Alex Riley's Passion Will Be Key to WWE Career Resurgence

The sound of Alex Riley's heart drumming inside his chest is too loud for WWE to ignore.

A man forced to the sidelines at a young age is getting another crack at providing the action rather than calling it. The seething intensity that his time away from the ring churned up will be what allows him to make an impact on the WWE scene.

Riley stormed back on Wednesday's NXT, defeating CJ Parker and staring down Kevin Owens afterward.

This was no ordinary win, though. This was a frenzied dog finally let off the leash, the early stages of a career resurrection. 

The last time Riley competed on WWE TV was May 2013. In the midst of a losing streak and rarely being seen on WWE's top shows, Riley fell to Damien Sandow on Superstars.

Matt Striker's commentary that night spoke of what Riley lacked and what he would need to improve his standing. He said, "It's going to take a little more than athletic ability to make a mark here for yourself in WWE. It's going to take an attitude; it's going to take a certain special something that only a few Superstars have."

Riley had always been known as a good athlete: agile, fast, fluid in the ring. A part of what allowed other wrestlers to push past him up the company ladder, though, was that many of his peers had more presence, more charisma and boasted more of an aura that befitted a star.

Still, it was surprising that while still in his early 30s WWE moved him to the announce desk at NXT.

He didn't seem like world title material, but there had to be a better use of his physical skills. There had to be a spot at the table somewhere. In the company's mind, there wasn't any room.

Credit: WWE.com

As NXT became a more popular and well-known showcase of emerging talent, Riley was forced to put other guys over, to talk up other wrestlers' skills. 

That scenario has clearly fueled him. It has transformed him into a snarling beast and placed a Big Show-sized chip on his shoulder. 

Fans witnessed this on his Twitter timeline. He often spoke of rage and being set free. The passion that we would soon see in the ring again first crackled on social media.

"

U wanted a Caged Animal..U got one. @wwe @wwe @wwe now UNCHAIN ME at #Wrestlemania31 #TimeToRage I will never go away pic.twitter.com/VEwFGdPhJA

— Alex Riley (@AlexRileyWWE) March 9, 2015"

"

I want u to take all my love, all my hate, all my joy, all my pain, and use it, I want u to expose it @WWE @WWENXT never forget #TimeToRage

— Alex Riley (@AlexRileyWWE) March 5, 2015"

The "special something" that Striker spoke of has arrived in an unexpected way, but it's here. It was on full display on Wednesday night. 

With Parker waiting for him in the ring, Riley stepped out from behind the curtain.

This was not that the same Riley that lost to Sandow two years ago. This was not the same guy WWE had ignored for so long. Riley had clearly been putting time in at the gym, adding bulk and muscle, but more importantly, there was an inferno that burned inside him. 

There was an added electricity to his offense. His emotions bled onto the canvas.

That continued after the match when he gave a heartfelt promo talking about what it meant for him to be back as an active competitor.

A performance like that is rare. Fans hear scripted speeches all the time and often grow numb to them. When a Superstar manages to tap into the deep reserves of his innards, as Riley did here, it forces fans to pay attention.

That will be Riley's ticket to making his second stint more successful than the first.

Fans gravitate to wrestlers who lay that much of themselves out for the world to see. Dolph Ziggler has a vocal, strong following partly because he delivers similarly genuine and powerful promos. Daniel Bryan's passion is clear every time he straps on his boots. 

Audiences love both of those guys for going full-throttle and opening themselves up so often in front of the camera.

Riley will do plenty of that. In the early stages of his feud with Owens, he has already shown glimpses of how compelling he can be when channeling his frustration into what he does onscreen.

Owens poured water over his head last week, setting Riley off, having him morph from observer to combatant in an instant. His intensity during his staredown with Owens was top-notch. For a second, one could easily forget that this was all a scripted scenario and just watch on intently to see if Riley would go berserk. 

He followed that up with an equally powerful showing in a backstage segment where he demanded William Regal give him a match with Owens.

WWE has plenty a roster members who can't generate a red-faced rage that realistic, who can't make what happens in its universe feel so life and death.

Riley has done well to mind his situation, to turn it into the heart of his promo work. Before he battled Parker, he did a magnificent job of that, talking about being in a cage, starving as others eat all around him.

Given a stage to work on, treated as a key component and not an afterthought, Riley thrived.

Praise came rolling in on Twitter after his speech:

Expect more of that to come as Riley gets more chances in front of the camera.

Riley's fervent passion will help him stand out moving forward. It will be his bridge to the audience, the key to competing with all the top-notch athletes who comprise both the NXT and WWE rosters. It's that missing piece that Striker talked about.

The company has to be thrilled with what it saw from him as of late. It has to recognize that Riley can contribute in a major way, as a skilled athlete driven by an ardor that will compel.

WWE taking away what he loved turned out to be the best thing for his career. It made him hungrier and more desperate. And now it will be the fuel for every fire he sets from this point on.