Examining Tyler Breeze's Blueprint for Success on WWE's Main Roster

WWE is set to add a splashy narcissist in Tyler Breeze to its roster, and the company has to treat him as an asset, not an add-on.

Too often in the recent past, WWE has failed to make the most of new additions who have outlandish, goofier gimmicks. There is a place in the spandex circus for a guy like Breeze, a man who has mastered his gimmick at NXT, but he's in danger of falling into the same sinkholes that Bo Dallas, Adam Rose and others have of late.

The tailspin of Rose's career provides a blueprint of how not to book Breeze. The successful path that Goldust took, however, gives WWE a plan of action that is worth following.

After a lengthy stay in the developmental system, Prince Pretty is finally venturing onto the main roster. WWE.com announced Tuesday that Breeze will make his main-roster debut on this week's SmackDown.

The male model hailing from a variety of seasonal residences is no blue-chip prospect. He's an excellent showman and has excelled as a braggart in gaudy gear, but he has his limitations. He'll need commitment and creativity from the writing team to be a success story.

To assure that tale works out the best possible way, WWE has to learn from what it got wrong with Dallas.

Avoid Trimming Down His Character

At NXT, Dallas was a smug, underhanded grinner with plenty of fierceness. He staged a protest at Full Sail University, showed a slideshow of his travels and celebrated everything he did in excess.

Once he made it to the main roster, WWE thinned down his character to a single dimension. 

He was no longer playing a syrupy motivational speaker with a God complex; he was just a guy with a catchphrase. WWE fans only saw him talk about "Bo-lieving." They didn't experience the other layers of his persona that he developed at NXT.

Not surprisingly, he has failed to catch on. 

The NXT version of Breeze is a blend of Gorgeous George, a character pulled from Zoolander and a commentary on a self-obsessed generation. Breeze has done well to toy and experiment with the character until it fit him as comfortably as the Bray Wyatt act fits Windham Rotunda.

WWE cannot have him just be the guy who takes selfies. 

It has to allow him to show more sides of himself, either through vignettes or backstage segments. WWE has to embrace the full extent of Breeze, the silliness of the shtick, as well as the classic arrogant heel elements. 

Make Sure to Mix Beauty with Bashing

There is a long tradition of makeup-wearing, convention-breaking wrestlers in love with their own looks.

Gorgeous George strolled to the ring fresh from the salon, his valet spritzing perfume on him. Adrian Street came to battle wearing eyeshadow and feathers in his hair. Goldust donned skin-tight golden tights, caressed his own nipples and routinely made the audience uncomfortable.

What those men shared, in addition to flair and sass, was that they paired those traits with straight-up ass-kicking.

George ground men into the mat. Goldust kicked his foes in the nuts. Street used his forearm like a hammer, tapping it along an opponent's back.

WWE has to show Breeze's toughness in addition to his bravado. It has to have him clobber folks before and after he puckers his lips for the camera.

Don't Treat Him Like a Joke

WWE played Adam Rose for laughs. He won early on, but it was almost always in a fluky fashion. A roll-up here, a roll-up there and his early winning streak suddenly felt hollow.

He never felt like a threat. He felt like the punchline.

Level of competition had a lot to do with that. He was beating guys like Heath Slater and Damien Sandow early on. Fans can't be asked to buy those wins as meaningful with as much as those guys are made to look like doormats.

When he finally faced real competition—namely Kane—he and his bunny got steamrolled.  

Breeze need not go on a Goldberg-like streak, but he needs to do some damage to notable foes. He can be a part of comedy bits, but he needs real ways to gain heel heat as well. Have him ambush babyfaces and come out on top in verbal altercations at times.

Notching some big victories will help on top of that. Note how much more of a threat Kevin Owens (who has beaten Cesaro and John Cena) feels compared to Rose.

Pit Him Against Top-Flight In-Ring Performers

Breeze is solid but not elite in the ring. His best matches at NXT came against the brand's best: Adrian Neville, Apollo Crews, Sami Zayn.

His biggest strengths are his showmanship and swagger. To complement those, it's best to have him collide with guys who are better in-ring performers than him. Have him lean on his gimmick while others lead the dance on the canvas.

Having him face Cesaro, Dolph Ziggler or Dean Ambrose assures that he makes his mark early with quality matches. They also speak to his place on the hierarchy. 

When Rose was facing Slater time and again, it was a signal to the audience that he resided on and would continue to reside on a low rung. Neville, on the other hand, battled a trio of world champions Ziggler, Seth Rollins and Sheamus in his first month.

Going a similar route is one way to have help fans take Breeze seriously, fuzzy purple boots and all.

He's neither monster nor foreign brute, but WWE has to treat him like a formidable heel while still letting him spread his peacockish wings.