Whatever Happened To... Alex Riley

There is a long list of promising but suddenly forgotten talent in the WWE. Young up and coming talent that seems like future superstars and main events, all suddenly vanish from TV for a long time, until they are almost completely forgotten. Only they aren't forgotten, so the WWE does what it always does, it brings them back and has them lose to everyone in the company. I guess if they can't be forgotten they need to be ruined. 

Well there seems to be one common factor in every one of these stories in recent years, and that factor is JOHN CENA! Apparently the new #1 rule to be successful in the WWE is to stay on John Cena's good side. If you cross Cena your career is over, or worse than over (you will be embarrassed every week on Raw and Smackdown). This doesn't seem believable because one wrestler couldn't have this much power in the company... but story after story can't all be wrong. 

 

Let's just recap a few recent stories that have emerged on the internet. Kenny Dykstra of the Spirit Squad seemed to be the only talented member of that group (which ironically included Dolph Ziggler lol). After the group was gone, Kenny went solo and defeated Ric Flair more than once. His girlfriend was Mickie James and she was going to be a huge Diva star as well... then Cena happened!

Cena started having an affair with Mickie. This worked out great for her because Cena used his pull to get her in the top Diva spot in the company. She instantly became the biggest Diva in the company. 

Meanwhile, Kenny found out and confronted Cena. As a result, he was fired on the spot and never seen or heard of since. That totally seems fair right? 

But then Mickie got her payback as well... Cena dumped her and decided to marry his high-school girlfriend. As a result, Mickie had to be punished too right? Seems fair. Mickie was traded from Raw (with Cena) to Smackdown and no longer the champion, but rather "Piggy James" teased for being fat and ugly by the new top Diva in the company Michelle McCool (the Undertaker's wife lol). This was so bad she quit the company and just went back to TNA. So both careers, and their relationship, ruined by Cena. 

I'm sure for every one of these stories that come out there are dozens more that don't. Most wrestlers can't speak out because if they do they will be fired. So despite how badly they are being treated they take it and put up with it because they think eventually they will be given another chance. Its sad. I read one story from a original Nexus member who suddenly was never seen on TV again. He said he was told to go out to the ring and Cena would attack him and another Nexus member with a steel chair. They were supposed to take one chair shot each. Cena decided to strike them both as many times as he wanted. He injured them both badly. This guy had his arm injured, saw Cena hurting the other guy even worse, so he ran out of the ring and to the back. One of the other bullshit wrestling codes apparently says that if a 'superstar' works with you, afterwards you have to wait behind the curtain to shake his hand and thank him. So after being injured by Cena purposely, he was told to wait and shake Cena's hand and say thank you. He didn't want to do this and now isn't working for the WWE anymore. If I was him, I would have been waiting behind the curtain for Cena, but not to shake his hand, more like what a Rougeau Brother once did to The Dynamite Kid.

But that never happens. No one every stands up to Cena. Well that is until Cena turned his abuse on Alex Riley. Once a promising talent in WWE's midcard scene, Alex Riley's role in the company has been greatly curtailed since last year. The Raw Superstar is in the doghouse stemming from a hostile backstage encounter with John Cena. Cena was reportedly poking fun at Riley in front of their wrestler peers, and in response, the Raw talent angrily reacted to Cena's "rib"—a violation of the unspoken rules of the WWE locker room. Though Riley's exact actions are not known at this time, his unfavorable reaction to WWE's cherished star was not considered a good move.

So basically Cena was acting like a bitch backstage and Riley may or may not have kicked his ass? All I can say is I would have paid money to buy that PPV. This is like when the stories came out that Jericho beat up Goldberg in the locker room, again for acting like a bitch. Difference in that case, Vince doesn't give a shit about Goldberg lol though I'm sure Jericho was punished... when isn't Jericho punished?

 

Kenn Doane, who appeared as Kenny of the Spirit Squad and Kenny Dykstra for WWE from 2006 to 2008, weighed in on the matter after claiming last month that Cena's backstage politics sabotaged his once promising grappling career. He tweeted, "Cena acts stupid to riley, riley calls him on it, loses push. This must be a lie! Lmao #ibelieve."

This is a real shame. Riley seemed like a soon to be star. I remember him standing out on NXT or one of those lame rookie shows lol. He had like letter-man's jacket and I thought he would be one of those college all american wrestlers. But instead he became The Miz's assistant. This was right when The Miz got his huge push, all thanks to Cena I'm sure. 

The Miz suddenly won: The United States Championship, then the Money In The Bank ladder match, which then lead to The Miz actually becoming the WWE Champion and I think the only one in history to defeat John Cena at Wrestlemania. 

Alex Riley was there with him the whole way. And after The Miz began his fall from the top, Alex Riley was there turning on The Miz and became a major babyface in the company. I was expecting a major feud between Alex Riley and The Miz. Riley was given a new look and a great song for his entrance music. Rumors were going around that he was going to be the next United States Champion, and I thought that was a great idea... that's when he suddenly disappeared from TV. When he returned to TV people still remembered who he was, and were as shocked as I was to see him losing like a jobber to clowns. It was a shame. For the record, the WWE blamed it on his drunk driving charge, but now this story has surfaced and seems more likely to be the cause. 

Other wrestlers have had similar drops, perhaps the most other notable one has been Drew McIntyre. But I haven't heard any stores of Cena being behind that one. 

All I can say, is that if I was in the WWE, if I was an up-and-coming superstar, much like Zack Ryder, Cody Rhodes, Dolph Ziggler, Kofi Kingston etc I would become best friends with John Cena. If he likes you, then you will win everything and main event Wrestlemania. If he doesn't you might not even have a job anymore. 

I think it would be a perfect time for Riley to make a comeback in the WWE. The Miz just returned from making a shitty movie to become the Intercontinental Champion and Triple Crown winner. Now The Miz needs a decent feud and who better to face him than Riley! The United States Championship is a joke right now and anyone would make a better champion than Santino Marella. Also, the Tag-Team Championships are a huge joke. Alex Riley could pick a random partner and dominate the division. Long-term, its only a matter of time before Cena is WWE Champion, and who wouldn't want to see Riley kick his ass and take his title!