Lethal Impersonations

[BillAlfonso]

Jay Lethal and Ric Flair really need to take this shit on the road after the 06/18/2010 episode of Impact, those two together are comedy gold. Here's my question, who would you like to see him impersonate next?

Here's my choices in no particular order:

Scott Steiner: Admit it, your life is just a bit more colder without Big Poppa Pump around.

Bill Alfonso: That guy was genius as a personality.

Raven: Just to see if he can pull it off.

The Rock: Even though he's past it, I'd like to see him use this imitation to fued with Stone Cold Shark Boy.

Dusty Rhodes: Just to piss Flair off.

Goldust: Just to see if he can pull it off but there's only one and you'll never forget the name of... Goldust.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

As hilarious a job as I think Lethal would do performing impersonations of all the aforementioned stars you mentioned – especially Steiner and Rhodes, I don't want him being pigeon holed into being TNA's version of Charlie Haas as the impersonating jobber – or even the impersonating wrestler who doesn't lose as often as Haas did.

Lethal is in mid-push to being a top-mid-card star/finge main-eventer, so side-tracking that push for the sake of a few laughs isn't worth it, IMO.

 

[Reddannihilation]

Honestly I think the impersonations should be reserved when he's feuding with certain wrestlers as a way of insulting them. In the same way that wrestlers would often have jobbers dress up as the person/people they were feuding with and beat them Lethal could use it as a way to incite his opponents. Granted it should be reserved for special occasions, maybe once or twice a feud and only in the occasional feud at that.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I'm glad that TNA is pushing Jay Lethal but, honestly, I'm tired of the impressions. He did it with Savage for a couple of years and it ran way too long. I know he can dress and sound like Flair well, that's all well and good, but I want to see what Lethal has. I know what Ric Flair has, I've been watching him all my life. I don't need Lethal showing me what Flair has. What Lethal needs to show fans if he wants to be taken seriously in the long haul is that he can be his own man. He needs to show that he can go out there in his own skin, his own mannerisms, his own style and prove what he's capable of.

 

[Sandpiper]

Well you have to remember, the impersonation of Savage is what got him over with the fans in the first place. He's slowly beginning to shed the parody stuff, even if he's still imitating Flair. He got rid of the Savage music and Savage wrestling attire. Now he's coming out to his own music and doing his own moves again. I think he's just impersonating Flair because he's trying to provoke him as part of an angle.

 

[mister_b1LL]

Impressions are only good for a one-off to build up a feud, and even then they should be few and far in between. Like we had never seen Mr. Anderson impersonate somebody and when he did Kurt Angle it was hilarious. But considering the fact that Lethal had been impersonating Macho Man for so long and then switch to Ric Flair for a couple times, enough's enough for him. He's getting a huge push and reverting back to his old ways isn't gonna help.

 

[Judah's Lion]

to answer the question, Dusty Rhodes and Scott Steiner would be great. but The Rock could be the best choice yet.

IMO, however, this is not a good gimmick unless written very well over a very long haul. he could go on impersonating people for a long time, as he has, and then be challenged by somebody (like a Flair, Hogan or even an Angle) to "be your own man" kind of thing. this could lead to his transformation into himself and start dropping the gimmicks of other legends and developing his own music, attire, look, mic work, move set, etc. the problem with this is that it would take a lot of time and is super risky. it could totally suck if done wrong or just done with the wrong guy.

now that Lethal is getting a push, he needs to drop the impressions on the weekly basis and just do it as a part of a feud. and as noted before, not for every feud, but for those very bitter and personal ones where cheap shots like that are awesome. i remember when Rock impersonated all the other 5 guys in the HiaC match at Armageddon and it was perfect. especially his stuff with Angle and the drinking milk thing. but Rock didn't do it every week, so it was better when it was the one time.

same thing goes for when DX parodied the Nation of Domination, or more recently when the reformed DX parodied the McMahons. because it's not done often, it's funny and furthers a feud by making it personal. but every week just gets old. and Lethal can do better, or so i think. so i'd like to see him prove it now.

 

[XgringolocoX]

I'm ok with the impressions. He's at least really good at it.
however, I don't think he should do the Rock or any WWE exclusive personas. Keep it in the family and self promote. Even when joking.

 

[naimliss]

first off I just want to mention that lethals impersonations of flair are fucking hilarious, last night was some of the funniest shit i've seen in a long time on a wrestling program. The elbow and the knee to the jacket are classic lololol.

so to see lethal impersonate someone else, I would have to go with Scott Steiner. scott steiner had some funny promos though so I don't know if he can top scott himself but it would be funny.

 

[Tiger Chaos Theory]

I myself find Lethal's impersonations quite funny and chuckle a few times regularly, but the man can't be a good uppercarder living on pretending to be someone else. He has to be Jay Lethal.

So I'd rather not see him impersonate anyone unless it's a one time deal to add a little heat between whoever he's feuding with.

 

[JSH6487]

Whoever thinks Lethal should stop is crazy...I could watch that Lethal/Flair segment over and over again. Lethal does an absolutely great job with the impersonations and for the past few weeks he's been the best part of the entire show. I mean what the hell else has been good on either WWE/TNA recently besides this? Keep it up Jay. Go for a Desmond Wolfe impersonation next.

 

[goldbergiswrestling]

A month or so ago I started a thread called something along the lines of "Charlie Haas... A Missed opportunity" In which I stated how I would have done an impersonation type gimmick and it Seems as if TNA thought the same thing I did except I stated that it should be a heel character but they went along the same lines. I said make him be more serious, such as they have changed Jay Lethal to being Jay Lethal who impersonates other people to piss them off instead of have him constantly being a macho man impersonator, or like Charlie Haas you never saw him being charlie haas, he was either The Great Charlie or Good Ol JH Jim Haas. I stated it should be an anything you can do I can do better sort of thing. it could even go so far as to stealing moves in a match.

 

[pessimism101]

A lot of people think that Jay Lethal's impersonation of Ric Flair was funny, and, while I agree that SOME of it was funny, overall, I thought it was very annoying. Not to mention the fact that I now view Lethal as nothing more than an impersonator who is too boring to come up with a personality of his own. I'm not saying that he can't, but considering he's done nothing but impersonate Macho Man Randy Savage and, now, Ric Flair, there's no other conclusion I can come to. I think the impersonations need to stop and Lethal needs to develop his own personality before people stop giving a crap about him.

 

[MissCG]

I love his impersonation of Flair! It funny and he`s really good at it. It`s almost kinda scary how much Lethal sounds like Flair lol. I do agree though that I hope he starts to develop more of his own personality. I think this will be different from the "Black Machismo' thing because, first of all it`s part of an actual feud with Flair and he doesn`t see to be going as far with it (using the similar music, wearing a similar outfit as Macho Man)

 

[The Max Attack]

Its working for Lethal. I watched Impact last night and was almost falling out of the chair in laughter because of how great the interaction between him and Flair was going.

Flair even said that he enjoys what Lethal is doing impersonating him. So if Flair doesnt have a problem with it, its getting over with the fans, and its working, why fix it. We all know sooner or later he is going to have to stop because its getting old. But none of the fans are seeming to hate it, so he should keep doing it. Its funny and its working.

 

[InterestingDrug]

The segment was hilarious. Almost as hilarious as when Flair showed up in the wheelchair a few months ago. Flair is really the funniest character TNA has. Lethal needs to become his own wrestler at some point. Going around impersonating other top stars is going to pidgeon hole him at some point. I like him as a wrestler, but he needs to develop his own personality for him to be considered as a champion.

The segment itself was the high point of the show. About halfway through it, Lethal started sounding more like Bill Cosby or Eddie Murphy doing an impression of Bill Cosby doing an impression of Ric Flair. It was really funny stuff.

If he does more impressions, he needs to do impressions of top tier wrestlers. Steiner and Golddust wont cut it. Nobody wants to see that. The Rock, Austin or even Hogan would be great impersonations.

 

[Vintage]

If Lethal actually keeps the gimmick and the imitations to 1-2 impacts a month it would take a while for it to get stale. I personally am a fan of this gimmick and always wondered why nobody had a gimmick where they steal the finishers of their opponents.

I think the reason people don't like these gimmicks is because we've seen it done, but nobody takes it to the next lvl like Lethal. He literally becomes that person for weeks and not just 1 night. That and he's very, VERY good at it. When you're that good at something use it to your advantage. Lets be honest, Black Machismo went a little too long but The Nature Bro is 10x better than his Savage. That first time he did it I wasn't in the room and didn't know it wasn't Flair until the real Flair came out.

As for whom I'd love to see him do next?

DUSTY RHODES - Bonus points if they bring in the real Dusty for a epic 20 minute opening promo

Big Poppa Pump - I don't know if he can pull that one off, but I'd love to see him do a WCW era Steiner promo.

Ultimate Warrior - Probably the most epic incoherent promo ever

 

[ABMorales787]

I really enjoy Jay Lethal. Solid worker and obviously quite good on the mic. But at some point he's gonna have to be more than just a fan who imitates the big guys. It draws. But when he needs to be serious... What to do? I really liked the backstage segment with Hogan and how he praised him not for impersonating Savage but because of the talent. Jay needs to use this ability to copy wrestlers to find his groove as himself if he want's to been as a top guy in the long run. Its funny, but it can't last forever.