WWE Reportedly Wants To Push Montez Ford As Singles Star

WWE’s depleted tag team division could be losing one of its brightest stars in favor of a major singles push.

According to Wrestling Observer Radio’s Dave Meltzer (h/t WrestlingNews.co), WWE officials want to push one half of The Street Profits, Montez Ford, as a solo act: “I know that there’s people who want to push Ford as a single. It’s possible…I can see them really trying to do something with Ford as a single. He’s got a lot of charisma, a super athlete. There’s people who are very high on him right now, especially with his new physique.”

WWE has been dropping plenty of hints that Ford and his sidekick Angelo Dawkins could be on the outs, acknowledging potential friction between the two longtime tag team partners on commentary and during a recent segment on SmackDown. Ford, meanwhile, has noticeably gained a significant amount of muscle mass, which many fans have taken as a sign that he is in line for a massive breakout into the singles scene.

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There aren’t many questions about whether Ford can succeed on his own, of course. He has the look, charisma, in-ring abilities and promo skills to be a main event star in the near future. He’s also just 32 years old, which, in wrestling terms, means he has yet to even hit his prime, and in his limited opportunities to showcase himself in singles matches, he’s done exceptionally well.

The real question here, however, is what a Ford push would mean for Dawkins, who is also a very good all-around talent but is feared to be the Marty Jannetty to Ford’s Shawn Michaels. Meltzer added, “I tell you what, it’s gonna be really tough for Dawkins if they break up the team. I can see him really falling off.”

In a perfect world, WWE would do with The Street Profits what it has successfully done with The New Day: Keeping the naturally likable group together while also pushing them separately as singles stars. Both Kofi Kingston and Big E became WWE Champion without WWE having to disband the merchandise-selling powerhouse, while Xavier Woods has had some solo success as well as a winner of the King of the Ring tournament.

The New Day, however, is the exception rather than the rule. In WWE, the breakup of a long-term tag team typically leads to one star getting a significant push and the other instantly falling to the bottom of the card. See: Otis and Tucker of Heavy Machinery as a recent example of the concerns some have about splitting up The Street Profits. But as demonstrated by Big E and Kingston, keeping a tag team together and pushing one of those stars as a world champion or title contender can be done successfully.

Ford would be a tremendous candidate for such a push right now, too. He and Dawkins delivered one of the best tag team title matches in recent WWE history at Sunday’s Money in the Bank show, and The Street Profits were massively over with the Las Vegas crowd. While fans shouldn’t sleep on Dawkins as someone who could potentially work at the top of the card down the road, Ford has spent the past couple of years establishing himself as a possible building block of the future for WWE.

And boy oh boy, is he badly needed in that role right now. Just take a quick scan of WWE’s roster, and you’ll see no Roman Reigns, no Randy Orton, no John Cena, no Cody Rhodes, no Edge, no Sasha Banks, no Bayley, etc. If ever there were a time for WWE to establish a new star who could legitimately be the face of the company, this is it, and there is no better person for the job than Ford.

WWE’s roster is so lacking in terms of homegrown stars that the company recently signed Logan Paul and will be using the social media sensation as well as NFL player-turned-announcer Pat McAfee and part-time superstar Brock Lesnar in marquee matches at SummerSlam later this month. That reality shows just how desperately WWE needs to build up new names who can rival those stars, and Ford is the right man for the right job at the right time.

Let’s just hope that Dawkins doesn’t get stuck in no man’s land if Ford gets the proverbial rocket strapped to his back and is pushed to the moon—as he should be.