Whatever Happened to WWE's Youth Movement?
Just a few short months ago, I was heaping praise on WWE for finally shifting into what appeared to be a full-on "youth movement." After months - if not years - of the same stale characters and ideas, literally within the course of weeks, WWE seemed to completely reshuffle the deck - especially on Raw. C.M. Punk was crowned world heavyweight champion. Ted Dibiase and Cody Rhodes won the tag team titles and became one of Raw's top heel acts. Kofi Kingston won the Intercontinental title. Lance Cade was elevated into a main event storyline with Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels.
Where did it all go?
Looking around the WWE landscape now, we're almost exactly back where we started. After a lackluster title reign, Punk was not only stripped of the world title, but sent several notches down the WWE ladder. Not only is he not main eventing anymore, he's barely in the upper midcard. I'd rank him somewhere below Santino Marella and just above Jamie Noble in the Raw hierarchy these days. Ironically, his new tag team partner is someone who has suffered a similar fall from grace - Kingston, who seemed on the fast track to the top a few weeks ago, and these days would probably be relegated to Sunday Night Heat duty if it was still around.
After splitting up the tag team act of Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch - and giving Murdoch his walking papers - Cade also seemed on track for the biggest push of his career. After having some involvement in the Michaels-Jericho feud, and even pinning Michaels in a recent Raw main event tag match, he was fired earlier this week.
Rhodes and Dibiase are still around, and fairly visible, but their act has been watered down by Manu, who hasn't shown much yet, as well as by playing to role of lackeys to Randy Orton.
So who are we left with as Raw's big players these days:
Chris Jericho
Shawn Michaels
Batista
Randy Orton
JBL
Kane
Rey Mysterio
The closest thing to a young "newcomer" in that group is Orton - who's been around for six years. Call me nuts, but that looks an awful like the same crop of wrestlers that had many fans - myself included - bored to tears a few months ago. And, indeed, the last few weeks of Raw have been as stale as they have been all year. That is to say nothing about the talent of some of those wrestlers, but sometimes change - any change - is good.
We tolerated the dreadful "McMahon's Million Dollar Mania" for a month with the promise that big changes in the WWE product were coming. And they did. And now they're gone, and WWE has almost nothing to show for it but further sagging ratings.
I guess they'll just kill off Vince again.
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Comments (19)
I'm very suprised that CM Punk was sent so far down the ladder. I mean, after he won the championship the ratings of Raw seemed to have risen during the beginning of his championship. But once WWE showed they werent going to bother pushing him that is when the ratings started to get even worse. Hell, then didnt even let CM Punk lose his title in the ring with dignity instead having him get beaten up backstage and having to vacate it as a result. In a situation like that you figured Punk would've at least made a real run to get revenge and go after his title, but instead he gets jobbed out immediately after in a cage match with Jericho and then is regulated to tag team status.
If I had to guess, I'd say WWE is making room for John Cena's return by stopping their push of Punk, Kingston etc. Cade's firing is suprising since he had become Jericho's sidekick. I wonder if there is something more to that, maybe a problem with him backstage. Something that would justify such an abrupt firing.
I still dont see why Punk cant have more of a prominent role on Raw, a real feud with Randy Orton seems like a natural and something that could go on for a few months.
I read on JRs blog that Cade had a seizure on a plane because of what JR said was a mistake in judgement and that it warranted him getting fired. I don't know much about that kind of thing. I can only imagine he took something or something of that nature but I don't want to guess.
As far as the youth movement goes...please bring it back! I was at the RAW when Punk won. The lid came off the Ford Center. Yeah it helped that Batista gave him a bit of a rub and Edge is so hated but either way, people wanted change. Now we are left with a good heavyweight champ in Jericho because I think his character is fresh because it's new for him. However, the rest of the main event scene and the storylines are stale. I'm going to watch but that doesn't mean I'm enjoying myself right now.
They had to get rid of the movement they were making, so they can bring it back. If they kept the youth movement going, then what would they do next year to shake things up?
Seriously though, I think CM Punk was the wrong man to unseat Edge. But he impressed me while he was there - and I don't see him has having slipped as far down the ladder as most people seem to be saying. He will probably fill the role of a reliable "former-World champion" like Rey Mysterio, Kane, and Chris Jericho filled for years - until maybe one day, he (like Jericho) will be needed to become a two-time champion.
The youth movement seems to be happening on ECW for the most part, where it should be in my opinion. I wish WWE would treat ECW like a televisied farm league. As players grab attention there, then RAW and Smackdown! could engage in a bidding war. Think about the Monday Night Wars, and one aspect of it was learning whose contract was up for renewal and finding out if he jumped ship or resigned (or from ECW, whether he was going to WCW or the WWF).
In many ways, ECW is my favorite of the three brands right now (one of those ways being that a 1-hour broadcast leaves minimal time for filler).
The big changes that happened earlier this summer was another attempt by the WWE to prove their Fan Nation wrong, just like when they put the belts on Eddie & Benoit or when Mysterio & RVD were champs. They mix things up for a few months (or weeks), but when the business doesn't immediately skyrocket they pull the plug, say "I told you so", and revert back to the same old stale Triple H show.
I can't think of another entertainment company that despises their base audience as much as the WWE. The more their audience knows about the business, the less the WWE wants them supporting their product.
"just like when they put the belts on Eddie & Benoit"
In that case, business didn't merely not improve but actually got worse. 2004 was the worst year finanically for WWE in several years. In 2005, things picked up as it was a really good year, and the yearly revenues and profits have grown ever since.
After years of watching wrestling, I barely watch the product anymore. Between the WWE and TNA I can't bring myself to watch full episodes of either of their shows. There are some spots that I'll catch on my DVR if I've read something was good, but by and large I don't watch.
I can't stand all the talking. I can't stand the same old players. The rehashed feuds and storylines. In the case of TNA, the ridiculous stipulation matches and lack of focus on really talented athletic individuals in order to focus on the heroes of the past.
As many have said, if you don't like it don't watch it; well I'm not watching it. Don't get me wrong, I still love pro wrestling. I'll watch DVD's and old tapes all day, and I love WWE 24/7, but for now I'll gladly spend my entertaiment dollars on MMA where you get more bang for your buck.
I'll end my little rant now.
Thanks for the forum, Alphonso and I hope everything is going well at home.
The youth movement was never going to last for a few reasons. First off, it was only a matter of time before John Cena and Randy Orton came back and began to dominate the main event scene all over again, I'm sure Batista and JBL were also interested in getting back into the title picture, even though they both feuded with Punk.
Plus, even if CM Punk, Kingston were still champions and getting a mega push, its only a matter of time before WWE stopped the "youth movement". There is too much dirty ideas floating around in Vince McMahon and creative's head for WWE to completely commit to a brand that appeals mostly to children. I mean, how long would it really take before WWE conjured up another Katie Vick, another HLA angle? or maybe Vince will try one last time to push an incest angle. The company has too dirty of a mind to abandon that kind of creative writing completely.
speaking of CM Punk... yeah Hogan is alright, and Austin is cool, and Jericho is valiant babyface. but Purple Headed Warrior is the man. dude is thick and covered in veins with a giant mushroom cap dome. PHW gives dudes a serious pounding. i know why everyone ducks Warrior. Cus it's like as soon as Austin or the Undertaker or Kane fall face down, even for a second, Warrior would be on right on top of them, just drilling them. Hard. Giant mushroom cap plunging down again and again. damn. They don't want to mess with that. I can't blame them. But it's like if you say you're the man, you know, a real toughie, then you should be willing to tangle with the best. Purple-head, he's the roughest hombre. How you think Raw got it's name. PHW will work you raw. you come out the ring after tangling w/ Warrior you got an a-hol like a manhole cover. i'm talking stretched out.
Tonight on TNA Impact!, Mick Foley said that next week, live in Las Vegas, he will have a special announcement that will rock TNA to its very core! Sound familiar?
I expect they will duplicate ROH's major announcement from earlier this year, and offer a 2-for-1 ticket sale. If it's anything better than that, then it will exceed my expectations.
Foley's entire in-ring speech pretty much copied Sting's speech when he first came to the company.
Sting came in, worked the one tag match w/ Christian against Jarrett & Mony Brown, then retired on the next Impact. He basically said he needed a proper forum to close out his career. Christian Cage & several mid-carders came out to shake his hand.
Foley came in, refereed the one match, then "retired" on the next Impact. He basically said he needed a proper forum to close out his career. Aj styles & several mid-carders came out to shake his hand.
People are going to almost always go with what is comfortable. Vince is comfortable the with the top star list the way it is right now. It is boring. I used to enjoy Smackdown, but you know who is Champ and Edge is gone, so now that is boring. Jeff Hardy and Shelton Benjamin have kept me watching (R-Truth is cool too).
TNA has such a chance to capitalize instead Sting is World Champ with Kevin Nash holding the top spots again and the X-Division (which is the cornerstone of the Company) is an after thought.
Sorry guys, I am almost done with wrestling after almost 20 years. I am married now and about to be a father and not sure if it is worth my time anymore. The current status of everything is definitely helping my decision.
Is anybody surprised by this? How many starts and stops dd the alleged youth movement of the 90s have?
By the way, just finished the Bret Hart book. Took me about a week, but it's a highly recommened read. It's kind of a huge downer after Owen's death though, but that was to be expected.
The problem is, that the "new blood" of the wwe is not as half as interesting as the old stars. It's the same like 2000 with the new blood in the wcw. The new guys like DiBiase or Rhodes are just toooooo unexperienced. These guys are maybe interesting in three or five years, but today, the "new ME guys" are IMO Cena, Orton, Edge, Batista and CM Punk. And these combined with HHH, HBK, Taker and Big Show are enough for ONE wrestling league. But we have the brand extension and so the ME scene is just watered down.
I'm just kinda surprised that it took *this* long for them to pull the plug.
Cena will probably be back in December or January, just in time to shove him into all of the main events again. Oh joy.
I've heard rumors that Cena's going to come back at Survivor Series.
has anybody heard the rumor of Cena tangling with Purple Headed Warrior?
if those two hombres ever locked horns, there'd be fireworks for sure.
say, would anyone like to suk a f art out or my a ss?
has anybody heard the rumor of Cena tangling with Purple Headed Warrior?
if those two hombres ever locked horns, there'd be fireworks for sure.
The problem is, this is the way wrestling always been. You have a few people at the top, and they keep getting the pushes.
In the 80s it was Hogan, Savage and Andre. In the earlier to mid-90s, it was Shawn Michaels, Kevin Nash and Razor Ramon. In the late 90s, it was Stone Cold, the Rock and the Undertaker. Now it's HHH, Cena and Batista.
In about 10 years, we'll see Ted Dibiase Jr., Cody Rhodes and the Miz all being pushed like crazy, and people will complain it's boring, and wish for the old days, like 2008, when you had an influx of good talent all challenging for the belt (HHH, Cena, CM Punk, Batista, JBL, Undertaker, Jericho, Randy Orton, Shawn Michaels, Jeff Hardy, etc.).
There really has been very little in the way of MUST SEE TV on Raw or Smackdown. At least when Cena was around, I'd watch just to hear the crowd reaction for/against him.