I have a column for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review every Monday and Friday. Here’s an excerpt of today’s which looks at Neville, Mark Henry and others who are meant to lose on WWE TV:
Like any sports team or entertainment industry — WWE has role players.
Some talents have the role on WWE’s roster as being credible guys important enough for the more currently important person to beat. Think of it as taking one for the team to advance the overall score.
Neville, Mark Henry, R-Truth and even Zack Ryder fit into this category. All of these guys generate questions on social media whenever we see them on WWE programming for what’s a loss more times than not.
Talent putting other talent over is a necessity in professional wrestling to continue the developing and evolution of the roster. Not everybody can be a main event star.
Neville is the new and most popular star who fits this bill. For the Neville fans, I have to tell you he’s going to lose 15 out of 20 television matches. He’s been established as someone who physically is capable of doing anything in the ring. The fans, especially the kids, enjoy the comic book-like character he has developed. He’s credible to a large portion of the audience, so when a heel beats him it makes a statement and gets heat on that heel. It’s fine because fans will still cheer Neville with the hope of seeing him do his high-flying spots. This is also why non-televised live events are useful — let him win there. The local audience continues to support him and has positive memories of seeing him in person. Then, when television comes and he loses, again, it matters.
CLICK HERE for the good news for Neville, explaining Mark Henry, Zack Ryder and others in similar roles.
