Ryan Dilbert's 10-Count: The Foreign Heel Is a Tired, Out-of-Date WWE Trope

1. USA! USA! Ad Nauseum!

In WWE, the Cold War never ended.

One of the key matches on Sunday's Battleground pay-per-view will feature a flag-waving American patriot fending off a foreign menace from a former Soviet state. The pure-of-heart John Cena will tangle with the freedom-hating Rusev.

It's a story straight out of 1980's WWE. 

The same PPV will see another us-versus-them tale as Jinder Mahal takes on Randy Orton with the WWE Championship on the line. Mahal plays the evil foreigner. Orton is the gutsy American looking to chase him back to his country.

WWE hasn't evolved away from nationalism as an easy way to drum up heat.

For Mahal (Indian), Rusev (Bulgarian) and Raw's Ariya Daivari (Iranian), the crux of their character is their foreignness. They speak their native language to anger the crowd. They make it clear that they are the other. 

We have seen this countless times before. Hulk Hogan vs. Iron Sheik. Lex Luger vs. Yokozuna. Cena vs. Rusev the first time around.

The TDE Wrestling Twitter account mocked the fact that SmackDown is telling two of those stories at the moment:

The parallel narratives of Mahal vs. Orton and Rusev vs. Cena underscore how played out this dynamic is. In this case, WWE is using a dusty playbook that worked in another era. 

The foreign villain is a lazy storytelling crutch.

It would be more work to develop a character deeper than a stereotype. Highlighting Rusev's mercilessness or Mahal's inferiority complex would make for a rounder character in each case, but WWE has chosen to zero in on them not being American.

Vaughn Johnson of Philly.com is over the concept:

He's not the only one. Cena vs. Rusev doesn't have nearly the buzz around it WWE had to be hoping for.

Wrestling Inc's Raj Giri noted Sunday's event is not sold out and WWE sent an email offering discounted tickets.

This focus on America versus the world is a strange move for a company with such a global audience.

When Cena rattled on in a pro-USA rant on Tuesday's SmackDown, how does that resonate with fans in Mexico, Germany or Japan? How does Rusev calling America a joke make him more of a villain for the audience abroad?

Good versus evil or brother versus brother are more universal tales. 

They don't make WWE feel as if it's as out of touch with an increasingly globalized world. It makes more sense to give fans reasons to hate Rusev as a person than relying on him being Bulgarian. Mahal has been most interesting when he plays up his privilege and lack of respect.

His "down with America" rhetoric is too easy to drown out. 

2. The Olympian's Son's Stats

In a soap opera-like story, Jason Jordan of American Alpha turned out to be Raw general manager Kurt Angle's long-lost son. Angle revealed the news on Monday's Raw.

Jordan is now poised to go on a solo run with the backing of a Hall of Famer.

To this point, his experience on his own is minimal. WWE, though, has booked him strongly thus far. Per CageMatch.net, Jordan has only had three one-on-one matches on the main roster and won all three of them.

Jordan had a .746 winning percentage on TV and PPV last year.

That's a good place to start recordwise. WWE won't have to book him out of a hole as it did with Mahal. Jordan enters the new phase of his career with essentially a clean slate.

3. Throwback Video of the Week: Bruiser Brody

There will never be another Bruiser Brody. 

The clobbering beast of a man was unsettling and captivating in the ring. He made an art out of savagery and felt like some colossus born in the depths of the Earth.

Unfortunately, a senseless act took him far too soon. July 16 marked the 29th year since his death.

To celebrate the late icon, here's a video of a 1987 clash with archrival Abdullah The Butcher in Puerto Rico:

No one compelled in a brawl like Brody. He and Abdullah going at it was always a kaiji movie come to life, with Godzilla wailing away on a fellow monster. 

Induction into the WWE Hall of Fame is long overdue.

4. If There are 2-out-of-3 Falls in the Forest...

205 Live often features a can't-miss match that many folks miss.

The cruiserweight showcase has a wealth of issues plaguing it, but like we saw on Tuesday night when Mustafa Ali outlasted Drew Gulak in a 2-out-of-3 Falls match, the show has some stellar action to take in at times. An under-the-radar feud culminated in a signature win for Ali.

Gulak's anti-high-flying gimmick came into play as he got desperate enough to go against his beliefs. Ali looked fantastic. And his scoring a fall with a mat-wrestling move to embarrass his technically minded rival was a nice touch.

But only a fraction of WWE's fanbase saw it.

As of this writing, Ali vs. Gulak has only 82,000 views on YouTube. That means there have been fewer eyes on that bit of excellence than clips on WWE's YouTube channel like a bikini photo shoot with Naomi and Corey Graves talking about working for a metal band. 

And as Nick Paglino of Wrestle Zone pointed out, "205 Live did not make the top 20 shows" on the WWE Network last week.

The show looks doomed due to poor numbers, but that doesn't mean there isn't gold to take in quite often. Fans need to tune in and savor it all while it lasts.

5. The Big (Cooking) Show

If you ever wanted to see Big Show make kabobs, the internet has you covered.

A Reddit user recently released footage (h/t Pro Wrestling Sheet) of a wrestling-themed cooking show that never aired—Wrestlin' Up Some Grub. The 1999 program featured the likes of Big Show, the late Randy Savage and The Bushwhackers at work in the kitchen.

The audio is poor quality, but the clips from the pilot are absolutely worth seeing:

It's surprising WWE hasn't gone this route with the advent of the WWE Network. If the company does revive this idea, it should hire Becky Lynch to come up with the wrestling-food pun that ends up being the title of the show.

6. What's Mysterio's Value at This Point?

Rey Mysterio will soon be a free agent, but should WWE be making a huge effort to bring him in?

Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated reported: "WWE and GFW/Impact are negotiating with Rey Mysterio." The luchador will be freed up from his Lucha Underground deal later this year. And the two biggest wrestling promotions in the U.S. are showing interest in signing him.

Mysterio, though, will be 43 later this year. He's had multiple knee surgeries. He's a high-flyer with wings that aren't what they used to be.

Still, Mysterio is a big name with a strong following.

WWE has tried to replace him as the company's resident kid-friendly Latino-masked performer, but it hasn't worked. Neither Kalisto nor Sin Cara have been able to fill that niche.

Mysterio could either bring major star power to the struggling cruiserweight division or be a boost to the tag team scene. The latter option could possibly help a rising star get over alongside the more well-known former world champ.

7. No Give at Battleground

The New Day, Kevin Owens and Randy Orton could all make history on Sunday.

In the Battleground PPV's short existence, there has been only one title change at Battleground ever, per the Internet Wrestling Database. That came in 2014 in a Battle Royal for the vacant Intercontinental Championship.

In all 13 other title matches on the PPV, no new champion emerged.

Titleholders are 12-0 in terms of retaining. Even the vacant world title didn't change hands in 2013 when Orton vs. Daniel Bryan went to a no-contest. 

WWE has clearly decided to save its championship-changing moments for other events. That's good news for Mahal fan as history points to him keeping the gold inside the Punjabi Prison.

8. A Gail Kim Retrospective

We will soon have to start referring to Gail Kim's career in the past tense.

On a recent edition of Impact Wrestling, Kim announced she would retire at the end of the year. The former WWE women's champ and Global Force Wrestling Hall of Famer will be missed. 

In anticipation of her absence, here are a few of her best matches to savor. 

• Gail Kim vs. Awesome Kong: TNA Final Resolution 2008 (No Disqualification)
• Gail Kim vs. Awesome Kong: TNA Impact, Jan 10, 2008
• Gail Kim vs. Awesome Kong vs. ODB: TNA Destination X
• Gail Kim vs. Taryn Terrell: TNA Slammiversary XI (Last Knockout Standing)
• Gail Kim vs. Angelina Love: TNA Impact, Aug. 20, 2014 (Last Knockout Standing)

You'll notice there isn't much from her WWE days on there. That company absolutely wasted her talent. She had to head a women's revolution with the promotion formerly known as TNA long before WWE decided to have its own.

9. SmackDown's Stage Just Shrunk

There will be less space for SmackDown's star and stories to develop thanks to WWE canceling Talking Smack as a weekly show.

The post-SmackDown program cultivated a freer environment, one where Baron Corbin was his most compelling, Becky Lynch was a delight and The Miz gave us nuclear moment after nuclear moment. Reality bled into fiction. Superstars flourished in the extra spotlight.

The Miz summed it up perfectly:

Without Talking Smack to lean on now, SmackDown will have its work cut out trying to cram all of its characters in its two-hour format. The blue brand won't have the luxury of the often-excellent add-on that seemed to invigorate many a talent.

For all it brought to the table and how cheap it was to produce, WWE cutting Talking Smack is one of the year's most baffling decisions.

10. Kanellis on the Mae Young Classic 

As the inaugural Mae Young Classic tournament kicked off at the end of last week, Maria Kanellis tipped her hat to the women making history at the event. She posted a heartfelt note to them on Instagram:

The most powerful statement actually appeared in her caption: "And in this moment, you own the world. Go show everyone who you are."

The all-women tournament will be a career-changing showcase for so many wrestlers. And when they do as Kanellis advised and show folks who they are, it's going to be one thrilling ride.