The Slight Rise & Fall Of Alex Riley

[Drag]

Man, Alex Riley.

Looking at the career of A-Ry is a fascinating thing. It's like seeing a descent into madness before your very eyes. Riley started off as a promising rookie on NXT (not the good one) and would eventually be fired, his last match being a one-sided squash against Nakamura, on his birthday. I wanted to take a short look at the man, if nothing else to see how one man can fall so low.

So you're Alex Riley and its NXT season 2. Honeslty looking at his matches, it bugs me that he wasn't half bad. He knew his character well and wrestled to a decent degree. Obviously not on the level of Low Ki, also part of the season. He was enjoyable in his own right. If nothing else he was better than Lucky Cannon, who mastered the headlock takedown and fuck all else.

As I'm sure most of you are aware, Riley was the lackey for Miz. He didn't really do much in retrospect aside from run-in only to get cut off by whoever Miz was wrestling. His theme was alright I suppose.

In this time period one of my favourite Riley moments occured. He went and eliminated himself early from the Rumble and you can see Cena give Kofi a mystified look which never ceases to crack me up

So yes. As most expected, Riley and Miz fueded. It was actually alright. The real question was, what Riley do afterwards?

Go. Fucking. Mental.

After languishing on the pre-show panels, Riley was put down as a commentator for NXT. At this point, he ran afoul of Kevin Owens.

Perhaps you may be feeling sorry for A-Ry. Probably best not to.

It was around this point Riley started noticebly losing his mind on Twitter. As the influx of guys from the indies came to NXT. Riley was not pleased. This came to a boiling point around the time AJ Styles went straight to the main roster

(Posted after the debut of Styles)

Didn't pan out well for him.

And so we arrive here. Riley's (presumably) last match for WWE. He talks some shit about Nakamura and Strong Style then leaves the company, getting his head knee'd in.



There's a lot about this guy I haven't even covered. If you want to truly delve into the psyche of Alex then his Twitter is probably your best bet. Hopefully if he shoots up the Performance Center or some shit, this thread will be looked at as an accurate portrayal of a man with nothing left to lose.

What do you think about Alex? Do you think he's had it coming and shot himself in the foot too many times? Or do you think WWE's mismanagement led to his descent into madness?​

 

[Pop Tatari]

Fab theme music,that is all.

 

[Jacob Fox]

I honestly just think he's another run of the mill character that WWE probably never had really big plans for. They used him here and there when they needed him and then got rid of him.

 

[Drag]

I'm honestly suprised he fell as hard as he did. He had that kind of look and build WWE tends to go for. Then again there's not much to him that stands out save for his varsity jacket

 

[Jacob Fox]

I'm honestly suprised he fell as hard as he did. He had that kind of look and build WWE tends to go for. Then again there's not much to him that stands out save for his varsity jacket

Yes, he is of that build and look. But keep in mind that for as many people of that build and look that WWE has actually promoted successfully, there are many, many who have ended up the same as Riley.

 

[Roadster]

I felt his break away from Miz was poorly executed. A lack luster blow-off and an almost immediate demotion to Superstars. At one point he was tagging with Cena, and suddenly it ended.

 

[Prince Bálor]

The thing I liked the most about A-Ry:

 

[Stopspot]

I love that WWE confiscated his twitter account when they fired him.