Once upon a time, there was a pro wrestler who was given bright blue spandex tights and told to 'smile, no matter what' on his way and even in the ring. The announce team went on and on about his wrestling pedigree, and he racked up impressive wins but still, the WWE fans couldn't care less, and even voiced their displeasure with a chant of "Rocky Sucks".
That's right, the most popular wrestler in the history of, well, ever, started off as a total dud of a character. 3rd generation superstar Rocky Maivia failed to get over, but out of that failure, like a phoenix from the ashes rose The Rock.
Sometimes all a wrestler needs is a slight change in direction, or character, to get them to resonate with the tastes of an ever-fickle audience. Here are five wrestlers who need a new direction.
#1 Titus Worldwide
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Titus Worldwide does not work, not even in the limited capacity in which it was intended. Apollo Crews is a top-tier athlete who dazzled audiences in NXT until he made his main roster debut and kind of fizzled. Titus O'Neil has a strong platform outside of wrestling but his career in the ring probably peaked with the Prime Time Players, and Dana Brooke should probably head back to NXT for some more polish.
In short, Titus Worldwide does nothing for any of those involved and a new direction might be needed for the entire faction.
#2 Jason Jordan
Jason Jordan really doesn't need to be changed as a character, nor is his ring style lacking anything.
What he does need is to move away from the awful 'Kurt Angle is my father' storyline. The fans don't buy into it, and neither does Jordan. He and partner Chad Gable were much better as a unit in American Alpha, and we hope that's where Jordan ends up after he returns from injury.
#3 Zack Ryder
When he was the "Long Island Iced Z," Ryder had a lot of social media momentum and seemed to be on the verge of finally breaking out of the lower mid-card. However, after several false starts and a ridiculously brief Intercontinental title reign, the fans have stopped believing Ryder will ever be anything more than a jobber to the stars.
Ryder needs a new look, a new gimmick, and quite possibly a new partner as most of his success has come in the tag team division.
#4 Shinsuke Nakamura
Shinsuke Nakamura's heel turn doesn't seem to be working. Heels have to be able to truly work the crowd, which Nakamura is quite skilled at--as a babyface.
His limited command of the English language hinders his ability to really garner a lot of hatred from live audiences and given his charisma and exciting antics Nakamura would be better served working babyface.
#5 Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows
When Gallows and Anderson arrived in WWE, fans were hopeful the dynamic duo would wreak the kind of havoc they had overseas.
However, the WWE is a different place, and while you cannot fault the ring savvy of either gentleman they are lacking some of the over the top charisma that is needed to survive in this environment.
Gallows could always go back to being Festus...
There you have it; five wrestlers who need a new direction. Please leave your comments below the article and thanks for reading!