Jesus Christ, I can't believe this thread keeps popping back up again. [EDIT: Great, and I'm the asshole who put it to page 20] Am I the odd one for not thinking this was a huge deal? Not saying I thought it was bad, offensive, amateur, or worth hating; just saying that I wasn't like "OMG I CAN'T BELIEVE I HAVE JUST WATCHED THIS ON TV!". Maybe I'm desensitized by multiple viewings of ******* porn *ahem*.
Anyway, many more people have a face and identity (separate from his WWE persona) to associate with Orlando Jordan, something he didn't really have coming into TNA. People need to not only remember you to get ahead in the business, but they need to have something a bit more tangible than a face and a name to really care about you, one way or another. This stunt certainly gets him more of that than he had before it. More doors are open for him now.
That being said, there is no way a non-heterosexual (that isn't a lesbian) character is getting anywhere near over without being heel. A tweener would be a better fit, both for booking and (in OJ's case) in making an empathetic identity for the fans to take in. But his "character" couldn't really be written in way that would make any sense to, or illicit any empathy from, the majority of TNA's fanbase (and wrestling's fanbase in general, for that matter). How would you push a face with bisexuality as a big part of his character (indeed, the crutch of it) without doing typically cocky heelish things?
I submit for review another example of an "alternate lifestyle":
CM Punk.
In his WWE run, bringing up the straight edge angle and getting it to stick to him felt forced. If you were a fan, you probably enjoyed that part of his character, too. But if you hadn't been sold on CM Punk yet, it really meant little to you, or was even a detraction from getting you to like him. There really just wasn't a way it could be written into a major part of his on-screen character without sounding like an add-on. Or a heel.
In a heel turn, the Straight Edge aspect is allowed to shine. It can be used to draw heat, and can be used as a basis for angles, and being based in reality it gives us the fans that something tangible to grasp onto. However, in the process, plenty more people will walk away with a negative connotation to the straight edge philosophy.
If you can't tell that maybe the portrayal of straight edge or bisexuality on a wrestling program is a little exaggerated, you probably still think it's real. I've known decent, friendly straight edgers, and I've met douchebag, dares-to-slap-a-cigarette-out-of-my-hand asshole straight edgers. The people who had never heard of it before, though, really only know the CM Punk version (assuming these idiots don't google it and do some research, but that's asking too much of people a lot of the time these days). Same with OJ. Between him and Goldust, some people are going to keep thinking that gays and bisexuals are all deviant molesters that run around in weird outfits (if anything at all) and form creepy obsessions with random people.
I'd like to hope that the majority of the world can separate the portrayal of a character on a wrestling program from their stereotypes of a group of people.
I'd also like to hope that TNA can think of more to do without OJ doing the mayo-bath everynight; that's just ripping off Gangrel and Goldust.