A Penny For Your Thoughts Wrestlemania Countdown Day 5; The New Talent Influx (AJ Styles, Austin Aries, NXT)

Columns, Top Story

So there’s been a bit of a hiring renaissance in the ‘E of late. One that I think stands to change the direction of the company. Because for the first time in years, new talent is coming in as who they’ve always been, keeping their existing names, and bringing their fanbases with them.

We have AJ Styles, who, despite sadly revealing himself to be a homophobe in a recent interview, has a huge multinational fan base and was the first new signee in a good few years to hotshot straight to the main roster, debuting at the Royal Rumble to a huge pop.

We have Austin Aries, another former TNA/ROH standout, debuting in NXT and getting right into the thick of things from day one. We have Shinsuke Nakamora, Japanese standout and Bullet Club alumni, debuting Friday against Sami Zayn at Texas Takeover. And speaking of the Bullet Club, other members aren’t far off from showing up too.

It’s been a long time since the landscape of the WWE really changed much. With the exceptions of the Shield and Kevin Owens, call-ups from NXT have fizzled, with the, let’s face it, worthless and inept idiots of Creative having no clue how to handle or push most of them. But change IS on the horizon. There’s growing unrest with how Vince runs the company, and come hell or high water, sooner or later Vince will be out of power. Whether by stepping down or by dying of old age, Vince WILL be gone, and so will his out of touch imbecilic influence over the product.

That will be when Tripsy takes over. And if he runs WWE like he runs NXT, with all this new talent and all the existing NXT talent at his disposal, if he keeps his ego in check and continues to listen to the audience, we could be on the verge of a third golden era of wrestling, like the mid 80’s and the late 90’s.

Because the fans are tired of the status quo, of main events being dominated by the same tired stars having the same tired matches over and over. I mean seriously, do you know how many PPVs in just the past 5 years alone were headlined by John Cena Vs Randy Orton? With all this new talent at his disposal, Tripsy could shuffle the deck and completely change the layout of the company. We could finally have new match-ups every week, new feuds, new storylines. We could finally have something to get excited about on Raw again.

Imagine it. No more Cena/Orton/Sheamus main events every week. Instead we get Styles/Balor, or Ambrose/Nakamora, or Asuka/Banks. Imagine an outright NXT invasion to topple the old guard who keep the product stale. A swarm of NXT talent taking over Raw, leaving the Cenas and Ortons and Big Shows in their wake.

New talent might finally be properly utilized to completely revitalize the product. All it will take is Vince’s removal as the final word on booking. And that can only make things better.

Tomorrow; How to Salvage Roman Reigns

Penny is a now divorced intersexed disabled lesbian in BC Canada. She's been watching wrestling and reading comics since she was a kid, and knows her stuff. She lives with her pets and passes her free time writing, drawing, doing paid photoshop work (including logos done for Pulse's Own Mike Gojira), and is a part-time Queer model.