What Happened to My Midcard

After watching RAW tonight I realized what wrestling appears to be missing is that strong mid-card. Remembering those great times of the Monday Night Wars and the Attitude Era when the majority of the 2 hours of the program was interesting. It feels like now as fans we are living from Main Event to Main Event. Which seems so weird in this world where the the biggest company air two shows that both run for 2 hours each. When they had shows for just 1 hour once a week they were able to produce and promote so much talent.

Remember when you used to watch RAW and even Smackdown to see what good wrestling they had in store for you. Now its the opening promo by John Cena or CM Punk then see who they are going to wrestle at the end of the night. So I have to ask "What Happened to My Midcard" You know that place where Randy Orton was when he held the Intercontinental title or where Chris Jericho and Chris Beniot first faced off. The place where we groom our main event talent for the future.

Mr. Perfect vs Bret Hart in 1989

The stars of the future who the business are developed on the undercard. In my view the most successful performers are the guys who had to work their way up the card. Chris Jericho, Shawn Michaels and even The Rock had to challenge for every belt and add every achievement to their resume.  It was a major achievement to be the United States Champion.  Even guys who made it to the main event still would try to compete for the TV title when he was not in the world title, like a Dusty Rhodes or Sting competing for the United States belt.

The Downfall of The Tag Team Does Not Help

One of the staples of a classic wrestling show was the tag teams. After watching the effective destruction of this institution by WWF as of late it could be a major contributing factor to the lack of new stars. Didn't Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart and Edge all make names for themselves in the Tag Team ranks. I remember when the tag team scene had its how mid card. Each wrestling company had like 10 competitive tag teams that we all knew about. We knew The Bushwackers were not going to be serious challengers for the belts but they were relevant. In NWA/WCW there was 2 levels of tag team champions with the United States Tag Team Champions and the World Champions. Remember the excitement of seeing the Steiners face Doom or The British Bulldogs vs The Hart Foundation. Maybe one day wrestling will get back to its roots and what made it popular.

Where is my Hardyz vs The Dudley Boyz.  Or my super tag team pairings looking for  their shots at the belts like The Rock N Sock Connection, Big Show and Undertaker or Austin and Triple H.  All those big teams were honored to carry those belts.  The tag team title was a big deal just like the individual mid card belts.

Classic RAW

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Written By
Keith B Holt of Ring Time Pro Wrestling

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