Ever since Tye Dillinger made the jump to the main roster on Smackdown Live from NXT, he has caught on a solid following with the WWE fanbase. “The Perfect 10” moniker has certainly stayed firm in the minds of Smackdown fans and Dillinger seems like a natural fit for the blue brand.
As of this writing, Dillinger has won his third match against Aidan English on the Backlash kick-off show, and on his debut defeated Curt Hawkins (who is now on RAW). But nobody is expecting Dillinger to keep fighting English for the duration of his tenure of Smackdown Live.
This is not taking into consideration whether the possible opponent is currently billed as a babyface or a heel, so here are some possible opponents down the road for the Perfect 10, Tye Dillinger.
Baron Corbin
If the plan is for Corbin to be booked as a strong contender for the WWE Championship, it would be a good idea to keep him on this path of destroying other contenders on the way to Jinder Mahal or whoever is the Champion by then. Although Corbin was defeated by Sami Zayn at Backlash, the Lone Wolf does seem to still be on a warpath to championship gold.
Who better to put up against him than another up and coming superstar on the blue brand like the Perfect 10? In reviewing previous episodes of NXT, Baron Corbin and Tye Dillinger had one encounter on a December 2014 episode of NXT, but that was essentially set up as a squash match for Corbin as he defeated Dillinger in under 2 minutes (this was also before Dillinger adopted the “Perfect 10” persona).
A Corbin-Dillinger match would be a good solid feud for Smackdown Live to have on the mid-card and would help build or strengthen credibility for both superstars.
Rusev
A returning Bulgarian Brute would certainly provide a contrast in wrestling style in comparison to the more agile Dillinger. With Jinder Mahal now the WWE Champion, and Rusev on camera demanding that he be granted a title opportunity at Money In The Bank with the threat of leaving WWE completely, Rusev might be preoccupied with a rekindled feud with The Maharaja for the next few months over the WWE title.
A number of fans have been clamouring for a face turn for Rusev, as the former United States Champion has essentially been a heel throughout his entire WWE career. Putting him against the even more popular Dillinger might seem a contradiction to the traditional babyface vs. heel booking style of WWE, but as I said I’m not putting that factor into consideration for this list.
This would be a good match in terms of showing contrasting wrestling styles alone.
Jinder Mahal
Mahal’s recent WWE title win over Randy Orton shows that Smackdown Live’s creative team is willing to think outside the box. And if someone like Mahal, who a few years ago was released by WWE after a mediocre stint with Heath Slater and Drew McIntyre as part of 3MB, could become WWE Champion, it no doubts open doors for other superstars who in the past would never have been considering championship material….like Tye Dillinger.
While Dillinger’s time in NXT was punctuated with high profile rivalries with now NXT Champion Bobby Roode and Sanity, Dillinger never held the NXT Championship. Now, if Alexa Bliss (I know, gender comparisons in wrestling aren’t usually cited), could go on to win the Women’s Championship on both brands while never having done the same thing on NXT, who’s to say that Dillinger cannot be a future WWE titleholder?
I wouldn’t be surprised if Smackdown Live does some kind of tournament to determine a new Number One Contender to Mahal’s title, and Dillinger walks away with the W. But then, that would bring me to another of The Perfect 10’s possible opponents…
Sami Zayn
I actually think Sami and Tye could form a decent tag team to liven up the Tag Team Division. Call them “The Perfect Underdogs” or something like that. That said, if they don’t end up teaming there’s nothing to stop them from competing against each other down the road. Zayn and Dillinger are around the same weight class and could possibly have a match that could be a match of the year candidate.
In the hypothetical tournament to crown a Number One Contender scenario I just cited, Sami Zayn facing off against Tye Dillinger if both men were participants is a possibility.
Dolph Ziggler
Ziggler is one of those guys who sells his opponent’s move extremely well. Judging by his match with Shinsuke Nakamura and his long tenure with the WWE, Ziggler is one of those professionals the company calls when they want to put a new guy over. He’s sort of a cross between what Triple H does now (wrestling once a year and usually to put over guys like Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins) but not really, since Ziggler is still wrestling full time.
So these are just some suggestions for possible future opponents for Tye Dillinger, but if you have any other ones feel free to comment below.
An average professional doing the 9-5 grind who really loves wrestling across all platforms. Here's hoping wrestlers finally get some basic workers rights in 2021.
Recent Comments