WWE Offseason: Looking At WWE Superstars Taking Mandatory Breaks

After reading that Daniel Bryan has been nowhere near 100%, and also reading about other wrestlers who have competed with injuries, I wonder if it is time for the WWE to consider giving talent a mandatory break schedule or “off season.” This is not a new idea, but I can’t believe it is not ever put on the table inside the walls of the WWE office.

It is no secret that if you are employed by the WWE you can expect to be in front of a live crowd well over 300 days a year. Maybe that was necessary in the 50s, 60s, 70s and all the way up until the early 2000s, but it just doesn’t seem like it is necessary in 2015. I am in no way saying that the WWE should lessen its live event schedule, because they have enough talent to run all the shows they want. However, The WWE should look into giving wrestlers time off during the year. I think a good idea would be to give each wrestler who works over a certain amount of dates two full months off during the year. I do not feel this would be as hard as it sounds. All you really have to do is stager who is taking a break and when. Now obviously when it is WrestleMania season everyone would have to be available, but that first month after WrestleMania, if you didn’t see a few guys until the next PPV would you be that upset? If you didn’t win a belt than this would be a perfect time to give some guys an month off. Here is an example of what I am talking about… Let’s use Daniel Bryan for an example.

January- End of April: WrestleMania season, and following PPV Extreme Rules.

May- Off

June-End of Sept: SummerSlam build and follow up PPV to SummerSlam

Oct- Off

November to end of December: Survivor series to Royal Rumble..

That is just a brief example of something you could do to give the wrestlers who are working over a certain amount of dates mandatory time off. Plus even if they are off, that doesn’t mean you cannot hear from them with live interviews or something similar, I don’t even think champions would have to drop their title. Lesnar was off of TV for months with the World Title, so it’s not going to matter if one of the title holders is off the road for four weeks. Granted there are details that would have to be worked out with this strategy, but I feel like they could be ironed out. The benefits could be fantastic though, you would have healthier, happier, more rested talent who is eager to get back in it after taking a physical and mental break, plus it would give fans a chance to miss someone. I also feel like over time this would lessen the cost of medical bills and other such items the WWE pays for to keep wrestlers going. Every other sport has an off season, and even if it’s a predetermined outcome, wrestlers take the same beating that other pro athletes take. I think this is an issue that the WWE needs to look into, in the day and age we live in, with all of the new information about concussions and other injuries, why is the WWE so far behind everyone else? The WWE wants to viewed as a company that does all these great things, so how about taking a step to show you care about the talent outside of just banning chair head shots? Or am I asking for too much?

What do you think? Comment below with your thoughts, opinions, feedback and anything else that was raised.