It's that time of year again. The seasons are changing, the weather is changing, and WWE fans are getting ready for the end of the year. With Survivor Series and TLC still on the docket, there is plenty of wrestling to be had after Hell in a Cell.
With the end-of-the-year quickly approaching, there's also a chance to reflect on what WWE has accomplished in 2016, and what still needs to be done to promote the company and both its red and blue brands.
I'd like to think that Vince McMahon and his cronies are taking a step in the right direction. I also like to think there is still more to this "project" that the company is undertaking to try to make professional wrestling great again.
Yes, there I go again with the slogan.
For the wrestlers who have used 2016 as a springboard for greatness, like AJ Styles, Dean Ambrose, and Roman Reigns, the coming year should be just as exciting. For those wrestlers who have had a meteoric rise and have levelled off, things could be different. It’s a position no wrestler wants to be in.
I suspect more changes are still on the horizon for this promotion. And I also suspect that while intentions are good, the road to making WWE the juggernaut it used to be might mean some wrestlers are buried in the shuffle.
This is nothing new, it happens all the time. Every single year there is a purge. It is called business above everything else. Wrestlers know this, and that is why they compete at such a high level and do everything they can to hold their position.
Some do it better than others.
Here's a look at five wrestlers WWE could be pushed further down the ladder in 2017.
Could 2017 be the last time we see Kane in a meaningful storyline? The Big Red Monster has been phased out over 2016 and basically has become a bit player. That's what happens when you've been with the company so long, you are respected enough that you are still somewhat valuable, and you can still help promote new talent.
The fact is there really isn't a place for him on the roster other than jobbing for better talent. While he is still one of the safest performers in the ring and one of the most respected men in the locker room. 2017 will be the year we may see an end to the gimmick.
#2 Darren Young
While Young’s gimmick with Bob Backland was partially successful, now that the presidential election is almost over, what do you do with him?
Young has as much talent as anybody on the roster, but booking has hurt him. He cannot continually wrestle Titus O'Neal and have a future in this promotion. If there was a wrestler on the roster who could use a change in venue, and yes I mean another promotion, it might be Young.
Pairing him with Backland was a good idea, but it went nowhere. I also suspect it would be hard for him to get back involved in the tag team scene. I think you'll see less and less of him on television with the idea that maybe he goes back to NXT for a while, as the company figures out what to do with him.
#3 The Vaudevillians
WWE has done a good job of promoting tag team wrestling this year. What it hasn't done is take the talent that it brought up during the year and adequately booked it. For that there has to be a team that falls off the radar.
I'm suspecting they might be in the group. There is no doubt there is plenty of talent and Simon Gotch and Aiden English. But I don't foresee them winning a tag team title anytime soon. They're too good to be enhancement talent, and they aren't good enough to be champions.
That's the purgatory I've talked about before. These two are too good to get this kind of lack of support. They deserve better.
#4 Heath Slater
Just when you think Slater will become a major player on the blue team, his 15 minutes of fame might be over before the end of the year. The storyline with Rhyno and the rise of Slater is one of the better booked stories of 2016.
I commend WWE for taking a chance on a character who has been established for years and rebuilding him. I've always been a big fan of Slater’s work, and that he fills the role that he supposed to, perfectly.
He also fills the role of tag team competitor. But he can't continue the success he's had, given the state of the tag team division, and how WWE has been booking younger more impressive talent.
More than likely he and Rhyno will drop the tag team titles before the end of the year and you will see him fall back into the same position he was in 2015 and early 2016.
#5 Randy Orton
I really hate saying this, but I don't see how the 12-time world champion can have a major role on either brand. Injuries and time off, have hurt him. He is still somewhat robotic, although he is better on the mic.
While I see another match with Bray Wyatt and a future with Luke harper, where else does he go? Dolph Ziggler might be an option, and maybe The Miz, but there is little opportunity unless he turns heel once more.
Orton is caught in a numbers game, and the fact that he achieved everything he set out to do means there's nowhere else for him to go. It's sad, but it's the truth. And for a man in his mid-30s, this might be the last time we see Orton as part of a major wrestling program.
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One of Samoa Joe's colleagues had harsh words for him HERE
