'He Deserves a Push': What Exactly Is a Push in Today's Era of Wrestling?

As you are reading this article, remember—the fact that whether you know it or not, you are a member of the IWC. For those not too familiar with what the IWC is or what it stands for, it's simply the Internet Wrestling Community.

We are the ones who find the next "big star" from the indy scene, blog about the fact that a "heel" Randy Orton is so much better than the "face" Orton and beg for so-and-so to receive a push.

Let's discuss that phrase: receive a push...what does it mean?

Many of you already know it means to receive anything from more airtime to a shot at some of the top guys in the business. That's simply just too vague, though, for my taste.

So, let's reword the question: What does "receive a push" mean in today's era of wrestling?

I remember when the craze first started with Internet sensation Zack Ryder. Who wasn't on that bandwagon? The Ryder Revolution was clear at every show when the chants of "We want Ryder" would ring out though arenas at every WWE event. So eventually, the WWE gave Ryder a push, and at the TLC pay-per-view in 2011, Ryder defeated Dolph Ziggler to become United States Champion.

Is that a push?

Well, of course it is. Wearing championship gold, no matter how low the prestige may be at the time, is without doubt a push. Also, what better way to raise the prestige of a championship than giving it to someone who the IWC believes deserved a push.

So now, we fast forward to today, where guys like Cody Rhodes, Jack Swagger, Ryback and Drew McIntyre—just to name a few—according to many of the IWC, deserve that "push."

We don't mean Rhodes should go from his feud with Sin Cara right to becoming No. 1 contender for the World Heavyweight Championship, but why not give him a shot at the United States Championship?

It seems like the WWE, at times, focuses on one challenger at a time with their mid-tier championships while there always seems to be at least four guys battling for a shot at the top two championships. It baffles me why we can't have Rhodes, Sin Cara and McIntyre all competing for a chance to fight for the United States Championship. 

Right now, the WWE has struck gold with The Miz holding the Intercontinental Championship, but instead of finding a No. 1 contender, he's out doing color commentary with Cole on Raw. Why can't Ryback, Ryder or Jack Swagger compete with him for his gold? Can you think of a better way to "push" any of the mentioned names than to place them in a championship picture with a former WrestleMania headliner?

As you can see, a push doesn't necessarily mean a wrestler is thrown into the World or WWE Championship picture; it just simply means that it gives them more than they are getting now. I understand not everyone can get pushed at once, but with both The Miz and United States Champion Antonio Cesaro doing nothing right now, it makes no sense to have Ryback still doing squash matches and Rhodes and Cara battling for nothing.

Like the rest of the IWC, I dream of the day where the WWE will utilize their mid-tier titles to get a superstar over rather than their "Touting" ability.