So, sorry for not having anything for last week. A combination of internet troubles, job interviews and illness made my week very busy.
Big news is then, that our Royal Rumble 2012 winner is Sheamus. The Rumble itself was a little hit and miss. It seemed that the writers had some really good comedy spots in there, but it suffered from the fact that for the last few months, WWE has been building up announcers, authority figures and legends who aren’t going to be around long enough to hold a title. The WWE roster is a little unbalanced now and they need to work on building stars. This is emphasised by the fact that most people were looking at Jericho to win the Rumble simply because there was no current star anybody could see winning it at this point in time. You can look at Cody and see the potential, but he is a little way off yet. He needs to have his mandatory ‘feud with an announcer because I’m a world title threat’ period before reaching the top of the ladder. However, I’m going to say something that may earn me the dagger eyes from a few of you. Sheamus deserved to win the Rumble more than anybody.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m a fan of Jericho. He is a great talent, consistently stands out as a top guy in any roster, he is entertaining and charismatic, everything you could ask for in a world champion. He’s also an Attitude Era star, which is why he should never be a champion in the WWE again. He might be the biggest star, maybe even the biggest draw on the active roster now (since The Rock is working part time) but his time has come and gone. See, in bringing back Jericho, WWE is simply doing the same thing they have as when they brought in The Rock, spiking the ratings and the Mania PPV buyrate by bringing in a recognisable name to past fans. The only difference is that The Rock made himself a name outside of the WWE. There is no escaping the age of the WWE crowd these days and while most of the 18-34 males in the crowd are popping because Jericho has been consistently great since he had Ralfus with him, the kids and John Cena mom’s are popping because the guy from The Tooth Fairy who used to wrestle is on the show. It’s an inescapable fact that Jericho and The Rock are, to the crowds, special attractions to spike the ratings and gain interest in the company.
Sheamus is right guy to win. If you look at how the WWE roster is evolving as the PG era comes to a close, it’s easy to see that the catalyst for that change has been CM Punk. Forget Randy Orton and John Cena, they are products of the PG generation no matter how relevant they still are. CM Punk has pushed that new era into fruition and it’s an era that needs new stars. Daniel Bryan going to be one of those stars, with his heel turn really capturing the crowd and causing his star to grow and grow. Sheamus has the same quality that made these two stars, which is that he is different. Yes, he is solid and dependable in the ring, everything he does is good, he is great at the power style wrestling (something which the WWE has lacked for a long time) and on the microphone he is confident. On the flip side, he is very pale and has an accent, which instantly puts a big spotlight over his head. People pay attention to him, just like they did with Punk and his unconventional look and promos. Just like they did with Bryan and his unconventional (to the WWE audience) style of wrestling and his unremarkable character. It’s the same reason Zach Ryder, Cody Rhodes, Dolph Ziggler, R-Truth and even The Miz are the future of the company. They are different to what we have had for the last 10 years. They break the mould of the conventional WWE star that we have grown to accept over the last decade. No more Boogeyman or The Dicks, poor gimmicks given to even worse wrestlers. No more generic big men who all use the same Big Boot finishing move like so many have used.
Different is the new it factor for the WWE, and Sheamus is different for sure, but after talking with some of my friends about this, they keep pointing out to me that Jericho is different. His ability to re-invent himself is the reason why he keeps coming back and getting people excited. I won’t refute that fact and Jericho is certainly the master of many gimmicks, but they are all similar if we are being honest. Jericho has a certain way of doing things and a way of delivering a promo that long time fans can identify within a few weeks of him being back and his in ring work, while solid, doesn’t change that much. He’s no longer a star you can build an era, build a roster around. His time has come and gone and what, in my opinion, is best for both of them is instead of using Jericho as a star is have Jericho create some stars. Jericho has that innate ability to make people look like a threat while not being made to look weak himself. RVD has that in TNA right now, it’s as if he has transcended the card and is just their. Jericho isn’t a mid carder or a main event player, he has grown past needing to be pigeon holed like that and is simply there, credible in anything he does. If he goes for the Intercontinental title, it’s the title that gets raised, not the star that falls behind. If he targets somebody, they get a boost, not him going down the card. Jericho could lose to just about anybody and still be a title contender the next day.
The main point I am getting at is that the WWE, right now, are making more WCW style mistakes than TNA are. Bringing in big names to increase star power, giving away PPV quality matches on TV, not making new stars and giving up on talent too early, saddling good talents with bad gimmicks. It’s all there, the hallmarks of a company clutching at straws to increase TV ratings. I look at people like Jack Swagger, Kofi Kingston, Ted DiBiase and even guys like David Otunga and Mike McGullicutty, guys who are good in the ring and have the look to be good, but who are given up on too fast. Swagger should be main eventing PPV’s right now, no questions asked. Instead, we have Kane coming back as Kane from the Attitude Era as a way to stir up more nostalgia and get more people watching because Kane is back in a mask! I couldn’t care less how many masks he is wearing, to be honest because I would rather see new stars breaking into the top level than having old stars come creeping back for one last gasp.
Sheamus gives me hope that WWE are going to put their eggs in his basket and push him to the top level. It gives me reason to hope that Drew McIntyre is going to get used better and that Swagger is going to start rising. Jericho’s return didn’t get me interested in the product and his work with Punk won’t make me stay, even though I know the matches will be good. The Royal Rumble win got me excited about the product. Pushing new talent gets me excited about the WWE. Seeing young, hungry talent being given the chance to shine is what makes me change the channel. I want to see a constant cycle of new main event stars being not only produced but maintained, which is the key thing. WWE mostly gives up on talent too soon, as evidenced by the fact that Sheamus was a main event star a few years ago. His rise to fame was huge, taking John Cena out very quickly and then putting HHH on the shelf. Since that Wrestlemania loss to HHH however, he has been overlooked so much it’s almost baffling. He didn’t make the ratings grow overnight, so he was canned and they moved onto the next thing. If they had stuck with Sheamus and let him grow on the fans, he wouldn’t have had to win the Rumble or better yet, his rumble win would have been met with approval rather than disappointment by most fans. It’s one thing to start building a new star, but unless you see it right until the very end, the crowd will forget about them.
So that’s my opinion on the issue. Hopefully we will see Bryan/Sheamus at Mania in a nice, physical ‘them boys is really hitting each other’ match. I can see Bryan retaining at the chamber and then him dropping the belt at Mania, but that’s for another day. If you are on there, follow me on twitter @NoHopeForSome. I usually tweet about Smackdown, TNA and NWA while I watch it, which is worth a laugh. You should also follow @wrestlingnews and like Wrestling Truth at Facebook so you can keep up to date with your wrestling news. Anything else, sound off in the comments.
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