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American Alpha and Apollo prove that in-ring skills aren't enough.

3K views 37 replies 37 participants last post by  God Movement 
#1 ·
Those guys are just incredible in the ring they are also pretty good looking dudes yet they get almost no reaction, i dont get why WWE dont give this guys some character development, i mean, when was the last time AA or Apollo cut a promo?? im not talking about "Talking Smack" im talking a real promo in the middle of the ring..why should i care for them? being a great wrestler just doesnt cut it anymore.
WWE must give this guys some develpment or they will be low-mid carders for life and its a shame since they are so good in the ring.
 
#2 ·
Re: American Alpha and Apollo prove that in-ring skills arent enough.

American Alpha are the full package they're just stuck in a terrible division, had they been on RAW from the start they would've been the most over team on the roster by now. They get 0 chance to cut any promos and aren't on TV every week and if they are they just get a squash match.

Crews is severely lacking charisma, mic skills and a character and was brought up way to early to the main roster. They had no plans for him and he also has suffered as a result.
 
#3 ·
Re: American Alpha and Apollo prove that in-ring skills arent enough.

Ring skills are the least important aspect of making a WWE Superstar. People don't watch Raw for fake wrasslin.
The 2 things you need is Look and Charisma. I won't include mic skills because it's all scripted anyway.

There is a reason this man is the no.1 contender and being positioned as the top heel in WWE:



And that this man is the top babyface and face of the company:




They look like superstars and people pay money to see them. People gravitate towards larger than life, always have
 
#9 ·
Re: American Alpha and Apollo prove that in-ring skills arent enough.

Ring skills are the least important aspect of making a WWE Superstar. People don't watch Raw for fake wrasslin.
The 2 things you need is Look and Charisma. I won't include mic skills because it's all scripted anyway.

There is a reason this man is the no.1 contender and being positioned as the top heel in WWE:



And that this man is the top babyface and face of the company:




They look like superstars and people pay money to see them. People gravitate towards larger than life, always have
The only thing larger than life about Jinder are his tits.
 
#22 ·
lol at the American Alpha excuse makers...

"they have charisma fellas! I swear! I seen it in pre-taped backstage segments in NXT!"
It's not really an excuse though, they were fine down in NXT and were hot as fuck when they came up to the main roster. The fans loved them.

The issue really has been terrible booking. The fact that they were left off shows for weeks at a time during their uso feud alone shows just how bad they've been booked. The SD live tag division has been probabaly the worst handled division since the draft. The usos are the only team that look semi decent and WWE almost fucked them used by also keeping them of TV For weeks at a time despite having a feud going with Alpha.

Crews on the other hand was boring down in NXT and hasn't shone on the main roster at all. He got called up way to soon and needed time to at least develop some form of a character or just give the fans a reason to care and he just hasn't. He's a great athlete but there's just nothing else too him.
 
#6 ·
Re: American Alpha and Apollo prove that in-ring skills arent enough.

You could say that to the majority of the roster.
 
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#18 ·
Re: American Alpha and Apollo prove that in-ring skills arent enough.

Why did you mention needing charisma and then post a picture of Reigns? He has none.
lol is this post a joke? Reigns has tons of charisma, way more than geeks like Balor or Wyatt
 
#16 · (Edited)
Re: American Alpha and Apollo prove that in-ring skills arent enough.

In-ring talent was never the most important thing and was never enough.

You have to have charisma or be part of an interesting story.

AJ Styles is probably the best wrestler in the business but he has the charisma to go along with it as well and he's so over with the fans. Now look at Apollo, he's a great athlete, great in the ring, can do flips, etc. but its just not enough. He doesn't have anything further to offer than that, at least not at the moment and he comes out to crickets.

Believe me, I don't want to see another Great Khali in the ring but wrestling skills is not what makes pro wrestling entertaining. It never was and never will be. Being a great wrestler in a scripted and choreographed match isn't enough. You need to connect with the fans. Maybe one guy in the roster could get away with being a pure wrestler gimmick and that's it but the whole roster can't be doing that - it'll get boring and in today's era we have many great wrestlers but not enough entertainers.
 
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#4 · (Edited)
Re: American Alpha and Apollo prove that in-ring skills arent enough.

When it comes down to it, the most important element is Charisma I believe. If a wrestler lacks charisma then nobody will be interested in them. Good in ring skills and mic skills are good but without charisma to back it up, they're more or less dead in the water. The same goes for looks as well. Doesn't matter if you're as small as Daniel Bryan or as big as Batista, if they have charisma then they will get noticed.
 
#12 ·
Re: American Alpha and Apollo prove that in-ring skills arent enough.

I feel like American Alpha were never really given a chance. Like someone else said they were stuck in a division that hardly got any real screen time so of course they weren't gonna be able to show that they have Charisma or give people are reason to care about them.
 
#13 ·
Re: American Alpha and Apollo prove that in-ring skills arent enough.

Apollo proves it. As far as AA goes, if it wasn't for the Slater/Rhyno experiment and the Usos were the first champions that AA got to have a good chase story with they'd be just fine right now.
 
#19 · (Edited)
Re: American Alpha and Apollo prove that in-ring skills arent enough.

Apollo proves it. As far as AA goes, if it wasn't for the Slater/Rhyno experiment and the Usos were the first champions that AA got to have a good chase story with they'd be just fine right now.
This. AA was pretty hot when they debuted on the MR. However, they were thrown into the clusterfuck SDL tag team division and it all went downhill from there.

Besides that, their booking was very confusing. Why not have the Heel Usos win the SDL straps first, then have AA chase them until WM? They were never treated like a big deal and have fallen off accordingly.
 
#15 ·
Re: American Alpha and Apollo prove that in-ring skills arent enough.

I dont think either of them are the full package when it comes to ring work... and they lack character, so of course they are going to be struggling on the main roster. AA on NXT got by with good booking, and a decent story on how they became a team, their in ring work is actually decent, but can always be better. Working with the revival made them look like a million bucks. As far as Apollo goes, I just dont see anything with him. He didn't work in NXT, and he's not going to work on the main roster.
 
#17 ·
Re: American Alpha and Apollo prove that in-ring skills arent enough.

I dont think either of them are the full package when it comes to ring work... and they lack character, so of course they are going to be struggling on the main roster. AA on NXT got by with good booking, and a decent story on how they became a team, their in ring work is actually decent, but can always be better. Working with the revival made them look like a million bucks. As far as Apollo goes, I just dont see anything with him. He didn't work in NXT, and he's not going to work on the main roster.
Apollo works if he gets a Roman like push. But only that, given his current character (or complete lack of it).
 
#21 ·
Re: American Alpha and Apollo prove that in-ring skills arent enough.

Well back in the attitude era, in-ring skills didn't matter as long as you had what it takes to tell a story in that ring, and have an attitude and charisma that will make the millions (and millions) of wrestling fans jump out of their seat to cheer (or boo you).

Nowadays, with wrestling being way less mainstream, and the majority in the crowds are from the IWC community, wrestling skills matter more than ever. However, alone they can't get you anywhere. You need to have something in your character that draws the fans attention, Kevin Owens has that, AJ Styles has that, the Shield guys should have that but they're lost in booking purgatory at the moment.

That's why a guy like Apollo Crews will never make it to more than a jobber, that's why guys like American Alpha who don't get me wrong are extremely talented, will never be as over as the Hardyz or even the New Day for that matter
 
#24 ·
Re: American Alpha and Apollo prove that in-ring skills arent enough.

One thing working against Creed and Jordan is WWE seems to give every black dude a generic name in the last decade associated with a famous black person from decades ago or longer. Big E. Langston-Langston Hughes , Xavier Woods-Tiger Woods,Jason Jordan-Michael Jordan,Apollo Crews-Apollo Creed,Kofi Kingston-Kofi Annon. I know my own dad laughed when he saw the name Apollo Crews,I am sure he is not the only person who thought can't ever take this dude seriously with that silly name.
 
#33 ·
Gable is pretty good on the microphone, well he was as a heel. Very confident and cocky playing on his past achievements.

Its a shame they couldn't rehash the storyline of how Gable and Jordan became team mates because that's why they were so over, along with their ring work.

I know that turning heel is the go to answer but I honestly believe it'd help them. Play on their wresting backgrounds, especially Gables Olympic status. Say how they're sick of not being THE prominent tag team, being left off PPVs, not even being in a tag team match at Mania etc and go from there.

Have them interrupt tag team matches and cut promos on how no one wants to see these two tag teams in the ring when they already have wrestling greatness backstage doing nothing etc.

Gable is incredibly talented and I think both men could make it work.
 
#36 ·
Gable is pretty good on the microphone, well he was as a heel. Very confident and cocky playing on his past achievements.

Its a shame they couldn't rehash the storyline of how Gable and Jordan became team mates because that's why they were so over, along with their ring work.

I know that turning heel is the go to answer but I honestly believe it'd help them. Play on their wresting backgrounds, especially Gables Olympic status. Say how they're sick of not being THE prominent tag team, being left off PPVs, not even being in a tag team match at Mania etc and go from there.

Have them interrupt tag team matches and cut promos on how no one wants to see these two tag teams in the ring when they already have wrestling greatness backstage doing nothing etc.

Gable is incredibly talented and I think both men could make it work.
That's the problem with transitioning from NXT to the main roster. Most of the interesting stuff have already happened to the characters. Bayley's and Sasha Banks' evolution and rivalry, Enzo trying to hook up with Carmella while training her, the formation of American Alpha as you mentioned, Zayn's journey to the title, Owens' backstabbing Zayn to name a few.
It gets to the point where the talent arrives to the main roster and while popular, they become stale almost on arrival. I'm not sure how to fix this, but the main shows creative teams are too lazy and don't help, they just go "oh you know these guys were bitter rivals in NXT!"

It's like Warrior mentioning the Wrestlemania VI with Hogan match in WCW. It doesn't work that way.
 
#34 ·
This has been proven a long time ago way before Crews and Alpha

and you know what I like Breezango's push I mean why not its a 5 team division The Usos - boring as shit, American Alpha good in

the ring though as kind of boring, Breezango - actually have decent character work and really are not bad in the ring either,

Ascension- boring and at this point just flat out weird and stupid and the Shining Cars- who at this point there is not a whole lot to

say about which isn't a good thing at all

they've already done Alpha vs the Usos so why not Breezango vs the Usos? I think its a good move and gives Breezedango a chance

to shine
 
#37 ·
Thing is, Cesaro was one of the most over wrestlers on the roster at one point despite the lack of great mic skills, so i think it's honestly just who appeals to the fans rather than having a specific skill set.

American Alpha both have a good deal of charisma and were extremely entertaining with their promos in NXT, the little story they had in actually forming a tag team was fun.

Crews, i'm not going to lie, i just don't like, he lacks any stand out features and despite having good athleticism, his matches are never particularly outstanding, unlike other guys who are very talented in the ring, Crews hasn't had one match that i'd probably go back and watch again.
 
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