A few weeks later, John Cena was added to the list of performers currently having injury issues. He is a top star, so losing him has to hurt for Wrestlemania season. It even made me start feeling that the WWE should debut some new guys, like AJ Styles.
But the list just seems to keep growing. There seems to be new reports every week of some wrestler at least supposedly injured. You know the WWE is in trouble when they have to start pushing Heath Slater. I have seen people say that you could probably make a PPV card just with those wrestlers currently injured. I would go as far as to say that the PPV you make with those names will likely be a bigger draw than the PPV you can make with the healthy full-time performers the WWE currently has. Let me look at just some of these injuries.
The League of Nations is ravaged. Everyone knows Barrett has injury issues keeping him out of the ring, but at least he still shows up now and then to sell he is still with the group. There are now reports that Rusev is injured. Whatever it is, it has just been Alberto Del Rio and Sheamus in matches for the stable this week. This group just looks pathetic. Sheamus doesn't look like a great top heel. Vince McMahon is the only A+ heel in the company right now. All the other major heels are looking like his minion in his war against Roman Reigns. Would things be better if Seth Rollins was healthy? I would think so. He was not a solidified top star, but the WWE would probably feature him better than Sheamus. Even with a group, Sheamus does not look strong enough. It does not help when the members aren't all healthy.
Paige also has a minor concussion. She was already getting depushed anyway. She last wrestled at house shows at the end of December. She had not wrestled on Raw since November. I was on Twitter a while ago and saw someone asking why Paige has not been on Raw. I told him she has been getting filler and jobber pushes, like Mickie James. Next thing I know, Mickie James takes a shot at me because she thought I was insulting her. I'm not insulting her. I am just talking about how she was pushed. And that happened on my birthday. Not great getting burned by your favorite diva on your birthday. As for Paige, there is an obvious depush here, and not just because of injury. She lost more than she won during her big push a few months ago. Usually when you see that kind of thing, don't expect too much better when the push does end. Paige has been a credible jobber her entire career. There are no signs that is changing.
Regardless of her minor injury, the WWE could still do more with her. I said recently that the WWE can develop an elaborate storyline with Becky Lynch and Charlotte. One of the things that makes an elaborate stroyline what it is is the use of supporting players. These aren't just jobbers to give the two people pushed momentum. These are workers that actually add to the story. Paige has a history with Becky and Charlotte. She is someone that can be used in this story. If she's healthy enough to travel and talk about her injury in interviews, she is healthy enough to get involved. Of course, there is still plenty of time for that, if the WWE wants to build an elaborate storyline.
What should the WWE do with the injury issue they now face? First of all, I would say the problem is worse in the men's division than the women's division. Becky Lynch and Charlotte are the women being pushed. There are still many other women in the division to utilize. As for the men, the WWE is pushing men they would normally not push and bringing in more talent. They are doing what you would expect to fill up the gaps. Longer matches also mean more time is taken up and less performers have to be featured.
In terms of long-term solutions, I have seen some people suggest a brand split. I do not agree. A brand split is something you consider when you have a bunch of people on your roster and you cannot feature them properly. When your roster is limited, that is not the right situation for a brand split. A limited roster during a brand split was a problem in the diva division for a while. It created terrible depth issues. It is no surprise that they unified the titles when they did. There just were not enough credible challengers. And these same kind of issues can exist in the men's division. People talk about all the injuries in 2007 and how that influenced decisions the WWE made for the men's division back then. If they went back to a brand split now, they would only set themselves up for much worse than 2007.
Even with a brand split, these workers still have to go through a heavy schedule, including house shows. I know house shows are a major source of income for the WWE, but I would consider easing the schedule a bit. In many major sports, you usually get some kind of bye week or break, and that is in addition to the off-season. Some fans have suggested an off-season. The WWE will probably not go that far, but even giving it a rest for a week or two might mean so much. How about around the end of the year? For Christmas? Give the workers some time off. Run some "best of" specials during this time. It is funny how so many injuries would seem to happen in December at one time. Injuries around this time of year are just the worst. Or how about an "off-season" that consists of no house shows for a month but the WWE still does Raws and Smackdowns? The WWE should sacrifice a little bit of the money they make from live events for the sake of giving their stars a break and extending their years being active. If they do not, it can hurt the overall quality of the product, which will still end up costing them money.
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