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By Mike Roe, Torch specialist

PWTorch VIP members have first-look access to all of Torch specialist Mike Roe's latest blogs in the newly upgraded VIP Forum. His blogs are published first in the PWTorch VIP Forum, and Roe interacts with other VIP members and Torch staff and contributors in the blog comments area afterward. Some of Roe's blog entries will be exclusive to the VIP Forum.

So, I just got promoted at work. It got me thinking how, in WWE, wrestlers work for years without seeing any significant change in their positions.

Shelton Benjamin has been in WWE since 2002. He debuted with Charlie Haas as Team Angle, serving as Kurt Angle's lackeys. He went on to have a TV storyline with Triple H that included beating him three times, once by pinfall. Now it's 2009, and he's been in a directionless U.S. champion reign that no one cared about.

Benjamin is arguably at the same level if not lower down the card than he was when he made his debut. The same can be said for the majority of the mid-carders right now. They've been with WWE for years, but no one breaks through.

Randy Orton in some ways seems like a rising star, but he won his first world title in 2004. John Cena won his first world title in 2005. Edge, January of 2006. Even the younger main event stars have been at the championship level for years, while many others continue at the midcard level, or get a brief main event run (see: C.M. Punk) before getting demoted right back to where they were before.

Just like in business, when no one's getting promoted, there's less incentive for these employees to work hard. There is not a strong correlation between hard work and getting a strong push, with so many other factors beyond the talents' control keeping them from advancing. There is such little advancement that we've still got stars on top from the late '90s Monday Night wars, including two of the five men in WrestleMania's world title matches, Triple H and the Big Show.

WWE would benefit by working harder at talent development. It needs to happen on every level, from expanding their developmental system to giving more mid-carders a chance to shine with substantial storylines instead of the treadmill re-runs that we get most of the time.

ECW is promising, as they're actually giving young stars a chance to get some exposure. WWE needs to be less cautious, though, and let some of this young talent filter out more to the other shows. Wrestlers need to see that hard work will actually be rewarded, as doing so would improve quality throughout WWE's programs.

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