What Should WWE Creative Do With Tye Dillinger?
Tye Dillinger has gotten over the phrase “ten,” and it’s time for WWE Creative to do more with the Canadian athlete.
There are terms like “role player” that fit well within professional sports. Think of the Sixth Man in basketball or the left-handed reliever in baseball; these players may not be stars – but they are vital to the overall success of a team. That is Tye Dillinger within the WWE. The 17-year veteran is an intriguing member of the WWE roster and even though there’s a need for “good hands” in professional wrestling, the WWE could be getting much more out of Dillinger if he were used differently.
NXT is the breeding ground for what many believe is the next generation of WWE talent. There are a number of names who are in that brand who are expected to carry the organization into the future. But at the same time, there are some individuals that thrive in NXT, but may not have a true place on the main roster. That’s one way to sum up Dillinger’s presence on the main roster. Since moving up during the 2017 Royal Rumble, his career has stalled out as a mid-carder without any real opportunity to move forward; regardless of flashes of excellence and being over with the crowd.
Take his match against Shinsuke Nakamura heading into Extreme Rules. He and Nakamura put on an excellent, standalone match that showed he had the ability to tell a story and deliver a compelling contest in his own style, when paired with more prominent names on the roster. But that’s been the only moment that Dillinger has stood out on the SmackDown roster. Regardless of the cheers that come when his music hits or the chants of “ten” every time someone falls out of the ring; Dillinger cannot get out of the starting blocks when it comes to a creative angle.
But that doesn’t mean there isn’t opportunity within the SmackDown roster. Take both Andrade Almas and Sanity. Tye has history with both Almas and Eric Young; two individuals who are in need of standout feuds as they’ve just made the move from NXT to the main roster. WWE Creative is consistently showing that they are struggling to present these NXT wrestlers to the main roster with adequate feuds that tell a story; Dillinger can help both of these names with that requirement at this time.
He also has value higher up the card. As mentioned, Dillinger and Nakamura had a strong match together a few weeks ago. As Nakamura moves forward to a feud with Jeff Hardy, it would be interesting to insert Dillinger into that feud and have all three men play off of each other to compete for the US Title. It would be hard to expect Dillinger to go over either man, but there would be a layer of surprise that would be welcomed by the WWE fan base if they did give him an unexpected win.
Every individual within NXT shouldn’t be expected to rise to the top if and when they make a move to the main roster. But that doesn’t mean they do not have some value that can be turned into entertainment on either Raw or SmackDown. Tye Dillinger is one of those competitors and there are better options for him with WWE Creative than what he is given at this time.