The WWE stinks right now because they have no idea how to
make a star. It is a little weird because
making stars was the only way they survived the Monday Night Wars. The star of Austin and Rock made the modern
day WWE. The emergence of Angle and Edge
during that time helped too. But, now
they don’t have one. Cena, their top
star, is half hated, and is now where near the height of Austin or Rock. While that may be an unreasonable
expectation, the WWE has fallen too far to consider Cena too highly.
The WWE is currently riding waves of indy wrestlers joining
and keeping wresting fan engaged. This
leads to twitter talk, and the WWE hopes it leads to more causal fans returning
and thus money. But the WWE has undercut
all of that by their horrible booking.
Their decision to chase money in Inida with Mahal has also hurt
business.
They ought to be taking notes from New Japan. If you look at New Japan over the long run,
it is a master’s level class in making stars.
They had young stars like Kojima and Tenzan who went from Young Lions to
Heavyweight champs. They innovated moves
and pioneered a stronger style, but they both jumped ship for All Japan. New Japan listened to their fans and
Tanahashi and Nakamura emerged as new stars.
Their rivalry at every stage helped push New Japan along. Kojima returned, and New Japan gave him the
push an aging star deserved. Kojima won
the G1 and then the title. Then he
dropped it to Tanahashi cementing Tanahashi as the man. Kojima still is used effectively in the mid
care (and not too long ago in the Tag Title scene with Tenzan). Their brief alliance with the NWA allowed
Kojima and Tenzan something else to do.
But they now serve as mid card guys who can get the crowd going, but
lose.
But we have since seen the era of Tanahashi come to an
end. Tanahashi and Nakamura battled over
and over to big houses. They both
battled the invading Westerners such as Balor and Styles. Those guys were never to be the main stars,
just treated as stars to help the real stars shine brighter in the end. And while this reign went on NJPW listened to
its fans and found Okada. Okada was slow
pushed, given learning trips to Mexico and the US, and he met every goal, every bench mark. Coming back he was given time with top stars, won the G1, won the New Japan Cup, and then he was then given the reigns. The first title reign did not see him become the face of the company as the fans still favored Tanahashi, but NJPW did not throw away Okada. They gave him a nice long reign. Still using Tanahashi v Nakamura to make big bucks, the company had Okada drop the belt to international star Styles. They then found a way to get a program where Tanahashi was clearly passing the torch. It was a year long program that began with a
close lose to Tanahashi at one WrestleKingdom and ended with his victory over
Tanahashi at the next WrestleKingdom thanks to a G1 win and a redemption story line that put Okada over as a face big time.
Okada now draws the houses and goes toe to toe with the Western threat. Tanahashi is not thrown away. He gets a lower
belt for now, and helps put over the stars that will help Okada on his run such
as Ibushi, who just scored a big win over Tanahashi in the G1. Such wins serve as major milestones and big helps in pushing forward younger talent in NJPW.
The WWE needs to listen to its fans as they cheer on the mid
card. The mid card needs opportunity to
shine and develop. 50-50 booking sinks
both boats. Using a top start to tell a
good clean story and put over the next guy is important. Not necessarily blaming the wrestler when one story does not overwhelm, and instead finding a way to put the wrestler in a situation to succeed. Cena has failed to do that. He put Punk over, but continued to hog the
spot light. He put Bryan over, but the
company refused to go with Bryan. He
lost to Owens, but won the feud (same with Bray). He lost to AJ, but was that really putting
him over? Especially considering AJ had just lost a feud with Jericho. And the company did not really
run with him. If the company really
wants to roll with Reigns, why not Cena vs. Reigns?
I really think that the WWE needs help. It is withering on the vine. NJPW has plenty of opportunities to tell
stories with the mid card. And they
do. They have events that don’t depend
on the title belt, but every belt feels meaningful (almost at any rate, they
have a few too many). Maybe it is time
to look for ways to help the midcarders grow.
Maybe a King of the Ring? If we
are doing 20 PPVS a year, surely a King of the Ring can make an occasional appearance.
It did wonders for Austin.
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