Matt Hardy and Jon Alba discussed WWE’s current main event picture and the challenge of building new stars for the future.
Speaking on The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy, Hardy said he believes Oba Femi is one name WWE appears to be positioning for a major spot.
I think the first guy that is going to be interjected into the fold is going to be Oba Femi.
They seem like they have set his trajectory.
Alba said WWE may have delayed that moment rather than moving forward with it immediately.
They punted on it in that way. They pushed it off.
They could have done it right now.
Alba then brought up Bron Breakker and questioned whether WWE lost momentum with him after delaying his larger main-event push.
Bron Breakker was supposed to be in the main event of WrestleMania this year. He has the big turn against Seth Rollins.
He’s walking around with the title for a week and then it just stops. Then he’s not in the main event of WrestleMania.
Then he’s instead going back and forth in a tag team. He’s losing to Seth Rollins. And now he’s back where he started a year ago.
Hardy said injuries played a role in Breakker’s momentum, but added that WWE has still kept him around top names.
He has been hurt during that time, too, as well.
I still think they have him in the mix. They still have him working with Seth Rollins and top guys and even having him in a position as tag team champions, it still kind of keeps him elevated.
It makes him seem more important. I think they’re trying to keep him in the loop as far as that goes.
Hardy said WWE likely makes some of those decisions based on who can sell tickets and merchandise.
You also have to have people in the main event that are going to sell tickets.
I would imagine they are just looking at numbers, whatever the merch stuff is. That goes a long ways.
TKO, I’ve heard this rumor on the street, they’re really into making money. So I would imagine that’s probably one of their dominating factors.
Alba pushed back by saying talent cannot prove they can draw unless they are given the chance.
Someone can’t make money and sell tickets until you give them an opportunity to do that.
That’s where wrestling is different than any other sport. You have to put somebody in a position to succeed to get over fully in pro wrestling.
If you’re an elite talent quarterback in the NFL, you’re going to start. You’re going to get the opportunities.
In wrestling, you can be an elite-level talent in terms of your intangibles, but it doesn’t mean you’re going to get the opportunities if the person who holds the pen doesn’t allow you to have that.
Alba said WWE’s long-term plans can run into problems if the company waits too long to pull the trigger.
We have these big long plans and long games and we just got to let it play out and give them a long runway.
But at some point, when you plan so far in advance that you want to bring someone to this point, at some point down the line, [expletive] happens.
Guys get hurt, people lose interest, they run into a bad angle that cools someone off, a lot of things can happen.
Alba specifically pointed to the risk of waiting on Oba Femi.
They’re betting a lot on Oba Femi that Oba Femi will still be as hot as he is right now, six months from now at WrestleMania, because it might not be the case.
Who’s to say?
Alba then joked that outside factors could always change WWE’s creative direction.
Who’s to say that Moana doesn’t flop? Because right now it’s 32% on Rotten Tomatoes and all of a sudden someone rings up the office and says, “Ah, I think it’s time to do that Roman Reigns match at WrestleMania, pal.”
And now all of a sudden we don’t have Oba Femi and Roman Reigns at WrestleMania. That’s the risk you take, man.
Hardy agreed that plans can change quickly in WWE.
Anything can happen in the WWE, bro.
Hardy said WWE has historically operated with clear tiers of talent.
One thing I think is very, and I still think TKO kind of does this too, but it was very much a Vince thing and management at the time.
They very much had layers of guys. There was like the top guys and then guys right underneath and then guys middle of the road.
They always kind of, people would move in those different categories and whatnot.
Hardy said WWE is likely going to keep leaning on the stars it believes can draw the most.
I think WWE, it is what it is. I think they are going to the well with who they think is going to sell.
Who is going to sell the most tickets? Who’s going to sell the most shows? Who is going to be the biggest draw on the show?
I think that is what their intent is.
Hardy said that does not remove the need to build for the future.
With that being said, you still have to make guys for the future because these guys aren’t going to last forever.
There’s a shelf life on everybody. We’re all mortal here. Even if we do say that we are forever and we’re infinite, we’re all mortal.
It just is what it is.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article, please credit The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy, with a h/t to Wrestling Headlines for the transcription.
