For the love of all that is holy... PLEASE STOP ALLOWING HERNANDEZ TO CUT PROMOS!!!

[D-Man]

I've been watching pro-wrestling for over 25 years, and I swear to all of you, I've NEVER seen anyone that has less charisma than Hernandez. This guy has an INCREDIBLE look and decent ring skills. But if you hand this guy a microphone, it's like a monkey trying to fuck a football. The guy stumbles on his words, has nervous facial ticks, has a bad accent, and just looks more out of place than a black man at a KKK rally.

His entrance theme is awful, his little hand signals that trigger his pyro are atrocious, and everytime he appears on television I have to change the channel. Well, that is unles he's actually wrestling; then he's pretty decent. But he's not charismatic enough to do anything outside of a ring that would show his personality.

As TNA was coming up through the ranks, we all witnessed the evolution of a man they call Abyss. At first, he was a monster of a man that never spoke. Instead, he had James Mitchell as his mouthpiece, and it did WONDERS for him.

Now, I understand that Hernandez's look has TNA management doing backflips, but don't they realize that not all pro-wrestlers are meant to be on their own?? Not all wrestlers are able to get over by their own means. Some need somewhat of a "crutch" throughout their careers to do the speaking and charismatic part of their pro-wrestling persona. Hernandez is one of these men.

Granted, I'm an advocate of bringing managers back into the forefront of pro-wrestling. I feel that many wrestlers could benefit from what managers can bring to the table. In today's wrestling world, the majority of the superstars are tolerable on the microphone. But Hernandez falls short of this mark by a landslide. He needs a manager and he needs it NOW.

Does anyone else agree?

 

[Suneeboy]

Right on D-Man. Hernandez could very well be the worst wrestler in a major promotion that has ever touched a mic. I’ve seen RAW guest hosts show more personality than him. He should never be allowed to speak….EVER! Shit Kane was better on the mic when he debuted the gimmick and used the vocoder to speak.

He makes me cringe when I hear his voice and see his mannerisms. His entrance looks awkward, as he exhibits no rhythm in his movements. I don’t know why they broke him and Homicide up, as he is not a main event caliber wrestler. Homicide can be the mouth piece, and they can once again be a great tag team. Just please keep Hernandez off of the mic. Give him a catchphrase that he can say so we know he’s not a mute, but nothing more than something in the same mold of Goldberg’s “Your Next!”. If they don’t want me to drift away while watching iMPACT!, then Hernandez will never speak again.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

Yes Hernandez is an amazing physical specimen, but he is absolutely awful on the mic. As soon as I heard him talking backstage last night, I immediately turned the channel. He is very bland, and brings nothing to the table when he's on the mic.

Maybe Shelly Martinez could've helped him(Salinas)? She was the only female in LAX a while back, and I think she quit TNA. Martinez and Hernandez would've been a good pairing because both of their images matched each other perfectly. She could've been a mouthpiece for Super Mex, and I think this could've helped him out a lot. Plus, she's hot, and the fans always love a good looking woman.

While I do think a manager could help elevate Hernandez, I don't think it would take him to the top in TNA. His character is really nothing special, and even if were to get the world title, I don't think he would hold on to it for too long, and it would most likely only be a one time deal.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Yeah, Hernandez is pretty awful on the mic. He just doesn't have it, that's all there is to it. He simply doesn't have the stuff to be a major star on his own. He's decent in the ring, not great but ok, and he does look great. It's his look that has to be doing the most for him as he has a near total lack of charisma and mic skills.

When you have someone that isn't really supposed to talk as part of their gimmick or someone that legitimately can't talk, like Hernandez, a manager/mouthpiece is needed. It worked pretty well with Abyss and it worked great with Kane. It's even working pretty well with AJ Styles right now. Styles isn't as bad on the mic as Hernandez, not by a long shot, but he's not great either and having Ric Flair in his corner is the only factor keeping Styles' heel character afloat for the most part, in my opinion.

I like the idea of Hernandez having a manager. Managers are all but gone in wrestling today and that's a shame because Hernandez is a wrestler that really could use one.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

Couldn't agree more, D.

In all my years watching pro-wrestling, I've never seen anyone struggle to seem even moderately natural when cutting a promo like Hernandez. It's actually so bad that I when I attempted to start a thread on it a few weeks ago (when he gave Beer Money, Inc. their title shot on iMPACT!), I ended up bailing on the idea because I just couldn't figure out how to calculate the critique. The only thing that kept coming to mind was "STOP TALKING!".

I think another major issue with Hernandez is that he simply doesn't make a very appealing face. The "gang" type signs he throws up to signal his pyro, and the gangster like stance he takes with his arms folded so you can read (though I can't actually read them) his tattoos at the 2nd rope/turnbuckles don't say babyface to me – they say heel, which is why I don't think he's nearly as relevant as SuperMex, as much as he was as the [quiet] muscle in LAX, especially when Konnan carried the group vocally.

 

[Chicago1989]

I agree. Hernandez' mic skills are sub-par and pretty boring but I guess it'll take some time for him to get better. I mean look at Matt Morgan; He was pretty bad on the mic when he first started in TNA but when I heard him commentate last night with Taz & Tenay, he sounded good.

Hernandez kind of needs to step up as far as his character goes. He can't keep being the super-heavyweight that can fly over the top rope forever...

 

[Big Nick Dudley]

Yeah, this guy is Shelton Benjamin/Matt Hardy bad on the mic. Maybe even worse than those guys. I think the main problem is the fact that he just sounds like a mindless meathead. He fumbles over words, which makes it very difficult to actually understand what is coming out of his mouth. I don't think the guy has that much going on "upstairs." He just seems like a big, muscular dumby, who doesn't really care how he sounds on the mic. My guess is the guy think he sounds fine.

I also agree that he needs a manager. Guys like this (big meatheads) need someone to talk for them. Or he needs some kind of acting classes. One or the other, I don't care. To tell you the truth, I don't care what they do with him. I'm not that big of a Hernandez fan anyhow, but I don't want to feel like I need to flip the channel everytime he picks up a microphone. He is decent in the ring, but his horrible promo skills and his non-existent character are becoming rather annoying.

 

[Notorious718]

Agreed, D-Man. Like you said, some superstars can't get over on their own and Hernandez is one of those superstars. The breakup of LAX was probably the one of the biggest mistakes TNA has made. Both members needed each other to get over with the crowd. Granted, neither Hernandez nor Homicide have good mic skills (I find Homicide's to be even worse, actually) but they did better than they have been doing on their own.

As far as having a lack of charisma is concerned, I think that honor goes to Bobby Lashley and not Hernandez. While I never enjoyed Hernandez's promos, I feel that Lashley is much more bland than Hernandez. At least Hernandez had an entertaining gimmick as a street thug at one point while Lashley was just a generic guy whose wife had better mic skills than him. I think the lack of a gimmick after the breakup of LAX has severely hurt Hernandez.

That said, Hernandez NEEDS a manager to speak for him. If TNA decides not to go that route, he needs to be repackaged. Right now, he seems like a bland, generic midcarder and a gimmick is just what he needs to freshen up his character.

 

[Zeven_Zion]

I honestly see Hernandez as nothing more than a bodyguard or in a tag-team with a skinnier guy. That's why L.A.X worked for him pretty well. You can wrestle as good as you want, you can be as charismatic as you want but if you can't work the mic you'll never succeed and never be taken seriously by the fans. Too bad.

 

[Kenny Powers]

I seriously thought Hernandez couldn't speak English for a long time a few years back considering he never talked and when he did you couldn't understand him. Lately though it seems Hernandez still can't speak English clearly and I read that he wasn't even fluent in Spanish. The guy needs to be a monster heel who doesn't say jack shit like Batista. At least Batista can cut a promo which was a surprise to me.

Super Mex is just annoying as hell and I don't the small percent of the Mexican community he appeals to gives a damn about him either. He needs to be repackaged as a monster who doesn't speak instead of the awkward Mexican guy that slurs his words.

I'm not sure who you could put him with unless they hired Salinas or used Hector Guerrero. I think all in all that Hernandez just needs to be a brutal force that rarely speaks at all like Taz or Samoa Joe.

 

[It's...Baylariat!]

Hernandez has the look of a star, but as what has been said, can't talk for shit on the mic. How will he ever get over if he can't talk? It's be nice to get someone like Hector Guererro or someone who can speak English for him because right now, he's only appealing to people who like seeing objects bounce around in an odd fashion. He also looks like he's smothering under all of his muscles. As if he's not supposed to have them on his body.

And his theme sucks, too. You never know where it's going. A repackaged look for SuperMex would be a great idea. Instead of sounding like a special at Taco Town, he could have a heel look to him and beat up people.

 

[Simmo]

I seriously thought Hernandez couldn't speak English for a long time a few years back considering he never talked and when he did you couldn't understand him. Lately though it seems Hernandez still can't speak English clearly and I read that he wasn't even fluent in Spanish. The guy needs to be a monster heel who doesn't say jack shit like Batista. At least Batista can cut a promo which was a surprise to me.

Super Mex is just annoying as hell and I don't the small percent of the Mexican community he appeals to gives a damn about him either. He needs to be repackaged as a monster who doesn't speak instead of the awkward Mexican guy that slurs his words.

I'm not sure who you could put him with unless they hired Salinas or used Hector Guerrero. I think all in all that Hernandez just needs to be a brutal force that rarely speaks at all like Taz or Samoa Joe.

I wish Taz wouldn't speak these days too (and he's part of the announce team)

As for Hernandez. agree with all the others get him a manager/Valet who can cut a good promo and let him get down to beating people up...

 

[Phenomenal]

He is over, that's all that matters. The crowd gives him that 'Goldberg' monster type atmosphere when he performs on PPV outside the Impact Zone. Other wrestlers could only dream of being like him.

 

[D-Man]

He is over, that's all that matters. The crowd gives him that 'Goldberg' monster type atmosphere when he performs on PPV outside the Impact Zone. Other wrestlers could only dream of being like him.

Yeah, another superstar dreamt of being like him. His name was Festus. Look how great HE did.

Hernandez doesn't have a SHRED of what Goldberg had and gave to the audience. He has no intensity, no personality, no charisma... he's just a muscle-bound Mexican that likes to jump over the top rope a lot. But no one knows anything about his character. If the audience can't emotionally connect with him, he might as well be future endeavored.

 

[Little Jerry Lawler]

It's true that Hernandez can't talk on the mic to save his life but I believe they can easily be fixed. LAX was so good back then because they put on great matches and because they had a mouthpiece in Konnan to do the talking and got them over. Even Hector Guerrero got him over to some extent when they turned face. I wouldn't be opposed to bringing Guerrero back because Konnan and TNA aren't on good terms. A manager would certainly do Hernandez some good if he wants to go to that next level.

 

[TLC]

As much as I love Hernandez, I must admit he is terrible on the mic. He sounds like he choking whilst taking a shit. Even though he is shit he has gotten over on his abilities alone which I guess is good. I still think he will become TNA champion but only if he has a manager or mouth piece. As people have said LAX were so good back in the day because they had someone to speak to them. Whether it was Konnan, Hector guerrero or even Homicide, there was always someone to help him. As long as he gets somebody to help him, I am sure he will able to reach the main event.