Curt Hawkins has broken the mold for entertaining enhancement talent in WWE

Let’s face the facts, Curt Hawkins is quickly becoming one of the reasons why you watch WWE Raw.

At the end of the day, WWE labels itself “sports entertainment” for a reason. As important as in-ring skills are, the ability to entertain an audience is also a crucial component of any successful Superstar.

Furthermore, everyone in the company has their role, and for every main event player like AJ Styles or Seth Rollins, there are just as many enhancement talents, or in other words, wrestlers whose job it is to make their opponent look as good.

Some Superstars are utilized as enhancement talent when they shouldn’t be (i.e. Chad Gable and Tye Dillinger) while others are simply destined to remain in their losing ways forever. Curt Hawkins is a prime example of the latter, yet he has managed to become one of Raw’s most enjoyable acts over the past two years.

Admittedly, I had higher hopes for Hawkins upon his re-debut in WWE back in late 2016. However, it should have been clear from the get-go that he was merely being brought back for the Brand Split and to fill out the small SmackDown Live roster.

There were never any plans to push him, which was made apparent when he lost to then-Intercontinental champion Dolph Ziggler in a matter of seconds on a November 2016 episode of SmackDown. His sole televised victory came against Apollo Crews soon after, but aside from that, Hawkins was relegated to an enhancement role.

That was essentially the same story of his previous stint in WWE, where he was positioned as a lackey for Edge throughout 2008 before sporadically appearing on WWE TV in the years that followed, so it was probably misguided of fans to expect anything different this time around.

It wasn’t until he arrived on Raw in the 2017 Superstar Shake-up that Hawkins began to make mention of his lengthy losing streak. Instead of telling his opponents to “face the facts,” his new gimmick basically became him calling out an individual from the back and losing in decisive fashion.

Of course, that was nothing new and has been done for decades in wrestling, but Hawkins made it a full-time gig from that point forward. His lengthy losing streak became a permanent part of his character and thus fans were excited to see who he would lose to next.

It should be noted that Hawkins is more responsible for making “The Streak” what it is today than WWE, considering he isn’t on TV all that often yet he furthers his own storyline on Twitter at live events.

On the June 4 edition of Raw, Hawkins’ impressive string of losses took a twist when he offered free tacos to everyone in attendance if he were to win his match that night against “James Harden.” Sadly for the folks in Houston, Hawkins lost following interference from the newly-appointed “constable” of Raw, Baron Corbin.

Granted, it was only one night, but it certainly seemed to serve as a way to turn Hawkins face. Everyone loves an underdog, so you had to know him embracing the audience was inevitable before he inevitably scores his first big victory in almost two years.

Where and when that win will come remains unknown, but Corbin be the one who Hawkins pins for the three count would surely be fitting after what we witnessed last Monday night.

Either way, Curt Hawkins should be commended for his efforts over the past year as an amusing staple of the Raw brand. He is similar to his old tag team partner Zack Ryder in that he made the most of what he was (or wasn’t) given and is more of a notable name now than he has ever been before.

Enhancement talent (or “jobbers,” if you will) are rarely ever considered to be an important part of a wrestling show by the masses, when in reality, not many wrestlers would be over without them. Likewise, Raw hasn’t been in the best place lately, yet Hawkins has been one to watch for a while.

Next: Money in the Bank Profile: Samoa Joe

Regardless of whether he has his hand raised or he’s looking up at the lights, Hawkins’ latest stint with WWE can’t be seen as anything other than a win for how he’s been able to break the mold as a compelling enhancement competitor.