WWE: The Forgotten Sons are getting a second chance

Wesley Blake and Steve Cutler returned to WWE television on Friday. This is an opportunity to shed themselves of a hateful gimmick and problematic partner.

It must suck to be forgotten, but that is exactly what occurred with Wesley Blake and Steve Cutler. The two members of the Forgotten Sons were caught up in Jaxson Ryker’s heat which pulled all three men from television. Blake and Cutler appeared on Friday backing up Baron Corbin, in a role that can help them get beyond the controversy surrounding their former partner. For some, the verdict is still out but they should get a fair shot at rebuilding themselves without the stench that was Ryker and the Forgotten Sons.

Corbin is the next man involved in the troublesome storyline including Buddy Murphy and the Mysterio family. In their previous matchup, the numbers game allowed Murphy to pick up a win. In classic WWE fashion, 50-50 booking came into play on SmackDown as Corbin leveraged Blake and Cutler to help him get a win over Murphy. This will certainly result in a six-man tag soon, and multiple iterations of it in the weeks that follow.

For Blake and Cutler, this is the opportunity they have been waiting for since this summer. Ryker’s racist and insensitive social media posts led to the entire team being pulled from TV. Many backstage believed that Blake and Cutler were unfortunately caught up in the matter. That is unfortunate to see, especially in a place like the WWE where one misstep can ruin a wrestler’s entire tenure with the promotion. This should be a strong pairing since Corbin is frequently featured on SmackDown and given plenty of opportunities in front of the camera.

Hopefully, this also means that Blake and Cutler have completely divorced themselves from the Forgotten Sons gimmick. While Ryker was the tipping point that caused their troubles, that gimmick itself was also highly problematic. The group was using the same terminology and looks that have become controversial today as dangerous alt-right groups like the Proud Boys continue to build their footholds in the United States. WWE frequently looks to real life for new characters and storylines, but the Forgotten Sons were one that should not have been touched due to the real-life animus those groups are propagating every day.

Wesley Blake and Steve Cutler took the right steps to distance themselves from Jaxson Ryker earlier this year. Their momentum was halted, and it seemed like their jobs were in danger. Black and Cutler are back on television with a fresh opportunity in front of them. Let us see if they rise to the occasion to show that they are not only good performers, but that Ryker was the only one worth really forgetting in the Forgotten Sons.