WWE's Youth Movement: What Happened To the Champions of Tomorrow?

The winds of change are blowing.

That set of words has been uttered by numerous fans and writers in the b/r section since last year. With the debut of Nexus, Miz’s MITB win and Alberto Del Rio’s debut, as fans, our perception of the events to come was simple.

The WWE was changing its landscape.

They were going to have new guys win the World Championships. The mid-carders were going to main event the WWE. The WWE was going to let the younger stars flourish while veterans remained a staple on the WWE scene.

The idea of change simmered into our minds, but our hopes weren’t met with swift and correct delivery.

Our saving grace was when The Miz finally won the WWE title. At the time, Alberto Del Rio was becoming a huge star on Smackdown. While most were happy to see Miz as champion, others read between the lines and noticed the type of reign Miz would have.

A farce.

A great example would be the two WWE title reigns of King Sheamus.

The Celtic Warrior held the title for several months, but never won or defended it cleanly. Yes, heels are supposed to bend the rules and exhibit coward qualities, but Sheamus was built as a monster heel. The running from Nexus and farce of a title reign didn’t help his character.

If you’ve missed my point, what happened to the Champions of Tomorrow?

If my memory serves me right, the WWE released a magazine prompting the era of new stars.

On multiple occasions, the WWE teased making guys like John Morrison, Dolph Ziggler, Ted Dibiase, Cody Rhodes, Jack Swagger, Evan Bourne and the Hart Dynasty major stars. But as of late, none of these men have achieved anything worth noting.

Let’s examine each man listed.

John Morrison has reached the upper mid-card level, but has been used as a spot monkey as of late. Dolph Ziggler was given a 10-minute title reign, which ended in his humiliation. Ted Dibiase is struggling in the lower mid-card. Cody Rhodes has just returned from a “injury” and looks to be on the right track.

Jack Swagger had a world title reign, but ultimately failed. Evan Bourne has just returned from an injury and was lowered to beating an already destroyed Sheamus. The Hart Dynasty has broken up and neither has been seen on WWE programming for weeks.

When I take a look at the roster, I’ve noticed that only ADR and Miz have prospered, but there’s also another issue arising.

The departure of multiple superstars.

Batista, Chris Jericho, Jeff Hardy, Matt Hardy, Shawn Michaels and a slew of others have departed the WWE in the last two years. Triple H, Undertaker, Edge and Rey Mysterio have all suffered injuries in the past and their futures remain uncertain.

The WWE has indeed succeeded in pushing new stars to the top, but the problem is, they’re all heels.

It’s hard to ignore the lack of charisma is most faces, but when the heels outweigh the faces, there’s a huge problem. This is a current problem on the Smackdown brand. Creative plans have called for Edge to turn heel multiple times, but with Edge, Rey Mysterio and Undertaker being the only prominent main-event faces on the brand, turning Edge heel would be irrational.

RAW has changed, but in some ways, it has remained the same.

If you missed it, Elimination Chamber was the first PPV in two years to not feature Randy Orton or John Cena in the main event.

While that’s an unprecedented accomplishment, it won’t go into a streak, as John Cena will headline WrestleMania for the sixth year in a row. From a marketing standpoint, this is a great idea, but from the eyes of a longtime WWE fan, it may grow stale or predictable.

It’s time for the WWE to take more risks and consider making some upscale Superstars. Kofi Kingston and Daniel Bryan are two great examples of great faces with more charisma than others. The WWE should capitalize on the shortage of stars by expanding their promo time and matches.

When two of the biggest heels ever in Edge and Randy Orton are two of the top three faces, there’s a problem.

But patience is a virtue.