If It Works For Jay Lethal, Then Why Didn't It Work For Petey Williams?

[Mitch Henessey]

A while back Petey Williams was released from TNA. Before then , he teamed with Scott Steiner and was his apperntice. Williams even adopted the nickname "Little Petey Pump". He basically went around imiatating Scott Steiner, and even changed his look to mimic him. If you ask me, Petey pulled this off pretty well. It was cool to see him and Steiner teaming together(they could've done without Rocka Khan) because Petey portrayed the Steiner gimmick so well, it was entertaining to watch.

Jay Lethal has been imitaiting Randy Savage for a while now. I remember Lethal saying he does this as a tribute to the Macho Man. As Black Machismo, Lethal hasn't really done anything special, he's still in TNA, and gets a pretty good amount of shine every now and then.

What I'm wondering is, if Jay Lethal can still go around and be Randy Savage, then why didn't the "Little Petey Pump" gimmick go further? I would contend that Williams did just as good a job, if not better than Jay Lethal does at his impersonation of the Macho Man. So if the Macho Man gimmick can carry Lethal and work for him, then why wasn't Petey Williams able to use his impersonation of Steiner to carry him? Wasn't Little Petey Pump better than Black Machismo?

 

[andymcg]

Have to agree, Petey Williams as my favourite "smaller" wrestler in TNA. The Candian Destroye got everyone out of there seas everytime it was hit, he had a good solid look and could work a match.

I didnt think he should have been released as he IMO is better than the likes of Jay Letal, Creed, Bashir, Kioyshi, Etc.

As for on topic, i really dont know, Jays had the gimmick alot longer than what Petey did. I also agree Petey pulled it off better than Lethal, i think the bottom line is creative just didnt fancy pushng Petey for some reason.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

While I agree with what you are trying to illustrate here, fundamentally, the difference between Petey Williams as Little Petey Pump and Jay Lethal as Black Machismo was vast IMO, in that Lethal's gimmick didn't require ring-work to get over. Petey's did – at least much more so.

Lethal hasn't wrestled in two weeks on iMPACT!, and the week prior to wrestling Neidhart, all he did was cut a 40-second promo and he was over. Lethal's character is based much more so around the humor of him being a "black" version of Macho Man who's got the ability to quip a response than it is him actually channeling Savage's style in the ring (though he does that too).

Petey, unfortunately for him, just wasn't strong enough on the mic. He did the really poor Arnold Schwarzenegger impression during his interviews to try and inject a level of humor, but it just didn't work the way Steiner was able to carry himself in promos as well as the ring.

Just my $0.02.

For the record, though – the Canadian Destroyer was amazing, IMO, and Williams was always one of my favorite X-Division stars. I marked out hard when he cashed in his X-Division title shot and won back in April of 2008 when he hit Lethal with the case and then cashed it in just to squash him with a Canadian Destroyer and pin him for the 1-2-3 and the title.

 

[Remix]

Personally I want Jay Lethals Macho man gimmick to end soon. I've wanted that since he started using it. It's not that its a bad gimmick, or because Lethal cant pull it off, because it isnt and he can. It just annoys me how he pronounces machismo. It's not supposed to be pronounced ma-cheese-mo, it's pronounced ma-kis-mo. Petty reason to get pissed off by a gimmick I know but I can be annoyed by whatever I choose to be. annoyed by.

And onto Petey, as much as I like the guy (and I'm a mark for him), he really didnt have much going for him other than the destroyer. Granted it was a fucking awesome move, but that's it. and in addition Lethal's imitation didnt have to act like Savage's bitch. Petey stood there while Steiner beat the shit out of him, which made him just seem weak. Getting a post match beatdown from your mentour didnt work for Serotonin, and it didnt work with Petey either. That said Petey did finally develop a personality under Steiner's influence so it wasnt all bad.

 

[Super Crazy]

I think it did work for Petey Williams, just not as well as it should have worked. He was great in the ring, but at the same time, to take up a gimmick like Scott Steiner's, you have to essentially just beat up everyone, which would be a change in Petey's style, and I don't believe Scott's moveset would work well for Petey. Lethal's Black Machismo gimmick requires more mic work then ring work to get over though. This is where Petey was lacking, on the mic, and thus he could not get as over as Lethal is/was at the time. I wish it had worked for Petey as he was a favorite of mine in TNA, I believe TNA would still always have a spot for him, even now with all the buzz and such, but look at Jay Lethal, Hogan signs with TNA and suddenly Lethal starts getting squashed by the likes of Jim Neidhart.

 

[RicSpade]

Personally I don't have a problem with Petey Williams, or his gimmick of Little Petey Pump, but as soon as Steiner laid him out the gimmick had to go, not necessarily the look but the gimmick, cause why immitate someone who beats the crap out of you?

Not only that but Petey had no real mic skills, the only thing he had going for him was his moves, its kinda like Red his skills are phenomenal but he has no mic credibility, now if D'amore wanted to come back as Petey's manager then there would be a mouth on the mic but that was always the main problem of Petey where as EY showed he can talk, and obviously so is Robert Roode.

The nice thing about Jay Lethal is while they redid the whole Macho man thing with Val, they still do something different with it like teaming up with creed, and the Machismo Legend invitational. The only way this will really end is if Lethal gets bored doing it or he loses to Macho Man, because honestly its possible to go farther.

 

[johnbragg]

"If it works for Jay LEthal, Why didn't it work for Petey Williams?"

Point the first: Who says it did? When the gimmick runs its course, let's see if Jay Lethal is still on the roster.

Point the Second: Macho Man >>>>>>>>> Big Poppa Pump. Oh Yeeeeahh!

When Hulkamania was running wild, brother, Macho Man was running right behind him. He wasn't Hogan or Flair, but he matches up with anyone else from that era.

Steiner? Had a one-year run on top and has been living off of that ever since.

 

[conrad405]

omg i really dislike jay lethals gimmick but thats all i dont hate his wrestleing just his gimmick macho man gimmick is a rip off of the real macho man and he sucks at it at doing the gimmick its just the gimmick that annoys me (sorry if i went off subject i tryed to find thread about jay lethal but couldnt find one

oh and i also loved the Petey Williams gimmick it was just awsome and all the stuff he had to go though that scott put him though was a nice touch of tv

 

[alok]

A while back Petey Williams was released from TNA. Before then , he teamed with Scott Steiner and was his apperntice. Williams even adopted the nickname "Little Petey Pump". He basically went around imiatating Scott Steiner, and even changed his look to mimic him. If you ask me, Petey pulled this off pretty well. It was cool to see him and Steiner teaming together(they could've done without Rocka Khan) because Petey portrayed the Steiner gimmick so well, it was entertaining to watch.

Jay Lethal has been imitaiting Randy Savage for a while now. I remember Lethal saying he does this as a tribute to the Macho Man. As Black Machismo, Lethal hasn't really done anything special, he's still in TNA, and gets a pretty good amount of shine every now and then.

What I'm wondering is, if Jay Lethal can still go around and be Randy Savage, then why didn't the "Little Petey Pump" gimmick go further? I would contend that Williams did just as good a job, if not better than Jay Lethal does at his impersonation of the Macho Man. So if the Macho Man gimmick can carry Lethal and work for him, then why wasn't Petey Williams able to use his impersonation of Steiner to carry him? Wasn't Little Petey Pump better than Black Machismo?

Hey buddy, I agree with you on this. I thought that williams really did a very good job. Also, I don't think what's Jay's role now in TNA. I'm currently he's going after the legends but I'm not sure where this angel will take him. Also, He's not done anything extra ordinary in TNA for a while.

- @lok

 

[PEP3]

Ultimately, I believe it comes down to the popularity of the character you're ripping off . . . er, I mean, "imitating." Randy Savage is one of the most instantly recognizable stars of an entire era. Not only did he have a distinctive look and sound -- "Ohhh, yeah!" -- he also had an unique in-ring style and series of career-defining storylines to duplicate (i.e., SoCal Val = Miss Elizabeth). Those factors all give the "Black Machismo" character infinitely better legs than Williams playing Steiner.

The reality is, Scott Steiner's character itself is a take-off of late-'70s "Superstar" Billy Graham -- right down to the bleached goatee -- and he never had the kind of mass appeal that Savage did. In fact, I'd go so far as to suggest that Steiner at the pinnacle of his popularity couldn't live up to how over Savage was before he ever stepped foot into the main-event picture in WWF.

Intercontinental champion Randy Savage was vastly more popular than Steiner ever was, even during his reign as WCW champion. Steiner most certainly couldn't match up with Mega-Powers era Savage or anything after-the-fact even. By the time Savage reached WCW, which was during a decline in his mass appeal, he was still much more than Steiner could ever hope to be.

As a result, Williams was stuck trying to mimic a performer who was marginally over at best whereas Lethal gets the chance to ape someone who is a bona fide legend with a career spanning nearly 20 years in the main event. Looking at those facts alone, I think Williams was set up for failure from the start. (And, on the flip side, I'm suprised Lethal has been able to milk this schtick for as long as he has without completely wearing out his welcome as well.)

 

[NSL]

I think it didn't work because they were going on at the same time. How successful could either have been, if they were both imitating older guys simultaneously?

The only way it could have worked, would be to team them up. Give them a silly name like Big Poppa Madness or something, and let them be comedy jobbers. But, is being a comedy jobber team really "working"?

Petey was a great wrestler, and was at his peak during Team Canada, and I have no idea why they didn't stick with that. Hopefully he'll be back in TNA.

 

[Freddy4190]

You've noticed he's toned down the gimmick a whole lot. He's nowhere near as Macho Man-esque as he once was. He still pulls it out every once and a while, but it's not bad. It's entertaining. It doesn't hinder his in-ring ability or anything. He's still a badass in the ring, plus it gets a laugh or two still. They're gonna milk it for everything it's worth. Maybe Petey just wasn't destined to imitate someone. He had a one of a kind finisher, he was a one of a kind dude so it seemed. It just fell off. They lost interest. He definitely picked a bad person to imitate..

 

[SuperKnockout]

I think that Petey tried a little to hard to copy steiner. That's why he got pissed, and squashed him. Lethal just acts like it, he doesn't really try to immitate his skill. It is kinda uncool though, macho man was one of the greatest heel/face turners ever. But his charecter got him half of his titles...