The WWE is reportedly in “panic mode” right now with Sin Cara. The first signee of the Triple H regime is struggling and the WWE brass are desperate to rectify this. Their first course of action, repeat the same mistake and sign another luchador.
Numerous stories report that the WWE has signed Averno. Averno and Mistico (Cara’s former identity) had a fantastic rivalry over the last few years in Mexico and Japan. Averno has been reportedly handpicked by Sin Cara to be his next major opponent. The signing is big news not necessarily due to the WWE acquiring Averno, but the reasons behind it. Here is what Dave Meltzer wrote about the signing.
“Signing Averno, and this is straight from people in WWE, was a sign of desperation. Sin Cara wasn’t getting over how they wanted and so they’re desperate for someone to come in and make him look good.”
The WWE are really the ones that botched Sin Cara. They brought up Sin Cara to the main roster without any developmental time to adjust to the WWE style. Lucha libre is an art and Mistico was one of the greatest luchadores of this era. However, the style is completely different from the style of pro wrestling you will see in a WWE ring. Sin Cara spent no time on the developmental roster to learn the style and was brought up to RAW immediately. The fans recognized this immediately and had a hard time connecting with someone who looked that sloppy in the ring.
In addition to the fast track to the big time, the choice of opponents for Sin Cara is questionable at best. Primo, Sheamus, Jack Swagger, and Chavo Guerrero were programmed with Sin Cara to get him over. Chavo probably hasn’t wrestled lucha in over fifteen years. If the WWE felt that Chavo could work a hybrid style with Sin Cara because he is Mexican, well that says a lot about stereotyping doesn’t it? Sin Cara has had one great match and that was against Daniel Bryan on SmackDown. Yet instead of going with what worked, Bryan was just a transition to Chavo. That is brilliant booking wouldn’t you say?
Sin Cara doesn’t speak English. It is essential that WWE superstars cut promos in 2011 to establish a character and personality with the fan base. Cara should have been given time to learn English and develop promos before they rushed him up to the major brands. Was it really that important to get Sin Cara on the roster in March as opposed to August?
This really all comes down to money. The WWE signed Sin Cara for a lot of money. Rather than develop their investment properly, they think having him on the main roster justifies the expense. Personally, I don’t think there is anything wrong with a guy not setting the world on fire in three months. John Cena, Randy Orton, Batista, Chris Jericho, Edge, Triple H, The Rock, and even Steve Austin weren’t over the first three months into their WWE tenure (& they even spoke English). Yet those guys weren’t getting paid Even Alberto Del Rio had a year in FCW to adjust before he was brought up to the main roster.
The skeptic in me wonders if there is a conspiracy going on behind the scenes. The success or failure of Sin Cara will be credited to Triple H. Sin Cara was the first signing under the new Triple H regime and Hunter had a big hand in his development. Maybe there are people in power that don’t want to see Hunter succeed? Think about it. Isn’t it kind of odd that you have read more leaks about the WWE’s panic or disappointment in Sin Cara than most stories in the WWE? The WWE does a fairly good job of plugging leaks. Yet with Sin Cara, everyone knows that the WWE is in desperation mode.
Unless the WWE change the way they bring these guys up, signing Averno isn’t going to make a bit of difference. What they really need to do is get someone in the ring with Sin Cara like Rey Mysterio or Del Rio who can work with him in a transitional phase. These Averno vs. Sin Cara matches aren’t going to be anything like the matches they had in Mexico. Take those past matches, remove about 80% of the move sets, throw in your WWE agent who doesn’t like lucha to begin with, and you’ll have an even bigger mess on your hands.
Finally, this is a huge test for Triple H. A great manager can recognize mistakes and is humble enough to admit and fix them. If this story ends in four months with Sin Cara being buried or released, the WWE really is in trouble because they have the wrong guy in charge of talent development.
Now that is the right time to push the panic mode button.
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Brock Lesnar’s autobiography – Death Clutch: My Story of Determination, Domination, and Survival
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Eric G.
Eric is the owner and editor-in-chief of the Camel Clutch Blog. Eric has worked in the pro wrestling industry since 1995 as a ring announcer in ECW and a commentator/host on television, PPV, and home video. Eric also hosted Pro Wrestling Radio on terrestrial radio from 1998-2009. Check out some of Eric's work on his IMDB bio and Wikipedia. Eric has an MBA from Temple University's Fox School of Business.
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