How to Use Talent WWE is Currently Wasting

There are plenty of talented wrestlers in WWE. The problem is most of them don’t get used.

WWE has 108 wrestlers on their main roster with Raw having 62, including the Cruiserweights, and Smackdown with 46. With that much talent on the roster, it’s easy to see how some wrestlers get tossed to the side. Raw would have to be a lot longer than it is to fit everyone on the show in some capacity.

Must Read: Here Are 3 Changes The WWE Should Make

Raw

Still, though, multiple talents are passed over every week, and that is a shame. Wrestlers like Heath Slater, Rhyno, Titus O’Neil, and Apollo Crews are among those on Raw who are unused each week. Since Raw is three hours long, they could find a way to fit these guys on TV, perhaps putting the four of them in a tag team feud.

Even if WWE didn’t want to go this way, Slater has proven time and again that he can be a great singles talent. He had a fantastic match with The Miz for the IC Title a couple of months back on Raw, and it was by far the best match on the show that night. Granted he was in the ring with The Miz, who has great matches more often than most on the roster. But Slater is still good enough to make it on his own.

Smackdown

Over on the Smackdown side of things are a lot worse with Aiden English, Erick Rowan, Luke Harper, Sin Cara, Fandango and Tyler Breeze, Mike and Maria Kanellis, Mojo Rawley, Zack Ryder, Sami Zayn, Tye Dillinger, Rusev, and The Ascension all being wasted every week. Some of these wrestlers may show up from time to time being used in backstage segments or jobbing to a main roster talent. This is a waste of their talents.

Smackdown Tag Team Division

Once again, many of these guys are talented enough to make it in the main event. Before WrestleMania Luke Harper was fighting for a chance to take on Bray Wyatt at WrestleMania 33. Instead, he was in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, which Mojo Rawley won. After Mania Harper hasn’t been seen on Smackdown for a while. There are rumors that WWE is planning on repackaging him and Rowan as a tag team completely separate from their former Wyatt family persona.

More from Daily DDT

• It’s time for Adam Cole and MJF to drop the ROH tag team titles
• Tom Lawlor talks MLW return, AEW opportunity, CM Punk’s WWE return and more
• Eddie Kingston stands to gain the most from the AEW Continental Classic
• Trish Stratus on WWE NXT would help elevate that women’s division
• Randy Orton signs with SmackDown to go after The Bloodline

Speaking of Mojo Rawley, he also hasn’t been on TV in a month. Outside of a tag team championship match against The Usos before Battleground he’s been off of TV. This is a completely different treatment than last year’s Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal winner Baron Corbin received.

There were rumors of Rawley turning on tag team partner Zack Ryder – or having Ryder turning on him – but neither of these things happened. So, for now, Rawley and Ryder just have to sit and wait until something happens for them.

With Smackdown’s tag team division as weak as it is, some of these guys could be put together to solve the two problems at once. It helps get guys on TV that normally wouldn’t be, and it adds depth to the tag team roster.

Many of the guys already are in a tag team – guys like Rawley and Ryder, Fandango and Tyler Breeze, as well as The Ascension. While Breeze and Fandango are on TV nearly every week, and their Fashion Police segments are funny, they have run their course. If they aren’t going to go somewhere with these segments, then they are a waste of time.

While The New Day and The Usos are having great matches, seeing the same two teams constantly facing off will get old, especially if they keep getting rematches for no reason. It would be different if they went through other teams to earn the title shot. With the talent Smackdown has on their roster, their tag team division should be the best WWE has.

AJ Styles Open Challenge Presents Great Opportunities

AJ Styles has brought back the United States Championship Open Challenge, which will hopefully open the door for younger talent.

Styles is a better worker than Cena and can have a great match with just about anyone on the roster, meaning the matches he puts on should put guys over better than Cena did.

Guys like Sami Zayn could benefit greatly from being put in a program with Styles. The matches these two could put on would be some of the best the company has seen in a long time. Both men are great workers and both are great on the mic, so the entire program would be entertaining from beginning to end. Hopefully, WWE lets Styles run with this open challenge.

Tye Dillinger is another mid-card guy that could benefit from another match against Styles. WWE should use this guy more often. Granted he’s not one of the best in the ring, but he’s better than most. He’s terrific on the mic and doesn’t get enough credit for that. Not to mention the guy got a “ten” chant over.

He’s still incredibly over with the fans, even though Dillinger’s been given some horrible booking since his main roster call up after WrestleMania. The WWE Universe would no doubt welcome a title run – or even a title opportunity – for Dillinger.

Getting Mid-Card Talent Over

Getting mid-card guys on TV each week is the best way to get a crowd behind someone. If WWE only relies on house show crowds to gauge how over someone then that’s a flawed plan.

Fans can’t feel like the company doesn’t care about a wrestler. If the fans feel like WWE doesn’t care, why should they care as an audience?

If they never see them on Smackdown or Raw, they can’t get behind that talent’s storyline. So they won’t care when they see them in person at house shows. Getting them on TV, in matches that matter, is the best way to get someone over on the main roster. Even if the match doesn’t lead to a bigger storyline just seeing someone on TV makes them feel more important.

Look at how fans got behind Chad Gable when he had the great matches against Styles, and then Rusev. Fans wanted to see more of him and were excited to see how his singles career would go. Then WWE paired him up with the newest arrival Shelton Benjamin. While that tag team will more than likely be great, both of these guys are good enough to be on their own.

Next: Here Are 5 Replacements For Daniel Bryan

Using the same wrestlers in main card spots over and over again gets old. It’s why a lot of fans dislike John Cena. Seeing him constantly in the main title picture is getting old. Fans want to see more people get opportunities, and that is what WWE is all about.

Plus, if you shuffle things around more often fan interest will stay up. People will care more if there is constantly a new face near the top. Seeing the same five guys trade the title back and forth is bad for business.