**MERGED** Fandango Discussion (Keep it in here!!!!)

[Mighty NorCal]

Not a fan of the gimmick. What I would like to see if they pull an anti-Brodus swerve. For weeks they vignetted Broduas as a monster and then had him debut with a dancing gimmick. Would love to see the opposite and have Fandango, after having the dancing vignettes, debut as an old school heel. No gimmick just an old fashioned heel.

I have actually been considering this for quite some time. Remember the last time we got a sure thing gimmick debut through vingettes? Brodus Clay.

What if this guy comes out, and morphs into a homicidal maniac? How fucking great would that be....

Either way, im looking forward to it. Either we get a big shock, ala Brodus, or we get one of the all time most awful abominations of a chracter ever. Either will be fun, just in their own way.

 

[GameOver]

Flash in the pan for 1 match then back to nomans land. seriously the whole idea is shit to start with, we already have 4 dancers on the roster, how many "kids" are gonna give a crap about a ball room dancer. Sure he'll have some athletic moves no doubt but what is his motivation (as a character) for being in the WWE knowing full well he'd be going against brutal fighters. Makes no sense.

Shoulda just stayed as Johnny Curtis and actually give him some air time, there's a thought.

 

[DX Mols]

Johnny Curtis as Johnny Curtis was going nowhere fast. When they tried to bring him to TV last year or whenever it was with his stupid cliches, he had no chance.

Fandango is most likely going to be an epic failure, but then again Disco Inferno and Alex Wright at least got TV time on Nitro. Then again that's not exactly a ringing endorsement of talent as back then WCW had at least 70 wrestlers on a 3 hour episode of Nitro.
I just hope that hot chick he's been dancing with debuts with him.
I

 

[SuburbanLegend]

If they want this gimmick to work, here's how I'd book it:

Flamboyant as hell, almost over-the-top Goldust-ish tendencies. Plant girls in every crowd that swoon over him and he goes up and kisses etc. Then, at some point during every match, he snaps and goes super brutal with punches and kicks and eye gouges and all that classic heel stuff. He hits his finisher(which I would have as some sort of cutter[maybe a Rock Bottom/Stunner combo]), gets the win and then once he hears the bell, he comes back into the flamboyant dancer. He would do all his promos as the flamboyant one, and if anyone ever brought up the "snaps" he would play it off as he doesn't remember or know what they're talking about.

This also leaves an out later on to say he finally snapped and stayed as that brutal character later on when the ballroom gimmick fades out.

I love fantasy booking.

 

[StunningBlackMamba24]

If Im not mistaken 2011 Johnny Curtis cut promos backstage on smackdown to hype up his debut, and I actually enjoyed the promos, as in all were expressions and idioms. Johnny Curtis would be a great face, but Im really confused with this Fandango gimmick, and Im pretty sure this gimmick isnt gonna go for long..

 

[LascoX]

As soon as I saw the promos I was having Disco Inferno flashbacks , part of that is the silouette profile they use on the "Fandango" screams Disco Inferno. I am willing to give the guy a chance but already I am not a fan, not in a good - the guy is a great heel way , but in a ... Have they not rehashed this angle before with mediocer success. I could be wrong but this looks like if you crossed Disco inferno with Carlito and tossed in a dancing with the stars twist you would have Fandango.

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

I don't know what to think yet and don't know if I want him as a face/heel because I haven't seen more than short vignettes. It'd be stupid of me to pass judgment one way or another prematurely. I'm excited though, it's something new.

 

[#tamale]

Hey, Alex Wright and Disco Inferno got over in WCW. I think Rico was over as well.

Let's be honest, he's not going to take up a main event or upper mid card spot. He will be used as the heel to make other mid card faces look stronger. Orton/Cesaro/Barrett/Sheamus/Kofi/Dolph can't keep trading wins with each other.

 

[Big Papa Santo]

As much as I like Johnny Curtis and am happy that he's finally going to debut in a match where he's not getting squashed by Mark Henry, I just don't see this character lasting that long until he becomes jobber material. But hey, if Santino Marella has had a job for almost 6 years, then you never know where this character could go.

 

[Fandoth]

Someone earlier asked about the promised tag title shot earned by winning NXT. Curtis actually was given this shot as a main event match on the new weekly NXT. He teamed with Michael McGillicuddy (I spell that right?) and they lost miserably to team hell no (Daniel Bryan and Kane). They even advertised the title matches the match that Curtis earned from winning NXT. Just clearing that up. I have Hulu, so I tend to watch superstars, NXT, and Main Event. Saturday morning slam I watch on Cable ( I dvr it, screw waking up for a half hour of promos, commericial s, and two non intense fights)

I also like Brodus clay (or maybe I like the funkadactyles) and Long Island iced z,and those smaller shows are the best chances to see them (or see them win at least).

 

[Mitch Henessey]

I didn't like the backstage promo at all. I know it's only one glimpse, so I'll hold off on more harsh criticisms for now. He's going to be a suave and narcissistic Casanova. I get that, but the promo just fell flat for me. And Fandango holding off his in-ring debut on Smackdown was a nice way to get more heat. Still, the promo didn't interest me at all.

Honestly, I think Johnny Curtis was better off as the obsessive goofball, who turned ironic jokes into skits, and pouring a bottle of milk on himself.

 

[Mustang Sally]

Honestly, I think Johnny Curtis was better off as the obsessive goofball, who turned ironic jokes into skits, and pouring a bottle of milk on himself.

He was also one of the only guys to lose to Drew McIntyre on Superstars, during a time that no one was losing to him.

Last night was a bit disappointing, though. It reminded me of Damien Sandow's initial appearances, in which he was called to the ring to wrestle but refused the first few times because his scheduled opponent wasn't worthy of him, in his opinion. The difference is that Sandow's arrival wasn't as heavily anticipated as Fandango's. For weeks, we've been hearing about this guy, and when the time finally came to see him in the ring..............nada.

Hopefully, Fan......dan.....go will fare better than Kizarny as far as the results turning out to be as good as the promise.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

His promo was different. His pronunciation of his name and the way he sort of felt himself up gave me the impression that WWE is going for a creepy effeminate guy. They might also go for the suave, Casanova type but I got more of a "creepy gay guy" feel. As a result, people are going to automatically assume his character is gay, or at least they're going to want to think that he is. As a result, the guy could potentially get some good heat.

 

[VictorySauce23]

I think he's just going to be a jobber. His gimmick is a dancer and we already have that in the form of Brodus Clay. They should have just kept him as Johnny Curtis but they had to give him a lame gimmick. He'll probably just job for a few months and then disappear.

 

[HiddenInPlainView]

On Raw tonight Fandango was all set to debut against Kofi Kingston when Justin Roberts "screwed up" the pronunciation of his name. Fandango refused to enter the ring and once again delayed his "debut" because of this perceived lack of respect to him.

His refusal to wrestle is a great way to get fans to hate this guy. He is good looking guy with a great look and a beautiful woman on his arm who ballroom dances. Now he is refusing to entertain the fans because he feels that he is being disrespected. it is easy to not like this guy because of all these things. This is very similar to the last Jericho returned and refused to speak. The crowd cheered at first but quickly turned on him. Personally i think this is being handled great. The Fandango character could have been a very slippery slope and easy to ruin with a terrible introduction. This is a fantastic way to get fans to hate him without making him into some cheesy dancing gimmick. What are everyone's thoughts on Fandango so far?

 

[MrATD1213]

Personally I like Fandango. He reminds me of a mixture between Goldust, Chris Jericho, and Rico Constantino. Saying his name is quite catchy just like Mr. Kennedy...Kennedy. I sometimes catch myself saying Fahn-Dahn-Gogogogo.

 

[The Eighties]

I thought his mic work tonight was pretty good and I agree that this tactic of refusing to have his debut match until they get his name right is a good move. The gimmick is one that seems somewhat restricting but it's Curtis' best shot so far at getting his foot in the door on the main shows and he seems to have thrown himself fully into the character.

 

[Merkin353]

I think he does a good job. My girlfriend hates him yet I won't let her say a bad word about him because she refuses to say his name correctly. Which in return makes her hate him more. It became a talking point in my house about how wrestling works & I think the gimmick is something that reminds me of the forgotten part of the Attitude Era. Guys like this ran amok 15 years ago. He fits in with the likes of Goldust, Val Venis & The Godfather. He also seems to already believe in the character which is the most important thing & simply all that matters.

 

[Y2JBL]

I am digging the character just based on the debut vignettes and his look. But I do NOT like when WWE goes down this road with trying to build up heat. I can see I'm probably in the minority because so far the replies above say they like it.

I've always thought of it this way, heat in wrestling should not be about real hatred. At least not when you're beyond the age of thinking the entire show is real. If a kid literally "hates" a dastardly heel, that's fine, they also think the good guys are real superheroes. But I'm at the age where I understand this is sports entertainment, and I am not looking to actually "hate" something. I appreciate a good heel just as much as a good face. Faces are entertaining, heels are entertaining, I do not actually want to feel like I "hate" anything I'm watching. Why would I spend my time paying attention to something that creates negative feelings for me?

With that said, I do not see what there is to gain from teasing the fans with these fake debuts. Someone drew the comparison to Jericho's "silent return" and I will absolutely agree, that's the last time I can recall feeling this same way. I thought that was entirely stupid and I did not enjoy being led on each and every week with Jericho running around the ring like a mute moron.

WWE, you've hooked me with the vignettes, you were teasing this guy a long time ago already and never found a spot for him to debut, now you've kicked up the frequency of the video packages again and say he is finally going to compete, just to screw around again? I had heard he came out and did the same thing on Smackdown, which I didn't care about, I didn't watch it last week, nor do I most other weeks. It's the B show, it's crappy lately, I don't care what Fandango did on Smackdown.

Raw, I somewhat care about. And I was even more interested in watching tonight since it was old school Raw. So to take time out of this once a year theme show to say this guy is debuting again, just to take it away, I don't see the point of doing that to your viewers. I actually thought Justin Roberts "corrected" his pronunciation well enough the first time that Fandango was going to accept it and continue down to the ring, he didn't.

Anyways, like I was saying, in my mind, there is properly built "heel" heat, and then there is just "less piss off the audience" heat. I guess to most other viewers, both are acceptable. I've never enjoyed actually feeling annoyed or angered by what I'm watching. Whether it's a face or a heel on screen, I expect to be enjoying what I'm watching, or I'll just watch something else.

If I was younger and enough of a mark to think "wow, this guy really is a jerk, he refuses to have his debut match!", I might find it entertaining. But knowing that this is a scripted moment with no real pay off other than to tease us with a debut, I find it annoying.

Case in point. The Shield - supposed to be a big group of corrupt heels attacking all the larger than life faces. They entertain the hell out of me and buying their Tshirt would have been the first time I paid any money to WWE in years, if it weren't for the fact that the Tshirt design sucks. Ziggler - again, big jerk, but earns heat by actually being a heel, I'm a fan. Punk - I'm a fan. The list goes on.

I was actually really interested in seeing Fandango debut tonight, and it was all just a waste of a segment. It accomplished nothing. I actually feel less interested in the character now. I'm not going to be engaged any time I hear his music because I'll just assume it's going to be more stupid shit. And by the time he actually debuts, I likely won't care at all. So from a business standpoint, this is the kind of "heat" that I don't agree with. Just like Jericho coming back and not saying anything. I get what they're trying to do - I just don't enjoy it. There's the type of heel that makes me think "damn, this guy is good at what he does", and there's the type of misguided heat where I just want to change the channel. Obviously one of those isn't good business towards your audience. Maybe I'd put it this way, the goal of a heel is to be as annoying and disgusting as possible without actually making me not want to watch you. Faking out a debut is just the type of thing that makes me not want to watch.

 

[BobbyRoode444]

They're doing a good job with his debut so far. This is a great way for him to build heat before his first match.

Pleasantly surprised by his mic work in the Striker interview and his appearance on RAW. I liked when he was getting frustrated with Striker and said, "no, dont get hung up on the N, its...FAAHN...."

 

[Merkin353]

They're doing a good job with his debut so far. This is a great way for him to build heat before his first match.

Pleasantly surprised by his mic work in the Striker interview and his appearance on RAW. I liked when he was getting frustrated with Striker and said, "no, dont get hung up on the N, its...FAAHN...."

"Don't Get Hung Up On The N"

I was hooked at that very moment. Glad someone else mentioned it. This gimmick needs to break character every now & then. I would love to see a Face Shandow Vs a heel Faaahn Daaahn Goooo.

 

[Jerichoholic_6]

I was looking forward to his debut but I'm Ok with putting it off. In this discussion about not debuting to gain heat. I believe Sandow did the same thing when he debuted around April where he would not face Derrick Bateman and others. I dont mind them doing this but when Sandow already did this in the last 12 months it kind of bugs me a bit.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I honestly have to say that I'm enjoying how this is going thus far. Curtis came out to crickets last night but had managed to build good heat by the time he left. He didn't have the "creepy gay guy" vibe that I got in his first promo segment on SmackDown!. He seemed, at least to me, surprisingly comfortable in his role, at least in the limited amount of time we've seen him thus far.

It's still far too early to tell much, though I'm looking forward to seeing what he can do in the ring now. I'm a little more optimistic than I initially was, but they could still, very easily, turn this guy into something of a comedy act like Brodus Clay or 3MB.

 

[MrMojoRisin]

Back in the day in WCCW (World Class Championship Wrestling), "Gorgeous" Jimmy Garvin had a similar gimmick.

He would refuse to wrestle on TV because the people didn't deserve to see him for free. They had to pay to watch him.

This is an interesting spin on that for 2013. Will it work? It's hard to say, since many modern fans don't understand real old school heeling and tune out when the heel does their job properly.

So far so good though. People don't seem to be turned off yet, so they should keep at it. I'm interested to see what they do with him next. I'm guessing something like when he finally gets into the ring, he won't want to initiate contact from the start, make a big deal about it, and then his dancer at ringside will cause distractions that let him make the sneak attack.

I might be off, but I see this ballroom dancer gimmick being a modern take on the effeminate character gimmick that many of the territories had back in the 80's (Jimmy Garvin, Adrian Street, ect).

 

[Dagger Dias]

I found the character and promo to be rather annoying, so he's doing his job. We aren't "supposed" to like heels after all. I personally would rather he have kept his character that had promos full of puns like crying about spilled milk, it did not last very long but I found that hilarious. Oh well. He's made it to the main roster, now for that Tag Team Championship shot with R-Truth.... That would be something different for the tag team division and it would tie up an unanswered question that some of us aren't going to forget even though Vince clearly wants us to.

This is the type of character that you either sink or swim with. Guys like Ryder took strange gimmicks and made it their own, it seems Fandango might be able to do just that. Worst case scenario he would make a much better partner for Brodus than Tensai. The two of them in a strange dancing tag team could work later down the line. While I may not be a fan yet, it's far too early to make a decision on this guy. I'm going to give it a chance no matter how akward a dancer gimmick may seem. He should be fine as a midcard heel or so, if the promo last night was any indication of his future in WWE.