Alex Riley

[sabataged]

Well he is on RAW every week but is a 'Smackdown' star so I placed this in main. Feel free to move it if needed...


So what is everyone's thoughts on him? I think he has what it takes to one day be a star. He has a pretty good look even if it is kind of generic looking. He has great size, so I know Vince would be into that. His mic work, while nothing spectacular is pretty darn good compared to some of the others around him. I think the only thing hurting him is the fact that he is still Miz's lacky. He has been a lackey for so long that its going to be hard to eventually take him serious.

Basically they can go 1 of 2 ways with Alex to give him credibility I think. Either he goes the Virgil route and turns face on Miz. Maybe give him some cheap wins over Miz even if Miz gets the big win in the long run. Miz is a former world champion and by pulling off some victories it would elevate Riley.

Either that or Miz just out rights comes out and says he can no longer teach Riley anymore. That the student has finally graduated and he now looks at Riley as a partner/equal instead of an apprentice. With the Miz's character I don't see this happening unless they let them win the tag titles together.

 

[Minecrafted]

I think he turns on the Miz iin the near future, right now with the Miz insulting him as much as he is, i don't think its very good for riley's character if he takes that kind of abuse for too long. He comes out looking liike a bitch actually.

 

[Stuntz]

At this stage with Miz being "the guy" on Raw in 2011 and the plans they have for him I cant see either of these happening. They wont take their biggest heel on Raw down to that level. In the near future Riley will be on his own but its going to be Miz who tosses him out. They are already working the angle where Riley is screwing miz over, and finally Miz will get sick of it and turn on Riley forcing him off of Raw. If they do have a match it will be a quick rivalry no maore than a couple of weeks and Riley "WILL NOT" go over Miz. Riley has a good future if booked right, and that can be accomplished on SD but not Raw. That is why they moved him, now they just need to cut the umbilical cord from Miz.

 

[fb481777]

Man, I am a fan of Alex Riley! That dude is hilarious on the mic! Very confident - at least it seems!

I believe that Alex Riley should STAY on Raw and build a future there! This guy has the tools and works! What Riley needs AND the Miz also is 1 solid match "Iron Man," "Cage," and/or High flying match to where the toughness and shere heart and determination is shown to solitify there place as above the rest!

Alex Riley may need to polish up his wrestling more (which he is) but in general, man, this guy has got the IT factor in my opinion!

God Bless!

 

[ultramattman]

Actually, drafting A-Ri to Smackdown was a nifty move - now he can begin to establish himself solo on the blue brand while still serving as Miz's lackey on RAW. The RAW appearances will probably begin to dry up after Over The Limit.

 

[xoxo French Kiss xoxo]

Hes gonna have to branch out on his own sooner, rather than latter. He needs to be involved in a program on Smackdown with Wade Barrett for the IC Title. He needs to WIN the IC Title while the WWE Title is off the Miz, and rub it in his face that he has gold, and the Miz doesn't.

It wasn't a step back for Orton when he faced Cody and Ted at WM a couple of years back, it put a nail in the coffin of Legacy and it allowed all three parties to go their separate ways.

With that being said I do not think it would be a step back for the Miz to be in a feud with Riley, as the Legacy feud showed you do not need a ton of matches to end a story, it can be done in one night, during one match. Say you break the Miz and Riley up by Summer Slam, and keep pushing Riley on Smackdown until he reaches the main event level, somewhere down the line you can reopen the Miz/Riley book and spark up a new chapter in their feud.

How many times did Orton and Triple H go at it? Orton and Batista? Triple H and Cena? Triple H and HBK? Jericho and Edge? Edge and Cena?

Long term Miz/Riley could be big, but only if the foundation for the story is set correctly

 

[ZERIC23]

I personally think that at over the limit they break up Miz and A Ri but making him cost Miz the match. Once he's on smackdown they can make him a heel by having him say he's the reason for Miz's success and he'll show the world he's his own man or they could build off him screwing over Miz and make him a face

 

[Outsider]

Alex Riley is killer I enjoy watching him, Hopefully he ditches the miz soon and wins a belt on smackdown.

 

[rkosweetie237]

I love Alex Riley, he's so great on the mic whenever he cuts a promo or get's involved in one of the Miz's. I hope that he branches out on his own soon and wins one of the secondary titles, he could go a long way if he's given a chance. It's already started, The Miz thinks he is screwing him over and The Miz will turn on him when he feels right. Then Riley can focus over on Smackdown and establish a real name for himself.

 

[MikeJames]

With the way that Riley gets beat up so bad all the time, I would have expected him to turn on Miz a while ago. I mean, just on Monday, Miz once again stood there and watched Riley get beat up. I mean, even for a lacky, you eventually get PISSED getting beat up all the time. I see Riley turning on Miz before we know it.

 

[IrishCanadian25]

I'm glad Riley is getting his own thread, because I found myself considering this last night as well.

The guy is damn talented, and placing him with The Miz was a damn fine plan. In so many ways, Riley is the latest in a long line of stars to emerge from a particular type of build, and we can trace it all the way back to Eric Bischoff as GM.

1. Bischoff, RAW GM, enlists the lack of John Morrison, former Tough Enough winner, to be his glorified lackey Johnny Nitro.

2. Nitro, following the loss of his tag team partner Joey Mercury, grabs the Miz (former Tough Enough host) as his replacement, and Miz is oft referred to as the Jannetty of the team and is often seen as Morrison's lackey.

3. Miz, having broken from Morrison, takes on first Daniel Bryan (a former US champ and competitor on NXT) and now Alex Riley (a former competitor on NXT). Can a Riley / Bryan feud be in the works?

4. Tell me - wouldn't that cock-bag Luke make a great heel lackey to Alex Riley?

The thing that is great about Riley is how natural of a heel he is. The best heels are the guys everyone hates. R-Truth is an effective heel right now because people cannot stand other guys who play the race card. Rich guys with a sense of entitlement? Check - Alberto del Rio. Riley is the good looking, arrogant jock who used to lock pro wrestling fans in lockers.

The guy has a career, and in terms of NXT all time, he's right now #2 on my depth-chart, well behind Wade Barrett and just a hair past Daniel Bryan.

 

[The Calgary Kid]

Alex Riley has impressed me from day one, and he is the guy I voted for every week during NXT2's run. People talk about Otunga having the "it" factor, but never apply it to this guy, who actually DOES have it. He's not Bret Hart in the ring, but he's competent, which combined with his look and mic skills, point to a bright future. I love the TKO he uses as his finisher ("You're Dismissed"). He could not have hoped for a better NXT pairing than The Miz, and it has led to even better things. It shows how high on the guy they were at the time.

The DUI/suspended license arrest no doubt put a massive dent in that, and there was speculation that he would have been fired if he wasn't attached to The Miz, who at the time was set to win the title just a few days later. IMO, this incident is why he's not just been an assistant, but a glorified lackey/comedy jobber. He's paying his dues right now, and hopefully doing it with a shit-eating grin. My guess is that they still have plans for him, but he's still on a leash for now. This is why he won't get a face turn or a push any time soon. Drafting him to Smackdown was a clever way of setting things up for his future, however.

Sooner or later, Miz is going to "fire" him and my guess is that Riley just sighs and walks away. They probably aren't going to let him forget that he's lucky to be in the position he is in, and that means that he's not going to be gaining a lot of fans for a while, or have people cheering for him to go over one of the company's biggest stars. Him being on SD means they don't have to develop it into a storyline or even acknowledge the possibility of heat between them if they're in the same building. He's walking away from it as a heel.

Once he's on SD full-time, he'll probably job a few times before he starts racking up a few wins in the mid-card and they'll reevaluate his situation based on how he performs in that role. Alternatively, based on his gimmick (which needs to be changed, IMO), I wouldn't be surprised if they have him show up and be a "bully", costing a few babyfaces their matches, handing out a few beatdowns and rubbing people the wrong way until someone puts him in his place. In addition to it being a character thing, it could also be a way of proving his worth after being so incompetent for The Miz that it got him "fired". I can see him winning the IC title in the not-too-distant future, but certainly not any sooner than six months at bare minimum.

 

[ray kidman]

shit he need to be on smackdown and get a nice push i love the way smackdown bring up there young stars but it wont happen if he is the miz's bitch

 

[hollowpoint]

yeah I really hoped once he got drafted to SD! that he would move away from being the Miz's "apprentice". Not only does it make Alex Riley look weak, but it also keeps the Miz from being a big time heel. I think the sooner they break these two up the better. I don't see him doing much at over the limit in the "I Quit" match.

 

[martymcfly]

I have to agree with what other posters have said so far about him needing to break from the miz and establish himself on smackdown. I'm assuming (and hoping) that it will happen after over the limit...miz will lose his I quit match, and blame riley.

The thing I really don't understand right now though from a storyline perspective is why riley would still be with the miz. Him serving the miz does nothing for him...opportunities have not come his way, he is not "learning anything". All that happens is he takes beatings almost every week. And then for him last Monday to turn into some sniveling whiner begging Miz for forgiveness and announcing that the miz is the only person he cares about? Ridiculous, and completely out of character for him.

I do understand though the need sometimes to put reality aside, so ok. and miz does need help winning matches because at least right now, he is built as someone who is not capable of winning high profile matches without help or cheating. But personally, I think it's time for both the miz to establish himself without a lackey, and for riley to do his own thing on smackdown.

 

[TheNewStyle]

WWE needs to just separate them and get it over with. We thought the draft would be enough to put the nail in the coffin but guess not. At least I hope they get this right and make something happen that makes Miz angry at Riley for not winning against Cena, which leads him to assault Riley or something. Just separate them, Riley's tongue is so far up The Miz's ass, he needs a bad beating to successfully get it out.

 

[GW_Hart86]

So what is everyone's thoughts on him? I think he has what it takes to one day be a star. He has a pretty good look even if it is kind of generic looking. He has great size, so I know Vince would be into that. His mic work, while nothing spectacular is pretty darn good compared to some of the others around him. I think the only thing hurting him is the fact that he is still Miz's lacky. He has been a lackey for so long that its going to be hard to eventually take him serious.

I think he does have a really good look and I know a lot of fans (particularly internet fans) these days complain about the lack of characters and gimmicks there is now. But, some guys can pull off a generic look and still make it to the big time and I think Alex Riley could potentially be one of theses people. Alberto Del Rio, Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart and Ric Flair all managed to do it. I know some of these guys had small gimmicks on the side, but they used their own names and ring attire. The thing that made them so successful along with their excellent in-ring ability was there charisma on the mic and Riley has potential to do the same.

I'm not for one minute suggesting that Riley can be as successful as the stars I mentioned, I'm merely making the point that having a generic look/name doesn't stop you from making the big time. I like his look and I like his name and I like him on the mic and he looks like he puts on a good match too given the opportunity.

I definately agree that now is the time for Alex Riley to split from The Miz, certainly no later than Over the Limit. I think any longer than that will really do his character harm. I don't think it should've happened sooner than now, I just think now is the best time and the fact he has been drafted to SmackDown, it makes sense. I really hope he does well in the near future because he looks a real good talent. An IC Title push against Wade Barrett is a good shout I think.

 

[GI Cake]

Would it be wrong to say that it seems that every Superstar Miz "Tutors" are far better wrestlers than himself? If you have the chance to watch Riley's matches in FCW he is really talented. Even on NXT he shown some hot flashes of talent. He can really work a match and sells very well, look at the matches he has had with Cena these pass couple of months.

The only way you can keep me from switching the channel when the Miz's music is playing is by seeing that Alex Riley is going to job to whoever is in the ring. Hopefully in the near future he can use a rub from the Miz to get over as a face.

 

[Calderownz]

He's growing on me. Decent on the mic, good on camera in general and he can handle himself in the ring. He's getting a lot of experience. A lot of guys in his position would have been dropped by the wayside as soon as possible by the higher ups, but he has managed to keep himself in the story lines.

I think he has a bright future. A built-in feud with The Miz as soon as the two move apart and he instantly gets a baby face rub once it happens.

He just needs to stay out of trouble outside of the ring. Keep himself in the shape he's in, because his look sells well. Decent looking kid. He's got all the tools.

 

[GrandSword]

Riley is better in the ring, on the mic and bigger than Miz. All Miz has is a catch phrase, that's it. Riley is a better version than him and possibly more marketable as Miz looks like Mr Ed.

The WWE is great at creating new heels but not so good at faces. Maybe he can be face on SD and move towards making Vince some $$$

 

[Daniel.Wood]

I loved Riley since he debuted.

His timing (in the ring and on the mic) is perfect, his interferences are excellently done, and he looks so confident and natural out there.

I'd like to see him go to Smackdown and win a title in the next two or three months..