Curtis Axel Seems like "Another Tensai"

[Jstrike]

Last year tensai debuted competed in main event matches,
was actually thought to be a future wwe champion, but some how got lost in the mix and became sweet t!
this year curtis axel gets many many main event matches, even talk about how he's gonna be champion! and not just a mid card championship.
but now look at axel. axel just another guy that wwe has nothing to do with, so lets through curtis in a feud with a guy who never was anybody!
im so sick of how wwe will build up someone and tear them down.
for example the sheild, the shield defeated huge names just to lose many matches, or maybe we can look at cesaro a almost a year run with us title but cesaro 1st loses to justin gabriel! what is wwe thinking?
why does wwe waiste a whole summer on building someone up just to tire down the gimmick?

 

[Y 2 Jake]

I don't see the similarity. Tensai was bought in to be Cena fodder and when people didn't buy into him WWE dropped him like a stone. Axel was put with Heyman so they could gradually make him into a star. They've taken there time and perservered with him despite him not being suitable for the role he currently finds himself.

I'm not sure what this thread is about actually. But I thought I'd comment anyway.

 

[Spidey Revivey]

He's Intercontinental Champion. Ergo he must face midcard wrestlers. Just like Y 2 Jake, I too don't quite understand the topic of discussion. Lord Tensai was not someone anybody really put that much credence in since he was a Japanese style superstar played by an American. Hell to be honest I figured since Tensai was around we would be seeing several more Japanese wrestlers debuting in WWE.

Give Curtis Axel a chance. He just got done with a feud with CM Punk. The best thing for him to do now is defend his belt a few times.

 

[HereComesThePain420]

Curtis Axel is now where near bein buried the way Tensi is he is losing matches but hes higher up on the card and has a better storyline going on

 

[Fire Marshall Bill]

I actually disagree with both Jake and Spider. I see the similarities because they were both brought in, made to be a big deal and one bombed, while the other is bombing. Tensai's gimmick was the biggest issue. Axel is just terrible.

What the OP fails to see is what's exactly happening and why they're happening. He says the Shield are losing too much when A) they're not. Just a typical heel mark wanting heels to always win. B) The purpose of building up a heel, or heel stable in this case, is so when faces finally do beat them, it's a big deal. No one should objectively say the Shield is jobbing too much.

And the OP also fails to see that Cesaro was doing absolutely abhorant on his singles run. When he picked up the mic, people fell asleep. That's why they gave him Zeb Coulter. Just because someone is fun to watch in the ring, doesn't mean they can get over if their mic skills are that terrible. Frankly, if anyone could've pulled off the Heyman guy, maybe it was Cesaro.

 

[Mustang Sally]

When WWE wants to build a star....to force-feed the audience a performer and try to put him over, it's always difficult to tell how long they're going to give the project and how hard they're going to push.

In Joe Hennig, they took a guy who had been lost backstage for a few years and tried to convince us he was the second coming of _ _ _ _ _ (fill in your own legend).

He started out with matches against John Cena and Triple H, for heaven's sake. He even "beat" Cena and was given most of the offense in their matches.

Then, while he certainly hasn't been dropped, he seemed to be lowered in status, to competing for and winning the IC championship. Honestly, I was relieved by this; the way things started out, I was afraid they were going to give him one of the major titles right off the bat, expecting us to believe that a guy who was deemed unworthy of appearing on the major TV shows for a few years was suddenly a superstar, capable of beating main event status wrestlers.

Since then, while still holding the mid-card belt, he seems to have become an afterthought to Paul Heyman and Ryback; a guy who is there more to support what those two are putting over than carving a path for himself.

In that regard, I can see the Tensai comparison. But Tensai never enjoyed the initial success Curtis Axel has, so the circumstances are different. All told, I think management might be disappointed that Axel hasn't amounted to more......but the final bell hasn't sounded yet.

 

[Uncle]

Why does every wrestler have to be in a "program" to be over??? I seem to remember there was a longer then normal run when the Honky Tonk Man was IC champ and didn't have a long term feud with 1 particular person. He faced alot of different superstars during this time period and the level of challengers was the reason he was over. Well 1 reason anyway.. Now I AM IN NO WAY comparing Axel to Honky. I think they need to keep giving Axel some good competitors to works with. Then when they find someone that has chemistry with him, then they can have a run together..

 

[MCMG]

He's been repackaged, debued with success against big names and hasn't, yet, fully delivered. That is where the similarities end but I guess there are some. With Tensai it was obvious they had to introduce a new gimmick. Axel was different, it wasn't essential but I'm glad they did. There is potential and Axel has done ok with Heyman. It has only been a few months and feuding with the second biggest star in the company isn't a bad place to be.

I can't see Axel ending up anywhere near where Tensai is now. Axel has serious potential and the repackaging will work for him.

 

[Dysturbed]

im so sick of how wwe will build up someone and tear them down.

why does wwe waiste a whole summer on building someone up just to tire down the gimmick?

Debuting a new star to frequent losses isn’t going to make much of an impression on fans and will get "they're not even giving them a chance responses, so it makes sense to give them nice starts.

Having them eventually lose a bunch of matches can be annoying, but it also can help humble them, which is probably for the best considering the kind of egos that people in general can potentially get if they are used to nothing but success. Those who still are capable of generating interest with fans, or are believed to have that ability, then tend to then start getting victories again, with the series of losses proving to cause no permanent damge. For those who are permanently affected, it's a shame, but it doesn't change that the humbling process (or however anyone wants to word it) serves a purpose.

for example the sheild, the shield defeated huge names just to lose many matches

Considering that they look like they can win almost any match that they are in, even when they lose, and the fact that they are involved in the top storyline in the company, they are in good shape.

Situations where frequent losses start to happen when someone is carrying a title should be more of the issue imo than the concept of losses in general, but again, if those losses happen when a champ is presented to look like they legitimately could win the match, their credibility still isn't usually as harmful as you seem to think.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I agree with the notion that Curtis Axel has become an afterthought in the Punk vs. Heyman feud, as I knew he would. When Axel first won the IC title, some people wanted to see him feud with Punk but I knew that he'd wind up being overshadowed by Punk and would, most of the time, wind up jobbing to the longest reigning World Champion in WWE for more than a quarter century. That's exactly what's happened. Axel needs his own feud going forward now, let Heyman & Ryback deal with Punk while he's getting focus in his own programs.

I'm definitely not seeing the Tensai comparison at all. Tensai was someone who was brought in, given a massive push for a while before heading back down the card. Axel MIGHT have been given a main event level push soon after his repackaging but, all in all, what's happened has turned out for the best. He ultimately wound up getting Fandango's spot as IC champ after Fandango suffered a concussion. Thus far, Axel hasn't demonstrated he has main event level abilities. As far as Axel as IC champ overall, I think he's done a solid job. Considering how little WWE has given him the past 6 weeks or so especially. I know that there's this idea that IC champs are supposed to be sort of like guys who are main eventers in waiting given the historic runs of Savage, Hart & Curt Hennig but that's not really how it's been. There've been plenty of IC champs who never went onto bigger things in their careers. Don Muraco, Tito Santana, Greg Valentine, Honky Tonk Man, Davy Boy Smith, Marty Jannetty, Owen Hart, Scott Hall, and lots of others are examples. Maybe some COULD have been main eventers under the right circumstances but, then again, I COULD have been 7'2" and playing in the NBA under the right circumstances.

While it's true that WWE does sometimes lose faith in guys that they've spent a good deal of time building up, thereby usually turning them into jobbers, I'm certainly not seeing that with The Shield. In the entire time they've been on the main roster, just slightly less than a year now, they've lost only a small handful of matches, they've been carrying the US & Tag Team Championships for almost 5 months and the only person any of them have been up against in either a tag or singles match they haven't gotten a win over is The Undertaker. I think you're barking up the wrong tree as it pertains to The Shield.

When it comes to Antonio Cesaro, the guy is on the cusp of breaking through if they can only give him the right gimmick. Fans WANT to cheer for Cesaro because they're genuinely impressed with his abilities inside the ring, his legit toughness and his downright freakish strength he shows for a 235 pound man. Cesaro suffered a setback when some WWE officials said they thought he was "boring", which he was with his arrogant foreigner character. He did the best he could with what he was given and what he was given was a tired and very dated gimmick that simply doesn't get fans going like it did 20 years ago. I have a feeling Cesaro will turn babyface in the near future, a turn that I think will be successful if he's given a character that he's both comfortable with and is believable in.

 

[CyberPunk]

Tensai and Axel are two very different cases. The only similarities are that at the start of their gimmicks, they were given some big wins. That's where the similarities end.

Axel is doing OK for himself. Being a Paul Heyman guy gave him the chance to feud with some big names, but it would be asinine to think that he would've come out of those matches as winner. He has the IC championship. All he needs to do is defend it more often. Tensai never was or is near any championship and was destined to end up in lower card once he lost his first match. That's a big man curse I think.

As far as Shield and Cesaro are concerned, they are exactly where they should be, at least for now. Shield is in the main storyline, plus they have defended their titles successfully almost all the times. Cesaro has tonnes of potential and I feel his time will come. Not everyone can start main eventing from the day they step in the ring. It's called paying the dues.

 

[Da Solo]

OP, I get you completely. Axel starts out beating HHH and Cena (albeit dirty, but wins nontheless) and WWE doesn't yet realize that the fans didn't buy it. Same thing with Tensai: he wins big matches due to some interference, but the fans don't attribute it to him because it was just given to him before they could warm up to him.

Axel sucks. I'm sorry, but it needs to be said. Don't get me wrong, he's trying and he's been getting progressively better at being more than Heyman's muscle, but he still sucks. He's bland as hell, he's apparently learning nothing from Heyman in terms of mic skill and while I like his in-ring intensity, there's much better performers out there. I'm still BEGGING for Truth to take the title off him, because playing second fiddle to Ryback will only set the title scene further back if he has his hands on it.

 

[IT Factor]

I don't see the basis of comparison. Tensai was given every opportunity with wins over top talents and failed to succeed. With Axel, he got fluke wins over Cena & HHH and was subsequently stuck with the IC title as a consolation for WWE's lack of imagination and effort to give him something meaningful to do. Had he gotten clean wins over big names and been afforded to him that Tensai got, he might already be getting over as a future main eventer. Instead he is stuck in a division where there is no chance for advancement and very little legit competition to help put Axel over as a big name. Guys like Randy Orton & John Cena had opportunities and won mid-card titles in a time when the United States and Intercontinental titles had big names wearing them and their wins were legit enough to make them future WWE Champion. That opportunity does not exist within current WWE because they don't make enough new stars or at least use the big names they still have left to put over the new guys. Until they start pushing more talents and taking the gamble, they will never get to reward. No risk, no reward WWE simple as that. Even die hard fans are questioning what WWE is doing with their product lately and Axel's case is the example that proves this theory correct.

 

[Rhodes2TheFuture3313]

I think the comparison is way off. Axel is doing fine. IF anything they should tease a babyface turn only to have him stay heel. That's how you get the audience to hate you. HHH had some of the best faux face turns. Keeping him a heel only made his Face turn that much more significant when it finally did happen. If anything Tensai and Wade Barrett are comparable. You wanna talk about someone who's been railroaded by injury and WWE creative it's Wade Barrett. Axel has been the BEST IC Champ since Cody Rhodes run. Axel and R-Truth are having a great feud right now. We know what Axel can do in the ring I wanna see more development with his character. The young Hennig does seem much more comfortable in front of the camera this go around. Heyman is doing a great job with both Ryback and Axel. 2 guys who I expect to be a part of WWE's future at the top of the card. This feud would have been better if RVD was inserted into it. Bad job by WWE creative not setting up Punk/RVD vs. Ryback & Axel.

 

[C-Dawg]

I really want to like Axel and he is undoubtably excellent in the ring but every time he sticks a microphone in front of his face it just doesn't cut it. If he's to get anywhere of note he needs to improve that facet of his character. He doesn't have the charisma to be a cocky heel which is what he seems to be portraying at the moment with all this "better than perfection" schtick and walking down to the ring shouting "your intercontinental champion has arrived". He would better suited as someone more ruthless. I do fear that he's already been in the company long enough to work on the verbal side of the persona but who knows, maybe all will improve.

 

[chicagokmc]

The two are similar in that both had identities that ran their course, were repackaged, and when the pushes after the repackaging ended, Tensai and Axel floundered. The difference is that Tensai really really floundered and had to be repackaged from Tensai the warrior to Tensai the ton of funk after the whole point of being Tensai was to repackage him from Albert.

Axel hasn't floundered nearly that bad. He is in the wrong place at the wrong time. His problems are:

1) Axel is a Paul Heyman guy. And the WWE seems like it just wants Heyman focused on his feud with CM Punk. So Axel's focus is probably going to include being a run-in guy for this storyline, a "Heyman" guy and not being his own guy.

2) Unfortunately unless it is the WWE Heavyweight Championship, other titles don't matter - World Title, Tag Titles, US Belt or Intercontinental Belt. There are more than enough people Axel could be involved with for the Intercontinental title. But focusing on the personal feud of Punk/Heyman is obviously more important than the IC belt, so Axel is going to spin his wheels.

I don't know how to fix Tensai at this point. But just get Axel an IC feud going and he could be ok.

 

[Jstrike]

To clarify any poster's i was not saying curtis axel is like tensai in the way of Movesets, gimmick, or even anything similar like. but i was saying that wwe put both wrestler's in pointless pushes to the top, as far as going over on huge stars and then being dropped like a hot Potato!

 

[Dum Dum Dudley]

Why does every wrestler have to be in a "program" to be over??? I seem to remember there was a longer then normal run when the Honky Tonk Man was IC champ and didn't have a long term feud with 1 particular person. He faced alot of different superstars during this time period and the level of challengers was the reason he was over. Well 1 reason anyway.. Now I AM IN NO WAY comparing Axel to Honky. I think they need to keep giving Axel some good competitors to works with. Then when they find someone that has chemistry with him, then they can have a run together..

Surely a new character/gimmick needs to be in a program? Look at Wyatt. Push him into a feud with Kane which leads to storyline/character advancement:
>establishes Wyatt as a 'psycho'
>builds him up as the audience have seen him dispose of Kane

Axel is getting abuse because he hasn't been given any real opportunity to advance bar a carousel of challengers every other PPV.

With Axel, he got fluke wins over Cena & HHH and was subsequently stuck with the IC title as a consolation for WWE's lack of imagination and effort to give him something meaningful to do. Had he gotten clean wins over big names and been afforded to him that Tensai got, he might already be getting over as a future main eventer. Instead he is stuck in a division where there is no chance for advancement and very little legit competition to help put Axel over as a big name.

I've gotta agree with this. How can he advance as a character when the guys around him are either stuck in a rut (Miz), MIA half the time (Truth) or irrelevant most of the time (Barrett, Kingston)? Axel can't thrive if the division doesn't thrive. When you have a guy like Punk who is always relevant, always standing out, and place a guy Axel next to him, 9 times out of 10 he will look mediocre. The best thing to do is draw more focus to Punk v Ryback/Heyman, put more focus on Axel as a champion and his feud with Truth, and try and salvage the situation.

 

[Uncle]

Surely a new character/gimmick needs to be in a program? Look at Wyatt. Push him into a feud with Kane which leads to storyline/character advancement:
>establishes Wyatt as a 'psycho'
>builds him up as the audience have seen him dispose of Kane

Axel is getting abuse because he hasn't been given any real opportunity to advance bar a carousel of challengers every other PPV.

The problem is they are not treating Axel as a new guy.. I dont think they should either. He has been around for awhile in NXT. The WWE is smart enough to know that just because you change someones name doesn't make him new. The Problem with Axel is the WWE can't keep a push going to save their life. They love starting a HUGE push then loose all sense of how to keep it going.

 

[Dum Dum Dudley]

The problem is they are not treating Axel as a new guy.. I dont think they should either. He has been around for awhile in NXT. The WWE is smart enough to know that just because you change someones name doesn't make him new. The Problem with Axel is the WWE can't keep a push going to save their life. They love starting a HUGE push then loose all sense of how to keep it going.

I'm sorry but what do you actually want? You want Axel pushed but not in a feud. How do you propose this? Squash matches? There has to be some kind of emotional payoff for a wrestler to 'get over'; the audience has to invest in him and believe in him.

The Godfather is a film full of violent 'spots' but they mean something because there's a narrative and we learn about the characters motives. Axel coming out and having random matches like he has been doing does nothing for him.

 

[Uncle]

I'm sorry but what do you actually want? You want Axel pushed but not in a feud. How do you propose this? Squash matches? There has to be some kind of emotional payoff for a wrestler to 'get over'; the audience has to invest in him and believe in him.

A push does not have to mean feud. A good push could be facing quality opponents. Not being a backup to Ryback. Having him face top level people will work to increase his status.

 

[SkyCommanderWinky]

Punk vs Heyman was botched severely and in my opinion brought down not only Axel's credibility but also Punk's and Heyman's. Punk was acting like Cena the whole time and I don't think anyone over the age of 10 (or whatever age it stops being funny to call someone a walrus) cared if Heyman got beatdown.

I thought something big would have come out of it, like Axel snapping because he was always being over looked. Maybe putting Heyman in the hospital himself because he felt that Heyman had no faith in him.

IDK, but this fued should have had a better pay off than fucking Ryback.