The recent call-ups of Finn Balor, Bayley, Nia Jax and many more notable names has left WWE NXT void of top talent. With the obvious exceptions of Shinsuke Nakamura, Bobby Roode, Austin Aries and Samoa Joe, there is a large gap between talent.
But lest we forget that at the end of the day, NXT is still WWE's developmental program and always has been. As much as it has evolved into a brand of its own, touring all over the country and across the world, it is the place where up-and-coming athletes go to hone their craft and make a name for themselves in an attempt to one day land on WWE's main roster.
It is interesting to look at the landscapes of Raw and SmackDown Live and realise how much of the current roster consists of NXT alumni. Charlotte, Sasha Banks, Sami Zayn, Seth Rollins and Big E were all focal points of NXT programming years ago, and now they are ripping it up on their respective brands.
When you watch an episode of NXT from three or four years ago, you will notice that almost everyone featured is either on the main roster or is no longer with the company. Very few people have been kept down in developmental for various reasons, whether it be because they aren't progressing as quickly as others or they are always being overlooked for opportunities.
Tye Dillinger is among those elite few.
Long before Dillinger arrived on NXT in 2013, he was known to a small portion of the WWE Universe as Gavin Spears, or at least to anyone who watched WWE's version of ECW. He was a part of the brand's “new talent initiative” in late 2008. However, he was on the losing end of the three matches he had in the Land of Extreme and was released the following January.
He resurfaced years later in NXT as Tye Dillinger, but was once again utilised as an enhancement talent. Dillinger has done the job for everyone who has come through the black-and-yellow including Shinsuke Nakamura, Sami Zayn, Austin Aries and Finn Balor.
From the get-go, I knew he had the potential to be something special because of his natural in-ring ability. However, he suffered from a lack of charisma and personality, and pairing him with Jason Jordan in 2014 was seemingly the answer. Well, it wasn't, and the team found very little success before parting ways at the onset of 2015. They simply weren't a good fit together, but breaking them up was the best thing that could have happened to either of them.
While Jordan joined forces with Chad Gable and formed the ever-entertaining American Alpha tag team, Dillinger adopted a gimmick where he referred to himself as a perfect ten. It didn't take long for the character to catch on with the faithful at Full Sail University, and soon the craze spread all over the globe.
Dillinger created his own signs that said “10” on them as well as his own t-shirts, and despite the raucous reactions he received every time he appeared (often in a losing effort), officials refused to do anything of note with him.
Granted, he picked up the occasional win over Solomon Crowe and Alex Riley (both of whom have since been wished the best in their future endeavors by WWE), but it was merely so he could have a shred of credibility before losing to a debuting star (i.e. Apollo Crews at TakeOver: Brooklyn or Andrade “Cien” Almas at TakeOver: The End).
Only just recently has he begun to stack up a consistent string of victories. His defeat of Wesley Blake in Brooklyn over the summer could have easily been a one-off, but his subsequent victories against Buddy Murphy and Angelo Dawkins proved the powers that be might have something meaningful in mind for him after all.
Of course, officials should have pulled the trigger on him a year ago, but he remains one of the most popular fixtures on NXT, and thus it's better late than never for him to be prominently pushed.
After beating Dawkins on the Sep. 28 edition of NXT, he was confronted by Bobby Roode, who inquired about being his partner in the second annual Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. Dillinger accepted the proposition, and now the two find themselves as allies in the prestigious tournament.
While I am not exactly sure where it is leading to, I am extremely excited to find out. Given that they are both beloved by the fans, they should be a fun tandem, not to mention that their collective in-ring abilities will make them a force to reckoned with.
If they don't go too far in the tourney and break up at some point before TakeOver, they would be the perfect opponents considering the event will emanate from Toronto. The match would be exceptional and the crowd would eat it up.
Either way, Dillinger has solid direction for the first time in his career. Hopefully he winds up on either Raw or SmackDown Live eventually, as he is definitely deserving of the honor after all he has done for NXT and those he has worked with over the years.
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