We are all aware of the narrative. "The WWE Roster is really thin right now, especially with all of these injuries! Can they even find 30 healthy guys to enter the Rumble?"
We have guys pulling double duty on RAW or Smackdown, competing in a singles match early in the night, and then being booked in a tag match later on in the evening.
That being said, I decided to take a look at the current roster (as posted on WWE.com as of 1/17/2016) to see who they have listed. Then, I began to do a little breakdown of said roster. The results were interesting....
WWE Superstars:
1. Roman Reigns – WWEWHC Champion
2. Dean Ambose – IC Champion
3. Alberto Del Rio – US Champion
4. Kofi Kingston – Tag Team Champion
5. Big E – Tag Team Champion
6. Xavier Woods – Tag Team Champion
7. Adam Rose – Social Outcast, rarely on RAW or Smackdown
8. Alex Riley – who?
9. Big Show – part timer?
10. Bo Dallas – Social Outcast, comedy jobber
11. Braun Strowman – Wyatt Family member
12. Bray Wyatt – Wyatt family member
13. Brock Lesnar – part-timer
14. Bubba Ray Dudley – Dudley Boyz
15. Cesaro – injured
16. Chris Jericho – part-timer, feuding with New Day
17. Curtis Axel – Social Outcast, still in last year’s Rumble
18. D-Von Dudley – Dudley Boyz
19. David Otunga – pictured as a wrestler
20. Damien Sandow – who?
21. Daniel Bryan – medical suspension
22. Darren Young – Prime Time Players, injured?
23. Diego – who?
24. Dolph Ziggler – jobber to the stars
25. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson – Hollywood A-lister, part timer
26. El Torito – who?
27. Eric Rowan – Wyatt Family Member
28. Fandango – Main Event/Superstars main stay
29. Fernando – who?
30. Goldust – part timer?
31. Heath Slater – Social Outcast, King of Jobbers
32. Hornswoggle – suspended?
33. Jack Swagger – Main Event/Superstars
34. Jey Uso – Reigns relative, The Usos
35. Jimmy Uso – Reigns relative, The Usos
36. John Cena – Face that Runs the Place, injured
37. Kalisto – Lucha Dragon, feuding with ADR
38. Kane – part-timer?
39. Kevin Owens – chasing Dean Ambrose
40. King Barrett – League of Nations, jobber
41. Konnor – The Ascension, jobber
42. Luke Harper – Wyatt Family
43. Mark Henry – Main Event/Superstars, part-timer?
44. The Miz – cocky heel, more interviewer than wrestler
45. Neville – King of the Undercard, Man that WWE Creative Forgot
46. R-Truth – comedy act
47. Randy Orton – part-timer?, injured
48. Rusev – League of Nations, Jobber to the Stars?
49. Ryback – feed him more
50. Seth Rollins – Traitorface, injured
51. Sheamus – League of Nations, Gatekeeper?
52. Sin Cara – Lucha Dragon, injured
53. Stardust – comedy act
54. Sting – part-timer, injured
55. Titus O’Neal – Prime Time Players
56. Triple H – AUTHORITY, part-timer
57. Tyler Breeze
58. Tyson Kidd – injured
59. Undertaker – part-timer
60. Viktor – Ascension
61. Zack Ryder – NXT Hype Bro
Of this list, Cesaro, Daniel Bryan, Darren Young, John Cena, Randy Orton, Seth Rollins, Sin Cara, Sting, and Tyson Kidd are injured. (9/61 or 14.7% of the roster)
Big Show, Brock Lesnar, Chris Jericho, The Rock, Kane, Randy Orton, Sting, Triple H, and Undertaker are part-timers. (9/61, or 14.7% of the roster)
Adam Rose, Bo Dallas, Curtis Axel, Damien Sandow, Diego, El Torito, Fandango, Fernando, Goldust, Heath Slater, Jack Swagger, Konnor, Mark Henry, The Miz, R-Truth, Stardust, Titus O’Neal, Tyler Breeze, and Viktor only rarely wrestle on the two "Big Name" shows. (19/61 or 31.1% of the roster)
Alex Riley, David Otunga, and Zak Ryder are listed but have not wrestled on WWE TV for a long time. (3/61 or 5.9% of the roster)
Taking all of the above into consideration, the ACTUAL roster – that is people that appear AND wrestle regularly on RAW and SMACKDOWN are:
1. Roman Reigns
2. Dean Ambrose
3. Alberto del Rio
4. Big E
5. Kofi Kingston
6. Xavier Woods*
7. Braun Strowman
8. Bray Wyatt
9. Bubba Ray Dudley
10. D-Von Dudley
11. Dolph Ziggler
12. Eric Rowan
13. Jey Uso
14. Jimmy Uso
15. Kalisto
16. Kevin Owens
17. King Barrett*
18. Luke Harper
19. Neville
20. Rusev
21. Ryback*
22. Sheamus
*Ryback hasn’t been on wrestling the past few shows, and Xavier and Barrett are more often used as managers right now.
22/61 or only 36% of the roster is used regularly on the two main programs.
WWE Divas:
1. Charlotte – Divas Champion
2. Alicia Fox – Team Bella Member/Sexy Lamp
3. Becky Lynch – chasing Charlotte
4. Cameron – training in NXT?
5. Emma – on NXT
6. Eva Marie – training? In NXT
7. Naomi – Team BAD
8. Natalya – who?
9. Nikki Bella – Female Face? Heel? Who Knows? That Runs the Place, injured
10. Paige – who?, injured?
11. Rosa Mendes – listed, but retired
12. Sasha Banks – Team BAD, injured?
13. Summer Rae – sexy lamp
14. Tamina – Team BAD, Enforcer
Cameron, Emma, and Eva Marie are all in NXT right now. (3/14 or 21%)
Nikki, Paige, and Sasha are injured. (3/14 or 21%)
Natalya hasn’t been on regularly. Tamina and Alicia rarely wrestle. Naomi has also been MIA. (4/14 or 28.5%)
So for the Divas, right now it seems to be:
1. Charlotte
2. Becky Lynch
3. Brie Bella
3/14 or only 2% of the roster is regularly being used on the "BIG SHOWS."
So my question is, does WWE really have a thin roster? Or is it simply how they USE that roster that makes it seem to be so lacking?
Sound off in the comments below.