The Stockwell Section – Top Talent (Part 1)

Welcome to The Stockwell Section, this week I intended to write an article relating to the different levels of top talent within the WWE. However, due to the considerable length of the article, I have had to break it down into four parts. With that in mind, please note that if any questions are left unanswered or if any ideas are not discussed in depth, then it is likely that they most likely will be in one of the later parts. I’ll attempt to release each part every 3 days. 

In the past several years, WWE has received an immense amount of criticism in regards to how they manage their stars.  A significant portion of fans will agree that it’s incredibly frustrating to witness a number of under-utilised stars who clearly have main event potential be disregarding in favour of the elite.

For instance, had we known CM Punk had to rally for a match at Wrestlemania this year, fans would’ve vented an extreme amount of anger regarding the matter. Especially when you consider that Punk was one of the best heels the company had.

At the very heart of this argument is John Cena, a man who many believe has spent far too long  in the spotlight. However, Cena isn’t the only star who has benefited from this particular style of booking – Batista, Edge, Orton, Triple H, HBK and Undertaker are prominent figures who have also received said treatment – some may choose to include Jericho in this group also. 

In fact, it wasn’t long ago that many of us were calling for a restructure of the main event scene that has been securely in place since 2005 – that being the year that saw the rise of the 4 younger stars.

Since that year, only Jeff Hardy has been able to break through the barrier, although many could argue that Jeff was only ever pushed due to popular demand. However, before Jeff could truly cement his name amongst the elite of WWE, he defected to TNA.

CM Punk has since established himself as one of the elite, but  his rise to the top was not controlled by creative – on the contrary, it was Punk himself who took the ball and ran with it.  Granted, creative have had considerable input in the past few months but only because they were ultimately forced to do so by popular demand, similar to how Hardy broke through. You could argue that Punk was already an established star, having won Money in The Bank a couple of times and after a few reasonable title reigns, but let’s be honest here, everyone knew Punk was not considered as a real main event player (or rather, an elitist) until his now famous promo – proof of this lies in how he wasn’t even considered for the biggest event of the year just a few months prior. Shortly following Punk up the ranks was another man, who we all know as The Miz. 

As to how they truly cemented their status at the top, Punk and Miz are polar opposites. Punk stepped out and created the biggest buzz in years.  Miz on the other hand was reasonably close to dropping back into mid card obscurity after a weak title reign and being on the losing end of his feud with Alex Riley. He was then placed into what was seemingly another random tag team with another star on the decline from the main event picture.

Initially people were just happy to have another team to feud with the newly crowned Tag Team Champions.Little did we know that Awesome Truth would work and draw enough heat to truly cement Miz up top.

Miz could have easily found himself in the same situation as Punk, having to sit in the mid card  for some time and quite possibly rallying for a spot on the biggest stage of them all. However, the past few months have proven that Miz can easily draw enough heat to truly be considered a member of the elite and be guaranteed a spot at Wrestlemania. 

Take Wrestlemania this year, Miz just happened to be the main heel of the period and hence was part of the main attraction. At Survivor Series however, his inclusion in the main event was a far cry from the prior. Whilst he did serve as cannon fodder again, he was chosen to be involved simply because he has grown from a main event player to be considered, one of the best heels in the industry today or rather, an elite performer.  

In perspective, an elitist will always be considered for the biggest events, the biggest matches, big feuds, title matches, countless title runs, films and more importantly, a Wrestlemania spot. 

Now ask yourself this, does Alberto Del Rio have a Wrestlemania match in the bag? Share your thoughts below, I’ll give you my answer in Part 2.