWE - they have sacrificed long term investment for short term excitment. It creates a shallow product imo.

I think it all leads back to poor booking. No one believes in the Miz, ADR, Sheamus, etc as the WWE gives us no reason to care. All their title reigns were relative failures, even though they were all quite impressive in the role given the context for each. Ultimately, they were given half-hearted pushes, usualy given the top belt but not being involved in the top storyline. Miz was overshadowed the The Rock and Cena, ADR by Punk/HHH/Nash and Sheamus was buried by HHH pre-Wrestlemania.

Any script writer worth his salt should be able to control the emotions of the audience with the characters and the stories they tell. In the last 5 years, they're telling me that the new generation of stars are not as good as the previous eras. It's all in the writing.

I think we need to be fair here. Did anyone think Steve Austin would've gone from Stunning Steve Austin to The Ringmaster to Stone Cold Steve Austin? It does take time to ship out the old and bring in the new. In a sense the WWE is like Arsenal, victim of their own policies which for some reason are not willing to break to achieve greater success. Shawn Michaels when part of The Rockers was not considered a great tag team given that it was heavy with big guys, from the likes of The Hart Foundation, Legion of Doom, Headshrinkers. Teams you could not imagine the Rockers defeating cleanly.

The WWE is over-crowded. Since the Invasion Angle of 2001 made it impossible for talent to breakthrough, Brock Lesnar, Orton, Edge and Cena being exceptions. Talent seems to only have 1 strike and if your not over first time, it is either mid-card, jobbing or future endeavours. The main-event talent has run it's course, yet they still find a way to bleed their popularity. HHH, Undertaker who are used in-frequently and thus not building any real platform for up and coming stars. The WWE's recent problems have been:

John Cena Supersquash - If you haven't been squashed, you will be. I am not blaming Cena, but the WWE almost stacks everything on this guy and I am amazed he hasn't got peed off with it. Numerous title reigns. Countless booing. It just does not do this guy any good if he wants to build a respectable legacy.

PG Era - By the end of 2003 the WWE phased out all and any stars linked to the Attitude Era. Austin had retired from in-ring performances and The Rock moved on to Hollywood and HHH created Evolution. Swearing had left the screens and it was literally left to the stars to try and create some charisma which some can do and some can't. Being an upcoming star made it almost impossible to add 'edge' to a gimmick. Once they stop being so PG they might build up better talent and get the fans back.

Money In The Bank PPV - Swagger, Del Rio, Kane, RVD, The Miz, CM Punk all had short and brief title reigns when cashing this baby in and it is fast killing the careers of upcoming stars. For me when this was a one off match at Wrestlemania made it more compelling. It gives a chance for younger stars and also builds up for long feuds. Now it is just a testing the water exercise which has shamefully devalued the whole concept. I like what Daniel Bryan is doing and guaranteing a Wrestlemania Main Event match which I have waited for to happen with the briefcase. Scrap this PPV. It devaules the WWE Title.

It is as if they think chucking enough Poopie at a wall will mean some will stick.

They need to sort out how main event talent (particularly heels) are created. This is not done with a feud with John Cena, but with top level talent that has the ability to make them big. In the past there were go to guys who could do this and help talent to develop and it is something that I can see the likes of Christian and a returning Jericho doing. It is a real shame from this perspective that Edge had to retire as I think he would have been able to perform such a role for the company and would have done so.

I would hope that after the success of his feud with Orton that Christian will be able to do something special in a feud with Sheamus before a potential face turn to feud in a similar way with Cody Rhodes.

If Jericho returns on Raw then as well as getting some top programmes against guys like Cena and HHH potentially, I can see him fulfilling a similar role. With Kane/Mysterio doing the same at an upper mid card level there will be a structure in place to develop these kind of guys.

The issue is that in pro wrestling wins only have meaning if it is against someone who has credible wins themselves and because so much of the established talent has gone before being able to give something back, it is a difficult position for them to be in. If ADR had a three to six month programme with Edge then I think he would have been in a much better position than he is now.

The issue is that there are no long term story arcs and seemingly no clue about where the product is going. On the one hand this makes the programming intriguing because you don't know what will happen next, but as in the booking of Russo, this is not always a good thing!

An example would be Daniel Bryan. I think it is refreshing that they are going for a different MITB angle, but he has an awful long way to go before being able to main event WM. Given the short space of time between PPV's at the moment it is unlikely that he can be in a meaningful feud before Survivor Series but then it is debatable who he can feud with. It would be great if Sheamus/Christian were done by then and Mark Henry kept the belt until WM before facing Bryan but that storyline would make far more sense with Sheamus in the protagonist role.

In addition, he has effective one / two feuds maximum before WM and is doing nothing at the moment. It all makes me think that a) Randy Orton will be WHC at WM and b) he will lose the briefcase in some way possibly to Christian to set up a decider between the two at WM.

While a good storyline and one that should help develop the character of Orton, it does not exactly do much long term to give the briefcase to a near 40 year old when there are younger stars who need some spotlight.