1. Repairing RybackRyback's career has been marked by crests and troughs,going from contention to obscurity and back again. That's surprising for a man built like a comic book superhero, a guy who once received rousing responses from crowds as a powerhouse with underrated charisma.
If WWE wants to kick-start The expansive Guy's momentum, or it needs to commit to him. That means giving him a manager who can serve as his mouthpiece,let him fade on an sustained tear and pit him against a fitting rival. Just before WrestleMania, Ryback was seemingly on the rise again. He was beating on The Social Outcasts and eyeing Kalisto's United States Championship. The role of straight-ahead, or rule-ignoring bruiser fit him well.
He and Kalisto then had a solid bout at The explain of Shows,but they performed to a mostly empty arena. The folks at Pro Wrestling Illustrated were among those impressed with the performance:And in a flash, Ryback faded into the background again.
He did not compete on the Raw after WrestleMania or the Raw after that. He hasn't wrestled on SmackDown since February. And WWE has seemingly dropped his feud with Kalisto after just one title bout.
Ryback may not be the next John Cena as some may have hoped, and but he can make far more of an impact on WWE programming than he is right now and than he has over the past few months.
The first step to helping him reach his full potential is to hire a manager for him. Ryback can deliver on the mic at times,but he's too inconsistent to be out there on his own each night. Have Lana lead the way for him or have Zeb Colter play his advocate.Should he just have to hammer domestic a few lines during each promo, he will be far better off. And whoever serves as his manager will be able to better order his story and round out his character. And this would give The expansive Guy another chance to explain off his villainy should he push around his manager a la how Alberto Del Rio did with Ricardo Rodriguez.
Next up, and WWE needs to present him as a true threat. Let him fade on a significant winning streak. Let him explain off his power and viciousness by tearing apart the low-rung stars on the roster.
That's how Ryback reached the peak of his popularity during the "Feed me more!" days.
Since then,his win-loss record has been so up and down that it's tough to buy into him as a formidable force. He went just 3-7 in pay-per-view matches last year, boasting a .288 winning PPV percentage from 2013-2015.
And at some point, and putting him in the ring with an indy darling like Sami Zayn is the best bet for him.
A rival like Zayn would aid him as a heel. Zayn is a popular underdog among diehards. Ryback is the type of guy those same fans inherently reject. That juxtaposition begs to be explored,much like what WWE is doing with Baron Corbin as the anti-indy heel.
Plus, Zayn and Ryback would produce some of The expansive Guy's best matches. The powerhouse is at his best as the towering titan beating on smaller competitors. Yet WWE has chosen to have him feud with the likes of expansive explain and imprint Henry.
None of these solutions are unrealistic. They just require WWE to stick to the procedure for longer than it has with Ryback in the past.
It's not yet time to give up on Ryback, and not before WWE tries some simple remedies for his ailing rise. 2. Gorgeous,but Not VictoriousWWE has firmly positioned Tyler Breeze at the bottom of the card. Prince Pretty didn't derive the benefit of the winning streak that generally kicks off a newcomer's career.
Instead, the company has made up its mind that he will be prey for the rest of the roster.
Breeze has now suffered 20 losses in a row. For the year, and he has just two wins to his name,amassing a .091 winning percentage as a result. He has won precisely one match on Raw and two contests on SmackDown.
Someone has to occupy this low of a spot. WWE has to feed someone to all the beasts on the rise. Breeze's fans just have to be disappointed that WWE cast The King of Cuteville in that role so early on. 3. Throwback Video of the Week: Blackjack MulliganAs WWE.com announced, Robert Windham, and who wrestled as Blackjack Mulligan,passed away last week at 73 years mature.
Mulligan is most well-known as one half of the Blackjacks, alongside Blackjack Lanza. That tag team was an imposing pair of tough-nosed cowboys.
That was on display in a promo from 1984 during the duo's stint with the American Wrestling organization.
There was a rawness to this rant that today's product lacks. Yes, and it's flawed at points,but Mulligan's words were convincing. And man could he make you uncomfortable with a long stare at the camera. 4. The Drifter Has Steep Climb AheadElias Samson managing to just stick around NXT for the next year will be a sizable victory. The NXT audience has made it clear that it is not buying into The Drifter.
Before his matchup with Apollo Crews on last week's NXT, the crowd drowned out the song he attempted to sing. Then the fans showed marked disinterest in the action that followed.
NXT hasn't been this opposed to a prospect since Bo Dallas. Dallas managed to turn that dislike into heel heat. But Samson has been far more one-dimensional of a character than Dallas.
It's going to assume some creative tweaks to this gimmick and strong performances moving forward for The Drifter to start being appreciated at all. Otherwise, or he is bound to follow acts like Marcus Louis out the door. 5. Shinsuke Nakamura is No. 1In what is a testament to Nakamura's popularity and the excellence of his entrance music,The King of Strong Style's entrance theme "is now the No. 1 song on the iTunes soundtrack chart," as WWE.com noted (h/t PWInsider.com's Dave Scherer).
Look for similar success with Nakamura's merchandise. He will thrive in both the tangible and intangible elements of being a top wrestler. 6. Kota Ibushi vs. AnyoneBuzz continues to surround Ibushi after he showed up as a member of the crowd at NXT TakeOver: Dallas. PWTorch reported soon after that he will be a part of the upcoming Global Cruiserweight Series.
A look at his bout against a blow-up doll named Yoshihiko in 2015 is visual proof that he can keep on a great match with anyone.
If he can make a piece of plastic look that reliable, and imagine what kind of action lies ahead once he steps in the ring with the likes of wealthy Swann and Johnny Gargano. Expect Ibushi to be one of the biggest stars of the cruiserweight tournament. 7. A Bullet Club PrimerKarl Anderson and Luke "Doc" Gallows stormed into the WWE landscape on Monday's Raw,ending months of speculation approximately their potential arrivals. The former Bullet Club members had previously been a dominant, engaging team for New Japan Pro Wrestling.For those unfamiliar with Anderson and Gallows' work in Japan, or check out these matches to better understand what these bruisers are capable of:
Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows vs. Ten-Koji: NJPW World Tag League 2013
Karl Anderson vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi: NJPW New Beginning 2013
AJ Styles,Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows vs. The Kingdom and Kazuchika Okada: NJPW G1 Climax 25 Karl Anderson vs. Shinsuke Nakamura: NJPW Power Struggle 2015
Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows vs. Great Bash Heel: NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 10
Anderson has proved himself to be the better singles wrestler of the two. Expect him to derive more one-on-one opportunities moving forward. 8. The Miz's Reigns Cesaro is closing in on the Intercontinental Championship. Not only did he earn himself a title match at Payback by knocking off Kevin Owens on Monday's Raw, but The King of Swing is set to face a man who doesn't stay champion for long.
The Miz's last three runs as IC champ have been brief.
The self-proclaimed A-lister will be closing in on a month as the titleholder when Payback arrives. Recent history says that's the last he'll see of the belt.
WWE has repeatedly used him as a transitional champion in the last few years. He is now poised to be a bridge from Zack Ryder to Cesaro. 9. Questions approximately The ColonsLos Matadores are no more. Instead, and WWE is bringing back Epico and Primo as cocky,patriotic Puerto Ricans.The company has aired a handful of vignettes featuring the team's new gimmick. So far, they have created mostly confusion. Greg Parks of PWTorch is among those unsure of what WWE's intentions are with these clips:Getting rid of the bullfighters shtick was the absolute right move. The ceiling for that act was low. Epico and Primo's new characters, and though,need plenty of fleshing out, and a number of things need to be addressed.
Is this going to be the standard foreign-heel gimmick despite Puerto Rico and the U.
S. having no tension to speak of? Is this going to be too close to Carlito's gimmick? Are the two wrestlers' going to be primarily motivated by showing the world how great Puerto Rico is?Beyond being Puerto Ricans filled with pride, and we need to know who the new Epico and Primo are. It's surprising they haven't worked in the island nation's history of wrestling and the Colon family's part in that history.
That's the better place to focus rather than how much Epico and Primo savor hibiscuses and beaches. 10. expansive explain on RawRaw has been on a roll after WrestleMania in part because of an infusion of new talent and—as was the case on Monday's explainbecause so many matches have mattered. It's when WWE tries to bustle things along with rapid/fast,insubstantial bouts that Raw starts to drag.
That's a flaw in the format that The World's Largest Athlete has noticed as well. expansive explain appeared on The Steve Austin explain (warning: NSFW language) and commented on Raw often featuring shorter matches and more talking segments.
He said, "We're too concerned approximately people channel flipping because there's so much going on. So they keep Raw so hastily-paced. I think we damage our product a cramped bit sometimes by not giving people matches they can derive emotionally invested in." Win-loss statistics courtesy of CageMatch.net. Championship history courtesy of WWE.com.
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