The Juggling Act

[DavidB6937]

No, I'm not talking about bringing in a juggler gimmick.

 

This is more a discussion on the ability of the major wrestling companies out there to juggle numerous 'hot' acts at the same time.

 

Many of us will remember that Stone Cold and The Rock were both incredibly hot at the same time, both seen as legends in our industry now, and yet did either of them suffer when they both existed in the same time space? Or did it push the other man to better himself and actually it worked well?

 

I've recently been thinking about it due to the split of The Shield. I'm not saying that anyone there is anywhere near the level of an Austin or Rock (at least not yet), but it's clear that Roman has been picked as THE man for now, while Ambrose and Rollins get to work with each other.

 

The interesting thing is that Ambrose seems to have won people over a lot quicker as the fiery babyface over a few weeks while Reigns doesn't seem to have had a huge jump in popularity to the main event scene. It's not to say he's not doing well, or that he's not accepted by the crowd, but a lot of the talk has certainly been over Ambrose rather than Reigns.

 

Is this because people underestimated Ambrose and they also always assumed he'd be the heel post-Shield? Does Reigns have the bigger upside eventually but perhaps not at the moment? And as for Rollins, where does he fit in? I always saw him as an athletic babyface that would be easy to get behind but obviously they've gone for a far different route at the moment.

 

Can WWE make stars of all three and repeat the days of Austin, Rock, HHH etc all rising to the top through the mid-card and beyond? Or is it impossible to juggle all the guys?

 

Do you think they're doing good by all three guys at the moment? And what does it mean for guys like Cesaro that seemed 'hot' at one point but perhaps got lost in the shuffle? Just curious to hear how capable you think WWE are of pushing multiple acts at the same time these days.

[Undefeated Steak]

There's definitely room for more than one top act, in fact I think wrestling needs it to be that way. The hero can only be as good as the antagonist. Rhodes and Flair, Hogan and Andre, Austin and McMahon/Rock etc. To get the most out of a babyface, they need a super-over/talented villain to work off. That's one of the reasons why I don't think Cena has ever reached his true potential. He's never (apart from perhaps Edge and Triple H a few years ago) had a good enough heel performer to work against. Can you imagine Cena working across from somebody as good as himself? Wrestling's creative peaks often come when you have two or more world class performers who come along at the same time and possess that rare chemistry. In answer to your question, I think wrestling actually thrives when it can juggle more than one hot act.