First Jack Swagger. At first glance his build up seems correct. He started out in FCW where he won the Florida Heavyweight Championship, then went on to become the Undisputed FCW Heavyweight Champion. He held the title for 216 days until losing to Sheamus. Upon moving to ECW as a heel he made a gradual glide up the rankings while fueding with ECW Original Tommy Dreamer. After that it was a fued with ECW Heavyweight Champion Matt Hardy leading to Hardy's defeat. Swagger would then lose to Christian before moving to the RAW brand and it's there that his correct build up failed. Upon arriving at RAW he made an unsucessful attempt to atract Randy Orton's attention to join Legacy. Then it was a fued with MVP, a failed attempt to gain the United States Championship from Kofi Kingston, a promise not to lose another match until he gained the United States Championship, a win streak that lasted only a few weeks and a gradual slide back down the ladder.
Second Kofi Kingston. Kingston started his run in ECW with an undefeated singles streak that ended with his fued with Shelton Benjamin (who in my mind is one of the best in ring workers WWE has, but alas he never gets the push he deserves). Kingston then moved to RAW where he defeated Chris Jerricho to become the Intercontinental Champion. Now his build up seems to be going along fine. A nice little fued leading to a clean pin over an estrablished Upper Carder in Jerricho. After losing the title to Santino (of all people) Kingston would go on to win the Tag Titles with CM Punk against fellow up and comers Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes. They would lose the titles to Miz and Morrison. Kingston would then win a spot in the Elimination Chamber and this is where he starts to slide down the ladder. Not even making that match after an attack by Edge, Kingston then would move back up the ladder a little to win the United States Championship. This would lead to a fued with Randy Orton and a rumor that Kofi was moving into the Upper Card. The fued would see Kofi never getting a victory over Orton in a single's match. This would lead to Kofi saying he should be in a threeway dance to decide the number one contender to the World Heavyweight Title because he hadn't defeated anyone, but deserved a shot. What did this get him? Yep, that's right another pin at the hands of Orton and a slide back down the ladder.
Third Sheamus. After a Heavyweight Title reign in FCW and a slow meandering through FCW Sheamus was called up to ECW where he would have a fued with Goldust which led to an impressive serious of stiff, brutal matches. In the middle of a fued with Shelton Benjiman, which also led to some stiff matches Sheamus was sent to Raw. Sheamus would then "retire" Jaime Noble, attack Jerry Lawler, be apart of the Miz's winning team at Survivor series, then win the "Break Through" Battle Royal to become the Number One Contender for the WWE World Title. Sheamus would then go on to defeat John Cena in a Table's match to win the World Title. Now on paper this seems like a great build up. A couple decent well recieved fueds, known for brutality, "retiring" a wrestler, and become the Champ in a few short months. However, since winning the title Sheamus has had no clean pinfall's over any Upper Card Talent. No clean win's over John Cena or more recently Randy Orton. Sure after winning by DQ or Countout and looking weak for most of the matches he ends up the one standing over his fallen opponent it makes him look weak that he can't get a pin over the Top Tier Talent. Will this change or will he soon slide right back down the ladder?
Finally, Drew McIntyre. After a Tag Team Championship reign and Florida Heavyweight Championship reign McIntyre was moved up to Smackdown. McIntyre's first Smackdown fued would be against the "Over with the fans" R-Truth. McIntyre constantly attacked R-Truth backstage leaving him laying each time. Vince McMahon called McIntyre a future World Champion. The fued with R-Truth ended in a quick match at Hell In A Cell. Next a fued with stiff Fit Finley would end in similar fashion. McIntrye would then go on to be a part of the Miz's winning team at Survivor Series. This would lead to a fued with Intercontinental Champion Morrison where McIntyre would win after Vince McMahon guaraunteed a victory for McIntyre. So far McIntryre's build up has been done correctly. Fueds ending with handidly defeating his opponents. Vinnie Mac backing him up. Dominant match against a champion. But I have to wonder looking at the other young guns on my list how long will it be before he too starts to slide down the ladder?I just don't understand the mentality of the WWE. They know that they need to build new stars for the future, but they constantly shoot the new stars they are trying to create in the foot. Why do they do this, or is it the people with stroke who do it? Case in point the recent botched move by Kingston that had Orton shaking his head and cursing Kingston for his foul up. Did Orton use his "stroke" to push Kingston back down? Are Orton and Cena using their "stroke" to keep Sheamus from looking like Upper Tier Talent, by not allowing him clean pins over them? When they decide to move McIntyre toward a World Title I think it will go better because the people on Smackdown aren't as selfish. I can easily see Jerricho, Punk, or Edge putting a young gun over. While I can't say the same of Cena, Orton, or HBK doing the same. I can't even see HHH putting Sheamus over and he's the one who pushed for Sheamus, supposedly.
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