Examining Bo Dallas' Direction, Upside and Long-Term Potential

WWE can change out his tires, tune up his engine or install spoilers on him, but Bo Dallas is still not going to win any races. Instead, the Raw Superstar will be steady and serviceable—the family sedan of pro wrestlers.

The third-generation competitor is in the midst of another reboot. 

The company looking to make use of a struggling midcarder is a welcome sight, but it's hard to buy into the new Dallas, just as it was with the old one. Formerly a grinning motivational speaker, Dallas has recently morphed into an angrier version of himself.

Dallas has grown more intense. His eyes shoot at his opponents. He fires at them with thunderous right hands.

And he recites poetry.

That odd combination of elements at least has people talking about Dallas, something that wasn't happening when he was a non-factor for the last year-plus. The gimmick tweak has come with a winning streak, too. 

Dallas has gone from stepping stone to a guy steamrolling over jobbers.

On the Oct. 17 edition of Raw, he wiped away his last connections with The Social Outcasts, a faction of low-rung grapplers that has slowly fallen apart. Dallas beat down his supposed friend, Curtis Axel.

This is the latest of attempts to elevate Dallas following a brief call-up from NXT that went nowhere and a run as a pest with a penchant for victory laps. 

Signs still point to him not making much of an impact on the WWE stage. His peak appears to be behind him, when he was NXT's No. 1 irritant.

Strengths

It's clear wrestling is in Dallas' genes.

He's a strong mat technician, a good striker and an all-around solid performer. Wrestling Inc praised his work between the ropes:

His matches with Neville at NXT showed that off. He also has an entertaining bout against Sami Zayn on his resume.

His antics as NXT champion were hilarious at times. He thrived as a narcissist who wanted to better the world. That run generated good heat.

And Dallas is better on the mic than most people give him credit for. The new shtick has shown flashes of his potential as an intimidating, unhinged character. He's not on par with his brother, Bray Wyatt, there, but he is an above-average talker.

Obstacles

Dallas is ordinary. His grandfather, Blackjack Mulligan, had the advantage of being 6'9" and over 300 pounds. His uncle, Barry Windham, was a special performer at his peak. And Wyatt is a far more compelling presence than Dallas.

While he is good in every area as a wrestler, Dallas is not exceptional in any of them.

That will make it tough to compete for top spots. WWE has too deep a talent pool to make way for a guy with such a modest ceiling.

It doesn't help him that WWE has booked him so poorly for so long.

Per CageMatch.net, he had a .286 winning percentage in 2015. And even with his current hot streak, Dallas is sitting at a .194 winning percentage this year.

The audience is used to thinking of him as a loser. For him to catch fire at this point will be tough. He is climbing out of a canyon.

It's not as if WWE found a show-stealing gimmick for him, either. His new act is odd, and it's not a safe bet to succeed.

Greg Parks of PWTorch is among those confused about Dallas' shtick:

This just doesn't feel like Dallas' winning ticket. But would anything?

Long-Term Potential

Even with WWE's backing again, Dallas is not headed for superstardom. He's a midcarder through and through.

Just as members of his family possessed more "it" factor than him, a good number of his peers on the Raw roster do as well. 

Should Dallas find the ideal gimmick and WWE hand him big-time opportunities, he could claim the Intercontinental Championship or Tag Team Championships for a few months. But he doesn't have enough to accelerate past that point.

He is not a headliner, an upper midcarder nor the star his brother will be or his grandfather was.

Dallas' best hope is for longevity. He can stick around for years in a supporting role—much the way Heath Slater has done since debuting.

It's hard to believe (or "Bolieve," in his words) that he will accomplish more than that.

Be sure to check out previous editions of this ongoing series:

• Chad Gable
• T.J. Perkins
• Alexa Bliss
• Braun Strowman