Before I begin, I’d just simply like to shout out one of our writers here on eWrestlingnews, Mr. Anthony Mango. It’s his birthday today (June 24th just in case this article posts after midnight), and I’d like to wish him a very, happy birthday. It’s a pleasure to do work with him on this site. Be nice to him if you come across him.
I’ve been pondering over the past couple of weeks the monotony that is WWE programming, and a huge issue that is related to some characters that we the audience are programmed to respond to. They are simply given a role and they have to play the same thing week after week, and it’s time to freshen things up a bit, I think. Here are 10 certain offenders that could benefit from some much-needed change.
10. Dean Ambrose
Ambrose has been out of action with an injury since the fall of last year and he’s due to return around this summer barring any setbacks. Ambrose is one of WWE’s most accomplished superstars, being a Grand Slam Champion, and he does have talent. But the dude frustrated me to no end when I last saw him. His Lunatic Fringe gimmick as a face just didn’t work and he just became borderline frustrating to watch at times. He was far too cartoony, far too lackadaisical and had it not been for the Shield reunion storyline that encompassed the latter half of 2017 for him, I’d shudder to think where he’d be now.
If you ask me, we need to experiment with a Dean Ambrose heel turn. Have him come back from injury and turn on Seth. Then he can start cutting promos similar to what he was doing back in his CZW days. Love or hate Dean, he’s an asset to the company if he’s motivated to do so. We were all rooting for him back in 2014 when his solo act became the best part of RAW every Monday Night when he sought to kill Seth at every turn. But if there’s nothing of substance for him to get engaged in, he will simply go through the motions. His match with Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 32 was supposed to be a fight to the death, but instead, what we got is an extended squash. Lose the silly smile, the goofy moveset and everything in between, and make him be a guy that kicks ass and takes names.
9. Finn Balor
Finn Balor is who he is and that’s all I can say about him these days. The first ever Universal Champion has accomplished a grand total of nothing since returning from his shoulder injury last year. You’d think one of NXT’s premiere champions would thrive as soon as he got on the main roster. Admittedly, his injury did derail his momentum a great deal and seeing as how he was getting the push for his life, circumstance changed matters and now he’s at the back of the line for the title that he never lost. And hey, if Finn never got injured, who knows? Maybe Lesnar wouldn’t have gotten his hands on the title based on a sequence of events that would alter because of him not getting hurt. Sadly, Finn cannot focus on “what could have been” and instead should focus on what is, and right now, he’s just a guy who comes out his trunks and extends his arms to the heavens twice during his entrance and slingblades till he can’t slingblade no more.
I could be forgetting a situation, but the last time I recall seeing Finn in his demon alter ego was at TLC last year. What Finn really needs is something to spruce up his character. I mean, what kind of gimmick is being an ordinary man that can do extraordinary things? Exactly what does he do that is extravagant or is something that can’t be done by Seth Rollins, AJ Styles or basically anyone on the roster? His entrance isn’t that hard to replicate. His matches are practically identical and follow the same formula. The issue is that we are supposed to believe he’s extraordinary when there’s nothing extraordinary about him. We should fix that, though I admit I can’t tell you what the answer to that is. Maybe a heel turn?
8. Sasha Banks and Bayley
I’m counting these two as one simply because it appears that in WWE reality, one cannot exist without the other. Sasha Banks and Bayley had one killer of a rivalry in NXT back in 2015, but you can always count on WWE to let it grow ever so cumbersome to watch. It seems like Sasha and Bayley have been unconsciously feuding for years now and there hasn’t been a definitive beef between the two until around last week. But who’s to say that after their backstage scuffle last week, they just don’t kiss and make up this Monday and continue to be part-friend, part-rival for the next few months until they decide to hate each other again. Basically, all you need to know is that Bayley is supposed to be Sasha’s friend, but Sasha is getting tired of Bayley’s stupidity and ineptitude and Bayley wants Sasha to forgive her but is mad that she isn’t getting through to her.
I thought the feud between these two should have happened right after Summerslam last year. Remember when Bayley defeated Sasha Banks to become the number 1 contender to Alexa’s RAW Women’s Championship, but Bayley couldn’t compete due to injury so Sasha took her place and had the title for a week? That would have been an ideal place to have them feud. But instead, they just put these two on-screen week after passive-aggressively pretending like they are cool with each other. This past week was a step in the right direction, I suppose, but we have also seen them fight backstage before and it didn’t amount to anything for the next few months. Hopefully, we’ll get an establish babyface and a heel, and based on what we saw in NXT, that’s an easy question to answer.
7. Sami Zayn
Sami won’t have to be worried about stinking it up on RAW every Monday night for a while after it has been revealed that he will need surgery to fix two broken rotator cuffs and he’ll be out of commission until WrestleMania season next year. But regardless, it goes without saying that Sami Zayn’s 2018 campaign, well, let’s face it, his main-roster call-up has been a complete and utter failure. His feud with Kevin Owens in 2016 was electric and brought out the best in both men, and one would think that would place him into a higher place of importance in WWE programming. However, he’s simply meandered around and has acted as Kevin Owens’ backup or simply something for Bobby Lashley to toy with.
What he is right now is simply not working, and I think I can speak for everyone when I say Sami is a natural babyface. Him being a heel was interesting for a time, but once they shoved that feud with AJ Styles, Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon down our throats, he became borderline irritating for a time. WWE only topped themselves by simply embarrassing him in one of the worst feuds in WWE history in the past couple of months with Bobby Lashley. Upon his return, he needs a shape-up in more ways than one.
6. The Riott Squad
What do we know about the Riott Squad? They have generic WWE 2K stock music. There’s three of them. They like throwing things and making a big mess in a backstage area. But most importantly, what do we know? They haven’t accomplished anything. Yeah, they’ve won some matches here and there, but they haven’t really had any statement moments. I think the issue with them is that they really are in a holding pattern and extremely repetitive. VERY repetitive. It seems like all they do nowadays is capitalize on the never-ending feud that is Sasha and Bayley. Other than that, they haven’t established an identity outside of being what was originally supposed to be Smackdown’s version of Absolution. I think Ruby herself is an underrated worker, but factions only work if they have a clear purpose and have the accolades to back up the talk and the identity, and the bottom line is that in every big match situation, they’ve come up short. They can talk tough and they can throw their weight around all they please, but they won’t be anything of value until they actually start stepping up to the plate. I’d also like to see if we can develop the characters of Logan and Morgan more. They just seem sort of there.
5. Kevin Owens
Kevin Owens is a former NXT Champion, 2-time Intercontinental Champion, 3-time United States Champion and the 2nd longest reigning Universal Champion in WWE history. There’s no reason why I should feel he’s just another ordinary guy on the roster. I really think the feud with Shane McMahon last fall derailed his character a great deal because he hasn’t reminded us why he’s a top talent in the industry. When he first came over to NXT, he was immediately impactful. He destroyed people left and right, powerbombing guest celebrities off the stage and defeated John Cena clean in his first match on the main roster. He was delivering on the mic, in the ring and had all the other intangibles to boot. But what is he now? Braun Strowman’s personal test dummy? He hasn’t done anything of note all year. The feud with Shane and Daniel was a colossal failure for him and he and Sami as a tag team proved to accomplish nothing.
Now back to his solo act, Kevin has just become another name on RAW that we are programmed to react to, and that shouldn’t be the case. Whatever happened to the cocky heel that backed up his tough talk? That would be a great asset to the roster, but unfortunately, he has become a shell of his former self. That’s why I believe Kevin especially could use a 1 or 2-month sabbatical. Let him unwind and reset and bring him back stronger than ever. I’d much rather have him off my television screen than playing the role of an average heel with no credentials.
4. Bobby Roode
Sorry, but this guy just pisses me off every time I see him now. I guess this is mostly WWE creative’s fault for foolishly deciding to bring him up to the main roster as a face for no apparent reason. What makes you want to see the former NXT Champion every Monday nights and what does he do that is unique? He comes out in a nice, shiny robe like Ric Flair every week. His theme song is the same verse over and over. He likes saying glorious. His finish is a DDT. He’s Canadian. Happy yet? What made Bobby popular in NXT was that he was a fabulous heel, and he fit his persona greatly. He was a jerk, but we loved him being a jerk. But now that he’s a good guy, smiling for everybody, what is there to like about him? What makes him different than any other good guy on the roster. The crowd singing his theme song was great when it first became a thing everybody did, but now it’s grown quite cumbersome.
Roode can be a great asset if he’s used correctly, and if he’s used correctly that means Monday Night RAW gets another dynamic heel for top faces such as Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins to feud with. But as a lovable good guy whose selling point is one adjective makes him no more useful than Zack Ryder.
3. The Club
I don’t even know who these people are anymore. Actually, their identity crisis has been an issue from the moment they came to WWE in 2016 as a tag team. We all knew from Japan that Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson were AJ Styles’ buddies, and when they paired alongside AJ in the summer of 2016, they looked like a pretty good insurance policy for AJ during his feud with Roman Reigns. But then, once AJ Styles went over to Smackdown to continue his singles career and left Gallows and Anderson on RAW, they subsequently became exposed.
The once dominant, powerful duo that dominated Japan just became two tattooed guys on the main roster who only won the tag team titles once, and that reign didn’t amount to anything. Now, they are on the blue brand with AJ, but after a recent failed run at the Smackdown Tag Titles, what are they really? If they’re not monster heels that dominate their opponents, they are just ordinary men. There’s nothing unique about them, there’s no gimmick to get behind, and without AJ, they consistently lack direction. What they need is a character change or just something different. Fast.
2. Becky Lynch
It really pains me to see Becky on the main roster right now. Yes, she was Smackdown’s inaugural women’s champion. But do you remember her reign as champion? Probably not. And she lost it to Alexa Bliss, and look at the kind of push that she’s had since TLC 2016. Becky’s in-ring ability is right on par with the likes of Charlotte, Sasha Banks, and WWE’s top workhorses. I’ve personally been calling for a heel turn for Becky for the longest time now. Remember when Mark Henry turned heel in 2011, and he said that making people smile and being a nice guy didn’t get him anywhere, but when he became a bad guy, only caring about himself and his success, he won the World Heavyweight Championship that eluded him for his entire career? I think Becky could use something similar to that right now. What has being nice gotten her? A 2-month women’s title reign and being 2nd, 3rd fiddle on WWE’s 2nd show of importance?
WWE doesn’t realize they have one of the best pure workers from the women’s division right now just meandering through the scenes. Turn her heel, put her in a feud with Charlotte or Asuka and you can have something. But having he continually lose in every big match situation and then having her feel sorry for herself every time afterward is doing nothing for her career. What she needs to start doing is living up to the moniker of being a Lass-Kicker and start being the dynamic superstar we all know her to be.
1. The Revival
How The Revival has been booked on the main roster has me scared for my life as to how The Undisputed Era will be booked once he gets the inevitable call-up, because WWE has really been piss poor in booking some NXT talents, particularly heels, when they start working RAW and Smackdown. The Revival was the first ever 2-time NXT Tag Team Champions in NXT, and they were loved by the fans for their old-school style of wrestling, their cohesiveness as a unit, and their ability to win by being dominant heels. Now, on the main roster, they are basically dead meat for Roman Reigns and Bobby Lashley to feast on. It’s really sickening. I understand that in a 3-hour show, allowing time for every superstar on the RAW roster to get a chance to sell themselves each week isn’t easy and it’s a tall task. But just get this. Do you realize that The Revival has been on the main roster since the RAW after WrestleMania 33? When they came out to interrupt Reigns and Lashley this past Monday on RAW, I swore I forgot they were there and still thought they were in NXT. That’s because they’ve done absolutely nothing except lose, lose and lose some more.
My preference would have been to make them the team to defeat the Hardy Boyz and become RAW Tag Team Champions upon their main roster call-up last spring, but they have disappointed ever since. Can you imagine if WWE recognized what a talented unit they are and started to become the team we all know them to be? You remember that legendary 2 out of 3 falls match they had with DIY at NXT: Toronto? Or some of their matches with American Alpha? I can hardly believe that they are essentially a jobber tag team right now, and that has to change immediately. I guess you could say The Revival could use a revival and fast.
