WWE recently released Paul London, Kenny Dykstra and Elijah Burke from their respective rosters. This announcement speaks volumes about the stagnation that the company is currently experiencing and the stale product their producing across their brands.
Obviously, as outsiders it's always difficult to know what's gone on behind the scenes. For all we know, these guys have played up behind the scenes, no showed, and just generally been counter-productive to the company. The mystery over Lance Cade's (another guy who was looking destined for the top) aeroplane seizure is a clear example of this.
But as a fan its infuriating to see these younger guys being stifled and not being allowed to progress. Especially when there is such a dull rotation of talent at the top of the card on Raw and Smackdown.
Kenny of course was a member of the infamous Spirit Squad, a brash group of upstarts, who although had an irritating gimmick, were at least something new and innovative to the industry. But they were quickly extinguished when older faction DX unceremoniously dumped them out of the company.
Why would you remove five talented young guys from your roster, thats your future mid-high carders five years down the line. It was encouraging when Kenny was re-hired. He moved well in the ring, and his mic skills were promising, but he's been released in favour of older more established names.
Paul London worked wonderfully well with Brian Kendrick in a team that was essentially just thrown together, why was London just left to languish in the doldrums when the pairing was split? Kendrick has been nothing short of brilliant since he turned heel, why was the equally talented London allowed to dwindle into obscurity? Similar can be said for Elijah Burke, who has hardly appeared on our screens since the Royal Rumble.
What WWE has to be aware of is that it doesn't fall into the same trap as WCW did when it folded. WCW relied heavily on older established names to push the main events, but didn't allow the younger stars to come through. They had Jericho, Meysterio, Benoit and Eddy on their books and left them stranded on the mid-card.
WWE have similar talent. Evan Bourne looks an exciting prospect. Shelton is improving all the time. Mr Kennedy is solid, when he's not injured. It was great to see CM Punk win money in the bank, but he's been left to dwindle since. These guys have to be given more attention at the top of the card soon, otherwise the WWE will follow the same disastrous path WCW did.
And no-one surely wants to see that.
