Tye Dillinger made his SmackDown debut after WWE’s Superstar Shake-Up. It was a long road to WWE for Dillinger. Rolling Stone has a new interview with Dillinger and he discusses his time in WWE developmental and who he would like to face in a match on the SmackDown roster. Here are some highlights from the interview:
His journey through WWE developmental:
“In the beginning, there was a great deal of frustration. Developmental was so different at the time. Now, I don’t even consider NXT a developmental system. It’s its own brand. So many guys were able to develop a following while in NXT. Look at guys like Finn Balor, or Kevin Owens, or even Seth Rollins in the early days. Look at the Royal Rumble. I came out at the  number 10 spot, and there was a great reaction. That’s just a testament to how far NXT has come in a very short amount of time.
My first time around in WWE, there wasn’t the WWE Network. We weren’t as big. It was much harder to crack through and get to the audience. There was much more of a competitive nature. It was just really hard to break through that glass ceiling. Now, we’re worldwide. NXT is worldwide. It’s still competitive to get to the WWE of course, but with that following, we want to put on a great product no matter where we are. There’s such a big difference between then and now. I wake up and thank myself every day that I was given a second opportunity.”
What he wants to accomplish on SmackDown Live:
“I’ve been around long enough to know that the work never stops. If you’re fortunate enough to get on the main roster, the work starts all over. I spent a lot of time on NXT with the Perfect Ten character and getting him to where he is now. Now that I’m on Smackdown Live, we have a broader audience. We have, perhaps, a new audience. The work starts all over for me. I fully intend on starting from the bottom up. But, at the same time, I want to make some waves, and I want to make some waves quick.
There are a lot of talented guy that I want to mix it up with that I’ve never had the opportunity with. Hopefully the broader audience will get a kick out of some of the things that I do, and will become just as loyal as the NXT audience who has been following me for the past years. The goal stays the same, and that’s just to get all the way to the very top. That has never changed, and I’m ready.”
Who he would like to face on the SmackDown roster:
“I’ve been thinking about this, and I have a top four, in no particular order. One guy I had on the list actually just got shipped over to Raw, and he was at the top of my list, and that’s The Miz. Miz is one guy I’d like to work with, because I think we could do some pretty incredible things. At the moment though, on Smackdown, in no particular order: Tyler Breeze, Dolph Ziggler, Randy Orton and AJ Styles. Ziggler I’ve known for years. We used to work together way way back in the FCW days.
Tyler Breeze is an incredible talent. I worked with him a little bit in NXT, but not to the level where I had hoped. That guy is severely underrated as a talent. AJ Styles and Randy Orton, I’ve never worked with them before. I don’t need to give you any of their accolades, the world knows them already. Those two right now are the best at what we do in this industry. They’re the top of the top.”
