What's Next for Curtis Axel on His Way to the Top of WWE?
With Paul Heyman's endorsement, Curtis Axel has been positioned to become a featured player on the WWE roster.
As with anyone, there exists the potential for Joe Hennig to be as much of a failure in this new persona as was the Michael McGillicutty era, rather than a true success.
Still, if we are to assume that this will all work out in the end, and further down the line we will all look back on his renaming as a full-blown resurrection, what steps does WWE have to take in order to get to that conclusion?
There's a frequent mindset amongst some WWE fans that everything needs to be rushed. Since Curtis Axel has interacted with Triple H, many people are under the impression that he will be hotshotted into the upper midcard sooner rather than later.
For the Curtis Axel story to work out in the long run, this would be a mistake.
Quite often, a pet project in WWE is pushed too far and too fast, resulting in an overabundance of pressure and underwhelming results. All this ends up accomplishing is a few months of focus followed by a feeling of disappointment that is met with a career burial.
If this is the route WWE plans on going, look out for a feud between Axel and someone high up on the roster such as Alberto Del Rio or Randy Orton where Axel is the focal point. Seeds could have already been planted that they will do this, considering how his only two opponents on Raw so far have been Triple H and John Cena.
On the other hand, if WWE decides to go for a slow burn along with a more patient build, Axel has a lot of different avenues that he can follow.
There is a period of time when someone is relatively fresh on the roster (either due to being legitimately new or coming back from a hiatus of sorts) where it is acceptable for the multitude of their matches to be with lower-card wrestlers.
The majority of these matches against the likes of Justin Gabriel, Alex Riley and others of similar caliber on the roster would be essentially squashes in favor of Axel.
Afterward, Axel would move on to a midcarder such as R-Truth or Kofi Kingston, who can put up an actual fight against him, though the end result would remain the same with Axel coming out on top.
From that point on, it is up to Axel to have already proven himself capable of handling a program and delivering in that feud both on the mic and in the ring. Only then can WWE trust him enough to start building him into someone that can rest at the top of the roster.
Between the two options, I would be more hesitant to believe that WWE would choose the slow build as opposed to the quick fix even if it does tend to yield better results in the long run.
The most recent pet project in WWE, Fandango, had a debut at WrestleMania where he defeated a future Hall of Famer and is quite possibly en route to win the Intercontinental Championship.
Axel could be in a similar situation where he will be given potentially more than he can chew as opposed to enough that he can handle.
One way or the other, if WWE intends on making Axel a standout superstar, the bottom line is that the next thing on his agenda needs to be a proper feud where he comes out on top.
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