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With WWE finally accepting that the two Bobbys on its RAW roster needed adjustment, it's great to see wrestlers gain the opportunity to revert to their best abilities. Bobby Lashley's heel turn will revitalize his fledgeling career, as he takes no prisoners and gives no f***s.
Meanwhile, it seems Bobby Roode is slowly on his way to turning heel and that too by taking out the likeable Chad Gable. Roode's always been better as the heel and that too a narcissist who can't take having others outshine his glorious aura. It'll be a great reset that many fans have been waiting for.
Yet, there are many more wrestlers in need of desperate rehabilitation. Some of them either require simple turns or great character tweaks to bring back a piece of them that WWE could take to better advantage. It just seems like the main roster management has no knowledge on how to deal with a few of their best workers across the board. That disease is fast spreading to other parts of WWE as well.
So let's see which five stars are in need of a makeover and can look to their past for inspiration.
5. His Name is Jon Moxley
That Dean Ambrose heel turn is imminent if you can even call it that. WWE has never done wrong by the SHIELD story, though they have by Roman Reigns. So there's hope they realize that Ambrose doesn't need to outright betray his brothers to cause friction within them.
Secondly, despite getting the nuances right, the feeling is WWE has only done so in an accident thanks to the efforts of the three men, including Reigns. If it were up to WWE, they'd take these complex characters and mould them into cardboard cutouts like they're on the verge of doing with the Charlotte-Lynch saga.
If that is the case then Dean will become nothing more than another hard-hitting ruthless villain who sneaks into victory or takes the easy route on occasion. Last week they made a well-protected prospect like Drew look neutered in front of Strowman, what chance does Ambrose have?
This is especially considering that Dean has an amazing heel persona of old, one seen in the early days of his WWE career from the indies. The Jon Moxley psychopath is brilliant and mesmerizing. Dean has shown shades of him recently, but there's no doubt WWE might mess it up. They did it before when they took that version and turned it into the cooky Lunatic fringe.
It quickly turned a white-hot face like Amrbose into a loser generating apathy from the WWE Universe.
4. The Uso Penitentiary is On Lockdown
Where are the Usos?
Since that fan mandated the Usos have fallen far down the ladder. Last year they were on a high after an unbelievable reinvention, but the team has seen no real action since losing the title are Wrestlemania.
Sure the Usos accomplished their goal of making it on the main card, but there's a lot more the twins can do in the WWE. Maybe what they need is a brand change rather than a character reinvention. Yet even when visible the current face version of the hard-hitting Usos seemed more like pandering to viewers.
They were at that snarky comedy phase that New Day first had to adjust to after going from heel to face in their run, years ago. Hopefully, the Usos can find their footing and re-open their penitentiary. They're a brilliant team and could do a lot more with the changed and buzzing Smackdown scene then tackle different elements on RAW.
3. Make Nakamura CHAOS Again!
At one point after his heel turn and ruthless beatdown on AJ Styles, it seemed Shinsuke Nakamura might go to a place that made him famous in New Japan. Vicious attacks and true strong style could be in order, especially with AJ Styles there to segue him into it on American shores.
Sadly none of that happened, instead, WWE typically fixated on the one silly element of the proceedings. Since it's about the entertainment in the company, Nakamura's low blow action caught on as a thing, while he remained a heel version of his silly self. For some reason, even with all the wild characters through their history, WWE just understand eccentricity.
This has turned Nakamura into somewhat of a creep, adding to it the usual foreign heel trope with the United States championship around his waist. To be honest, Nakamura hasn't been used to his true potential by either WWE or New Japan since his early CHAOS days. It's a sad fact that is also diminishing the in-ring legacy of a man known to give it his all when it's justly honoured to him back.
2. Some Streaks Weren't Meant To Be Broken
Speaking of wasted Japanese superstars. My god, what have they done to Asuka. She is at this point seeming like beyond redemption unless WWE can pull off a booking miracle. The best bet set her on a path against Becky Lynch at Wrestlemania and pull off the superb double turn. Fans will get their Becky back while Asuka can go back to being the badass heel that she was in NXT.
Asuka's streak was never going to last, that no one can deny. There were better ways to follow through on it though. She should have been mad at Charlotte pulling off the impossible. None of that happened, instead of in its blinded faux liberalism, the company decided to have one woman elevate the other and cry and hug it out in the ring.
Would WWE do such a thing with men? Especially characters of such nature. What WWE doesn't need are women uplifting women to sell an agenda but real women like Asuka, to show the shades and dimensions of character in them. Those dimensions shine through in NXT, where Asuka fought hard and fast but also took advantage
We need that Asuka back because that's the Asuka no one is ready for.
1. Will The Real Rock 'N' Rolla Please Stand Up
It's a real suspicious pattern when main roster management just can't get former NJPW stars right. Or maybe that's why New Japan has been better for the better part of a decade. WWE's completely forgotten how to present it stars especially faces in a flattering light. Their also unfair and unjust when it comes to individuals with injury issues. You work your stars so much, what do you expect?
Nowhere is WWE's failure and importantly complacent evident than in Finn Balor. His Demon persona is so intriguing, that it's just that. It's cool facepaint that for some reason gives Balor an edge. Yet it's never really explained why he doesn't use the Demon often or the inherent psychology behind the character and the extra strength that comes from it.
If that were justified then maybe with Balor, WWE might not have to look to the perfection he was in New Japan. This is the man that invented the Bullet Club, on the back of an efficient heel run as the Real Rock 'N' Rolla. His unmatched charisma and cool heel style was a revelation.
Sure it's unique for Japanese audiences and not American ones, but there are elements especially the persona that Balor could channel into something better. They tried earlier this year, seemingly pairing Balor with his Good Brothers (Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson). Then something happened and the trio is adrift on separate brands.
The grinning version of Balor might be popular but he could be so much more with just a tweak. Though being honest rather than just leaning on an old persona, fans would love to see the Demon established in a fascinating story.
