Tye Dillinger had a lot of hype behind him when he debuted at the 2017 Royal Rumble in the #10 spot but then he was ushered back to NXT for a bit. His official main roster debut on the SmackDown Live after WrestleMania 33 was still a great spot for him and he received a rousing reaction from the crowd as fans chanted “10” in his general direction.
But the Perfect 10 hasn’t been used much recently and even had his #10 entry in the Royal Rumble stolen by Sami Zayn this year. Even though he hasn’t been featured on television Dillinger was still chosen as number 10 on the first week of SmackDown Live’s new ranking system.
Dave Meltzer opened up about the absurdity of the new SmackDown ranking system on Wrestling Observer Radio and disclosed that WWE higher-ups don’t even want people chanting at Dillinger anymore.
“It’s one thing if it’s a guy who’s impressive and the wrestlers are giving him a shot. But Dillinger’s just a guy on the brand that works prelims and they put him at number 10 because it makes for a cute minute for people to chant ’10’ which they don’t even want people chanting anyway that’s why they keep him off TV so much because they don’t want them chanting ’10.'”
If WWE doesn’t want people chanting “10” at Tye Dillinger then maybe they need to consider that if fans realized this it will only make them want to chant louder at Tye. After all, reverse psychology is a real thing.
It also might help if they would quit putting Tye Dillinger in the 10th slot so often if they want to distance fan perception from Dillinger’s popular chant. Regardless it looks like Dillinger could be another Superstar who is getting a reaction in spite of WWE’s intention. But Gavin Spears, Dillinger’s first WWE persona didn’t do well at all during his first run so some might wonder why WWE would want to squash the momentum of a gimmick that seems to still have fan appeal. Your guess is as good as ours.
If you use the quotes in this article please credit Wrestling Observer Radio with a H/T to Still Real To Us for the transcription
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