In Depth: WWE's Future Stars

I think it's no secret that there's a slight lack of Main Event talent in the WWE lately. I've been watching old PPVs (currently on 2005) and started to wonder when the 'decline' began. My initial feeling going into this post was that in the last few years there hadn't been many coming up to Main Event level. After researching this theory I realised that there are shades of grey to this - although this assumption is somewhat true, it's not through lack of trying.

Below is some info on the last 10 years; who main evented Wrestlemania, who were the main guys, and who were the up-and-comers/made it that year:

	Wrestlemania: WWE Title	Wrestlemania: World Title	Main guys	Up-and-comers
2002	HHH def. Chris Jericho(c)	N/A	Rock / Austin / HHH / Taker / Angle / Jericho / NWO(Hogan)	Brock Lesnar / RVD(attempted)
2003	Brock Lesnar def. Kurt Angle(c)	HHH(c) def. Booker T	HHH / Taker / Angle / Brock / Nash / Rock&Austin(both left/retired)	Steiner(returned) / Goldberg(debut) / Benoit(on rise)
2004	Eddie Guerrero(c) def. Kurt Angle	Benoit def. HHH(c) & HBK	HHH / Angle / HBK / Taker / Brock&Goldberg(both left)	Benoit / Guerrero / JBL / Orton / Batista
2005	John Cena def. JBL(c)	Batista def. HHH(c)	HHH / JBL / Angle / Taker / HBK / Hogan(returned)	Cena / Batista / Orton(continued) / Edge
2006	John Cena(c) def. HHH	Rey def. Angle(c) & Orton	Cena / Batista / HHH / Angle / Taker / Orton / HBK	Rey / Edge(continued) / RVD(again)
2007	John Cena(c) def. HBK	Undertaker def. Batista(c)	Cena / Batista / Edge / Taker / HHH / Orton / HBK	Lashley
2008	Randy Orton(c) def. John Cena & HHH	Undertaker def. Edge(c)	Cena / Batista / Edge / Orton / HHH / Taker / HBK	CM Punk (attempted) / Jeff Hardy
2009	HHH(c) def. Randy Orton	John Cena def. Edge(c) & Big Show	Cena / Batista / Edge / Orton / HHH / Taker / HBK	Jeff Hardy / CM Punk (another attempt) / Sheamus
2010	John Cena def. Batista(c)	Chris Jericho(c) def. Edge	Cena / Orton / Taker / Edge / Batista(quit) / HBK(retired)	Sheamus(continued) / Swagger(attempted) / Barrett / The Miz
2011	The Miz(c) def. John Cena	Edge(c) def. Alberto Del Rio	Cena / Edge(retired) / Orton / CM Punk(promo) / Miz	Del Rio / Ziggler / Morrison / Christian / Daniel Bryan
2012	CM Punk(c) def. Chris Jericho	Sheamus def. Daniel Bryan(c)	Cena / Orton / Punk / Sheamus / Part Timers*	Daniel Bryan (continued) / Ziggler / Del Rio / Ryback

*Part Timers include; The Rock, Chris Jericho, Brock Lesnar (HHH and Undertaker)

Also, a quick note that above, in the 'Main guys' column, there is no mention of Kane or Big Show. This is because they have been around longer than the 2002-2012 period and have a different role to play. Although they have been used in main events and title matches, I feel that they have always been there to raise talent up. They continue to do so even today - Kane is paired with Daniel Bryan; Big Show is helping Sheamus (and will probably assist Smackdown's talent). It's also gotten to the point where it's very difficult to take these two serious as genuine threats to the current crop of stars - they have had so many stints at being faces/heels/monsters/giants/comedy characters.

It seems that from 2005, the dominance of John Cena began - although not shown in the table above; John main evented at this years Wrestlemania with The Rock. This shows two things: (1) John has continued to main event (title matches or not) at every 'Mania since he won his first WWE Title (vs JBL, Wrestlemania 21) and (2) There has been a need the last couple of years (and quite possibly next year, too) for 'part timers' to be a part of the main event. The Rock has been heavily involved in the last couple of years, along with Brock Lesnar and to a lesser emphasis; Chris Jericho.

These two points show that there is a huge problem in the WWE right now. Fair enough Cena main eventing - as the top guy in the company it's to be expected. The worrying thing is that no one is really challenging that number 1 spot. CM Punk is the perfect opposition to him - both were babyface until Punk turned on The Rock - and I suppose that Punk isn't popular enough with kids to take Cena's spot. The trouble is that these two are miles ahead of the rest. This is why the part timers are needed to bring that star quality/big names to the main events. But it begs the question; Where is the future coming from?

Dolph Ziggler, Alberto Del Rio, The Miz are all the closest 'future stars' behind Punk and Cena. This is partly due to how they have been booked. Along with his character going a little stale, Del Rio has lost every title match this year and most feuds he's been in. The guy is basically starting from scratch every week (being outshone by Orton doesn't help him either).

Ziggler and Miz have a lot more chance in my opinion; Ziggler has held Money in the Bank for a number of months now and will probably cash in to become World Champion soon. Unfortunately I don't think that it's going to end well for him this time around. If he was built in a stronger way I think the inevitable title reign would be more credible and believable. If they continue the way they're going with him it's just going to look weak - especially as he constantly loses. Build him up strong like Sheamus got earlier this year before he won the title at 'Mania - a reign that was a credible length - the build meant that it made sense for Sheamus to be champ for over 6 months.

The Miz situation is a little unpredictable at the moment. I haven't seen the Kofi matches just lately, but apparently they're making both guys look great. From what I've heard, he's starting to get cheered and there could be a possible face turn for him - something that I think will be a great move for him and the company. He's never been a face in his WWE career and I think that it could be the fresh move that is needed to create another main event star that STAYS there.

Going back to the table of info above, it can be said that from 2006 onwards the calibre of 'up-and-comers' started to go downhill. If Edge didn't have to retire then he would still be running riot. He was the standout new star around 2005/06. Rey didn't really do it for me when he won the World Title at Wrestlemania 22 - the rest of that year was the whole 'underdog' thing with him beating all the top guys. I think you can only go so long with the 'little man' champion before someone puts him in his place. And even though his character was a stoner/relaxed/'chill out' dude, RVD just seemed a lazy idea for champion. Along with Jeff Hardy in 2008/09, RVD was the popular daredevil that all the fans loved and never had a run as a heel to show a different side to him.

From 2007 onwards it seems that the WWE tried a lot of guys out in the hope that someone would stand out. The need to find these stars was getting higher and higher especially as people retired/quit/persued other avenues. From further back than that there doesn't seem to be much change at the top - guys like Triple H, John Cena and Randy Orton have been around for a long time now with no one really challenging their spots (obviously Triple H has quietly took a back seat).

The list of people who have left is full of major players and potential (if not already) Hall of Famers: Batista, HBK, Edge and Angle have all moved on, and along with Triple H's authority-figure future and Undertaker's greatly reduced appearances, the WWE is very thin on top level stars. This isn't helped in that Randy Orton is not trusted. I think I read that he has already violated the wellness policy twice and has one strike left before being on his way. This leaves Cena, Punk and Sheamus as the only bona fide stars today.

A need for that 'next big thing' is greater than ever. Enter Ryback.

As it stands, Ryback has been thrust into the WWE title picture and it's probably needed just to get something different leading up to The Rock winning the belt at the Rumble. I really hope that he [Ryback] doesn't win the belt between now and then though as he may be well cheered but he is far from ready. It's all good experience though and he's a new guy that has shot up the ranks - this is a rarity in the last few years.

If the WWE want to thrive (and improve) in the next few years then they have to work on the potential main eventers that I have identified. Ryback, Del Rio, Ziggler, Miz and Wade Barrett are all on the verge but need that defining moment and right build up to finally make that step up - and stay there. Lower down the card is the likes of Cesaro, Kingston, Sandow and Rhodes - these guys, without doubt, ARE the future - I just hope that they are built up correctly.  This will all add to a better program and their talents will lead to better, and more compelling storylines.