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| Hard to replace, but not impossible Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein |
If you believe the tea leaves (and trust me, you should in this case), WWE has already signed Sami Callihan and Samuray del Sol, and are waiting for Adam Cole to break out a bit more before signing him. They are added to the list of names sopped up by the company starting with CM Punk almost eight years ago (EIGHT!) and continued on with Matt Sydal, Colt Cabana, Bryan Danielson, Nigel McGuinness, Serena Deeb, Jon Moxley, Tyler Black, Brodie Lee, Claudio Castagnoli, Britani Knight, Chris Hero, Sara del Rey, PAC, El Generico, Davina Rose, Sterling James Keenan, Tenille Taylor, Michael Hutter, Amazing Kong, AJ Lee, Low Ki, Nattie Neidhart, and Beth Phoenix. Obviously, not all of those names worked out to the point where they're still with the company. However, it shows that WWE has looked towards the independents with increasing scrutiny and interest over the last decade.
With the development and construction of their new training facility in Orlando, FL, the rumor is that the focus on scooping up independent talent is going to intensify even more. Names are on the radar already, and right now, the brain drain off the indies feels like it's Damocles' Sword, waiting to cleave the scene in twain while WWE reaps the rewards. Obviously, there's no escaping that with each talented wrestler plucked from outside the corporate world, every promotion that wrestler touched becomes a bit darker. However, it's not a doomsday scenario.
Foremost, WWE cannot take all the wrestlers off the indies. They don't have the budget for it, nor is their facility going to be able to accommodate thousands of new recruits. It's been a slow-burn process from start, and I don't see that changing. There's time for these promotions to get the mileage out of their WWE-ready stars and help turnover before either company plucks them for their own use. The time between when a wrestler gets on WWE's radar and is signed feels like it's enough to tell one final story, and that's not even taking into account the fact that it might take a few years for wrestlers to get their attention.
WWE is also pretty famous for its cuts in addition to its signings. There are some out there who get a sick sense of glee at the prospect of someone losing his or her job, but that just means it's another wrestler who is available on the indie scene as a silver lining to them. Of course, some of those people like Tyler Reks or Maxine choose to pursue other careers after leaving, but then there's Trent Barretta, Carlito, Maria Kanellis, and Chris Masters who are touring companies and adding their fame and names to the cards. Some wrestlers price themselves out of most indie promotions' ranges from jump, but then again, if Carlito and Masters, both of whom were fairly popular at points in WWE, appear for companies around the country, then why can't, say, Curt Hawkins, Zack Ryder, JTG, or any one of the other lower-card wrestlers who might end up getting sent back into the ecosystem-at-large in the near future?
And that's not even taking into account the sheer number of wrestling promotions that are in business around the country. Every weekend, there are at least 50-100 separate promotions running shows. I wouldn't be surprised if there were 2,500-3,000 active pro wrestlers right now in America not working for WWE or Impact Wrestling. When people whine about how mean old WWE swooped in and stole their main event guy from under them, I ask why wasn't there work done to cultivate main-eventers-in-waiting from that massive pool of wrestlers? Surely, there are unpolished gems in the great unknown. Not everyone is a candidate to be on that stupid "You Are NOT Getting Booked" meme.
I understand full well the work that promotions do in crafting feuds and stories only to have them derailed by WWE taking the principals in them for their own. I've seen it twice in my favorite wrestling promotion, once when Eddie Kingston's assumed final opponent in the 12 Large Summit, Castagnoli, was plucked and chosen to become Antonio Cesaro, and again when del Rey's coronation as Grand Champion was cancelled because WWE wanted her to train classes of lasses down in Orlando. Both times, Chikara rebounded quite nicely, and I have no doubts that they'd be able to do it again if Kingston were the next to be called up, or if Tim Donst accepts a contract offer, or Mark Angelosetti or Sugar Dunkerton or anyone else they seemingly have plans for.
The key to survival is adaptation, and thankfully, the raw material is there to make adaptation smooth. Sure, losing a guy like Callihan is going to sting, but it's not like there isn't an Uhaa Nation to replace him. And if Nation gets poached, there's a Shane Strickland to replace him. And the heat goes on where the hands have been. The companies that are able to replace their main eventers will flourish, and the ones who can't will wither away. Fortunately, they'll be replaced by new companies, and the cycle continues. In the microscopic time frame of the death of a company, it's not pleasant. If/when ROH bites it, the shock will be great. But pro wrestling has been around for a lot longer than most single companies, ECWA and WWE being the exceptions to the rule at this point.
As long as wrestlers want to wrestle and people want to promote the product of those wrestlers getting together to wrestle, there will be wrestling. The independent landscape may not look anything like it does today in five years. It may look exactly the same. I don't know, I'm not a fucking psychic. But getting swept up in the hysteria like Chicken Little acting like the sky was falling does no one any good. Supporting good wrestling is what keeps the dream alive, no matter how many people get swallowed up by the mammoth from Connecticut.
With the development and construction of their new training facility in Orlando, FL, the rumor is that the focus on scooping up independent talent is going to intensify even more. Names are on the radar already, and right now, the brain drain off the indies feels like it's Damocles' Sword, waiting to cleave the scene in twain while WWE reaps the rewards. Obviously, there's no escaping that with each talented wrestler plucked from outside the corporate world, every promotion that wrestler touched becomes a bit darker. However, it's not a doomsday scenario.
Foremost, WWE cannot take all the wrestlers off the indies. They don't have the budget for it, nor is their facility going to be able to accommodate thousands of new recruits. It's been a slow-burn process from start, and I don't see that changing. There's time for these promotions to get the mileage out of their WWE-ready stars and help turnover before either company plucks them for their own use. The time between when a wrestler gets on WWE's radar and is signed feels like it's enough to tell one final story, and that's not even taking into account the fact that it might take a few years for wrestlers to get their attention.
WWE is also pretty famous for its cuts in addition to its signings. There are some out there who get a sick sense of glee at the prospect of someone losing his or her job, but that just means it's another wrestler who is available on the indie scene as a silver lining to them. Of course, some of those people like Tyler Reks or Maxine choose to pursue other careers after leaving, but then there's Trent Barretta, Carlito, Maria Kanellis, and Chris Masters who are touring companies and adding their fame and names to the cards. Some wrestlers price themselves out of most indie promotions' ranges from jump, but then again, if Carlito and Masters, both of whom were fairly popular at points in WWE, appear for companies around the country, then why can't, say, Curt Hawkins, Zack Ryder, JTG, or any one of the other lower-card wrestlers who might end up getting sent back into the ecosystem-at-large in the near future?
And that's not even taking into account the sheer number of wrestling promotions that are in business around the country. Every weekend, there are at least 50-100 separate promotions running shows. I wouldn't be surprised if there were 2,500-3,000 active pro wrestlers right now in America not working for WWE or Impact Wrestling. When people whine about how mean old WWE swooped in and stole their main event guy from under them, I ask why wasn't there work done to cultivate main-eventers-in-waiting from that massive pool of wrestlers? Surely, there are unpolished gems in the great unknown. Not everyone is a candidate to be on that stupid "You Are NOT Getting Booked" meme.
I understand full well the work that promotions do in crafting feuds and stories only to have them derailed by WWE taking the principals in them for their own. I've seen it twice in my favorite wrestling promotion, once when Eddie Kingston's assumed final opponent in the 12 Large Summit, Castagnoli, was plucked and chosen to become Antonio Cesaro, and again when del Rey's coronation as Grand Champion was cancelled because WWE wanted her to train classes of lasses down in Orlando. Both times, Chikara rebounded quite nicely, and I have no doubts that they'd be able to do it again if Kingston were the next to be called up, or if Tim Donst accepts a contract offer, or Mark Angelosetti or Sugar Dunkerton or anyone else they seemingly have plans for.
The key to survival is adaptation, and thankfully, the raw material is there to make adaptation smooth. Sure, losing a guy like Callihan is going to sting, but it's not like there isn't an Uhaa Nation to replace him. And if Nation gets poached, there's a Shane Strickland to replace him. And the heat goes on where the hands have been. The companies that are able to replace their main eventers will flourish, and the ones who can't will wither away. Fortunately, they'll be replaced by new companies, and the cycle continues. In the microscopic time frame of the death of a company, it's not pleasant. If/when ROH bites it, the shock will be great. But pro wrestling has been around for a lot longer than most single companies, ECWA and WWE being the exceptions to the rule at this point.
As long as wrestlers want to wrestle and people want to promote the product of those wrestlers getting together to wrestle, there will be wrestling. The independent landscape may not look anything like it does today in five years. It may look exactly the same. I don't know, I'm not a fucking psychic. But getting swept up in the hysteria like Chicken Little acting like the sky was falling does no one any good. Supporting good wrestling is what keeps the dream alive, no matter how many people get swallowed up by the mammoth from Connecticut.