Let's not sugarcoat it, American Alpha were flops. The WWE debuted them on Smackdown like they were just supposed to be the top team of the division. They did not connect with the audience well and Heath Slater & Rhyno just deserved to win the tag titles before them. But I have said that the WWE should go back to them and give them a proper push.
A proper push does not mean just dumping a title in someone's lap. There was no development for these guys to win the titles. Obviously, with Zack Ryder's injury, the WWE could not do what they originally would have liked to do. But doing a title change like this does not do American Alpha any favors. They need work. It reminds of Becky Lynch winning the Women's Championship a few months ago. She had no proper focus on her heading into that match to crown the inaugural titleholder. And she just won. Her fans will eat it up, but there are a lot of fans out there that might not care that much. Of the women that debuted from NXT in one night last year, Becky Lynch was the one pushed the least properly.
I am not saying the WWE should never have a title change come out of nowhere for someone that had no real build for the push. Normally, however, it should at least go to someone with prior credibility. Look at Sheamus winning the Royal Rumble out of nowhere a few years ago. There really was not much focus on Sheamus to legitimately win the big match, but he did. Of course, Sheamus had credibility from being a WWE Champion prior to that. I can also agree with creating some buzz by having someone win a title in their first match, like Paige did. The WWE obviously fumbled with Paige soon after, but that's another story.
Which category does American Alpha fall under? They didn't win the titles in their debut match to cause buzz. These are not guys that had credibility previously on the main roster to imply they have at least gotten a proper push before in front of the main audience. They are rookies that have not been pushed well and suddenly have the tag titles.
Some might think I'm crazy. Didn't I hear how some fans reacted when American Alpha got their moment? Yeah, and can you hear how all the other fans and potential viewers reacted to it? No, you can't. How about you stop and consider that? When certain wrestlers are in front of their hometown, they are likely to get a good reaction. When certain wrestlers are in front of smark crowds or wrestling-friendly crowds, they are likely to get a good reaction. Smackdown was in Chicago this week. I don't think I need to say anything else about that. No one should get fooled into thinking American Alpha are more over than they really are just because smarks like them. I pointed out in the past that these are the type of guys that wrestling fans would eat up. The WWE needs to put proper work in these guys to develop wider appeal.
How about the team that lost the tag titles? That would be The Wyatts. It was a very short title reign. Some people are unhappy about Bray Wyatt losing his title reign so fast. Face it, this title reign was more about furthering a storyline, not honoring Bray Wyatt. That should not be the issue for discussion here. What you should be talking about is whether the WWE pulled the trigger too soon on the title change. The feud between Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt has a lot of creative potential, but I have pointed out in the last few months that the WWE has made some questionable choices. Even if you can forgive or ignore all that, this recent development is questionable. The WWE just didn't get enough off the title reign, even just talking creatively. It isn't really about building a dominant stable, since that is obviously not what the story is about. It is about playing with the relationships within The Wyatts right now. They could have done more before having The Wyatts lose the tag titles.
No comments:
Post a Comment