On RAW last night, WWE once again used some local competitors as enhancement talent for their main roster.
Both Aleister Black and Erick Rowan had matches against these local talents and below is a brief biography of the wrestlers –
Aleister Black faced off against Kenneth Johnson, a 10 year veteran of the business. He has worked for the NWA, Lonestar Championship Wrestling, and Branded Outlaw Wrestling. As the tweet explains, Kenneth has worked for WWE before. He took part in the first Cruiserweight Classic in 2016 where he lost against the emerging Akira Tozawa. He also lost to TJP on an episode of 205 Live in 2018 as well as working a few dark matches too.
On @WWE RAW: Aleister Black @WWEAleister defeated 2016 Cruiserweight Classic participant Kenneth Johnson/Weazy Woo @WeazyWoo. This was Kenneth’s 3rd televised/taped WWE match & 5th overall WWE match. #WWE #RAW #WWERAW pic.twitter.com/ncEglDcf4U
— The Local Competitor (@LocalCompWWE) January 28, 2020
Erick Rowan, who has been using local competitors in his matches over the past few weeks, faced off against Branden Vice, a graduate of the Hybrid School Of Wrestling in San Antonio, TX. Being trained by luminaries such as Rodney Mack, Jazz, and Sho Funaki will have helped him secure his WWE appearances I’m sure.
He first appeared on last week’s SmackDown as a medic that helped Jimmy Uso to the back after the six-man tag match. From there he was shown on Sunday’s Royal Rumble where once again he was a medic that attended to Daniel Bryan after his match against “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt.
Recently he appeared as a medic at the Royal Rumble after “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt vs Daniel Bryan match. 2 days prior on SmackDown Live as a medic, he appeared during the Roman Reigns/Usos vs King Corbin, Robert Roode, & Dolph Ziggler match where he helped Jimmy Uso to the back. pic.twitter.com/bTaqn6XSDO
— The Local Competitor (@LocalCompWWE) January 28, 2020
Blake’s Take – Is it wrong that I look forward more to seeing and researching these local talents, than the show itself? The stories of these guys are usually 100 times more enjoyable than the stories that are put on the screen by WWE. The exposure that these wrestlers get for working with WWE must be great. Plus the indies that book the guys after the WWE gigs get a rub from the exposure. Everybody wins right? And in the words of The Authority (remember them?)…”It’s best for business”
