Out With The Old, In With The New

Out With The Old and In With The New
May 31, 2015
By Ryan Porzl

Ever since the recent wrestling boom ended in 2001, professional wrestling has been in a lull. Business and interest has declined and there have been many reasons why. One of the reasons many don't think of is the fact that the big companies can't seem to let go of talent. The big promotions in the WWE, TNA, and ROH have had the same problem where they either cling to aging talent long past their prime or talent that's been ridiculously stale for years. Because of this, the companies have had times when they've gotten stale and boring because we've been watching the same talents that been around forever. We'll take a look at the benefits of cycling talent out every now and then.



A big problem that a lot of these companies don't take under consideration is we live in the internet age. We live in a time where we have the internet and can go on video sharing websites like you tube to watch old footage. Not to mention, the WWE has the WWE Network which has classic shows and pay-per-views while TNA has all their pay-per-views available on you tube where fans can buy them. So the question is, if I can get these events whenever I want, what will I choose to watch? Will I watch certain wrestlers when they're in their prime, fresh, and putting on their best performances or will I watch events when their past their prime, stale, and putting on mediocre performances? Take Kane for example. If i'm a big Kane fan, am I going to prefer to watch his late 90s - early 2000s stuff on the network or on you tube when he's in his prime or his current stuff when he's past his prime, slow, lumbering, and stale? Same with Big Show. Do I watch him on the Network or You Tube where I can see him in his prime and when he was fresh or now on TV when he's fat, slow, and stale? Wrestling companies need to realize that if these aging legends are going to draw then they're going to draw with their old matches and not now when they're old, out of shape, stale, broken down, and past their prime.

Companies can also benefit by releasing past their prime or stale wrestlers because it opens doors for newer, fresh talent. Look at TNA as an example. While they lost AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels, Kazarian, Sting, ODB, Bully Ray, and Samoa Joe, they've gained many new names. Names like EC3, Rockstar Spud, The Wolves, Havok, Bram, and Tigre Uno who have made the show fresh and interesting because they're new and we haven't seen much of them in TNA. The creative team should have no problem finding things for them because they haven't been here for years. They haven't won almost, if not, every title and they haven't feuded with everyone. The fans win because they see something different instead of the same old, same old. It's also more exciting because you never seen these new feuds or title reigns involving the new names before instead of watching stale talent win a belt for a half dozen time.

Speaking of stale and fresh, the writers also benefit heavily. With new talent, they can explore so many new storylines, feuds, and possibly title reigns. With stale talent, they'll have a hard time finding something different or new because the stale talent has done almost everything. Take Seth Rollins and Kane. Which wrestler will the writers have an easier time coming up with ideas for? Seth who has only been in the WWE for two and a half years, has only won two title belts, and a money in the bank? Or Kane who has been playing the character for eighteen years, has put on and taken the mask off repeatedly, and won every active title but the United States Title at least once? Look at someone like the Big Show. Is it any coincidence that he seems to turn babyface and heel so much? No, it's not and the biggest reason is because the company has clearly run out of ideas for him. TNA had the same problem as it seemed like AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels were constantly feuding with each other or having a million matches. Sure they were good but after awhile, it's gets tiresome.

Everybody also benefits. Think about it. If aging or stale talent leave then that opens the door to new talent. Talent who work hard in the indies have a chance to take that next step in their career. Meanwhile, the stale or aging talent can make appearances in the indies which can be beneficial for the indy company as the talent can work with veterans and there will be interest in the company which could be good attendance wise for the shows and bring more eyes to those companies which can get them more fans and increase business. Then there's people who might have always wanted to be wrestlers deciding to enter it cause they see the opportunities they could have. One of the bad things about WCW and ECW closing was there wasn't a lot of major places available for wrestlers and the WWE could only take so much. As a result, many left the business because the options or opportunities weren't there and that deprived the business of many good or great wrestlers.

Wrestling also needs to focus on new talent because they have to stay fresh and keep up against TV competition. With more channels and each having new content, wrestling needs to stay fresh so they can be exciting enough to compete. Stale wrestlers won't work because we've seen them for years and years so they're not exciting anymore. Look at a show like Seinfeld. That has been one of the most popular sitcoms in the history of American TV and drew great ratings. Now imagine if NBC decided to air reruns on prime time in 2015. It wouldn't work because the show is twenty plus years old and people have seen it over and over again. Same applies to guys like Kane and Big Show. Why spend time and money investing in guys who have been around for twenty years? People have seen everything from them and it's the same thing over and over again. Nobody expects these broadcast channels to air a twenty year old show in prime time because it's over and people have seen it so many times. Why would they accept seeing wrestlers with twenty year old gimmicks as main attractions when they know there's nothing more you can get out of them?

Clinging to the past has hurt the business more than most realize and once we move towards the future, we'll begin to see improvement. Fresh talent, fresh feuds, and fresh title reigns are the way of the future and the way for wrestling to become more exciting.