How can such treatment possibly lead to failure? Is it an issue where certain wrestlers can't handle the pressure and just crumble? You might think that. But that is really not the issue. I have never seen an A+ player fail because of that. Various wrestlers have flopped as A+ players for various reasons. Funny thing is, they were actually doing better prior to being pushed so hard or could have done better if they were not pushed so hard. Let me bring up a few names.
John Cena is a good choice to start with. He is obviously the face of the company. He is the centerpiece. He is an A+ player. And he also happens to have an issue connecting with the audience. Certain fans out there hate him with a passion. And it is a large enough number to be noticeable and even get mentioned in promos and storylines. There was a time when Cena was not this hated. In fact, there was a time when he was very popular. That was back in his rapping days on Smackdown. I never liked him, but I will not deny his overness. What went wrong? They made him the centerpiece of the company. They changed his character to something they can hype as someone great that can overcome odds and little children love. People want him to turn heel. I doubt that will really fix him at this stage. Bring back the rapper gimmick? I don't know if that will work, either. How about depushing him slightly? That might kill some of his hate. He won't be as overbearing. In the end, John Cena is an A+ player that brings questionable results.
As far as divas go, there are a few examples. Let me start with Candice Michelle. I don't think fans even realize that she was supposed to be the one following in Trish's footsteps after she retired. The division was revolving around her. Credible jobbers were revolving around her. Because she got injured so much and regressed in her in-ring ability, they gave up on her. Prior to all that, she was sexy and charismatic. She was what you would want an eye-candy periphery diva to be. A lot of divas get over like that. But when you become the centerpiece, you have to wrestle serious matches more frequently. She just couldn't avoid injuries. If they had just kept her as a periphery diva, she could have had a very nice career. Instead, after failing as centerpiece, they never did anything meaningful with her again.
Michelle McCool was also centerpiece of the diva division. She is the only centerpiece since Trish to actually last a while in that position. Her issue wasn't really injuries. Her issue was connecting with the audience. I was looking at some of her matches back in around 2008 last week. She was hotter back than. Aside from that observation, I also saw she was getting some good reactions back then. A or A+ overness? I wouldn't go that far. Overness is about more than just crowd reactions. It is about how much fans are really willing to support you. Besides, if Michelle McCool was really getting A-tier overness, she wouldn't have lost it so easily, especially considering they started to treat her better, not worse. I would say she was showing a respectable B connection with the fans. What went wrong? She just didn't have the charisma to pull it off. Even though she became very solid in the ring, she was not amazing enough to get over and stay over with that. Prior to being pushed as centerpiece, she was pretty much in the spot Torrie Wilson held on Smackdown for a few years. Torrie Wilson was the top periphery diva on a show with no title. She was an A- player. What's wrong with being pushed like that? Nothing. Torrie Wilson got over with the fans and things worked fine. Michelle McCool was doing fine with this type of career. Maybe she never would have connected with the fans as well as Torrie Wilson did, but at least it was better than overpushing her and doing damage to the overall diva division. If she was connecting better with the fans as an A- player, then the fans would have bought into her more naturally when they hyped her up to be the centerpiece.
Let me bring up one last diva. Maryse was the centerpiece on Raw after Candice Michelle. She also looked like she was following in the path of Candice Michelle. Injuries became an issue for her and there were a few matches here and there after her return in 2009 where things got a little awkward. Sometimes, it just looked like she cared too much about showing her character than putting on a good match. How can fans connect with an eye-candy diva as the centerpiece when she cannot maintain a respectable performance in the ring? Instead of completely giving up on her, they pushed her back in the periphery. Not too hard, however. I would say she was a B+ player. I honestly believe she had potential to be better than that. Don't get me wrong, she annoyed me a lot when she was pushed as the centerpiece, especially in her final months as an A+ player, but when she was used differently, then I could enjoy her more. She is very sexy and she has a great character and charisma. She should have been pushed like an A- player. Torrie Wilson and Stacy Keibler had great careers in the golden age as A- players. And I think Maryse could have been better than them. I am not even talking about looks. She has a personality that stands out more in comparison to Torrie and Stacy. She has the French thing going for her and has a little attitude to her charisma that makes her fun. I am not saying she has the acting depth of Denzel Washington, but she had what it takes to get over. Problem is, trying to push her as the centerpiece just was not the place for her.
I talked about 3 divas and only one guy. Let me bring up Triple H. He was obviously the centerpiece at one time. These days, he is a part-timer. He is a part-timer that can find his way in main events whenever he wants. He is an A+ player. Prior to being pushed as centerpiece, I would say Triple H was connecting well with the fans. DX helped with that. Since being pushed as centerpiece? Well, he hasn't gotten Cena-like reactions. Nothing near that. There are a few fans annoyed with how he seems to hog the spotlight. Mostly smarks. There also seems to be a few wrestlers that are irritated with how A+ Triple H does things. Although it has not really screwed Triple H's connection with the fans too much, would these issues ever exist if Triple H was never pushed as top star and given the power he has? He would still win a few world titles here and there, but he would not be as overbearing as he seems to be to a few people. In the end, I think more people can put up with Triple H in the position he is in than they could put up with John Cena in the position he is in.
Moral of the story? Some people are just better off not being pushed as A+ players. I have brought up individuals that were connecting well with the fans prior to an A+ career ruining it or might have connected with the fans well had that A+ career not come up. Not everyone needs to be the quarterback on a football team or the boss in a company. You can do great from whatever position you hold. In some situations, a person getting an A- career might bring better results than a person getting an A+ career. Did the WWE have a right to push these individuals I brought up as A+ players? Sure, but the problem was not making better decisions when they saw things were not working out right. John Cena should have been depushed long ago. Maryse should have gotten a better career in the periphery than she did end up having. These bad decisions are what have led to the quality of the product going down and workers not being pushed right. Push the right workers in the right positions. If a C+ player in the diva division definitely deserves to be pushed as an A+ player, give her the opportunity. On the other side of that, if the A+ player of your entire company cannot get the job done, take him out of that position.
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