Austin and I had several e-mails back and forth after I went to the WWE house show over the weekend.
There are a lot of good technicians and the guys are in very good cardiovascular shape for the most part.
The number of guys on the card who aggressively had the drive to work like main eventers?
1 - Randy Orton
The number of guys on the card over like main eventers?
2- John Cena and Randy Orton
The number of guys who would have cracked the top tier in JCP in 1986?
1 - Randy Orton, maybe at a No. 4 heel level
2 - John Cena, at a Magnum T.A./Nikita Koloff level
3. - Antonio Cesaro, provided he had J.J. or Cornette to talk for him and had Bobby Eaton to oteam with him
4 & 5 - Ryback or Big E if Dusty liked them and gave them preferential booking, without it, no
Austin went out there and took it. Yes, they went all the way with him and could have killed him, but everyone is happy with their spot and doesn't step over their spot. Maybe Ziggler would be different but he wasn't on the show.
Whether the fire has been beaten out of them (what the wrestlers say) or they are complacent (what management would say and Jim Ross hints at it all the time, as does Austin), the end result is the same place, just how you view it.