The WWE Main Roster Report: Part 5 – The Rest
The WWE main roster is always changing, some wrestlers leave for whatever reason happens to cause their departure, some wrestlers move up the card because management wants to give them a push and some wrestlers move downwards, or stay still, sometimes merely because the creative team has a lack of ideas for their television character.
The last twelve months have been memorable and a lot has happened to the main WWE roster since June of 2013. So, let’s take a look at the main superstars who are on the main stage of WWE, rate them, and look at how their future in WWE looks at this moment.
The grading system is as follows:
A+ – Is/Should be one of the main faces of WWE. A true star.
A – Should be/Is in the main event scene and has the talent to stay there.
B – Should be being pushed as a future top contender. Needs some spark.
C – In their current role they’re not meeting their potential. Should be used better.
D – Needs work and help from creative. Highly lacking as a worker.
F – Why is this person here? No amount of booking magic can help.
The Rest
(The members of the roster who rarely are featured on WWE’s main shows and sometimes tend to appear in NXT).
Zack Ryder
Rewind to 2011, and in November of that year on RAW, Ryder was teaming with John Cena in the main event to take on The Miz and R Truth. Becoming massively popular based on the hard work he put in on his own YouTube show, Ryder grabbed the much-spoken about “brass ring” that WWE speak about their young talent aiming for. After being made to look ridiculous in a storyline with push-crusher, John Cena, Kane and Eve Torres, Ryder fell further and further down the card. Now, in June 2014, Ryder is a jobber to the not-even-stars, working dark matches, appearing on Superstars, and being eliminated from the odd battle royale. Ryder did his best to get noticed by WWE and it worked, perhaps to his detriment. WWE have shown no interest in the New Yorker over the last year. I would personally like to see Ryder join up with the likes of Ziggler, Sandow, Miz and Kingston as part of a faction of angry young workers, but it’s unlikely to occur. Who knows that the future holds for the “Woo Woo Warrior”. Grade: C-
Hunico/Sin Cara
When the original Sin Cara was released of his contract in late 2013, WWE attempted to repair the damage that the failed gimmick had suffered since its inception in March 2011. Hunico, who competed as “Sin Cara Negro” during the infamous Sin Cara vs. Sin Cara feud, put the mask on and appeared as both Hunico and Sin Cara, depending on what WWE needed, on television. A very talented performer, Hunico is destined to be a low card talent in WWE. There is no future to the Sin Cara gimmick, a character than has suffered way too much damage, but I imagine we will see WWE attempt to reintroduce it again at some point, possibly when Kalisto from NXT debuts. Grade: C
Heath Slater
The sole survivor of 3MB (Drew and Jinder were released from WWE in June 2014) Heath turned babyface during a segment with Rusev on RAW, resulting in the one-man rock band being squashed by the Bulgarian Brute. Slater, a well-liked performer with management, is due something different, and with a babyface run perhaps he will have a successful career point. Charismatic and improved in the ring since his debut with Nexus a few years ago, Slater has potential to be a solid mid-card act, we’ll see what happens over the next few months. Grade: C+
The Great Khali
One of the worst wrestlers in WWE history, Dalip Singh has had a pretty long run considering how many shortcomings he has as a performer. Khali’s popularity in his home country of India, as well as his obvious imposing stature, have kept him in a job with WWE for eight years. The most damning thing about Khali is that he is a fourteen year veteran, but like the opposite of wine, gets worse with age. He openly calls spots during matches (even worse than Cena does, shockingly), he cannot bump, he is dangerous, and he cannot cut a promo due to his language barrier. If Singh was a foot shorter and American, he would have been released the same year he signed with WWE, but he is still there now, appearing once in a while to squash a jobber in a comedy match. I don’t get it. I really don’t. Grade: F
Hornswoggle
Hornswoggle worked as Great Khali’s small friend for much of the last year or two, but finally had a chance to do something of note in early 2014 when he joined forces with the now-disbanded 3MB and feuded with Los Matadores and El Torito. Had a “Wee-L-C” match with Torito on a PPV pre-show which ended up being an entertaining stunt-filled scrap that the crowd were into throughout. Used correctly, Swoggle has something to offer WWE television once in a while, but the constant ridicule and size-based jokes from WWE’s horrendous announce team is frustrating and makes any angle or match involving Horny impossible to enjoy. Grade: C-
El Torito
The bull mascot of Los Matadores, the luchador midget worker entered a fun feud with Hornswoggle in 2014, resulting in a couple of decent matches. Shaved Swoggle’s head bald in a mask vs. hair match brought the feud to an apparent close in May 2014. Used sparingly as an interference runner for his Matador buddies, Torito is okay, but it is tiresome when they seem to wrestle in the same matches in the same way every time they are booked. Who knows how long Torito will last in WWE though, I didn’t expect Hornswoggle to be still signed eight years after his debut, yet here we are. Grade: C-
Darren Young
Splitting with his “Prime Time Players” partner and real life best buddy, Titus O’Neil, Young went on to do very little in WWE. Received press coverage due to him “coming out” as gay in 2013, a positive step that fortunately wasn’t exploited by WWE in any storylines. A decent worker, Young finds himself stuck in WWE limbo in June 2014, a place where hopefully he will break away from soon. He has potential to be more than just a jobber or someone who isn’t even booked. Grade: C-
Titus O’Neil
With the dissolve of “Prime Time Players” and no more arm-in-arm hollering of “million ‘o dollars”, Titus went on to a push that lasted one PPV match, which bored the crowd to tears, against his former partner. Boring to watch and goofy when he attempt to talk, O’Neil is a guy who finds himself booked due to his physique and height, rather than his ability and talent. A poor worker who was best in a team that hid his many flaws, I find myself irritated to see him still under contract when WWE have released some genuine talent recently. Grade: F
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There have been certain omissions from this list, guys who have been released from their contracts, guys who have been thrown back into developmental and NXT, and guys who seem to have completely disappeared from WWE altogether. I also didn’t include management, announcers and such. This is my view of the roster, and mine only, and any opinions here are my own.
Thanks for reading.
