When reports surfaced that Big Bill was on his way out of All Elite Wrestling in the middle of this past summer, I wrote that the rumors of his impending return to WWE made sense, as it was the next logical step after he spent time in both TNA and AEW to rejuvenate his career. He was cut from the company eight years earlier and had to deal with substance and mental health issues before he could get his career back on track. Thankfully, he cleaned up his life, and when vignettes began airing for his comeback to Raw before he made his official return to television at the beginning of August, it looked like TKO was getting the best version of Big Cass of his entire wrestling career.
No pun intended, but when Cass was a tag team with Enzo more than a decade earlier, he was a puppy with big paws in some respects. He wasn’t a guy that had previous TV experience or a long-term independent career, he was mostly a product of the WWE system. Understandably, there was a learning curve. Obviously, Cass had the size that WWE looks for and he was an athletic big man, which is key to success in most scenarios in the modern era, but the argument could be made that he didn’t have the “glue” to the overall performance.
In many ways, regardless of what happens with his current WWE run, Bill Morrissey is a success story. He was a guy that could’ve easily become another cautionary tale in the pro wrestling business that has already had way too many tragedies throughout its history. However, Morrissey cleaned himself up and made his way back to the national level of sports entertainment for the past several years, which isn’t an easy task with the crowded current landscape of the business.
As much as Morrissey was able to stand out from the pack, it’s just as difficult, and in some cases, even more difficult to avoid getting lost in the shuffle.
It goes without saying that TKO is a corporate machine that will run full-steam ahead in pursuit of the almighty dollar, nothing else matters, even if some of those tactics eventually have a detrimental effect on the product or the fan base. Despite being back in the fold less than two months, there’s chatter online that the bloom is off the rose when it comes to Big Cass’ status within the WWE, and based on some of the recent results on television, there might be some credibility to that notion.
At 40, and considering that this is the best version of him so far, if the WWE is going to promote Cass as a big deal, the time is now. That isn’t to say that he’s past his prime in any fashion, but rather that if they want a legitimate star that they can push for the next 5-8 years, they have to run with him now. Of course, when Cass initially returned, he did the typical monster segments where he steamrolled the smaller guys on the roster. That approach can be effective, as it’s one of the reasons that Bronson Reed got over when he returned to the company a few years ago. Obviously, the talent being pushed needs to have the skills to sustain the momentum long-term, as Reed did, but the argument could be made that there hasn’t been enough of a sample size to make that determination for Cass.
When a performer comes into the promotion with a bully push, if they are defeated rather quickly then the narrative is basically over. That might be example what happened to Cass. Je’von Evans beat Big Cass in their rematch two weeks ago on Raw after their original bout in August so what else is there to do? David conquered Goliath, and it only took a few weeks for it to happen. This past week on Raw, Dragon Lee, another smaller high-flyer, beat Cass, prompting questions about what direction, if any, Cass has going forward.
Right now, it looks like Cass might’ve been the flavor of the month so to speak, and it lasted about as long as the flavor of the nifty zebra gum from back in the day.
I could see this going one of two way for the real-life Morrissey, either these losses are going to be used as the catalyst to set up a bigger story in the big picture, or the office actually has already lost faith in him so his run is going to be labeled as plateaued so he will spend the duration of his tenure in the lower card of the line-up. At least TKO has quality catering at TV tapings.
How Cass is used, if at all, on television in the next few weeks will be critical to the perception of him by the audience either as a threat or an afterthought. The issue is that Cass might’ve been literally a big fish in a smaller pond in TNA and AEW. It’s much easier to spotlight a big man when the majority of the roster is of a smaller stature based on the “work rate” style than it is with the big man philosophy that still dominates most of the WWE mindset. On a roster with Oba Femi, Bronson Reed, and Roman Reigns, Cass’ lack of charisma or overall presence might be more noticeable.
That being said, I’d still say that Cass made the right move, because if he would’ve stayed in AEW any longer, he would’ve lost momentum or the impression that he made through his work there. Ultimately, the WWE is still the biggest sports entertainment company in the world, and for the vast majority of talent in the business, it will offer the biggest exposure, and often the biggest money possible. At the very least, Cass had to take a chance to return, especially with the global expansion under TKO.
With the recent defeats, there was some speculation if WWE would bring Enzo back to the organization to reform the tag team as somewhat of a default to what got over years ago, but that wouldn’t help Cass’ chances, as it would basically prove that he didn’t make nearly as much progress as originally thought if he needed a retread from a decade ago to try to get over with the audience again. More importantly, Enzo has proven himself to be completely aloof at almost every aspect of sports entertainment.
It remains to be seen if Cass’ comeback fizzled out this quickly or not. All things considered, if I had to guess, as I mentioned earlier, the fact that he was booked to lose two matches so close together on television, particularly to Dragon Lee, who hasn’t been a priority too often, is probably an indication that the office, for whatever reason, doesn’t want to invest more much stock into the Cass return. Still, if that is the case, I don’t think management gave Cass nearly enough time to reestablish himself as a commodity on Raw, but as unfair as it might be, the reality is that there are younger, more well-rounded prospects like Oba Femi and Bron Breakker already on the roster.
Until next week
-Jim LaMotta
E mail [email protected] | You can follow me on Instagram, Facebook, & Threads @jimlamotta89
