Pro Wrestling

Can Curtis Axel Be Saved?

Fresh Videos

By @nickmarsico

Curtis Axel - WWE Universe Facebook

Curtis Axel – WWE Universe Facebook

Now that Ryback has returned and is set to kick butt and take names as a face, Curtis Axel appears to have been officially left out in the cold. This was likely what everybody expected, but it’s a true shame that a guy with as much potential as Axel could have such an underwhelming career up to this point.

When he re-debuted as the new Paul Heyman guy and his new name was announced, it looked like he was poised for big things. When he was made to look like a fool and treated like a complete afterthought on his first night, it became clear that he was dead in the water, and being associated with Heyman was not the right play to make. Heyman was just being kept fresh while he had nobody else to work with.

Axel did eventually find some success and had a short run with the Intercontinental Championship, but he lost that too; and shortly after teaming up with Ryback as the two most ineffective losers ever associated with Heyman, he lost his status as a Heyman guy as well. He did, however, continue to cultivate the team that JBL dubbed “Rybaxel” in a joking manner.

Of course the name stuck, which was another indication that the team was going to continue to be featured as a pair of guys who simply could not get the job done.

Axel and Ryback meandered around the tag division for a few months, occasionally looking like they were beginning to ascend the ladder before the higher rungs disappeared without warning. Once Ryback got injured, the rung that Axel stood alone on crumbled and left him in a pile of nothingness and despair.

Doom and gloom talk aside, Axel may seriously be on the chopping block (get it?) with the next round of layoffs if something isn’t done soon. So the question begs to be asked: Can his WWE career be saved?

Yes. How? I ran a few boring ideas through my head and searched for something more interesting than “Axel denounces the fake name and announces himself as Joe Hennig” or “Axel returns to get revenge on Ryback for abandoning him and breaking up the team”. First and foremost, Axel and Ryback should stay as far away from each other as possible. They’re never going to get the stink off if they hang around too closely.

That said, I did come up with a much more interesting way to rejuvenate Mr. Axel, and it does indeed involve switching over to his real name.

Remember when The Undertaker started abducting random directionless men and initiated them into the Ministry of Darkness? Let’s go with the same concept. Bray Wyatt appeals to Axel’s weaknesses and lures him into the Wyatt Family. After a period of time being stripped of any identity (he won’t go by any name), Wyatt can declare him cleansed, and Hennig is reborn. Let him stay with the Wyatts for a while, even replacing Luke Harper when he inevitably abandons the group.

What to do from there? That’s anybody’s guess — but it’s a start.

Nicholas A. Marsico is a pro wrestling writer for Rant Sports. Follow him on Twitter and Like him on Facebook!

Share Tweet
Trending Now on