#axlemania....Could it be getting Curtis Axel over?

[Navi]

I was at the house show in Toronto last night and the most amazing thing happened. One of the filler bouts on the card was Los Matadores vs Heath Slater/Curtis Axel. Now that alone is reason to ask for a refund, but it turned out to be great. One of the funniest matches of the night.

It was a sold out show and a hot crowd, and they were 100% behind Curtis Axel. Chants of #axelmania started at the beginning of the match and continued all the way thorough. Axel even stopped the match on a few occasions to put his hand up to his ear, and the crowd responded.

Last time they wore here in Toronto, he was part of Rybaxel and he was just sort of there, not much reaction to him, but last night totally different story. This little movement they've started is getting people's attention. It's absolutely hilarious, and making someone who I thought would on the short list to be future endeavored actually a little relevant.

Now they really have to screw him out of the Battle Royal at Mania for this to keep going.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

It might be something that's picking up steam, but it doesn't seem to be getting all that much of a response on television thus far. Sometimes, a wrestler can get a huge pop in one town or area and not so much in another. For whatever reason, Axel received a big response at the house show in Toronto, but he might be met with crickets at a house show in Los Angeles.

 

[Navi]

Well that would be a shame, because he's the most boring person in the world to look at, but coming out in his new shirt had me in tears laughing. It actually made me care about him for the first time ever, and I've seen him quite few times. Usually his matches were bathroom breaks not anymore.

 

[MCMG]

The problem with Axelmania is this isn't going to be a long-term thing. Axel doesn't have the charisma either to make it work post this movement. His monotone voice instantly hurts him - he just sounds boring. Axel is absolutely fine in the ring and has had some decent matches but he is a mid-carder at best. Axelmania may give him some momentum over the next few weeks but it will probably die the night after Wrestlemania.

I just can't imagine this being a big deal for him. I do like Axel, to an extent, but he is getting released sooner rather than later. There is a very talented group of upper midcarder guys on the roster and Axel is so far away from them. Axelmania or not, this guy is doomed to be either a) an "enhancement guy or b) a useful part of the NXT roster.

 

[Wrestlingaholic]

The problem is, #axelmania will likely be a short term fad, just as 'Fandangoing' was. What Axel, and several others, need is depth to their character.

When wrestling was at it's hottest, in 1987-90 and 1998-2001, almost every character had personality. Now we have a split roster, half of whom are developed and half of whom are vanilla. Sadly for Axel, he currently falls into the latter category.

Until that changes, half the roster will be greeted (generally) with a hum of mass indifference...

 

[Max Headroom]

It's great to hear that's he's getting a good response, even though it is just on a house show. Like you, Navi, I also get a grand kick out of what he's been doing. His new shirt is greatness, as well. However, it's sad to say that he doesn't seem to be getting such a reaction at the television tapings. That being said, last Monday on RAW, there were some (small) "Axlemania!" chants during his match. So if they keep on pushing this act, more people may continue to do so.

And, who knows, given how some WM crowds can be, the entire Andre BR match may be filled with "Axlemania!" chants. Or, they'll just be gravitated towards Mizdow. We shall find out in due time.

 

[Dave]

Getting him over? Maybe. Making it worthwhile? It's doubtful. I think he might make an appearance at WrestleMania in some capacity with this run but I'm very pessimistic as to whether this gimmick has any legs to it. The WWE have given him a small amount of TV time and he hadn't really made it land, at least with me. Honestly, the end of all this should be a small appearance at Mania. Especially when you consider that the wheels really fall off of this after Mania.

 

[Mustang Sally]

It's so hard to say whether something big is being planned for Curtis Axel's benefit. Sure, he's currently getting some mileage out of the "I was never eliminated at the Rumble" schtick, yet, not only can I not see what Creative would plan to grow from this.....I can't imagine why they'd want to.

To me, Curtis Axel is a career midcarder, designated to be a supporting player for the rest of his career, never a top singles act. If management can find something that proves me wrong, I'd love to see it.

In the meantime, as long as all his bragging, posturing and pointing to the WM31 banner in the arena continues......yet he keeps on getting crushed in the actual matches.....I would think the company is just giving him some air time in reward for being a good soldier backstage.

 

[justinsayne]

I think it's picking up steam & getting him over a bit, but I don't see it whatever push he gets from this being any kind of sustainable long term type of thing. He's already stuck in the AtG battle royal, which is about the most meaningless match on the WM card. I'd almost be willing to bet that he's the first person eliminated in that match, & Axelmania dies right then & there.

 

[Just Zay'n]

It might be something that's picking up steam, but it doesn't seem to be getting all that much of a response on television thus far. Sometimes, a wrestler can get a huge pop in one town or area and not so much in another. For whatever reason, Axel received a big response at the house show in Toronto, but he might be met with crickets at a house show in Los Angeles.

That's definitely true, although I'm really starting to doubt the authenticity of the crowd reactions we hear on TV. Out of all the time I've been watching, I don't think I've heard as much blatant tampering with crowd noises as much as I have over the last few months or so. There's that specific high-pitched crowd cheer that they insert mostly during backstage segments (which seems to be a generic sound effect since I've heard it in many other places as well), which most of the time is not even played at the right timing - the crowd's silent and then the sound effect is played, which doesn't tie in to what's happening on screen. Not only that, but the sound levels are tampered with too. And they're not hiding it overly well.

In that light, we can't really trust the crowd noises we hear on TV, at least not with a high degree of certainty, and/or at least not right now. I guess my point is that I think it's possible they're dampening any cheers Axel might be getting, and/or superimposing booing noises over the cheers. I thought that he'd be getting quite a few cheers now with the whole #Axelmania movement, especially from more involved fans, but on TV we pretty much get something between no reaction (the worst possible reaction) and genuine heat, and part of me thinks that it's not completely genuine. Of course, this is 100% speculation, but the crowd has seemed very, very odd as of late, for some strange reason, haha.

 

[Logisticalbooker86]

All they have to do post-Mania is give Axel a microphone and have him say the movement is not over. "AXELMANIACS, WE HAVE 364 DAYS TO MAKE AXLEMANIA RUN WILD" or something to that effect. Keeping it over (if it is in fact over) would not be difficult just because WrestleMania season has passed.

Curtis Axel can be a very consistent mid card act, adding depth which is sorely needed.

The question is always the same. Does WWE care enough about Curtis Axel to give him consistent TV time?

The son of Curt Hennig has been part of a failed faction, been a Paul Heyman Guy, and been thrown in a make-shift tag team. AxelMania may be his last opportunity to make people care. Here's hoping he makes the most of it.

 

[Papa Pillman]

It's so hard to say whether something big is being planned for Curtis Axel's benefit. Sure, he's currently getting some mileage out of the "I was never eliminated at the Rumble" schtick, yet, not only can I not see what Creative would plan to grow from this.....I can't imagine why they'd want to.

To me, Curtis Axel is a career midcarder, designated to be a supporting player for the rest of his career, never a top singles act. If management can find something that proves me wrong, I'd love to see it.

In the meantime, as long as all his bragging, posturing and pointing to the WM31 banner in the arena continues......yet he keeps on getting crushed in the actual matches.....I would think the company is just giving him some air time in reward for being a good soldier backstage.

If they can find a way to keep using this gimmick(the clock on the Tron is a nice touch, and screwing him out of the Battle Royal at Mania would be a great touch too), and people are generally entertained by the absurdity of it, and it can give Axel some relevance as a midcarder that people actually get some enjoyment out of, then isn't that at least something positive?

#AxelMania doesn't have to make Axel a credible threat to anybody who has a solid standing on the card, but with all of the midcarders who are "just there"(something that Axel has been for the most part), its nice to have some who the crowd feel an incentive to support, even if its in an ironic way.

To me, if done right, #AxelMania has the potential to do for Axel what the "Mizdow" gimmick has done for Damien Sandow. Axel isn't as good as Mizdow on the mic, but he is good enough to make this work, and he's also ten times the in-ring performer that Mizdow is, so that's a nice bonus.

 

[Navi]

If they can find a way to keep using this gimmick(the clock on the Tron is a nice touch, and screwing him out of the Battle Royal at Mania would be a great touch too), and people are generally entertained by the absurdity of it, and it can give Axel some relevance as a midcarder that people actually get some enjoyment out of, then isn't that at least something positive?

#AxelMania doesn't have to make Axel a credible threat to anybody who has a solid standing on the card, but with all of the midcarders who are "just there"(something that Axel has been for the most part), its nice to have some who the crowd feel an incentive to support, even if its in an ironic way.

To me, if done right, #AxelMania has the potential to do for Axel what the "Mizdow" gimmick has done for Damien Sandow. Axel isn't as good as Mizdow on the mic, but he is good enough to make this work, and he's also ten times the in-ring performer that Mizdow is, so that's a nice bonus.

Thank you, you said it better than I could. Your point is the one I was going for.

Axel will never be main event and he will probably never be an upper mid carder, let's face it he is boring, good in the ring, but nothing else going for him. One hashtag has changed that.

This is if you think about it, a ridiculous gimmick, but it's working. The fans are getting it and they love it. Best of all it's making them care about Axel where they didn't before. The WWE isn't using another wrestler to get him over, they're not pulling out all the stops.

Maybe this is a sign for the WWE that we don't need complicated gimmicks and storylines, we don't need all the bells and whistles. Give us simplicity and something to entertain us without having to think too much about it. That's what makes wrestling enjoyable for me when I don't have to think.

 

[King502]

Axelmania is great the clock is great (if he could read it write) I feel this will go over huge

 

[MINISTRYrising]

I can see him getting a small push leading into wrestlemania, where Axel will come down to the ring and demand a match. only for somebody like Austin the come out and drop him with a stunner or a returning Superstar like Sheamus will hit the ring and Squash Axle in no time at all and i'm afraid thats all I can see happening with this angle.

 

[MrTDG]

If they can find a way to keep using this gimmick(the clock on the Tron is a nice touch, and screwing him out of the Battle Royal at Mania would be a great touch too), and people are generally entertained by the absurdity of it, and it can give Axel some relevance as a midcarder that people actually get some enjoyment out of, then isn't that at least something positive?

#AxelMania doesn't have to make Axel a credible threat to anybody who has a solid standing on the card, but with all of the midcarders who are "just there"(something that Axel has been for the most part), its nice to have some who the crowd feel an incentive to support, even if its in an ironic way.

To me, if done right, #AxelMania has the potential to do for Axel what the "Mizdow" gimmick has done for Damien Sandow. Axel isn't as good as Mizdow on the mic, but he is good enough to make this work, and he's also ten times the in-ring performer that Mizdow is, so that's a nice bonus.

This is kind of along the lines of what I was thinking. I thought the clock was hilarious. I am also hoping that he is a key player in the Andre the Giant battle royal. I'm not a fan of battle royals, but when done correctly, they can set up a feud. Bret Hart's face turn at WrestleMania IV, Power and Glory eliminating the Legion of Doom in the tag team battle royal before Wrestle Man VII, etc.

Either that, or he screws a budding baby face out of the victory and proclaims himself the King of the Battle Royal, coupled with a gimmick involving his ability to toss any man over the top rope. It's little simple things that can be done to get mid-card talent over and there is nothing wrong with being a perennial mid-carder if you are entertaining in that spot.

 

[Dagger Dias]

While it won't get him a World Championship anytime soon, the whole Axelmania thing is hilarious. Unlike when he was a boring interchangeable underling for Barrett in the original Nexus, or when he tried to get over by constant mentioning of his dad's legend status, or the failed attempt at using Heyman to get him over, and I won't even start on Rybaxel. By a landslide this is the most entertaining he's ever been. Him ranting each week about how he thinks he is still in the Royal Rumble makes me laugh each time. If they do something similar to him at Wrestlemania he could (kayfabe) think he is in the Andre Battle Royal all summer until he ultimately gets into a Summerslam match or something. He's likely to enter a role similar to Santino or Slater at this point, but at least he's found something to do that's entertaining for once.

 

[#tamale]

If it works as an entertaining mid-card act then go with it. Miz and Mizdow wasn't supposed to last this long but due to their dedication they have made their segments into the entertaining parts of the show.

WWE needs more acts like Axelmania and Miz and Mizdow. Segments produced for the middle of the show for some quick entertainment. I know I would prefer it over recap #48 of what happened at the start of the show.

 

[Navi]

If it works as an entertaining mid-card act then go with it. Miz and Mizdow wasn't supposed to last this long but due to their dedication they have made their segments into the entertaining parts of the show.

WWE needs more acts like Axelmania and Miz and Mizdow. Segments produced for the middle of the show for some quick entertainment. I know I would prefer it over recap #48 of what happened at the start of the show.

Well this is another thing I forgot. How many times have we bitched and complained about how dead the crowds are, especially for the middle of the card. With silly gimmicks like this, it gets the fans going, which helps the wrestlers and the whole atmosphere of the show changes for the better.

I've watched RAW and see the top tier guys get their pops at the beginning and the end, but the middle is where it starts to drag and people start to tune out. We see them come alive for Mizdow, and now their coming alive for Axel. Anytime you see the fans having a good time with what's happening then you know you've done something right. All I know is I totally enjoyed his match last night because of the crowd and how he reacted to them. It made him seem human for a change.

Never did I say he would be able to climb the ladder with this gimmick, but it's a hell of a lot better than what's he's done in the past. It's just plain fun and that's what wrestling should be fun.

 

[MartialHorror]

I hope so. I like the quality of his wrestling matches and while he lacks charisma, there is something old school about his promo style- and he has improved a lot on the mic. He made that mistake a couple weeks ago, but unlike Cesaro he didn't really draw attention to it and just kept going.

Also, I kind of felt bad for Axel when Ryback bullied him for no reason. Last we saw, they were friends but now because Axel is an unpopular villain and Ryback is a popular... good guy, it really felt like Ryback was jumping on the 'put down the loser' bandwagon. I don't think 'sympathetic' was what WWE was going for when they scripted that match.

I suspect that Axel MIGHT go the same route that Sandow did. Of course, since we aren't sure where Sandow will go after breaking up with the Miz, it's unclear whether there will be a satisfying pay-off.

 

[stingray11214]

Curtis Axel did an "Axelmania" promo that screamed "Get him off my F-ing screen!" tonight on SmackDown. It was so ridiculous that he is trying to imitate Hulk Hogan. And, I cannot see how anyone thinks this is funny. He does not have the delivery skills to make it funny. Sandow he is not. As for if it will get him over: Barely, then drop like a lead balloon. He needs a Manager, but will not get one in this day and age. In the end, I see him as part of the "spring cleaning" after WrestleMania when he gets future endeavored.

 

[Papa Pillman]

Curtis Axel did a "Axelmania" promo that screamed "Get him off my F-ing screen!". It was so ridiculous that he is trying to imitate Hulk Hogan. And, I cannot see how anyone thinks this is funny. He does not have the delivery skills to make it funny. Sandow he is not. As for if it will get him over: Barely, then drop like a lead balloon. He needs a Manager, but will not get one in this day and age>

AxelMania is doing lightyears more to get Axel over than pairing him with the best manager in the history of the sport was able to.

I see him as part of the "spring cleaning" after WrestleMania when he gets future endeavored.

I just can't see it. He has friends in high places, a top-flight third generation legacy, and he's a very solid hand in the ring.

Not to mention that he is now the most prolific Royal Rumble competitor in history- he's been in the match for nearly six weeks!

#AxelMania​

 

[Navi]

Curtis Axel did an "Axelmania" promo that screamed "Get him off my F-ing screen!" tonight on SmackDown. It was so ridiculous that he is trying to imitate Hulk Hogan. And, I cannot see how anyone thinks this is funny. He does not have the delivery skills to make it funny. Sandow he is not. As for if it will get him over: Barely, then drop like a lead balloon. He needs a Manager, but will not get one in this day and age. In the end, I see him as part of the "spring cleaning" after WrestleMania when he gets future endeavored.

Why do some people seem so upset with this gimmick. Personally I think it's great and he's getting himself over much better than creative ever could. Actually it's not even him it's the fans, they've picked up on it and are having a blast.

No one said this would propel him to the top, not even close, but when he used to come out you could hear a pin drop, now the crowd is enthusiastic about it and gives them something to get involved in. Why is that such a bad thing?

AxelMania is doing lightyears more to get Axel over than pairing him with the best manager in the history of the sport was able to.

Not to mention that he is now the most prolific Royal Rumble competitor in history- he's been in the match for nearly six weeks!

#AxelMania​

Absolutely correct, not even Heyman could do for him what this # has done. LOL the Royal Rumble record. We'll be hearing it all year. Hopefully he gets screwed out of the next one as well.

 

[klunderbunker]

I have zero issue with this idea. Axel hasn't had anything to do in a long time but has talent, so why not put him into a parody/tribute character? Hogan is one of the most parodied wrestlers of all time so what harm could it do? Axel is already getting bigger reactions than he ever has, so why not? If nothing else, it's a new guy in the midcard to get beaten up and a fresh idea. I have no issues here.

 

[Papa Pillman]

LOL the Royal Rumble record. We'll be hearing it all year. Hopefully he gets screwed out of the next one as well.

Screwing him out of the Andre Battle Royal would go a long way toward extending the gimmick as well.

Often Imitated, But Never Eliminated. BROTHER.