I don’t think it’s inaccurate to bellow that WWE’s roster of main event talent has taken a fair old battering over the last few months.
CM Punk walked out of the company after reportedly being unhappy about a potential Wrestlemania match against HHH; Daniel Bryan has taken an extended leave of absence to fix a dodgy shoulder; And Batista’s “triumphant” return was met with a barrage of boos – and now he could be gone for good after being welcomed with open arms by Hollywood. Then, to really rub salt into the wounds, the comany has now suffered the loss of its fastest rising megastar Roman Reigns – also to injury. When it Reigns it pours.
Whilst there’s no doubt the quality of their television output lies mostly with HHH, Steph and their writing team, you have to feel a tad sorry for them when a quartet of main event talent are absent from the roster – and it’s surely part of the reason that Rusez and Mark Henry (of all people) were given the main event spot on both RAW or Smackdown in the lead up to the most recent PPV. That’s a depressing sentence to type.
Given the lack of star power, it’s somewhat of a surprise that they’ve chosen now as the time to give the WWE Title to a part-timer in Brock Lesnar… Although admittedly that occurred at a time when Reigns was fit and healthy and everyone in the company was a wee bit happier.
Head honchos in the WWE will surely be praying with all their might that Reigns’ situation doesn’t emulate to bear similarities with Daniel Bryan’s – who was initially supposed to be out for 3 to 5 weeks, but now, after nearly 4 months out, still doesn’t have a return date confirmed.
Thanfully Roman Reigns’ injury seems a lot less complicated, with the surgery seemingly being fairly routine (based on what those white-coat wearing chaps with glasses said on the RAW vignettes… I confess to having no surgical expertise myself) and current estimates predicting him back before December, perhaps even in time for Survivor Series.
I guess the blessing in disguise here is that if Reigns HAD to suffer to an injury putting him on the shelf for 2 months, right now is pretty much the best time on the calendar it could possibly have come. Assuming he is back in 2 months, he has time to build up momentum heading into the Royal Rumble (where he must already surely be recognised as the favourite to win) and then work some headline feuds on The Road to Wrestlemania.
In the meantime (and this seems to be something that’s said a lot within the wrestling industry), it’s time for the midcard to step up and make a claim for a main event whilst the pool of headliners is worryingly shallow. Dolph Ziggler and Bray Wyatt are both obvious names that most fans feel desrve to be recognised as headliners. Beyond them, I guess there’s cases to be made for Sheamus and Rusev, and perhaps even Cesaro and Bad News Barrett (who, alas, is also currently out with injury).
By filling the main event bracket with a couple more meaningful names, rather than just relying on plugging gaps with The Big Show, Mark Henry or a part-time Chris Jericho, the WWE would have it’s ass covered a lot more gracefully when it is struck by a lack of headline playas as it so obviously currently is.
As I write this, strong rumours are circulating that Cena and Ambrose will both wrestle in two matches at the upcoming Hell in a Cell PPV. If that doesn’t serve as hardcore proof that the company simply had no Plan B in place should a headline attraction sustain an injury, that I don’t know what does.
I sincerely hope that Roman Reigns is back and performing as soon as doctors are predicting. I’m not claiming he’s the most exciting guy on the roster, far from it, but he’s young and hungry – and if it keeps Mark Henry out of the main event segments then the sooner the better.
Most of all I hope that WWE seeks to address the deproved top tier during this period. Ziggler shouldn’t win, then lose, then win, then lose on a weekly basis to guys like The Miz and Cesaro. And The Wyatt Family shouldn’t be booked to be needlessly squashed by Super Cena countless times. These upper card talents need protecting too… Not as much as the like of Cena and Orton obviously, but they certainly require an abundance omore ticks in the win column. Then should an injury crisis occur, asses are covered and they’re immediately able to step up. It’s a pretty simple back-up plan as far as I’m concerned.
