The heel and babyface roster on SmackDown Live may be receiving a shake-up very soon, and one of the names rumored to be making the switch is the “Perfect 10” himself, Tye Dillinger.
Dillinger has struggled to find his footing since making his debut on the main roster earlier this year. The height of his run on Tuesday night’s so far was when he came out as a surprise challenger for AJ Styles during his reign as U.S. Champion as part of the open challenge. He parlayed that into a brief storyline involving himself, Baron Corbin, and Styles, but that was short-lived.
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However, with Corbin as the new U.S. champion and Styles being vaulted into the WWE championship picture, Dillinger has found himself the odd man out. So where does he go from here?
A recent match at a WWE live event in Raleigh, North Carolina may provide a hint. During a bout with Rusev, Dillinger and the “Bulgarian Brute” tested a double turn. Dillinger went full-on heel during the match, and Rusev turned babyface. The crowd ate it up, cheering on Rusev by the end and cheering his victory via the Accolade.
The babyface turn for Rusev has seemed fairly obvious for quite some time, as his personality (which notably has been on display during Total Divas) really lends himself to a run as a crowd favorite. The Dillinger heel turn hasn’t been hinted at nearly as much, though it certainly could be just as enticing.
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The “Perfect 10” moniker plays perfectly for a heel character. It’s right out of the early 1990s Shawn Michaels or “The Model” Rick Martel playbook. Further, the heel side of the roster is fairly light on talent versus the babyface side, so a successful heel run for Dillinger could indeed see Tye moved up the card a lot faster than a continued, unmemorable babyface run. It would provide far more mobility and sustained success for him, at least in the short run.
With the U.S. championship and WWE championship currently being held by heels, the championship opportunities might not be there immediately, but when the belts invariably switch to crowd favorites, the company will be short on heel challengers. That’s where Dillinger could see his stock soar with a character change.
