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HOW YOU CAN’T BUILD UP ONE YOUNG GUY AT THE EXPENSE OF ANOTHER, NXT SHOWS TNA WHAT IT COULD HAVE BEEN, WHEN WWE SAYS SOMEONE IS THE FUTURE AND MORE

By Dave Scherer on 2015-03-30 09:59:00

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Am I the only one who is reminded of Drew McIntyre every time they call Seth Rollins the future of WWE? Indeed, their hit/miss ratio when predicting these things is pretty abysmal.

I can’t speak for everyone so I can’t say. I haven’t been reminded of Drew though, and that isn’t a sign of disrespect. We just get a decent amount of “he’s the future” kinds of guys. And to be fair, every single thing pretty much has to go right for a guy to make it to the top. I love Drew’s work and I think WWE missed the boat with him.

After reading your Q&A post from 3/29, the day of WM, both you and I agree that Bray should lose. I also think that, and I am smacking my hands as I type this, but Cena should beat Rusev. I think the only way to get Bray back on track as a legitimate threat at this point is for Bray to sink deeper into his character, start ripping apart the low card wrestlers, and get his spotlight back by "destroying" John Cena at Summer Slam. Bray doesn't need the U.S. Title, but if this were to work for Bray, getting revenge one year later (Summer Slam 2014), is for Cena to have as much momentum going into Summer Slam as possible. Bray can just go on a tear from there. It would be hard to rebuild Bray, but I think that scenario works. Thoughts?

I am all for bringing Bray back up, the right way, but in your scenario by having Rusev lose the war to Cena, you put him in the same exact position that buried Bray to begin with. I don’t like it.

Seeing NXT selling out smaller arenas, electrifying crowds and building a cult following, isn't it a shame that TNA never followed this model of focusing on good, hard fought wrestling instead of WWE-lite? I mean, we've been clamoring for this type of product for years. How sad is it TNA never listened?

Not only is it a shame that TNA didn’t do it, it’s a shame that WWE didn’t listen to Shane McMahon years ago when he wanted to do the same thing with ECW after the company acquired it. But yes, I agree. TNA’s fatal flaw was hiring Vince Russo and doing a WWE knock off product. For years, I said that they should have provided an alternative instead of being a cheap knock off of WWE. To their credit, they are trying to follow that path now, at least to a degree. I hope it’s not too late for them to succeed. And to be fair, NXT does have the WWE machine behind it, which is extremely important.

Has the WWE ever thought about putting in some of the “midget” wrestlers in the HOF?

I have never heard that they have, but it doesn’t mean it hasn’t been considered. I could see it happening someday.

With all of the booking and political challenges that hamper the WWE, it seems that one true benefit of the Reality Era has been greater acceptance or resonance in the mainstream beyond the larger than life personalities that cross over occasionally. Brock Lesnar's announcement on ESPN was treated as a legitimate sports and entertainment story while celebrities who not only appreciate but "get" the business like Jon Stewart and Bill Simmons help remove the age old wrestling stigma. Is it possible the industry could be moving to a higher place in the entertainment landscape in spite of itself?

No matter what you think about the current product, it is largely a planned direction by Vince McMahon (albeit one that has its share of rewrites). So anything that they have accomplished is not in spite of itself. I think a big factor is that in 2015, there are so many viewing options that reaching Raw’s four million viewers now has a lot more appeal than it did back in the day when four million was considered a niche show. WWE has kept its audience pretty steady, so that makes their programming a place where people will be willing to appear, especially if they are fans.

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