When Michael Cole interviewed Heath Slater a couple weeks ago on WWE‘s website it was because the people apparently demanded it. Slater has had something of a social media explosion in recent months. He went from irrelevant due to the languishing 3MB to barely existent when Jinder Mahal and Drew McIntyre were released and since then he has fallen so far down that he hasn’t generally even been trotted out to get beat up.
On last Thursday’s SmackDown, Heath Slater was defeated in a quick match by Dolph Ziggler. On this Monday’s RAW he had a rematch with Ziggler and miraculously defeated him. Indeed, there is still somebody who can have the adverb form of miraculous used to describe beating Dolph Ziggler. Who would have guessed? Slater didn’t do it alone, however.
Slater’s 3MB music with “I’m just one man!” tacked on at the beginning hit and he came out flanked by Adam Rose, Curtis Axel and Bo Dallas. The three outcasts stayed out of the way for most of the match, but at the very end some well-timed distractions allowed Slater to pick up the surprise roll up win. The group cut a promo after the match and made it clear that they will be a comedy act who are trying to be taken somewhat seriously. They have the potential to grow. The New Day are still very much a comedy act but they are so extremely entertaining that WWE can’t help but to keep the WWE Tag Team Championship on them.
The Social Outcasts are not likely to reach that level of success as a group, but the exposure and hopefully speaking time will give the individual members a chance when they inevitably fall to the wayside by the time WrestleMania is over. Heath Slater is a tremendous sports entertainer and could easily be Honky Tonk Man 2K16 or if nothing else at least take over for the role that Santino Marella used to play.
Adam Rose was a disaster from the beginning but putting him and Bo Dallas together as a regular tag team would be a great pairing. It’s tough to say what they can do with Axel. His ship may have sailed by now.
It will be fun while it lasts, so just enjoy the Social Outcasts and let’s all hope WWE has a plan for them, either as a group or individually, for the new year. They’re all deserving of a shot.
