Great points as usual Noid,
Glad to see you're still alive and kicking, and leading this section of the forum.
As I alluded to THREE (3) years ago in this very thread, I think the WWE needs to put themselves in a position where the 4's are getting TONS of air-time, while competing against each other and other 5's.
In 2012 - this means Dolph Ziggler, Daniel Bryan, Sheamus, CM Punk, Alberto Del Rios, The Miz, Cody Rhodes, Jack Swagger, etc. all going up against each other in a series of tremendous matches, and then going up against the likes of John Cena and Brock Lesnar..........and even Triple H and The Rock whenever they're present.
Long story short - whenever a '4' successfully converts into a '5', that TRANSITION point is where the WWE really has a chance to do something special with a guy.
Examples - Steve Austin going over HBK at Wrestlemania 14. Randy Orton going over Chris Benoit at Summerslam 2004. Brock Lesnar going over The Rock in Summerslam 2002...........
And most recently - CM Punk going over John Cena in Chicago last year.
Unfortunately, for the WWE, they simply do not do the greatest job in pushing faces. As was the case with Lesnar in 2002 and Orton in 2004, the WWE shit the bed with Punk's face turn last year and as result, CM Punk did not take off to the heights that he should have..........and essentially, is back at being a #4.
Hopefully, they make CM Punk a tweener at some point so that he has a shot at becoming a legit #5 again.