WWE Raw: How To Make Better Use Of The Show’s Midcard

A look at what can be done to elevate WWE Raw‘s midcard superstars who certainly does not lack in terms of talent.

Following this years draft, WWE Raw has seen a large influx on talent. The competition is high and more often than not, we find superstars competing for a spot even in the lengthy three-hour format of the show. In fact, the past few years have seen an exponential rise in terms of talent pool in the WWE.

NXT has been home to some of most notable names from all over the world. Just think about some of the names that came to the WWE main roster through NXT. Everyone from Adam Cole to Roderick Strong to Sami Zayn to Shinsuke Nakamura will have a familiar story to tell you. But with such a great talent pool at its reserve, the WWE has a responsibility to deliver.

A quote often used by comic book fans is that ‘With great power, comes great responsibility’. The WWE now has a responsibility to deliver to their die-hard fans. Not just the casual fan but to the internet hardcore fan base as well. It doesn’t have to do anything with bringing back the attitude era or more hardcore matches. But instead, it has everything to do with making better use of the talent available today.

The problem does not just exist on Monday nights either. Take the case of Tye Dillinger from SmackDown Live. Remember those infectious ‘Ten’ chants when he made his debut? Or when he was an active competitor every week on NXT? The past week, he took on Shinsuke Nakamura after many weeks of not doing anything relevant.

Needless to say, the Ten chants nearly died off. There was an insane spot were Nakamura counted to ten, to mock his Last Man Standing match with Styles and Dillinger got up at nine and went on to taunt Nakamura with his signature ‘Perfect Ten’ taunt. But the crowd was dead and cold and you could hardly hear those chants anymore.

On Monday nights however, the problem is much severe. You have top-level stars like Finn Balor and Kevin Owens not having anything meaningful to do. It’s true that now everyone is involved withe the upcoming multi-man ladder match. But what happens when Money in the Bank is over? What will all the other men who failed to capture the briefcase do?

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

The problem only gets bigger with more names making their return. Jason Jordan could return to action anytime soon. Baron Corbin has suddenly found a new persona as ‘Constable Corbin’. Whether that fits his character or not is another discussion but now you have one more person to showcase. There is the occasional story of Kurt Hawkins’s losing streak and then there is No Way Jose who was last seen partying around somewhere.

Throw in the upper-midcard performers like Bobby Roode and Elias and you can hardly feature anymore names on a three-hour show which has already been billed as being too long. So what can the WWE do to make better use of all the big names at its disposal?

The Universal title not being featured on a weekly basis makes the IC title the top prize on the weekly show. Seth Rollins’s weekly open challenges have been mighty entertaining but it only helps to showcase one superstar at a time. Remember Mojo Rawley having an excellent performance against Rollins? We have not seen him after losing that night. So essentially, his excellent heel performance came to nothing after all. The same is the problem with every open  challenge match. It’s a one-off.

Creative could instead plan to do a tournament to decide a new number one contender for the Intercontinental Championship instead. A lengthy bracket with all these big names can make up for a month of action, culminating with a title match at a PPV. It could even stem subplots and rivalries and new feuds to fuel the show for a few more months. Creative team can even bring back the King of the Ring Tournament for all we care. The winner does not really benefit much these days but at the very least, it gives some of the talent mid-carders something to do.

Next: WWE Raw: Will Dolph Ziggler Keep Costing Drew McIntyre?

What are your thoughts on this? Do you think three hours is too long for WWE Raw? What can creative do to make better use of the three hours and how can they feature more of the card within this time? If you could call the shots, which mid-carders would you want to bring back into the spotlight? Do let us know in the comments section.