The rebirth of Alex Riley?

[youreSAWFT]

The guy has the body and he can talk as we saw on NXT. I feel like he may have the goods. Hes thankfully gotten away from the god awful varsity gimmick but i dont think it did permanent damage to him. Do you think he could do anything great or his he forever midcard?

[Ultra Mantis]

He's a bit shit.

[loopydate]

Who is it that hates Riley with a passion? I know there's somebody here who absolutely reviles him.

[Wishbone]

He did sorta impress me on NXT this last week. He's not face of the company material or anything but I wouldn't be opposed to seeing him given a second chance. He seems to have improved since his varsity gimmick days, and he seems to legit love wrestling and its fans. I say give him a shot again in NXT and see where it goes. Hell, we all forget that the Rock was basically a piece of trash when he debuted too.

[Bad News Gertner]

He really botches a lot of stuff. It's too bad because his theme is amazing and he has a lot of energy.

[XL]

I'm hoping he's been training the whole time he's been commentating down in NXT. He's got a good look, a decent promo, but like BNG said, he was prone to some real stupid shit in the ring.

[youreSAWFT]

Well its been two years and hopefully he has been training and getting better i feel like he really does have a passion for the business which is something i feel a lot of wrestlers have to force.

[ron the dial]

i really enjoyed his promo from this week, but he still looks like garbage in the ring. i'll give him a chance moving forward, but the first match back didn't exactly change my opinion of him.

[#1-norm-fan]

I haven't watched his NXT promo yet but he was abysmal in every way previously. He wrestled like an uncoordinated guy who didn't have the ability to think properly while he was in the ring. Constantly botching things mentally and physically. Also his promo were forced and uncomfortable. He's got a good "sports entertainer" look to him though so I'd like to hope he somehow figured out the rest in the past couple years.

[Fignuts]

He always struck me as the most generic of generic dudes. Like someone you'd see on a poster for Anytime Fitness, then completely forget the moment you turned away.

[Emperor Smeat]

Wouldn't expect anything besides him acting as mini-fodder for Owens bully character.

He's been decent since the feud with Owens started but nothing special that would hint at a rebirth or anything long term like what happened when Regal was announcing at NXT.

[Dark One]

Who is it that hates Riley with a passion? I know there's somebody here who absolutely reviles him.

Probably me. I've railed on him a few times for just not shutting the fuck up and letting matches breathe on commentary.

Despite that...
Riley's promo this week was really good. I couldn't stand him at the desk most of the time, but it's cool to see a dude keep fighting to get to do what he loves to do, and he seemed legitimately overwhelmed afterwards. Good for him.


It was a good promo. He's probably practiced it in front of the mirror for like a year now, but he conveyed a lot of passion and emotion and got me invested in this mini-storyline, so, that's better than most of the rest of either roster right now.

Even if he was shit before and isn't anything special now, I can get behind a guy who hasn't given up on his dream and was legitimately emotional about the fan support. I don't know that it will ever translate past NXT because most of the audience probably has no idea who he is, although with a few promos like the one this week on main roster TV there's a chance they could get invested.

Yeah, the match with CJ Parker wasn't mind-blowing or anything, but it's been years since the guy has had a match in front of a TV crowd. He didn't kill anybody and seemed okay enough.

I don't think he'll be world champion or ever even show up on Raw/SD again, but I'm really happy the guy got to have a moment like he did this week.

[Shadrick]

His 2 promos on NXT gave me goosebumps this week, and his in-ring skills seemed improved from years ago.

Also, I fuckin' love the blockbuster, although maybe not as a finisher, but fuck it, why not when Dean Ambrose is stuck with a generic DDT.

link?

[XL]

Obligatory Post
Have you tried the WWE Network (only Nine Ninty-Nine)?

[Mr. Nerfect]

Alex Riley has got a good connection with crowds. That's a valuable asset to any promotion. He just needs to constantly work at getting better.

[KIRA]

He looks quite a bit older than he really is other than that he seems ok he has improved from the last time he was in the ring and its been said but he can talk.

[Nicky Fives]

Haven't watched last week's NXT yet, but never was a fan in the past.....seems more suited to keep him in NXT as the "veteran" still trying to make his name a la Tyson Kidd/Justin Gabriel in 2013/2014