Cryme Tyme- time to go back to being the fun-loving thieves they used to be

[Ambiguous Turd]

When you look at Cryme Tyme today and compare them to when they first debuted, there really is no comparison.

For those that don't remember Cryme Tyme when they debuted, this is the type of antics we saw from them:



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My opinion as a White male was that it is perfectly acceptable. And I feel that way because my vision of wrestling is truly supposed to be "An Escape From the Real World".

Or perhaps a better description would be: "The Real World on Steroids".

Since we are no longer living in the world of Kayfabe, I feel that this is something the audience is ready for. They actually already lived through this kind of thing with the Attitude Era already, where the barriers of kayfabe were torn down.

In this challenging day and age for wrestlers trying to get over with the audience, whether as a Face or a Heel, I pretty much advocate doing whatever it takes to do so with the audience.

I recognize that this has come in conflict with WWE's stance towards "more realism" but at the same time, this has resulted in nothing but stale, boring characters that can not connect with the audience. The audience doesn't want to see regular people compete in the ring. They want to see colorful characters and personalities, that they can get behind and attach to, get in the ring and compete with one another.

And remember Lord Sidious' #1 Rule on Creative:

"If the fans don't care about the talent themselves, then they aren't going to care about what the talent does in the ring."


With that being said, I advocate the types of characters Cryme Tyme used to be. I thought they were slick, funny, and most importantly ... the audience loved the act. And that is what I found most intriguing about it all. They were thieves and criminals, yet they were Babyfaces and the crowd cheered them on for ripping people off.

In other words, the crowd knew they weren't for real, knew it was all for fun and understood it was an act, and they still had a lot of fun and supported Cryme Tyme. The audience knew what they were seeing wasn't real, and had fund with it. And Cryme Tyme was over with them, in the process.

I don't want to get into a big discussion of ALL racial stereotypes in wrestling. That is for a different thread. The only topic I would like to see people discuss in this thread is Cryme Tyme.

Today, Cryme Tyme dresses the part of these characters, however their personalities are now gone ... like most of the rest of the superstars on the roster. Now, they come out in their entrance, wrestle, and go home. And that is pretty much it. No more personality. No more fun. Just two more boring wrestlers, who dress up.

Respectfully, I would like our Black posters to vote on whether you enjoyed Cryme Tyme's characters when they first debuted, or if you were offended ... or simply not a fan of that type of "stereotyping".

I would like to compare that to the opinions of our White/Hispanic posters and see what you thought of Cryme Tyme when they debuted.

Remember to give your honest opinions on here, as that is the best way for us to gauge where all sides truly feel about this particular stereotype and whether we can take it in good stride, or if we feel they have no place in today's wrestling.

 

[Barbedwire Ropes]

I honestly never cared for them either way. I think they are just as boring as they are now, as they were then. Although, I can be the first to admit that I think more could have been done with their characters as they were when they debuted in order to keep them relevant. I dont even really know what they are really supposed to be, aside from their ring gear.

I could give a shit less about the "african-american ghetto as percieved by white makes" stereotype. Just like I could care less about that Kerwin White bullshit. The race thing doesn't really bother me, since the WWE have really made fun of every race possible that has taken part in the WWE.

So with them being terribly stale right now....I dont really have much to care about.

 

[Little Jerry Lawler]

I enjoyed Cryme Tyme when they first debuted. They were fun-loving thieves who were really over with the crowd and I thought they should have won the tag team titles. They did get suspended and when they came back they were still over. They teamed up with Cena during his feud with JBL and I hoped that more was going to come out of that. Since then, they just haven't been the same. The lack of depth in the division doesn't help them either since all they've been doing is feuding with the Hart Dynasty. They desperately need to go back to what they were three years ago because if not, I don't see them having a job by this time next year.

 

[JJ "the Devil's Advocate"]

i love cryme tyme i think there the best team in WWE (well except JeriShow but they'll break-up soon) and i'v always enjoyed cryme tyme i REALLY wish they wrn't released in 2007 cuase they where just starting to get a push (stealing things like davari's "durka durka") i hope Cryme tyme fight DX/Jerishow at royal rumble and get the tag titles and become the fun loving "stealing random stuff" team again.

 

[The Best At What I Do]

My opinion as a White male was that it is perfectly acceptable.

Surprise surprise, as a white male you would find that perfectly acceptable. Well as an african american male, I find it horribly unfunny, racially insensitive, and completely unacceptable sir!... Hahaha I'm just playing. Those clips were actually pretty funny. I never saw them because I took a year or two break from wrestling (for my sanity) and that must've been when these guys came along. I can't stand them right now cuz I see them as the word-up losers wasting time on SD! But if they were still doing videos like that, I could easily see myself getting behind them. It reminds me of the stuff Los Guererros did with Lie, Cheat, Steal videos. I think a good stereotype can make quite entertaining television (just look at Santino) so as a black poster, I support Cryme Tyme going back to the crimes.

 

[Daedalus]

I'd rather see them turn heel to be honest as it would be something different for both. Bring this back for Shad:

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Let JTG be the instigator in the team who goes around causing trouble because he knows Shad will back him up and take care of things. Shad would be a great "destroy them hard" heel if built properly. Perhaps have them start to cut promos saying that they are tired of playing stereotypical characters and it hasn't gotten them far in WWE. They are tired of being jokes and are set to show the WWE that they are indeed a capable and destructive tag team.

Only problem is that the majority of tag teams seem to be heels right now. You could have them tag up but also start wrestling more as single competitors. Shad destroys his opponents and JTG plays the cowardly heel who uses Shad to do his dirty work/help him win.

I've always hated stereotypical over-the-top "african american" and "gay" characters for the most part as they are usually poorly written and usually go nowhere booking wise. Vince has always given us a wide range of different stereotypical wrestlers over the decades and really it just shows how lazy the writers are or Vince's ideas of what he thinks is "funny". Every once in a while it works but usually it seems to fail.

 

[Toroc102]

Yeah some characters better than no character, it does remind me of Los Guerrero's who were extremely over. Wouldn't fly nowadays of course(PGWWE), maybe if they were heels. Either way they've got to win matches at some point, I don't know why the WWE made them jobbers, some decisions just drive me crazy some times. These guys were way over and had skill at least as good as plenty of the guys WWE like to push, why'd they job Cryme Time out?