Welcome, one and all, to the glorious debut of the Rajah Debates! For years, the best and brightest minds of the Rajah forum have done battle with words about a myriad of fascinating topics from the wrestling world, seeking to answer the questions that plague the wrestling community. Is John Cena actually a good wrestler? What’s the greatest wrestling show of all time? Is anyone as good as Bobby Lashley? (No.) But for the first time ever, we’re bringing the debates to you and letting you guys act as judge, jury and executioner.
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The way this works is simple. Each match will involve a maximum of 3 250 word posts from each participant going in order. At the end, you guys and our panel of judges will vote to see you moves on to the next round to get one step closer to Rajah immortality. Over the course of the next month you’ll grow to know and root for these brilliant weirdos until we eventually crown a grand champion.
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It’s hard to imagine a world where WWE would have any serious competition to the unreal level of dominance over the industry that they have now. But while no promotion has seriously managed to put up a fight against WWE since the 90s, one of the biggest causes of that is the lack of top level name talent available to the other promotions. Today we’re changing all of that. With unlimited money and potential, you have been handed the reigns of a brand new wrestling promotion. You’ve got the tv deal, you’ve got the sponsors and advertisers. Everything is in place for you to make a run at the top, and you have been given a gift. You are allowed to take any ONE member of the WWE roster to build your new promotion around. So here you stand in front of the board of directors, ready to submit your proposal for the new figurehead of this burgeoning company. They all look to you, ready to hear an answer to the question…
The coin toss dictates that kdestiny will go first.
There is a list of things to look for when trying to find a franchise player from the WWE:
They need to have that it factor. This can be hard to define sometimes, but I see it as being able to make it look smooth and effortless.
They should be able to play a face or a heel role. Most of the top players from recent memory
Their skills in and out of the ring need to be good to great. You don’t want audiences to see your “top guy/woman” have a stinker in the ring or struggle on the mic.
Age has to be a bit of a factor. You want them to be your top player for a while, but they can’t be if they are already on the wrong side of 40.
They have to be able to be marketable. You don’t want them to seem like another face in the crowd.
There are other smaller factors that you can use like passion for the business as well as attitude backstage that factor in as well, but those five points feel pretty big for me. After going through almost the full roster, you need to try and find someone with it all to help you compete right away.
With all of that in mind, I am excited to announce that the face of my company will be Kevin Owens.
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The answer is simple, but I’ll allow a better man than I to announce it.
Having money, advertisers, talent is all well and good. However, the biggest thing for a fledgling organization is not those things; it’s attention. It’s getting eyes on your product, generating interest, and having people feel there’s reason to tune into your show. What you need is an attraction.
For any company hoping to compete and, more importantly, make a name for themselves, The Beast would be the bounty to pilfer from the bosom of the WWE. He exists upon an elite level of ability to be an attraction, an actual draw. His presence instantly makes your promotion more interesting.
This is not simply my opinion. Forbes, Bleacher Report, dirt sheets; anywhere you look you’ll find stories proclaiming “Viewership see’s big increase with Brock Return” or “Ratings drop blamed on absence of Lesnar”. Since returning, Raw’s average rating is higher with him than without. He’s been involved in at least half of the top 10 rated Raw’s yearly since his return. Accounting for Network buys, he’s been on the uppercard of 3 of the top 5 Wrestlemania’s, and his headlined Summerslam’s are the most successful since 2007. This is a man announcing his WWE contract signing on ESPN and being instrumental in 4 of the top 10 UFC buyrates as well.
Brock is the man I ride to national notoriety. Brock is the man that brings eyes to my promotion. Brock Lesnar is my choice.
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Okay, choosing Brock is all well and good. He will bring eyes to your product.
How long though?
He is already 40. He doesn’t seem to be the type of guy who would want to wrestle longer than he has to.
He will bring eyes to the product for the time being, but he’s going to wrestle another couple of years tops? What will you do when he decides to fight Jon Jones in Bellator or something like that? You miss out on your top guy for a while.
He goes where the money is. That’s a big difference between our choices. Kevin Owens love the wrestling business and has lived it since he debuted in 2000. Brock is in the midst of his longest run because it was part time.
Part time, is that something you would offer him? There is no way he would do a full time schedule of wrestling ever again. Hard to build a new company around someone who isn’t always there.
Kevin Owens is the better option to compete because he is in the prime of his life. He is one of the best on the mic and in the ring and he does it day in and day out. His move to NXT and to the main roster was a success because they were pleased with his merchandise sales as well.
Sure, Brock has some of that, but without Paul Heyman there as his hype man you are losing a lot with Brock.
Kevin Owens is the correct choice because of my original five reasons, his passion, and his dedication to his craft. He’s got more than suplexes in his arsenal.
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Lesnar has a net worth of $22 million. He lives on a farm in Saskatchewan. Those close to him say retirement will be farming/hunting. He re-signed because it’s been “so enjoyable”. Brock doesn’t “have to” wrestle any longer; he “wants to”.
As to being 40? True, but hardly a headliner death-knell; at 40+, Hogan helped lead WCW to prominence. Also, relative to his peers, he’s a young 40. He’s done this for 13 years, mostly “part-time” as you noted, further limiting the toll. This is not a man with 17 years of grueling wear on his body.
How did “Paul Heyman Guy’s” McGillicutty and Cesaro work out? Yes, Paul’s helpful, but make no mistake…LESNAR is the draw. Furthermore, with speculation of Heyman’s new contract being tied to Lesnar’s, the theft of Lesnar could lead to free agent Heyman soon after.
Also note, the question is “headline”. The name in the marquee, that puts ass’s in seats, that makes the “headlines”. Would Lesnar be a workhorse? Grinder? Scrapper? No, nor should he. That’s not his role.
His role is getting their work seen, their grind watched, their scrapping cared about. His role is to insure the company becomes established, secure, and on top. It’s to facilitate the environment that ultimately allows them to ascend and be put over, to carry the torch into the future.
That’s why he’d be my answer to the board. When starting, you want a sure thing for success. There is no surer thing than Brock Lesnar.
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You can’t compare those “Heyman guys” to THE Heyman guy. You split them up and Heyman will be missed.
Wrestling has been so enjoyable, he has a deal up through Wrestlemania 34. What then? What happens if he decides to fight because he got a better offer? The reason he enjoys it is because he is getting paid big for doing very little work. Who wouldn’t?
You can say that he would get work seen, but whose work? Having a part timer to build your company around can’t be good for any possible other signings for you. Kevin Owens has connections everywhere, but Brock keeps to himself.
Hogan is a very appropriate comparison, because he brought WCW to prominence and then he wanted more and more and then what happened to WCW? Poof… bought out. Let’s not forget that Brock held the IWGP title hostage while disputing his contract, bad look for him.
Kevin Owens may not seem like a sexy choice but he has the talent in and out of the ring and he has a relatable look. That trait has become popular with fans. He is a talent that can help put over guys on the roster. Lesnar has only put over Goldberg recently. He can’t have a good match unless it’s a multi man match. KO is always good/great.
Kevin is hitting his prime and has plenty of time to be the franchise of my company and has shown himself to be self-less and not selfish.
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I can’t debate against KO being immensely talented. I can’t debate against him being an exceptional wrestler. I can’t debate that he’s a compelling figure to a smark like me.
I also can’t debate that those qualities being said about the first TNA Triple Crown winner, the foundation and face of that company, “Mr. TNA”…the Phenomenal One, AJ Styles.
Little good that did in helping TNA “make a run at the top”; just like Kevin Owens would do little good for your company.
Time is precious, WWE’s a programming behemoth, and diehard’s won’t sustain a company. Impact shows TV alone doesn’t make you viable; you need a Draw. No one but wrestling junkies are watching/buying a show simply because KO is there. They will, and have, for Lesnar. That’s the difference.
Cody, Omega, Morrison, Riccohet, Sabre….there is talent to have if you’ve got “unlimited money” initially AND a reason for them to believe your promotion will succeed. That second part is why Brock is important, because it’s not about being an alternative; its about being a VIABLE alternative. That way, when disastisfied talent (e.g. Cesaro) reach the end of their contract, they have a compelling choice.
Kevin Owens doesn’t get you to viability. Instead, he has you wasting your board’s money as you become a mirror of GFW; an afterthought watched by a handful of smarks, in endless buyout turmoil.
Brock Lesnar insures that viability, he insures that future, and he’s the only answer for the new promotion’s initial headliner.
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