Strap in, people, because you're about to get the most op-ed-iest (I know that's not a word; shut up) thing I've ever done.
I read dirt sheets. Most wrestling fans do. It's kind of like CNN for fans of the squared circle; this is how we get our news. Now the thing that is completely dominating this "cycle" of the dirt sheets is the whirlwind of Jordan "ACH" Myles social media regarding his t-shirt design and the systemic racism within the pro wrestling world that anyone with functioning eyes should be able to see. All I'm going to say about it is that I agree with some of what he's posted, and am shocked and saddened by some of the other things he's posted. There; that's my hot take.
But the other thing we constantly see is how unhappy Wrestler X is with Company Y.
This is the perennial go-to for any wrestler with "inside information" from their friends in other promotions (never ever ever their own, because their promotions are perfect), and it's great fodder for speculation on who's happy/unhappy with their current booking and are looking to go, inevitably, to AEW. Rumors fly about this at least 85 times a week, and it's almost always from WWE. There's a few different reasons that WWE is the best grist for the rumor mill when it comes to unhappiness; first off, it's the biggest wrestling promotion that has ever been that employs about 10 million professional wrestlers, whether it's people on the main roster, in the NXTs (UK and domestic), or in the developmental stages in the various PCs. Second, since there are so many people there, they likely came up in the indies with a buddy who's still working the indies, and they'd like some attention every once in a while. Third, and perhaps most importantly, it is not at all difficult to believe that there are performers in WWE that are really unhappy with their situation there. If you need evidence of this, I implore you to look at the closing segment of Raw this week where a man's real-life wife made out with another man shortly after that other man hit him in the dick. Twice. If I were a wrestler and that was the storyline that someone made for me, I'd be asking for my release faster than Mauro Ranallo can make a hip-hop reference.
The problem from there is, where does one go when they're unhappy with their booking or treatment? In WWE, you could ask to take some time in NXT, but that comes with its own set of problems. NXT was created as a developmental brand; it was, for some time, the minor leagues to Raw and Smackdown's majors. But in the last few years, NXT not only was performing on the same level as Raw and Smackdown, but surpassing them as far as character, story, and match quality. The only thing that NXT was missing was a big TV deal. And now that they have that, does this mean that NXT is becoming an official "third show"? And if it is, does that mean we're going to be seeing more main roster performers that had really abysmal booking there come over to NXT? According to recent statements by Triple H, that answer is yes. We've already had the return of Tyler Breeze and Fandango, followed not long after by Finn Balor, and this week, we're getting a possible one-off of Asuka and Kairi Sane returning to the only place either of them were truly appreciated to take on Dakota Kai and Tegan Nox for the Women's Tag titles. And while all this stuff is really cool, what does this mean for all the developmental performers? We just had this really cool "Breakout" tournament, but with the exception of Cameron Grimes (and Jordan Myles, but in a much different way), we haven't seen much of these other competitors. We've gotten a little bit with the Aussie Strong Style guy and we're seeing a fair amount of Angel Garza, but all the others have just kind of faded into the background. And what the fuck happened to Eric Goddamn Bugenhagen? I WANT MY BUGENHAGEN BACK. I mean, look at this man.
That's a confident motherfucker.
Anyway, the rumors are flying right now that there are people in developmental that are unhappy because NXT is currently dominated by about 15 or so performers, and the rest are just languishing in developmental limbo. I don't think that most of the talent in developmental should be too impatient. If they have what it takes for prime time, they'll be featured eventually. Some people just don't have the "it" factor, and that's on them. The ones that do, though, will have their time to shine. Pro wrestling is not an easy business to be in, and I'm sure a lot of them were told, "You'll be on the roster in no time," only to find that they were sold a bill of goods. But WWE has a good working relationship with Evolve, and that's been a net positive for a lot of performers.
Then there's the other inevitable hypothetical: when will Wrestler X go to AEW once they get their release from WWE? AEW has been, and will likely continue to be, good to former WWE talent. Look at their roster. They have Cody Rhodes, Dustin Rhodes, PAC, Jon Moxley, Shaun Spears and Chris Jericho. But do we want AEW to look like another TNA where the biggest stars from WWE come in and just take the joint over? With the exception of Jericho, who put in the time and had the street cred to do whatever the hell he wanted to, all of these guys were fed up with WWE and looked for greener pastures and AEW has been a good thing for them, but I do not want to see a whole bunch of former WWE talent make up AEW, or at least as far as the Men's roster is concerned. There are definitely some women who could shine much brighter in AEW than WWE that are tried and true talents. But for now, it seems that AEW is trying to fill its roster with more indie performers rather than going for the "name" talent who are potentially asking for big paydays. I'm not saying that Tony Khan couldn't afford some of these performers, but they seem to already have more than enough performers for their own roster.
And TV is filling up with other pro wrestling shows. There's barely a night where you would miss some wrestling on one channel or another. AXS TV has Impact on Tuesdays, and both WOW and New Japan on Saturdays, and there's now NWA POWERRRRRRRRR or whatever on YouTube every week. And most of these shows have really stacked rosters.
So what's left? Well, there's Defiant, there's DDT, there's Stardom and Shimmer and EVE just for the women, there's PWG, Rev Pro, Dragon Gate, AAA, and of course ROH. Wikipedia still lists Lucha Underground as being "active", but that still remains to be seen. And these are just the names I know by heart. But most of these other promotions are really small despite some having a strong cult following like Chikara or OVW.
The real issue that is facing some of these performers, particularly the ones in WWE is that of any artist: Payday vs Passion. If I were in my 20's, no family to support and had been signed by WWE but still in the PC with promises of massive success that are empty and my biggest concern was getting in front of a crowd to give a cool match, I might say, "you know what? I'm sick of this. Let me go back to whatever promotion you got me from" and just split (if they allowed it). If I'm in my later twenties or thirties and now I have a spouse and a kid or two and they need my paycheck to keep afloat and I've been in the PC for a while, or even on one of the big shows and just aren't booked more than once a month, I might just say, "Look, I'll eat some craft services and hang out with Austin Creed and play video games or ping-pong with Rusev or Cesaro just as long as I keep getting paid". As a "for instance", let's look at The Ascension. These guys were straight-up murder monsters in NXT. They were champs. Everyone loved them. Then they came to the main roster and just got fucking buried after about 4 months. They're still with the company after several years, but when was the last time you saw them? Konnor and Viktor are just chillin' in the back, eating that good craft services food and hanging out with all the guys and gals that come running after whoever the 24/7 champ is. I might ask to go back to NXT were I them, but I'm not them, and maybe they're just happy to be getting paid.
And then of course there's Jon Moxley. As Dean Ambrose, he was nearly a Grand Slam champ, and he was a main-eventer. I'm not going to get into the whole shoot interview he did with Jericho after being signed with AEW, but we know how that turned out. He's been to New Japan and held the US title there before being forced to vacate it because he couldn't make it there during the typhoon that was ravaging Japan during the King of Pro Wrestling event, and he's going to be facing Kenny Omega in a match that's been teased and built since Double or Nothing and they continue doing good things with that feud. Mox is a horse of a different color, though, because he has the popularity factor that people like Shawn Spears or my example of The Ascension never reached. He's a proven draw, so he could have gone anywhere and been one of the, if not the biggest star in the promotion, but AEW came along and scooped him up. It's people like PAC and Spears and Mox that have led a lot of people to believe that the only viable life after WWE is AEW, but that's just fantasy booking.
The real issue that is facing some of these performers, particularly the ones in WWE is that of any artist: Payday vs Passion. If I were in my 20's, no family to support and had been signed by WWE but still in the PC with promises of massive success that are empty and my biggest concern was getting in front of a crowd to give a cool match, I might say, "you know what? I'm sick of this. Let me go back to whatever promotion you got me from" and just split (if they allowed it). If I'm in my later twenties or thirties and now I have a spouse and a kid or two and they need my paycheck to keep afloat and I've been in the PC for a while, or even on one of the big shows and just aren't booked more than once a month, I might just say, "Look, I'll eat some craft services and hang out with Austin Creed and play video games or ping-pong with Rusev or Cesaro just as long as I keep getting paid". As a "for instance", let's look at The Ascension. These guys were straight-up murder monsters in NXT. They were champs. Everyone loved them. Then they came to the main roster and just got fucking buried after about 4 months. They're still with the company after several years, but when was the last time you saw them? Konnor and Viktor are just chillin' in the back, eating that good craft services food and hanging out with all the guys and gals that come running after whoever the 24/7 champ is. I might ask to go back to NXT were I them, but I'm not them, and maybe they're just happy to be getting paid.
And then of course there's Jon Moxley. As Dean Ambrose, he was nearly a Grand Slam champ, and he was a main-eventer. I'm not going to get into the whole shoot interview he did with Jericho after being signed with AEW, but we know how that turned out. He's been to New Japan and held the US title there before being forced to vacate it because he couldn't make it there during the typhoon that was ravaging Japan during the King of Pro Wrestling event, and he's going to be facing Kenny Omega in a match that's been teased and built since Double or Nothing and they continue doing good things with that feud. Mox is a horse of a different color, though, because he has the popularity factor that people like Shawn Spears or my example of The Ascension never reached. He's a proven draw, so he could have gone anywhere and been one of the, if not the biggest star in the promotion, but AEW came along and scooped him up. It's people like PAC and Spears and Mox that have led a lot of people to believe that the only viable life after WWE is AEW, but that's just fantasy booking.
Conclusion? There's a lot of talent out there and a lot of them are underutilized or not utilized at all, and while that sucks for them (and possibly for us), maybe... just maybe... not everyone's dream can come true. It's a bitter pill to swallow, but I'm writing this from my workplace where (surprise!) I don't actually write about pro wrestling for a living. And as much as we may want it, AEW cannot be the catch-all for disgruntled/disappointed/disenfranchised WWE performers.
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