Ryan Dilbert's 10-Count: Neville Has Been a Runaway Success Thus Far

1. Neville Soaring

Neville's nickname, The New Sensation, is apt. He has been sensational since arriving to the main roster.

Doubts about his size and the fact that he doesn't have the typical WWE look now lie buried under tremendous performance after tremendous performance.

Daniel Bryan's injury created an opportunity for Neville, as he took Bryan's spot and faced Bad News Barrett at Extreme Rules. Even without a sliver of hype, that bout turned out to be one of the best of the night. Neville and Barrett clicked; the match sucked the audience in.

That didn't feel like a pre-show match. Neville and Barrett managed to give it an air of significance thanks to how hard they fought.

Neville then looked good against Luke Harper the next night in the first round of the King of the Ring tourney. He outdid himself on Tuesday, battling Barrett in the finals in a dramatic bout.

Other than his work against Curtis Axel, which was meant to introduce Neville and his move set, every one of his matches has been eye-catching.

The Newcastle native's dynamic, high-flying offense is a big part of that, but he's shown there's more to his game. His selling has been excellent. Intensity, passion and other vital elements are powering his matches as well.

After moving from NXT to a bigger stage, Neville looks plenty comfortable.

By nailing each chance WWE has given him, he has made a statement that he's ready for more of the spotlight, and that his future is even more promising than we imagined. 

2. Kofi's Allies

The WWE Tag Team Championship's timeline is dotted with Kofi Kingston's name. Extreme Rules marked his fourth tag title reign with a total of four partners.

Kingston has now won gold alongside CM Punk, R-Truth, Big E and Evan Bourne.

It's clear that WWE views him as a tag team specialist, as it has so often just crammed him into a random partnership. His match history, according to the Internet Wrestling Database, is filled with tag matches with a stew of Superstars.

Credit: WWE.com

As a developmental prospect at Ohio Valley Wrestling, he and Harry Smith teamed up as The Commonwealth Connection. Kingston's other teammates have included the likes of Brodus Clay, Tommy Suede, Escobar, Chris Masters, Kaval and Michael McGillicutty. 

This latest team is a surprising choice for tag champs. The New Day have displeased fans but had yet to make much of a connection. WWE stubbornly pushed them to the top of the division.

It's not clear how well they'll do there, but judging by Kingston's past, he'll be moving on to a new team eventually and likely working his way to championship status again.

3. Throwback Video of the Week: Verne Gagne 

Wrestling lost a family member on Monday. As WWE.com announced, Hall of Famer Verne Gagne passed away at age 89.

He leaves behind a legacy in the form of the American Wrestling Association, which he promoted and served as its top draw, as well as in the many stars he trained. One can see his ring prowess at work in this clip of his battle with Dick the Bruiser in Chicago:

Technical skills mesh well with brawling. Gagne's underrated showmanship is on display here as well, from how his head snaps back after a punch to how he intense he becomes after the Bruiser riles up him.

4. NXT's Centerpiece

Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens could flourish on the main roster right now. They aren't making that move anytime soon, however; their rivalry is too valuable an asset for NXT.

Last week, Zayn pounced on his former friend, restarting a fire that Owens set ablaze at NXT TakeOver: Rival. Rage crackled on the screen. Zayn seethed; Owens snarled.

Transporting this Ring of Honor feud to NXT is a smart way to get fans to sign up for the WWE Network. It promises to be one of the most enthralling stories all year and will make NXT even more must-see.

Eventually, those two are bound to do their fighting on Raw and SmackDown. But for now, keeping that war contained at Full Sail University is good business.

5. King of the Ring's Finest 

Neville vs. Barrett is instantly in the discussion for best King of the Ring matchup of all time.

The fact that WWE has canceled the tournament so often leaves it with a short history. It's early, non-pay-per-view years didn't produce great action, either.

Still, there are five bouts certainly worth looking up and savoring:

• Bret Hart vs. Mr. Perfect—King of the Ring 1993
• 1-2-3 Kid vs. Owen Hart—King of the Ring 1994
• Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs. Mankind—King of the Ring 1997
• Kurt Angle vs. Chris Jericho—King of the Ring 2000
• Rob Van Dam vs. Chris Jericho—King of the Ring 2002

Owen's match with the man who later became X-Pac was too short, but both men packed lots of fun spots into a small space. A buzzing energy permeated the bout.

Perfect vs. The Hitman felt like the finals, with two top-notch technicians shining. 

Fans can't go wrong with any of these choices, though. Just avoid the entire 1999 King of the Ring event. The entire tournament is hot garbage.

6. The Streak is Over

Dean Ambrose fans can now stop watching, stunned: The Lunatic Fringe's pay-per-view losing streak is no longer growing.

Ambrose's win over Luke Harper at Extreme Rules was his first singles victory on PPV since Night of Champions 2013. In the time between knocking off Dolph Ziggler and Harper, he went 0-10 when not teaming with The Shield.

In that span, John Cena has won 12 pay-per-view bouts. Even Curtis had Ambrose beat with five victories of that sort since Night of Champions two years ago.

Now it's time to start letting Ambrose climb the ranks and go on the opposite kind of streak.

7. Tough Enough

The Internet is rife with entries for the revived reality series Tough Enough. The majority of them are forgettable. They serve as reminders of just how special the men and women we see on WWE programming are.

Maxwell Friedman's audition tape stands out, though:

Count on WWE giving this one heavy consideration. Friedman has a spark that can be a building block to success in the ring. Don't be surprised if you see his smug face on TV this summer. 

8. Divas Division Forgetting Wrestling Basics

Pitting heel against heel or babyface against babyface is fine every once in a while; just switching characters' alignments haphazardly is not.

Naomi (a heel) battled Nikki Bella (a heel as well) at Extreme Rules. WWE has oddly tried to just morph Nikki into a face without actually writing anything that provides a motivation for the switch.

On Monday's Raw, Naomi bashed Brie Bella, leaving Nikki to sit alongside her in the ring looking frustrated and hurt. Why should we have any sympathy for these sisters? WWE has spent months trying to get us to hate them.

Credit: WWE.com

Naomi's character is clear. Her anger over being passed over has turned her bad. What exactly is going on with Nikki and Brie is a lot muddier.

Brie decided to start siding with her sister months ago, despite Nikki's degradation of her. There was no explanation given for that. It looks as if WWE is going that route again, offering lazy storytelling in the Divas division.

9. Missing Swagger

You would think that with Daniel Bryan hurt, The Miz off shooting movies and Brock Lesnar sitting out due to a storyline suspension, that WWE would be employing an "all hands on deck" strategy. That's not the case. Jack Swagger is off the grid.

He has competed on just two episodes of Raw this year. He's only been on one SmackDown in 2015.

The Big Hoss is not injured, either. He's been on Main Event and Superstars in recent weeks, just not on any of the shows that people actually watch.

One has to wonder if he's in the doghouse with WWE officials. Otherwise, why would the company choose to highlight Fandango and Adam Rose so much, by comparison?

10. Gagne on Wrestling/Football

The late Gagne was a skilled football player as well as a wrestler, having played for the University of Minnesota and briefly flirting with the NFL. In his mind, the mat game is the more physical enterprise.

In 1954, he pulled out a pair of false teeth and told the Chicago Tribune that he lost the real ones in the ring. He then said, "Compared with wrestling, football is like taking a vacation cruise."

Match statistics courtesy of CageMatch.net.