Ryan Dilbert's 10-Count: Big Show Needs to Be off WWE TV After Brock Lesnar Bout

1. Hibernation for Big Show 

The collision awaiting Big Show at Madison Square Garden on Oct. 3 is the perfect opportunity to recharge his career.

Have Brock Lesnar throttle him to the point where he can't stand, where he disappears from WWE programming for months. The overexposed giant needs a break from TV. He needs to step away from the spotlight to be better appreciated.

Big Show agrees that his distinctiveness is suffering. He told Digital Spy, "I think the uniqueness and the special things that I bring to WWE is sometimes a little bit downplayed because you see me every week." 

WWE continues to present him as a top star despite him receiving "Please retire!" chants. He never stays away from the top rungs of the company for long. And it's now been 16 years since he served as Vince McMahon's enforcer in The Corporation.

Kane has been around that long but has gone through a number of mutations of his gimmick. Big Show has been Big Show for a long, long time.

Making him more of a special attraction is the smart move.

First off, that will be a blessing physically for him. At 43 years old and bearing the girth that he does, he can certainly use a lighter schedule. 

And secondly, the interest level for Big Show clearly isn't there. WWE has been trying to pump him up in the past few weeks as a viable challenger for Lesnar. The audience hasn't bought in.

As Bill Neville of the New Age Insiders podcast noted, the response to the big man's entrance on Monday's Raw was far from raucous:

"

Not many entrances can you hear a pin drop, but man, Big Show is there.

— BillNevilleNAI (@BillNevilleNAI) September 29, 2015"

WWE has hurt Big Show's appeal with constant flip-flopping between heel and face roles. It has forced him toward the top of the card even as the audience has shown little interest in him being there. The solution to the malaise surrounding his character is to shelve him temporarily.

His absence would allow others to take the spot he stands in today. 

It would allow WWE to keep him in its holster until the right story comes along, until interest in him picks up and then fire him into a new narrative.

This repeat of a feud with Lesnar that he had both in 2014 and in 2002 has been a clear sign that there's little spark to his character. WWE keeps trying to claim that Big Show vs. Lesnar is a huge match, but it feels far from that.

That's a result of him being ever-present on center stage, the giant becoming the norm, his larger-than-life status hampered by his ceaseless presence.

2. Missing in Action

The WWE bench is crowded. The company continues to not use its full roster, leaving a number of guys off TV and out of the ring.

Not everyone can wrestle on Raw every week, but looking at how long it's been since wrestlers like Damien Sandow and Heath Slater have competed on a Monday night is startling:

Wrestler	Date of Last Match on Raw	Date of Last Match on SmackDown
Adam Rose	June 22	July 21
Curtis Axel	May 11	May 19
Damien Sandow	May 11	April 28
Fandango	July 27	July 7
Heath Slater	Nov. 17, 2014	May 19
Jack Swagger	June 29	July 28
Jimmy Uso	March 9	Sept. 8

These are non-injured wrestlers going several months in a row without getting even the most minor opportunity. That's just a waste.

Slater, Sandow and others aren't necessarily going to ascend to headline status, but they have something to offer, even if that means being used as enhancement talent.

Why not put some of these men in lower-tier tag teams to help boost the top squads? Why not send one of them to NXT as WWE has done with Ryder to see if they can have a Tyson Kidd-like career resurrection?

3. Throwback Video of the Week: Mike Rotunda 

Watching Rotuda take on Sting for the NWA TV title is intriguing for a number of reasons.

For one, it's a reminder just how long Sting's career has lasted. Here he is dethroning Rotunda in 1989, while just last week he headlined a WWE pay-per-view where Rotunda's son, Bray Wyatt, competed on the same card.

Wyatt and Bo Dallas' dad is an underrated performer. Fans often think of him during his Irwin R. Schyster days, but when he was a key member of The Varsity Club, he expertly blended his amateur wrestling prowess and fine heel work.

It's also a reminder of how often wrestling ideas are recycled. NXT's short-live Shoot Nation was a present-day version of Rotunda's letterman jacket-wearing faction.

4. The Juggernaut Swinging Too Lightly 

As intense as Roman Reigns is, it's surprising that his corner clotheslines lack enough force on a regular basis. Too often, when he has an opponent reeling in the corner and starts to bash him with clotheslines, it's not realistic-looking.

Take this clip of him battling Rusev, for example:

It doesn't even look like he's touching him on some of those blows. Other ones are too feathery.

That's such an easy thing to fix, it's surprising that someone hasn't gotten into his ear and told him to crank up the move a bit. 

5. Dodger Rookies Do Halloween Early

Rookie hazing led to the Los Angeles Dodgers' newbies celebrating the WWE. The Dodgers Instagram account showed off the assortment of wrestling legends represented by the team's rookies:

If your first thought is something like, "But Rey Mysterio never won the United States title," you will get no judgment from this fellow wrestling nerd.

6. Determining Cena's Next Challenger

His weekly open challengers are plenty entertaining, but John Cena needs a rival to be chasing his title at Hell in a Cell and beyond.

Don Feria/Associated Press

WWE would be wise to crown that contender by way of a No. 1 contender's tournament. Not only does it make the tourney's winner look like a viable threat, it showcases a number of talents in the process.

King Barrett can gain some momentum following his return on Monday night. Jack Swagger can step back onto the scene. Having Neville make it to the finals only to experience heartbreak continues his narrative of near-triumphs. 

Fans can have something to look forward to each week. The format helps connects one Raw to the next. And fans are assured of at least a handful of standout matches.

Building a bracket and letting a challenger emerge in the next three weeks is the best way to get Cena a new foe.

7. Bo Dallas, Bottom-Feeder 

Dallas has become WWE's go-to jobber. WWE has whittled down his character to just a catchphrase and has presented him as little more than everyone else's doormat.

Per CageMatch.net, Dallas is 9-21 in his last 30 matches. That number is a bit misleading, though. Those wins have come on the little-seen Main Event and Superstars.

On WWE's bigger shows, Dallas falls regularly. His Raw record going back 30 bouts is 0-5; his SmackDown record is 0-7 in that span.

His last victory on Raw came in late 2014, a count-out win against Mark Henry. You have to go back a calendar year to find his last SmackDown win as well. Last October, he teamed with Goldust and Stardust to score a win on that show.

Dallas can at least take solace in the fact that he's actually being asked to wrestle unlike Fandango and Co.

8. Brawls on Raw

Roman Reigns and Bray Wyatt fought long after the bell on Monday night. Their chaotic, no-holds-barred fight comes just two months after Brock Lesnar and The Undertaker had their own memorable scuffle.

Over the years, Raw has seen plenty of these kinds of brawls. The one listed here are among those most worth re-watching:

• Shawn Michaels vs. Mr. Perfect: May 10, 1993
• Randy Savage vs. Crush: Nov. 8, 1993
• Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels: May 24, 2004
• Raw vs. SmackDown: Nov. 21, 2005
• Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena: April 9, 2012

The Lesnar-Cena brawl had the benefit of a punch landing too hard and busting Cena's nose. The blood splattered on his face magnified the moment.

And looking back at these reminds one just how often Michaels found himself in these types of frays. He and Edge once tried to rip each apart as their fight took them all around the arena.

9. Don't Blame Roman Reigns, Bray Wyatt

WWE can't be tempted to think having Reigns and Wyatt in the main event of Monday's Raw caused the latest dip in ratings.

As noted on ProWrestling.net, Raw netted a 2.33 rating and "the Raw hourly viewership numbers dropped as the show went on." That's with a Reigns-Wyatt showdown being heavily promoted throughout the show.

This is more a result of general audience apathy than two not-yet-established stars getting a prime spot on the card.

Credit: WWE.com

PWInsider's Mike Johnson pinpointed some of the show's biggest issues. He wrote, "There was very little must-see and a number of segments that led to short matches, some of which were obviously one-sided."

He is spot-on. It's this kind of formulaic, unimaginative product that is inspiring fans to see what else is on TV on Monday night.

The best part of Monday's show was these two fresh faces in prime time, and how well they delivered when asked to cap off the night with a full-throttle brawl.

10. Summer Rae Speaks the Truth

With nasty comments flooding Renee Young's social media accounts, Summer stepped up.

Young's relationship with Dean Ambrose has led to her constantly having to fend off online attacks. Ambrose-obsessed fans have insulted and even threatened her. 

In the comments of a recent Instagram post from Young, Summer responded to these folks, suggesting that they go read a book or volunteer instead. 

She wrote, "Think how much better the world would be if all of these internet stalkers trolling around actually got up & put the time it takes to put ppl down on the internet...to good use!"

How right she is. Trolling is a time-intensive job. And it's as hollow an endeavor as there is.

Ryan Dilbert covers all things WWE for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter to talk wrestling.