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WWE Contacting Former Employees is Concerning

By Josh.0

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Despite having many active wrestlers in their employment, WWE is contacting former superstars to help with the brand split.

Recently, I called the impending WWE brand split a “desperate move” and this most recent news seems to confirm my suspicions. The official rosters will be announced before Smackdown’s live debut on July 19th and may include some familiar ghosts of WWE past.

According to Forbes, the WWE has made contact with Goldberg, Kurt Angle, Rey Mysterio, Jeff Hardy, John Morrison, and Shelton Benjamin in order to gauge their interest in filling spots on RAW and Smackdown.

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Famed professional wrestling reporter Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter confirmed the Forbes report on Twitter.

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In case you’re wondering, yes, you should be concerned that WWE is choosing to go this route. Using older wrestlers to usher in a “new era” is concerning on its own but more on that in a moment.

Goldberg had already been in contact with the WWE for his role in the upcoming WWE 2K17 video game. The 49-year-old former heavyweight champion (who left WWE in 2004) has been actively promoting the game and addressing a possible return to in-ring action.

"“I know this is a very big step for me in that I’ve been away [from WWE] for a long period of time and I never really ever saw myself being involved with them again, but along came my wonderful son and [it] opened up the possibility of doing something with the WWE again and I’m grateful to be in this situation.”"

Kurt Angle is the other top star being contacted in hopes that he will end his 10 year hiatus from the WWE. If Angle accepts the offer, you can most likely expect to see him on Smackdown, eventually teaming with future call-ups Chad Gable and Jason Jordan of American Alpha. This makes the most sense.

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As for some of the other former stars, Rey Mysterio has been well-received in Lucha Underground but could take the Alberto Del Rio route and come back to the pomp and circumstance (and paychecks) of WWE while Jeff Hardy has been more than outspoken about his desire to end his career at WrestleMania. A sojourn back to WWE would also free Jeff from the comically bad storylines TNA has written for him.

If you weren’t concerned already, here’s why you should be. Names such as Carlito, MVP, and Stevie Richards have also been floating around Vince’s head and could find their way back on your television. Goldberg, Angle, and Hardy I can understand because these guys were insanely over during their runs with WWE but Carlito, et al. were more like living punchlines. No one is going to pay to see them compete in a main event match on a WWE level and Colon’s “that’s not cool” gimmick was almost as bad as Scotty 2 Hotty’s worm. Almost.

I’m already upset because I never thought I would have to say the name “Stevie Richards” ever again.

While some fans may feel nostalgic to see these men in the ring again, it raises an interesting question about why they would be necessary in the first place. If we assume that WWE is making these calls to fill empty spots on their cable programs, why are these spots empty in the first place? The WWE has no lack of employees, so do these gaps prove the brand split wasn’t planned well?

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If Vince has resorted to dusting off his Rolodex and calling 40+ year old former wrestlers to make it work then we should be very worried.

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