JC’s Raw Thought – Slammys captures three-way dance

This year’s Slammys edition of Raw perfectly captured the current position of WWE’s roster at the end of 2015. As WWE tap-danced through absences, unavailabilities, and injuries during the second-half of the show, WWE arrived at a three-way intersection of what’s ailing the roster.

(1) Dependence on legacy/part-time stars. Brock Lesnar, Sting, The Undertaker, and The Rock were announced as Slammy winners during Raw. However, they were not available for Raw. WWE leaned heavily on them, except for Rock, throughout the year, to the point of putting Sting in a WWE Title match at Night of Champions in September and quickly moving through the Lesnar-Taker trilogy in October.

(2) Absence of top star. John Cena’s schedule has put a strain on WWE’s roster, especially house shows, where WWE only managed six matches at a house show Sunday in Canada with the full available roster. WWE is attempting to transition to Roman Reigns, but Cena is still recognized as the top star in the company.

(3) Era of Mid-Carders. The full-time wrestlers who were at Raw and nominated for Slammys only made up half of the award recipients. Why? They’re not treated as special. Or, things they did during the year did not reach the level of specialness in the eyes of voters. Or, it’s Roman Reigns & Everyone Else, even those doing big things like Dean Ambrose and Kevin Owens. In the Mid-Card/Three-Hour Raw Era, the “big stars” come from #1 and #2, leaving the rest of the roster to not always feel special in the eyes of the audience.