5 Things WWE Subtly told us in 2021: Possibly bad news for part-time legends, New requirement for superstars to get pushed revealed

2021 is officially in the books for WWE. While there remains one episode of SmackDown on Friday Night, it's only going to be a highlights package. The live programming for the year is over, and the company will start afresh at WWE Day 1.

So how can we sum up the year as a whole? Behind the scenes, the mass releases that have taken place only amped up in 2021, with some of the company's big stars getting cut despite their status.

This has put into question the status of virtually every WWE Superstar who doesn't belong to the top-tier. However, it also means that the company's over-bloated roster has been reduced in size, and a new focus and change in direction has been implemented.

While WWE programming in 2021 was quite good compared to recent years, what were a few things that were subtly told to us in 2021? Let's find out!

#5. The era of part-time legends is ending in WWE

.@WWERomanReigns stands tall at #WWECrownJewel!

#UniversalTitle @WWEUsos @HeymanHustle @BrockLesnar https://t.co/0RxmfOChkK

For the last decade, part-time superstars have exerted unprecedented dominance in WWE. In the Attitude Era or even the Ruthless Aggression era for that matter, it would have been unthinkable for a part-time star to get such an important spot.

That hasn't been the case for the last decade. The likes of The Undertaker, Triple H, Goldberg, Brock Lesnar and John Cena have all transitioned into part-time roles -- ones that have largely been earned.

WWE doesn't seem to want to build larger-than-life superstars anymore, preferring to grow the company's brand name as the draw instead -- an approach also taken by the UFC when they realized how reliant they were on Conor McGregor for large pay-per-view sales.

No full-time superstar has the larger-than-life feeling of the stars from yesteryear, but the part-time influence is slowly reducing as well. While they were often utilized for world title matches at pay-per-views like WrestleMania, 2021 was an indication that the concept is winding down.

While the likes of Brock Lesnar will always be utilized in top positions, the number of part-time superstars seems to be reducing. Goldberg has only one match on his WWE contract, The Undertaker has retired, Triple H might never wrestle again due to his cardiac event this year. This leaves only two larger-than-life stars in the company -- Lesnar and Edge.

"I got one more match left on my deal with WWE & that's it" ~@Goldberg

#PatMcAfeeShowLIVE https://t.co/aAixiNNSyu

2021 saw WWE utilize full-time superstars far better, and there weren't many cases of younger superstars suffering due to part-timers. Bobby Lashley lost to Goldberg at Crown Jewel but gave him the best match of his WWE career, while Seth Rollins losing to Edge at SummerSlam and Crown Jewel resulted in incredible matches and the rivalry of the year.