{"id":204261,"date":"2025-09-11T11:17:21","date_gmt":"2025-09-11T16:17:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=204261"},"modified":"2025-09-12T11:30:15","modified_gmt":"2025-09-12T16:30:15","slug":"the-street-profits-in-purgatory-what-has-kept-ford-and-dawkins-from-being-breakout-singles-stars-and-is-now-finally-the-time-to-give-them-that-chance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2025\/09\/11\/the-street-profits-in-purgatory-what-has-kept-ford-and-dawkins-from-being-breakout-singles-stars-and-is-now-finally-the-time-to-give-them-that-chance\/","title":{"rendered":"The Street Profits in Purgatory: What has kept Ford and Dawkins from being breakout singles stars, and is now finally the time to give them that chance?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-2761591476\" class=\"pwtor-before-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><hr \/><b>SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)... <\/b>\r\n\r\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?show_id=3076978&theme=light&playlist=false&playlist-continuous=false&autoplay=false&live-autoplay=false&chapters-image=true&episode_image_position=right&hide-logo=false&hide-likes=false&hide-comments=false&hide-sharing=false&hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"140px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\r\n<hr \/><\/div><p>Although they are nearly a decade deep into tag team success, The Street Profits &#8211; Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins &#8211; are still stuck in WWE\u2019s limbo, where their singles pushes are on hold and their futures aren\u2019t clear.<\/p>\n<p>Montez Ford has long been considered a future singles star. His in-ring skills, his mic work, and his charisma have been raved about by pros, and one professional, The Rock, has notably praised him publicly. But WWE hasn\u2019t gotten everything out of him that they could.<\/p>\n<p>Ford\u2019s occasional pushes, which often sputter out before they really gather any momentum, have prompted many to wonder whether the company is really committed to his solo career. WWE may be hesitant to break up the team due to their uncertainties over Dawkins\u2019 preparedness to work as a singles talent. This has created a roadblock for Ford to break out as a singles competitor.<\/p>\n<p>While it seems Montez Ford has stolen much of the limelight, Angelo Dawkins has quietly kept working in the background. Formerly the more roughshod segment of the team, Dawkins has grown considerably in the ring.<\/p>\n<p>He has significantly increased his agility over the last few years, implementing high-impact dropkicks and quicker switches between opponents. His better footwork enables him to stay in step during fast-paced exchanges, and his endurance allows him to deliver potent closing kicks in the late stages of matches.<\/p>\n<p>Recent performances in the ring, featuring hard-hitting running splashes, crisp spinebusters, and improved positioning to cut off the ring, illustrate that Dawkins is not only more confident, but his in-ring abilities are now on par with that confidence.<\/p>\n<p>But while Ford is getting most of the shine in WWE, by the company focusing on Ford, it\u2019ll have always put some sort of a cap on what Dawkins could\u2019ve done or been, as he now sits in tag team purgatory with no obvious trajectory.<\/p>\n<p><em>ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW&#8230;<\/em><\/p><div id=\"pwtor-1596563755\" class=\"pwtor-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>Check out the latest episode of &#8220;The Nicky&#8217;s Club&#8221; with Nick Barbati, part of the PWTorch Dailycast line-up: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spreaker.com\/episode\/the-nicky-s-club-aj-lee-roman-reigns-the-rock-and-more-with-nick-barbati-and-his-guest-sean-plichta--67626985\">CLICK HERE<\/a> to stream (or search \u201cpwtorch\u201d on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or any other iOS or Android app to subscribe free)<\/h3>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Nicky\u2019s Club - AJ Lee, Roman Reigns, The Rock, and more with Nick Barbati and his guest Sean Plichta\" src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?episode_id=67626985&amp;theme=light&amp;playlist=false&amp;playlist-continuous=false&amp;chapters-image=true&amp;episode_image_position=right&amp;hide-logo=false&amp;hide-likes=false&amp;hide-comments=false&amp;hide-sharing=false&amp;hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"200px\" frameborder=\"0\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>Tag team breaks up have enjoyed a checkered history in WWE. Some teams see one half skyrocket to the top of the card post-split, while others flounder in the mid-card.<\/p>\n<p>Shawn Michaels went on to have a Hall of Fame career after ditching Marty Jannetty, Edge did well for himself after breaking up with Christian, racking up several reigns as world champ, and Christian\u2019s path to the top was just a bit longer.<\/p>\n<p>Fish Out of Water: Bret Hart had far greater success as a singles wrestler than Jim Neidhart. And you can see a trend here in which WWE&#8217;s push out of the gate after the draft determines a star&#8217;s trajectory. When viewed through a trend versus outlier perspective, these results appear erratic.<\/p>\n<p>With Ford and Dawkins, WWE has been really hesitant to take action, keeping both men as a packaged act and unable to emerge as singles stars. The next step is to get past this.<\/p>\n<p>As of September 2025, WWE is considering splitting up The Street Profits after nearly nine years together. The potential move could be the break both men need to embark on successful solo careers.<\/p>\n<p>As an example of how full throttle could be interpreted, imagine Montez Ford getting pulled into a singles story with a star like Seth Rollins. Over the course of six months, he demonstrates his skills by winning multiple matches, culminating in a pay-per-view victory. This leads to Ford becoming a regular in the main event picture and a top threat for world championships.<\/p>\n<p>In the meantime, Angelo Dawkins has his breakthrough, reinventing himself as a new character, sporting a new look and attitude. He feuds with an up-and-coming standout, someone like Bron Breakker, assisting in well-booked angles that expose how far he has come as a performer and what he\u2019s capable of producing.<\/p>\n<p>WWE can have both.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-1883750993\" class=\"pwtor-content-1 pwtor-entity-placement\"><!-- Tag ID: pwtorchcom_test_300x600 -->\r\n<div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __300x600\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>The push should be done right, and WWE should maintain the traction they have achieved, as both are at risk of playing into obscurity.<\/p>\n<p>If not in WWE, Ford deserves a shot to make a name elsewhere, and that would allow Dawkins to be more than just Ford\u2019s sidekick, too. Diving in, WWE&#8217;s next move is ultimately what matters most.<\/p>\n<p>The Street Profits are at a crossroads: WWE\u2019s rumored move to split up the team would also present danger and potential opportunity. Unless WWE gets on its horse and establishes a well-defined, singular path for Ford and Dawkins, they may repeat the same errors and miss out on two future singles stars.<\/p>\n<p>Did you know you can read an ad-free, lighting-fast version of this website with a PWTorch VIP Membership? Also, unlock 35+ years of archives including nearly 2,000 PWTorch Weekly Newsletters dating back to the late 1980s, hundreds of retro radio shows from the 1990s, and two decades of podcasts including Post-PPV Roundtable Podcasts dating back to the mid-2000s: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorchvipinfo.com\/\">CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS ON VIP MEMBERSHIP<\/a><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Wade Keller Post-show (9\/8) - WWE Raw: Wade and cohost Paul Weigle\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/GbR9CT8NBso?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-353092045\"><div id=\"pwtor-1725955929\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\nTHANK YOU FOR VISITING<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>Although they are nearly a decade deep into tag team success, The Street Profits &#8211; Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins &#8211; are still stuck in WWE\u2019s limbo, where their singles pushes are on hold and <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2025\/09\/11\/the-street-profits-in-purgatory-what-has-kept-ford-and-dawkins-from-being-breakout-singles-stars-and-is-now-finally-the-time-to-give-them-that-chance\/\" title=\"The Street Profits in Purgatory: What has kept Ford and Dawkins from being breakout singles stars, and is now finally the time to give them that chance?\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":204262,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[46,52,61],"tags":[6959,6567,6776],"class_list":["post-204261","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spotlightarticles","category-opnionandanalysis","category-guesteditorials","tag-angelo-dawkins","tag-montez-ford","tag-the-street-profits"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2025\/09\/Screenshot-2025-09-11-at-11.15.45-AM.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204261","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=204261"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204261\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":204305,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204261\/revisions\/204305"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/204262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=204261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=204261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=204261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}