The Pope: Would You Miss Him?

[Tesla Tank]

Guy needs to break out and get back in the main event picture where he belongs. He had a nice return in the bound for glory series then just disappeared. But he certainly has the potential to go far.

[Hugh G. Rection]

Far as I'm concerned Pope is the total package, or at least was. He has been miused for a very long time, and I miss him even now. His heel turn when Immortal got going really killed his momentum IMO and he has been in the midcard and jobber realms ever since. I'd be disappointed if TNA were to release him.

And Jack-Hammer, Pope did actually used to be a prison warden.

[TheStar]

Unfortunately, as a black man I must say that the reason we haven't seen Devon or The Pope get that push is because every time TNA pushes someone of color to the top. They leave for WWE! Think back to the real first NWA-TNA champion Ron Killings. Yes I know Ken Shamrock won the tournament but that was some bull and everyone knows it- it was just for his name. Killings won and not so soon but, soon after hes back in WWE with a little more stock and than he had before. The Alpha Male was huge for TNA back in the day, a homegrown talent, connected with fans, and built a small but still something of a following fan base. Once he was on the cusp he split and went to become a failure by the name of Marcus Cor Von. Now we could add Booker to the mix but Booker was a star before he either came to TNA or WWE but WWE furthered the legacy and technically he never left WCW to come to WWE he just kept doing the same job cause his company was bought out. So lets be honest if TNA did decide to push Pope to the top and as usual then take the title off of him and then float him around after there was a general interest and buzz. WWE comes a calling and Pope goes a leaving, remember anyone who ever dreams or wants to be in this business wants to compete and showcase at Wrestlemania for WWE. Even King Mos!

[Lorenzo von Matterhorn]

I don't actually remember him being ON TV before he was taken "OFF" TV... I know he was supposed to be involved with the Aces & Eights thing, and I remember him being attacked. I do not remember anything before that, going all the way back to his annoyingly elongated feud with Devon.

Do I miss him? Nope. Would I miss him? Nope. It has nothing to do with his talent - although I haven't seen him do anything entertaining in years - but distance does NOT make the heart grow fonder. Not in pro wrestling at least. You disappear for too long, or remain irrelevant for long enough, and unless you're a HUGE name in pro wrestling you're pretty much dead. It's very much like Jack Swagger; hasn't been seen on Raw in quite some time, and I don't think many people miss him. It's really hard to care about a wrestler that has never meant anything to anybody.

[RawIsJericho]

I really liked the Pope, but at the same time I just struggle to think where he would fit in at this point, especially with the Aces and Eights angle dominating so much of the air time. There's only a couple of hours a week to go around, Anderson barely gets to do anything and I'd prefer to see Anderson getting some good usage again before the Pope.

There's really nobody on Impact nowadays who I hate seeing on TV beyond Tara's new guy but that's Tara's angle and I like her to be on TV/the Knockouts actually having an "angle". So while I'd like Pope to be on there, there's nobody who I'd really yank off TV for him weekly and establish an angle for him etc. Find him a tag team partner and put him in the tag division maybe?

[Rated R Nightmare]

Honestly no I wouldn't miss Pope. He has yet to do anything in TNA to really make me give a damn about him. He's a good all around talent yeah but we can't miss what we don't have.

[Triple Naitch]

Yeah I think I probably would.

I think of Pope as a potential main eventer. I think he needs some tweaking to his character, but the guy is a great athlete and very solid on the mic. I am surprised TNA haven't done more with him as he did look on the path to being a main event level talent at one point. They just haven't used him as well as they should.

I hope we do see him back on TV soon, and I wouldn't be against him turning up as one of the members of Aces and Eights, I think he could have a great impact as a member of that faction.

[MisterRob]

Pope's the leader of Aces and Eights!
He's talented and when he does return hopefully TNA will take advantage of it.

[waylon p]

Originally Posted by MisterRob

Pope's the leader of Aces and Eights!
He's talented and when he does return hopefully TNA will take advantage of it.

That would be awesome. Also unlikely.
But I totally agree with your assessment of the man. I also hope that TNA does something major with this impressive talent. Great moves, great promos. How could you ask for more? Once upon a time, TNA saw the value of Ron Killings (who I love) and I think Pope is even better. One can hope the people who run TNA these days see what I see.

[The Marauder]

If Pope leaves tomorrow I would be bit shocked but it's TNA. He may come back at some point in the future. For me I liked the Pope since his days on the "runny eggs full of snot McMahon ECW", till current Impact Wrestling of today. In my personal experience with watching him go in the ring, promo's, and storylines; TNA invested in him for a good amount of time. Though I do believe why the Pope is not being used as much since his huge push in '08-'09 and why TNA kinda pushed him on the side in after LockDown in 2010.

I remember back when Hulk Hogan first showed up, he was on a local radio station in Orlando talking about the different wrestlers on the roster. Now to say the least he wasn't very high on the Pope even though he gained a lot of momentom going into LockDown; being that A.J. Styles was the heel at the time. Which kinda pissed me off cause the Pope was pretty hot commodity and so called "wrestling fans" were really dumping on TNA for the fear of becoming another WCW. They improved it since then. So after the loss, the booking team really pushed him back. The lame ass storyline with D-Von and the bit head scratching feud with Samoa Joe. Quite similar what happen with Hardcore Holly and Brock Lesner feud in '03.

Now a way to book him back into the spotlight again? With Impact Wrestling what would seem good on paper; it's hard to pull off in front of an audience.

1) Go old school. Have Pope interfere into lower to upper mid card matches for a couple of weeks and make a big match at the next PPV. Attack the faces of course, scared yet cool heels always generate interest. If he showed up today a good place to start would be Samoa Joe or RVD.

2) Name change. Pope D' Angelo Dinero is too long of a name to remember and kinda silly. It's like a mix between a New Orleans pimp and a preacher at a Baptist Church. A lot of fans won't get the character reference. Similar to "Stunning" Steve Williams or Rocky "The Rock" Maivia. Which turned into Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock. I mean keep it basic and "The Pope" sounds easy to remember and very laid back.

3) Pope should really watch the booking team this time around because a lot of new faces are rising up and a rotating/shifting roster can be damaging to a career. Samoa Joe was very vocal about that for a few years.

That is some for right now, so it shouldn't be to hard to figure out.