- [Zack] Celebrities
getting involved with WWE
is nothing new.
And they often lead to some
pretty bad and infamous moments.
- We will band you from the Summerfest.
- [Zack] In 2015, Stephen Amell,
the star of the DC TV series, Arrow
got a chance to step inside the ropes.
However, I think Amell's
involvement with WWE
was a lot better than
most celebrity storylines
in matches we've seen.
With it now being five years
since the Green Arrow appeared in WWE,
let's take a look back
at Stephen Amell's run
and see how it holds up.
On an episode of Raw
from Uniondale, New York,
Stephen Amell enjoyed the
show from the front row
until Stardust showed up.
Before a scheduled match against Neville,
the inter-dimensional oddity
got into the Green Arrow's face,
but Amell showed no fear.
The man that gravity forgot,
then made his entrance,
and defeated Stardust after
executing the red arrow.
The interaction between Stephen Amell
and Stardust was brief,
but it planted the seeds for
what was about to happen.
Having Neville wrestle Stardust
helped make this first
interaction even better
since he'd eventually become
part of this rivalry too.
A little over a week
after their encounter,
Stardust would cut a promo on main event.
- This universe, it has
too many so called heroes.
This universe needs more.
Stardust.
- [Zack] During Stardust's
match later in the show,
the Crossroads Finisher was now
being called the Queens Crossbow,
a reference to the Green
Arrow's alter ego, Oliver Queen.
Shortly after this,
Dusty Rhodes sadly would pass away.
Stardust would take a
temporary break from wrestling,
and it was unsure if his
rivalry with Stephen Amell
would continue.
After being absent for about a month,
the face painted freak returned
and avenged his loss by beating Neville.
The two wrestlers would meet again later
that same week on smack down.
But this time it was
Neville who came out on top.
For the next couple of weeks,
Stardust would continue to target Neville.
And the two would even get
physical from time to time.
WWE also began presenting the rivalry
as a classic superhero versus
super villan comic book story.
Additionally, Stardust started
obsessing over Stephen Amell
and believed the man wasn't an actor,
but actually the real Green Arrow.
- There isn't a government on earth
that acknowledges that
man as Stephen Amell
because that is not his name.
- [Narrator] This got Amell's attention.
And he said it was time to return to WWE.
Amell was in attendance
for another episode of Raw,
with his focus on Stardust.
The Prince of Dark Matter
eventually appeared
when he attacked Neville
after the High Flyer had
just defeated King Barrett.
Once he has done this first target,
Stardust turns his
attention to Stephen Amell.
The inter-dimensional oddity
got physical with Amell,
to which the Green Arrow responded
by jumping in the ring
and attacking Stardust.
The two were quickly broken up and
Stephen Amell went and
Neville went backstage.
The two men approached Triple H
and convince him to make a
tag team match at Summer Slam.
After that, it was official.
Stephen Amell would partner with Neville
in his first wrestling match against
King Barrett and Stardust.
After Stardust and Barrett
made their entrances,
Neville's music hit.
He made his way towards the two villains,
but stopped before entering the ring,
then came out Stephen Amell,
of course, wearing an attire
inspired by the Green Arrow.
Once the bell was rung,
Neville and King Barrett kicked things off
after battling for a short
while, Stardust tagged in,
and demanded he face Amell.
The emerald archer was happy
to get in on the action.
And the two, once again,
stare each other down.
The Prince of Dark Matter
got the first shot in,
but Stephen Amell made a hard comeback
and whipped Stardust all over the ring.
Since Stardust wasn't doing too well,
Barrett tagged in and decided
to take a stab at the arrow.
Amell put up a good fight,
but the cosmic King strength
was able to overpower him.
The mattress now firmly
in the control of Stardust and Barrett,
and they kept it that way by isolating
Stephen Amell from Neville.
The fight was literally leaving
its mark on the Green Arrow
and he needed to make a tag.
A spark of hope came when
Amell hit Stardust with an enzuigiri,
causing the villain to fall down.
This bought Amell just
enough time to reach Neville
and tag him in.
Like the flash, the
man that gravity forgot
started zooming around the ring,
landing move after move on King Barrett.
Eventually both members of the cosmic duo
were sent to the outside and
Stephen Amell saw an opportunity.
The superhero got on the top ring post,
and went flying to the outside,
taking out both of his opponents.
Amell even got some of Stardust's
face pain on his shoulder.
That was definitely not a bruise.
Why would someone say that?
After that, Neville hit
Stardust with the red arrow
and in true comic book fashion,
good triumph over evil.
Re-watching this angle,
I think it told a good, simple story.
The way WWE positioned the
Stardust character beforehand
made it easy for me to
believe that this guy
would think Stephen Amell
actually was the Green Arrow.
On the other side, Stardust threats,
and eventually in his hands on Amell,
created enough of a reason why Stephen
would wanna wrestle Stardust.
I wouldn't have minded
having the storyline
a bit more complex, but then again,
it is a rivalry as a celebrity.
So keeping the feud pretty basic
was probably the right decision.
Even though one of the
competitors was an actor,
the match itself wasn't that bad.
I think Stephen Amell wrestled
just enough they looked good,
but didn't stay in the ring too long
that it was obvious he wasn't a wrestler.
The finished with Amell
doing the cross body fall
by the red arrow, was really well done.
It felt like a satisfying ending.
Is this the greatest wrestling match ever?
No, that's Edge versus
Randy Orton, of course.
But for what it was, I thought it was fun.
I think the reason I'm such a supporter
of Stephen Amell run in WWE,
is because I'm such a fan of the arrow
and the arrow universe it's a part of.
I really enjoyed seeing
that crossover with WWE
but what about you?
Did you like or hate watching
Stephen Amell in WWE?
Share your thoughts in the comments
and then check out the video on the right.
With that, I'm Zack from Tap Out Corner,
and take it easy.
