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WRESTLING COLUMNS

Whatever Happened To..."
March 3, 2006 by Kyle C.

This is the first of hopefully many more columns. Now, on to business. Some people, or gimmicks, in the WWE suddenly vanish. Sometimes they have great potential, and make us all wonder why they got the boot. Others, you assume the writers had one too many shots. Read on, brother!

Mordecai - Remember him" This angle was just okay. He could have been a big heel. The entrance and ring presence was astounding. I'd give his Crucifix, his version of the Razor's Edge, a 7/10. I still remember the electricity in the crowd when he faced Rey Mysterio. I also remember his last promo. He was praying and said that his next victim would be the one who lies, cheats, and steals. Well, who do we know who does that" Eddie Guerrero! I was looking forward to this. His is currently in OVW; maybe he'll get a second chance. POTENTIAL

Matt M-M-M-M-MORGAN! - Probably the lamest angle I have even seen. A stutter does not strike fear into your opponents! He never really got past the beating the heck-out-of-the-jobber stage. Sure, F-5ing Big Show twice was impressive. But aligning himself with Carlito was the final nail in his coffin. NO POTENTIAL

Jesus and the Cena Stabbing Angle - This just goes to show that there are no boundaries of thought for the writers. If Jesus really stabbed Cena, where's the stab wound" Why wasn't Jesus convicted for attempted murder" This angle is full of holes. NO POTENTIAL

Luther Reigns - This egotistical storyline has to be canned. As if he couldn't get worse when he was Angle's bodyguard, he went on his own. That was the start of his downward spiral. His feud with the Undertaker was pointless. Who is he to say that the ring was his "yard", not the Undertaker, who was 13-0 at WrestleMania, won four Heavyweight titles, and beat numerous legends" NO POTENTIAL

Muhammad Hassan - As an extremely proud American, I was absolutely enraged to see Hassan every week insulting America. The straw that broke the camel's back was the "terrorists" choking Undertaker, the once American Bad Ass, until he turned blue (literally). I was happy to see him killed off by Undertaker's Last Ride to the cement floor. I remember the Fan Jam where an actual Marine was sickened by this display of Anti-America. He said that he has seen terrorists before and that's what they look like. NO POTENTIAL

Kerwin White - This is ridiculous. But aren't all of these" He couldn't of done this angle at a worse time. He disowned his Mexican heritage when his dear uncle Eddie died. At the tribute show, even though he was Chavo again, he still had that wretched bleached hair. Good thing he's good ol' Chavo again. NO POTENTIAL

Speak what's on your mind. I am open to all constructive criticism. Thank you for your time.

by Kyle C...

Alexandre larocque wrote:
I agree with most of you arguments , except 1 , the Kerwin White gimmick , NO i am not saying it was a good idea. Actually , it was a terrible idea. But i must point out on thing , the gimmick started way before the death of The Late Great Eddie Guerrero. Once Eddie died , they abandonned the gimmick ( thank god ) but the bleached hair thing isn't really his fault .

Sadly , the gimmicks were all stupied and pointless.Except Mordecai wich was very intriging, most of these wrestlers had potential . But there careers where shot down by pointless gimmicks.

Erkka J�rvinen wrote:
"As an extremely proud American, I was absolutely enraged to see Hassan every week insulting America. The straw that broke the camel's back was the "terrorists" choking Undertaker, the once American Bad Ass, until he turned blue (literally). I was happy to see him killed off by Undertaker's Last Ride to the cement floor. I remember the Fan Jam where an actual Marine was sickened by this display of Anti-America. He said that he has seen terrorists before and that's what they look like" --- Hah, you americans only see stars and stripes everywhere. Go to hell.

ChiChi Cardiel wrote:
OK...this is your first Column...so you must be a 14 yearold Cena fan..let me tell you...you actually sit there and say your a extremely proud american....and BASH on the hassan gimmick "" GO BACK TO YOUR FARM..ITS PEOPLE LIKE YOU WHO RUINED A PERFECT HEEL. ITS WRESTLING !!! NOT REAL LIFE...GO FEED YOUR PIGS....AND LICK YOUR TRAIT......hows that for "constructive criticism""....people these days........i dont even care what you think who has potential and no potential after that...WHOEVER THINKS DIFFRENT CAN EMAIL ME..I DONT care [email protected]... I WANNA HEAR WHAT U HILL BILLIES GOT TO SAY

Jack MacLaine wrote:
YES THANKYOU!! I was wondering what happened to Mordecai! His gimmick was freash (at least in the WWE) and he was very interesting. I think one of the big problems was his costume (if you witness his costume you would understand) plus the crowd was just not into it. Matt Morgan, Luther Reigns and Jesus were just stupid big men and I don't need to explain how racist the Kerwin White character was. I honestly thought Chavo's career was over.

E to the V wrote:
Unfortunately, it seems to me that people don't seem to understand something. Vince McMahon is a power hungry man who, while once in touch with the people and what "we" wanted, now feels as if he is the only show in town(echem...ROH...echem...TNA...), and can therefore try to shove whatever gimmicks he wants to down our throat. He also expects us to say "mmmm, that was tasty, can I have more"" Another huge problem is that with so many young up and comers, coupled with Vince's "seeming" stranglehold on the business, he rarely gives a gimmick time to properly grow and expand. If it's not making him money now, chances are the ax isn't far behind, and then, throw someone else in there to see if they can make him some green..

Facts are facts, while many of these gimmicks had no potential to go anywhere, that doesn't mean that the wrestlers who portrayed these gimmicks don't. Matt Morgan, for example, is an agile big man, with obvious brute strength, who was saddled with an over used stuttering gimmick that got him no where. But his potential was, and is, there. Muhammad Hassan, whether you liked him or not (by the way, Mark Magnus, the man who portrayed him, is Italian) did what any good gimmick is supposed to do: elicit crowd response. Be a proud American kid, but be smart enough not to deny the fact that he "got over" because he "got under your skin", and most other peoples.

As for the other men listed here, again, bad angles" Yes. No potential" Not true in all cases. If you have watched wrestling as long as I have (which goes all the way back to the 70's), then you will come to realize that often times a bad gimmick can make or break a man's career. But that doesn't mean the man portraying the gimmick couldn't have still gone far.

Roghe wrote:
Why are people so afraid of "Muhammad Hassan"" HEY! It�s just a character! Perhaps (some) people should listen to what he said instead labeling him as a terrorist at once.

Randall Flagg wrote:
There wasn't anything wrong with the Hassan angle in general, and that's coming from a "proud American". I'd have to say the Sgt. Slaughter/Iron Sheik angle of years ago was worse-I mean, a U.S. Marine joining up with an Iranian while we had hostages over there"

The problem, as usual, was VKM letting it go overboard. Mark Copani played Hassan perfectly (certainly better than he wrestled it). He took on a controversial role at considerable personal risk. But Vince had to go with the terrorist thing immediately after the London bombings. Result" Copani loses his job after doing nothing but what he was told. That's fair. That's the WWE.

Omar Abdul Aziz wrote:
You totally missed the point of Hassan's angle. Week after week he was out telling people that he loves America, and how it's freedom of speech probably is the best constitution ever (in 'his' opinions). The only thing that made him heel was that he reminded people of how prejudic they are, so much so to the fact that being an Arab American means you're automatically discriminated against, which by the reaction of his gimmick seems to be the actual case.

And the cheer Taker received when he gave Hassan The Last Ride was absolutely sickening. It was distinctly created by hate towards the person like he was actual, instead of one a heel wrestler would have received.

It seems like some of the points you have were vague recollection of what may be, instead of what truly is. Great idea for a discussion, but poorly brought forward.

rifqi amran wrote:
I TOTALLY disagree of what you said about Muhammad Hassan having no pontential.....Muhammad hassan has the potential to be a great star....For instance look at what happened to The iron Sheikh and Ahmed Johnson...They went on into winning titles like intercontinental.....Muhammad Hassan has a gimmick that will make a very good heel and he also has the body and wrestling techniques to be a champion

grant molina wrote:
In addition to all those questionable, ill faded personalities, what happen to the psychotic Damien Damento of WWF fame.The rapping big man P.N. News of WCW" The "punk rock" tag team The Headbangers.and of course who could forget " Mr. America""......

Bullard JK wrote:
Hassan's gimmic was terriffic. If there is any fault in the gimmic at all, it would be that it was WAY too easy for him to get heat. How many Americans can HONESTLY say that they don't look at Arabs differently after 9/11" The gimmic was simply how these men and women who have done nothing wrong are treated every day for the rest of their lives. I'm guilty, but at least I can admit it. I dont think that these twelve-year-olds could have handled the Iron Sheik, Volkoff, the Koloffs, VonRaschke, and countless other anti-American gimmics throught the years. All played by Americans no less. So just quit your complaining and go back to sniping the heads of your least favorite ethinicity in Grand Theft Auto.

Tris Xavier wrote:
Kyle, you've made a few factual errors, but I worry that your greater problem is the rather slanted view of some gimmicks that you've presented here. This might be helped if you explained thoroughly what your opposition to the gimmicks was, but let me run through your article.

Mordecai (Kevin Fertig, Seven) is no longer in the employ of WWE or OVW. You can click under the 'Profiles' page on this site to find that out. A shame, I concur, but I guess he was being pushed too fast for his own good. Interesting moveset, would love to see him again in the ring somewhere.

The Hassan storyline is a good example of a gimmick that people took too far. If one actually listened to what Mr. Mark Copani had to say, a reasoned man might actually believe that his grievances were genuine. His wrestling wasn't the best, but he actually had the capacity to cut an excellent promo. He said things that you'd boo but look back and think, "That might be true, hmm." A shame about the way you feel, it seems rather biased and flat. There's more to the world than the American way.

Morgan, Reigns, and Jesus Aguilera were all the powerhouse-gone-wrong gimmick. Thank God they're gone.

I'm all for emotive writing, but I would only suggest that you expand these points instead of throwing these one-liners at readers. Otherwise, you might receive more comments similar to the ones that have preceded mine. Cheers dude.

Kevin Roberts wrote:
I agree with ChiChi on this one. Im a little older and a lot more mature than some of these people who post columns here. People have to realize that its just entertainment, no different from what they see on television shows and movies. I actually liked Muhammed Hassan and he had potential to be a great heel for a long time. Nobody complained about The Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff. Nobody said anything when Sgt. Slaughter turned on the U.S. and joined General Adnan. The Mordecai character was something new and could possibly come back. Kevin Fertig had a "Raven-esque" thing going on and I thought it was interesting, but only smart people would understand. Plus his dark theme music was cool. Kerwin White's Sinatra-like theme music was pretty cool too. I was actually beginning to get used to him. He was like a wrestler-version of Johnny Polo (Raven). I thought Conway's gimmick was corny at first, but now that Ive given it a chance, I actually like the Con-man ("just look at me"). I think the Bashams should be a tag team again, theyre championship material. But anyway, Im a true mark, I appreciate EVERYTHING that these guys do, corny or not. Who died and made you all wrestling experts. Who are you to say a wrestler's career is over or shot down. As a creative writer myself, its hard to come up with stuff, especially when just about everything you try to do is shot down by extra-critical "fans." You guys call yourselves fans, then be a fan and stop trying to critique every g #% d*@ thing.

Doug Hagen wrote:
I take issue with the Muhammad Hassan being criticized as a poor gimmick. In my opinion it was a great gimmick for a HEEL. With the thing going on in Iraq and Afghanistan the entrance of Hassan on the WWE drew the crowds. What you have to realize, it slowly escalated to the "terrorist" angle as he originally presented himself as an AMERCIAN who happened to be of Arab descent and the discrimination that he had experienced. Why was it a great gimmick" Did it not draw the crowds" Did it not receive a massive negative response" This in and of itself speaks volumes for a successful gimmick. I was sad to see the Hassan character go and it was the politically correct and easily offended who forced the demise of Hassan. As far as the marine who said that is how terrorist's dress or look, well, the accuracy of the character is something too. Muhammad Hassan could have been a great world champion and carried the company for years. By the way, Mr. Kyle C, your partisan patriotism sickens me. How about when Sgt. Slaughter joined the "dark side" during the Gulf War, which by they way I served in.

Sean Spears wrote:
Mark Caponi played the gimmick of the "Anti-American" to a bloody tee. Problem was that people thought that it was tasteless of him to continue the gimmick after the London bombing....well, here's the truth! The bombing took place, what, on a Wednsday or something. SD! is taped on a Tuesday and aired on a Thursday. Now, for all those Azzklownz that wanted this man's livelihood taken away from him, understand this...

1. Mark Copani was simply doing his job.

2. The actual bombing took place TWO DAYS before the show aired.

3. IT'S NOT REAL LIFE.

As for the rest of the column, Kevin Fertig{Mordicai} isn't in OVW anymore. I believe that he was the wrestler that was involved in the altercation with Jim Cornette.

Terri Sutton wrote:
Kyle, can I just say that the Muhammad Hassan gimmick worked [a little too well, because Mark Copani was let go because of the harsh feedback] for you to still be upset about it. I found it enlightening because Americans hated him but all he was saying was that he was born in America and wanted to be treated like he was an American.

Yes those guys you mentioned had horrible gimmicks, I've watched wrestling to see alot of bad gimmicks and horrible storylines. But just because a wrestler has a bad gimmick or in a bad storyline does not mean they don't have the potential to ge the next big superstar.

And that Cena getting stabbed angle. Cena was in an after hours club, got into an fight, and did get stabbed and did have some damage to the kidneys. They told the sudience the thruth to explain why Cena wasn't working when he was booked, and the WWE Creative Department decided for some reason to turn it into an angle. Also a good thing came from that angle, it helped Carlito go over as a heel, yes he was getting some heat but that angle helped build that heat alot quicker.

Jose Aguirre wrote:
The Muhammad Hassan character was pure dynamite! I loved to hate that guy. He got right under my skin and made me angry. When the Hassan character was killed off, my Internet was down and I waited for him to return and attack Mark Calloway(a.k.a. Undertaker),and somehow turn that feud into something big, but instead he got fired and, my idea of a good feud was given Randy Orton, a guy that doesn't live up to all the hype he is given. You people should stop being so sensitive and enjoy a good gimmick when it comes.

A gimmick that does suck is "The Undertaker," a man who can teleport and doesn't die. The Undertaker gimmick is so unrealistic and it needs to be changed. Mark Calloway's American Bad ass gimmick was something I loved. When I started watching wrestling in 2001 he was in the middle of a feud with, the late Big Boss Man. I wish he could return to the days of being a biker bad ass, because The Undertaker is a great wrestler and very few of his matches are boring, and it's a shame to waste talent like his.

wrote:

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