Examining Ways to Better Incorporate Lower-Tier WWE Superstars into Programming

As the cameras roll, capturing the rough-and-tumble theater that is pro wrestling, a group of hungry, talented WWE Superstars watch the action from a monitor. 

Too often do men like Titus O'Neil stand behind the curtains, hoping for things to change. Too often does WWE let the bottom portion of its roster remain motionless and untapped, rusting from underuse. 

The booking focus will always be on a company's top stars, but men like O'Neil can offer WWE far more than they are allowed to right now. 

Rather than have them riding the pine and paying them to do little more than round out the roster on house shows, WWE can elevate its programming by finding roles for its little-seen stars.

Darren Young is healthy again, but you wouldn't know it from his schedule. Young has worked 10 live events since returning from injury, but not once has he wrestled on TV in 2015.

O'Neil has yet to appear on Raw, SmackDown or Main Event this year either. Instead, he's been a part of five house shows and a future episode of Superstars. That's the same situation for R-Truth.

Bo Dallas and Heath Slater have both returned to the house show circuit, but neither man appeared on Monday's Raw. 

That's a total of two appearances on Superstars for five wrestlers in over a month of WWE programming. That's a pure waste of all those wrestlers' skills.

WWE cannot, of course, push all these guys at once. There aren't enough championships and marquee spots to go around.

However, the wise move is to fill in programming's gaps, to add depth to the roster and give these athletes a chance to showcase their skills. 

Tag Team Division

The division needs bodies, and that will be even more true should Goldust and Stardust break up, as expected, and once Damien Mizdow leaves The Miz behind.

That will leave just The Ascension, The Usos, Los Matadores, The New Day and Tyson Kidd and Cesaro as squads vying for tag team supremacy.

Having so few teams leads to a lot of repeat matches. The New Day have battled in a total of 13 matches since debuting, and eight of those have been against Cesaro and Kidd.

Working men such as O'Neil, Young and Dallas into the tag team scene gives WWE more options. The New Day can face a new set of foes. The Ascension can have new opponents to use as springboards. 

Even if they just serve as the prey to the top teams, folding Dallas and company into the division makes it more robust and entertaining. 

There are already some ready-made pairings to go with. Slater and O'Neil can continue their run as Slater Gator. Otherwise, as Bleacher Report's Graham Matthews suggests, WWE could reassemble The Prime Time Players.

Once Zack Ryder is healthy, he would make for an intriguing partner for Alex Riley, who has recently moved away from his commentary duties in search of more in-ring action.

They can bond over a lack of respect from on high or else be billed as two underdog athletes.

Riley and Ryder alone are likely to suffer the kind of inactivity that Justin Gabriel did before he decided to part ways with the company. As a team, they can bang heads with The Ascension, provide Cesaro and Kidd with a fresh challenge or help WWE fill out a SmackDown card by taking on Slater Gator.

Midcard Contendership

The Intercontinental and United States Championship pictures are too often just two-men narratives. A challenger steps up and feuds with the champion.

There is no climb to that spot.

Dean Ambrose, for example, is demanding an IC title shot off the strength of a non-title win over Bad News Barrett. There is now a back-and-forth feud about Barrett not wanting to face him. So if one assumes that Ambrose is the No. 1 contender, who is No. 2?

Midcard championship chases don't feel significant, largely because they are so short and involve so few steps.

This is where WWE can utilize O'Neil, Young or R-Truth. Ambrose was on a 1-4 stretch before he beat Barrett on Jan. 19. That hardly sounds like being worthy of a title shot.

Why not have him sprinkle in victories over O'Neil, Slater and Luke Harper before demanding a chance at the title? That would allow Ambrose to gather momentum en route to a clash with Barrett, but it would also give his foes a chance to impress.

Credit: WWE.com

Being on the losing end in order to elevate others isn't ideal, but it's a lot easier to gain fans by wrestling in that kind of match than not wrestling at all.

WWE should also turn to tournaments more to crown contenders for midcard belts. Young vs. O'Neil and Dallas vs. Erick Rowan become a lot more interesting if a potential championship chance awaits the tourney victor.

That's an easy way to fill Raw's three hours as well. Along with all the wild moments and major stories on the show, it will be great for WWE Creative to just be able to plug in a few tournament matches.

In addition, prestige for those belts picks up with more folks fighting over it.

NXT Stopovers

Kidd is evidence of how a stay at Full Sail University can reinvigorate one's career. Moving down to NXT first felt like punishment, but he developed a clearer sense of his character there and revived interest in his career.

Not every lower-level star will experience such a lift, but it's definitely worth a shot for WWE to send them there.

Kidd's NXT tenure also helped make the prospects look good, leading them to memorable matches and giving them work against more experienced talent. That's reason enough to have more main roster stars spend time in developmental.

Young would be a good opponent for Bull Dempsey, giving him a speedy combatant to contend with. Pit Slater against Baron Corbin and Mojo Rawley, two guys with great athletic ability who are still raw in the ring.

WWE could also get some storyline drama out of this overlap of main roster and developmental.

The Authority could declare that it's not sure if Young is cut out for a spot with WWE proper. Triple H tells Young to prove himself at NXT.

He garners a few wins before entering a "winner gets called up" match against Sami Zayn or Adrian Neville. Either Young can earn his way back up or watch Zayn take his spot. 

Credit: WWE.com

This route gives WWE more options to work with at both levels. Young would get more ring time than he currently does, and the fans would get to see fresh combinations of opponents.

Assisting NXT, filling out the tag team division or serving as stepping stones for eventual midcard champs may not be the way O'Neil, Young or Slater envisioned their WWE careers, but it sure beats being a constant spectator.

WWE, meanwhile, gets the benefit of using its roster more fully. Variety and depth are the minimum takeaways. In the best-case scenario, someone catches fire at NXT or in the tag division and moves up several rungs. That can't happen from behind the curtain.

All match statistics courtesy of CageMatch.net.