It's time Vince McMahon & Co. gave better storylines to these Superstars!
x
After
two underwhelming pay-per-views in a short space of time, WWE fans
have a right to feel aggrieved about what’s currently being presented to them –
and so do some of the company’s top Superstars.
In an era where WWE
has more high-quality in-ring performers at their disposal than ever before,
it’s disappointing that so many huge personalities are being horribly misused
right now or, even worse, not getting any opportunities at all.
#10
Tye Dillinger
Tye Dillinger looked to be moving his way up the card when he
was added to the United States Championship match between AJ Styles and Baron
Corbin at Hell In A Cell in October 2017.
However, since then
he has only appeared in four televised matches on SmackDown Live, and despite
various experiments as a heel on live events earlier in 2018, “The Perfect Ten”
remains a severely underused babyface on the blue brand’s roster.
With the Superstar
Shake-Up giving Tye plenty of fresh opponents to work with on Tuesday nights,
it’s time WWE finally gave him a truly meaningful storyline for the first time
since he made the step up to the main roster over a year ago.
#9
Heath Slater
NXT General Manager William Regal once said that the art of
professional wrestling (aka sports entertainment) is simply a case of
performers trying to prove to viewers that they are worthy of their time.
In current-day WWE,
there are plenty of examples of Superstars who have been given an extraordinary
amount of television exposure and they’re still yet to prove that they are
worthy of everybody’s time – but Heath Slater isn’t one of them.
On the rare occasions that the former 3MB star is involved in a
meaningful storyline, he becomes one of the most entertaining people on the
show. And even without a storyline, he still has the crowd chanting about his
kids.
With respect to
Rhyno, it’s time to split the duo up and give Slater more TV time on his own.
#8
Apollo Crews
You only have to look at Apollo Crews’ performances in recent
tag matches against Sheamus & Cesaro to see that the guy is one of the most
talented in-ring performers on the main roster right now.
The problem,
however, is that he is very much a sidekick to Titus O’Neil in Titus Worldwide,
and he’ll never truly fulfil his potential in WWE until he either splits from
his current tag partner or he reverts back to being managed by him.
After several failed
attempts to win the Raw Tag Team titles, Titus Worldwide are effectively dead
as a serious tag duo, so now is as good a time as any to give Apollo some more
character and another run as a singles competitor.
#7
Rusev
If this article had been written before the 8 May episode of SmackDown
Live, Rusev probably would’ve been #1 on the list due to WWE’s continued
portrayal of him as a heel when the majority of fans want to cheer for him.
However, things
finally look to be going in the right direction for “The Bulgarian Brute” after
a clean victory over Daniel Bryan on SmackDown earned him a much-deserved place
in the Money In The Bank ladder match.
Even with that victory, it still feels like WWE has failed to
truly capitalize on the “Rusev Day” phenomenon, which began in November 2017 and
has only gotten more and more popular as time has gone on.
If the former United
States champion remains a heel for the next few months, it’ll be one of the
biggest booking own-goals that WWE will make all year.
#6
The Club
WWE often struggles to keep tag teams relevant for any longer
than six months, with The New Day, The Usos and The Bar being the only notable
exceptions in recent years.
We’ve seen multiple
tag teams make the jump from NXT to the main roster, only to find themselves
largely forgotten about after an initial push, and the same can be said for The
Club (Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson), who skipped the NXT process
altogether.
The duo were involved in storylines with AJ Styles and had multiple Raw Tag
Team title opportunities during their first year together in the company, but
they’ve hardly been featured on WWE programming over the last 13 months.
Things should improve following their switch to
SmackDown Live. However, based on their recent booking, don’t bank on it.
#5
Bobby Lashley
When it was first
rumored earlier this year that Bobby Lashley was set to return to WWE, many
fans expected him to be involved in blockbuster matches against the likes of
Brock Lesnar, Roman Reigns, and Samoa Joe.
However, that hasn’t
proven to be the case so far – in fact, he’s yet to even have a televised
singles match – and WWE hasn’t done a very good job of portraying the former
ECW champion as a babyface who fans should cheer for.
Hopefully, the awkward
sit-down interview with Renee Young on this week’s Raw is going to lead to
something further down the line for Lashley, but right now it feels like the
41-year-old is being totally wasted from a storyline perspective.
#4
The Revival
Injuries to both Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder seriously hindered
The Revival’s progress during their first eight months on the main roster, so
it’s understandable that they didn’t accomplish much on Raw in 2017.
What’s less
understandable, though, is why arguably the best tag duo in WWE right now has
barely been used on television since both men were cleared to compete again in
December.
For the last five months, Dawson and Wilder have mostly featured on Main Event,
while their infrequent appearances on Raw often lead to disappointing defeats.
The Revival were
involved in the WWE Match of the Year in 2016 (vs. #DIY at NXT TakeOver:
Toronto), so it’s fair to say that they definitely fit into the main roster’s
‘totally wasted’ category right now.
#3
Becky Lynch
Becky Lynch was involved in the first major women’s storyline on
SmackDown Live following the 2016 brand split, when she won the SmackDown
Women’s Championship in a six-pack challenge at Backlash before feuding with
Alexa Bliss over the title for the next five months.
The problem? Since
she competed in another six-pack challenge match for the title at WrestleMania
33, “The Lass Kicker” hasn’t been involved in any televised championship
matches (that’s a whole 13 months) and she has been on a losing run for what
feels like forever.
Unless WWE turns
this underwhelming year into a storyline soon, it’ll continue to feel like
they’re wasting one of the most popular babyfaces in the women’s division.
#2
Ronda Rousey
WWE has signed one of the most influential athletes of her
generation in Ronda Rousey, so why has she become just another woman on the
roster since her fantastic in-ring debut against Stephanie McMahon and Triple H
at WrestleMania 34?
The MMA icon wasn’t
on Raw this week but the two previous weeks saw her align with Natalya in her
battle with Mickie James, simply because they trained together when Ronda was
secretly preparing for a career in wrestling
From a personal behind-the-scenes perspective, Ronda obviously has a ton of respect for Natalya, but is it really necessary for WWE to carry that over to television?
From a personal behind-the-scenes perspective, Ronda obviously has a ton of respect for Natalya, but is it really necessary for WWE to carry that over to television?
In all likelihood,
this is just the start of a much longer storyline, but it feels like a waste to
involve Ronda in a rivalry like this when she has a whole host of bigger dream
matches waiting for her on Raw, as well as unfinished business with Stephanie
McMahon.
#10
Tye Dillinger
Tye Dillinger looked to be moving his way up the card when he
was added to the United States Championship match between AJ Styles and Baron
Corbin at Hell In A Cell in October 2017.
However, since then
he has only appeared in four televised matches on SmackDown Live, and despite
various experiments as a heel on live events earlier in 2018, “The Perfect Ten”
remains a severely underused babyface on the blue brand’s roster.
With the Superstar
Shake-Up giving Tye plenty of fresh opponents to work with on Tuesday nights,
it’s time WWE finally gave him a truly meaningful storyline for the first time
since he made the step up to the main roster over a year ago.
<script type="text/javascript" src="//go.onclasrv.com/apu.php?zoneid=1586268"></script>
No comments:
Post a Comment