What Is WWE Doing With Tye Dillinger?

Two things plague WWE right now more than anything: an inability of talent to work their way up the roster and call-ups from NXT without a plan. If there is a plan at all, it is to stay a certain course dictated by Vince, no deviations. The days of booking or writing according to fan reaction seem long gone. Those who are anointed get the ball (Roman Reigns) and everybody else remains in their spot on the card, like it or not (Neville, Austin Aries, all the Cruisers).

NXT is supposed to be the developmental territory where the stars of the future are either made or found and groomed. It’s been a proving ground where a plethora of workers on the current roster got over and earned a spot on either RAW or Smackdown. Attract attention, make it to the promised land; that was the formula – the idea of it anyway. So many were brought up and hit a wall, whether it was Vince, the writer’s room, gimmick tampering, or lazy booking.

You can point to anybody, some who up and left (ahem, Neville). They nevertheless got a chance – often to a huge reaction on their debut – and fizzled out or lack direction. One guy who symbolizes this conundrum best is Tye Dillinger. He cultivated his following down in NXT, got the “TEN” chants over, arrived at the Royal Rumble to heavy fanfare, works hard, has good matches, waited years for this opportunity and can’t seem to keep momentum.

Tye is always around, recently turning up in the US Title hunt, yet doesn’t look like WWE really has any idea what to do with him. Or so it seems.

Talent remains stuck in their spot in a particular role no matter what they do. It might sound like dirt-sheet pablum but it is the story you get from Damien Sandow and Adam Rose (and assumedly Aries and Neville when they tell all eventually) about the way Creative operates. They don’t write based on who is getting over; they look at someone and see them in a particular mold and they stay there.

Look at Zack Ryder. If WWE doesn’t have a caste system then he would be the biggest star on one of the brands. He isn’t regardless of how well he gets himself over.

But what mold do they see Tye Dillinger in? To put it one way, his creative direction is like having no direction. Deliberately or not, he is the hard working overcomer poised to break the glass ceiling that never does.

He was in a similar position in NXT initially. For all the talk of his following, he was merely another name on the roster until he locked up with Bobby Roode and Eric Young. Dillinger stood his ground in angles for once and blossomed. It was then he garnered enough buzz for a call-up.

After the Rumble it was square one again; for months, he had no storyline involvement and barely any on-air presence. If he is put in a match with AJ Styles, Baron Corbin, or both, his push isn’t meant to last. Tye is in the mix to make them look good, little else.

He is the proverbial House of Fire, a guy in the vane of Tito Santana who puts forth a good showing and gets the people on their feet and behind him. The W is rarely his and his duty is to excite crowds and feed his opponent, usually a heel. Corbin was the heel fed most recently; somebody sees something in him and wants him to be Smackdown’s top heel eventually (if he gets there is anyone’s guess).

This isn’t strictly WWE Creative’s new policy on booking, the practice dates back to the territory days. Everybody had their role. Draws weren’t the best wrestler per se (Hogan and Andre); good talkers (Roddy Piper) or wrestlers (Terry Funk in WWF) didn’t always win a belt because they didn’t need one.

Old-school logic like that went out of style in the 90’s. A little thing called The Attitude Era saw to its obsolescence.

Vince is bringing old ways back – due to his age and a long memory – whether they apply or not. He might be out of touch but he knows what he wants. Roman is the man, keep him strong, reactions be damned.

But where does that leave someone like Tye? Is he destined to live out the same niche as others before him? Not necessarily. Even if he fails to move up the card, there is potential to take his role to the fullest and prove he is the best at it. He can continue to have great matches, taking people to their limit, and still figure prominently somehow.

Picture Finlay a decade ago: a solid worker that broke in the greenhorns and won respect doing it. Or Chris Jericho – even better – who is always at the top of his game with or without a title or a continuous push. Tye could be a similar asset and consistently have a spot on the card week after week He might also flesh out his personality on the mic and get a talk-show segment, or hone his in-ring attributes and corner the market on a gimmick match (possibly both).

He could also find a partner and make an unexpected impact in the tag-team ranks. It’s predictable but there would be a championship in it for him. Cesaro has made the most of that kind of opportunity. And the Swiss Superman sure has some main events to boast about lately. Not all bad, is it?

Something could also cause the office to snap out of its rigid ethos and push Tye to the moon as the next Rock or Cena – or give him a run at a top title. Either way, he can still do toy commercials or appearances where he puts smiles on the faces of kids. Tye Dillinger has it in him to be an ambassador and a hero babyface.