Ryan Dilbert's 10-Count: Comic Relief Roles Letting WWE SmackDown Stars Shine

1. The Blue/Funny Brand

Aiden English held his hands to his face, frozen in exasperation as The New Day burst out of the locker room, throwing breakfast cereal into the air and tooting on a trombone.

The tuxedo-wearing WWE SmackDown star's operatic solo had gone unappreciated by the bystanders backstage. The blaring music from the raucous, splashy trio, though, had inspired them to dance. English's frustration seethed.

This was no major moment in the grand scheme of Tuesday's SmackDown. It was a brief aside, a peek behind the curtains at some of the blue brand's colorful characters.

But it is indicative of SmackDown's ability to infuse humor into its world and elevate wrestlers as a result.

English is an average in-ring performer. His frame isn't of the larger-than-life variety. He's not special in any physical category.

The Shakespeare of Song, though, has found a niche as a grating, pompous heel who sings more than he speaks.

He has worked his way up from the bottom of the card to be a steady presence on the show thanks in large part to being funny. And he's not alone. Breezango, The Ascension, James Ellsworth and English's buddy, Rusev, are all bettering their position by way of their sense of humor.

Breezango is the most obvious example of this. Tyler Breeze and Fandango went from being non-factors on the blue brand to being one of its highlights each week with their Fashion Files comedy segments.

The bits have allowed the fashion-minded team to let loose and get weird, making us laugh along the way.

And now fans have a real connection with them. It doesn't matter that they don't wrestle regularly. Their win-loss record doesn't mean much.

Jokes, sight gags and general silliness have been the key to their success.

Fashion Files has even managed to get The Ascension some momentum. Konnor and Viktor have made regular appearances in the sketches where they yell about being gluten-free or secretly covet Eddie Money tickets.

The face-painted bruisers make it work, too. As Kyler James of Fightful pointed out, The Ascension is funny:

We're now finding that out about English. The Artiste is becoming an increasingly big part of the show, something that wouldn't have happened had WWE played his character straight.

SmackDown is proving that delving into comedy is often a smart means to get a Superstar going.

Daniel Bryan's rise may never have happened had he not being a part of those hilarious anger management skits. Edge and Christian deepened their hold on the audience by being goofy backstage. 

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Today, talents like English, The Ascension and Breezango are taking their own humor-rich roads. And should any of them become champs at some point, they can point back to their days as court jesters as a catalyst for that success.

2. Three Times the Women at TLC 

Sunday's TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view will be a showcase of the Raw women's division. Three women's matches are now official for the PPV: Sasha Banks vs. Alicia Fox, Asuka vs. Emma, and Alexa Bliss vs. Mickie James.

This will be the first time in TLC history the event has a trio of women's showdowns, per the Internet Wrestling Database. 

The 2015 and 2016 event featured two women's matches. In the six TLC events before that, there was only one at each show.

Sunday's slate of action will be the first time we've seen three women's matches (not counting mixed tag bouts) on a PPV since Elimination Chamber in February. We'll soon see if Survivor Series will continue that trend.

3. Throwback Video of the Week: Seth Rollins and Cesaro

At TLC, Seth Rollins and Cesaro will collide as part of opposite teams in TLC's main event. They have spent much of the summer looking to knock each other around in fights over the Raw Tag Team Championship.

But they haven't always been enemies.

Rollins and Cesaro have actually been tag team partners in the past. Wrestling as Tyler Black and Claudio Castagnoli, respectively, they teamed up at a 2005 IWA Mid-South show, for example:

It's hard to even recognize Cesaro here with all that hair on his head and his far more formal ring gear. But that uppercut is unmistakable. 

4. Lightning Lio

It would have been easier to watch Lio Rush's NXT debut against The Velveteen Dream last Wednesday at half speed. The dynamic newcomer bounded and bounced around the ring at a dizzying pace.

There may not be anyone quicker under the WWE umbrella than Rush. 

He moves like something out of a video game. His acceleration is off the charts. Even in today's era where top-notch athletes are all over the roster, Rush is going to stand out thanks to his quickness and agility. 

He is to speed what Braun Strowman is to strength. 

5. He Really Is The Great One

Judy Rosenberg, a 76-year-old grandmother, brought a cardboard cutout of Dwayne Johnson with her to her hospice. She's battling pancreatic cancer and apparently wanted some support in the form of a shirtless Rock.

The Rock heard this story and sent a moving message to her on Instagram.

Of course, he did. The Brahma Bull has made a habit out of pulling this kind of awesome move. He's certainly doing this celebrity thing right.

6. Nikki Still Very Much in It

Halfway through the Dancing with the Stars season, Nikki Bella is still in the mix. The Fearless One knocked it out of the park in her latest dance.

As Sean Rueter of Cageside Seats pointed out, Bella and her partner scored a 27 out of 30 on Disney Night, the couple's highest score thus far.

Bella has to survive another week to last as long as Chris Jericho did in 2011. If she remains on the show past then, it will be increasingly likely she becomes the first person to win both Dancing with the Stars and hold the WWE Divas Championship.

7. The Undefeated Eater of Worlds

As Bray Wyatt prepares to face Finn Balor at TLC, much of the focus will be on the fact that he will go to battle as his Sister Abigail alter ego.

He may be a laughingstock when he comes out in a veil and white makeup, but he's been booked as quite the powerful force at this event. TLC has been good to Wyatt, to the tune of a 4-0 record at the PPV, per CageMatch.net.

None of The Shield guys can claim that. 

Wyatt has a chance to continue his streak Sunday in a match that could easily go either way. That is unless WWE counts this bout as Sister Abigail's debut. She and Balor have the same 0-0 mark at TLC.

8. Top Tables Matches

Surprisingly, there's only one gimmick match so far at TLC. There is not yet a tables match, a contest we've seen time and time again at the event.

The stipulation isn't nearly as known for producing classics as the ladder match, but there have been some thrilling ones over the years. 

Check out this clips and highlights to see what a tables match looks like at its best:

• The Hardy Boyz vs. The Dudley Boyz: Royal Rumble 2000
• The Dudley Boyz vs. The Rock: SmackDown, March 9, 2000
• The Dudley Boyz and Jeff Hardy vs. Rico and 3-Minute Warning: Survivor Series 2002
• Randy Orton vs. Wade Barrett: TLC 2011
• John Cena vs. Seth Rollins: TLC 2014 

It's no shocker that The Dudley Boyz are all over this list. They made the tables match their home field, smashing foe after foe through wood. 

Braun Strowman should begin to have a similar relationship with the Steel Cage match, making it his domain and a place where no one else wants to venture.

9. The Wildest of Foxes

Alicia Fox is moving out of the background to lay down a beating. The former Divas champ has long been one of WWE's most underused talents. But she's finally getting to be a star in her own story again.

Her feud with Sasha Banks has them set to clash at TLC.

Ahead of that battle, Fox has reverted back to her tantrum-throwing ways. And it's glorious.

The 31-year-old is so good at being part petulant child, part attack dog. Fox does unhinged better than Dean Ambrose. Hopefully, her clashes with Banks aren't the end of her time in the spotlight, but the start of more focus on her.

10. Aries on the "Bingo Halls"

There is life for wrestlers outside of WWE. Austin Aries provided the latest reminder of that.

After leaving the company in July and waiting out the no-compete period, he's ready to start tearing it up elsewhere. And apparently, that's going to bring in some nice checks for him.

Aries commented on the money he's set to make on the independent circuit:

"

Upcoming 6 weeks of "bingo hall" $ >> Last 4 months of "big league" $. Awesome to see the #prowrestling scene thriving around the .

— Austin Healy Aries (@AustinAries) October 14, 2017"

These kinds of comments are becoming more common. Cody Rhodes is doing quite well for himself post-WWE. Now it's Aries' turn. And he'll get to do so as part of an industry that is boasting a number of successes lately, which is always a welcome sight.