10 Times Modern WWE Stars FINALLY Felt Like Big Deals
1. The New Day
Inspiration for the Roman Reigns conundrum in a glorious alternate timeline, the blistering match between The New Day and Cesaro and Tyson Kidd at Extreme Rules 2015 was among the best sub-10 minutes WWE bouts ever, and it acted as the platform for the faction's inevitable face turn. They had in fact just turned heel - i.e., they'd just displayed a slither of personality beyond the company's über-dated babyface confines.
The match itself was instantly absorbing - Kofi Kingston athletically evaded Tyson Kidd's skilled chain-wrestling to deliver a splash - but the in-ring ability of the trio was never in real doubt. They lacked any semblance of modern identity, and personality, but Xavier Woods banished that idea with a marvellous ringside cameo. As quickly as Kofi wriggled out of Tyson's holds, Woods, chewing gum and eating sh*t, grinned "There it is!" with his arms raised in triumph.
The very first thing Kofi did, twenty seconds after the the bell had rung, was worth over-celebrating? Yes! Yes! Yes!
Woods had tapped in to and provided his own unique take on Daniel Bryan's irritating self-aggrandisement schtick, and added shades and spades of personality throughout. This wasn't a mere firecracker of a match, the likes of which you can see literally anywhere in this era; it was a firecracker of a match wrestled by genuine breakout stars.
This was a long time coming for Kofi in particular, who had stagnated badly since his 2009 false dawn, and Big E, who shed the dreaded next office favourite stigma in less than 10 minutes.