WWE May Be Ending The Pushes Of Two Popular Raw Stars

WWE fans might finally have an explanation for the plight of two talented stars on Monday Night Raw.

On this week’s Raw episode, WWE pulled off two surprising booking moves when Aleister Black suffered a rare clean loss to Kevin Owens and Andrade split from his stablemate and tag team partner Angel Garza. According to Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer (h/t WrestlingNews.co), there may be more to those decisions than meets the eye: “When [Paul] Heyman got replaced, I was kind of told…Aleister Black and Andrade were two guys that were really gonna be in trouble because Vince [McMahon] doesn’t necessarily see a lot in them compared to what Heyman saw in them.”

When Paul Heyman was named Raw Executive Director last summer, he reportedly had a long list of rising superstars he wanted to push on the red brand, and both Andrade and Black were on it. Though some of Heyman’s pet projects, like Drew McIntyre, have fared incredibly well, the same certainly cannot be said of all of them, especially after Heyman was ousted as Executive Director this summer. That move reportedly left a lot of superstars worried about how they’d fare on the red brand, and in hindsight, it’s not difficult to see why.

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Raw has been experiencing significant creative issues due to the consistent inconsistencies (ironic, right?) and last-minute changes that can be seen by any fan who watches the show on a week-to-week basis. Whereas SmackDown seems to have better long-term storytelling, Raw looks to be booked on-the-fly with little consideration given to where its stars might, or should, be a few months from now. Likewise, it’s become commonplace for Vince McMahon to throw in the towel on superstars without ever giving them a true opportunity to succeed.

Among the names McMahon has “soured on” or “given up” on just over the past year or two are Shayna Baszler, Cedric Alexander and Ricochet, who are all widely viewed to be great talents. While some of those stars have recovered from McMahon reportedly waving the white flag on their pushes—Alexander, for example, is suddenly being pushed in The Hurt Business—the topsy-turvy booking of both Black and Andrade has left little doubt in the minds of fans that they will never truly be elevated to the level that their undeniable skills indicate they could be at if some things were different.

The booking of Black on the main roster has been quite bizarre, after all. In more than a year and a half spent primarily on Raw, the former NXT Champion has somehow been incredibly protected and yet overlooked. He’s rarely suffered pinfall losses, and his first two defeats on the main roster only happened under controversial circumstances and to two major stars in Seth Rollins and AJ Styles. Thus, his loss to Owens on Raw was actually a rare occasion. Yet, somehow, Black being featured prominently in any storyline of significance is equally as rare.

Truth be told, Black has done a whole lot of nothing on the main roster despite his unique gimmick and his in-ring skill set that ranks among the best of all the performers on Raw, and his recent heel turn likely won’t change his fortunes. Andrade has found himself in a similar position, stuck in midcard mediocrity on the red brand in a stable with Zelina Vega that looks fantastic on paper but has—like so many others—been held back by bad booking. Vega’s faction, Andrade included, has spent much of 2020 either making McIntyre looking good or beefing with one another, and Andrade, who is one of the world’s best in-ring performers, has been unable to shatter that proverbial glass ceiling and do anything beyond the midcard level or tag team title picture.

Andrade’s pairing with Garza was a logical one given that they’re real-life cousins, but now that they’re going their separate ways, it might not bode well for either star. Meltzer said on Wrestling Observer Radio (h/t SEScoops) after Andrade and Garza broke up, “I really see Andrade from tonight’s show, when I saw that split, it was just like ‘oh god’. Yep, that thing with Andrade is going to come true exactly like I was told.”

These days, rarely does a tag team split for two stars who fit so naturally together do anything for either star. Rather than one star going on to be the Shawn Michaels of the duo, typically neither one does. Andrade, though he possesses virtually all the tools to be a main eventer, now finds himself in the difficult position of trying to rise up the card without one of his biggest assets by his side in Vega.

WWE appears to have transitioned Vega into a role as an in-ring performer and is prepping her for a feud with Asuka, which leaves both Andrade and Garza stuck in No Man’s Land alongside Black. That’s actually quite commonplace in WWE nowadays: Dozens upon dozens of stars have been saddled with a directionless role in the midcard that leaves little room for advancement and often wastes the primes of their career.

In an ideal world, WWE’s best performers would be pushed as such, but as Black and Andrade are just the latest to find out, not having the support of just one man in WWE can make or break a career.