6 WWE Superstars in desperate need of Character Development
At present, WWE has one of the most talented rosters it has ever seen. It has some of the best in-ring workers, both male and female, that the wrestling world has ever known. It has two well-established brands named Raw and Smackdown to showcase the best in the wrestling industry and a hot developmental brand Nxt for the influx of new talent.
But, the pro wrestling has so much more to it than just the in-ring element. It is about the stories, the characters, the heroes and villains, that the fans can relate to and either cheer or boo.
Behind every wrestling match, there is a story that plays in the background and the success of the match hugely depends on the quality and execution of that story.
A good story is always made up of strong characters who can strike the right chord with the listeners/ viewers. Wrestling, therefore, needs strong characters to bring the stories to life.
One of the biggest problems being faced by many current WWE superstars is the lack of well-developed characters. There are WWE superstars who have got the wrestling skills and charisma to bring the crowd to its feet but lack the required depth in their on-screen characters and thus have to settle for much less than what they are truly capable of.
This lack of proper depth in the characters leads to stories which lack the proper intensity and become uninteresting to the viewers.
And most of the times, the wrestlers are not responsible for this problem. Rather, it is the writing team. Many a time, they fail to provide the wrestlers with proper content to support the process of character build up.
Let's go through a few names in WWE that are good between the ropes but can still do a lot well if their characters have sufficient depth.
#1 Finn Balor
Whenever a list, containing the WWE superstars who are getting much less than they deserve, is created, Finn Balor is a constant on it from the past few years.
He was the top guy at NJPW. He became the first ever WWE Universal champion on his first pay per view appearance, the first person to achieve this feat, but relinquished the title within 24 hours due to an injury.
And eight months later, when he returned, he was lost in the shuffle. He never came anywhere near the title that he never lost for almost two years. He kept wandering directionless having meaningless feuds which didn't lead him anywhere.
From just the in-ring perspective, the year 2018 was a good one for Finn. He gave some great in-ring performances against the likes of Seth Rollins and was in the Intercontinental Championship picture for the first few months of 2018. He lasted for about 58 minutes in the Royal Rumble match. But the second half of 2018 was largely uneventful. Though he kept performing well, he was repeatedly used to put over other superstars.
Talking from the character point of view, WWE has done a poor job in building his character. Finn Balor comes to the ring with a cheesy smile on his face and is made to lose big matches to elevate other superstars. His alter-ego, The Demon King, though protected by the WWE, is underutilized.
There is a possibility of creating numerous storylines revolving around Finn Balor and the demon king, only if WWE allows his character to built up properly. Finn Balor, therefore, tops our list.
Current Scenario
Finn Balor is currently in the world title picture as he has a match against Brock Lesnar for the Universal championship, a match that he is not expected to win considering the way these two superstars have been booked in the past two years.
What can change?
When talking about changes to the character of Finn Balor, the first thing that comes to the mind is to make him heel. Finn Balor already has a heelish element linked to his personality i.e. his alter-ego the Demon King. Therefore, it will not be difficult to portray him as a heel.
Even if WWE does not want to turn him heel, it can at least use the Demon King character a bit more frequently with a proper storyline rather than just as a showcase. It will surely work wonders for Finn Balor and even WWE.