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December 9th, 2019, 5:34 PM
#1
How Are They Doing?
Throughout 2019, we've seen a bunch of guys getting pushes to one degree or another. They looked on the verge of reaching the next level and becoming actual stars, but for one reason of another, they couldn't stick the landing. Was it an injury, not connecting with the crowd, poor booking decisions, or were they just in over their heads and not cut out for that spot?
Mustafa Ali
A guy with allot of potential. It seems like he's so close to breaking through, but just can't quite make it. Did he just miss his window due to injury or is there still time to grab that brass ring? He still seems like a fan favorite so I'm not writing him off just yet.
Ricochet
This seemed like a no-brainer. Just strap on the rocket pack and push him to the moon. It seemed like he was going to win the US title from AJ and go on a long reign. That didn't happen. In the ensuing feud, Ricochet got beat. Allot. As was seen on this past week's RAW, he's still getting beat. For whatever reason, the shine is off the apple and his push is gone. What happened?
Eric Rowan
Eric was featured in one of the most high profile storylines of 2019. The "Who Tried to Kill Roman Reigns?" saga unfolded over the course of the summer, culminating in Rowan being revealed as the perpetrator. After working with two big stars in Roman and Daniel Bryan, Rowan seemed positioned to be a big player following the Draft. Since then, he's barely been used, and has been talking to an as yet unseen creature in a cage he's been carrying around. What's the end game for this, and was Rowan's push a one and done?
Aleister Black
His debut on the main roster was highly anticipated. However, after WrestleMania, Black retreated to a darkened room and delivered cryptic promos while asking for someone to "pick a fight with me". Meanwhile, the rest of the roster said, "Nah, bro, we're fine" and promptly ignored him. At long last, Buddy Murphy has stepped up to Knock on Aleister's door and we're finally going to get a real feud. Considering 2019 has been fairly uneventful for Black, let's hope that 2020 will be a big year for him.
Chad Gable
Probably the guy who got the longest sustained push out of the ones I've listed, Gable managed to win fans over with his incredible wrestling ability during the KOTR tournament. Unfortunately, WWE went all in with him "owning" the short jokes Baron Corbin leveled at him and now Gable has become the joke. This gimmick is straight out of 1993 and may have completely killed all the work that was put into building Gable over the summer. I don't know if he can come back from this or not.
Is there anyone else who looked promising this year, but WWE dropped the ball with? I apologize for not including any women in this list, but I could probably make one just for them.
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December 9th, 2019, 6:08 PM
#2
Ali-Blessing in disguise that he was hurt because honestly I didn't see him doing jack shit beyond being filler for a match that always has the 1 filler guy. Kofi Kingston better be sending Ali more than Booty O's and pancakes for how Kofi's 2019 turned out. I don't think Ali was ever going to get a real big push and he's a young talent, plenty of time.
Ricochet-See the last 7 words of my thoughts on Ali. He definitely needs to get some wins but his style is so magical. Another guy who probably will feel the sting by Vince for bigger guys but Riochet IMO is a game changer like AJ Styles and Rey Misterio. Nobody moves like Ricochet in the WWE that's for damn sure.
Black-A guy who comes up while still in NXT and sits in a room for 8 months lol. I think he's another example of don't randomly call a dude up if you have no idea what you're going to do especially one of your top tier players in NXT.
Gable-Gable's "sustained push" was a long ass lame feud with Corbin and now he's probably wishing Elias didn't get hurt and that half of the bracket altered because he'd still be Chad Gable and not Zack Efron and John Cena's little brother playing dress up.
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December 10th, 2019, 1:01 PM
#3
Aleister Black feels like the one who is going to ultimately rise to the top over this group. Ricochet feels like a can't-miss but it does seem to take a hit when he talks and the fact they try to hammer home the point he's like a superhero. Andrade (and now after Monday) Humberto need to be added to the mix. Prior to Monday, Andrade was the obvious choice for me, but they seem to indicate they want to see mileage they can get out of Humberto.
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December 10th, 2019, 1:02 PM
#4
Ali feels like he's been treading water for awhile. He came to SD hot and dropped right into the main event, then the injury screwed things up, and he's become a fairly solid fixture still rubbing elbows with top guys but not really looking like he's on the same lvel like when he beat Bryan. But he's young and I think once there's an opportunity, they'll do more with him. The breaking barriers/stereotypes stuff is good PR for WWE, too, so I could see them raising his status in part just to make themselves look good in addition to the actual message he's representing. I think we'll see an IC title reign first half of 2020 and then maybe some main event level stuff later in the year.
Ricochet has pointed out himself that he's got the best win record on RAW so he's hardly doing pporly. He's also regularly featured and generally hovering high on the card. Like Ali, Opportunities have to become available and they've got things tying up the top of the card but I think next year could be big for him, too. US Title run again, main event dabbling, I think it'll happen. Another young guy early on just getting some legs before they really invest.
Rowan's stuff on SD did well to re-establish him after looking fairly jobberish in the Family and the silly Bludgeon Bros. gimmick. He comes to RAW looking for formidable and now they're doing something to add layers to the character so he's not just another big man. I'm digging it. The mystery of the cage is a good hook and it adds depth to his character that he's got "somebody" he's protecting and loves in there, whatever it may be. The reveal might be a letdown or it might really give Rowan something that keeps him itneresting and that can be worked into feuds once he moves on from no-name jobbers.
Black's door promos may have dragged on a bit too long and seemed a bit nonsensical at times given he's on a roster full of professional fighters and there was goddang KOTR and Survivor Series, plenty of fights to be picked, but it did well to establish his character and give it direction, made his actual matches seem a bit more like special occasions, and made it feel like a big deal when a guy actually knocked on the door. Hasn't hurt his overness at all, either. best approach is to have the knockers gradually be bigger names until you get a main event level dude picking a fight with him...which is an interesting twist as it'll be the main event asking him to step up, rather than him asking the main event if he can. I dig it.
Gable's new gimmick is still iffy. On the one hand, he's gotten a lot of spotlight from KOTR onward and he's become a regular fixture and it's made him a lot less generic but on the other hand...well, it's Shorty G and his outfit is goofy. I wouldn't say it's "killed all the work" or that he's got to "come back from this" as it's hardly stalled his momentum, quite the opposite really, he's been rolling on just fine, maybe even doing slightly better for it. My real concern is whether or not creative sticks with him longterm or if it's like a Mojo Rawley thing where they build up a dude's new look/character and then don't know what to do with him after. But I feel like he's similar to Ali/Ricochet where a midcard title is potential for 2020 though I can't see Shorty G main eventing, unlike the other two.
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December 10th, 2019, 1:34 PM
#5
World Champion
- Rep Power
- 3206665