I could’ve easily done this article in about 20 words, but I wasn’t allowed.
Kyle O’Reilly began wrestling in 2005 for various promotions in his home country of Canada. He has wrestled for multiple independent companies and more well-known promotions, including Ring of Honor and New Japan, before signing with WWE’s NXT brand in 2017. A very successful tag team wrestler, holding multiple tag titles in multiple different companies but he is also very accomplished in a singles capacity, holding the ROH and the PWG World Championships.
The solo periods of his career, he was able to work on his solo ring ability, showcasing his talent to entertain, both inside and outside the ring, which he successfully transferred into his tag team matches as well. He has always been an entertaining wrestler, whether it be his promos or his in-ring style as a more frantic and brutal competitor, making all the matches he would participate in that much more captivating. His mixture of high flying and his ground game makes his matches extremely compelling. His chemistry with both opponents and partners makes him even more fun to watch and I fully believe he is an absolute gentleman backstage.
His ability to entertain in a non-wrestling capacity has grown leaps and bounds, especially in the last three years whilst he’s been with WWE because of the creative freedom and assistance he has received. He did it before WWE but his presence in front of cameras has turned him into one of the best in the business. A perfect example would be his interactions with Cathy Kelley; he is a naturally charismatic human being and the WWE environment has allowed him to flourish on this aspect of
Her last appearance for WWE was on a stream where the whole of the Undisputed Era said goodbye, they would bully her constantly on NXT, and it was Kyle who led the line in the comedy. Saying she could stand beside them, then forcing her behind the group, offering her doughnuts and then going to take them away and his weird version of flirting and asking for her number when the rest of the group are off to the side.
His in-ring style for me is incredibly entertaining but that is because I enjoy the MMA style competitor and he does it fantastically. He adds his mannerisms to it, his facial expressions are next to none whether it’s elation or deflation. He took something we all did as a kid, using a title belt like a guitar, and made it part of his gimmick and we all absolutely adore it. The leg kick as he does it, wandering down to the ring.
The best bit is when he does it without the title belt and carries on the consistency in his gimmick. He rides off the
For someone to have the ability that Kyle does is extremely rare. The collection of a great talker, skilled in the ring and just a captivating personality is very hard to come by. He is a diamond and can sometimes be overshadowed due to his position in the stable and being half of the nominated tag team. He expresses himself as much as he possibly can in the more limited capacity that he performs in and he does it absolutely perfectly.
Despite being limited by his position in the group, his appearances on NXT TV every week, and the Takeovers’, still give him more exposure to wrestling fans than any of his independent performances would. He’s been given a platform and he’s used that platform to get himself over even more with fans who didn’t know him before NXT, as well as bringing more eyes to NXT from WWE fans who are looking to branch out their viewing.
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