Should WWE take a page out of WCW's book

[John McHenry]

Read it before you flame me.

John Cena is the only Face on Raw you've got a roster of mainly heels especially on the main card. I honestly can't name another Face other than Cena in the main event picture that isn't injured. This is causing even more Cena overload and it's hurting WWE because well you need more than one good guy.

Should they perhaps try to capatalize even more than they already are on guys like Austin HHH Jericho etc. Bring them in as heels to help even out the playing field on Raw.

I know it sounds close to the New Bloods vs. Millionaires Club on WCW. But lets face it WWE has a Roster full of talent that's still pretty young and 87% of them are playing heels. Not saying a stable just gathering some of the old guard to help out the new guys. Guys like HHH Jericho etc could come in get these younger guys a name level out the divide so that it's at least 70-30

Opinions? or am I just a nostalgia freak grasping at straws?

 

[Slim]

So... you're saying the way to fix it is to bring in other guys... as heels? How does that help? It still leaves Cena as the lone face. What they need to do is work with the talent they have... give us a reason to care why they are even in the ring... then from there build them up. And if they are heel... give them a reason to start wanting to turn face. Give the fans a reason to care.

And out of the "old names" the only one that would work well would be Jericho since we know he can still go. Trips is in his like mid 40s or something. But have Jericho start a stable... not like Nexus or anything like that. but something more like Hart Foundation or Evolution. By association the heels with him can start to get a little notification from the crowd. They start to get acknowledged and they are all behind Jericho. Then over time start the change for like maybe one or two of them. Slow change after a few months of the stable running. It has to be an established and strong stable for it to work.

Kinda like the Batista face change. It has potential to be huge. Although it would mean that there would be a heel stable possibly running things and we'd still be stuck with face Cena running things... they could also start really pushing Kofi to elevate his status to upper mid/main event. Then after the stable runs... you'd have Cena, Kofi, and 1 or 2 more new faces for the company. Then it'd be time to start a new idea.

 

[Jiso]

I think what John McHenry was trying to say is bring in established guys as heels and have midcard faces feud with them for elevation.

Worked wonders for Randy Orton who wouldn't be anywhere near where he is today if it wasn't for the Mick Foley feud.

That would lead to them having too many heels though. Del Rio and Punk have earned their spots at the top of Raw's food chain and Triple H returning as a heel would only push them down the ladder. Morrison is probably not coming back until next year so it looks like they'll need to do something since they can't rely on Mysterio with his known injuries.

 

[Slim]

The main thing that helped Orton was the Evolution thing. Foley helped establish his ring presence... his toughness, and established that he will be a player in the ring. But Trips and Evolution was the exposure that started it all, that initially put him on the map because before that he was just kinda there.

Stables can help if they are done right.

 

[Troy]

I don't think that this is the right solution but it would be better than what WWE are currently doing. WWE are sabotaging themselves by having Cena dominate RAW and Orton dominate Smackdown. They need to push more faces on both brands and Orton and Cena shouldn't be near the titles at the moment. They should be working with others away from the title scene to get them to the next level. This would also allow two other faces to hold the titles and use them as a tool to help them acheive mainevent status. The title is a prop and Cena and Orton don't need them. It doesn't neccessarily need to be a face holding the title either but a heel with a different face chasing the title. Christian was the obvious choice to be pushed as a face on Smackdown and guys like Daniel Bryan and Sin Cara need to be pushed further up the card. On RAW it is a shame that Morrison is injured since he is the next big face there but Kofi needs to be pushed more and a face Swagger needs to happen.

Bringing in the occassional legend to feud with a newer star is good if booked well like Orton/Foley but they can't do it too often.

 

[Deezy]

Evolution didn't help Orton, it almost ruined his career. It turned him into a heat magnet asshole who almost got fired on numerous occasions.

The thing that helped Orton was feuding with Taker on Smackdown far away from Raw and a totally different atmosphere. And lets not forget a gimmick change that turned him from a young, cocky heel to a pseudo-veteran with ice in his veins.

So J-Mac is pitching a millionaires club but in reverse so the young guys are the good guys? Sorry but it's been done in TNA. I know they don't matter, but bare with me here. Who is going to boo HHH, Austin and Jericho? No one is going to boo established veterans, hell Jericho had to totally change his gimmick and totally revamp his entire character to get some heat. Don't expect people to choose stars like that over unproven young boys.

 

[John McHenry]

The only reason I'm saying the older generation as heels is because then it gives the new talent the oppurtunity to flip once both sides find footing the old guys can bow out once more. When the old guard left they had batista edge cena and orton and some sporatic appearances by the old guard. Now the old guard is gone so are batista and edge. A company can not be carried by two guys.

 

[Slim]

Evolution didn't help Orton, it almost ruined his career. It turned him into a heat magnet asshole who almost got fired on numerous occasions.

The thing that helped Orton was feuding with Taker on Smackdown far away from Raw and a totally different atmosphere. And lets not forget a gimmick change that turned him from a young, cocky heel to a pseudo-veteran with ice in his veins.

So J-Mac is pitching a millionaires club but in reverse so the young guys are the good guys? Sorry but it's been done in TNA. I know they don't matter, but bare with me here. Who is going to boo HHH, Austin and Jericho? No one is going to boo established veterans, hell Jericho had to totally change his gimmick and totally revamp his entire character to get some heat. Don't expect people to choose stars like that over unproven young boys.

I'm saying Evolution helped put Orton on the map. Before Evolution... Orton was just some guy in tight blue shorts having pretty good matches and that was it. As far as him almost getting fired and the such... that's all on him. But Evolution, the exposure that the group had, all the face time on TV, all of that is what got Orton noticed on a much larger scale. It was that exposure that allowed people to see that he can do more and could possibly be a big star. Which then brought the bigger matches and bigger feuds and also the world title match... although the face turn that happened there was done completely awful and sent him backwards.

But because of Evolution he got those matches with Foley, he was seen as big enough to feud with Taker and the such. Evolution did more good than harm for Orton's career overall.

 

[Keith]

I am more with deezy on this one, I think Orton would have got there anyway because he knows people in the right places, and also because he is a good talent, who always only needed time to get over. I guess Evolution didn't hurt him, and certainly it was a stepping stone, but in the long term I don't think it made that much difference to his career. And Foley does deserve a tonne of credit, because he really carried that feud and was able to hide Orton's weakness', that was a key moment in getting him over.

I don't think this rookie against Older guys thing would work, for reasons stated, but still good you came up with it, I like people who are creative. Part of the problem might be if you have Cena as the month piece of one group, or a leader, because I don't think he has the mic skills and alround personaity like Hogan did in NWO to carry it off.

 

[John McHenry]

Cena wouldn't be involved in the scenario because your trying to produce people that are equal to him or at least conceivably viable opponents

 

[Deezy]

I don't think a current top face should be included in a storyline like this, it either alienates his fans through the turn or the jobbing he'll be doing, since it's sole design is to put over other guys. Putting over new guys doesn't mean they'll get over.