Recently with the WWE releasing wrestlers on what is becoming a yearly occasion, this year it seems quite a few good wrestlers/talent have gotten the text, email, or call from the higher-ups at the “Big” brand. Though great teams like the Iconic Duo, FTR, and great singles wrestlers like Samoa Joe, and Miro have seemingly been sloughed by the wayside by WWE, it was quite jarring to see a wrestler like Aleister Black/Tommy End released. I say that because he was starting a feud with Big E, and the WWE had filmed quite a few vignettes with the wrestler, in what was supposed to be the push of a new character. Now that there’s news that the WWE are thinking of re-signing the wrestler, it got me thinking—if I was an up and coming wrestler, and I’d received offers from the WWE and companies like NJPW (New Japan Pro Wrestling), AEW (All Elite Wrestling), etc., with all contract offers being financially lucrative, who would I choose?
For me, it would come down to a few factors personally. Those factors being, do I want a career with longevity, where I can build my brand, being able to build a legacy for the future, where I get to mold and shape the character that I’ve already been building from the ground up; or do I just want to make a lot of money and not care about legacy at all.
If I was a wrestler that worked my ass off and gave 110% to anything that was given to me, legacy matters. If I was a wrestler that cared about my character and wanted the freedom to take that character on different paths, and be able to have some type of control when it came to my character, especially with the diversity of the wrestling industry currently, there’s no way that I would choose the WWE. I say that because as a simple lifelong fan of the sport, I’ve seen how in recent years especially, Vince and the higher-ups of WWE creative have taken wrestlers, how had built amazing characters while on the indies, and have almost completely changed their characters, slowed down or forced them to completely changed their wrestling style, and has in many ways hampered them in their development.
Luke Harper / Brody Lee (may God rest his soul) is a prime example. Brody Lee signed with the WWE from the indies. He developed a new character, Luke Harper, made his way through NXT, WWE’s developmental brand (who are the best brand that they own because Vince and the main roster creative has almost nothing to do with it), and once he was moved up to the main roster was slowly relegated to a jobber for much of his time with the company. Luke Harper was an amazing, high-flyer, disguised as a big-man wrestler that had all the skills to be on the top shelf of the company but was hindered by seemingly no faith in his skills, as well as bad booking that he had no control over. When he was finally released by the WWE and joined AEW as Brody Lee, the charismatic leader of the Dark Order, he was given his faction and was allowed to create his universe around his character, and it paid off in spades. Brody Lee was one of the most popular wrestlers on this brand, and with the likes of Kenny Omega, Pac, Rey Fenix, Pentagon, the Young Bucks, and the like on the roster. He was a part of the reason, as a part of a solid roster that AEW was crushing NXT every Wednesday in the ratings during the short-lived “Wednesday Night Wars.”
So as an up and coming pro wrestler, who cares about my legacy and longevity in an industry that I love so much, who has a strong sense of the type of character that I want to play, and that I can competently pull off to positive effect, why would I want to be hindered by a company who doesn’t know how they want to book a show from day to day, let alone if the character they create for me is even one that I can believe in, let alone the wrestler fans that I am going to be performing and wrestling for? I mean all we have to do is look at characters like Luke Gallow’s “Festus” or the plans the WWE had to turn FTR into a hot garbage and sad version of the New Day to see that there have been quite a few characters that the WWE have given some amazing wrestlers and talents that were horrible, to be honest. If I, as an up and coming wrestler, who has solid training, and a good head for my character and where I want to take my character, why would I sign with a company, who’s not going to allow me to mature that character, and who is instead going to give me a new character, tell me how I’m supposed to act while playing the character, and tell me exactly what I’m supposed to say while playing the character, and if I deviate from said script, I’m going to get punished in some way, shape or fashion?
On the other hand, if I was a wrestler that worked their ass off 110% with what I’m given, but whose goal was to make as much money as possible, and work within a structure where I’m given my character and told what to do and say because at the end of the day it’s about money and wrestling for me and that’s it, I would sign with today’s WWE, but even that comes with caveats. If I was a fan of wrestling that trained hard, so that I can get out there in the ring and get after it, as long as they (the WWE) gives me a good enough character to pursue, and some good things to say, I’d be happy as long as I got to wrestle regularly. There inlays the problem. Before they began the yearly purges of talent, there were many wrestlers in the WWE that were just signed to contracts and paid so that other promotions like the NJPW, ROH, and AEWs of the industry could sign them to matches, because as any smark knows all the WWE contracts are exclusive. Unless it’s written into your contract, there’s no guarantee that you will get to wrestle regularly, regardless of wrestling ability and prowess. Two good examples are the aforementioned Aleister Black and Ricochet. Both wrestlers are ridiculously amazing in the ring, and have shown their prowess in such promotions as NJPW, ROH, Evolve, and CZW. Luckily, they were even allowed to show their awesomeness in the ranks of NXT. When they moved up to the main roster, unfortunately, Ricochet has been relegated to a jobber role, who isn’t even allowed to wrestle in the role regularly. It’s was even worse for Aleister Black. There were months when he wasn’t even seen on TV, let alone allowed to wrestle. It seems that during negotiations, as it is with most big business today, there are always a lot of promises made, but unless those promises are written into signed contracts on both sides, those promises can fall to the wayside before the ink is dry.
Also, when it comes to developmental programs, NJPW’s “Young Lion” program is on par or better in many respects than the program of NXT. I honestly think (from the outside looking in granted) it seems that NXT is only viable for people that plan to wrestle the “WWE” style in the WWE system. We’ve seen from people like Taya Conti and the like that once they left the stringent confines of the WWE system, they were allowed to grow and flourish in both their in-ring skills and character maturating skills.
Finally, I wouldn’t sign with WWE, because I would like to have the freedom to speak in a voice that suits my character, and not be told what the character I’m living in on TV should say and do. I care about longevity and legacy that accompanies the hard work that I put in, and if I feel that I am given something to do that in a way that is adverse to my character’s sensibilities, I would want to have the freedom to be able to in the least say so, without feeling like I’m going to be punished or held down in some way. That type of thinking stifles creativity—it doesn’t foster it.
