Back in the early months of 2005 on Raw, while HHH was going through the process of putting over Batista to the World Heavyweight title and Mohammad Hassan was the main topic of casual conversation, the WWE’s mid-card became the place where fans could be guaranteed good matches and decent promos with little ‘entertainment’ to spoil the action. Edge, Benjamin, Christian, Jericho and Orton formed the nexus of the group (though some credit must also go to HBK, Tomko and the aforementioned Hassan) and they quickly began stealing the plaudits from the main event scene, even though the majority of their matches either opened the show or finished the first hour. If tomorrow’s stars are formed from today’s best prospects then there would have seemed little that could stand in the way of these five wrestlers getting an initial nudge into the upper tier, especially considering that HHH has been on extended hiatus for a while and the recent champions and challengers (Cena, Angle, Batista and JBL) were in the main event or close to it around the time of Wrestlemania. But with the exception of one, championship matches have been rare or non-existent for our standout five (or four, as it is now) and, even taking into account the draft lottery, they’ve failed to jump out of the mid-card and could be stuck there for some time to come unless somebody behind the curtain decides to put both hands behind their push. Just to make our potential disagreements even more pointed, I’ll end each section with a statement deciding whether each wrestler is better or worse off than they were seven months ago.
Missing most of the last six months through injury hasn’t helped Randy Orton’s career. In February, Orton was slowly getting his house back in order after his disastrous and disastrously short face run with the World heavyweight title last year and it looked as though he would be the leader of the Raw mid-card until the time was right to push him to the gold once more. But after a token mauling from Batista, successful shoulder surgery and a return, not to Raw, but traded over to Smackdown (where big Dave is now the brand champion) looks to have given Randy the clean slate he was so desperately seeking. Further optimism can be taken from the fact that Orton appears to be coming through his current feud with the Undertaker (something that many wrestlers consider a kiss of death) with his momentum intact. Having done the job to the ‘Dead man’ at Wrestlemania, thus preserving Taker’s undefeated streak, and trading victories in their last two encounters, it is hopefully approaching the time that Taker does the right thing and puts Orton over to finish the feud and send the brightest rising star on either show hurtling towards his second run at the title (just as long as they don’t make him champion yet). Primarily due to the long lay-off, Orton isn’t that much higher up the roster than before but the fact that he is beautifully placed to be a franchise player in the WWE for some time to come, coupled with his obvious wrestling ability and marketable appearance (apparently), means he’s much better off than when he was on Raw. Get used to it, you’re going to be seeing a lot of Randy over the next five years (so to speak).
Shelton Benjamin isn’t the first pure athlete to be de-pushed in the WWE and he won’t be the last. Much like Chris Benoit, I feel his mic skills are over-criticised but then most people seem to use The Rock or Chris Jericho as superior comparisons and there aren’t many, if any, better than those two. After an impressive but unspectacular tag team run on Smackdown with Charlie Haas and a comfortable transition to singles action on Raw, surety temporarily left Shelton’s footwork and it eventually became a competition to see which would happen first; high-spotting himself back into form or dying in the process of trying. During this period of rebuilding, Benjamin found time to put on several of the best Raw matches of the year so far, with HBK and Kurt Angle respectively, but the only thing missing was that all-important elevation out of the mid-card, which never came. If anything, Benjamin has gone further backwards appearing on Heat as much as he makes it onto the Monday night show. Even his current feud with Kerwin White smacks of the writers giving him ’something to do’ as opposed to ‘nothing to do’ and is probably more a technical justification of Vince playing the race card once again (a hand that he knows like the back of his … well, hand) so it’s no surprise that I feel Shelton is worse off than he was and I really can’t see that changing in the near future. But I hope I’m wrong.
Redundant as it is to weigh up the pros and cons of a man who appears to be half chin and half cock, you have to admit that Edge has been doing a decent job of late. His recent interviews have only been bettered by Shawn Michaels and Kurt Angle and his involvement in Raw and PPV match of the night nominations has increased as the year has worn on. After wins in the Wrestlemania ‘Money in the bank’ ladder match and the Raw ‘Gold rush’ tournament, each guaranteeing him a title shot, you’d think that Edge would already be a stalwart of the championship picture but outside forces, and his overactive second brain, conspired to keep him in the semi position (no pun intended) to feud with Matt Hardy. And this pre-emptive demotion was the best piece of luck he’d had all year. At this point in time, Edge doesn’t have the gravitas to be taken seriously as a ‘wrestling’ champion and his heel support isn’t strong enough to turn him face based on the appeal of his devious nature. So, despite slowing his progress to main event player, this side-track is giving Edge exactly what he needs: time in the ring without needing to protect an existing champion and a storied history to add colour to his character. Having said that, circulating rumours propound that Edge is in line to challenge Cena for the WWE belt sometime in the near future and I think that’s a big mistake. He needs more time or his push will be perceived as wholly undeserved. I’d recommend a lengthy run as IC champ against credible and varied opponents and see how he’s viewed in a year’s time. Regardless, Edge’s stock has improved since 2004 and it looks set to continue.
Superficially, Christian’s lack of push would appear to be akin to the treatment Benjamin has received of late but the differences make for confusing reading. As we’ve all noticed, being an ‘entertainer’ as well as a wrestler puts you in the mental forefront of the WWE creative team so, where it’s easy to see how Shelton falls short in this category, it’s difficult to understand what Christian is doing wrong. He’s a good wrestler. His style is very much ‘pro-wrestling’ and doesn’t look to contain much that would have been garnered from a solid amateur foundation but he’s quick, athletic and makes the process of wrestling appear effortless. In a comparatively short time he’s been both a popular face and a despised heel but, regardless of which ‘side’ he’s on, his promos have been fun to watch and flawlessly delivered. So I guess this is the point where I explain the reason why he’s not getting a push equal to his talents? You’re asking the wrong person. I’d disagree with you if you thought Christian should be World champion, or even the current number one contender, but to not throw him into the mix at a time when Smackdown desperately needs a performer who can bounce for the big guys, wrestle with the wrestlers and carry the tongue-tied through the difficulties of the English language is a criminal waste of one of the best all-round superstars in the WWE. Whilst his position in the company doesn’t appear to have grown or diminished at all since the halcyon days of the Raw mid-card, it is the fact that so much time has passed without change that suggests he is worse off as it stands right now. If only someone at the WWE could get one of those recto-cranial operations and put it right. And soon.
I fully appreciate that this one might seem a bit obvious seeing as Chris Jericho was the vocal leader of the mid-card back then, eventually went on to a run at John Cena’s WWE title and has since left the company to pursue other opportunities, but I’m going to make the bizarre assertion that he is in a better position right now than he has been for quite a long time. Even though I was a fan of ‘Lionheart’ Chris Jericho in ECW, his extreme tenure never gave us much of a clue as to how entertaining and charismatic he would be during his early days in WCW. The desire for most fans to see him in a WWE ring was multiplied when WCW began misusing him, presumably at the behest of their ‘major’ stars who had almost complete creative control at the time, and even a rookie like Goldberg (admittedly an incredibly popular one) could nix any possible feud with Jericho if they felt it wasn’t in their best interests. When he finally debuted for WWE, it was a spine-tingling experience (even on tv) and appeared to be a seminal moment for both the wrestler and the company, culminating in his undisputed World title victory defeating both The Rock and Stone Cold on the same night. But the title never seemed to be about him and he lost to HHH in a feud where he was merely the muscle to Stephanie McMahon’s revenge. Despite numerous good matches and hosting ‘The Highlight reel’ on Raw, the general trend with Jericho over the last few years has been one of declination leading to the disinterested and unmotivated gimmick that he displayed during his brief feud with Shelton Benjamin a few months ago, which was clearly founded from his real backstage demeanour. Rather than blame either Jericho or the WWE machinery, I don’t think this situation could have been avoided. Jericho stayed relatively injury-free over the years, which meant he never had the time-off/return rejuvenation, from which HHH and Steve Austin benefited, and his reliable abilities meant that management were reluctant to shelve him for any length of time for fear of hurting the product. Whilst there is no guarantee that he definitely will return to the WWE (remembering that your word is only as good as the air it’s written on) it is fair to say that this recharging period is more a necessity than an option for Y2J and ultimately it will greatly benefit the company. Whichever one that might be.
For those of you not keeping score at home, that’s two better off, two worse off and one absent (but making the heart grow fonder). More worryingly, as it turns out these five wrestlers WERE our best chance for someone to break out of the mid-card pack and enter the main event scene because no one else has broken the glass ceiling. Cena and Batista are still the champs. JBL has only just made way for Eddie Guerrero to return to the title picture on Smackdown and Angle looks set for a lengthy run around the belt on Raw. Not forgetting HHH who won’t stay away from the gold forever (and nor should he). Vince has a tough decision to make because the long-term solution may hurt his product now, but the short-term solution could lead to a WCW situation. And when was the last time you went to a WCW event? Oh, that’s right.
Lee
