PWP’s Matt Burgess makes his case to why Tyler Breeze should be on the WWE main roster.
As one of the longest serving members of the NXT roster, Tyler Breeze has risen through the ranks to become one of the brand’s brightest prospects. To say that he is deserving of a main roster call up would be an understatement in every sense of the word.
A stalwart of WWE’s developmental system, Breeze has been a part of it since the days of FCW, making his television debut in July 2011, under the name Mike Dalton. After FCW rebranded into NXT, he debuted as an enhancement talent in June 2012, but after his generic character didn’t catch on with fans, he was given an ultimatum. Find a new character or be released.
From this, Tyler Breeze, ‘The King of Cuteville’ was born, and the self-obsessed model hasn’t looked back, going from strength to strength.
Breeze would feud with the likes of CJ Parker, Adrian Neville and Xavier Woods before becoming a prominent face in the NXT Championship picture in 2014. With Sami Zayn, Tyson Kidd and Tyler Breeze all vying for Adrian Neville’s NXT Championship, Breeze would eventually become the number one contender after defeating Sami Zayn at NXT: Takeover. However, after featuring in an abundance of number one contender and championship matches, Breeze was never able to walk away with the NXT Championship. Unfortunately, for some reason or another, Breeze has not been booked as a legitimate contender since.
As of late, he’s been nothing more than a glorified jobber, and it’s criminal. Losing to Hideo Itami, Finn Balor, Jushin “Thunder” Liger, Apollo Crews and being eliminated from the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic in the first round, has left Breeze floating aimlessly just outside of championship contention, falling short at every opportunity he gets to re-insert himself into the title picture. This past week in the NXT Championship No. 1 Contender’s Battle Royal was just another example of this.
After the crowd thinned out, the bout came down to four men, Samoa Joe, Baron Corbin, Apollo Crews, who would go on to win the battle royal, and of course Tyler Breeze. Breeze’s elimination, at the hands of Joe, was met with resounding boos, much like Daniel Bryan‘s elimination from the 2014 Royal Rumble. A furious Breeze, who refused to leave ringside, then pulled out Joe’s feet whilst on the apron, not only eliminating the submission specialist, but will most likely be the foundation of feud between the two. Surprisingly, this was very well received by the NXT Universe, with what seemed like the majority even chanting, “Thank you Tyler.”
To me, this was surprising. The elimination of Samoa Joe, arguably one of the most popular performers in NXT, was met with a thank you chant, as if he was in no way deserving of a title shot. In my opinion, this speaks strongly to the NXT Universe’s desire for Breeze to succeed rather than wanting Joe to fail. But it goes to show the connection Breeze has with the NXT faithful and just how much they want him to succeed.
However, perhaps even more confusing than why Breeze being booked so poorly, is why he is still in NXT. Breeze has been ready for the main roster for some time now, and a call up for ‘Prince Pretty’ is well overdue. His matches with the likes of Sami Zayn, Adrian Neville and Tyson Kidd during his run at the NXT Championship are not only a testament to this, but are a testament to his ability between the ropes.
However, Tyler Breeze is more than just an incredible technical wrestler. He’s athletic, hard working, has a great look and a dynamite gimmick that will blossom on the main roster.
What more does he need? Put simply, he’s the whole package and why he isn’t on the main roster already, is beyond me.