For WWE's midcard, it's all about the details

It's easy if you're a main eventer in WWE, or for that matter in any wrestling promotion. You're the big star. You have the full spotlight on every move you make. Every step you take, people watch. Every move you make, announcers mention. Before this starts sounding like a Bobby Brown jam, let's break the "every" pattern and just say the top guys receive the spoils and the rewards, sometimes without a war or even a skirmish. It can all be handed to them, and their job is to take the valuables and use those jewels to elevate even higher and make more money.

When you're a part of the midcard mire, however, the reality is much different. What television time you get can be cut at a moment's notice. Your match may get two minutes before a four minute commercial break, which takes away the heat spot and much of the chance for the heel to get over. You or your dance partner might not get an entrance, or definitely might not get promo time to build the match and build a brand. The writers don't put the focus on your storyline, either because they overlooked it, didn't care, or were told it wasn't any kind of priority.

Getting yourself out of the midcard can be extremely difficult, and it requires serious intelligence, and at least a few bites at the apple from the creative team. If you're not on TV, you're completely and totally screwed. If you're in vignettes, nine times out of ten they're going to be used for comedy or as the valley on the show's roller coaster. You might do product placement for a sponsor, hock merchandise, or just be seen in the hall as two more important characters walk past you. Maybe you get a hit on Swerved or find yourself on Edge & Christian's WWE Network show, but you're a second-class citizen.

It can be incredibly frustrating, both for the performers and their families, and also for the fan base. How many times has Cesaro been pushed and forgotten? How many nothing angles has Rusev been involved in over the past year? Look at Baron Corbin or Apollo Crews, who were called up with zero planning and have been left to sway in the wind for months. For the women, it can be even worse. There's one title, and up until very recently, it's one angle. If you're outside of the WWE Women's Championship program, you're irrelevant. Hopefully Becky and Natalya is a sign of things to come, but it's highly possible we're just witnessing an aberration.

On Monday night, we saw the return of Darren Young. After weeks and weeks of horrendous videos featuring Young with Bob Backlund, here he comes. RAW opens with the Intercontinental Championship Contender battle royal, and almost everyone is in the ring. Apollo Crews gets an entrance on the show, but that's about it. In the ring, there's Darren Young. It was so unimportant that I didn't even realize he was there until I noticed Backlund on the floor and then looked around and spotted his protege in the match.

Young won the title shot after Corbin and Crews eliminated each other, doing nothing to earn the victory. That part didn't really bother me. What irked me about the entire segment was the fact that this guy who WWE has given weekly air time to in these videos...

Wasn't given a 90 second entrance on television.

Or even a 30 second entrance.

For the main event, the little things aren't nearly as integral, because they have the inherent advantages of being main eventers. For Darren Young, and those like him, every speck of something can help make more of a difference. Had he gotten the entrance, the announcers could have pushed him a bit and made sure the audience knew he was back. What would the new look Backlundite do? How would his work change? How would his attitude change? "Wow, he looks like a million bucks. He's decked out in red, white, and blue Maggle, just like Bob!" So many questions could have filled that time. Plus, we could hear his entrance music and get to know it. Maybe even a little pyro to help things along even more.

I'm not saying WWE should sacrifice everything the company has to get this guy over, but I'm saying that extra little bit could have made more people take notice. It wouldn't have brought the show to a screeching halt. It would have told the crowd that Darren Young was back and should be taken seriously. Instead, he won in lamest way imaginable, and even though we heard a minor chant for about five seconds, no one remembered any of it ten minutes later. If that was the intent, why not just release the poor guy. If not, it's time to stop being a bonehead and look at the capillaries as well as the aorta.

(***As a quick aside, Darren wasn't even the only midcard worker on last night's show to get the "sort of" treatment. Whatever was gained for Zack Ryder in beating Sheamus on Thursday was negated with 50/50 trash booking last night. If you're going to pull the trigger with Ryder - and I'm not saying you should or you shouldn't - you have to put both feet in the water. Anything else just ensures nobody ever gets over or has credibility.)

Only so much is within a worker's control. There has to be some assistance, coming from somewhere. A match with the Miz at Battleground has enough trouble without the added problem of a mediocre opponent. If the writers are doing a performer no favors, that wrestler had better be ungodly good in the ring. Darren doesn't have that in his arsenal. Young wouldn't be AJ Styles if he was given three hours of screen time for six years, but putting just a little more love into his character before that bell rang could have gone miles toward the goal of helping him stand out. The gimmick is still very much a work in progress, at best. He needs the bells and whistles. He needs every option imaginable, even the heated seats and the blindspot monitoring system.

It's so hard to get a chance in WWE. Once they decide to give someone an opportunity, why wouldn't they also do everything possible to enhance the potential to make a new star? If Darren Young flops, it might be on him. But, it's on you if you haven't taken the time to dot the "I" and cross the "T." At that point, it's all been a complete waste of time and resources. Wouldn't you want to DECREASE the chances of a bust, when it wouldn't even require that much more effort?

There's just no point whatsoever in half-assing it. What's the end game?