I think Hideo's struggles have been kind of overblown. The progress is definitely there.
I recently watched his debut match with Justin Gabriel, and man, he looked lost. Soft kicks, hesitation, awkward slip ups, etc.
His first three months (September-December) were really lackluster: hiding in Balor's shadow, getting his ass kicked by the Ascension, etc.
Ever since 2015 started, he's been very solid and on the rise in terms of his in-ring work. He's developed a good moveset (sans an impactful finisher) and stiffened up his strikes quite a bit as well. Look at how he was throwing kicks at Gabriel/The Ascension and compare it to his Takeover: Rival match vs. Tyler. Whenever he gets time to work, he puts on a good match. He's more substance than style, so I think it'll take a while for a lot of people to fully appreciate what he brings to the table.