The Stockwell Section – Top Talent (Part 4)

There is a reason that WWE talent are able to sustain themselves at the top and predominantly, it stems from the fact that they are indeed better then the rest. 

 


 

John Cena in his early years was a thorn in the side Brock Lesner and Kurt Angle. He was successful  against two strong competitors (or stepping stones), namely Big Show and Booker T and then after he reached the top, he proved that he is a force to be reckoned with by defeating the likes of JBL, Kurt Angle and then Triple H at Wrestlemania. 

Batista and Orton got the big rub off of Triple H and Ric Flair during their Evolution days. Both men (Orton in particular) disposed of big names in the company, namely Goldberg, Mick Foley, The Rock and in Randy’s case, numerous WWE Legends and Chris Beniot. Batista eventually cemented his name as one of WWE’s elite with successful feuds against Triple H and then JBL. Orton went onto a strong feud with Undertaker and then took out several Legends (Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes) and top stars (HBK, RVD), before steadily making his way back to the top.

Let’s consider someone who has been with the company much longer, HBK. Before he became a household name and scored his first top championship, he established himself as a top tag team and mid card competitor. He went toe to toe with Bret Hart and memorably, Razor Ramon in the wonderful IC Title feuds. He also competed a few times against his former bodyguard Diesel, who was then Champion before he eventually rose to the top. Afterwards, many could argue that he never came back down again.

I mentioned in the first part of this article that Miz only really cemented himself as a threat this year, after proving he can hang with Cena, Punk, Triple H and Rock. Beforehand however, there wasn’t much of note in regards to who Miz is better than: John Morrison maybe?

Take Alberto for instance, the reason he is going to find it hard in the coming year to establish himself as a real threat is simply because he hasn’t had the chance to build upon his resume. Granted, he has had some great achievements this year but he has never come across as such a force, except against Rey. 

In comparison, look at someone like Mark Henry. He used the Lower-Elitists and an up and comer as stepping stones: Kane, Big Show, Sheamus. Then he proved his dominance by defeating one of the companies biggest stars. Henry is a wonderful example of how stars should be built. Steadily. The result is from this point hence forth, he will always be considered a threat to any star the company has to offer. Moreso then he ever was in his long career beforehand.

In reality, CM Punk is one of the best wrestlers in the world today. In kayfabe, he can also make the same claims. Punk rose up through the ranks of ECW and proved that he was the best the brand had to offer. He then went onto achieve success by winning Money in the Bank, winning the Tag Titles, winning the IC Title and winning Money in The Bank for a second time. We thought Punk had made it after he was featured heavily in the title picture with Jeff Hardy in a feud that reminded me why I loved wrestling. However, Punk wasn’t to remain in the position much longer. Undertaker returned and Punk was booked to look extremely weak against the elitist. However, in response, Phil Brooks tweaked his gimmick and became one of the most hated heels in WWE history as the head honcho of The Straight Edge Society. Over that period, he tormented Rey Mysterio and whilst he predominantly lost to Big Show, he never came across as overly weak. After a hiatus, he returned and  feuded with Randy Orton which produced some great matches. Then of course, after the famous promo, he beat the company’s biggest star on two consecutive PPVs. 

There’s a reason the Elitists are where they are, it’s because quite frankly, they are the best. I’ve said before, really, only another Elitist is worthy of standing toe to toe with them. When a John Cena or a Randy Orton get in the ring with anyone lesser, they generally win. Yes, it is how they are booked but they are booked as such because it makes sense. They are the best so why should they lose? if anything, it demeans the star in question. A wrestler is only as big as a fan perceives. 

Take Cena, he is top dog for whatever reasons, that we can all agree on. Now say he was to sit in the mid card for the entirety of 2012 whilst Dolph Ziggler, Alberto Del Rio, Zach Ryder and Kofi Kingston main evented, would that be real? No. To quote John Canton, ”wrestling is at its best when it’s real” and for Cena to sit in the middle of the card because he isn’t a contender doesn’t feel right. Particular story arcs aside, Cena is believable as a challenger and as a champion.

Lower-Elitists are usually booked in a manner whereby they can better someone higher but are usually not booked to do so. Instead they usually plough their way through the rest of the roster. They’re an adequate test for up and coming stars and if a star, (say Cena again) decidedly defeats Big Show and Booker T, then fans will start (and they did) perceive him a genuine threat to the likes of HHH, HBK and so forth. In other cases, the star turns out to be a dud and the Lower-Elitist wins, which in turn makes him a more formidable opponent for the next up and comer (SEE: Snitsky, Chavo, Matt Hardy).

The general main event talent lack this history and that’s why it becomes difficult to believe in them. Pushing someone quickly is fine, but when it’s done, creative need to back it up with decisive victories, like they did with Mark Henry. Otherwise you’ll end up with a lost star, much like Sheamus at the later half of last year and the first half of this. All I can say is its lucky Del Rio is Mexican and that the WWE like to pander to that demographic because if things were to continue as they have done, he’d have a bleak immediate future.

In the other hand, we have a main event talent waiting to break through in Dolph Ziggler. If Ziggler were to have a similar title run as Alberto, I doubt it would harm him as much. After proving he can hang with Rey, Show and even Edge, he went onto show that he can threaten stars like Punk and Orton in any given match. He doesn’t need to prove anything else because his already bettered more then half the roster. Yet again, it was a sensible and steady build.

If they wanted to achieve the same with Del Rio, he should have won at Mania, beaten Christian, beaten Kane, beaten Big Show, beaten Sheamus and then beaten Randy Orton, then he would live been considered the real deal, much like Henry is today. 
 
We don’t need to like the performers, we just need to appreciate them. If we perceive a star as the best, we will back him all the way or in the case of a heel, cheer in the hope that he is beaten. 

Imagine that Gollum was the main antagonist of Lord of the Rings, would it have been considered such a task for our hero Frodo? No. Imagine that Lord Voldemort was a lone wizard in the Harry Potter series rather then a wizard backed by hundreds more, would he have been considered such a threat to Harry and co? Furthermore, if the hero themselves is a nobody, then would they really be considered worthy of standing up to said villain? No. 

As humans, we like things bigger and better – its in our nature. In wrestling terms, you don’t get a bigger bad guy then say Mark Henry as of late. In response, we need a hero to fight for the common good so we can see the behemoth taken down, be it John Cena, Batista, HHH, HBK, Edge, Randy Orton or Undertaker.

Elitists have many benefits in regards to title reigns, challenges, PPV appearances, big matches, big feuds and so on. What it comes down to however, is quite frankly, they are the best and the fans want to see the best the company has to offer in the age old battle of good versus evil. if stars aren’t built correctly, we’ll deem it as unsatisfactory. If say Daniel Bryan were to remain champion throughout 2012 without beating the likes of Orton, Sheamus, Big Show, Mark Henry, Rey and so on, then it’ll come across as weak which in the wrestling world, isn’t a term that should be associated with its top stars, let alone it’s champion.

That’s the final part of this article, if you’ve stayed with it all the way through then please share your thoughts, it’d be interesting to know what you think.

Until NXT Time…

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