Déjà vu is a great thing. If you’re a fan of wrestling then this what you’ll feel at least three times a year, sometimes once a week if you watch Raw and Smackdown. I mention this because I feel like I’m going through a phase where I’m having to say the same things over and over again due to WWE’s ridiculous booking and character handling. I don’t want to keep pointing out the obvious but sometimes to hammer home the point it’s a necessary evil.
So, here we are again. About to go through a tried and tested fact that everyone who is anyone in wrestling knows. WWE’s talent roster and lack of star making. Instead of concentrating on the wrestler WWE has on it’s already expansive roster, the Drew McIntyre’s – who WWE have run out of ideas for and put into a faction which loosely resembles that which Curt Henning captained in WCW – or the Wade Barrett’s – who once had a bright future in WWE, but has now been reduced to being jobbed out to Sheamus in no time at all on a show as bad as The Main Event. No. WWE has seen fit to lavish a new wrestler upon us. As if we didn’t have enough trouble remembering everyone already on WWE’s books.
Fandango! Don’t ok, just don’t. Failing to think of a better name for the as of yet mystery superstar, WWE have already bombarded us with blinding vignettes which would make Loui Spence spunk his underwear and the bigwigs who run WWE.Com seem to be high on the ‘Queen’ puns that go with it. Things like ‘We saw a little silhouette of a man’ and ‘Scaramouch, Scaramouch’ I shit you not. From what I’ve heard and seen so far, whoever this guy is then he has a limited shelf life. Just another face in a crowd that’s bound to get lost before Royal Rumble rolls around. It looks at the moment as if Fandango will be a cross between Ravishing Rick Rude and Simon Dean (remember him?) – I can’t comment on his wrestling prowess yet as no one has seen him. Although the vibe around WWE right now is that he’ll fall quickly into the Zack Ryder category. I’m sure that’ll please him (add sarcastic tone here).
Hopefully – if WWE do insist on ramming this monstrosity down our throats – then they’ll have at least hired a new face to play him and not a returning WWE Superstar who is looking for either a second break or a cheap payday. Should WWE have seen the sense to bring up a wrestler from its developmental leagues then maybe the character will get over to some degree. Can I see him becoming WWE Champion at all? Not with a name like Fandango. Though on the bright side if he’s a top class talent in the ring then there’s the chance that WWE will take a like to him, drop the Fandango image and brand him with a more serious and likable image like they did to Ryback.
If you log onto WWE.Com then the effort to make Fandango look more interesting than he’ll possibly be has begun in usual WWE fashion. A segment on the website goes through various, pathetic and ridiculous possibilities for the flamboyant shadow. These, laughably include, ‘An international spy’, ‘An online ticket service for WWE Studios Films’, ‘A magician’, ‘A foreign prince’ or ‘Brodus Clay’s dancing instructor’. Interestingly enough they seem to have left out ‘underpaid former independent wrestler who is now losing the will to live in WWE development’. WWE need to get their story straight. Either Fandango is a person or he isn’t. Sometimes WWE, if you don’t have anything worthwhile to say then it’s better not to say anything at all. For your own sakes as much as ours.
There’s no word as of yet when Fandango will appear on WWE TV. By the time you read this there’s every chance that he’s already had his first match. On the flip side there’s also the question of the mystery partner on Team Foley at Survivor Series. While I hope WWE give the spot to someone who needs the exposure, I get the feeling that Vince is waiting for Survivor Series to introduce Fandango as the mystery partner on Team Foley and give him a debut in the vein of Undertaker and MVP. It’s not a bad plan, in fact it’s quite a good one. Both Undertaker and MVP got over with the fans after a fashion and debuting a character on such a grand pay per view with the history of Survivor Series makes sure that the character will stick in the minds of the WWE Universe. There is also the danger that should the character be truly rotten, WWE will turn off a lot of people. Boogeyman anyone?
We’ll reserve judgment until Fandango appears in the ring and proves to us that he’s every bit as talented as the money that WWE have spent on him warrants. If he’s not or if he turns out to be someone resembling Santino Marella in drag then it’s a given he’ll fall straight down the pecking order and either be looking for employment elsewhere by this time next year or portraying another character. WWE could have come up with a master stroke with Fandango or with thunderbolts of lightening they could have created something very, very frightening.
Sorry.
Onwards and upwards...
