Last week I took some time to look at which superstars on the current roster could use some screen time from the company now that Raw is on the air for three hours. This week it’s the opposite. The following are those who continue to appear on my TV even though I groan every time their music hits.
Alberto Del Rio: When Del Rio first came out I was really impressed with his ring skills. Despite getting the “skip the mid-card” treatment, Del Rio really seemed to be able to hold his own in the main event. And as recently as the end of last year Del Rio was having great matches. His broken ring match with Cena at Vengeance last year was really good, and Del Rio was a part of the awesome Triple Threat Match at TLC in December (though, as always, Ricardo Rodriguez had the spot of the night for that match) But lately, no enthusiasm for the guy. Now the guy can produce a solid “meh” reaction with that. I’m not ready to throw the guy under the bus quite yet, because I would love to get excited about Del Rio again. Maybe we’re just one great feud away from that, but until that happens, I can’t muster the energy to care about Del Rio.
Brodus Clay: I would love to see a graph charting reactions to Brodus Clay since his re-debut. First a terrible reaction, amounting to “I can not believe that this is on my TV,” but then a slow rise over the next few weeks as the charm of a big guy dancing starts to take over. Finally by the end of his first month a huge pop, and singing along with that ridiculously catchy entrance music. But now, that uptake is on its way back down. Dancing Brodus is fun and all, but it’s gotten to the point where I’ve started to wonder, “Now what?” Every week I watch the same entrance followed by a squash match. Even a catchy song can only be entertaining for so long. I’m hoping that this thing with Damien Sandow leads to something as Clay’s character works well into his characters main complaints. But time will tell. (Can I also mention that the intro for Brodus has gotten way to long? The girls introduce Brodus, who then introduces the girls, so that they can come out, so that they can dance for him to come out. This guy is rivaling Undertaker in time it takes to get to the ring.)
The Great Khali: This may be the most universally agreed upon person on the list, but I cannot think of a single time I have ever really enjoyed a Khali segment. Not a comedy segment, and not anything that has ever happened in the ring. Even when Khali comes down for a battle royale, it just means at some point in the show, everything is going to come to a standstill so that everybody can push Khali out of the ring and the announcers can pretend that this is amazing strategy and doesn’t happen every single time.
Jerry Lawler: WWE has him listed as active talent so I get to complain about him. Not for his ring work though. Lawler continues to surprise me every time he enters the ring. But his work at the commentator’s table, where do I even start? From the fact that he is terrible at actually talking about the in ring action, to his blatant and hypocritical preferences to face wrestlers, to his selective deafness to crowds cheering “Lets Go Ziggler!” Almost every statement from the guy brings me something new to hate. And he’s the color commentator as well, which means that there are other guys much more qualified that are doing nothing more that sitting on their hands every week while Raw is on. (*cough chough* William Regal *cough*)
R-Truth: I actually don’t have any real hatred for R-Truth, but I have to say that Truth as a face just doesn’t work for me. Not when I’ve gotten a glimpse at things that could be with conspiracy, heel Truth. I honestly would accept a full-fledged mulligan on this one. Next week Truth can take out Kofi and announce that the conspiracy is back on. We can all just pretend that this face version of Crazy Truth never happened.
Rey Mysterio: Rey seems to have somehow successfully achieved and maintained a “main event” level status despite his injury record, something that is admittedly quite impressive. And I don’t mind saying that I can see why someone like Rey Mysterio could be popular. The first time I saw the 619 executed I found it to be an amazing and creative move that caught me completely off guard. But then I saw it again, and again, and again. More than any other move from any other wrestler, the 619 requires the most complex series of situations to unfold in a specific order for the move to be successful, How many times does somebody land on the rope like that? Not every single match, unless they are going against Rey. While this could be awesome at house shows where you have a new audience ever night, when you’re on TV week after week, this sort of thing can get quite old.
