Thought this was a well-thought post worthy of discussion, so I’ll just post it here via the inbox without adding much.
I know this has been brought up for debate in numerous threads, but I'm not sure it's been a topic of it's own.
Growing up as a wrestling fan in the late 1980s was a special time for me. Maybe it's because time seems to pass very slowly as a child, but it seems that superstars who seemed to be around FOREVER while I was growing up, really weren't around that long.
Just for clarification, I'm counting a superstar's first big in-ring run with the WWF beginning no earlier than 1985 (exceptions being Hulk Hogan and Roddy Piper). Take a look at Ted DiBiase. Even though he wrestled for the WWWF in 1979, I don't consider this run as part of my analysis. Ted DiBiase debuted the "Million Dollar Man" character in late 1987 and his in-ring career was over by mid 1993--a mere 5-1/2 years. I know he stuck around well into 1996 with his Million Dollar Corporation before jumping to WCW, but his in-ring career had long been over.
Other such superstars include:
Bret Hart 1985-1997 (12 years) - Took off 7 months from WrestleMania XII to Survivor Series 1996
Hulk Hogan 1983-1993 (9.5 years) - Took off 1 year from WrestleMania VII to WrestleMania IX
Shawn Michaels 1988-1998 (9.5 years) - Took several short stints off (knee surgery in 1990, 9 thugs in Syracuse, lost smile)
Roddy Piper 1984-1992 (8 years) - Took off 2 years from WrestleMania III to WrestleMania V
Randy Savage 1985-1992 (7.5 years) - Took off 8 months from WrestleMania VII to This Tuesday in Texas
Jake Roberts 1986-1992 (6 years)
Ultimate Warrior 1987-1992 (5 years) - Took off 8 months from SummerSlam '91 to WrestleMania VIII
Mr. Perfect 1988-1993 (5 years) - Took off 1.5 years from SummerSlam '91 to Survivor Series 1992
Big Boss Man 1988-1993 (4.5 years)
Earthquake 1989-1994 (4.5 years)
Ricky Steamboat 1985-1988 (3.5 years)
You get my point, ad nauseum. With the exception of Hart, Hogan and Michaels, most of the biggest names in the company during the late 1980s and early 1990s didn't last more than 8 years in a single stint with WWF. Also, most of the guys with over 5 years in had periods where they were gone for at least 6 months for one reason or another.
However, I look at contemporary WWE programming, WWE's current roster, and when each superstar debuted:
Undertaker - November 1990 (19.5 years) - Took 7 months off in 1994; currently works reduced schedule
Triple H - May 1995 (15 years) - Missed about 14 months due to 2 torn quads
Mark Henry - September 1996 (13.5 years)
Kane - October 1997 (12.5 years)
Edge - June 1998 (12 years) - Most recently missed 5 months during end of 2009 due to injury
Matt Hardy - September 1998 (11.5 years)
Big Show - February 1999 (11 years) - Took a little over a year off around 2007
Chris Jericho - August 1999 (10.5 years) - Took over 2 years off between SummerSlam 2005 and Survivor Series 2007
John Cena - June 2002 (8 years)
Randy Orton - April 2002 (8 years)
Batista - May 2002 (8 years)
Then they wonder why the product has gotten stale. Hell, even Hornswoggle's been with WWE for about 5 years. When you really break it down, it looks like the average of the current roster has spent about 5 more years in their initial big run with the company than their predecessors. I feel this is due to about four major factors: age, exposure, competition, and down time.
AGE: John Cena just turned 33 a couple of days ago. Hulk Hogan was 30.5 when he won his first WWF Championship in 1984. Today's superstars are getting their biggest pushes at younger ages (SEE Swagger, Jack) so that by the time they reach John Cena's age, there is nothing left for them to do . . . even though they could theoretically go another 20+ years. I don't know about you, but I'm not sure I could handle another 20 years of Cena!
EXPOSURE: When I was growing up, it was a treat to see a Hulk Hogan interview, let alone watch him wrestle . . . a jobber. There was less original programming every week and only a handful of PPVs per year. John Cena gets at least 15 minutes of air time each week and is expected to sell over 12 PPVs a year. So even though Hulk Hogan lasted from 1983-1993 and John Cena's only been around since June 2002, John Cena has actually been around for 16 "Hogan" years.
COMPETITION: Although I'm not the biggest Jeff Hardy fan, I do have to give him credit as he never seems to overstay his welcome as this is now his second stint in TNA. Back in the late 80s and early 90s, there were viable alternatives to the WWF, such as WCW, AWA, and ECW, among others. Unless TNA stops bringing in WWE rejects that people don't want to see (Nasty Boys, Val Venis, Orlando Jordan, The Band, etc.), TNA will never be real competition.
DOWN TIME: Wrestlers just don't seem to take that much time off anymore. In the old days it wasn't uncommon for a guy to take a year off for one reason or another. These days superstars rush back from injury (SEE Cena, John and Batista, Dave). When Shawn Michaels injured his knee in 1990, Shane Douglas subbed for him in The Rockers, while Michaels recovered. Now, even when a guy gets injured, he's still heavily featured on programming so fans don't FORGET him and he doesn't lose his SPOT. This mentality is flawed. Fans will never forget a good worker (SEE Steamboat, Ricky) and by heavily featuring an injured star, it never really feels like he's gone; so when said star comes back, it doesn't feel as fresh as it could. I do have to take my hat off to Big Show, Chris Jericho, and Rob Van Dam for voluntarily taking extended leaves of absence.
npiwowar
P.S. - Speaking of Matt Hardy--who has been with WWE for about 12 years, excluding the stint when he was released for whining about Lita on the Internet--why hasn't this guy been PUSHED? You could give a dozen reasons, such as Vince likes big guys, but just about any reason could be countered in comparison with Jeff who was given the keys to the company and jumped to TNA. Matt is bigger than Jeff, has less personal demons, seems more reliable/dedicated, has about equal mic skills, and at times has been just as over, but has never risen above the mid-card. Right now he seems stale, but I feel McMahon missed the boat with him on several occassions. Matt seemed really over in 2003 with the whole Mattitude thing. He also could have been risen to the main event with Edge over the whole Lita thing in 2005. I also remember his feud with MVP in 2007 being really good. The whole thing that got me thinking about this was that I was watching SmackDown this week and saw Drew McIntyre destroy Hardy the same way Edge did at SummerSlam 2005, killing all his heat in the process. I wonder why Matt hasn't ever jumped to TNA because of this treatment.
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