Why the Smart Athletic Friends Will Not Succeed as a Stable in WWE
Two months ago, a stable featuring Big E, Kofi Kingston, and Xavier Woods was teased on an episode of Raw. They seemed like they were heading in the direction of a heel group for the following 10-14 days following that, but suddenly disappeared off of TV for reasons that were never specified.
For the past three weeks at house shows, the trio has been working together. They’ve been alternating as babyfaces and heels at the events. Recently, however, they have been acting as the former.
Then at this past Friday’s SmackDown, the trio appeared in a battle royal to face Dolph Ziggler for the WWE Intercontinental Championship later in the night. None of them would end up winning, but Big E, Kingston, and Woods all worked together, wore matching attire, and worked as babyfaces. It was their second “debut” together on the main roster, but never had any mention from the announcers. Whenever they appear on TV together next, it will be interesting to see how they are discussed on the broadcast.
A stable name for this team was also never made note of. Some thought they would have a name that made reference to the Nation of Domination from the late 1990’s, but Woods shot that down a few times. He would post a photo yesterday from the most recent WWE live event that may have gave away the group’s name. Here’s the caption first.
"Smart Athletic Friends @ #WweAtlanticCity this combination is Speed Force… @wwebige – Kofi Kingston"
Putting these three Superstars together gives them something to do after floating in the low-card (Big E and Kingston) or not appearing on TV at all (Woods). The question is will they succeed?
Judging by the characters they we have seen them portray in the past and how they may be portrayed in the future, the odds of them doing well are not good.
Big E saw his first real push at the end of 2013, when he feuded with Curtis Axel for the IC Title and defeated him for it on Raw and again at the Survivor Series pay-per-view. He had some momentum and decent crowd reaction going for him in the following few months, but his flaws were very evident.
The former NXT Champion’s speaking skills on the microphone are non-existent. He barely, if ever, cut an in-ring promo during his championship reign and therefore failed to connect with the audience. That led to an almost silent crowd response on every Raw (editing done for SmackDown made it sound like the crowd loved him).
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Big E’s character was also very bland. Whether that was his fault due to his lack of charisma or WWE creative’s is something we won’t ever know, but he never had any type of growth as an entertainer.
Kofi Kingston has had a decent WWE career. He held the IC Title four times, the WWE United States Championship three times, and has had three different runs with the tag team titles. His character as a happy-go-lucky babyface has stalled for awhile now, however, and it has left him with nothing of significance to do on TV for a long time. Like Big E, Kingston’s lack of charisma has hurt him.
Xavier Woods was transitioned horribly into the WWE last year after aligning with R-Truth as a babyface and feuding with Tons of Funk. Upon arrival, it cemented the former TNA star as a low-card comedy performer and he has not recovered. The only thing of significance that he has done this year was jobbing in a feud with Rusev, which the Bulgarian predictably crushed him in its culmination.
You would think WWE would lean towards making these stars heels then based on their recent history. The WWE Universe also reacts to them as the low-card performers that they have been portrayed as with no crowd reaction, so why not make the character change?
Making this trio bad guys would make them interesting again. While there is a lack of face tag teams at the moment, turning these guys heel would open up the chance for fresh match ups and feuds. It would also give Woods a chance to show his aggression that he displayed on the mic back in July in his promos.
The name “Smart Athletic Friends” also seems very geared towards the kids who watch WWE. The name is simple and not very creative. With the amount of teenagers and adults that still attend WWE shows, it wouldn’t be surprise if they didn’t get behind the name of a group of bland babyfaces. It may lead to no crowd response for these stars again.
If this stable of Big E, Kofi Kingston, and Xavier Woods does stay babyface long-term, there may not be a lot of room for them to succeed. Do you feel that they will make themselves somewhat relevant on TV?