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#41 |
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TPWW's #3 Peep
Posts: 20,903
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He pretty much does something new or unique in every match. So thus far, I have been enjoying his work.
Hope he gets a storyline soon though, so we can see what he can really do. |
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#42 |
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Last of a Dying Forum
Posts: 16,215
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No Buys.
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#43 |
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Posts: 1,882
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I'm sure him and Brodus and/or Tensai are going to be butting heads very soon: Undefeated streak vs. Undefeated streak vs. Undefeated streak
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#44 |
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The black Corey Graves
Posts: 3,602
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Honestly, that first jobber on the microphone wasn't all that bad.
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#45 |
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Resident drug enabler
Posts: 45,473
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I don't think it will be all three of them but I can see Ryback vs Tensai possibly at SummerSlam.
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#46 |
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Resident drug enabler
Posts: 45,473
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#47 |
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Skibbidy Lock Jaw
Posts: 88,906
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#48 |
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Hazardous to Your Health
Posts: 21,730
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#49 |
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Posts: 3,525
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#50 |
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Celestia's Left Hand
Posts: 17,359
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Eh I can take it or leave it Ryback seems like like monster no 1,235 to me but time will tell weather he fizzles out or does something attention worthy
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#51 |
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Posts: 61,634
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I did really enjoy his squash this week. I'm still not entirely sold on the guy yet, though. I was more sold on him when he was a member of Nexus, and looked like a fucking silent killer working with a team of men. On his own, I'm still waiting for that "hook" to grab me and reel me in.
Some random ideas for Ryback: * Encourage people to write in about bullies in their hometown, and ask Ryback to feed on them. * As someone said, one of those guys was not bad on the mic. Have him return to the WWE as a guy who has had his in-ring career ended by Ryback. He chastises the people for cheering Ryback, and then brings in more jobbers each week to try and fight Ryback. He can become the Lex Luthor to Ryback's Superman, if you will. |
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#52 |
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Grim Fandango
Posts: 5,192
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I'd be quite interested to see Ryback take on Colin Delaney.
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#53 |
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Quark is Less Impressed.
Posts: 38,371
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Ryback does seem to be going back to the carnival era of freaks. I wonder how long they will continue these jobber squashes matches and get into the real roster of jobbers heels.
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#54 |
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Quark is Less Impressed.
Posts: 38,371
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#55 |
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One Shall Stand One Shall
Posts: 1,271
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could be any cunt i just like the music but thats the problem with most of the people they want us to like
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#56 |
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King of Clowns
Posts: 3,454
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#57 |
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King of Clowns
Posts: 3,454
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Tensai needs to get on the mic as Albert and kill this god-awful gimmick. He can keep some of the Japanese schtick because he's earned it, but it is absolutely painful to watch.
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#58 |
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Resident drug enabler
Posts: 45,473
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I don't get everyone's issue with the gimmick.
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#59 |
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Posts: 61,634
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It's very cheesy. Very cheesy. I am in favour of guys having personalities and characters, but Tensai's just doesn't work, for whatever reason. Then again, I was never a fan of the Umaga character, either.
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#60 |
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Resident drug enabler
Posts: 45,473
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When has cheesiness been a real issue in pro wrestling though?
And I actually don't find this one that cheesy. It's a guy who left the company for years, became a star in Japan and returned as someone ingrained in that culture. It's not crazy unrealistic pro wrestling-wise or anything. Not seeing the cheesiness. |
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#61 |
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Posts: 61,634
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The guy dresses and acts like he's in kabuki theatre.
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#62 |
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Posts: 61,634
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If Tensai came out with Sakamoto, told us that he left the WWE some years ago but found success in Japan, and put over how hard it was to make it over there being a "gaijin," and someone that who could not initially speak the language to talk to anyone and had enemies all over the locker-room, I could buy Tensai's growth and acceptance as a phenomenon over there.
As it stands now, his whole shtick is that he loves Japan so much that he's a caricature of elements of the culture. Is that a reason to really be afraid of the guy, or even boo him? |
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#63 |
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Resident drug enabler
Posts: 45,473
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#64 |
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Resident drug enabler
Posts: 45,473
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And sure he's a caricature. As wrestling gimmicks tend to be. I don't think it's that bad. The common fan isn't gonna dissect it like that.
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#65 | |
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Wrestling Marks Rejoice!
Posts: 10,166
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Quote:
With that, "The Genius" seems the perfect foil for "Goldberg II", and having him have a mean streak as opposed to simply being a cowardly heel makes it more believable he could actually go toe to toe with Skippy... when he wants to. But, he won't. Not right away. Eventually, after much teasing. On his own terms. For the benefit of all of the unwashed masses. You're welcome. |
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#66 | |
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Taller than Adam Cole
Posts: 10,876
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Quote:
![]() "The Genius" was Lanny Poffo. There were two other iterations of the gimmick that both failed. "Goldberg II" was Lesnar. |
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#67 | |
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Wrestling Marks Rejoice!
Posts: 10,166
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Quote:
I think you would see the problem with this a little more if he went and wrestled in, say, the middle of Africa, then came back to WWE and wrestled in blackface. :insert requisite racisim-loving joke from Shisen Kopf here:
:insert post about how the two aren't the same thing from another poster here: |
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#68 | |
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Wrestling Marks Rejoice!
Posts: 10,166
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Quote:
And if you're splitting hairs about which "Goldberg" Skippy is, why don't we just say "WWE Generic Hoss #4054"? |
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#69 |
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Taller than Adam Cole
Posts: 10,876
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2.0 was Dean Douglas
3.0 was Matt Striker |
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#70 | |
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Resident drug enabler
Posts: 45,473
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Quote:
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#71 |
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Wrestling Marks Rejoice!
Posts: 10,166
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Just because he isn't speaking in Engrish doesn't mean he isn't dancing in an uncomfortable area with the pointy facial hair intentionally styled as if he were Japanese, wearing Kenzo Suzuki's old robes, having kanji written all over his head and speaking exclusively Japanese in the ring/on the mic.
As Noid said, should give him more "reason" behind his cosplay besides "he conquered Japan, so now he dresses like that". Its not as if people don't pretend to be from other countries or races in wrestling. Happens all the time. Everyone from Jay Strongbow to Baron von Raschke. Kofi's horrible Jafakin accent... hell, even Santino was a Russian guy for awhile. But this gimmick seems to be walking a line with what it's getting away with. It doesn't seem as much as him "honoring their culture" as much as it feels a bit disrespectful, sorta that same line Vince walked with Akeem the African Dream. We have fond memories of that, but it was still on that border of discomfort and could have easliy gone very, very wrong for One Man Gang's career. Of course, I knew that discord in my choice of wording was coming, which is why I stated that would happen. Since I always seem to have to explain crap instead of taking what I'm getting at... Maybe "blackface" was too strong with the cultural and historical implications that carries with it. Think of it this way, then: Albert still goes to Africa in the same scenario I listed before, where he "dominates" there as the same as his current gimmick. Only when he comes back, he has a Ugandan equivalent of Sakimoto and comes to the ring dressed like Kamala. I mean, grass skirt, spear, sheild, and all. You can't seriously tell me how you can completely miss how people could percieve this as disrespectful. |
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#72 |
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They're eating the dogs..
Posts: 27,469
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Tensai is a retarded gimmick. I would rather have him be A-train or Albert or anything else but this Jap Albert horseshit. Nothing about Albert is remotely Japanese. Big deal he spent some time there. Wait. I just got a great idea. Jericho has spent time in Brazil. He should return as Seņor Brazil and talk about how he chooses Blanka in SF2
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#73 | |
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Resident drug enabler
Posts: 45,473
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Quote:
Hell, Kamala was looked at as disrespectful and he debuted. It's different when it's a comedy character though. I really don't think there is any mean-spirited intentional racism going on here. I'm not getting anything more than that they are going for the embracing the culture he spent years around thing. If they have a terrible grasp of Japanese culture, then we can discuss that. It's never exactly been a strong point for the company. The fact is though that it is just a caricature like Noid said. And I don't see why that puts everyone up in arms as far as a wrestling gimmick goes. I don't get terribly bothered when my wrestling doesn't get their understanding of foreign culture accurate. |
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#74 |
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Resident drug enabler
Posts: 45,473
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I'll put it like this. Would it be weird to see a Japanese wrestler in the same gimmick as Tensai? No. It's a common thing. So now why is it weird for a guy who has made a name for himself in Japan and been around the Japanese wrestling scene to take a gimmick that would be natural in that scene within the realm of pro wrestling?
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#75 |
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Posts: 61,634
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Tensai isn't working, though. They've already replaced him in major storylines with Big Show. If you want an answer as to "Why isn't this a good idea?" then perhaps you should accept "It's not working."
To be honest, I don't even have a problem with the attire Tensai wears, or even the tattoos. What bothers me is just how that's his whole deal. The only real heelish things he's done since debuting are acting grumpy and attacking people after the bell. During matches, Heath Slater is actually a better heel, in that he puts his feet on the ropes in submission spots and pinning attempts. If Tensai explained why he hurts people, I would be more into the character. "In Japan, my past in the WWE meant nothing and only made people jealous. The guys in the back would gang up on me and beat the crap out of me before and after shows for months until I got so good that I could take them all. The world showed me no respect, so I will show none back." Right now, even if you disregard the Japanese stuff, he's still just a big guy who hurts people, and that's bland as all fuck. Matt Bloom the performer is not to blame for it, really. At least when he went from being Albert to A-Train, Heyman at least explained it in a backstage segment where it was Albert getting serious about dominating the WWE, and he would now flatten anyone who would get in his way. It was a transformation and something that showed the A-Train character had found motivation to succeed on the SmackDown! brand under Heyman's guidance. Tensai is just "I worked in Japan for a bit, so I'm going to dress up like this. Take me seriously." |
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#76 | |
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Posts: 61,634
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I want to see Sandow feud with Zack Ryder, but I would also be interested in seeing Sandow duck Ryback for a few weeks, leading to a PPV match between the two (which Ryback would obviously win). |
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#77 | |
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Wrestling Marks Rejoice!
Posts: 10,166
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Quote:
In turn, this keeps Ryback's momentum going towards something besides yet another impressive squash. And it would give them both some TV time to work up from green. But, he may or may not be feuding with Yoshi. 2 matches in a row might be going somewhere. Too early to tell. Looked like they were going that route with Tatsu v. Tensai, then that turned into a squash and went away. |
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#78 |
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Posts: 61,634
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Sandow should try and "educate" Ezekiel Jackson. Big Zeke would make a nice bodyguard for Jackson, to keep the unwashed brutes away.
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#79 |
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CM Batisturd
Posts: 127
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He was horrible on NXT and is believable as the Hip-Hop Hippo nowadays. He has no personality or charisma to speak of. He regularly draws under 1.0 in ratings. He's like when they initially turned Khali face without a real angle and no one gave a shit.
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#80 | |
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Posts: 1,882
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I for one do like it! As long as he has the Shogunesque entrance attire, I think this will do well. I do think he should have more worshippers come with him, it would help get him more attention, though this is probably already his most popular character yet. |
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